Rezā Shāh

He married Maryam Khanum in 1894. He had a daughter, Hamdan Saltaneh Pahlavi in 1903. However, Maryam died in 1904.

He married for a second time to Tadj ol-Molouk in 1916, who bore four children – daughter Shams Pahlavi, Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, daughter Ashraf Pahlavi, and son Ali Reza Pahlavi.

His third wife was Turn (Qamar al Molouk) Amir Soleimani, whom he married in 1922. The couple had a son, Gholam Reza. They later divorced in 1923.

Reza Shah Pahlavi was born as Reza Khan on March 15, 1878 in Alasht village, Savad Kouh County, Mazandaran Province, to Major Abbas Ali Khan and his second wife, Noush Afrin Ayromlou.

After his father’s death a few months following his birth, his mother took him to Tehran where she settled with her brother.

At the age of 16, he joined the Persian Cossack Brigade. He is also said to have served as a guard and servant under Dutch consul general Frits Knobel in 1903.

He served in the Iranian Army under Qajar Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and rose to the rank of gunnery sergeant. His good account of service led to his promotion as a Brigadier General in the Cossacks, in 1918.

Post the Russian Revolution of 1917, Britain and Soviet Russia vied with each other for better influence over Iran (Persia). By 1920, British and Soviet forces had control over most of the Iranian mainland.

In the midst of this political crisis in Iran, Reza Khan entered Tehran with his Cossack Brigade and seized control of the capital city of Tehran in the coup d'état on February 21, 1921. He forced the dissolution of the previous government and became the Commander of the Iranian Army and war minister in the new government and carried out the withdrawal of Russian troops.

During his tenure as minister of war, he brought modernization and harmony, built a strong army, and secured the nation from both domestic and foreign threats, thus establishing peace – a situation Iran had been missing for a century.

Upon approval from Ahmad Shah Qajar, he became the prime minister of the new regime in 1923. After Qajar left for Europe for a lengthy cure, he started working towards the creation of a republic.

In 1934, he succeeded in setting up the country’s first European-style modern school, the University of Tehran, providing modern education and training for bureaucrats as well as the middle class.

He freed the women from wearing the veil in 1935 and encouraged them to receive education at schools and seek employment.

He sent a letter to the League of Nations suggesting the change of name from Persia to Iran and this was implemented in 1935.

Road networks were improved and expanded under his rule - the most significant of them being the Trans-Iranian Railway, which opened in 1938.

He initiated sponsorships for Iranian students to study in European universities and ended all special rights provided to foreigners, thereby giving Iran independence in true sense.