Mirza Ali Asghar Khan Amin al-Soltan

Ali Asghar Khan علی‌اصغر خان
Prime Minister of Iran
In office 1 May 1907 – 31 August 1907
Monarch	Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar
Preceded by	Mirza Nasrullah Khan
Succeeded by	Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni
Premier of Iran
In office 13 March 1887 – 23 November 1896
Preceded by	Mirza Yusuf Khan Astiani
Succeeded by	Ali Khan Amin ud-Daula
In office 1 June 1898 – 24 January 1904
Preceded by	Ali Khan Amin ud-Daula
Succeeded by	Abdol Majid Mirza
Personal details
Born	6 January 1858 Tehran, Iran
Died	31 August 1907 (aged 49) Tehran, Iran
Political party	Independent
Religion	Twelver Shi'a Islam

Mirza Ali Asghar Khan (Persian: میرزا علی‌اصغر خان‎‎) (6 January 1858 – 31 August 1907), also known by his honorific titles of Amin al-Soltan and Atabak, was the last prime minister of Iran under Naser al-Din Shah Qajar.

Early life

Ali Asghar was born on 6 January 1858. He was the second son of Agha Ebrahim, a influential court minister of Georgian origin.^[1][2] When Ali Asghar became 15 years old, he began helping his father in politics. The next year, Ali Asghar and his father accompanied Naser al-Din Shah to his pilgrimage to the holy Shi'a cities of Najaf, Karbala, Kadhimiya, and Samarra.

When Ali Asghar returned to his native Tehran, he was promoted to commander of the royal escort cavalry, and in the following years continued to rise to higher offices, eventually getting promoted to the treasurer of the army. After the death of his father in 1883, he received the latter's honorific title Amin al-Soltan and became the Justice Minister. A few years later he received the title of Atabak and took over the post of Prime Minister.^[3]

Exile and return

After Naser's assassination in 1896, Ali Asghar helped by securing the throne and its secure transfer to his son, Mozaffar al-Din Shah Qajar. In November 1896, Ali Asghar was dismissed from his prime minister office by Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar.^[4] Ali Asghar then initially retired to Qom, and later traveled through Russia to China and Japan, and then emigrated to Switzerland.^[5][6] During the Iranian Constitutional Revolution, the new Qajar king Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar invited Ali Asghar back to Iran.

Although Ali Asghar had many who opposed him, he also had supporters in major Iranian cities such as Qazvin, Rasht, and his native Tehran. He was shortly appointed by Mohammad Ali Shah as the Prime Minister of Iran. At the time of Ali Asghar's re-appointment as prime minister, Iran was in chaos: the state owed money to the people who served them; British-Russian rivalry over Iran; Ottoman incursions on the west Iranian borders; and devastating rebellions. Ali Asghar managed to quickly stop the Ottomans, and also tried to make stability fix the financial problems in Iran. Ali Asghar was later killed in the front of Iranian Parliament on August 31, 1907.

See also

• Pahlavi dynasty
• List of Prime Ministers of Iran

References

1. Rahimi, MalekMohammad. Gorji haye Iran. Esfahan: Yekta, (2000). [The Georgians of Iran]
2. Amanat: AMĪN-AL-SOLṬĀN, ĀQĀ EBRĀHĪM. Encyclopedia Iranica, 1989, pp. 949–951.
3. Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. I.B.Tauris, 1998, p. 5.
4. Abdollah Mostofi: The administrative and social history of the Qajar period. Vol. II. Mazda Publishers, 1997, p. 347.
5. Abdul Ali Masumi: Enghelab Mashruteh. Nonyad Rezaiha, 2006, p. 72. ISBN 2-916531-03-3
6. The administrative and social history of the Qajar period. Vol. II. Mazda Publishers, 1997, p. 378.

Sources

• Rahimi, MalekMohammad. Gorji haye Iran. Esfahan: Yekta, (2000). [The Georgians of Iran]
• Cyrus Ghani: Iran and the rise of Reza Shah. From Qajar collapse to Pahlavi rule. I. B. Tauris, London u. a. 1998, ISBN 1-86064-258-6, S. 78.
• Amanat, A. (1989). "AMĪN-AL-SOLṬĀN, ĀQĀ EBRĀHĪM". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 9. pp. 949–951.