Naseraddin Shah Qajar (Persian: ناصرالدینشاه قاجار, romanized: Nâser al-Din Shâh-e Qâjâr, pronounced [nɒːˌseɹ æl‿ˈdiːn ˌʃɒːh‿e qɒːˈd͡ʒɒːɹ]; 17 July 1832 – 1 May 1896) was the fourth Shah of Qajar Iran from 5 September 1848 to 1 May 1896 when he was assassinated. During his rule there was internal pressure from the people of Iran, as well as external pressure from the British Empire and the Russian Empire. He granted many concessions, most importantly the Reuter concession and the tobacco concession, both of which were cancelled.
He allowed the establishment of newspapers in the country and made use of modern forms of technology such as telegraph, photography and also planned concessions for railways and irrigation works. Despite his modernising reforms on education, his tax reforms were abused by people in power, and the government was viewed as corrupt and unable to protect commoners from abuse by the upper classes which led to increasing anti-governmental sentiments. He was assassinated at Shah Abdulazim Shrine in Rey near Tehran. He was the first modern Iranian monarch who formally visited Europe and wrote of his travels in his memoirs.He was the son of Muhammad Shah and Malek Jahan Khanom and the third longest reigning monarch in Iranian history after Shapur II of the Sasanian dynasty and Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty. Naseraddin Shah had sovereign power for close to 48 years.
