Nāṣer al-Dīn ShāhArticle Free Pass Nāṣer al-Dīn Shāh, also
spelled Nāṣir al-Dīn Shāh (born July 17, 1831, Tehrān, Iran—died
May 1, 1896, Tehrān), Qājār shah of Iran (1848–96) who began his
reign as a reformer but became increasingly conservative,
failing to understand the accelerating need for change or for a
response to the pressures brought by contact with the Western
nations. Although a younger son of Moḥammad Shāh, Nāṣer al-Dīn
was named heir apparent through the influence of his mother.
Serious disturbances broke out when he succeeded to the throne
on his father’s death in 1848, but these were quelled through
the efforts of his chief minister, Mīrzā Taqī Khān. Under Taqī
Khān’s influence, Nāṣer al-Dīn began his rule by instituting a
series of needed reforms. Taqī Khān, however, was later forced
from power by his enemies, who included Nāṣer al-Dīn’s mother,
and was disgraced, imprisoned, and finally murdered. In 1852 an
attempt was made on Nāṣer al-Dīn’s life by two Bābīs (members of
a religious sect cons