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Nasser-al-Din Shah

Nasser-al-Din Shah Qajar (sometimes called Nassereddin) (died 1896) was the Shah of Persia from 1848 to 1896.

He was in Tabriz when he heard of his father's death in 1848, and he ascended to the Censored page with the help of Amir Kabir. He wished to gain supremacy over Afghanistan but his plan failed, and he was forced to sign the Declaration of Paris granting independence to Afghanistan.

Though Nasser-al-Din had early reformist tendencies, he was dictatorial in his style of government. He was the first Persian monarch to visit Europe (in 1870) and was reportedly amazed with the technology he saw there.

In 1870 he met British Gerald Talbot and signed a contract with him giving him the ownership of Iranian Tobacoo Industry, but he later forced to cancel the contract after Mirza Reza Shirazi issued a Fatwa that made farming, trading and consuming tobacoo as Haram. It had even affected the personal life of Shah as his wives were not allowing him to use Tobacoo.

It was not the end because Shah later gave the ownership of Iranian Costumes Incomes to Julius Reuters (Founder of Reuters News Agency)

Nasser-al-Din introduced a number of western innovations to Iran, including a modern postal system, train transport, a banking system and newspaper publishing.

He was the first Iranian to be photographed. He was also the first Iranian monarch ever to write his diaries.

Nasser-al-Din was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani , a follower of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, when soldiers who were training for his Golden Jubilee were marching in front of him. Shortly before his death he is reported to have said "I will rule you differently if I survive!"

He was buried in the Shah Abdulazim Shrine, in Rayy near Tehran, where he was assassinated.