Kashef as-Saltaneh

Mohammad Mirza Qajar Qovanlu (Persian: محمد میرزا قاجار قوانلو), better known by his honorary title Kashef as-Saltaneh (Persian: کاشف السلطنه) was an Iranian politician, diplomat and constitutionalist who is best known for introducing tea cultivation to Iran. He also served as the first mayor of Tehran.

Kashef as-Saltaneh Mohammad Mirza Qajar Qovanlu
محمد میرزا قاجار قوانلو
Born	21 March 1865 Torbat-e Heydarieh, Iran
Died	20 April 1929 Fars Province
Burial place	Lahijan, Iran
Alma mater	Sorbonne University
Known for	Introducing tea cultivation to Iran
Children	Three daughters and one son

Life

Born on 21 March 1865, he was the oldest child of Asadallah Mirza Nayeb al-Eyaleh. His mother Jahan Ara Khanom was a granddaughter of Abbas Mirza. He attended Dar ul Fonun and learned French and other common subjects of his time. At the age of 16, he was hired by the ministry of foreign affairs and worked as secretary of Mirza Nasrullah Khan for two years. in 1881 he was sent to Paris, and there started studying law and jurisprudence in Sorbonne university. After getting his baccalaureate, he studied administrative law for another year. In 1889, when Nasereddin Shah Qajar was on his third travel to Europe, he was chosen as translator to the Shah's new French physician, Jean-Baptiste Feuvrier, and returned to Iran.

Political activity in Iran

Mohammad Mirza was appointed as the governor (Nayeb al-Eyaleh) of Torbat-e Heydarieh by the governor of Khorasan, Mavid ad-dowleh. While being the governor of Torbat-e Heydarieh, he advocated for a parliamentary government, which made the Shah to order his arrest. He first escaped to Nishapur, and from there moved to the Russian Empire and then the Ottoman Empire. The Shah continued searching for him and asked the Ottoman government to surrender him, which made Mohammad Mirza to escape to France, where he stayed until Nasereddin Shah was assassinated.

In India

A painting of Kashef as-Saltaneh when he was young

After the Shah's assassination, he was appointed as the consul general of the Iranian consulate in British India. When in India, he travelled to Shimla and tea producing areas of India and studied about tea cultivation. Studying about tea was banned for citizens of non western countries however, and he had to conceal his real identity and instead claim to be a French merchant.

Tea

Mohammad Mirza entered Mumbai in late 1898, and almost immediately started studying tea. At the time, around 83 of the tea consumption in Iran was imported from India worth approximately a million Tomans annually. Due to this, the Iranian government wanted to be self sufficient in tea production.

Before returning to Iran, Mohammad Mirza managed to gather some tea seeds and 4,000 saplings of tea, coffee, cinnamon, pepper, cardamom and smuggle them into Iran.

After his return, Mozaffareddin Shah granted him a monopoly over production of tea. He chose two locations, Tonekabon in Mazandaran and Lahijan in Gilan, for cultivation and gradually increased his cultivated lands. By 1903 there were 300,000 tea plants in Lahijan alone.

Due to his works he was given the title "Kashef as-Saltaneh", meaning "Royal Discoverer".

Mayor of Tehran

In December 1904 he was sent to France as chargé d'affaires to the Iranian embassy in France. He stayed there for more than three years and after returning he was commissioned by the recently established Iranian Parliament to found a modern municipality for Tehran. More than a year later however, he resigned.

Death

Kashef as-Saltaneh's tomb in Lahijan

After returning from a trip, he had a car accident on the road from Bushehr to Shiraz and died. He was buried in Lahijan and later a building was made on his tomb.