Qajar dynasty
| Qajar dynasty | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms of the Qajar dynasty | |
| Parent house | Qajar tribe |
| Country | Qajar Iran |
| Place of origin | Astarabad, Iran |
| Founded | 1789 |
| Founder | Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar |
| Current head | Prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza II |
| Final ruler | Ahmad Shah Qajar |
| Titles | Shah of Iran |
| Traditions | Twelver Shia Islam |
| Deposition | 1925 |
| Cadet branches | Amirsoleimani, Bahmani/Bahmanov, Farmanfarmaian/Farman Farma |
The Qajar dynasty (Persian: دودمان قاجار, romanized: Dudemân-e Ǧâjâr) is a formerly aristocratic (and from 1789–1925, royal) Iranian dynasty that gained prominence with the rise of Shahverdi Sultan in the early 16th century as heads of the Turkoman Qajar tribe of the Qizilbash confederacy. The dynasty ruled Iran from 1789 until 1925, beginning with the Unification of Iran (1779–1796) by Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1789–1797).
The Russian branch of the Qajar dynasty belonged to the Russian Nobility and were given the titles Prince Persidskii and Princess Persidskaya by the Tsar in the 19th century, of which many members had held high functions in the Imperial Russian Army, such as Alexander Petrovich Reza Qoli Mirza Qajar.
The dynasty's effective rule in Iran ended in 1925 when Iran's Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on 12 December 1925, declared Reza Shah, a former brigadier-general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, as the new shah of Iran, beginning the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty.