Domestic and external considerations in the struggle over regency in early Qajar Iran: The princely rivalry between ʿAbbas Mirza and Muhammad-ʿAli Mirza

Abstract

One of the questions which characterized the first two decades after the rise of the Qajars to the Iranian throne was the fierce rivalry between the two leading princes during the reign of Fath-ʿAli Shah, namely, ʿAbbas Mirza Nayib al-Saltanah and Muhammad-ʿAli Mirza Daulatshah. The main cause of this rivalry was the nomination of the former to the position of crown prince and regent instead of the latter, who was the elder of the two. The aim of this article is to explain the reasons for this seemingly unjust decision on the part of Fath-ʿAli, and to discuss the intensity of this princely rivalry, analyzing its repercussions on various domestic and external affairs during the first decades of Qajar rule in Iran.