The Qajar dynasty was the ruling family of Persia from 1796 to 1925.
The dynasty was founded in 1796 by Agha Muhammad Khan, a eunuch who defeated the last ruler of the Zand dynasty but was himself assassinated only a year later. During the Qajar period Persia fell under the economic sway of European empires with the British and Russian Empires each creating a sphere of influence in Persia. Under the rule of Fath Ali Shah, Persia was forced to cede its northern lands to Russia, while the British later took effective control of the south with its rich oil deposits. The Qajar Shahs made several faltering attempts at modernization during the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, with a constitution and parliament being established in 1906. This was a controversial development; Mohammad Ali Shah was deposed in 1909 for attacking the constitution established under his predecessor. In 1917 British troops invaded Russia from Persia in a bid to oppose the Russian Revolution. During this "war of intervention" a Persian military officer, Reza Pahlavi, staged a coup d'état with British support which reduced the last Qajar ruler, Ahmad Shah, to figurehead status. Pahlavi deposed the Shah in 1925, declaring himself the new Shah and establishing his own dynasty.
The Qajars were a tribe of Turkic origin whose ancestral lands were in Ganja in present-day Azerbaijan, which was then part of Persia.
The Qajar Imperial Family in exile is currently headed by the eldest descendant of Mohammad Ali Shah, Soltan Ali Mirza Qajar, while the Heir Presumptive to the Qajar throne is Mohammad Hassan Mirza II, the grandson of Mohammad Hassan Mirza, Soltan Ahmad Shah's brother and heir.
Qajars Dynasty Turkoman dynasty of the Shahs of Persia
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