AMĪN(-E) ḤAŻRAT, ĀQĀ MOḤAMMAD-ʿALĪ, the eldest son of Āqā Ebrāhīm Amīn-al-solṭān and the half-brother of Mīrzā ʿAlī-Aṣḡar Khan Amīn-al-solṭān. He succeeded his father as Head of the royal pantry (ābdār-bašī) which made him accompany Nāṣer-al-dīn Shah in all his travels in Iran and abroad (Mīrzā ʿAlī Khan Amīn-al-dawla, Ḵāṭerāt-e sīāsī, ed. Ḥ. Farmān-farmāʾīān, Tehran, 1341 Š./1962, pp. 70, 101-02). He was not on very good terms with his younger brother Mīrzā ʿAlī-Aṣḡar Khan Amin-al-solṭān, who once sent him away from court for gold mining research at Kāvand-e Ḵamsa near Zanǰān. He was governor of Zanǰān in 1305/1887-88 and governor of Ḵamsa in 1306/1889-90. According to Eʿtemād-al-salṭana (Rūz-nāma, p. 114) he started as an ambitious young man, but eventually fell victim to heavy drinking after his younger brother was chosen over him to high offices. He is also reported to have had a tendency for lewdness (ʿA. Molkārā, Šarḥ-e ḥāl, ed. ʿA. Navāʾī, Tehran, 1361 Š./1982, p. 166). He had a heart attack while waiting for an audience in the Dīvān-ḵāna (Raǰab, 1306/March, 1889) and died four years later in Tehran after a prolonged illness. His son Ḡolām-ʿAlī Khan inherited his title amīn-e ḥażrat, but he died in his youth (24 Rabīʿ II 1310/15 November 1892).
The title amīn-e ḥażrat was still in use under Moẓaffar-al-dīn Shah; an amīn-e ḥażrat became wazīr-e bannāʾī (minister of construction) in 1321/1903 (see M. Neẓām Māfī, ed., Nāmahā-ye moḡīṯ-al-salṭana, Tehran, 1362 Š./1983, pp. 18, 44).
Bibliography:
See also M. H. Eʿtemād-al-salṭana, Rūz-nāma-ye ḵāṭerāt, ed.
Ī. Afšār, 3rd ed., Tehran, 2536 = 1356 Š./1977, pp. 98, 112, 114, 181, 195, 240, 283, 624, 653.
H. Neẓām-al-salṭana Māfī, Ḵāṭerāt o asnād, ed.
M. Neẓām Māfī et al., Tehran, 1361 Š./1982, I., p. 93; II, p. 120.
(J. Calmard)
Originally Published: December 15, 1989
Last Updated: August 3, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 9, p. 945
J. Calmard, “AMĪN ḤAŻRAT,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 1982, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amin-hazrat-aqa-mohammad-ali