ʿALĀʾ-AL-MOLK, ḤĀJJĪ MĪRZĀ ʿABDALLĀH KHAN (d. 23 Jomādā II 1308/4 February 1891), holder of various offices under Nāṣer-al-dīn Shah. The son of Mīrzā Nabī Khan Amīr-e Dīvān Qazvīnī and a daughter of Fatḥ-ʿAlī Shah, in 1275/1858 he was appointed a mosfawfī-e dīvān, i.e. treasury accountant (Eʿtemād-al-salṭana, Tārīḵ-emontaẓam-e Nāṣerī, Tehran, 1298-1300/1881-83, III, p. 261). When ʿAbd-al-Ṣamad Mīrzā, a brother of Nāṣer-al-dīn Shah, was given the title ʿEzz-al-dawla and made governor of Hamadān in 1278/1861-62, Ḥāǰǰī Mīrzā accompanied him as his vizier and assistant (ibid., III, p. 277). A year later he himself took over the governorship and the title ʿAlāʾ-al-molk was conferred on him (ibid., III, pp. 281-82); he remained in the post for three years. In 1293/1876 he was put in charge of the procurement of military uniforms and tents. At one time he was governor of Šāhrūd and Besṭām, and at another time minister of pensions (waẓāʾef). In 1301/1883-84 he became the treasurer of the buildings department (mostawfī-e bannāʾī), and in 1302/1884-85 a member of the council of state (dār-al-šawrā-ye kobrā).
Bibliography:
Bāmdād, Reǰāl II, pp. 294-96.
Eʿtemād-al-salṭana, Rūz-nāma-ye ḵāṭerāt, ed. Ī. Afšār, Tehran, 1345 Š./1966, p. 733.
ʿA. Mostawfī, Šarḥ-e zendegānī-e man, Tehran, 1341-43 Š./ 1962-64, I, p. 195.
(Ḥ. Maḥbūbī Ardakānī)
Originally Published: December 15, 1984
Last Updated: July 29, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 7, pp. 783-784
Ḥ. Maḥbūbī Ardakānī, “ʿALĀʾ-AL-MOLK, ḤĀJJĪ,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/7, pp. 783-784; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ala-al-molk-hajji-mirza-abdallah-khan-d (accessed on 15 May 2014).
