Mohammad-Ali Mirza Dowlatshah (5 January 1789, in Nava – 22 November 1821, in Taq-e Gara) was a famous Iranian Prince of the Qajar dynasty. He is also the progenitor of the Dowlatshahi Family of Persia. He was born at Nava, in Mazandaran, a Caspian province in the north of Iran. He was the first son of Fath-Ali Shah, the second Qajar king of Persia, and Ziba Chehr Khanoum, a Georgian girl of the Tsikarashvili family. He was also the elder brother (by seven months) of Abbas Mirza. Dowlatshah was the governor of Fars at age 9, Qazvin and Gilan at age 11, Khuzestan and Lorestan at age 16, and Kermanshah at age 19.
In the battles with Russia and Persia's archrival, the Ottoman Empire, he defeated the Ottomans in Baghdad and Basra, and crushed the Russians in Yerevan and Tbilisi. Dowlatshah developed and improved the city of Kermanshah and established the city of Dowlat-Abad which was renamed Malayer.
Dowlatshah had 10 sons. His descendants live in various countries around the world and carry the surname: in , which is rendered as Dowlatshahi in English and Doulatchahi in French and Doulatszahi in Polish etc.
Biography
Early life
Dowlatshah was born on 5 January 1789 in the village of Nava in Mazandaran, northern Iran. He was the eldest son of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (), the second Qajar shah (king) of Iran and part of the Qovanlu branch of the Qajar tribe. His mother was Ziba-chehr Khanum, a Georgian slave girl from the Tzicara Chwili family. Despite being the oldest, Dowlatshah was excluded from the succession since the law of the Qajar tribe required that the chieftain of the tribe (as well as the crown prince) had to have Qajar parents. Instead, it was planned that the succession would pass to his seven-month younger brother Abbas Mirza, due to his mother belonging to the Davanlu clan of the Qajars. This choice has been made by Fath-Ali Shah's uncle Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (), who wanted to unite the Qovanlu and Davanlu.
Agha Mohammad Khan also appears to have taken the personalities of both princes into account when choosing Abbas Mirza over Dowlatshah. These two princes had opposite personalities, attitudes, and physiques. Abbas Mirza was frail, bashful and humble in comparison to Dowlatshah's robust body, brave and fearless personality, and impolite and brash manners. Dowlatshah therefore consistently had the advantage in their fights when growing up. Agha Mohammad Khan first developed a strong affection for Dowlatshah because of this particular characteristic and the similarities in their personalities. Agha Mohammad Khan spent a lot of time with both of them attempting to impart his expertise and experience. He eventually discovered that his efforts with Dowlatshah were futile after observing his agitated, hostile, and daring personality through a series of tests. Agha Mohammad Khan thus made the decision to concentrate increasingly of his attention on Abbas Mirza.
Fath-Ali Shah appointed Dowlatshah to rule and protect the boundaries of the two Iraqs (a name given to western states of Iran) and also adjoined Khuzestan province to his territories. In fact, during Dowlatshah's time, Kermanshah had become a citadel against the Ottomans.
Dowlatshah carried the last, and initially very successful, attack on the Ottoman Iraq in 1821. Persia was resentful of the inability of the Ottoman government to protect the Shia population of Iraq against the Saudi-Wahhabi attacks that had begun in 1801. Many of the Shias killed in the raids were Iranians, some of whom closely related to the ruling Qajar dynasty of Persia. His forces quickly occupied Shahrazur and Kirkuk, and laid siege to Baghdad.
His skills and ambitions mirrored those of his younger brother. He was a great military leader and a patron of the arts, poetry and philosophy. The origin of the family names "Dowlatshah," "Dowlatshahi," and close variations such as "Dolatshahi" are from this ancestor's title.
Dowlatshah has been greatly respected among the people of Kermanshah (Persians, Kurds, Lors and Laks), mainly because of his contributions such as Dowlatshah mosque (مسجد دولتشاه) His mosque is located in the Javanshir Square of Kermanshah and was built in the years 1820–1822 AD. In recent years this mosque has been repaired. It consists of separate nocturnal areas along with a courtyard.