Abbas Mirza

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Prince Abbas Mirza
شاهزاده عباس ميرزا
Imam Reza Shrine
Issue
DynastyQajar
FatherFath-Ali Shah Qajar
MotherAsiyeh Khanum
Reviewing in. The Ottoman Persian war 1821 to 1823

Abbas Mirza (

Fath Ali Shah
.

Abbas was an intelligent prince, possessed some literary taste, and is noteworthy on account of the comparative simplicity of his life.[2]

With Abbas Mirza as the military commander of the Persian forces, Iran lost all of its territories in the Caucasus comprising the South Caucasus and parts of the North Caucasus (Dagestan) to Russia in conformity with the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay, following the outcomes of the 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 wars.

Biography

Abbas Mirza was born on 26 August 1789 in Nava,

General Kotlyarevsky, aged only twenty-nine but his new ally could give him very little assistance.[6]

The early stages of the war following Fath Ali Shah's orders to invade and regain Georgia and the northern parts of the contemporary Azerbaijani Republic ended up in years of relatively territorial stale warfare. However, as Prof.

stormed and took Lankaran. The Russians were encamped on the opposite bank of River Aras when his two British advisers, Capt Christie and Lt Pottinger, told him to post sentry pickets in short order, but Mirza ignored the warnings. Christie and other British officers tried to rally an army retreating in panic; for days the Russians launched fierce assaults, but at last Christie fell, and Mirza ordered a full retreat. Complacency cost 10,000 Persian lives; Mirza believing wrongly in the weight of superior numbers. In spite of the absence of leadership, The Persians at Lenkoran held out for weeks until, breaking through, the Russians slaughtered the garrison of 4,000 officers and men.[citation needed
]

In October 1813, with Abbas Mirza still commander-in-chief, Persia was compelled to make a severely disadvantageous peace known as the

Republic of Azerbaijan.[7] The only promise the Shah received in return was a lukewarm guarantee the Mirza would succeed to his throne, without let or hindrance. Persia's dire losses attracted the attention of the British Empire; following the reversal of initial successes, the Russians now posed a serious threat from the Caucasus.[8]

The drastic losses suffered by his forces made him realize that he needed to train Persia's military in the European style of war, and he started sending his students to Europe for military training. By introducing European-style regiments, Abbas Mirza believed it would enable Iran to gain the upper hand over Russia and to reclaim its lost territories.

Nizam-ı Cedid, and reduce the Qajar dependence on tribal and provincial forces.[5] In 1811 and 1815, two groups were sent to Britain, and in 1812 a printing press was finished in Tabriz as a means to reproduce European military handbooks. Tabriz also saw a gunpowder factory and a munitions depot. The training continued with constant drilling by British advisers, with a focus on the infantry and artillery.[1]

Abbas Mirza with Ivan Paskevich at the signing of the Treaty of Turkmenchay, 1828

He received his opportunity to test his newly reformed military when the

Fath Ali Shah as the next king.[2] R. G. Watson (History of Persia, 128–9) described him as “the noblest of the Qajar race”.[10]

He is most remembered for his valor in battle and his failed attempts to modernize the Persian army. He was unsuccessful in the latter due, in part, to the lack of government centralization in Iran during the era. Furthermore, it was Abbas Mirza who first dispatched Iranian students to Europe for a western education.[11] He was unable to prove successful in the long run in his wars with Russia as he ended up losing more territory than he gained.[4]

In popular culture

Issue

Abbas Mirza's sons
  • Prince Mohammed Mirza, to become Mohammad Shah Qajar
  • Prince Bahram Mirza Mo'ez ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Djahangir Mirza
  • Prince Bahman Mirza
  • Prince
    Fereydoun Mirza
    Nayeb-ol-Eyaleh
  • Prince Eskandar Mirza
  • Prince Khosrow Mirza
  • Prince Ghahreman Mirza
  • Prince
    Ardeshir Mirza
    Rokn ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Ahmad Mirza Mo'in ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Ja'far Gholi Mirza
  • Prince Mostafa Gholi Mirza
  • Prince Soltan Morad Mirza Hessam-al-Saltaneh
  • Prince Manouchehr Mirza
  • Prince Farhad Mirza Mo'tamed ed-Dowleh
  • Prince
    Firouz Mirza
    Nosrat ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Khanlar Mirza Ehtesham ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Bahador Mirza
  • Prince Mohammad Rahim Mirza
  • Prince Mehdi Gholi Mirza
  • Prince Hamzeh Mirza Heshmat ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Ildirim Bayazid Mirza
  • Prince Lotfollah Mirza Shoa'a ed-Dowleh
  • Prince Mohammad Karim Mirza
  • Prince Ja'ffar Mirza
  • Prince Abdollah Mirza

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Hoiberg 2010, p. 10
  2. ^ a b c d  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abbas Mirza". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 10.
  3. ^ Busse 1982, pp. 79–84.
  4. ^ a b Magnusson & Goring 1990, p. 2
  5. ^ a b c d e Mikaberidze 2011, p. 2.
  6. ^ Hopkirk, pp. 60-63
  7. ISBN 1598849484
  8. ^ Hopkirk, pp. 65-68
  9. ISBN 1598849484
  10. ^ Lockhart 2007
  11. ^ Clawson & Rubin 2005, p. 34

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abbas Mirza Qajar.

Further reading
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abbas_Mirza&oldid=1216457850"