Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi

Hossein-Qoli Khan Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi
4th Prime Minister of Iran
In office 21 December 1907 – 21 May 1908
Preceded by	Abolqasem Naser ol-Molk
Succeeded by	Ahmad Moshir al-Saltaneh
Personal details
Born	1832 Tehran
Died	6 August 1908 Tehran
Nationality	Iranian
Parent	Mohammad Sharif Khan Mafi Qazvini

Mirza Hossein-Qoli Khan Mafi (Persian: میرزا حسینقلی خان مافی; 1832 – 6 August 1908) titled Nezam al-Saltaneh (نظام السلطنه) was an Iranian politician serving as the prime minister of Iran from 21 December 1907 to 21 May 1908.^[1][2][3]

Hossein-Qoli belonged to a sub-branch of the Lur Bayranavand tribe, the Mafi clan. Since 1794, the clan had lived in Qazvin and its surroundings.^[3] Before becoming prime minister, Hossein-Qoli served as the governor of Bushehr (1857), Yazd (1874), Dashtestan (1875), Zanjan (1885), Khuzestan and Bakhtiari areas along with Chaharmahal (1887 and again in 1894), Azerbaijan (1899) and Fars.^[4]

He died at the age of 86 and is buried in Imamzadeh Abdollah, Ray.

Numerous contemporary accounts describe Hossein-Qoli as an aspirational, thoughtful, and trustworthy administrator. He was a devoted Muslim and an ardent nationalist. He followed traditional social norms and, like his brother Mohammad-Hasan Khan, he was against the growing trend of many of their peers copying everything that was European. Hossein-Qoli was a patron of the poets Iraj Mirza and Forsat-od-Dowleh Shirazi and was well-versed in classical Persian literature and Iranian history.^[3]

His letters were frequently mixed with sayings and poetry. Hossein-Qoli described his tour to the ruins of the Sasanian city of al-Mada'in in Ottoman Iraq with a sarcastic sense of humor and a pragmatic approach to life in general. He wrote, "I beheld Mada'in, but took no heed," a reference to the famous poem by the 12th-century poet Khaqani in which the viewer at the ruins of Mada'in is cautioned to pay heed to the shifting fortunes and ravages of time.^[3]

References

1. "جلسه: 203 مذاکرات روز یکشنبه 16 ذیقعده 1325دارالشوراى ملى" [203rd session of the Iranian parliament, 21 December 1907].^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. Zaker Hossein, Abdorrahim (1998). ادبیات سیاسی ایران در عصر مشروطیت [Political literature of Iran in constitutional era] (in Persian) (1st ed.). Nashr-e Elm.
3. Ettehadieh 2020.
4. Bamdad, Mahdi (2005). شرح حال رجال ایران در قرن 12 و 13 و 14 (in Persian) (1st ed.). Tehran: Ferdows. pp. 292–294. ISBN 964-320-139-2.

Sources

• Ettehadieh, Mansoureh (2020). "Neẓām-al-Salṭana, Ḥosaynqoli Khan". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica (Online ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation.