Ahmad Shah Qajar (احمد شاه قاجار in Persian) ‎(January 21, 1898 - 21 February, 1930) was Shah of Persia from July 16, 1909, to October 31, 1925 and the last of the Qajar dynasty.

Reign

Ahmad acceded to the Peacock Throne on July 16, 1909, following the overthrow of his father and predecessor, Mohammad Ali Shah, who had attempted to reverse earlier constitutional restrictions on royal power. He was, however, an ineffective ruler who was faced with internal unrest and foreign intrusions, particularly by the British and Russian Empires. In 1917, Britain used Persia as the springboard for an attack into Russia in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Exile

Ahmad Shah was pushed aside in a military coup in 1921 by Reza Pahlavi and went into exile with his family in 1923. He was formally deposed on October 31, 1925, when Reza Pahlavi was proclaimed Shah by the Founders Assembly.

He refused to exceed his power limits as a constitutional monarch in order to save his dynasty. Moreover, he refused help from the Ottoman Sultanto restore him to the throne as he saw the offer as foreign interference in internal affairs of Persia.

He died in 1930 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, outside Paris, France. His brother, former crown prince Mohammad Hassan Mirza, assured the physical continuation of the dynasty through his descendants.

Honours

• Knight of the Order of St. Andrew of Russia
• Knight of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky of Russia
• Knight of the Order of the White Eagle of Russia
• Knight of the Order of Saint Stanislaus, 1st Class of Russia
• Knight of the Order of St. Anna, 1st Class of Russia
• Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold of Belgium-1914
• Grand Cross w/Collar of the Order of Charles III of Spain-1914
• Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur of France-1914
• Exalted Order of the House of Osman of Turkey-1914
• Collar of the Order of Muhammad Ali of Egypt-1919

See also

• Qajar dynasty

References

External links

• History of Iran: Qajar Dynasty
• A postage stamp with his image
• Listing of known Portraits and Pictures
• A sympathetic profile of him
• A genealogy and history of Qajar rulers
• List of marriages and descendants
• Shahāb Mirzāi, Mohammad-Hasan Mirzā: The last Crown Prince of Qajar, in Persian, Jadid Onlin, 2008,
  A slide show of some photographs from a collection belonging to Mohammad-Hasan Mirzā, by Shahāb Mirzāi, Jadid Online, 2008, (2 min).

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