Bahman Mirza Qajar
Bahman Mirza (11 October 1810 – 11 February 1884) was a Persian Prince of the Qajar Dynasty, son of Abbas Mirza and grandson of Fath Ali Shah. He was Vicergerent (vali) of Azerbaijan and Governor-General of Tabriz, and the ancestor of the Persidsky, Bahmanov and Kadjar families of Azerbaijan as well as of the Iranian families Bahmani-Qajar and Bahman. Thus, Bahman Mirza was Ali Akbar Bahman's grandfather.
Life
Bahman Mirza was the fourth son of Prince Abbas Mirza, viceroy (nayeb os-saltaneh) and crown prince (vali ahd) of Fath Ali Shah by his first wife and cousin, Assiyeh Khanom, daughter of Amir Mohammad Khan Qajar-Davallu. Thus, with the younger Ghahreman Mirza he was the only full brother to Mohammad Shah Qajar. Bahman Mirza was born in Golestan Palace at Tehran on 11 October 1810 and educated privately in Tabriz.[1] 1831 to 1834 he was appointed governor (hakem) of Ardabil, in 1834 governor of Teheran and commander-in-chief (sepah-salar), then governor-general (beglerbegi) of Borujerd and Silakhor, and governor of Hamadan from 1834 to 1841.[2] After the death of his brother Ghahreman Mirza in 1839 he succeeded him as prince-governor of Azerbaijan in 1841, but was forced to resign and exiled to Tiflis in 1848 due to political intrigues at court. He moved to Shusha in 1853 and died there on 11 February 1884.[3]
Bahman Mirza was an able governor, well-educated and a patron of literature and art, interested in geography, European history and modern natural history. He gave scholars, poets and artists a special place of honour. Therefore, authors and translators dedicated many works to him. The first Persian translation of One Thousand and One Nights from Arabic was translated by Abdol-Latif Tasooji by the order of Bahman Mirza.[4]
Family
Wives
Bahman Mirza had 16 wives, mostly from the Qajar aristocracy or local Azerbaijan nobility. Some of his permant wives are known by name:
- a) Malek Soltan Khanom Davalu (daughter of Hajji Mohammad Bagher Khan Davalu-Qajar by Princess Jahan Soltan Khanom, the 41rst daughter of Fath Ali Shah), his direct first cousin.
- b) Shahzadeh Khanom Qajar.
- c) Malek Jahan Khanom Quyunlu (daughter of Mohammad Qoli Khan Quyunlu-Qajar by Princess Shirin Jahan Khanom, the 29th daughter of Fath Ali Shah).
- d) Mehr Farid Khanom Talishinskiya (daughter of Mehdi Qoli Khan and granddaughter of Mir Mostafa Khan of Talesh).
- e) Kuchak Barda Khanom (daughter of Qurban Beyg Ghazi).
- f) Govad Khanom.
- g) Gowhar Khanom (daughter of Ismail Khan Ghazi).
- h) Chichek Khanom.
- i) Khandan Khanom Gorji (a Georgian lady from Tiflis).
- j) Nush Afarin Khanom (a lady from Shusha and sister to Farkhonda Begom, wife of Prince Shahrokh Mirza), his last wife.[5]
Offspring
Bahman Mirza had 33 sons and 31 daughters. Some of them became ancestors of the Azerbaijani Qajar families: Persidsky, Bahmanov and Kadjar.
Sons in order of seniority:
- 1. Prince Anushiravan Mirza “Zia od-Dowleh” “Amir Touman” (1833-1899), 1873 Governor of Turshiz, 1881-1882 of Tabriz, 1884-1886/1898-1899 of Semnan, Damghan and Shahrud, 1888-1889 of Borujerd and Lorestan.
- 2. Prince Jalal od-Din Mirza (1836-1870), Major in Russian army, Major-General in Persian army.
- 3. Prince Reza Qoli Mirza (1837-1894), General in Russian army.
- 4. Prince Shahrokh Mirza (1844-1915), Colonel in Russian army.
- 5. Prince Mohammad Ali Mirza “Sho’a os-Saltaneh” “Amir Touman” (b. ca. 1847), Commander-in-Chief of the Persian Cossack division in Isfahan.
- 6. Prince Khan Baba Khan Mirza (1849-1926), Colonel in Russian army.
- 7. Prince Qoflan Agha Mirza (b. ca. 1850).
- 8. Prince Aziz Khan Mirza (b. ca. 1851).
- 9. Prince Abdol Samed Mirza (1851-1924), Colonel in Russian army.
- 10. Prince Nasrollah Mirza (b. ca. 1852), Colonel in Nizhny-Novgorod Dragoon regiment, returned to Iran.
- 11. Prince Amir Kazem Mirza (1853-1920), Major-General in Russian army.
- 12. Prince Mahmoud Mirza (b. ca. 1853), General in Russian army.
- 13. Prince Ali Qoli Mirza (1854-1905).
- 14. Prince Prince Heydar Qoli Mirza (1855-1918).
- 15. Prince Shah Qoli Mirza.
- 16. Prince Qolam Shah Mirza (d. 1918).
- 17. Prince Ilkhani Mirza (b. ca. 1858).
- 18. Prince Amirkhan Mirza (b. ca. 1859).
- 19. Prince Baha od-Din Mirza (b. ca. 1860).
- 20. Prince Khan Jahan Mirza (b. ca. 1861), Colonel in Russian army.
- 21. Prince Amanollah Khan Mirza (1862-1937), Major-General in Russian army, Deputy-Commander in Azerbaijan army, returned to Iran and became instructor of the Iranian army.
- 22. Prince Khan Alam Mirza (b. ca. 1863).
- 23. Prince Seyfollah Mirza (1864-1926), Colonel in Russian army.
- 24. Prince Imamverdi Mirza (b. ca. 1864), returned to Iran.
- 25. Prince Homayoun Mirza (b. ca. 1865).
- 26. Prince Ardashir Mirza.
- 27. Prince Keyqobad Mirza (1870-1923).
- 28. Prince Allahverdi Mirza (b. ca. 1870).
- 29. Prince Mohammad Mirza aka Mamed Qoli Mirza (1872-1920), Major-General in Russian army.
- 30. Prince Seyf ol-Malek Mirza.
- 31. Prince Idris Agha Mirza, cornet in Russian cavalry.
- 32. Prince Ebrahim Mirza, mine engineer in Russia.
- 33. Prince Sahebgharan Mirza, returned to Iran and became 1903 Chamberlain-in-Control of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah.
His daughters known by name in order of seniority:
- 1. Princess Azari Homayoun Khanom “Shahzadeh Khanom” (b. ca. 1838).
- 2. Princess Rowshandeh Soltan Khanom (b. ca. 1846)
- 3. Princess Qizikhanim Khanom “Tadj ol-Molouk” (1847-?).
- 4. Princess Sabiyeh Khanom.
- 5. Princess Khanzadeh Khanom.
- 6. Princess Khorshid Khanom.
- 7. Princess Zarri Khanom.
- 8. Princess Keykab Khanom.
- 9. Princess Malekeh-Sifar Khanom (1860-?)
- 10. Princess Malekeh-Afagh Khanom (1863-1923)
- 11. Princess Abbaseh Khanom (1865-?).
- 12. Princess Noor Jahan Khanom (1868-1955).
- 13. Princess Nawwab Khanom.
- 14. Princess Turan Khanom.
- 15. Princess Ashraf Khanom.
- 16. Princess Manzar Khanom.
- 17. Princess Bahdjat Khanom.
- 18. Princess Noor al-Ain Khanom.
- 19. Princess Firuzeh Khanom.
- 20. Princess Fakhr os-Soltan Khanom.
- 21. Princess Shahzdi Khanom.[6]
Some of Bahman Mirza’s remarkable sons and grandsons in recent Iranian history
- Reza Qoli Mirza, the Tsar’s adjutant-general, who arranged the family's return to Iran with his cousin Nasir al-Din Shah.
- Mahmoud Mirza, who participated in the Russian-Japanese war in 1905 and moved from Nishegorod to Iran to train the Persian army.
- Mohammad Ali Mirza “Sho’a os-Soltan”, “Amir Touman” and commander-in-chief of the Cossack division in Isfahan.
- Seyf od-Din Mirza, son of Mahmoud Mirza, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and confidant of Ahmad Shah Qajar, Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh and Rahimzadeh Safavi.
- Khosrow Mirza Bahman, son of Amanollah Mirza, graduated the University of St. Petersburg as engineer, one of the founding members and leading employees of the Iranian Railway System.
- Parvis Mirza Bahman, son of Amanollah Mirza, engineer and another founding member and leading employee of the Iranian Railway System.
- Dr. Hamid Mirza Bahman, son of Mohammad Mirza, a popular lawyer.
- H.E. Ali Akbar Bahman, Iranian Minister of Commerce, Ambassador to Egypt and to Afghanistan and high-ranking employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Ali Asghar Bahman, high-ranking employee in the Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone.
- Dr. Abbas Mirza Bahman, long-time president of the Basketball-Federation.
- Asghar Mirza Bahman-Ghajar, poet and researcher in the course of agriculture and authorised expert for the Ministry of Justice.
Notes
- ^ Abbas Amanat: Pivot of the Universe, 1996, p. 27.
- ^ A. Nava’i: “Bahman Mirza”, in: Encyclopadia Iranica, II, 1989, p. 490
- ^ Anne K. S. Lambton, Qajar Persia, 1987, p. 16; Mehdi Bamdad: Sharh-e hal-e Rejal-e Iran, I, 1999, p.197; Mohammad Ali Bahmani-Ghajar: Neveshtar-e Bahman Mirza, Tehran, p. 3.
- ^ Nava’i, p. 490/491; Ann K. S. Lambton: “Kadjar”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, VI, 1978, p. 308; Kamran Rastegar: Literary Modernity between the Middle East and Europe. 2007, p. 67.
- ^ Eldar Imayilov; Chingiz Kadjar: The Kadjars, 2001, p. 94 ff; L.A. Ferydoun Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn (Khosrovani) and Bahman Bayani: “The Fath Ali Shah Project”, in: Qajar Studies. Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association, Volume IV, 2004, p. 172.
- ^ http://zarrinkafsch-bahman.org/8.html Genealogy of descendants of Bahman Mirza]
References
- Amanat, Abbas (1996). Pivot of the Universe: Nassir al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831-1896. Berkely - Los Angeles: University of California Press.
- Bahmani-Ghajar, Mohammad Ali. Neveshtar-e Bahman Mirza. Tehran.
- Bamdad, Mehdi (1378 (1999), Issue 5). Sharh-e hal-e Rejal-e Iran, Vol. I. Tehran: Zavvar.
- Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn (Khosrovani)/ Bahman Bayani, L.A. Ferydoun (2004). “The Fath Ali Shah Project”, in: Qajar Studies. Journal of the International Qajar Studies Association, Volume IV. Rotterdam: Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn.
- Kadjar, Chingiz (2001). The Kadjars. Baku.
- Lambton, Anne K. S. (1987). Qajar Persia: Eleven Studies. London: I. B. Tauris.
- Lambton, Anne K. S. (1978). “Kadjar”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Vol. VI. Leiden: Brill.
- Nava'i, Abdolhossein (1989). “Bahman Mirza”, in: Encyclopadia Iranica, Vol. II. London – Boston - New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Rastegar, Kamran (2007). Literary Modernity between the Middle East and Europe. Textual transaction in nineteenth-century Arabic, Persian and English literatures. London: Routledge.
