Mohammad Hassan Mirza


Mohammad Hassan Mirza Qajar was the brother of Ahmad Shah Qajar of Iran, and former Crown Prince of the Qajar dynasty. Soon after Reza Shah deposed the Qajar dynasty and made himself Shah of Iran in 1925, Prince Mohammad Hassan and his family were sent into permanent exile to England. In 1930, he declared himself the rightful heir to the crown as pretender to the throne. He died on 7 January 1943 in Maidenhead, England and was buried in Kerbala, Iraq.

Tension with Ahmad Shah Qajar

Even before the dethronement of his brother Ahmad Shah Qajar by Reza Shah, he was still a inconsequential figure in Iranian politics. This was not from a lack of trying however; in early march of 1921, the Mohammad Hassan Mirza approached the British legation with proposals to supplant his brother, the king of Iran at the time. The High Commissioner's office in Baghdad informed Herman Norman in a telegram that Zia'eddin Tabatabaee informed them that Mohammad Hassan Mirza was "very dissatisfied with the shah and fears for safety of Persia from the Bolsheviks...", and that "he is prepared to form new government as he considers the Shah useless...". Mohammad Hassan Mirza proposals were ignored, except by Percy Cox who was the former attache of Britain in Iran. Herman Norman who was current British diplomat to Iran thought of the dethronement of Ahmad Shah Qajar by his brother as a tactical mistake which would divide Persia; " from encouraging any movement which has for its object dethronement of His Majesty. It is also my duty to do my best to preserve the unity of Persia".

Honours