# Pahlavi dynasty

The Pahlavi dynasty (Persian: سلسله پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty that ruled for roughly 53 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who took on the name of the Pahlavi language spoken in the pre-Islamic Sasanian Empire to strengthen his nationalist credentials.
The dynasty replaced the Qajar dynasty in 1925 after the 1921 coup d'état, beginning on 14 January 1921 when 42-year-old soldier Reza Khan was promoted by British General Edmund Ironside to lead the British-run Persian Cossack Brigade. About a month later, under British direction, Reza Khan's 3,000–4,000 strong detachment of the Cossack Brigade reached Tehran in what became known as the 1921 Persian coup d'état. The rest of the country was taken by 1923, and by October 1925 the Majlis agreed to depose and formally exile Ahmad Shah Qajar. The Majlis declared Reza Pahlavi as the new Shah of Iran on 12 December 1925, pursuant to the Persian Constitution of 1906. Initially, Pahlavi had planned to declare the country a republic, as his contemporary Atatürk had done in Turkey, but abandoned the idea in the face of British and clerical opposition.
The dynasty ruled Iran for 28 years as a form of constitutional monarchy from 1925 until 1953, and following the overthrow of the elected prime minister, for a further 26 years as a more autocratic monarchy until the dynasty was itself overthrown in 1979.

## Family background

In 1878, Reza Khan was born at the village of Alasht in Savadkuh County, Mazandaran Province. His parents were Abbas Ali Khan and Noushafarin Ayromlou. His mother was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire), whose family had emigrated to mainland Qajar Iran after Iran was forced to cede all of its territories in the Caucasus following the Russo-Persian Wars several decades prior to Reza Shah's birth. His father was a Mazandarani, commissioned in the 7th Savadkuh Regiment, and served in the Anglo-Persian War in 1856.

## Heads of House of Pahlavi

| Number | Name | Family relations | Lifespan | Assumed title | Relinquished title |
| I | Reza Pahlavi | Son of Abbas Ali | 1878–1944 | 15 December 1925 | 16 September 1941 (abdicated) |
| II | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | Son of Reza Pahlavi | 1919–1980 | 16 September 1941 | 11 of February 1980 (deposed)27 July 1980 (died) |
| — | Farah Pahlavi | Widow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | 1938–current | 27 July 1980 | 31 October 1980 (regency expired) |
| III | Prince Reza Pahlavi | Son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Farah Pahlavi | 1960–current | 31 October 1980 | Incumbent |

## Consorts

| Number | Name | Father | Lifespan | Marriage | Became consort | Ceased to be consort | Spouse |
| I | Tadj ol-Molouk | Teymūr Khan Ayromlou | 1896–1982 | 1916 | 15 December 1925 | 16 September 1941 (husband abdicated) | Reza Pahlavi |
| II | Esmat Dowlatshahi | Gholam Ali Mirza Dowlatshahi | 1905–1995 | 1923 | 15 December 1925 | 16 September 1941 (husband abdicated) | Reza Pahlavi |
| III | Princess Fawzia of Egypt | Fuad I of Egypt | 1921–2013 | 1939 | 16 September 1941 | 17 November 1948 (divorced) | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
| IV | Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiary | Khalil Esfandiary-Bakhtiary | 1932–2001 | 12 February 1951 | 12 February 1951 | 15 March 1958 (divorced) | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
| V | Farah Diba | Sohrab Diba | 1938–current | 21 December 1959 (as queen consort) | 21 December 1959 (as queen consort) | 11 February 1979 (husband was deposed)27 July 1980 (widowed) | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
| Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ||
| Office vacant from 16 September 1980 to 12 June 1986 |||||||||
| VI | Yasmine Etemad-Amini | Abdullah Etemad-Amini | 1968–current | 12 June 1986 | 12 June 1986 | Incumbent | Reza Pahlavi |

## Heirs

The former constitution of Iran specifically provided that only a male who was not descended from Qajar dynasty could become the heir apparent. This made all half-brothers of Mohammad Reza ineligible to become heirs to the throne. Until his death in 1954, the Shah's only full brother Ali Reza was his heir presumptive.
The constitution also required the Shah to be of Iranian descent, meaning that his father and mother are Iranian.

### Line of succession in February 1979

* Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944)
** Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919–1980)
*** (1) Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (b. 1960)
*** (2) Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1966)
** Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1922–1954)
*** (3) Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (b. 1947)
**** (4) Prince Davoud Pahlavi (b. 1972)
**** (5) Prince Houd Pahlavi (b. 1973)
**** (6) Prince Mohammad Pahlavi (b. 1976)

### Current line of succession

* Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944)
** Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (1919–1980)
*** (1) Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi (b. 1960)
*** Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1966–2011)
** Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (1922–1954)
*** (2) Prince Patrick Ali Pahlavi (b. 1947)
**** (3) Prince Davoud Pahlavi (b. 1972)
**** (4) Prince Houd Pahlavi (b. 1973)
***** (5) Prince Rafaël Pahlavi (b. 2006)
**** (6) Prince Mohammad Pahlavi (b. 1976)

### List of crown princes

| Name | Name | Relationship to monarch | Became heir | Ceased to be heir; reason |
| Office vacant from 15 December 1925 to 24 April 1926 ||||||
| 1 | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi | Eldest son | 25 April 1926 | 16 September 1941 (Became king) |
| Office vacant from 16 September 1941 to 26 October 1967 ||||||
| 2 | Reza Pahlavi II | Eldest son | 1 November 1960 (proclaimed) 26 October 1967 (designated) | 11 February 1979 (Father deposed) |

## Use of titles

* Shâh: Emperor, followed by Shâhanshâh of Iran, with style His Imperial Majesty
* Shahbânu: Shahbânu or Empress, followed by first name, followed by "of Iran", with style Her Imperial Majesty
* Valiahd: Crown Prince of Iran, with style His Imperial Highness
* Younger sons: Prince (Shâhpūr, or King's Son), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style His Imperial Highness.
* Daughters: Princess (Shâhdokht, or King's Daughter), followed by first name and surname (Pahlavi), and style Her Imperial Highness.
* Children of the monarch's daughter/s use another version of Prince (Vâlâ Gohar, "of superior essence") or Princess (Vâlâ Gohari), which indicate descent in the second generation through the female line, and use the styles His Highness or Her Highness. This is then followed by first name and father's surname, whether he was royal or a commoner. However, the children by the last Shah's sister Fatemeh, who married an American businessman as her first husband, are surnamed Pahlavi Hillyer and do not use any titles.