Mostowfian Ashtiani family

There are not many sources about the life of Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani and how he came to power. What is known is that Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani was one of the great landowners of his time. He had three sons named Mirza Aghasi Bey, Mirza Hashem and Mirza Kazem, from whom three branches of the Mostowfian Ashtiani family were formed. Mostowfian Ashtiani family, although they were supporters of the Zand dynasty, were not angered by Agha Mohammad Khan and even retained their positions. Mirza Kazem, the son of Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani, accompanied Agha Mohammad Khan during the wars in Georgia and was killed during the siege of Shusha fortress.[6] Mirza Mohammad Taqi Qavam al-Dawla Ashtiani, son of Mirza Hashem, participated in the war of 1823-1821 with the Ottoman Empire and received the title of Qavam al-Dawla on behalf of Fath Ali Shah.[7] Throughout the reign of Fath Ali Shah, this family maintained its small role in the bureaucracy and never rose above the position of Mostowfi ol-Mamalek.

Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani, Prime Minister of Nasser al-Din Shah

Mirza Mohammad Qavam al-Dawla, a descendant of Mirza Hashem, married one of the daughters of Mirza Hassan Mostowfi ol-Mamalek Ashtiani, the son of Mirza Kazem, thus strengthening the family relationship.[8] During the reign of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, Qavam al-Dawlah led an army to capture the Turkmen insurgent bases, but was severely defeated and humiliated on his return to Tehran and imprisoned for some time.[9] In order to discredit Qavam al-Dawla, Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani, who was the brother-in-law of Qavam al-Dawla, presented 100,000 Tomans in a gold tray to Nasser al-Din Shah and demanded the release of Qavam al-Dawla.[10] Nasser al-Din Shah freed Qavam al-Dawlah and gave him the position of pioneer of Fars province. After that, the influence of the Mostowfian Ashtiani family with the Qajar kings increased.[11] Mirza Yousef Ashtiani held a position equal to the government of Tehran and the director of real estate.[12] He appointed one of his relatives named Mirza Musa Ashtiani as the deputy of Khorasan. Mirza Musa himself was later appointed Minister of Military Affairs and Finance in the cabinet of Mirza Hosein Khan Moshir od-Dowleh.[13]

Mirza Yousef Ashtiani also granted a position to his cousin, Mirza Hideyatu'llah Ashtiani, during his time as prime minister. Although Mirza Hideyatu'llah held the position of secretary since the time of Amir Kabir, he was appointed Minister of Finance during the reign of Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani.[14] Hideyatu'llah was the father of Mohammad Mossadegh, who was appointed prime minister during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, the son of Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani, succeeded his father as Mustawfi as a child.[15] He was elected Prime Minister six times. Ahmad Qavam and Vossug ed Dowleh, both grandchildren of Qavam al-Dawla, both became prime ministers after Persian Constitutional Revolution victory. When Vossug ed Dowleh was prime minister for the second time, he took bribes from Britain[16] and signed the 1919 agreement. During the reign of Reza Shah Pahlavi, when the bureaucracy was overthrown, only three members of Mostowfian Ashtiani family were able to retain power, Ahmad Qavam, who even became prime minister under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Mohammad Mossadegh, and Ahmad Matin-Daftari. Matin-Daftari was Mohammad Mosaddegh's nephew and son-in-law.[17]

Mirza Musa Ashtiani married three times, his first wife was Amirzadeh Khanum, daughter of Mahmud Mirza Qajar, son of Fath Ali Shah, from she, Mirza Musa Ashtiani had three children named Montaser al-Molk, Qavam al-Sultan and Vosough al-Saltanah. The three changed their surnames from Ashtiani to Dadvar because they were upset with their own Ashtiani relatives.[18] Vosough al-Saltanah Dadvar became Minister of War in the cabinet of Mirza Hassan Khan Mushir al-Dawla. He was also the governor of Gilan, Khorasan and Kerman for some time. He was a member of the National Assembly representing Tehran in 1930[19] and He became governor of Fars and then Azerbaijan in 1947, but was fired because he entered into negotiations with the Soviets to cede northern oil concessions.[20] Qavam al-Sultan was the father of Abdullah Dadvar, a musician who strongly supported Alinaghi Vaziri, who was developing a method for notation and arrangement in Iranian traditional music.[21] Montaser al-Molk wrote several books on the history of Mostowfian Ashtiani family, and he had a grandson named Abolhassan Dadvar, who was the mayor of Rasht and the governor of Tehran.[22]

From Mirza Musa Ashtiani's other wife, Esmat al-Saltanah, a son named Musa Mushir-Akaram was born, who returned to Ashtian and built several houses and mansions there with the inheritance left by his father.[23] He had a son named Ahmad Farhad who was a physician, writer and president of the University of Tehran. He was one of the first to bring a radiology device to Iran to help diagnose diseases.[24]