The legitimacy of the dynasty in Qajar historiography

After the collapse of the Safavids, the Qajars became one of the potential elements for the power. They gained the rulership of Iran in 1796. The Qajar dynasty, undermined during the Constitutional Revolution, could not survived the instability that followed the World War One, and abolished by the Parliament in 1925. In this doctoral thesis, the Qajar conception of legitimacy is examined on the basis of history writing of the Qajars. The Qajar chronicles contain narratives, aiming to provide administrative, religious and historical legitimacy for the dynasty. In the chronicles, in order to build the administrative legitimacy, explanations were given about the right of sovereignty of the monarchs and the heirs. Other arguments were that, the state which belonged to the dynasty, had right to control country's historical territories and must be ruled by absolute monarchy. For religious legitimacy, it was argued that the Islam and the Shia were under the protection of the monarchs and the state. Through the legal terms, used in the chronicles, it becomes understandable why the Qajars failed to establish an order based on the law. For historical legitimacy, claims have been put forward about the origin of the dynasty and history of the country. The Qajar rule could not gain the satisfaction of the people. The political theory of the Shia has eroded the religious ground of the dynasty. The Qajars were blamed for the failure of reform. The Qajar absolute rulership was first replaced by the constitutional regime, and finally collapsed.