Mohammad-Qoli Mirza Molk-Ara

Born on 16 June 1789,^[1] Molk-Ara was the third son of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (r. 1797–1834).^[2] His mother was Assieh Khanum Qovanlu.^[3] Molk-Ara had two full sisters and one maternal half-brother, Ebrahim Khan, who was born from Assieh Khanum's earlier marriage to Mehdi-Qoli Khan, the brother of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (r. 1794–1797).^[4]

In 1801/02, Molk-Ara was appointed as the governor of Mazandaran province.^[2] In 1813–1814, Astarabad was attacked by a 20,000-man Turkmen army under Yusuf Khoja Kashgari, who had earlier made a failed invasion of the Khorasan province, governed by Molk-Ara's brother Mohammad Vali Mirza. Yusuf Khoja Kashgari defeated Molk-Ara and his forces, but before he could advance further, was fatally shot in the chest by a member of the Gerayli tribe. His Turkmen forces subsequently scattered and withdrew. Mohammad Khan Qajar Ezz al-Din Lulu, the governor of Astarabad, rebelled soon afterwards, but was defeated and executed by government forces. The province of Astarabad was then incorporated into Mazandaran.^[5]

Following Fath-Ali Shah's death in 1834, a dynastic struggle ensued between the Qajar princes. His grandson Mohammad Shah Qajar ultimately became the new shah. Meanwhile, Molk-Ara, who was Fath-Ali Shah's oldest surviving at that time, lost his governorship to Fazel Ali Khan Qarabaghi and was summoned to Tehran by Mohammad Shah.^[6] During his time there, due to being the eldest son, Molk-Ara did not bow down to Mohammad Shah and would sit down without permission. As a result, Mohammad Shah eventually had him exiled to Hamadan.^[4]

At the end of his life, Molk-Ara was taken back to Tehran, where he died^[4] in 1872.^[7] Molk-Ara attempted to imitate his father, such as having a long beard and writing poetry, which he did under the pen name Khosravi.^[4]