How to Found a New Dynasty: The Early Qajars’ Quest for Legitimacy

Abstract

This paper focuses on how early Qajars established their rule and legitimacy. At first, Āqā Mohammad Khān, the first shah, imitated other rulers since Nāder Shāh, such as Mohammad-Hasan Khān Qājār, Āzād Khān Afghān, and Karim Khān Zand, in his coins and documents. Like his predecessors, he also tried to install a Safavid prince at Tehran as a puppet ruler. However, following his official coronation and his conquest of Iran, he changed the format of his royal edicts and issued extraordinarily heavy gold coins. Nevertheless, neither Āqā Mohammad Khān nor his successors created an official genealogy to legitimize their rule, instead modifying a genealogical tree of Ottoman origin to juxtapose their names alongside those of other royal families without connecting themselves directly to Biblical or Qurʾanic ancestors. The early Qajar case reveals new methods of establishing dynastic legitimacy which differed from the approach of earlier dynasties in the Persianate world.