The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last
Iran
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 ...
ian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by
Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic
Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who took on the name of the
Pahlavi language spoken in the pre-Islamic
Sasanian Empire in order to strengthen his nationalist credentials.
The dynasty replaced the
Qajar dynasty in 1925 after the
1921 coup d'état, beginning on 14 January 1921 when 42-year-old soldier
Reza Khan was promoted by British General
Edmund Ironside to lead the British-run
Persian Cossack Brigade.
About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000-4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran in what became known as the
1921 Persian coup d'état.
[ The rest of the country was taken by 1923, and by October 1925 the Majlis agreed to depose and formally exile Ahmad Shah Qajar. The Majlis declared Reza Pahlavi as the new Shah of Iran on 12 December 1925, pursuant to the Persian Constitution of 1906. Initially, Pahlavi had planned to declare the country a republic, as his contemporary Atatürk had done in ]Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
, but abandoned the idea in the face of British and clerical opposition.
The dynasty ruled Iran for 28 years as a form of constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
from 1925 until 1953, and following the overthrow of the democratically elected prime minister, for a further 26 years as a more autocratic monarchy until the dynasty was itself overthrown in 1979.
Family background
In 1878, Reza Khan was born at the village of Alasht in Savadkuh County, Mazandaran Province. His parents were Abbas Ali Khan and Noushafarin Ayromlou. His mother was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia (then part 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 ...
), whose family had emigrated to mainland Qajar Iran
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 ...
after Iran was forced to cede all of its territories in the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...
following the Russo-Persian Wars several decades prior to Reza Shah's birth. His father was a Mazandarani, commissioned in the 7th Savadkuh Regiment, and served in the Anglo-Persian War in 1856.
Heads of House of Pahlavi
Consorts
Heirs
The former constitution of Iran specifically provided that only a male who was not descended from Qajar dynasty could become the heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
. This made all half-brothers of Mohammad Reza ineligible to become heirs to the throne. Until his death in 1954, the Shah's only full brother Ali Reza was his heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...
.
The constitution also required the Shah to be of Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
descent, meaning that his father and mother are Iranian.
Line of succession in February 1979
* '' Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944)''
** Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919–1980)
***(1) Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (b. 1960)
*** Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1966–2011)
** '' Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1922–1954)''
*** (2) Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (b. 1947)
**** (3) Prince Davoud Pahlavi (b. 1972)
**** (4) Prince Houd Pahlavi (b. 1973)
**** (5) Prince Mohammad Pahlavi (b. 1976)
List of crown princes
Royal jewels
Monuments
Use of titles
* Shâh: Emperor, followed by Shâhanshâh of Iran, with style ''His Imperial Majesty''
* Shahbânu: Shahbânu or Empress, followed by first name, followed by "of Iran", with style ''Her Imperial Majesty''
*Valiahd: Crown Prince of Iran, with style ''His Imperial Highness''
*Younger sons: Prince (Shâhpūr, or King's Son), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style ''His Imperial Highness''.
*Daughters: Princess (Shâhdokht, or King's Daughter), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style ''Her Imperial Highness''.
*Children of the monarch's daughter/s use another version of Prince (Vâlâ Gohar, "of superior essence") or Princess (Vâlâ Gohari), which indicate descent in the second generation through the female line, and use the styles ''His Highness'' or ''Her Highness''. This is then followed by first name and father's surname, whether he was royal or a commoner. However, the children by the last Shah's sister Fatemeh, who married an American businessman as her first husband, are surnamed Pahlavi Hillyer and do not use any titles.
See also
* List of Shia dynasties
*List of Muslim states and dynasties
This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...
*Imperial Standards of Iran
The Imperial Standards of Iran (Persian language, Persian: پرچمهای پادشاهی دودمان پهلوی) were the personal official flags of the Shāhanshāh, Shahbānū, and Crown Prince of Iran, adopted at the beginning of 1971.
The ...
*Monarchism in Iran
Iranian monarchism is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in Iran, which was abolished after the 1979 Revolution.
Historical background
Iran first became a constitutional monarchy in 1906, but underwent a period of autocracy during the year ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
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