Abu’l-Qāsem Khān Qarāgozlu ( fa, ابوالقاسم‌خان قراقزلو), known by the title Nāṣer-al-molk ( fa, ناصرالملک, lit=Assistant of the Realm), (July 13, 1856 – 26 December 1927) was an Iranian politician who served as

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

and Finance Minister of Iran during the

Qajar dynasty The Qajar dynasty (; fa, دودمان قاجار ', az, Qacarlar ) was an IranianAbbas Amanat, ''The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896'', I. B. Tauris, pp 2–3 royal dynasty of Turkic peoples ...

Early life

Al-Molk studied at the

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, from 1879 to 1882. Among his classmates were

Sir Edward Grey Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, was a British Liberal statesman and the main force behind British foreign policy in the era of the First World War. An adhe ...

, later British Foreign Secretary, and

Cecil Spring-Rice Sir Cecil Arthur Spring Rice, (27 February 1859 – 14 February 1918) was a British diplomat who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1912 to 1918, as which he was responsible for the organisation of British efforts to end A ...

, later British Ambassador to Tehran and Washington.

Political career

Prime Minister

After returning to Iran, he became an interpreter for

Naser al-Din Shah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar ( fa, ناصرالدین‌شاه قاجار; 16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. He was the son of Mohammad Shah Qajar and Malek ...

. Later he served as Finance Minister, then as Governor, and for a short time as Prime Minister during the period of the

Constitutional Revolution of Iran The Persian Constitutional Revolution ( fa, مشروطیت, Mashrūtiyyat, or ''Enghelāb-e Mashrūteh''), also known as the Constitutional Revolution of Iran, took place between 1905 and 1911. The revolution led to the establishment of a par ...

in the reign of

Mohammed Ali Shah Qajar Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, محمدعلی شاه قاجار; 21 June 1872 – 5 April 1925, San Remo, Italy), Shah of Iran from 8 January 1907 to 16 July 1909. He was the sixth shah of the Qajar dynasty. Biography Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar ...

in 1907. However, under pressure from some parliamentarians he resigned. Because he failed to ask Mohammed Ali Shah for his permission before resigning, the latter had him arrested. Al-Molk was released from prison only after an intervention by the British ambassador. Seeing his life threatened, he fled to England.

Regent

He did not return to Iran until after the fall of Mohammed Ali Shah in the summer of 1909 where he was installed as Regent for the infant

Ahmad Shah Qajar Ahmad Shah Qajar ( fa, احمد شاه قاجار; 21 January 1898 – 21 February 1930) was Shah of Persia (Iran) from 16 July 1909 to 15 December 1925, and the last ruling member of the Qajar dynasty. Ahmad Shah was born in Tabriz on 21 Janu ...

and assumed the office of prime minister once again for a short time. He held the office of Regent until Ahmad Shah came of age in 1914. In a deep political character analysis of Al-Molk, the American treasurer-general of Persia

William Morgan Shuster William Morgan Shuster (23 February 1877 in Washington, D.C. – 26 May 1960 in New York City), was an American lawyer, civil servant, and publisher, who is best known as the treasurer-general of Persia by appointment of the Iranian parliamen ...

suggested that he showed a lack of strong leadership in his office.

Live in England

In 1915, Al-Molk left Iran and lived in England until his death. In 1919, he made another political appearance as an advisor to

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...

in the drafting of the

Anglo-Persian Agreement The Anglo-Persian Agreement involved Great Britain and Persia, and centered on the drilling rights of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The "agreement" was issued by British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon, to the Persian government in August 1919. I ...

of August 1919. He died in 1927 at the age of 64.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.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molk, Abolqasem Naser 19th-century Iranian politicians 20th-century Iranian politicians 1856 births 1927 deaths Finance ministers of Iran Prime Ministers of Iran People from Hamadan Moderate Socialists Party politicians People of the Persian Constitutional Revolution Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Sciences Po alumni Iranian governors Iranian expatriates in France Iranian expatriates in the United Kingdom Regents of Iran Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George