AGHA MOHAMMAD KHAN

born 1742, Gorgan, Iran died 1797, near Shusha founder and first ruler of the Qajar dynasty of Iran. Following the disintegration of the Safavid empire in 1722, Qajar tribal chieftains became prominent in Iranian affairs. At the age of six Agha Mohammad was castrated on the orders of 'Adil Shah to prevent him from becoming a political rival, but this disability did not hinder his career. In 1757 he became the de facto governor of the Azerbaijan province of northern Iran; the next year he succeeded his father as chief of the Qavanlu clan of the Qajars. In 1762 he was captured by a rival chieftain and sent as a prisoner to Shiraz, where he spent the next 16 years as a political hostage. In 1779 Agha Mohammad escaped and fled to Astarabad, the centre of Qavanlu authority. By 1785, when Tehran was made the capital, he was the dominant political figure in northern Iran. In 1796 Agha Mohammad led a successful expedition against the Christian Kingdom of Georgia, which was then reincorporated into Iran. Crowned the same year as shahanshah (king of kings), he conquered Khorasan, the last centre of resistance to his authority; its blind ruler, Shah Rokh (the grandson of Nader Shah), was tortured to death. The civil war that led to the establishment of the Qajar dynasty, followed by Agha Mohammad's conquests, had serious consequences for the prosperity and economy of Iran. Many cities, such as Kerman, were completely sacked. In monetary matters Agha Mohammad was tightfisted. The extraordinary cruelty of his reign was in part a means to deter rebellion. During his reign his capital city of Tehran grew from a village to a city of about 15,000 people. While leading a second expedition into Georgia, Agha Mohammad was assassinated by two of his servants. The major legacies of his reign were a unified Iran and a dynasty that ruled it until 1925.