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cAbbās Mīrzā's will

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Homa Pakdaman  and
William Royce
Homa Pakdaman
Affiliation:
University of Tehran
William Royce
Affiliation:
Princeton University
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Extract

The document translated below is a will written by cAbbās Mīrzā, the Heir Apparent, in July, 1830, three years before his death in Khurasan. This will is important because of its style and content. Written in a hasty manner, and originally in Persian, in some places it gives the impression of having been translated from Āzarī Turkish. The author has paid little attention to grammatical rules and literary embellishments. The force of the document derives from the author's deep feelings of hope (for future military success), sorrow (for past defeats), and uncertainty and worry (for the destiny of his children). References are made to the political events and personalities of the times, not directly, but in connection with the author's personal concerns. On the whole, cAbbās Mīrzā's major preoccupations in this document are to justify past errors, to be buried as a man of God, and to be remembered as a national hero.

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Iranian Studies , Volume 6 , Issue 2-3 , Summer 1973 , pp. 136 - 151
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1973

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References

Notes

1. The text of cAbbās Mārzā's well known will can be found in several Persian works. Recently it has been reproduced in two Iranian journals: (a) By Jahāngīr Qā'im Maqāmī, under the title, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah mansūb bi cAbbās Mīrzā, Nā'ib al-Salṭanah," in Bar-rasīhā-yi Tārīkhī, VI, No. 4 (Mihr/Ābān, 1350/October/November, 1971), pp. 201-136, based on a manuscript which can be found in the archives of Prince Malkum Khān, Bibliotèque Nationale de Paris, Sup. Persan, 1996, folios 141-166; (b) By Ahmad Suhaylī Khwānsarī, under the title, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah-yi cAbbās Mīrzā," in Vaḥid, X, No. 4 (Tīr, 1351/July, 1972), pp. 455-464, based on the text found in Muḥammad Ḥasan Ṭabāṭabā'i, Tabṣīrat al-Musāffiīn Tehran: 1308/1892 Both versions are almost identical, except for a few differences in per sonal and place names. We have used the Suhaylī text, which we have found to be more reliable, as the basis of this translation.

2. cAbbās Mīrzā began the campaign against the Turkomans of Khurasan in 1833, at the suggestion of the Russians. See, for example, Great Britain, Foreign Office, Correspondence Relating to Persia and Afghanistan (Lon: don: J. Harrison and Son, 1839), p. 338. Also, this campaign was a means whereby cAbbās Mīrzā could weaken the military power of his brother, Ḥasan cAlī Mīrzā (Shujac al-Salṭanah), the governor of Khurasan, who was one of the major proponents of the third war with Russia, and who did not recognize the claims of cAbbās Mīrzā and Muḥammad Mīrzā to the throne, as later events showed. The fact that cAbbās Mārzā mentions the Khurasan campaign in the first paragraph of his will, shows the importance of this question for him. This campaign was of a particularly cruel and barbarous character. cAbbās Mīrzā, within his own country, acted as if he were on enemy soil, and his troops devastated all villages and cultivated lands along their route. See Ferrier, J. P., Caravan Journeys and Wanderings in Persia... (London: John Murry, 1857), p. 71Google Scholar. Fraser, who visited Khurasan shortly after the completion of the campaign, found the province "the next thing to a desert." See Fraser, J. B., A Winter's Journey (Tatar) from Constantinople to Tehran (2 vols.; London: Richard Bently, 1838) II, p. 208Google Scholar.

3. muṣalla, a place of public prayer.

4. ṣuffah-yi ṣafā, the "bench of sincerity."

5. Shaybak Khān was employed by cAbbās Mūrzā to work the mines of Azerbaijan. See Suhaylī, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah," p. 456, n. 1.

6. Ivan Fedorovitch Pasketvitch (1782-1856), Russian army officer and administrator. He was the commander of Russian forces in the second war with Iran (18261828).

7. According to article six of the Treaty of Turkomanchay (February, 1828), the indemnity owed to Russia was ten kurūr (each kurūr the equivalent of one half million tumans), to be paid in four installments: (a) three kurūr within eight days of the signing of the treaty; (b) two kurūr fifteen days later; (c) three kurūr in April, 1828; (d) two kurūr before March, 1830. The Russians occupied the city of Khu'ī as security until the payment of the third installment, which is known as the kurūr of Khu'i. The Russians reduced the fourth installment from two to one kurūr, following Khusraw Mīrzā's mission to Saint Petersburg in 1829, to offer the apologies of the Iranian Court for the murder of Griboyedoff, Russian envoy to Iran. For the question of the indemnity, see cabbās Iqbāl, "Qarāmat-i Turkomanchay," Yādigār, I, No. 2 (Shahrivar, 1323/August-September, 1944), pp. 21-36, and Mīrzā Muṣṭafa Afshār, Safar-nāmah-yi Khusraw Mīrzā bi-Paytirsburgh, edited by Muḥammad Gulbun (Tehran: Kitābkhānah-yi Mustawfī, 1349/1971).

8. Imān cAli Sultān Khu'īī, one of the officers of cAbbās Mīrzā. See Farhād Mīrzā (Muctimid al-Dawlah), Zanbīl (Tehran: 1329/1911), p. 161.

9. For an account of the Sārī incident, see Qā'im Maqāmi, "Vaṣiyyat-namah," p. 214, n. 3.

10. J. H. Stocqueler, who visited Iran in 1831, gives the value of one tuman as equivalent to one shilling. See J. H. Stocqueler, Fifteen Month's Pilgrimage through Untrodden Tracts of Khuzistan and Persia (2 vols.; London: Saunders and Otley, 1832), I, p. 166.

11. Hājji Haydar cAlī Khān Shirāzī, the Keeper of the Seal in the Court of cAbbās Mīrzā. He was the nephew of Hājji Ibrāhīm Khān (Ictimād al-Dawlah), vazīr of Āgā Muḥammad Khān and Fatḥ cAlī Shah. Ḥajjī Ibrāhīm fell into disgrace, and was killed by order of Fatḥ cAlī Shāh in 1802. For Ḥajjī Ibrāhīm, see Sir Malcolm, John, The Sketches of Persia from the Journals of a Traveller (London: John Murry, 1828), pp. 153-154Google Scholar; Muḥammad Hasan Khān (Ictimad al-Salṭanah), Ṣadr al-tavārīkh..., edited by Maḥmūd Katīrā'ī (Tehran: Sāzmān-i intishārāt-i Vaḥīd, 1349/1970), pp. 12-43.

12. Ḥājī Muḥammad Hasan Khān, the treasurer of cAbbās Mīrzā. See Farhād Mīrzā, Zanbīl, p. 163.

13. See note 7.

14. Count Karl Robert Nesselrode (1780-1862). Russian statesman: Foreign Minister for thirty-four years (1822-56).

15. Khusraw Mīrzā, the seventh son of cAbbās Mīrzā. He was sent to Saint Petersburg in 1829 to offer the apologies of the Iranian Court for the murder of A. S. Griboyedoff, Russian envoy in Iran. See Mīrzā Musṣṭafa Afshār, Safar-nāmah-yi Khusraw Mīrzā.

16. Ḥusayn-i Marāghah'i (Ājūdān Bāshī), one of the commanders of cAbbās Mīrzā's army in the second war with Russia (1826-28). See Mihdī Bāmdād, Sharḥ-i ḥāl-i rijāl-i Īrān dar qarn-i davāzdahum, sīzdahum, va chahārdahum (4 vols.; Tehran: Zavvār, 1347/1968), I, pp. 426-429; Muḥammad Mushīrī, Sharḥ-i ma'mūrīyat-i Ājūdān Bāshī dar sifārat-i Utrish, Farānsah, Inglistān, ba inzimām-i maṭn-safar-nāmah-yi vay (Tehran: cilmī, 1347/1968).

17. The term nāẓir was used for the officials responsible for the internal financial affairs of the households of the ruling class.

18. cAlī Asghar Khu'īī could not be identified.

19. Sayf al-Mulūk Mīrzā, son of Ẓill al-Sulṭān, brother of cAbbas Mīrzā and governor of Tehran. In 1248/1833 he served as governor of Kerman. See Bāmdād, Rijāl, II, p. 134.

20. Bahrām Mārzā (Mucizz al-Dawlah), the second son of cAbbās Mīrzā, held many provincial governorships during the Qājār Period: Khu'ī (1827-28); Kermanshah (1835-37); Qazvin (1837-38); Fars (1838-48). He also served successively in Azerbaijan, Khuzistan, and Mazanderan until his death in 1886. See Bāmdād, Rijāl, I, pp. 192-195; George N. Curzon, Persia and the Persian Question (2 vols.; London and New York: Longman, Green, and Co., 1892), I, p. 583.

21. See Note 12.

22. Muḥammad cAlī Mīrzā (Dawlatshāh) (1203/1788-1237/1821). He was the eldest and most able of the sons of Fatḥ cAlī Shāh, but was eliminated from succession to the throne because his mother was not a Qājār. He served as governor of Qazvīn in 1213/1798, and as governor of Kermanshah from 1221/1807 until his death in 1237/1821. He led two successful campaigns against the Ottomans in 1226/1812 and in 1237/1821. He died in the cholera epidemic of 1237/1821, on his return from the second campaign against the Ottomans. He was a great rival and bitter enemy of cAbbās Mīrzā. Until his death, he was strongly supported by the Russians in his claims to the throne. See General Yermeloff's letters on this matter in General Prince Stcherbatow, Le Fled Maréchal Prince Paskevitch (4 vols., St. Petersberg: Trenke et Fusnot, 1888), II, p. 16. For his biography see Mīrzā Muḥammad cAlī Mucallim Habībābādī, Makārim al-āsār dar aḥvāl-i rijāl-i dawrah-yi Qājār (2 vols.; Isfahan: Maṭba ah-yi Muḥammadi), I, pp. 135-139. For examples of Dawlatṣḥān's poetry, see Rizā Quli Khān Hidāyat, Majmac al-fusahā, edited by Maẓāhir Muṣaffā (6 vols.; Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1336-1340/1957-1961), I, pp. 46-50; Maḥmūd Mīrzā Qājār, Ṣafīnat al-Maḥmūd, edited by cAbd al-Rasūl Khayyāmpur (2 vols., Tabriz, 1968), I, pp. 24-27.

23. Ibrāhīm Khān (Ẓahīr al-Dawlah), cousin and son-in-law of Fatḥ cAlī Shāh. He served for some time as governor of Kerman and Zabolistan. See cAbd al-Razzāq Dunbulī, Tazkīrah-yi Nigāristān-i Dārā (Tabriz: Shirkat-i Chāp-i Azerbaijan, 1342/1963), p. 37.

24. Mīrzā Abū al-Qāsim (Qā'im Maqām), born in 1193/1773, son of Mīrzā cĪsā Farāhānī, called Mīrzā Buzurg, the first vazir of cAbbās Mārzā in Azerbaijan. He succeeded his father in this post in 1237/1821. He served for a short time as Muḥammad Shāh's grand vazir, until he was executed at Muḥammad Shāh's command in 1251/1836. He is remembered as a reformer, writer, and poet. For his biography, see Ictimād al-Salṭanah, Khalsah, pp. 27-29; Ictimād al-Salṭanah, Ṣadr al-tavārīkh, pp. 117-151; Bāqir Qā'im Maqāmī, Qā'im Maqām dar jahān-i adab va siyāsat (Tehran: 1320/1941); Khān Malik Sāsāni, Dast-i pinhān-i siyasat-i Inglīs dar Iran (n.p.: 195?), pp. 7-12; Mīr Husayn Yikrangiān, Zindigī-yi siyāsī va adabī-yī Qā'im Maqām (Tehran: cIlmī, 1334/1955). For examples of his writings, see Mīrzā Abū al-Qāsim (Qā'im Maqām), Munshācāti Qā'im Maqām, edited by Jahāngīr Qā'im Maqāmi (Tehran: Ibn-i Sīna, 1337/1959).

25. Muḥammad Khān Zanganah (Amīr Niẓām). He held a number of important posts during the governorship of cAbbās Mīrzā in Azerbaijan, such as commander of the army and steward (pīshkār). He accompanied Khusraw Mīrzā on his mission to Saint Petersburg in 1829. During the reign of Muḥammad Shāh he served as governor of Azerbaijan. He died in 1257/1842. See Mīrzā Muṣṭafa Afshār, Safar-nāmah-yi Khusraw Mīrzā, pp. 166-169, and pp. 232 ff. ; cAbbās Iqbāl, Mīrzā Taqī Khān Amīr-i Kabīr (Tehran: Dānishgān-i Tehrān, 1340/1960), pp. 16-24; Nādir Mīrzā (Shāhzādah), Tārīkh va jughrāfī-yi dār al-salṭanah-i Tabriz (Tehran: 1323/1905), pp. 43-46.

26. Ḥājī cAli Aṣghar (Khwājah Bāshī Mazanderani), one of the trusted servants of cAbbās Mīrzā. He was the founder of Masjid and Madrasah-yi Hājī Āqā in Tabriz. See Qā'im Maqāmi, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah," p. 220, n. 20.

27. One of the villages of Shabastar, a town near Tabriz. See cAli Razmārā, Farhang-i jughrāfiyā-yi Īrān (7 vols., Tehran: 1328-1331/1949-1952), IV, p. 166.

28. At this time the equivalent of one gold tuman.

29. Bāgh-i Shumāl, a garden dating from the fifteenth century, located in the southern part of Tabriz. See Nādir Mīrzā, Tabriz, pp. 188-189.

30. Bāgh-i Ṣafā, a garden in the northern part of Tabriz, built by cAbbās Mīrzā. See Nādir Mārzā, Tabriz, p. 194.

31. Jahangīr Mīrzā (1225/1811-1269/1854), the third son of cAbbās Mīrzā. He fought alongside his father in the second war with Russia (1826-1828). For a short time, in 1247/1832, he served as governor of Ardebil. He was blinded by his brother Muḥammad Shāh in 1250/ 1835, and imprisoned in the fortress of Ardebil. He is the author of the Tārīkh-i naw, edited by cAbbās Iqbāl (Tehran: 1327/1848), a history of Qājār Iran from 1824 to 1850.

32. Sulṭan could not be identified.

33. Manūchihr Mīrzā, the fourteenth son of cAbbās Mīrzā. Muḥammad Shāh appointed him governor of Gulpaygān and Khwānsar in 1251/1836. See Bāmdād, Rijāı, IV, p. 163.

34. Firidūn Mīrzā, the fifth son of cAbbās Mīrzā. He was appointed governor of Azerbaijan by Muḥammad Shāh in 1251/1836. In 1252/1837, he served as governor of Fars with the title Farmān Farmā. In 1270/1855, he became governor of Khurasan. He died in Khurasan in 1272/1857. See Bāmdād, Rijāl, III, pp. 92-94.

35. cAlī Shāh (1210/1795-1271/1856), the tenth son of Fatḥ cAlī Shāh. In 1225/1810, he was sent to the Caucasus to fight the Russians. He was given the title Ẓill al-Sulṭan and was appointed governor of Tehran in 1232/1817. He claimed the throne on his father's death and ruled in Tehran for forty days as cAdil Shāh until he was defeated by Muḥammad Shāh. See Mucallim Habībābādi, Makārim, II, pp. 369-371; Muḥammad Ḥasan Khān (Ictimād al-Salṭanah), Tārīkh-i muntaẓam-i Nāṣiri (3 vols.; Tehran: 1298/1881-1300/ 1883), III, p. 159; Muḥammad Taqi Sipihr (Lisān al-Mulk), Nāsikh al-tāvārikh (dawrah-yi kāmil-i tārikh-i Qājāriyyah), edited by Jahāngīr Qā'im Maqāmi (Tehran: Amīr-i Kabīr and Ṭāhirī, 1337/1958), I, p. 318.

36. A village near Shahr-i Ray. See Suhaylī, "Vaṣiyyatnāmah," p. 460, n. 2.

37. Mīrzā Shafic became Fatḥ cAlī Shāh's grand vazīr in 1215/1801. He died in 1234/1819. For his biography see Ictimād al-Salṭanah, Ṣadr al-tavārīkh, pp. 46-51.

38. Muḥammad Ḥusayn-i Mullā Bāshī and Shaykh Muḥammad Baḥray nī could not be identified.

39. Mihdi Qulī Khān-i Qājār, one of the commanders of the army of cAbbās Mīrzā. He was appointed governor of Irivan in 1220/1806. See Bāmdād, Rijāl, IV, p. 176.

40. Villages in the Tehran region. See Qā'im Maqāmi, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah," pp. 223-224, notes 36-39.

41. Sahlayn and Tang Kamāl are in the Tehran region. Shahnām and Bakkāh have not yet been located. See Qā'im Maqāmi, "Vaṣiyyat-nāmah," p. 224, notes 41-42.

42. Mīrzā Taqi Khān Āshtīāni served in cAbbās Mīrzā's administration in Azerbaijan. Later, under Muḥammad Shāh, he served as governor of Fars with the title Qavām al-Dawlah. See Farhād Mīrzā, Zanbil, p. 162.

43. Muḥammad Mīrzā, the eldest son of cAbbās Mīrzā. He succeeded his grandfather, fatḥ cAlī Shāh, to the throne, and reigned until 1848.

44. cAlī Khān. cAbbās Mīrzā is referring to his brother, cAlī Shāh, Ẓill al-Sulṭan, governor of Tehran. See note 35.

45. cAlī Naqī Khān Qara Pāpāq. He served under cAbbās Mīrzā in Azerbaijan. See Farhad Mīrzā, Zanbīl, p. 162.

46 Sar Askar, Commander of the Army, most likely referring to Muḥammad Khān Zanganah (Amīr Niẓām). See note 25.

47. A village in the Shāhpūr region of Azerbaijan. See Razmārā, Farhang-i Jughrāfīya, IV, p. 166.

48. The very same recommendations to Muḥammad Mīrzā can be found in cAbbās Mīrzā's last letter, written shortly before his death in Khurasan. See Abū al-Qāsim, Lāchīnī, Aḥvālāt va dastkhat-hā-yi cAbbās Mīrzā, Nā'ib al-Salṭanah (Tehran: Bungāh-i Maṭbacātī-yi Afshārī, 1326/1947), pp. 60-61.

49. For the arms agreement with the British Government, see the Public Records Office documents reproduced by M. E. Yapp, "The Control of the Persian Mission, 1822-1836," University of Birmingham Historical Journal, VII, No. 2 (1960), pp. 162-180.

50. Sir John MacDonald Kinneir, chosen envoy in Iran from 1823, died in Tabriz in 1830, and his body was sent to Irivan to be buried at Itchmiadzin. He is the author of A Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire (London: John Murray, 1831). Qā'im Maqāmi, "Vaṣiyyatnāmah," p. 226, n. 51, basing his argument on Rizā Qulī Khān Hidāyat, Tarīkh-i rawzat al-ṣafā-yi Nāṣirī (Tehran: 1339/1920), IX, p. 264, and Sipihr, Nāsikh, I, pp. 274-275, mistakenly places MacDonald Kinneir's death in 1831, after the writing of this will. Consequently, Qā'im Maqāmī argues that this document could possibly be a forgery. Suhaylī, "Vaṣiyyatnāmah," p. 462, n. 1, who also used the above mentioned histories as sources, is also mistaken in writing that MacDonald Kinneir came to Iran in 1826.

51. Captain J. N. R. Campbell came to Iran with MacDonald Kinneir as second assistant in 1823, and took MacDonald's place after his death.