Persian Empire, later (Afsharid to Qajar)

Abstract While the collapse of Safavid rule over Iran occurred in 1722, the essential elements of the Safavid state and empire continued until 1926 with the emergence of the Pahlavi dynasty under the leadership of Riza Shah. Both the reigns of Nadir Shah Afshar (1736–1747) and then the Qajars (1796–1926) should be seen as Safavid successor states. While the Shi'i ulema (Islamic legal scholars) underwent profound changes as an institution from the 18th through the 20th centuries, it accepted the political role of the monarch. Beginning in the 19th century, however, and in reaction to territorial losses in the Caucasus and western Afghanistan, the ulema led populist movements against continued misrule and Russian and British encroachment on Iran's national sovereignty. Nationalism and calls for the end of autocracy resulted in the constitutional movement in the early 20th century, and following World War I and in the face of fragmentation, the modern Pahlavi nation‐state emerged in place of the universalism implicit in empire.