Muḥāseb al-Dawla, Āqā Khan

Muḥāseb al-Dawla, Āqā Khan, mathematician and one of the founders of modern schools in Isfahan.

Mīrzā Āqā Khan Muṣaffā, known by the title Muḥāseb al-Dawla, was the son of Hussein-Qulī Khan b. Mīrzā Muhammad Khan b. Beyglar Khan. He was born in Isfahan in 1895/1274.¹ He received his primary education at the Madrasa-ye Sheikh ‛Abd al-Hussein in Isfahan and later continued his studies at Dār al-Funūn in the “Department of Engineering, Mathematics, and English.” Because of his success in examinations, he was awarded several medals, including the Silver and Gold Medals of Science and the Order of the Lion and the Sun. In addition, he received 150 tomans in salary, in addition to the twelve tomans annually paid to all students. At Dār al-Funūn, he learned English and French and studied mathematics under Mīrzā ‛Abdul-Ghaffār Eṣfahānī (known as Najm al-Dawla and Najm al-Mulk, a renowned astronomer of the Nāṣerī period). Later, Āqā Khan began teaching mathematics therein and became ‛Abdul-Ghaffār’s assistant, eventually attaining the position of “Deputy in Mathematics” (Khalīfe-ye Rīyāḍīyyāt), a title of great distinction. He collaborated with Najm al-Dawla in preparing calendars and composing mathematical works and held him in high regard. During the same period, Nāṣer al-Dīn Shah requested that the principal of Dār al-Funūn arrange for a translation of the History of Egypt. The task was assigned to Āqā Khan, who accomplished it successfully; as a reward, the Shah granted him an additional one hundred tomans beyond his regular salary and promoted him to the rank of colonel.²

After completing his studies, Āqā Khan devoted himself to writing and translation, and he translated a book on cranes.³ He later collaborated with his classmates in drawing a map of Tehran. Subsequently, by order of Mas‛ūd Mīrzā Ẓell al-Sulṭān*, the governor of Isfahan, he prepared a map encompassing the entire Isfahan district. He also authored several textbooks on algebra (known as Jabr va Muqābele-ye Āqā Khan), arithmetic, and geography, which were used as standard instructional materials at Dār al-Funūn and other new schools.

At that time, Albert Houtum–Schindler, a British engineer of German descent who had been employed by the Iranian government to develop mining operations and was acquainted with Āqā Khān, requested from the Ministry of Sciences that Āqā Khan be appointed to serve in the recently established Imperial Bank of Persia and the Department of Mines. Since the salary he received from Dār al-Funūn was insufficient for his livelihood, Āqā Khan left teaching and entered the service of the Bank and the Department of Mines. From 1888 to 1889/1306–1307, he accompanied Houtum–Schindler to Isfahan, where he founded the Isfahan branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia, and after three months he returned to Tehran. Around 1895/1313, due to difficulties in collecting its debts, the Bank requested that the government assign an official familiar with its operations to Isfahan. The government appointed Āqā Khan for this mission, as the Bank also required someone proficient in English. He was thus sent to manage the affairs of the Isfahan branch, but before long, because of weakening eyesight, he resigned from the Bank. During his early stay in Isfahan, he was granted the title Muḥāseb al-Dawla and the military rank of colonel.⁴

While residing in Tehran, Muḥāseb al-Dawla inclined to mysticism and Sufism and joined the Ṣafāʾīyye Order founded by Ḥājj Mīrzā Hasan Eṣfahānī, known as Ṣafī ‛Alīshāh*. In Isfahan, he attained the rank of Sheikh within this order, after which he adopted the family name “Muṣaffā.” Following Ṣafī ‛Alīshāh’s death, Āqā Khān became devoted to Ali Khan Ẓahīr al-Dawla, from whom he received authorization (ejāzat al-ershād) to guide disciples, and he later became a follower of Mīrzā ‛Abbās Pāqale‛eʾī, known as Ṣāber ‛Alīshāh.⁵

After the victory of the Constitutional Revolution (1906/1324), Āqā Khan became the consular agent (Kārpardāz) representing the subjects of the Sublime Ottoman State in Isfahan,⁶ a position that later brought him certain difficulties. When the Supervisory Council for the Elections of the Third National Consultative Assembly was established in Isfahan, Muḥāseb al-Dawla served as chairman of the electoral board; however, the government dissolved the council on the grounds that he was in the service of a foreign state and formed a new one instead.⁷

After the capture of Isfahan by the Bakhtiari forces (1908/1326), the second provincial council (Anjuman-e Velāyatī) was established, and Muḥāseb al-Dawla was elected by the people as a representative to serve in this council.⁸ During this period, following the resignation of Sheikh Nūrullāh Najafī from the presidency of the council, Muḥāseb al-Dawla was appointed as its chairman.⁹ Nevertheless, the governance of the provincial council was marked by conflicts with the Bakhtiari rulers who had taken control of the city’s administration. During the governorship of Shukrullāh Khan Mu‛tamed Khāqān, the Isfahan Provincial Council declared itself “dissolved” (munfaṣel) for the first time.¹⁰ In retaliation, Shukrullāh Khan orchestrated a plan, under the pretext of bread-price protests, to abolish the council. On 7 Jumādī al-Awlā 1329/6^th May 1911, this plan was carried out: the Chehel- Sutūūn* palace, which served as the meeting place of the council, was plundered amid a local uprising, and the Provincial Council was permanently disbanded.¹¹

Āqā Khan was also deeply interested in cultural affairs and was among the founders of modern schools in Isfahan. One of these was ‛Elīyye School, inaugurated on 15 Sha‛bān 1325/24^th September 1307, which was later merged with the Orphans’ Primary School (Dabestān-e Aytām), an institution founded earlier that same year, in Jumādī al-Awwal, for the education and upbringing of destitute orphans. The ‛Alīyye-ye Aytām School was administered by a board consisting of Āqā Khan Muḥāseb al-Dawla, Ḥājj Āqā Nūrullāh Najafī, Mīrzā Masīḥ Dāneshvar (Ḥāfeẓ al-Ṣeḥḥa), Ali-Akbar Sheikh al-Eslām, Ali-Akbar Khan Sartīp, Asadullāh Amīr Panjeh, and Muhammad-Reza Mīrzā. The board entrusted the school’s management to Muḥāseb al-Dawla. After some time, the board was dissolved, and Muḥāseb al-Dawla personally took charge of running the school, a responsibility he continued until 1935/1314.¹² In addition to boys’ schools, in 1912/1330 he founded Girls’ School of Maidens near the Ḥājj Muhammad-Ali bathhouse through his own efforts. This school operated for about a year and a half and is believed to have been the first girls’ school in Isfahan.¹³ Due to Muḥāseb al-Dawla’s initiatives in expanding modern education in Isfahan, on 14^th December 1913/15 Muḥarram 1332, the Ministry of Education and Endowments appointed him as the first head of the Bureau of Public Instruction (Edāre-ye Ma‛āref) of Isfahan.¹⁴ Later, when the bureau was formally incorporated into the governmental structure, Āqā Khan’s son, Asadullāh Muṣaffā (also known as Muḥāsebzāde), became its first official director. After resigning from his position in the Bureau of Public Instruction, Āqā Khan served at the Iranian consulate in Baku (then Bād-Kūbe).¹⁵ Another of his sons, Naṣrullāh, was likewise a cultural figure who, in the early Constitutional period, taught English at the Madrasa Ma‛āref located in the Chahār-Sū-ye Shīrāzī* district, opposite the Masjed-e Chahār-Sūq-e Kūchak.¹⁶

In 1926/1305, Muḥāseb al-Dawla assumed the presidency of the Baladīyye (later the Municipality*) of Isfahan, and shortly thereafter, he was also appointed head of the Municipal Commission. It is said that he accepted this position out of a sense of public duty and a desire to serve the people; however, because of widespread corruption within the municipality, he endured a difficult and trying tenure.¹⁷

Āqā Khan Muḥāseb al-Dawla passed away in 1937/1316 at the age of eighty-two and was buried in the portico of the mausoleum of Āqā Mīr Sayyed Hasan Mudarres, adjacent to the Raḥīm Khan Mosque (in what is today Ṭāleqānī Street).¹⁸ The chronogram composed for his death reads: “Muṣaffā-ye Ṣafā Arkān be-kūy-e Mehr-e Jānān shud” (“Muṣaffā of Purity and Sincerity departed to the abode of the Beloved”).¹⁹

In 2004/1383, the Isfahan Department of Education held a ceremony commemorating the centennial anniversary of the founding of the ‛Alīyye-ye Aytām School. Many of Isfahan’s notable figures were among its alumni.²⁰

/Abdul-Mahdi Rajaei/

Bibliography

In addition to the periodicals mentioned in the text.

Humāyī, Jalāl al-Dīn. tārīkh-e Isfahan: rejāl va dāneshmandān. Ed. Māhdukht Bānū Humāyī. Tehran: Pazhūheshgāh-e ‛Ulūm-e Ensānī va Muṭāle‛āt-e Farhangī, 2017/1396.

Isfahan: az enqelāb-e mashrūṭe tā jang-e jahānī-ye avval (guzīde-ye rūznāme-hā). Comp. Abdul-Mahdi Rajaei. Isfahan: University of Isfahan, 2007/1386.

Jenāb Eṣfahānī, Ali. rejāl va mashāhīr-e Isfahan (al-Eṣfahān). Ed. Reḍvān Pūr-‛Aṣṣār. Isfahan: Sāzmān-e Farhangī Tafrīhī-ye Shahrdārī, 2006/1385.

Mahdavī, Muṣleḥ al-Dīn. mazārāt-e Isfahan: az qarn-e sevvum hejrī tā zamān-e ḥāḍer. Ed. Aṣghar Muntaẓer al-Qāʾem. Isfahan: University of Isfahan, 2003/1382.

Mahdavī, Muṣleḥ al-Dīn. tadhkerat al-qubūr yā dāneshmandān va buzurgān-e Isfahan. Isfahan: Saqafī, 1969/1348.

Mu‛tamedī, Esfandīyār. Isfahan: madāres-e nuvīn va mafākher-e ān. Isfahan: Sāzmān-e Farhangī Tafrīhī-ye Shahrdārī, 2007/1386.

Muḥāseb al-Dawla, Āqā Khan b. Ḥusaynqulī Khān. “tārīkhcheʾī az dār al-funūn.” Vaḥīd, vol. 12, no. 12, March 1975/Esfand 1353.

Rajāʾī Zefreʾī, Muhammad-Hasan. “Āqā Khan Muḥāseb al-Dawla.” Vaḥīd, no. 185, November 1975/Ābān 1354.

sālnāme-ye ma‛āref-e Isfahan, sāl-e taḥṣīlī 1935–1936/1313–1314. ]Isfahan: Maṭba‛at-e ‛Erfān, n.d.].

Vaḥīdnīyā, Seyfullāh. “enteḵābāt-e dure-ye sevvum-e Isfahan.” khāṭerāt-e Vaḥīd, no. 24, October 1973/Mehr 1352

1. Mahdavī, 1969/1348, p. 13; Rajāʾī Zefreʾī, p. 830; his birthplace has also been mentioned as Tehran.[↩]
2. Muḥāseb al-Dawla, pp. 979–982; Jenāb Eṣfahānī, pp. 64–65; Humāyī, vol. 3, pp. 1620–1621, 1624.[↩]
3. Muḥāseb al-Dawla, pp. 982–983; Humāyī, vol. 3, p. 1621.[↩]
4. Muḥāseb al-Dawla, p. 983; Jenāb Eṣfahānī, pp. 65–66.[↩]
5. Humāyī, vol. 3, p. 1623; Mahdavī, 1969/1348, p. 13; Rajāʾī Zefreʾī, p. 830.[↩]
6. anjuman-e muqaddas-e mellī-ye Esfahan, year 1, no. 9, 18 Muḥarram 1325, p. 4.[↩]
7. Vaḥīdnīyā, pp. 15–16.[↩]
8. zāyande-rūd, year 1, no. 27, 6 Ramaḍān 1327, p. 3; Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 68.[↩]
9. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 68.[↩]
10. parvāne, year 1, no. 21, 3 Jumādī al-Awlā 1329, pp. 4–6; zāyande-rūd, year 3, no. 14, 5 Jumādī al-Awlā 1329, pp. 5–6.[↩]
11. zāyande-rūd, year 3, no. 15, 12 Jumādā al-Awlā 1329, pp. 1–2; Isfahan: az enqelāb-e mashrūṭe tā jang-e jahānī-ye avval, pp. 273–287[↩]
12. sālnāme-ye ma‛āref-e Isfahan, pp. 6–7; anjuman-e muqaddas-e mellī-ye Esfahan, year 1, no. 25, 11 Jumādā al-Awlā 1325, pp. 6–7, no. 39, 20 Sha‛bān 1325, pp. 6–8; Muḥāseb al-Dawla, p. 985; Humāyī, vol. 3, pp. 1622–1623[↩]
13. sālnāme-ye ma‛āref-e Isfahan, p. 13.[↩]
14. zāyande-rūd, year 4, no. 13, 17 Ṣafar 1332, pp. 4–5; Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 68.[↩]
15. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 488.[↩]
16. anjuman-e muqaddas-e mellī-ye Esfahan, year 1, no. 14, 23 Ṣafar 1325, p. 7.[↩]
17. Jenāb Eṣfahānī, p. 68; Humāyī, vol. 3, p. 1622.[↩]
18. Mahdavī, 2003/1382, p. 168; Rajāʾī Zefreʾī, p. 830.[↩]
19. Rajāʾī Zefreʾī, pp. 830–831.[↩]
20. Mu‛tamedī, p. 21[↩]