Pahlavi dynasty

This article is about the Iranian royal dynasty. For the country under its rule, see Pahlavi Iran.

The Pahlavi dynasty (Persian: خاندان پهلوی) was an Iranian royal dynasty that was the last to rule Iran before the country's monarchy was overthrown by the Iranian Revolution in 1979. It was founded in 1925 by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Iranian soldier of Mazanderani origin,^[1] who took on the name of the Pahlavi scripts of the Middle Persian language from the Sasanian Empire of pre-Islamic Iran. The dynasty largely espoused this form of Iranian nationalism rooted in the pre-Islamic era (notably based on the Achaemenid Empire) during its time in power, especially under its last king Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.^[2][3][4][5]

Pahlavi
Royal house
Arms of dominion of the Shahs, and therefore coat of arms, of Pahlavi Iran from 1932. The emblem of the dynasty is the mountain and sun in the blue circle in the middle.
Country	Imperial State of Iran
Place of origin	Mazandaran
Founded	15 December 1925; 99 years ago (1925-12-15)
Founder	Reza Shah Pahlavi
Current head	Reza Pahlavi
Final ruler	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Traditions	Shia Islam
Motto	مرا داد فرمود و خود داور است Marā dād farmud o Khod dāvar ast ([God] ordered me, and he himself is the judge)
Deposition	11 February 1979; 46 years ago (1979-02-11) (Iranian Revolution)

The dynasty replaced the Qajar dynasty in 1925 after the 1921 coup d'état, beginning on 14 January 1921 when 42-year-old soldier Reza Khan was promoted by British General Edmund Ironside to lead the British-run Persian Cossack Brigade.^[6] About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000–4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran.^[7][8] The rest of the country was taken by 1923, and by October 1925 the Majlis agreed to depose and formally exile Ahmad Shah Qajar. The Majlis declared Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran on 12 December 1925, pursuant to the Persian Constitution of 1906.^[9] Initially, Pahlavi had planned to declare the country a republic, as his contemporary Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had done in Turkey, but he abandoned the idea in the face of British and clerical opposition.^[10]

The dynasty ruled Iran for 28 years as a form of constitutional monarchy from 1925 until 1953, and following the overthrow of the elected prime minister, for a further 26 years as a more autocratic monarchy until the dynasty was overthrown in 1979.

Family background

See also: Pahlavi family tree

Farah, Mohammad Reza and Crown Prince Reza depicted in a card stunt at the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire

In 1878, Reza Khan was born at the village of Alasht in Savadkuh County, Mazandaran Province. His parents were Abbas Ali Khan and Noushafarin Ayromlou.^[11][7] His mother was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire)^[12][13] whose family had emigrated to mainland Qajar Iran after Iran was forced to cede all of its territories in the Caucasus following the Russo-Persian Wars several decades prior to Reza's birth.^[14] His father was a Mazandarani, commissioned in the 7th Savadkuh Regiment, and served in the Anglo-Persian War in 1856.

Heads of the House of Pahlavi

   – In pretence

Number	Picture	Name	Family relations	Lifespan	Assumed title	Relinquished title
I		Shah Reza Pahlavi	—	1878–1944	15 December 1925	16 September 1941 (abdicated)
II		Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi	Son of Reza Pahlavi	1919–1980	16 September 1941	11 February 1979 (deposed)
						27 July 1980 (died)
—		Shahbanu Farah Pahlavi (née Diba)	Third wife and widow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi	1938–current	27 July 1980	31 October 1980 (regency expired)
III		Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi[a]	Son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Pahlavi	1960–current	31 October 1980	Incumbent

1. "Reza II" in pretense.

Consorts

   – In pretence

Number	Picture	Name	Father	Lifespan	Marriage	Became consort	Ceased to be consort	Spouse
I		Tadj ol-Molouk	Teymūr Khan Ayromlou	1896–1982	1916	15 December 1925	16 September 1941 (husband abdicated)	Reza Pahlavi
II		Esmat Dowlatshahi	Gholam Ali Mirza Dowlatshahi	1905–1995	1923	15 December 1925
III		Princess Fawzia of Egypt	Fuad I of Egypt	1921–2013	1939	16 September 1941	17 November 1948 (divorced)	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
IV		Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary	Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary	1932–2001	12 February 1951		15 March 1958 (divorced)
V		Farah Diba	Sohrab Diba	1938–current	21 December 1959 (as queen consort)		11 February 1979 (husband was deposed)
					26 October 1967 (as empress consort)		27 July 1980 (widowed)
Office vacant from 27 July 1980 to 12 June 1986
VI		Yasmine Etemad-Amini	Abdullah Etemad-Amini	1968–current	12 June 1986		Incumbent	Reza Pahlavi

Heirs

Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi, the heir presumptive until his death in 1954

The 1906 constitution of Iran specifically provided that only a male who was not descended from the Qajar dynasty could become the heir apparent.^[15] This made all half-brothers of Mohammad Reza ineligible to become heirs to the throne.^[15] Until his death in 1954, the Shah's only full brother Ali Reza was his heir presumptive.^[15] The constitution also required the Shah to be of Iranian descent, meaning that his father and mother are Iranian.^[16]

Line of succession in February 1979

• Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944)
  • Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919–1980)
    • (1) Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (b. 1960)
    • (2) Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1966)
  • Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1922–1954)
    • (3) Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (b. 1947)
      • (4) Prince Davoud Pahlavi (b. 1972)
      • (5) Prince Houd Pahlavi (b. 1973)
      • (6) Prince Mohammad Pahlavi (b. 1976)

Current line of succession

• Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944)
  • Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919–1980)
    • (1) Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (b. 1960)
    • Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1966–2011)
  • Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1922–1954)
    • (2) Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (b. 1947)
      • (3) Prince Davoud Pahlavi (b. 1972)
      • (4) Prince Houd Pahlavi (b. 1973)
        • (5) Prince Rafaël Pahlavi (b. 2006)
      • (6) Prince Mohammad Pahlavi (b. 1976)

List of crown princes

Name		Portrait	Relationship to monarch	Became heir	Ceased to be heir; reason
Office vacant from 15 December 1925 to 24 April 1926
1	Mohammad Reza Pahlavi		Eldest son	25 April 1926[17]	16 September 1941 (Became king)
Office vacant from 16 September 1941 to 26 October 1967
2	Reza Pahlavi II		Eldest son	1 November 1960 (proclaimed)[17] 26 October 1967 (designated)[17]	11 February 1979 (Father deposed)

Royal jewels

Main articles: Pahlavi Crown, Empress's Crown, and Iranian Crown Jewels

Monuments

Main articles: Mausoleum of Reza Shah and Shahyad Tower

Use of titles

• Shâh: Emperor, followed by Shâhanshâh of Iran, with style His Imperial Majesty
• Shahbânu: Shahbânu or Empress, followed by first name, followed by "of Iran", with style Her Imperial Majesty
• Valiahd: Crown Prince of Iran, with style His Imperial Highness
• Younger sons: Prince (Shâhpūr, or King's Son), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style His Imperial Highness.
• Daughters: Princess (Shâhdokht, or King's Daughter), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style Her Imperial Highness.
• Children of the monarch's daughter/s use another version of Prince (Vâlâ Gohar, "of superior essence") or Princess (Vâlâ Gohari), which indicate descent in the second generation through the female line, and use the styles His Highness or Her Highness. This is then followed by first name and father's surname, whether he was royal or a commoner. However, the children by the last Shah's sister Fatemeh, who married an American businessman as her first husband, are surnamed Pahlavi Hillyer and do not use any titles.

See also

• Iran portal
• Monarchy portal
• Modern history portal

• List of Shia dynasties
• List of Muslim states and dynasties
• Imperial Standards of Iran
• Monarchism in Iran