Hajji Mohammad Hossein Isfahani (born 1758, Isfahan - died 1823) was an architect and political leader in Isfahan,

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

under the rule of

Qajar Qajar Iran (), also referred to as Qajar Persia, the Qajar Empire, '. Sublime State of Persia, officially the Sublime State of Iran ( fa, دولت علیّه ایران ') and also known then as the Guarded Domains of Iran ( fa, ممالک م ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

emperor

Fath Ali Shah Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ( fa, فتحعلى‌شاه قاجار, Fatḥ-ʻAli Šâh Qâjâr; May 1769 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah (king) of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irr ...

Biography

In 1795 or 1796 he was named governor (''beglarbegi'') of Isfahan, Qom, and

Kashan Kashan ( fa, ; Qashan; Cassan; also romanized as Kāshān) is a city in the northern part of Isfahan province, Iran. At the 2017 census, its population was 396,987 in 90,828 families. Some etymologists argue that the city name comes from ...

. In this role, Mohammad Hossein invested heavily in agriculture, which increased his own wealth and contributed to Isfahan's economic revival. In 1806 he was appointed ''mostowfi ol-mamalek'', given the title ''Amin ol-Dowleh'', and his son, Abd ol-Hossein Khan Isfahani succeeded him as ''beglarbegi''. In 1809, Mohammad Hossein presented the

Peacock Throne The Peacock Throne ( Hindustani: ''Mayūrāsana'', Sanskrit: मयूरासन, Urdu: تخت طاؤس, fa, تخت طاووس, ''Takht-i Tāvūs'') was a famous jewelled throne that was the seat of the emperors of the Mughal Empire in India ...

to the shah at the shah's marriage to Tarvus Khanum Taj ol-Dowleh. In 1813 he was given the title ''Nizam al-Dawla''. In 1818, Mirza Shafi Mazandarani died and Mohammad Hossein was appointed to the position of ''sadr-e a'zam'' which he held until his death in 1823. Mohammad Hossein was close to Scottish diplomat

John Macdonald Kinneir Sir John Macdonald Kinneir (3 February 1782 – 11 June 1830) was a Scottish army officer of the East India Company, diplomat and traveller. Life Born at Carnden, Linlithgow, on 3 February 1782, Kinneir was the son of John Macdonald, comptroller o ...

, whose reports play an important role in our understanding of Mohammad Hossein's career and building. Mohammad Hossein's term as governor led to the most extensive renovating and building in Qajar times. He renovated Masjid-e Jami, and Madrasa-e Abdallah. He built three madrasas, including Sadr school, built a new palace, renovating many bazaars, restoring and expanding the canal system, and enclosing slums. He removed the famous clock on the

Naqsh-e Jahan Naqsh-e Jahan Square ( fa, میدان نقش جهان ''Maidān-e Naghsh-e Jahān''; trans: "Image of the World Square"), also known as the Shah Square (میدان شاه) prior to 1979, is a square situated at the center of Isfahan, Iran. Const ...

, rebuilt parts of the Safavid Haft Dast palace and renovated the Bagh-e Anguristan, the

Hasht Behesht Hasht Behesht (, ), literally meaning "the Eight Heavens" in Persian, is a 17th-century pavilion in Isfahan, Iran. It was built by order of Suleiman I, the eighth shah of Iran's Safavid Empire, and functioned mainly as a private pavilion. It i ...

, and the Talar-e Tavila. He also built a new avenue through the Khaju quarter, Chahar Bagh-e Chinarsu (aka Bagh e Now and Bagh-e Sadri). He also constructed the royal garden, Imarat-e Sadr (aka Imarat-i Naw). Mohammad Hossein was not universally praised, Rustam al-Hukama considered him an "uneducated parvenu" and claimed that Mohammad Hossein and his brothers had stolen the possessions and royal insignia of Jafar Khan Zand when Zand fled to

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

in 1785. Mohammad Hossein's son, Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Nazir ol-Dowleh, married one of the Fath Ali Shah Qajar's daughters (Khadijeh Soltan Begom, "Esmat-ed-Dowleh) and Khan's daughter married Husayn Ali Mirza Farmanfarma, governor of Shiraz. Khan died October 19, 1823.Afman 2008, p260

References

Sources

*Afnan, Mirza Habibu'llah, ed. The Genesis of the Bâabâi-Bahâaâi Faiths in Shâirâaz and Fâars. Vol. 122. Brill, 2008. *Ansari, Passim, and Abd al-Husayn Sipanta, ''Tarikhshan-i awqaf-i Isfahan'' (Isfahan, 1364/1967), 4 *Lambton, Ann SK. Landlord and peasant in Persia: a study of land tenure and land revenue administration. IB Tauris, 1991. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Isfahani, Hajji Mohammad Hossein 19th-century Iranian politicians 1758 births 1823 deaths Qajar governors of Isfahan Mostowfi ol-Mamaleks (title) 19th-century Iranian architects 18th-century Iranian politicians