The Dynasty of the Kajars (1833)

The Dynasty of the Kajars, translated from the original Persian manuscript. Presented by His Majesty Faty Aly Shah to Sir Harford Jones Brydges, late Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from his Britannic Majesty to the Court of Teheran. To which is prefixed, a succinct Account of the History of Persia previous to that Period. Illustrated with plates, and a map of western Persia from actual survey, by colonel James Sutherland, engineer to the mission. London: John Bohn, MDCCCXXXIII [or 1833], [1 Illustration, 5 leaves] CXCII [or 192] + 448 [+8 leaves, + 2 maps, + 3 leaves] p.

The book is a translation by Harford Jones Brydges (b. 1764 – d. 1847) of Maʾāsir–i Sulṭānīyah (مآثر سلطانیه) by ʿAbd al–Razzāq Beg Maftūn ibn Najaf Qulī Khan Dunbulī (عبدالرزاق بیگ دُنبُلی), contains illustrations and two maps representing ‘Part of Aderbaeejan’. The book published in London in 1833 in an edition of 250 copies. The author of the original work, ʿAbd al–Razzāq Beg (1762/1763‒1827/1828), was a poet, historian, and biographer who lived and worked in Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The history is mainly an account of the early part of Fath ʻAli’s reign. In addition to the translation, Brydges provided preliminary matter running to more than 190 pages that includes an explanation of how he came to possess the manuscript, an overview of the dynasties and rulers of Persia, and an account of his own time in Persia. The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran from 1794 to 1925. ʿAbd al–Razzāq’s history begins with a chapter on the “illustrious lineage” of the Qajars, a Turkmen tribe that held ancestral lands in present–day Azerbaijan Republic. The dynasty was founded by Shah Aqa Muhammad, who defeated numerous rivals to bring all of Persia under his rule by 1794. Aqa Muhammad was assassinated in 1797 and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath ʻAli. Much of the history is taken up by Russo‒Persian War of 1804‒13, in which Persia was defeated and forced to cede to the Russians extensive territories in the Caucasus. The history also covers Fath ʻAli’s interactions with Afghanistan and with his Arab neighbors. The book is illustrated with plates and a map.
    The translator, English diplomat and author, ambassador to the court of Fatḥ–ʿAlī Shah Qājār from 1807 to 1811 Sir Harford Jones Brydges was the son of Harford Jones of Presteign, by Winifred, daughter of Richard Hooper of the Whittern, Herefordshire, and was born on 12 Jan. 1764. As a young man he entered the service of the East India Company and spent some years in India, where he acquired proficiency in Persian. As resident (commer­cial representative) of the Company’s factory at Basra from 1786 to 1794, he visited Bushire (Būšehr) and Shiraz during the last years of the Zand dynasty. Here he became friendly with Loṭf–ʿAlī Khan Zand, and accompanied the young prince on some of his heroic but ultimately futile campaigns against the advancing Qajars under Āḡā Moḥammad Khan. Brydges included a detailed account of these events in the introduction of this book.
    During Iran’s war with Russia of 1804–13, Napoleon sent a military mission under General Gardane to the Qajar court at Tehran. Britain hastily responded by appointing Brydges envoy extra­ordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Persia (adding a baronetcy), with instructions to ensure Iran’s continuance as a bulwark against the perceived designs of France on British India. Arriving in Tehran at the end of 1808, Brydges had to cope not so much with the influence of Gardane, who had just left with scant success, but with the effects of a recent mission from Lord Minto, governor general of the East India Company in Bombay (rarely at one with Whitehall on matters of foreign policy). The mission’s leader, Sir John Malcolm (q.v.), though at his most imperious and escorted by a powerful squadron, was not permitted to proceed to Tehran. Brydges, however, managed in March, 1809, to conclude the first treaty of alliance between the governments of Iran and Britain (Jones [Brydges], An Account of the Transactions of His Majesty’s Mission to the Court of Persia, 1810-1811, to which is Added a Brief History of the Wahauby, London, 1834, esp. I, pp. 209, 256). Minto, piqued at London’s success, refused to honor Brydges’ bills and in 1810 sent Malcolm back to Iran; London, however, confirmed Brydges’ credentials and henceforth retained control of diplomatic relations with Iran. Brydges stepped down as ambassador in 1811 and was replaced by Sir Gore Ouseley, who negotiated the definitive treaty (Aitchison’s Treaties, no. vii).
    On his return to England Brydges resigned from the East India Company but retained an active and sym­pathetic interest in Iran and India (see his Letters on the Present State of British Interests and Affairs in Persia, London, 1838).
    In commemoration of his descent, through his maternal grandmother, from the family of Brydges of Old Colwall, Herefordshire, he assumed, by royal sign manual dated 4 May 1826, the additional name of Brydges. On 15 June 1831 he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university of Oxford. In 1832 he was sworn a privy councillor, and in 1841 was appointed deputy-lieutenant of the county of Hereford. In 1833 he published ‘The Dynasty of the Kajars, translated from the original Persian manuscript;’ in the following year ‘An Account of His Majesty’s Mission to the Court of Persia in the years 1807–11, to which is added a brief history of the Wahanby;’ and in 1838 a ‘Letter on the Present State of British Interests and Affairs in Persia,’ addressed to the Marquis of Wellesley. In 1843 he pleaded the cause of the ameers of Scinde in a letter to the court of directors of the East India Company, denouncing the policy of annexation and conquest. In politics a decided whig, he took an active interest in the election contests of Radnorshire, where he founded a political association known as the Grey Coat Club.  He died at his seat at Boultibrook, near Presteign, on 17 March 1847. By his marriage with Sarah, eldest daughter of Sir Henry Gott, knight, of Newland Park, Buckinghamshire, and widow of Robert Whitcomb, of the Whittern, Herefordshire, he had one son and two daughters.

Keywords: Bazchalu tribe, Nakky Beg, Turkoman, Kubeh, Shakaky (or Shakaki), Dambali (or Dambaly), Urumia, Shakki, Shirwan, Juwad Khan, Gunjah.