A member of the
Qajar dynasty, Khanlar Mirza was the seventeenth son of
Abbas Mirza. He was given the governorship of
Yazd in 1835, most likely at the suggestion of the newly appointed
premier Haji Mirza Aqasi. But in less than two years, Khanlar Mirza was sent from Yazd to
Kerman and
Sistan, where he put down an uprising by the
Baloch people. While his uncle
Bahman Mirza Baha od-Dowleh was governing Yazd, a revolt was staged by
Aga Khan I, the Imam of the
Nizari Isma'ilis. Without any permission, Khanlar Mirza then went to Yazd to take Kerman from Bahman Mirza. Their clash infuriated Mohammad Shah, but Aqasi stepped in to defend Khanlar Mirza. From 1841 to the middle of 1848, Khanlar Mirza served as the governor of
Hamadan. Following several months in office as the governor of the
Mazandaran province, Khanlar Mirza was dispatched to the southwest to resolve the matters of
Borujerd and
Bakhtiari. In early 1851, his responsibilities were expanded to include the administration of the
Arabestan and
Lorestan provinces. Most of the bandits in that region were driven out by him during that time. It was also through his efforts that the lengthy and expensive Hashem dam was finally constructed. It spanned the Hashem river, an artificial tributary of the
Karkheh river. His subpar leadership of a substantial Iranian army at the battle of
Mohammerah during the
Anglo-Persian war of 1856–1857, however, eclipsed these accomplishments. Many of Khanlar Mirza's officers subsequently received harsh punishment from the central government, while he reportedly had to pay a large indemnity. The governorship of
Isfahan was the final post held by Khanlar Mirza. He died in April 1862 in the capital of
Tehran, where he had traveled to inform Naser al-Din Shah of the situation in Isfahan. == References ==