Polity · 1788 CE – 1923 CE
Qajar Dynasty
قاجاریان
- Peak recorded area
- 1,778,440 km²
- 1895 CE
- Rulers on record
- 4
- from 1789 CE
- Data series
- 75
- 1789 CE–1923 CE
Overview
The Qajar dynasty is a formerly aristocratic Iranian dynasty that gained prominence with the rise of Shahverdi Sultan in the early 16th century as heads of the Turkoman Qajar tribe of the Qizilbash confederacy. The dynasty ruled Iran from 1789 until 1925, beginning with the Unification of Iran (1779–1796) by Mohammad Khan Qajar.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
27 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 1 further extent, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1923 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 27 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 11.6Mpersons1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Urban Population69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 572Kpersons1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| City Pop Mashhad8 obs · 1796 CE–1900 CE | 70Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Tehran8 obs · 1796 CE–1900 CE | 150Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Esfahan7 obs · 1797 CE–1900 CE | 80Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
| City Pop Tabriz7 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 175Kpersons1900 CE · Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban Population |
Economy
6 of 12 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP124 obs · 1800 CE–1923 CE | 2,238int'l $ (inflation adj.)1923 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita3 obs · 1820 CE–1913 CE | 1,2752011 int'l $1913 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Income Inequality Gini3 obs · 1870 CE–1910 CE | 37.47gini (0-1)1910 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Agricultural Sophistication2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 1.4score1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Monetary Complexity2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 0.8333score1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Agriculture Intensity | 6ordinal1920 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Military
6 of 11 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 0.0034CINC (share of world capability)1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 1.5Mcoal-ton equivalents1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 0tons1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel69 obs · 1855 CE–1923 CE | 30Kpersons1923 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure GBP13 obs · 1855 CE–1908 CE | 5Mcurrent GBP1908 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Sophistication2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 1score1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0TWh1923 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0TWh1923 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 43.89TWh1923 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Polity Territory2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 6.2score1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
| Territory km²2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 1.6Msq km1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Governance
6 of 8 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Rule Of Law Index135 obs · 1789 CE–1923 CE | 0.124index (0-1)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Electoral Democracy Index24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0.114index (0-1)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0.05index (0-1)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0.022index (0-1)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type24 obs · 1900 CE–1923 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Admin Levels | 4levels1794 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Development
6 of 12 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Tech Radios99 obs · 1815 CE–1913 CE | 0count1913 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Freedom Of Expression Index87 obs · 1837 CE–1923 CE | 0.156index (0-1)1923 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Railway Line Km69 obs · 1853 CE–1923 CE | 241km1923 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Years Education6 obs · 1870 CE–1920 CE | 0.35years1920 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Numeracy5 obs · 1880 CE–1920 CE | 65.9ABCC index1920 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Government Complexity2 obs · 1800 CE–1900 CE | 0.69score1900 CE · Seshat Equinox 2020 |
Rulers
4 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Agha Mohammad Khan Qajarshah1789 CE – 1797 CE
- Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajarshah1896 CE – 1907 CE
- Mohammad Ali Shah Qajarshah1907 CE – 1909 CE
- Ahmad Shah Qajarshah1909 CE – 1925 CE
Memberships
- Russia–Iran Defense Pact (1921)Military alliance · member1921 CE – 1941 CE
- Iran–Afghanistan Non-Aggression Pact (1921)Historical alliance · member1921 CE – 1937 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Chandler/Modelski Historical Urban PopulationChandler 1987 / Modelski 2003
Chandler, T. (1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth; Modelski, G. (2003). World Cities: -3000 to 2000.
Compiled from published works (Chandler 1987; Modelski 2003)
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
Seshat Equinox 2020Equinox 2020
Turchin, P. et al. Seshat Global History Databank, Equinox 2020 release.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Qajar Dynasty is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.