Dear viewers of AzNews TV, greetings and welcome.
In this program, we are honored to present an exclusive interview with Princess Maryam Faroughi Qajar, a descendant and member of the Qajar dynasty and a descendant of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last monarch of the Qajar dynasty.
The main focus of this interview will be the historical, cultural, and heritage-related aspects of the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last king of the Qajar dynasty. We will discuss his last will and testament, the circumstances surrounding his death and burial, the location of his tomb, and its current condition. We will also examine the status of the burial sites of other Qajar monarchs, princes, and members of the royal family, both inside and outside Iran, as well as the preservation and maintenance of these historical monuments.
This subject is of particular importance because historical tombs and memorial sites are not merely places of burial; they also constitute an essential part of a nation’s cultural heritage, historical identity, and collective memory. Examining the condition and history of these sites can provide valuable insights into the modern history of Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as the political and social transformations that accompanied the transition from the Qajar era to the Pahlavi period and subsequently to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We hope that this conversation will shed light on lesser-known aspects of the history of the Qajar dynasty and the fate of the historical legacy left behind by this royal house.
Please stay with us for this special interview.
Thank you for giving us your time. Before we move on to the main questions, we would appreciate it if you could tell our audience a little about yourself and your activities
Maryam Faroughy Qajar is the grand granddaughter of Ahmad Shah Qajar, through Ahmad Shah’s daughter Irandokht. She currently resides in London where she lives with her husband.
Tell us what happened to the descendants of Ahmad Shah after their death
Of the 4 children of Ahmad Shah, my grandmother, Irandokht (the second child of Ahmad Shah) is the only one buried in Iran: she was buried in Tehran at the Beheshteh Zahra cemetery, together with her cousins, the Afshar clan. As she died in Tehran in 1988 at the end of the Iran-Irak war, she couldn’t be granted a proper ceremony and the Afshar, who she was very closed with, welcomed her in their family graveyard.
The three other children of Ahmad Shah who all lived in exile, where buried in the country where they all lived: Ferydoun, the only son of Ahmad Shah lived in Switzerland and was buried in Geneva, Homayoundokht the first child of Ahmad Shah, who lived in the South of France was buried there and Maryam who lived in the US is buried in Baltimore (USA).
Where is Ahmad Shah buried and is his tomb well-maintained?
Ahmad Shah drafted a will in which he explicitly asked to be buried in Karbala in the Imam Hussein Shrine along with his father Mohamad Ali Shah and grandfather Mozafferedin Shah. All three are buried in the same shrine.
The problem we are witnessing now is that the tomb of Ahmad Shah in the Imam Hussein Shrine has almost vanished from the public eye: the writing on the tomb has faded and the stone is very used. Some people who could access the shrine said they couldn’t see the tomb at all. And it’s not only Ahmad Shah: the same happened to the tomb of Mohamad Ali shah and Mozafferedin Shah. Some even say the tombs of these three kings have disappeared.
What were the instructions of Ahmad Shah regarding his tomb?
The first instruction was his own tomb and the one of his father to be well-maintained, strangely Ahmad Shah doesn’t mention Mozafferedin Shah’s tomb for the maintenance.
Most importantly Ahmad Shah wrote in his testament these exact words (citation) ‘In addition, I bequeath a permanent annuity for the maintenance according to the Islamic Shiite rites and for all reparations and other expenses such as “Gharie Koran Madjid” and so forth which will be necessary for the upkeep of
my father’s tomb and of my own.’
Because of the situation in Iraq, the organization in charge of the testament’s execution cannot control the prayers are being made and his will being executed. So none of the will of Ahmad Shah is really executed
How do you handle his instructions after his death?
Ahmad Shah allocated a specific amount of money before his death in a fund managed by a bank specifically designed to execute his will for him and his father. The bank, located in the United States, has managers liaising with specific Shiite associations inside Iraq to perform the prayers. These associations are paid yearly.
The bank has to communicate with the heirs of Ahmad Shah about the good execution of Ahmad Shah’s will. But this year, the bank informed us that for the past few years, it cannot control the prayers are duly performed because Iraq isn’t a country easy to get information from.
Can you tell us where other Qajar kings are buried?
Agha Mohamad Shah the founder of our dynasty, is buried at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. Like Ahmad Shah and other Qajar kings, his tomb is hardly seen and maintained.
Fath Ali shah and Mohammad Shah are both buried in Qom at the Fatima Masumeh Shrine.
Naser Ed Din Shah, the longest reigning Qajar king, is buried in the Abdol- Azim Shrine in Rayy near Tehran. Rayy is a symbolic place for the Qajar dynasty as the Qajar dynasty stayed there while they started the construction of Tehran.
While Abbas Mirza never reigned, he was one of the prominent figures of our dynasty, abd he is currently buried in the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad.
Unfortunately, all these tombs which are located inside Iran are very poorly maintained by the current regime almost like the ones located in Iraq.
What are your plans for the future of Ahmad Shah’s tomb?
We are 13 heirs of Ahmad Shah today controlling his will and we all agree that the maintenance is very difficult to carry in the current situation of Iraq. We also all agree that the body of Ahmad Shah, a real patriot, belongs to Iran.
There a few possibilities, the first being that Ahmad Shah and his father, Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar both being born and raised in Tabriz, and Tabriz being the place where all Qajar kings were raised until the age of 15 before being sent to Tehran for governance studies, Ahmad Shah’s tomb could be erected in a mausoleum in Tabriz.
The second option would be to send his body in Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom, as the Qajar were a staunch shia dynasty.
Leaving the tombs in Iraq under the current conditions isn’t dignified for the history of Iran.
I will provide more details and future plans about the tomb of Ahmad Shah in a near future,
