Morteza Qoli Khan Qajar ( fa, مرتضی قلی خان قاجار, 1750/1755 – either 1798 in St. Petersburg or 1800 at Astrakhan) - was a prince of Persia's

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 ...

, and the brother of Agha Mohammad Khan. A

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, he lived in St. Petersburg at the end of the reign of

Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...

Biography

Around the mid 18th century, after the murder of

Nader Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

, widespread crisis began; out of this, eventually, after some decades of Zand rule, Agha Mohammad Khan of the

Qajar tribe 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 ...

emerged victorious. As a result, he became the new king of Iran. Related to the same course of history, was Russia's role. Russia was actively meddling in domestic Iranian affairs since the downfall of the Safavids and the Russo-Persian War of 1722-1723 of about the same time. Though Russia's political ambitions ceased when the strong

emerged, they started again after Nader's death in 1747. In 1787, a last attempt was made to reach an agreement between Agha Mohammad Khan and the government of Catherine II. Thereafter, Russia decided to deal with his rebel brother, Morteza Qoli, whom it intended to install on the Iranian throne as the tsaritsa's vassal. Morteza, fleeing from his brother, came to St. Petersburg, where he was well received by Empress Catherine II, who pursued political goals against Persia. Catherine however delayed the plan until the 1796 expedition.

References

Sources

* 1750s births 1798 deaths 1800 deaths Qajar princes Iranian emigrants to the Russian Empire Politicians of the Russian Empire {{Iran-royal-stub