Fakhr Jahan Khanum

Fakhr Jahan Khanom (Persian: فخر جهان خانم; born 1211 AH (1796/1797 CE) – died 1275 AH (1858/1859CE)), titled Fakhr al-Dowleh, was the sixth daughter of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar by his fortieth wife, Fatemeh Khanom, known as Sonbol Baji, who had been taken captive in Kerman. Fakhr al-Dowleh was among the most distinguished and capable daughters of Fath-Ali Shah. It was she who saved Ali Mirza Zell-e-Soltan from being killed by Mohammad Shah Qajar.

Fakhr Jahan Khanom was married in her youth to Mirza Mohammad Khan, a son of Hossein Qoli Khan Qajar. However, their temperaments proved incompatible, and after some time she divorced Mirza Mohammad Khan. Following her separation, she first took up residence in the Sarvestan Courtyard, a building in the Golestan Palace. Later, the houses within the royal citadel, originally the residence of Fath-Ali Shah, were granted to her.

Fakhr al-Dowleh's household was complete in every respect, with its own attendants, tent quarters, and private stables. The districts of Joshqan and Eshtehard were assigned to her as fiefs, and Fath-Ali Shah built Niavaran Palace for her. At first, several princes would reside in Niavaran under her supervision. After the last Russo-Persian War, when Fath-Ali Shah ceased his summer journeys to the plain of Soltaniyeh, he instead spent each summer in Niavaran as Fakhr al-Dowleh's guest, accompanied by many members of the royal harem and princes. She even possessed golden cooking cauldrons and utensils, and during her father's stays, she personally prepared his meals in a golden pot.

After Fath-Ali Shah's death, Ali Mirza Zell-e Soltan laid claim to the throne in Tehran and crowned himself under the name Ali Shah. Soon afterward, through the strategy of Qa'em-Maqam Farahani, Tehran was taken and Zell-e Soltan was defeated. Mohammad Mirza, the legitimate heir, was then crowned as Mohammad Shah. After this event, Fakhr Jahan Khanom set out on a pilgrimage to Karbala. Upon her return, she brought one hundred manns (Tabriz measure) of soil from Karbala, which was spread in the mausoleum of Fath-Ali Shah in Qom, and the Shah was buried in it.

Fakhr al-Dowleh lived for many years in Tehran with great respect, and her residence became a gathering place for the sons and daughters of Fath-Ali Shah. She was a generous and open-handed princess who hosted lavish banquets; as a result, she fell into debt toward the end of her life. She passed away childless in Tehran in 1275 AH.

Lesan ol-Molk Sepahr writes about her in Naskh al-Tawarikh: “Yet she is noble and exalted in rank, and her presence is the gathering place of the great.”