User:Amir Ghandi/Mohammad Shah Qajar

Mohammad Shah (born Mohammad Mirza; 5 January 1808 – 5 September 1848) was the third Qajar shah of Iran from 1834 to 1848. He succeeded his grandfather, Fath-Ali Shah, as the king of Iran.

From a young age, Mohammad Mirza was under the tutelage of Haji Mirza Aqasi a local dervish of Tabriz. His teachings influenced the young prince to become a Sufi-King later in his life. With the death of Abbas Mirza in 1833, Mohammad Mirza became the crown prince to Fath-Ali Shah and was conferred the title of Governor of Azarbaijan. Not long after, Fath-Ali Shah died on his way to Shiraz. The death of Fath Ali Shah led to the revolt of a number of his sons, such as Ali Shah Mirza and Hossein Ali Mirza, but Mohammad Shah, under the tact of his grand vizier, Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, suppressed the rebellions and asserted his authority.

Mohammad Shah ordered the removal, imprisonment and eventual execution of Qa'em-Maqam which led the way for appointment of Aqasi as the grand vizier. Primitively in his reign, Mohammad Shah's primary goal was to annex Herat to the Iranian mainland. Therefore, in 1837, he marched to the city. He laid a futile siege on Herat and was foreced to retreat and withdraw when the British government threatened military action. In return to Iran, he suppressed a revolt in Isfahan by Mohammad Bagher Shafti, a major clergy figure. In 1837, the governor of Baghdad sacked the city of Khorramshahr. Mohammad Shah intended to declare a war with the Ottoman empire, but the British-Russian mediation prevented escalation of tensions and war, and instead led to the signing of the Second Treaty of Erzurum.

Mohammad Shah, under British pressure, abolished the slave trade through the Persian Gulf, however it was still allowed to have slaves and trade them through land. The Shah initially opposed the abolition based on the Islamic tradition, but eventually accepted. Another important event of his time was the rise of the Báb and Bábism, in which Mohammad Shah and his grand vizier refused to eliminate his followers despite the fatwa by Shiite clerics. France–Iran relations resumed during his reign. Mohammad Shah suffered from gout and this overshadowed his rule. In the final years of his reign, his physical condition deteriorated, and he died from a combination of gout and erysipelas on 4 Septamber 1848, at the age of 40, after fourteen years reign. He was buried in Fatima Masumeh Shrine in Qom and was succeded by his son, Naser al-Din Shah.

As a ruler, Mohammad Shah did not receive praise. He would be labeled as a figurehead king for Aqasi, who he was highly depended on. The shah was devoted to both Aqasi and his teachings on Sufism. So much that over time he became the willing sustainer of sufis, and sought spiritual guidance in mystical rituals instead of the marji'i taqlīd. Wherefore, the ulama grew as Mhis firmest rivals who challenged his legitimecy and authority throughout his short reign. He enlarged the Qajar bureaucracy and filled positions with Aqasi's sufi friends and companions, thus, allowing for a corrupt administration that saw its peak during his son's reign. Mohammad Shah was the last Qajar shah who personally attended the battlefield in a foreign war, and also the last one to carry the title Ghazi, warrior of Islam, for his presence in the Iran-Russia war and after suppressing the rebellion in Isfahan.

Background
When Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the Qajar dynasty, was conquering the eastern provinces of Iran in 1795, the Russian Empire invaded the Caucasus, and the Shah was forced to move his army there without consolidating his rule in the east, including in Herat. The Russian army retreated before he could reach the Caucasus. Thereafter, Agha Mohammad was assassinated in 1797 in Shusha. Though he's realm never reached the far east of Greater Khorasan, he was recognised as the Shahanshah by Ahmad Shah Durrani, who proclaimed his allegiance in a public khutba. Agha Mohammad Khan was succeded by his nephew, Fath-Ali Shah (Then called Baba Khan). During the reign of Fath-Ali Shah, disputes between Iran and Russia over sovereignty over Georgia led to wars that resulted in the defeat of Iran in several stages; According to the Gulistan and Turkmenchay treaties, large parts of the realm were separated and Iran was forced to make many concessions to Russia. The war also tarnished Iran's global image to a weak state with unstable borders, and overshadowed Iranian pride.

In Europe, British Empire, as a colonial power, benefited greatly from sovereignty over India and viewed Iran as a strong barrier to prevent Russia from gaining access to the region. On the other hand, it was well-known that the Russian Empire, in its quest to reach the warm open waters in southern Iran, intended to expand its sovereignty over Iranian territory. Thus, during the reign of Fath-Ali Shah, the Iranian political stage was a competition between the Russian and British governments to receive numerous concessions and expand political influence.

In the years between the two wars with Russia, various issues led to a war between Iran and the Ottoman Empire in 1821, which ended with the military victory of Iran and the conclusion of the First Treaty of Arzum in 1823. The treaty did not resolve fundamental differences, the most important of which was the delimitation of the two states, and left it vague. There were also disputes such as the persecution of Iranian pilgrims to Shiite holy sites by the Ottomans and the citizenship of border tribes. Another contentious issue was the trade rivalry between Khorramshahr and Basra.

From the beginning of his reign, Fath-Ali Shah tried to present himself as a pious king in the eyes of Shiite clerics and went so far as to declare his monarchy a subrogation for the ulama. In this era, Isfahan once again took on the image of the religious capital of Iran, and the government left the hands of Shiite clerics free to persecute religious minorities. Sufis suffered the most. Fath-Ali Shah took upon himself to lead their persecution; In such ways like ordering to "suffocate" the Sufi leaders of Tabriz.

Childhood
Mohammad Mirza, the eldest son of Crown prince Abbas Mirza and Glin Khanum, daughter of Mirza Mohammad Khan Qajar Davallu, was born in 5 January 1808 in Tabriz. As a child and young man, Mohammad Mirza was a "quiet" and "shy" boy with no apparent political ambitions. He completed his traditional court education in Tabriz and became a skilled calligrapher. He also was a skilled painter; his teacher on that field was Robert Ker Porter. However, his level of knowledge was limited compared to his other brothers, especially Djahangir Mirza and Farhad Mirza, who excelled in writing and other "branches of science". An important moment of his life was when the dervish Haji Mirza Aqasi was summoned to his fahter's household by Mirza Bozorg Qa'em-Maqam, the majordomo of Abbas Mirza. By the orders of Mirza Bozorg, Aqasi was appointed as the chief tutor to Mohammad Mirza. He quickly became devoted to Aqasi and his Sufi teachings. This was opposed by Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, another tutor of the Prince who tried to dissuade Mohammad Mirza from studying under Aqasi. But nonetheless, Aqasi's influence on the prince kept growing.

When he was 12 years old, Fath-Ali Shah summoned Mohammad Mirza from Tabriz to Tehran to marry the daughter of Mohammad Qasim Khan Zahir al-Dawla, Malek Jahan Khanom, in order to establish solidarity between the royal family and the rival factions of the Qajar dynasty. The marriege, which took place in September 1819, was not a happy one. Mohammad Mirza and Malek Jahan Khanom were in distrust with each other and their relation was worsened by the successive deaths of their infants. Only two of the children survived this marriage until adulthood: Naser al-Din Mirza, who later became the crown prince and then king of Iran, and Ezzat ed-Dowleh, who married Amir Kabir, later the chief minister of Naser al-Din Shah.

With Abbas Mirza
The Second Russo-Persian War began from the declaration of jihad by Shiite scholars. During the war, Abbas Mirza sent Mohammad Mirza with an army consisting of the tribes of Khajevandi and Abdul Maliki to protect the fortress of Ganja. There, with the command of Amir Khan Sardar (Abbas Mirza's maternal uncle) Mohammad Mirza launched an attack to the Russian army. In this battle, Amir Khan was slain and Mohammad Mirza severely defeated and forced to retreat. After the end of the war, Fath Ali appointed Shah Abbas Mirza to rule Khorasan to regulate the security situation in the area. An area which was under the constant raids of Prince Kamran, previously appointed as the governor of Herat by the Iran government, who now styled himself as 'Shah'. Mohammad Mirza also accompanied his father on this trip. In one of his missions, the prince released nearly 20,000 Iranians held captive by Sunni tribes of Central Asia. Apparently, it was in honour of this great victory that he named his newborn child "Naser al-Din" (defender of the faith).

Abbas Mirza spent two years in Khorasan suppressing rebel khans; Khiva and Herat supported these revolts, and promised aid but the crown prince's victories discouraged them. In 1832, Abbas Mirza summoned Kamran Shah, the ruler of Herat, to pay tribute. Instead of coming, he sent his vizier, Yar Mohammad Khan. Feeling insulted, he sent Mohammad Mirza with an army to Herat. Mohammad Mirza advanced directly to Herat, and began preparing for a siege. Abbas MIrza was bringing him an army of reinforcement when he suddenly died in Mashhad. Upon hearing his death, Mohammad Mirza and Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, who also was a leading figure of the siege, were forced to negotiate with Kamran Shah. It was agreed that Kamran Shah would accept the sovereignty of Iran, pay 15,000 tomans in gold along with fifty Kashmir shawl, and release the Iranian prisoners who had been captured during the war. Mohammad Mirza appointed his brother, Ghahreman Mirza as the governor of Khorasan and, with Qa'em-Maqam in tow, went to Tehran to claim the title of Crown prince.

Accesion to the Throne
In Nowruz of 1834, Mohammad Mirza was appointed as the Crown prince, and took the office of his father, governorship of Azarbaijan and left Tehran for Tabriz. As the Crown prince, Mohammad Mirza was under the complete influence of Qa'em-Maqam; on his orders, the prince imprisoned four of his brothers including Djahangir Mirza and Khosrow Mirza in Ardabil and later to invalid their claims on throne, blinded them. Announcing Mohammad Mirza as the Ccrown prince angered Fath-ali Shah's fifth son, Hossein Ali Mirza, the Prince-Governor of Fars who thought that choosing Mohammad Mirza as crown prince would deprive him of his rights and would be surrendering to Russian demands.

In October 1834, Fath-Ali Shah with intention to collect the 200,000 tomans tax arrears from Hossein Ali Mirza, and a hidden motive to revoke him of his lands, went to Fars but died in the process in Isfahan. Couriers were quickly sent to Tabriz, otherwise, the shah's death remained hidden. His body was then taken to Fatima Masumeh Shrine for burial. It was only then that it was publicly announced that the shah was dead. As expected, his death sparked riots across the country, with a number of princes, including Hossein Ali Mirza in Shiraz and Ali Shah Mirza in Tehran, proclaiming themselves kings.

In early november, John Campbell and Comte Ivan Simonich, British and Russian envoys respectively, arrived in Tabriz to proclaim their support for Mohammad Mirza. They provided him an army led by Col. Henry Lindsay Bethune which set off for Tehran, where Ali Shah Mirza has proclaimed himself king. Mohammad Mirza's army met the 15,000 Ali Shah's corps, led by the latter's brother Imam Verdi Mirza in Takestan, west of Qazvin. After a brief confrontation, Imam Verdi Mirza sought to surrender and recognize Mohammad Mirza. The new king agreed to waive his uncle's punishment. Eventually, in early 1835, Mohammad Mirza entered the capital with Qa'em-Maqam, his courtiers and Russian and British ambassadors, and was crowned king on 14 January.

In February 1835, Mohammad Shah sent an army under command of Manouchehr Khan Gorji to Isfahan which was captured by Hossein Ali Mirza's forces under command of his brother, Shoja al-Saltanah. After reconquering Isfahan, Manouchehr Khan marched to Shiraz, where he captured Hossein Ali Mirza and ended his rebellion. He was imprisoned in Ardabil and soon died of cholera; with his defeat, the other rebel princes surrendered their claims and recognised Mohammad Shah as the king of Iran.

Early years
Mohammad Shah appointed Qa'em-Maqam as his grand vizier. However, his premiership did not last long. He was already losing influence over the young king, but his policies and ideas made him adversaries in the court. As soon as he became the grand vizier, Qa'em-Maqam had the royal princes sworn an oath of fealty to Mohammad Shah, otherwise, he had them imprisoned. This fate befell many of Qajar princes such as Mahmoud Mirza, the governor of Kashan, who refused to relinquish his claim and therefore, lost his title and wealth. Soon, Qa'em-Maqam was attacked by rivals, the most prominent ones being Allahyar Khan Asef al-Dowla, Mohammad Shah's uncle from the Davallu tribe, and a coalition led by Aqasi. His adversaries soon extended to British envoy, John Campbell who expected grand privileges for their contribute in enthroning the shah but was refused by Qa'em-Maqam. In order to lessen British influence over the court, Qa'em-Maqam reached for good relations with Ottoman Empire. His rivals with slanderous accusations, urged Mohammad Shah to have Qa'em-Maqam ousted from his position. Ultimately, the shah was convinced. In 22 Jun 1835, he arrested and imprisoned Qa'em-Maqam in Negarestan Palace. Four days later he ordered his execution.

Mohammad Shah thence spent few month without a grand vizier. Campbell expressed his support for Mirza Abolhassan Khan Ilchi while his courtiers wished for Abdollah Amin al-Dowleh (An erstwhile grand vizier of Fath-Ali Shah); but Mohammad Shah by his own will, chose Aqasi who filled this position for the large part of his reign. By this time, Mohammad Shah's health raised as a concern for the future of the kingdom, hence the four-year-old Naser al-Din Mirza was appointed as the crown prince. Mohammad Shah granted the governorship of Azarbaijan (Bestowed by the Qajar kings to the heir apparent,) to his firstborn son and appointed his full-brother, Ghahreman Mirza as his regent. Ghahreman Mirza was in close ties with the Russian government; when he died in 1839, Mohammad Shah replaced him with his last living full-brother, Bahman Mirza.

In 1837, a rebellion broke out in Kerman, led by Agha Khan I, the leader of Nizari Ismailis. The Nizari Muslims, though scarce in number, lived in Iran under the leadership of Hassan Ali Shah, who asserted his place with marrying Fath-Ali Shah's daughter, Sarveh Jahan Khanum, and acquiring the title of Aga Khan. When Mohammad Shah ascended the throne, on the advise of Qa'em Maqam, he appointed Agha Khan as the governor of Kerman, a rebelious state governed by Shoja al-Saltanah, a brother to Hossein Ali Mirza. Agha Khan successfully pacified the state, but his governorship was short-lived. For in 1837, he was recalled to Tehran and his position was replaced with Firouz Mirza, the shah's brother. Agha Khan raised arms and declared rebellion against the shah and withdraw with his forces into Bam to resist the shah from there. Mohammad Shah sent an army under the command of Sourab Khan. The royal army besieged Bam and during the process took the sever injured brother of Agha Khan as prisoner. Agha Khan, after eight months, surrendered and was imprisoned. His belongings got plundered and his wasn't allow to receive his religious due sent from India, Khurasan and Badakhshan. Agha Khan was a prisoner of the shah until 1838, when he was allowed to retreat to his familial lands in Mahallat.

Herat Campaign
Mohammad Shah's number one objective was to annex Herat. This alarmed Kamran Shah to attemp gathering various neighboring tribes such as Jamshidi, Tumani and Hazara in Herat to resist the shah in the event of a military campaign. These mobilisations alarmed the British government. As a result, Alexander Burnes and Eldred Pottinger were send to Kabul and Herat respectively. Among Britain's concerns was Article 11 of the Treaty of Turkmenchay, which allowed Russia to establish consulates and trade missions with a maximum of ten members throughout Iranian territory. Thus they accused Russian government of encouraging Iran to invade Herat. Among the reasons Iran desired the retaking of Herat, was Mohammad Shah's dream of uniting the Persian-speaking tribes of Afghan highlands to Iran. Moreover, he also wanted to free the Iranian prisoners, imprisoned by Sunni tribes who dwelt near Khorasan. Conquest of Herat was also the first step in fulfilling the ambitious plan of extending Iran's influence up to Amu Darya. In the late 1836, Mohammad Shah ordered his army to be mustered for the following spring. This gave John McNeill, a British minister, enough time to arrange an agreement in which Herat would resume paying tributes; but, Yar Mohammad Khan would not tolerate the Iranian sovereignty, and the shah himself would not withdraw unless with a conquered Herat.

Eventually in 1837 Mohammad Shah marched on. British officers were expelled from the Iranian army, and the British embassy was closed down. Mohammad Shah personally took command of Iran's 80,000 corps, while Kamran Shah had gathered a few thousand badly-equipped soldiers, while. The ruler of Herat had little hope of resisting against Mohammad Shah, for the city's population, terrorised of their overlord and dispirited by the economic decline, were hardly likely to put up any fight, furthermore, the crumbling fortification of the city's walls were not in any state to withstand an assualt. Kamran Shah's only source of hope was the support of Sher Mohammad Khan Hazara, the amir of Qala e Naw. He vowed a fight for death for Kamran Shah, and brought about 4000 foot soldiers and numerous horsmen to Herat's army. In addition, he orginised an alliance between Aimaq, Uzbek and Turkman tribes under the banner of Sunni Islam. Thus with the leadership of Sher Mohammad and Kamran Shah's son, Nader Mirza, ten to twelve thousand horsemen had assembled around Qala e Naw and were threatening to attack Iran's borders.In 28 October, Mohammad Shah camped at Torbat-e Jam. There, in order to counteract, he ordered twelve thousand of his best soldiers under the command of Mohammad Khan Asef al-Dowleh (The governor of Khorasan) to march to Qala e Naw. By the middle of November, he seized there and the area around, dividing Sher Mohammad's army in two part, one camped in Kushk under the command of Mohammad Zaman Jamshidi, and one already retreating to Herat. The Jamshidi army faced Asef al-Dowleh's men, and were scattered in a desperate fight; losing two to three hundred men killed, and as many taken prisoner. Despite the great victory, The Iranian army faced a difficult time, suffering the winter cold which reached the mountains much earlier than Herat, and the shortage of supplies which could only be purchased by high prices. Eventually, Asaf al-Dowleh and his men marched their way through the mountains to Bala Murghab and from there to Maymana where he defeated another host of Afghan army under the command of Sher Mohammad Khan. After this victory, he sent an ambassador to his opponent's camp, and promised them freedom and wealth if they surrendered to the shah. His offer was received positively, and Sher Mohammad agreed to sent two of his sons to Herat to proffer their submission to Mohammad Shah.

In 23 November, Mohammad Shah with a part of his army reached the outskirts of Herat. There, they faced a fierce resistance from the defenders, however, eventually forced them to retreat behind the walls. Mohammad Shah sat up his camp southeast of Herat and began a long siege for the city. The Iranian army fell into a dilemma, Aqasi wanted to wait for the Russian's aid, while Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri (Later a grand vizier of Naser al-Din Shah,) persuaded for crushing the city walls. The greatest problem Mohammad Shah faced was to feed his men. His army quickly ran out of supplies and the lines back to Mashhad were insecure and often impassable. The fields around Herat were already harvested by the citizens and the remains were destroyed. Only after the spring of 1838, when Mohammad Shah ordered his men to plant their crops, the problem was truly solved.

In March 1838, John McNiell arrived at the shah's camp as the British representative; he failed to dissuade him and thus in 7 June 1838, withdraw from Herat, and cut the British-Iran relations. Ten days later, the British Indian fleet from Bombay occupied Kharg Island and threatened further military actions. From the pressure of ending the campaign, Mohammad Shah ordered a full-scale assault to Herat, only to fail with high casualties. The British sent an ultimatum, threatening war if the siege continued. The Russians thereof abandoned Mohammad Shah's cause and retreated their support. All of these, along with news of rebellions finally led Mohammad Shah to give up his campaign and withdraw from the siege. Although he failed in conquering Herat, his army still occupied Ghurian, and other forts alike; a number of Afghan warlords such as Kohendil Khan of Kandahar would remain loyal to the shah.

Rebellion in Isfahan
Mohammad Bagher Shafti was one of the most distinguished religious figures of the time; with a fortune of 2 million and 500 thousand francs. He once had rebelled against Mohammad Shah in 1834, when he tried to seize the city of Isfahan from its Prince-Governor, Sayf ol-Dowleh. Over the course of four years, he had taken control of the Luti population of Isfahan and finally in 1838 raised against the governor of the city, Gholam Hossein Khan Sepahdar, and ergo Mohammad Shah. His men, known for their acts of murder, robbery, and rape, looted the city and took the booty to Jameh Mosque of Isfahan. There, Shafti declared their leader, Ramazan, as Ramazan Shah and ordered coins be struck by his name. The roots of this revolt lies in a letter by McNiell to Shafti, in which he implies the cause of the war in Herat the Shah's warmongering and obduracy. This revolt was supported by a Safavid descendant called Nawab Safavi which further encouraged the rebels to eventually killing the deputy governor of the city.

As a result, between 1838 and 1840, Isfahan was in the hands of insurgents, especially the Lutis, whom their numbers were increasing. For the poor population of the city was joining the Lutis and Shafti's cause. To end their rebellion, Mohammad Shah headed to Isfahan with sixty thousand troops on the return from Herat. An unprecedented even for the shah to take arms against the clergy of the state, especially Shafi, who considered as a leader of the clergy, and Isfahan, the religious capital of Iran. Hence, the modern historian, Homa Nategh, noted this act as a "coup d'etat".

Upon reaching the city, Mohammad Shah ordered the cannons to bombard Isfahan. Shafti, in fear of the high losses, opened the northern gate of the city, and the Lutis deserted from the southern gate. Mohammad Shah triumphantly entered the city and instantly ordered the execution of the remaining Lutis. However, he could not charge Shafti in any extreme measures but to exile his son to Astrabad. The Luti king, Ramazan Shah, died during torture and of his men, 240 were killed and 400 were arrested. Mohammad Shah ordered a court to be set up so that the people could recount Lutis crimes. Moreover, the shah took the lands and properties that had been usurped by the mujtahids and the Lutis and made him part of his demesne lands. Harsh penalties were made to ensure the stability and fear to prevent future rebellions. Mohammad Shah celebrated his victory greatly, trying to erase the recent memory of the failure in Herat. He gave himself the title of Ghazi, (the warrior of islam), to declare Shafti's cause as blasphemy.

The Second Treaty of Erzurum
As mentioned before, the hostilities with the Ottomans and the tensions over the borderlands of the two empires was not resolved by the treaty of Erzurum and later led to incidents during Mohammad Shah's reign that pushed him even to start a war, such as the incident caused by Ali Reza Pasha, the governor of Baghdad, who sacked the city of Khorramshahr in 1837. Thereafter, the peace over the frontier of Iran and Ottoman empire became a prioritised European project in the early 1840s. The negotiations between the two nations began in 1842 in Erzurum, a sizeable frontier town with a cosmopolitan flair thanks to the presences of French, British, and Russian consulates and a few American missionaries. The Iranian commission included Mirza Taqi Khan Farahani, later known as Amir Kabir, whose involvement in this treaty put him on the political map, and on the Ottoman side was Enveri Sadullah Efendi, a member of the Supreme Council of Justice, whose arrogance and occasionally undiplomatic language created so many problems that he was considered to be replaced. In 15 May 1843, the negotiations officially begun. Mohammad Shah had demanded the Iranian plenipotentiaries to resolve the negotiations quickly or else he would raise arms against the Ottoman empire, however, the negotiations lasted for four years. Mostly because of delays caused by political and military crisis such as the Ottoman massacre of twenty two thousand Shi'i Iranian pilgrims on the road to Karbala that suspended the negotiations for three months.

However, the negotiations were resumed by the British and Russian mediations. The territorial restitution were confined to three cities, Khorramshahr, Zohab, and Sulaymaniyah and the Iranian dominance over the Shatt al-Arab. Ownership over Zohab was a heated argument between the negotiators. The town, not significant in itself, was captured by Mohamad Ali Mirza Dowlatshah, the firstborn son of Fath-Ali Shah, during the Ottoman-Persian war of 1821, and thus it ownership was kept by Iran, even though in the first treaty of Erzurum it was agreed by Iran to return it. At first, Iran tried to keep the town as Farahani suggested that Zohab be parted between the two nations, one part ruled by Iran and the other by the Ottomans. Eventually, the Iranian party agreed to return the ownership of the town if the Ottoman, in return, would forsake their desire to dominant the Shatt al-Arab's trade rout. When the commissioners began discussing Khorramshahr, Farahani declared that the town has always been part of Khuzistan and demanded £1 million in compensation for the 1837 sack of the city. Despite the Ottoman protests and arguments, Khorramshahr was stated as a part of Iran with Farahani's firm efforts.

Thus in May 1846 the first drafts of the treaty were written. Russia and Britain were to draw up a map of the border areas, and both parties would accept it. In the meantime, Farahani fell ill and in the mean time, a riot broke out in Erzurum, his house was looted and two of his companions were torn to pieces by the rebels. Thus, the negotiations were suspended for several months. The continuation of the negotiations was subject to the punishment of the rioters and the payment of damages. The Ottoman government formally apologized to Iran, imprisoned 300 rioters, and paid 15,000 tomans in compensation. Negotiations resumed and a contract including an introduction and nine articles was drafted. However, the Ottoman party was unsatisfied with the outcome and threatened to leave the negotiations. Determined to avoid such results, the mediating parties continued to give the Ottomans assurances but kept the Iranians ignorant of them, hoping Mohammad Shah would endorse the new results. Finally, on 31 May 1847, Farahani and Efendi signed the treaty and left Erzurum. In 26 June, Mohammad Shah also ratified the treaty.

While the tensions seemed to be resolved, the Ottoman government added three more articles to the treaty, in secret and with the support of British and Russian ambassadors. Based on these articles, Iran's rights on the Shatt al-Arab were revoked, and on Khorramshahr reduced. Moreover, contrary to the agreements, Shatt al-Arab, expect a few islands,was left to the Ottoman empire. When in the end of January 1848, Mirza Javad, a courier from Tehran, arrived in Istanbul with Mohammad Shah's ratified copies of the treaty, the Ottoman government insisted that they would not ratify the treaty unless the shah agreed to the new articles. Not wanting to raise Mohammad Shah's suspicion, the British and Russian ambassadors convinced Iran's envoy to Paris, Miza Mohammad Ali Khan, who was in Istanbul at the time, to agree to the new articles. Mirza Mohammad Ali agreed to the articles, alternatively called the Explanatory Note, only if the ambassadors signed an official statement whereon they informed Mohammad Shah that the it was necessary for maintaining the treaty. Mohammad Shah did not accept the new terms and declared the treaty false and invalid. Thus the tensions between Iran and the Ottomans persisted and continued even after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Later, the newly established country of Iraq inherited these disputes with Iran.

The Abolition of Slavery in the Persian Gulf
In the 1840s, the annual number of enslaved people sold in the Persian Gulf was estimated to be four to five thousand. When Justin Sheil succeeded John McNiel as the envoy to Iran, he and his wife observed the slavery and decided to act against it. Therefore, he sent a letter to Aqasi and pleaded for an abolition. However, the diplomatic pressure did not convince the shah, so, Sheil brought up the moral aspect of slavery, emphasising its negative impacts on the African pupolation. Mohammad Shah remained unmoved and claimed an abolition would contradict the Islamic tradition. Sheil further argued his points, but the shah responded that such interferences would undermine diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Colonel Francis Farrant replaced Sheil when he was recalled to London in the late 1847. Like his predecessor, he also negotiated for an abolition with Aqasi, albeit he was more successful, especially for the newly signed treaty of Erzurum that put him a good light for the grand vizier. His argument was that if the Ottoman empire could abolish the slavery in their nation, Iranians could do the same. The argument appealed to Aqasi who suggested the same to Mohammad Shah. The shah was ready to adapt the changes similar to those of the Ottomans, as it is clear from the letter he sent to Farrant. In this way he could both appease the British without challenging his the Islamic tradition.

Mohammad Shah, in result, agreed to the abolition of the slave trade through the Persian Gulf. However, having slaves and trading it through the land was still allowed. On his behest, Aqasi sent three letters to the governors of Fars, Kerman, and Isfahan. In these letters, in addition to ordering the governors to do not partake in the slave trade of the Persian Gulf, he expresses his concerns of the shah's health. On the advice of both Sheil and Farrant, Aqasi also approached the major ulama of Tehran to take their consent should the slave traders accuse them of blasphemy. The results were unfavourible, as most of the ulama saw this act as legal to the Mohammedan law. However, Sheil was still successful to obtain a fatwa in support of the shah's decision.

Death
Throughout his life, Mohammad Shah would suffer gout and its recurrent attacks. However, he would also suffer pain from the medicines given to him by his Jewish doctor, who was assigned to the shah when the British and French doctors were dismissed by Aqasi. His traditional remedies resulted to a sever paroxysm of Mohammad Shah's illness. Upon his sever paroxysm, the shah became so weak that the reports of his death were prevalent throughout Tehran. He recovered, but lost the use of one leg. Aqasi, however, still refused to let any foreign trained physician, especially from the English doctors, to come close to Mohammad Shah. Only a French doctor, named Labat, was allowed to treat the shah. Under his care, Mohammad Shah recovered to a certain extent but was still so feeble that could only move with the help of two persons. Becoming infirm and debilitated, the shah lost the will to rule and turned the government to Aqasi and carved the way for a political and social turmoil.

Mohammad Shah's dire health prompted the foreign powers to reassert their pledge on the order of the succession in February 1842, and declare their support of Mohammad Shah's eldest son, Naser al-Din Mirza. However, Bahman Mirza, who served as regent for Naser al-Din Mirza, began mobilising at Tabriz for a scenario whereon he would pressure his nephew to become his regent in the event of the shah's death. Bahman Mirza had the firm foreign support from the Count Medem and John McNiel, the Russian and British envoys respectively. However, the British withdraw their support when Shiel succeeded McNiel, and the Russian went as far as promoting Bahman Mirza as a successor to Mohammad Shah. To counteract the Russians, Aqasi arranged a marriage for Naser al-Din Mirza in 1845 with the daughter of Ahmad Ali Mirza, a son of Fath-Ali Shah. It was this wedding that brought the young prince into the political map. At the same time, the shah's health improved slightly and the realm and its succession seemed stable and secure.

Aqasi now held greater influence on the shah than before, with the shah ceasing his independent hand in the government from the years of pain. Aqasi, now the most powerful figure of the realm, was also becoming avaricious of his position and less and less inclined to govern accordingly, for his mind was often confused and excited with opium and the shah, thinking highly of Aqasi, was happy to let him govern as he liked. In the late summer 1848, he was overtaken with a combination of gout and erysipelas and it was clear that he would not recover from it. Finally, Mohammad Shah Qajar, a cripple in his last days, died at nine in the evening of 4 September 1848.

Religion
In his patronage of Sufism, Mohammad Shah was compared to Ismail I. He denoted the Sufi Islam as the rival for the Shi'ia and the ulama. The Sufis, who not so long ago were persecuted in Fath-Ali Shah's reign, now could freely promote their beliefs. Mohammad Shah himself was very dependant on his Sufi teacher, Aqasi, and gave away court positions to Aqasi's Sufi friends such as Mirza Mahdi Khui who became the chief scribe of the court. Concurrent with their new patronage, Sufis took the idea of the Hidden Imam from the Shi'ia and connected it to their Sufi saints. Figures such as Safi-ad-din Ardabili became a massanger of the Hidden Imam and the Sufi murshids (spiritual guides) were the only knowledgeable people who could read these communications, often through dreaming. The Sufis despised the acts of torture and violence, hence, when Aqasi became the grand vizier, he pleaded for their reduction. Mohammad Shah wouldn't accept it in his early years, arguing that a culprit does not deserve sympathy. However, as he became older and ergo weaker by his pain from gout, he ordered the complete abolition of torture.

Mohammad Shah's approach to the Shi'ia clergy was through hostility and conflict. He abandoned Fath-Ali Shah's attempts to reconcile the demands of piety and the tasks of the absolute ruler. He never asked for a theoretical acknowledgement for his coronation and was more inclined to search his spiritual guide in the dervishes and Sufis than in the ulama of the state. In 24 November 1842, the shah issued a firman on abolishing the rights of sanctuary. He would constantly try to undermine the orthodox ulama position, first with the promotion of Sufism and then with the rise of Báb and Bábism. When Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi first claimed to be the Báb or the gateway to the Hidden Imam, the ulama had declared a fatwa saying he must be killed. Mohammad Shah, on the other hand, called Báb to Tehran and promised him a shelter. This alarmed Aqasi, who had the Báb sent to Maku in Azerbaijan, where he was kept under confinement. However, facing dissent with Mohammad Shah, he did not take any drastic measures against the Báb and his followers.

Although Mohammad Shah did not have an enmity view towards any Christianity branches, he preferred to allow the French Lazarists missionaries into Iran rather than the English Anglicans. In hope of bringing modern eduction to the nation, he issued an edict that allowed these missionaries to to open schools. The head of the Lazarists was Eugène Boré who opened a school in 1839 in Tabriz with students both Christian and Muslim. Though his school triggered unrest among ulama of Tabriz, ultimately, under the protection of Mohammad Shah, they could not harm him.

Education
Abbas Mirza, he sent several students to France mainly with the goal of improving the military. Mohammad Shah took his father's path and sent seven students of noble birth to Europe, among them were Mirza Hosein Khan Moshir od-Dowleh, the future grand vizier of Naser al-Din Shah, and Mirza Malkam Khan, who laid the foundations of Iranian Enlightenment. These students were to master in military, painting, medicine, and geometry. Another 10 people were to be sent to France in 1847, but it is not clear whether they were sent or not.

In 1837, by the orders of Mohammad Shah, the first Iranian newspaper was published in Tehran by Mirza Saleh Shirazi. This newspaper was untitled, and was only referred to as Kaghaz-e Akhbar (literary meaning news-paper). It lasted only for one issue, however, Mirza Saleh's determination led to publishing another newspaper called Akhbar-i Vaqa-a which became Iran's first regular newspaper. Many lithographic printing presses in Tehran, Urmia, Tabriz and Isfahan were established by the orders of Mohammad Shah.

Administration
As a result of various wars and the continuity of unrest throughout the country, Mohammad Shah's treasury was virtually empty. In hope of improving financial conditions, he sought to revive the barren fields that got burned amidst the wars with Russia and the local insurgencies and never got revived. He asked the French Foreign Minister for a French irrigation expert, however, nothing came out of it. Even then, with his efforts, 1438 villages were made habitable. All of these villages were part of the royal domain. Mohammad Shah inherited many domain lands from Fath-Ali Shah and Agha Mohammad Khan before him and he increased the amount much more. He confiscated properties of Aqasi and through revoking the lands of Hossein Ali Mirza, got ownership over Fars and Persian Iraq. He also confiscated the properties seized by the Lutis during the Isfahan rebellion, which was not to the liking of major landowners. On his orders the total number of the royal domains were recorded in the Raqabat-e Mohammadshahi, which included and superseded all previous inventories.

Most of these domains were given to the villagers and the tribes who wanted a settlement. Furthermore, a part of Nader Shah's personal domains were returned to the Afshar tribe, who inherited the lands once the Afsharid dynasty died out. Despite granting two crores of land per person, many of these lands remained belonging to the crown and under the contemporary Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, Mohammad Shah wasn't able to return more of them and his successor, Naser al-Din Shah, completely ignored the Afshar's pleads and petitions. The same Mostowfi ol-Mamalek would extort and force villagers to pay taxes behind the shah's back.

Mohammad Shah brought back governmental positions that had once been part of the Safavid bureaucracy. However, they bore mixed result, for while they helped the state's efficiency, they also led to the birth of a corrupt administration that reached its peak in Naser al-Din Shah's reign. Positions such as Mostowfi ol-Mamalek became hereditary and many holders of these offices accepted bribery for the lack of an absent regular salary. Moreover, Aqasi enlarged governmental titles with promoting his kinsmen. To the point where the once rudimentary bureaucracy of Agha Mohammad Khan became filled with positions with the same duties but different names.

Military
Mohammad Shah was attentive to follow the military reforms his father had started. Reform such as abolishing tribal cavalry and instead, growing to the example of Frederick the Great's cavalry. The result was using Western military technology on a very small scale of Abbas Mirza's personal army of one thousand regular infantry and five hundred regular cavalry.

When Mohammad Shah ascended to the throne, the Iranian army was disorganised, undisciplined and rigidly hierarchical. Mohammad Shah could hardly muster more than twenty thousand men, and those were in poor shape. Instead of carts and wagons, transportations took place by mules, camels and horses, and other than Abbas Mirza's cavalry, the army was filled with tribal cavalry, who only recognised their tribal cheif. To counter these problems, Mohammad Shah put forth a three-staged plan, in which, he would centralise the command, create arsenals, and recover from the loses the wars with Russia brought. He was successful in centralising by consolidating the power upon himself and Aqasi, and to create arsenals, he founded the Tehran foundry. He filled the foundry with six hundred bronze canons, two hundred mortars, rifles, muskets, and Zamburaks.

Moreover, at the request of the shah, Henry Rawlinson was sent to Kermanshah in April 1835, to train Bahram Mirza's troops in the style of Nizam-e Jadid. Another European officer sent to Iran was the Italian F. Colombari, who reformed the Zamburak units of the Iranian army with the new cannon saddles and new falconets he designed for them.

Foreign Policy
Despite his short reign, Mohammad Shah left a lasting mark on Iran's foreign policy. He had resentment towards Russia and Britain, even though the nations supported him for the succession. The weight of Russian military bordering Azerbaijan and their navy anchoring in the port of Anzali Lagoon would put Mohammad Shah in a state of paranoia of another war incoming. The Russians would argue that per Treaty of Turkmenchay they were free to anchor their ships in the Caspian sea, however, neither Mohammad Shah nor Aqasi counted Anzali as part of the sea. Mohammad Shah, in order to keep the Russian navy away, even went as far as ordering the army of Anzali to shoot upon the Russian should they come close. These turn of events led to Nicholas I exchanging letters with the shah. Finally, in a diplomatic sense, the shah would "allow" the Russian navy to anchor in Anzali. Another troubling event between the two nations were the Russian merchants in Tabriz and Tehran who had debts from the Iranians and yet, would not pay them in full. In 1843, the shah issued a firman, ordering the full payments of the debts to prevent fraudulent bankruptcies. Various matters during his reign would disturb the Anglo-Iranian relations, but the most troublesome of them was Mohammad Shah's campaign to Herat which led the British, for the first time in their relation with Iran, to invade its southern islands in the Persian Gulf. In 1841, Mohammad Shah signed a treaty with the British ambassador, in which Britain could reopen their consulates in Tehran, Tabriz and Bushehr, but also, had to withdraw from Kharg Island. However, this treaty was not ideal for either side, as the British did not have the right to reside outside the three cities, and their goal was to establish a consulate in Gilan, near the Russian border, and for Mohammad Shah it was considered shameful and surrendering to his enemy's demand. After the signing of this agreement, it did not take long for British goods, which also had low prices, to enter Iran through Tabriz-Trabzon and fill the markets of the country, and this caused the bankruptcy of a number of Iranian businessmen in Tabriz. In 1844, the Iranian merchants petitioned to Mohammad Shah that importation of European merchandise should be prohibited, in the following year, traders from Kashan implored the shah to defend their manufactures against European merchandise. Both cases were rejected.

Mohammad Shah was an avid Francophile and most excited to build diplomatic relations with that nation, in lieu of Britain and Russia. The shah learned French from young age from Madame de la Marininere, a tutor in the court of Abbas Mirza. When he ascended the throne, he denoted French as the diplomatic language of Iran and even made sure that diplomats and ambassadors from other nations knew it and could speak it thoroughly. In 1839, in order to resume the political relations with France, Mohammad Shah sent Mirza Hossein Khan to Paris. There, Hossein Khan was brought before Louis Philippe I, King of the French. The Iranian delegation brought with them numerous gifts, including a translation of Shahnameh and the portrait of Mohammad Shah, currently kept in Louvre Museum. With the shah's insistence, the France embassy in Iran was reopened and the France–Iran relations was resumed. The fruit of this resumption was Iran sending students to France, a tradition followed by all the Qajar and Pahlavi kings.

Family
Mohammad Shah, in comparison to other Qajar kings, had a significantly modest harem, either from disliking the pleasures of the flesh, or for sever illness. By the time he died, he had seven wives, and from them, he sired nine children: four sons and five daughters. From his consorts, a woman named Khadija was Mohammad Shah's favourite. She bore him the shah's best-loved son, Abbas Mirza III, named after his father, Abbas Mirza, and a deceased son of the same name.

However, the shah never showed fatherly affection to his son with Malek Jahan Khanom, and the future king, Naser al-Din Shah. In 1839, the shah summoned the young prince to Tehran and treated him coldly. For most of his prepubescent years, Naser al-Din Mirza was no more than a nuisance for Mohammad Shah and his grand vizier.

Mohammad Shah had seven consorts, which three of them are known:

He had four sons:
 * Malek Jahan Khanom (26 February 1805 – 2 April 1873); mother of Naser al-Din Shah and Malek Zadeh Khanum.
 * Bolour Khanum Zandieh, the granddaughter of Karim Khan Zand. Mother of two daughters.
 * Khadija, daughter of a Naqshbandi chief. Mother of Abbas Mirza III.


 * Naser al-Din Shah (16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896); Shah of Iran (r. 1848 – 1896)
 * Abbas Mirza II, died in childhood.
 * Abbas Mirza III (November 27, 1839 – April 13, 1897); known as Mulk Ara.
 * Mohammad Taqi Mirza (d. 1901); known as Rokn ed-Dowleh, governor of several provinces.
 * Abdol-samad Mirza (May 1843 – 21 October 1929); known as Ezzat al-Dowleh.

He had five daughters, which three of them are known:


 * Malek Zadeh Khanum, (1834-35 – 27 June 1905); knwon as Ezzat ed-Dowleh, married four times, and was the grandmother of Mohammad Ali Shah.
 * Ozra, daughter of Bolour Khanum Zandieh.
 * Effat al-Dowleh, daughter of Bolour Khanum Zandieh.

Legacy
Mohammad Shah's short reign resembles an interregnum between the reigns of Fath-Ali Shah and Naser al-Din Shah. An interregnum in which, the ulama possessed little influence over the crown. Indeed, the shah's reliance on the Sufi theology and him neglecting the traditional relations with the Shi'ia ulama was the most lasting aspect of his reign and a result of the intimate relations with Aqasi. As he had a passive character, was withdrawn from everyday life, and most of the time, physically unwell, he would have relied on Aqasi to govern while he took a ceremonial rule. To what extent Aqasi had influence over the king would increase with every year close to Mohammad Shah's death when he became very dependant on his grand vizier. A grand vizier with little ability to rule, who mismanaged the economical and military aspects of the kingdom. Along with costly wars and maladministration of the state, Iran at the end of Mohammad Shah's reign was ridden with instability, turmoil, and chaos.

However, the image most historian present of him as sedentary and aloof from governmental matters, is an image more appealing to his later years. For in his youth, Mohammad Shah was a soldier like his father and his grandfather before him, however, more Europeanised. Mohammad Shah was astray to the traditional appearances of Fath-Ali Shah, which included Persian ornamented long robes, high heels and a long beard, and sparked a contrast in the Iranian countenance with semi-Europeanised dress and short beard. He was less harsh mannered as he did not possessed a strong or energetic personality, and was less enamored with women.