ʿABDALLĀH MĪRZĀ DĀRĀ

 

ʿABDALLĀH MĪRZĀ DĀRĀ (1211-62/1796-1846), eleventh son of Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah and governor of Ḵamsa province. His mother Kolṯūm Ḵānom came from a family of sayyeds of Pāzvār (Makārem I, p. 398), and he himself was the son-in-law of Solaymān Khan Qāǰār Eʿteżād-al-dawla (Tārīḵ-e ʿAżodī, p. 126; Montaẓem III, p. 97). In 1224/1809-10 he was appointed governor of Ḵamsa, residing at Zanǰān; Mīrzā Ṭāqī ʿAlīābādī, the Ṣāḥeb Dīvān, was his vizier (Montaẓem III, p. 93). In the second Russo-Persian war, he was sent to Ardabīl with the army of Ḵamsa; there he raided the Russian forces under Madatov and captured horses, guns, and supplies. After his father’s death, ʿAbdallāh was twice reappointed governor of Ḵamsa.

This prince was a witty and clever poet who used the taḵalloṣ Dārā. His father Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah and his nephew, the future Moḥammad Shah, enjoyed his company (Tārīḵ-e ʿAżodī II, pp. 6, 87). His dīvān was left with his grandson, Ḥosayn-ʿAlī Khan Kāẓem Beglarbeg at Dawlatābād in Malāyer (Makārem, p. 398), and his dīvān of elegies has been published (Ḏarīʿa IX, first section, p. 312). He studied astronomy under his brother Moḥammad Valī Mīrzā and became proficient in it. He foretold his own death, which occurred as he had predicted in the house of his sister Żīāʾ-al-salṭana on 23 Jomādā II 1262/18 June 1846 (Tārīḵ-e ʿAżodī, pp. 64-65; Montaẓem III, p. 191). ʿAbdallāh Mīrzā built a school and a mosque in Zanǰān that were destroyed during the rebellion of Mollā Moḥammad-ʿAlī Zanǰānī. He had a son, the prince Moḥsen Mīrzā Mīrāḵor (Makārem I, p. 399).

Bibliography:

Moḥammad Ḥasan Khan Eʿtemād-al-salṭana, Montaẓem-e Nāṣerī III, Tehran, 1300/1882-83, pp. 13, 98, 134, 191.

ʿAżod-al-dawla Solṭān Aḥmad, Tārīḵ-e ʿAżodī, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1328 Š./1949, pp. 45-76.

Moḥammad-ʿAlī Moʿallem Ḥabībābādī, Makārem al-āṯār I, Isfahan, 1337 Š./1958. Bāmdād, Reǰāl II, p. 293.

(Ḥ. Maḥbūbī Ardakānī)

Originally Published: December 15, 1982

Last Updated: July 15, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 2, p. 202

Cite this entry:

Ḥ. Maḥbūbī Ardakānī, “Abdallah Mirza Dara,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/2, p. 202; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abdallah-mirza-dara-1796-1846-son-of-fath-ali-shah-and-governor-of-kamsa-province (accessed on 17 January 2014).