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| Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh | |
|---|---|
 Picture of Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh | |
| Born | 1818 |
| Died | 1883 (aged 67) |
| Burial | Imam Reza Shrine |
| Issue | Abol-Fath Mirza Moayed od-Dowleh |
| Dynasty | Qajar |
| Father | Abbas Mirza |
| Religion | Twelver Shia Islam |
| Military career | |
| Battles / wars | |
Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh (Persian: سلطانمراد میرزا حسامالسلطنه) was a Qajar prince, governor and military officer in 19th-century Iran.
Biography
Background and early career
Born in 1818, Morad Mirza was a member of the ruling Qajar dynasty of Iran and the thirteenth son of Abbas Mirza, who served as crown prince until his death from illness in 1832. He first appears in sources as the governor of Qaradagh during the last years of his father's life. In 1837, his brother and suzerain Mohammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834–1848) sent him to suppress an uprising in the Bakhtiari region. After the coronation of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar on 20 October 1848, Morad Mirza was given an army of 7,000 troops and tasked with suppressing the Rebellion of Hasan Khan Salar, a power struggle by the Davalu clan of the Qajars.
He shortly marched from Tehran, but due to the extreme cold and snowstorm, was unable to achieve much. The survival of his troops was totally dependent on the assistance of Sam Khan Ilkhani Zafaranlu, the leader of the Kurdish Zafaranlu tribe. When Hamzeh Mirza Heshmat od-Dowleh, the governor of Khorasan, was expelled from the provincial capital of Mashhad in the winter of 1848–1849, the governments rule over Khorasan fell to its lowest point. Morad Mirza first started to advance gradually in the spring of 1849, in succession capturing the towns of Torshiz, Torbat-e Heydarieh, Joveyn, Sabzevar. On June 1849, he besieged Mashhad, where Hasan Khan Salar was located. Leading leaders from the Afshar, Hazara, and Turkmen communities supported Hasan Khan Salar in the early phases of the siege.
The populace of Mashhad was so supportive of him that even the beggars armed themselves with knives to protect the city. However, he became an unpopular figure by October 1849 due to melting down gold and silver valuables from the Imam Reza Shrine worth 22,000 toman to refill his funds. Early in 1850, Morad Mirza was informed of the complaints in Mashhad about its high food prices. Several of Hasan Khan Salar's tribal allies, including Karimdad Khan Hazara, Abbasqoli Khan Darragazi, and Uraz Khan Toqtamish Sarakhsi, let Morad Mirza's army enter Mashhad on 23 March 1850.
Hasan Khan Salar was denied shelter in the Imam Reza Shrine due to his preevious harsh treatment toward several powerful clergy members, and thus surrendered to Morad Mirza. He was executed on 29 April 1850, along with his brother Mohammad Ali Khan Qajar Davalu and son Amir Aslan. On May 21, 1850, his other brother Mirza Mohammad Khan Beglerbegi, who had been captured during Morad Mirza's capture of Sabzevar, was executed in Tehran.
First term as governor of Khorasan
Tribal alliances
With Mashhad once again under royal control, Morad Mirza held the governorship of Khorasan. Due to his victory, Morad Mirza was rewarded with the title of "Hesam o-Saltaneh" ("the Sword of the Kingdom") as well as a sword and badge by Naser al-Din Shah. During his first term as governor of Khorasan, Morad Mirza worked to increase Iranian influence in Herat and along the northern border. Morad Mirza's selection of allies strengthened the tribal leadership of the Khorasani places of Quchan, Dargaz and Bojnord. Sam Khan Ilkhani, who had shown himself to be a loyal supporter of the Iranian government throughout Hasan Khan Salar's rebellion, played a crucial part in the expedition against the Turkmens in 1851, the interference in Herat in 1852, the protection of Sarakhs against the Khanate of Khiva in 1854, and the Second Herat War. Given that his father Rezaqoli Khan Zafaranlu had been a fervent opponent of the Iranian government in the late 1820s, Sam Khan Ilkhani's ascent to power was an unexpected development. Other notable tribal allies included; Abbasqoli Khan Darragazi, who would serve as the governor of the town Sarakhs and later the town of Marv; and Jafarqoli Khan Shadillu, a former ally of Hasan Khan Salar who was installed as the governor of the towns of Jajarm, Nardin and Astarabad in 1854.
Interference in Herat
The city of Herat was the first place that caught Morad Mirza's attention. Being a frontier vassalage barely under Iranian control, it was seen by the Qajar dynasty as an integral part of the Guarded Domains of Iran. Due to widespread anti-Iranian tensions in Herat and Britain's increasing engagement in Afghanistan, Iran's rule over Herat was under heavy threat. The British East India Company advocated for Herat's autonomy as a buffer state between northwestern India, Russia and Iran, even though they had previously supported Iranian rule over the city. Uncertainty over Herat's status as an Iranian tributary influenced many developments in the early 19th century. Opportunities for interference arose with the death of its ruler, Yar Muhammad Khan Alakozai, and the ascension of his son, Sa'id Mohammad Khan, in June 1851.
Unlike his father, Sa'id Mohammad Khan could not keep the loyalty of the local leadership in check. Sardar Kuhandil Khan, the Mohammadzai leader of the city of Kandahar, put pressure on him with his military. In March 1852, he conquered Farah and Esfezar and advanced to the boundaries of Herat. The Iranian government reacted by sending two different armies, led by Sam Khan Ilkhani and Abbasqoli Khan Darragazi. Kuhandil Khan abandoned his plans for Herat and retreated to Kandahar when Iranian forces reached Herat. Sam Khan Ilkhani controlled the citadel of Herat until the third week of May 1852, when it was returned to Sa'id Mohammad Khan. However, for an additional three months, the Iranian troops remained in the area around Herat.
The British minister plenipotentiary in Tehran, Justin Sheil, was angry at the Iranian victory in Herat and called for a quick Iranian evacuation. His action began a new phase of the dispute over Herat between Britain and Iran, which ultimately resulted in Second Herat War in 1856. The potential of a Russian consulate in Herat if Iran established a permanent foothold there increased British concerns. In January 1853, Britain pressured the Iranian prime minister Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri to agree to a one-sided agreement. Under the terms of the Sheil-Nuri agreement, Iranian troops could only enter Herat if foreign forces attacked and had to withdraw immediately after the attackers retreated. Iranian interference in Herat's internal affairs was also prohibited, apart from the existing influence over Sa'id Mohammad Khan. Claims to being mentioned on coin engravings, Friday prayers, or other symbols of Herat's allegiance to Iran were renounced. This agreement was mandatory as long as Britain refrained from involving themselves in the internal affairs of Herat and its outposts.
When Sa'id Mohammad Khan became aware of the Sheil-Nuri agreement, he quickly aligned himself with the British, prompting the Iranian government to endorse Mohammad-Yusof Mirza, a rival claimant to the leadership of Herat and member of the Durrani dynasty.
Submission of Sarakhs and Marv
The regions on the edge of Iranian control saw repeated interventions by the Khiva Khanate from the early 19th-century, particularly during the Herat conflicts of 1818 and 1837–1838. An open confrontation with the Khiva Khanate emerged between 1851 and 1854, as the governors of Khorasan resumed their territorial claims to Sarakhs and Marv. Morad Mirza briefly subjugated Sarakhs in June 1851, but he was unable to establish direct rule there due to resistance by the Khiva Khanate. A scheme by the Khivan representative Mir Ahmad Khan Jamshidi forced Abbasqoli Khan Darragazi to leave Sarakhs shortly after being appointed as its governor. Nevertheless, the Khivan presence was not adequate for the tribal leadership in Sarakhs to reject Iranian claims to the town. In late summer 1852, as Morad Mirza prepared another military expedition against Sarakhs, its tribal chieftain Uraz Khan Teke led sixty Turkmen nobles to Mashhad, where they pledged to send fifty elders as hostages, provide fifty soldiers for Morad Mirza's forces, and position one hundred guards on the frontiers of Khorasan. In 1853, Morad Mirza briefly established Iranian rule in Merv.
Morad Mirza died in 1883 at the age of 67, and was buried in the Imam Reza Shrine.
References
- ^ Ghaffari 2014.
- Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 230 (note 223).
- Busse 1982, pp. 79–84.
- Amanat 1997, p. 55.
- Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 229.
- ^ Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 231.
- Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 240.
- ^ Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 230.
- Amanat 1997, p. 283.
- ^ Amanat 2003, pp. 219–224.
- Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 218.
- Noelle-Karimi 2014, p. 232.
Sources
- Amanat, Abbas (1997). Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1845118280.
- Amanat, Abbas (2003). "Herat vi. The Herat question". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. ISBN 978-0710090959.
- Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (2007). Historic Cities of the Islamic World. Brill. ISBN 978-9004153882.
- Busse, H. (1982). "ʿAbbās Mīrzā Qajar". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition. Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation. ISBN 978-0710090959.
- Ghaffari, Fariba (2014). "Hesam o-Saltaneh". Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (in Persian). Vol. 13. Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation. ISBN 9789644470127.
- Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-3700172024.
| Princes of Qajar Iran | |
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| The generations are numbered from the ascension of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. | |
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