FARMĀNFARMĀ, FEREYDŪN MĪRZĀ

 

FARMĀNFARMĀ, FEREYDŪN MĪRZĀ (d. Mašhad, 1272/1854; Dīvānbeygī, p. 1314), fifth son of the Qajar prince ʿAbbās Mīrzā (q.v.) and elder brother of Solṭān Morād Mīrzā Ḥosām-al-Salṭana. Having been his father’s favorite since childhood, Fereydūn Mīrzā was named vice-governor of Azerbaijan when ʿAbbās Mīrzā went to quell a rebellion in Khorasan (1247/1831); after ʿAbbās Mīrzā’s death, during Crown Prince Moḥammad Mīrzā’s rule in Azerbaijan, Fereydūn Mīrzā was governor of Tabrīz.

After Moḥammad Mīrzā’s succession as Moḥammad Shah (1250-64/1834-48) Fereydūn Mīrzā led the imperial army against the Turkman in Gorgān and captured Qarī Qalʿa (Dīvānbeygī, p. 1312; Eʿtemād-al- Salṭana, Montaẓam-e nāṣerī, ed. Reżwānī, p. 1635). The shah awarded him the title farmānfarmā and appointed him governor of Fārs in 1252/1836, with Mīrzā Taqī Qawām-al-Dawla as his minister. Fereydūn Mīrzā appears to have been well received at first (Dīvānbeygī, p. 1312), but after three years the people of Shiraz rebelled because of abuses by his trusted treasurer, Mīrzā Aḥmad Khan Tabrīzī; Farīdūn Mīrzā had ignored repeated complaints and even the reports of his own minister about Mīrzā Aḥmad Khan (Fasāʾī, ed. Rastgār, p. 772). The rebels laid siege to the governor’s residence, and, as no compromise could be reached, Moḥammad Shah removed him from his post and recalled him to Tehran (1257/1840). Thereafter, despite efforts on his behalf by the grand vizier, Hājī Mīrzā Āqāsī, Fereydūn Mīrzā was appointed to no official positions by Moḥammad Shah.

In the early years of Nāṣer-al-Dīn Shah’s reign (1264-1313/1848-96), however, he became governor of Khorasan (1269/1851) and restored peace to that province, defeating Moḥammad-Amīn Khan, amir of Ḵīva, whose army was reportedly 40,000 strong, and killing the khan along with fourteen princes; for this victory Fereydūn Mīrzā received rich gifts from the shah (Eʿtemād-al-Salṭana, Montaẓam-e nāṣerī, ed. Reżwānī, pp. 1769-70; Lesān-al-Molk, p. 104).

He is reported to have been one of the wiser and nobler of the Qajar princes, showing “benevolence to the entire population of Fārs” (Fasāʾī, ed. Rastgār, p. 772). He composed poetry under the pen name Farroḵ; examples can be found in Reżāqolī Khan Hedāyat’s Majmaʿ al-foṣaḥāʾ and Aḥmad Dīvānbeygī’s Ḥadīqat al-šoʿarāʾ (p. 1312).

 

Bibliography (for cited works not given in detail, see “Short References”):

Bāmdād, Rejā. III, pp. 92-94.

Aḥmad Dīvānbeygī, Ḥadīqat al-šoʿarāʾ, ed. ʿA. Navāʾī, II, Tehran, 1365 Š./1986.

Hedāyat, Rawżat al-ṣafā. Majmaʿ al-foṣaḥāʾ I, pp. 90-95.

Idem, Rawżat al-ṣafā. M.-T. Lesān-al-Molk Sepehr, Nāseḵ al-tawārīḵ IV, Tehran, 1344 Š./1965.

(ʿABD-AL-ḤOSAYN NAVĀʾĪ)

Originally Published: December 15, 1999

Last Updated: December 15, 1999