AMĪR(-E) LAŠKAR (pl. omarā-ye laškar), military rank equivalent to general granted during Reżā Khan’s rise to power. The titles amīr-e laškar and amīr-e tūmān coexisted till the latter term was abolished with other Qajar titles in 1304 Š./1925 (ʿA. Mostawfī, Šarḥ-e zendagānī-e man yā tārīḵ-e eǰtemāʿī o edārī-e dawra-ye Qāǰārīya, Tehran, 1343 Š., II, p. 650). In 1301 Š./1922, an amīr-e laškar was head of security offices (Tārīḵ-e arteš-e novīn-e Īrān, ed. Setād-e Bozorg Arteštārān, Tehran, 1335 Š./1956, p.67); in 1303 Š./1924, during Reżā Khan’s campaign in Ḵūzestān against Shaikh Ḵaẓʿal, Naṣrallāh Khan Āyrom was amīr-e laškar of the south and Aḥmad Āqā Khan was amīr-e laškar of the west (Safar-nāma-ye Ḵūzestān, Tehran, 2535 = 1355 Š./1976, index, with photographs). The following omarā-ye laškar attended Reżā Shah’s coronation on 4 Ordībehešt 1305/25 April 1926: Ḵodāyār Khan, Aḥmad Āqā Khan, Naṣrallāh Khan Āyrom, Jalāyer, ʿAlī Āqā Khan Naqdī, Anṣārī, Ḵozāʿī, Ḥabīballāh Mīrzā Jahānbānī, Qāsem Khan Wālī (ʿA. Amīr Ṭahmāsp, Tārīḵ-e šāhānšāhī-e Aʿlāḥażrat Reżā Šāh-e Kabīr, Tehran, 2535 = 1355 Š./1976, pp. 679f.). Most of these officers were to occupy important functions later on, as would lower officers who later became amīr-e laškar: Mortażā Khan Yazdān-panāh (sartīp; ibid., p. 422, photograph, p. 701), Ḥabīballāh Khan Šaybānī (sartīp; ibid., p. 701), Karīm Āqā Khan Būzarǰomehrī (Sarhang; ibid., p. 702; later mayor of Tehran). Aḥmad Āqā Khan (later Aḥmadī), then head of security, became the first sepahbod under Moḥammad-Reżā Shah Pahlavī. In Ordībehešt 1314 Š./April 1935, the title of amīr-e laškar was abolished and replaced first by laškar-bod and later by sar-laškar (Tārīḵ-e arteš-e novīn, p. 76); according to Moʿīn, (Farhang-e fārsī I, p. 357) this change occurred in 1313 Š./1934.
Bibliography: Given in the text.
(J. Calmard)
Originally Published: December 15, 1989
Last Updated: August 3, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 9, p. 965
J. Calmard, “AMĪR LAŠKAR,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/9, p. 965, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amir-e-laskar-pl (accessed on 30 December 2012).
