The Qajar dynasty was a formerly aristocratic and later royal Iranian family that ruled Iran from 1789 to 1925. Originating from the Turkoman Qajar tribe, a branch of the Qizilbash confederacy, the Qajars played a decisive role in Iran’s transition from the fragmented post-Safavid era to a unified monarchy under Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, the dynasty’s founder. Though their rule ended with the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925, the Qajars left a lasting legacy that shaped Iran’s modern political institutions, art, and social identity.
Origins and Tribal Foundations
The Qajars trace their lineage to the Qizilbash, a coalition of Turkoman tribes that supported Shah Ismail I in establishing the Safavid Empire in the early 16th century. The tribe’s founder, Shahverdi Qajar, gained prominence during this era as one of the tribal leaders who fought alongside Ismail. The Qajars were not among the largest of the Qizilbash tribes, yet they held strategic territories and wielded influence in Gorgan, Astarabad, and Mazandaran, regions that later became the power base for their imperial ambitions.
