Customer Reviews

The Pivot of the Universe: Nasir al-Din Shah and the Iranian Monarchy

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My compliments to Professor Amanat on this incredible book on the reign of Nasir al- Din Shah Qajar of Iran. What a refreshing new look on this Qajar ruler. Although Professor Amanat's book concentrates on the first half of Nasir al-Din's monarchy, his work is of great historical and academic value to Iranian history. Since the dawn of the Pahlavi Dynasty in the 1920's, Nasir al-Din has always been presented in a vacuum, by a resume style listing of events in his political career. These highlights of Nasir al-Din Shah's monarchy have shaped the popular understanding of this ruler. Most importantly, the killing of, Mirza Taqi Farahani (Amir Kabir), his disliked mother (Malik Jahan, Mahd `Ulya), Nuri, his unpopular premier, the Herat military campaign, the Anglo-Iranian War, the Babi suppression (Baha-i Koshi), foreign intervention in domestic affairs, obsession with Malijak (Aziz-al- sultan), the tobacco concession, and his assassination in 1896. In this book, we finally get to understand Nasir al-Din by learning about his childhood, his world, and his time.

What one learns from reading Professor Amanat's book is that ruling Persia during the age of Europe's Imperial expansion, industrialization, and modernization, Nasir al-Din was able to prove himself quite effectively as an astute diplomat. What he lacked in military might, he made up for in diplomatic wit, playing the great powers against one another (namely Britain and Russia). What has never been acknowledged about him prior to this book is that he fared quite well in his attempt to assure Iranian territorial integrity and independence (preventing the partitioning of Iran).

Professor Amanat does not in any way put Nasir al-Din at par with Peter the Great, Nadir Shah, or Napoleon. He simply fills the vacuum surrounding the psyche, environment, and the character of this King, and presents the reader with a fresh new look on the Nasir-i era. This book is objective and focused on preserving history. It has not re-written history, it has contributed to it greatly. Having read this book, I still do not believe Nasir al-Din was by any measure a great king. In fact his religious beliefs, rooted in predestination, repeatedly resigned him to accept that which was quite unacceptable. Nasir al-Din's personal hero, Peter the Great of Russia, was never as docile as he was. Peter reformed, built, and strengthened his country, while Nasir al-Din Shah, at best, preserved the status quo. As for his capital modernization attempts, the introduction of the telegraph, the purchasing of the four cannon ship Persepolis, and the five mile long railway from Tehran to Shah `Abd al-`Azim, were too little for a reign of 48 years to win him great praise. Great reform at times of weakness is indeed a historical possibility. Peter The Great of Russia set such an example prior to Nasir al-Din, as well as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey, two decades after him. Change is facilitated through effective leadership. Let us never forget the praise given to Ataturk when it was written that "the will of the believer, become the creator of miracles."

I recommend Professor Amanat's book highly to anyone interested in history, biography, or nineteenth century imperialism. I give his book five GIANT stars and hope that the professor writes another book covering the second half of Nasir al-Din's reign.

Such insight and dedication to perfection is difficult to find. This is a fascinating book on the life of a Qajar Monarch that ruled Persia for one half of the 19th century. You will learn a great deal about how the era of industrial colonialism pushed an otherwise mighty and ancient empire into a defensive position that just keeping the nation in one piece became a major accomplishment. The life of the Nassir Al-Din Shah Qajar is so well depicted in this book that you live in 19th century Iran while reading it. A scholarly work of history by Professor Amanat that is a true contribution to Middle Eastern, Russian, and British History.

For the Qajar dynasty of Iran, the mid-nineteenth century was a period of considerable challenge. Though they had succeeded in securing their claim to the throne, their rule was but a pale shadow of the monarchy that had dominated the region during Safavid times. Domestically their regime grappled with unrest and westernizing pressures, while internationally they found themselves a pawn in the geopolitical struggle between the Western empires of Britain and Russia. These challenges dominated the reign of Nasir al-Din Shah, who ruled over Iran for nearly half a century. Though his reign has long been the subject of considerable study, with this book Abbas Amanat has provided the first biography in English of Nasir, offering a detailed study of his life and times.

Yet Amanat's book is not a full accounting of Nasir's life. His focus is on the shah's early years and the first twenty-three years of his lengthy reign. These he sees as critical years in the evolution of the institution of the Iranian monarchy, as it abandoned many of its medieval institutions and developed into a more modern absolutist monarchy. This was not without considerable struggle, nor did it begin with Nasir himself. By the early nineteenth century, the Qajars committed themselves to the notion of primogeniture as a means of determining succession, yet Nasir's path to the throne was plagued with potential challengers from within his family. His successful accession was due in part to the sounds advice of Amir Nizam, who soon afterwards became Nasir's chief minister. Yet his time in power was short, and Nizam's dismissal (and subsequent execution) represented the end of his efforts to institute a range of modernizing reforms. This Amanat sees as a tragically missed opportunity, as the shah rejected any further efforts to resume them as he was unwilling to accept the diminution of his power that they entailed.

Nizam was replaced by Mirza Aqa Khan Nuri, who proved more accommodating to the shah's whims. During this period, which lasted for about a decade, Iran gradually drifted from a slightly pro-British orientation towards a more active opposition to their presence. Here Amanat's extensive use of British diplomatic archival resources is fully evident, allowing him to present a richly nuanced picture of Iran's relations with the British Empire. This growing tension, exacerbated by Nasir's expansionist ambitions, ultimately led to a brief war, one that resulted in a humiliating defeat for the monarchy. Nasir accepted the reality of the situation, and shifted his focus towards solidifying his power. Amanat is good here at describing the clash between Nizam and Nasir's wife Jayram, a clash that resulted in Nizam's dismissal. With his departure, Nasir effectively abandoned the position, establishing instead a more direct rule where the major departments of government answered directly to the shah. Yet his subsequent efforts to implement a more moderate of reform failed, Amanat argues, because of his unwillingness to develop a more systematic form of government, which would have forced him to surrender some of the authority he held most dear.

Extensively researched and incisively written, Amanat's book provides valuable understanding of Nasir and his reign. Though based on a considerable command of published works and documents in the British archives, he never lets the details overwhelm his narrative or overshadow his analysis. Apart from a poor job of editing, the book's main flaw is a lack of comparable detail on the Russian side of the diplomatic divide, which would have helped to provide a more well-rounded picture of events. Yet this does not detract from his overall success in illuminating for readers a fascinating tale of a monarchy in transition. With only a single chapter summarizing the remaining quarter century of Nasir's reign, it is hoped that at some point Amanat gives these years the same rewarding attention he did to the ones covered in this excellent book.