Abbas Mirza Abbas Mirza ( عباس میرزا in Persian ) born in Nava village of Mazandaran ( September of 1789 – October 25 , 1833 ) , was a Qajar crown prince of Persia . He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with Russia and the Ottoman Empire , as an early modernizer of Persia ' s armed forces and institutions , and for his death before his father , Fath Ali Shah . Abbas was an intelligent prince , possessed some literary taste , and is noteworthy on account of the comparative simplicity of his life . Biography . He was a younger son of Fath Ali Shah , but on account of his mother ' s royal birth was destined by his father to succeed him . Entrusted with the government of the Azerbaijan region of Persia , he sought to rule it in European fashion , and employed officers to reorganize his army . He was soon at war with Russia ( Russo - Persian War ( 1804 – 13 ) ) , and his aid was eagerly solicited by both England and Napoleon , anxious to checkmate one another in the East . Preferring the friendship of France , Abbas Mirza continued the war against Russia ' s General Kotlyarevsky , but his new ally could give him very little assistance . Kotlyarevsky defeated the numerically superior ( 30 , 000 ) Persian army in the Battle of Aslanduz and in October , 1813 , Persia was compelled to make a disadvantageous peace , ceding some territory in the Caucasus ( present - day Georgia , Dagestan , and most of the what most recently became the Republic of Azerbaijan ) . These losses forced Abbas to rethink his strategy , and he started sending his students to Europe for military training . In 1811 and 1815 , two groups were sent to Britain , and in 1812 a printing press was established in Tabriz to reprint European military handbooks . Tabriz also saw a gunpowder factory and a munitions depot . The training continued with constant drilling by British advisers . He gained some victories during the Ottoman – Persian War ( 1821 – 1823 ) , resulting in a peace treaty signed in 1823 after the Battle of Erzurum . The war was a victory for Persia , especially considering they were outnumbered , and this gave much needed confidence to his forces . His second war with Russia , which began in 1826 , started off on a good note as he won back most of the territory lost in the Russo - Persian War ( 1804 – 13 ) ; however it ended in a string of costly defeats after which Persia was forced to cede nearly all of its Armenia n territories and Nakhchivan . The losses affected Abbas Mirza severely and his health began to suffer . He also lost enthusiasm for any more military reform . In 1833 , he sought to restore order in the province of Khorasan , which was nominally under Persian supremacy , and while engaged in the task died at Mashhad in 1833 . In 1834 his eldest son , Mohammed Mirza , succeeded Fath Ali Shah as the next king . R . G . Watson ( History of Persia , 128 - 9 ) describes him as “ the noblest of the Qajar race ” . He is most remembered for his valor in battle and his failed attempts to modernize the Persian army . He was not successful in part due to the lack of government centralization in Iran during the era . Furthermore , it was Abbas Mirza who first dispatched Iranian students to Europe for a western education .