Qajar era Iran–United Kingdom relations

nasereddin shah of persia received queen victoria @ windsor castle in july 1859.

anglo-persian relations picked momentum weakened safavid empire, after short-lived revival genius nader shah, gave way qajarid dynasty, absorbed domestic turmoil , rivalry, while competing colonial powers rapidly sought stable foothold in region. while portuguese, british, , dutch, competed south , southeast of persia in persian gulf, imperial russia largely left unchallenged in north plunged southward establish dominance in persia s northern territories.

plagued internal politics , incompetence, qajarid government found fast after ascendancy incapable of rising numerous complex foreign political challenges @ doorsteps of persia.

caption 1911 english satirical magazine reads: if hadn t thorough understanding, (british lion) might tempted ask (russian bear) doing there our little playfellow (persian cat).

during monarchy of fath ali shah, sir john malcolm, sir harford jones-brydges, 1st baronet, allen lindsay, henry pottinger, charles christie, sir henry rawlinson, harold nicolson, sir anthony eden, sir john mcneill, edmund ironside, , james morier of british elite closely involved persian politics. allen lindsay appointed general in abbas mirza s army.

a weakened , bankrupted royal court under fath ali shah forced sign treaty of gulistan in 1813, followed treaty of turkmenchay after efforts abbas mirza failed secure persia s northern front against imperial russia. treaties prepared sir gore ouseley aid of british foreign office in london. sir gore ouseley younger brother of british orientalist william ouseley, served secretary british ambassador in persia.

in fact, iran s current southern , eastern boundaries determined none other british during anglo-persian war (1856 1857). after repelling nasereddin shah s attack in herat in 1857, british government assigned frederic john goldsmid of indo-european telegraph department determine borders between persia , india during 1860s.

in 1872, shah signed agreement baron julius de reuter, george nathaniel curzon (who 1 of greatest statesmen of day) called complete , extraordinary surrender of entire industrial resources of kingdom foreign hands has ever been dreamed of .

the reuter concession denounced ranks of businessmen, clergy, , nationalists of persia, , concession forced cancellation.

similarly, tobacco fatwa , decreed grand ayatollah mirza hassan shirazi incident raised popular resentment against british presence in persia in lieu of diplomatically decapitated , apathetic qajar throne. concessions such , 70-year contract of persian railways operated british businessmen such baron de reuter became increasingly visible. visibility became particularly pronounced after discovery of oil in masjed soleiman in 1909 , establishment of anglo-iranian oil company , d arcy concession .

by end of 19th century, britain s dominance became pronounced khuzestan, bushehr, , host of other cities in southern persia occupied great britain, , central government in tehran left no power select own ministers without approval of anglo-russian consulates. morgan shuster, example, had resign under tremendous british , russian pressure on royal court. shuster s book strangling of persia recount of details of these events, harsh criticism of britain , imperial russia.