Reza Shah
Persian:رضا شاه ، رضا خان
Other Forms:Sardar Sepah, Reza Gholdor
Reza Shah
Pahlavi : Born on March, 15, 1878 in Alasht village of
Mazandaran,the founder of Pahlavi
Dynasty, and the father of Mohammad
Reza Pahlavi, last shah of
Iran (1925-41)
Reza Khan was an army officer who rose through the ranks and in 1921 led a coup that eventually overthrew the
Qajar dynasty. He sought to bring order and end Iran's political chaos and its domination by
Britain and
Soviet
Russia following
World
War I (1914-18). He constructed roads, schools, and hospitals, opened a university, and built the Trans-
Iranian Railway. He emancipated women, nationalized several economic sectors, and reduced the clergy's power. He often used repressive methods, which eventually cost him his popularity. During
World War II (1939-45), asserting that Reza
Shah Pahlavi might side with
Germany, Russia and Britain used the opportunity and occupied Iran. The Allied forces forced him to abdicate (1941) in favour of his son,
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi who became a unpopular king until his fall in 1979.
