The Qajar State (1789-1925)

The Qajars were one of the Qizilbash tribes that had founded the Safavid state, with homelands around Astarabad and Ganja. After Karim Khan Zand died in 1779, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar defeated all his rivals and reunited the country. He moved the capital to Tehran and was formally crowned shah in 1796.

Under his successor Fath-Ali Shah (1797-1834) came two hard wars with Russia. By the treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) the khanates north of the Aras passed to Russia and Azerbaijan was divided in two. Crown princes usually governed from Tabriz, so Tabriz was seen as the country's second capital.

The long reign of Naser al-Din Shah (1848-1896) brought the first telegraph lines, the Dar ul-Funun school and newspapers. The Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911 followed, with Tabriz under Sattar Khan as its strongest centre. In 1925 parliament deposed the last shah, Ahmad Shah, and power passed to Reza Pahlavi.