Issue Fath Ali Shah Qajar Child Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Grandparent Fath-Ali Khan Qajar | Parents Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar House Qajar dynasty | |
 | ||
Father Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar Died 1798, Saint Petersburg, Russia | ||
Morteza Qoli Khan Qajar (Persian: مرتضی قلی خان قاجار, b. 1750/1755 - died either 1798 in St. Petersburg or 1800 at Astrakhan) - was a prince of Persia's Qajar dynasty, and the brother of Agha Mohammad Khan. A protegé of the Russian Empire, he lived in St. Petersburg at the end of the reign of Catherine II.
Around the advent of the mid 18th century in Iran after the murder of Nader Shah in 1747 widespread crisis began, of which eventually, after some decades of Zand rule, Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar tribe emerged victorious. As a result, he became the new king of Iran. Related to the same course of history, was Russia's role. Russia was actively meddling in domestic Iranian affairs since the downfall of the Safavids and the Russo-Persian War of 1722-1723 of about the same time. Though political ambitions were ceased when the strong Nader Shah emerged, actions were continued after his death in 1747.
In 1787, a last attempt was made to reach an agreement between Agha Mohammad Khan and the government of Catherine II. Thereafter, Russia decided to deal with his rebel brother, Morteza Qoli, whom it intended to install on the Iranian throne as the tsaritsa's vassal. Morteza, fleeing from his brother, came to St. Petersburg, where he was well received by Empress Catherine II, who pursued political goals against Persia. Catherine however delayed the plan until the 1796 expedition.