Nasser al-Din, Shah of Persia
(1831-1896), Reigned 1848-96Sitter in 13 portraits
Al-Din ascended to the Sun Throne in 1848 upon the death of his father, Mohammad Shah Qajar. In 1873, he was the first Iranian king to visited Europe. On the visit he became the first Persian King to be appointed a Knight of the Order of the Garter by Queen Victoria. He returned for subsequent royal visits in 1878 and in 1889. Although the Shah had a desire for a modern Iran, his style of governance was dictatorial which won little support from his people. Most reforms took place under the Prime Minister Amir Kabir who he later executed. He reigned for nearly 50 years from 1848-96 when he was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani, a fervent follower of the political activist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani who believed that the Shah's concessions to foreign powers, including the British Empire, could threaten the Middle East by making it vulnerable to being conquered by European imperialism in the same way that India was. The Shah, shortly before death, is reported to have said 'I will rule you differently if I survive'. He is buried at the shrine of Shah-Abdol-Azim, near Tehran where he was offering prayer when the assassination took place.
by Makzamoff, after Unknown artist
albumen carte-de-visite, 1860s-1870s
NPG Ax28414
by W. & D. Downey
albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s
NPG Ax38451
by W. & D. Downey
albumen carte-de-visite, 1870s
NPG Ax38450
by London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company
albumen cabinet card, 1870s
NPG Ax46180
Nasser al-Din, Shah of Persia with an attendant
by A.J. (Arthur James) Melhuish
albumen carte-de-visite, 1873
NPG x134169
Nasser al-Din, Shah of Persia, King Edward VII and five unknown sitters
by W. & D. Downey
woodburytype carte-de-visite, 1873?
NPG x197198
by Nadar (Gaspard Félix Tournachon)
albumen carte-de-visite, 1880
NPG x74350
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, 15 July 1889
NPG Ax5463
by Walery, published by Sampson Low & Co
carbon print, published August 1889
NPG Ax38298
by Walery, published by Sampson Low & Co
carbon print, published August 1889
NPG x9162
by Herbert Rose Barraud, published by Eglington & Co
carbon print, published 1889
NPG x74351
by Unknown photographer
albumen carte-de-visite
NPG x74349
Nasser al-Din, Shah of Persia ('Sovereigns, No. 11.')
by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 5 July 1873
NPG D43595
Comments back to top
We are currently unable to accept new comments, but any past comments are available to read below.
If you need information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service . Please note that we cannot provide valuations. You can buy a print or greeting card of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at around £6 for unframed prints, £16 for framed prints. If you wish to license an image, select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Use this image button, or contact our Rights and Images service. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.