Qajar Iran

In this episode, we explore the history of Qajar Iran from 1789 to 1925, beginning with Agha Mohammad Khan’s unification of the country and the establishment of the Qajar dynasty. We examine Iran’s territorial losses to the Russian Empire in the Caucasus, its central role in the Great Game between Britain and Russia, and the foreign concessions that weakened its economic and political independence. The episode also traces efforts to modernize the state, the rise of reform movements, and the Persian Constitutional Revolution’s attempt to limit royal authority through parliament. Finally, we consider how World War I, foreign pressure, and internal instability accelerated the dynasty’s decline, leading to the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.