Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, comprising what is… read more
Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, comprising what is nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 and the resulting treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay.
At the end of his reign, economic and military problems took Iran to the verge of governmental disintegration, which was quickened by a consequent struggle for the throne after his death.
Fath-Ali Shah had many visual portrayals of himself and his court created. These include rock reliefs next to the ones erected under the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire (224–651) in Ray, Fars and Kermanshah. Fath Ali also employed writers and painters to make the Shahanshahnama, a book about his wars with Russia, inspired by the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi.
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