Firuz Mirza Nosrat od-Dowleh Farmanfarma (Persian: فیروز میرزا نصرت الدوله فرمانفرما; 1817 – 4 April 1886) was a Qajar prince, military commander and administrator in 19th-century Iran. He was the sixteenth son of Crown Prince Abbas Mirza.
During the rule of his brother Mohammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834–1848), Firuz Mirza had a prosperous political and military career. This continued under his nephew Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (r. 1848–1896), who appointed him to multiple governorships and other leading positions. He was also a scholar and an expert with the kamancheh, a bowed string instrument.
Contents
Career
Revolt of Hossein Ali Mirza
Upon the accession of Mohamamd Shah, Hossein Ali Mirza, the shah's uncle and governor of Fars, laid claim to the throne and was supported by his brother Hasan Ali Mirza. An army was dispatched from Tehran under Manuchehr Khan Gorji and two English officers Henry Lindsay Bethune and Justin Sheil to quell the rebellion and install the youthful Firuz Mirza as the new governor of Fars. The rebellious army was defeated at Qomsha (today Shahreza) near Isfahan, the rebels were sent to Tehran, and Firuz Mirza took over the governorship of Fars with Manuchehr Khan as his minister. In 1836, Firuz Mirza was removed from the government of fars and sent as governor to Kerman to replace Aga Khan Mahallati, who had been summoned to Tehran. In 1839, Aga Khan rose up against Mohammad Shah and took refuge in Arg-e Bam, Firuz Mirza arrested him after the fourteen months siege.
Firuz Mirza subsequently held several high-ranking administrative and military offices under Naser al-Din Shah. He served as governor of Fars for a second time in 1849–1850, governor of Arak in 1857 and 1875, and governor of Tehran in 1858. In 1859, during the shah's three-month tour of the country, he acted as head of the government in the monarch's absence. He served as minister of war in 1868–1871 and 1873–1874, and was appointed vizier of Azerbaijan on three occasions, beginning in 1863. In 1879, he became governor of Kerman and Baluchistan. Firuz Mirza was also a member of the Government’s Consultative Assembly in 1859 and accompanied Naser al-Din Shah on his first European journey in 1873. He led several military campaigns during the shah's reign and was granted the title of Farmanfarma in 1876.
Family
The current Firuz and Farmanfarmaian families are descended from the offspring of Firuz Mirza and his wife Homa Khanom, the granddaughter of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797–1834). One of them were their son Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma. Firuz Mirza's daughter Najm al-Saltaneh was the mother of Iranian politician Mohammad Mosaddegh. His other daughter, Sarvar al-Saltaneh, was a consort of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar.