Mohammad Hossein Khan
Muhammad Husayn Khan (d. 1823) was an architect and political leader in Isfahan, Persia under the rule of Qajar Persian emperor Fath Ali Shah.
In 1795 or 1796 he was named governor (beglarbegi) of Isfahan, Qum, and Kashan. In this role, Khan invested heavily in agriculture, which increased his own wealth and contributed to Isfahan's economic revival. In 1806 he was appointed mustawfi al-mamalik, given the title Amin al-Dawla, and his son, Abd al-Husayn Khan Isfahani succeeded him as beglarbegi. In 1809, Khan presented the Peacock Throne to the shah at the shah's marriage to Tarvus Khanum Taj al-Dawla. In 1813 he was given the title Nizam al-Dawla. In 1818, Mirza Shafi Mazandarani died and Khan was appointed to the position of sadr-i a'zam which he held until his death in 1823.[1][2]
Khan was close to Scottish diplomat John Macdonald Kinneir, whose reports play an important role in our understanding of Khan's career and building. Khan's term as governor led to the most extensive renovating and building in Qajar times. He renovated Masjid i Jami, and Madrasa-i Abdallah. He built three madrasas, including Sadr school, built a new palace, renovating many bazaars, restoring and expanding the canal system, and enclosing slums. He removed the famous clock on the Maydan-i Naqsh-i Jahan, rebuilt parts of the Safavid Haft Dast palace and renovated the Bagh-i Anguristan, the Hasht Behesht, and the Talar-i Tavila. He also built a new avenue through the Khaju quarter, Chahar Bagh-i Chinarsu (aka Bagh i Naw and Bagh-i Sadri). He also constructed the royal garden, Imarat-i Sadr (aka Imarat-i Naw). Khan was not universally praised, Rustam al-Hukama considered him an "uneducated parvenu" and claimed that Khan and his brothers had stolen the possessions and royal insignia of Jafar Khan Zand when Zand fled to Shiraz in 1785.[3]
Khan's son, Ibrahim Nazir al-Dawla, married one of the shah's daughters and Khan's daughter married Husayn Ali Mirza Farmanfarma, governor of Shiraz.[4] Khan died October 19, 1823.[5]
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Afnan, Mirza Habibu'llah, ed. The Genesis of the Bâabâi-Bahâaâi Faiths in Shâirâaz and Fâars. Vol. 122. Brill, 2008.
- Ansari, Passim, and Abd al-Husayn Sipanta, Tarikhshan-i awqaf-i Isfahan (Isfahan, 1364/1967), 4
- Lambton, Ann SK. Landlord and peasant in Persia: a study of land tenure and land revenue administration. IB Tauris, 1991.
- Walcher, Heidi. "Face of the Seven Spheres: The Urban Morphology and Architecture of Nineteenth-Century Isfahan (Part Two)". 34: 117–139. JSTOR 4311425.
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