Abbas Mirza Nayebolsaltaneh (Crown Prince Abbas Mirza), was born August 26, 1789 in Noor, Mazandaran, and died October 25, 1833 in Mashhad. He was the crown prince of Iran (Persia) in the reign of Fath Ali Shah of Qajar. He was a younger son of Fath Ali Shah, but on account of his mother's royal birth was destined by his father to succeed him. He developed a reputation as a military commander during wars with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, as an early modernizer of Persia's armed forces and institutions, and he died before his father, Fath Ali Shah. Abbas Mirza was an intelligent prince, possessed some literary taste, and valued simplicity in his life.
Entrusted with the government of northwest of Iran (Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia), he sought to rule it in European fashion, and employed European officers to reorganize his army. He was soon at war with Russian invading army, and his aid was eagerly solicited by both England and Napoleon, anxious to checkmate one another in the East. Fath Ali Shah preferring the friendship of France, which resulted in the Treaty of Finckenstein. Abbas Mirza continued the war against Russian army, but his new ally failed to assist him with arms and trainings. Russians defeated the Iranian army in the Battle of Aslanduz and in October 1813, Iran was compelled to make a disadvantageous peace treaty of Golestan, ceding some territory in the Caucasus (present-day Georgia, Dagestan, and most of the Republic of Azerbaijan).
He gained some victories during the war 1821 war between the Ottoman Empire and Iran, resulting in a peace treaty signed in 1823 after the Battle of Erzurum, which was a victory for Iran.
In 1825 Russian army staged cross border raids on towns and villages of Iran, and ignoring the peace treaty of Golstan. Soon after the second war with Russia broke out in 1826, ended in a string of costly defeats after which Iran was forced to cede nearly all of its Armenian territories and Nakhchivan in the peace treaty of Torkamanchai, signed in February 1828.
Later Abbas Mirza was ordered by Fath Ali Shah to restore order in the province of Khorasan, as the governor of Herat with the British assistance was seeking secession from Iran. While engaged in the task, Abbas Mirza died in Mashhad in 1833. He was buried in Dar-al Hoffaz at the shrine of Imam Reza. In 1834 his eldest son, Mohammed Mirza, succeeded Fath Ali Shah as the next king.
R. G. Watson (History of Persia, 128-9) describes him as “the noblest of the Qajar race”.
He is most remembered for his valor in battle and his failed attempts to modernize the Persian army. He was not successful in part due to the lack of government centralization and support in Iran during that era.
It is notable that Abbas Mirza was the first who dispatched Iranian students to Europe for a western education.
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