Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh

Morad Mirza Hesam o-Saltaneh (Persian: سلطان‌مراد میرزا حسام‌السلطنه; 1818 – 11 March 1883) was a Qajar prince, governor and military officer in 19th-century Iran. A son of the crown prince Abbas Mirza, Morad Mirza held various governorships throughout his career, including the Khorasan province five times.

He first appears in historical sources as the governor of Qaradagh during the last years of his father's life. In 1837, he was sent by his brother and suzerain, Mohammad Shah Qajar (r. 1834–1848), to suppress an uprising in the Bakhtiari region. Following the coronation of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar on 20 October 1848, Morad Mirza was assigned to suppress the Rebellion of Hasan Khan Salar in Khorasan, a power struggle within the Qajar family. Despite severe winter conditions that delayed his progress, he captured the provincial capital Mashhad in 1850, reasserting royal control after extended tribal resistance. Hasan Khan Salar and his allies were executed following the victory, and Morad Mirza was rewarded with the title "Hesam o-Saltaneh" ("Sword of the Kingdom") and the governorship of Khorasan.

Morad Mirza worked to increase Iranian influence and strengthen his alliances with the tribal leadership, establishing his authority in the towns of Sarakhs and Marv in 1852 and 1853, respectively. Herat, a frontier vassalage barely under Iranian control, became a focal point due to its contested status. When the Mohammadzai leader Sardar Kuhandil Khan marched towards Herat in the spring of 1852, the Iranian forces successfully made him retreat, and briefly controlled the citadel of Herat. Britain, which was anxious about possible encroaching Russian influence if Herat was fully incorporated into Iranian rule, forced Iran in January 1853 to accept terms that restricted its interference in Herat's internal affairs, including limiting Iranian military presence unless foreign forces attacked the area.

This agreement laid the groundwork for tensions that culminated in the Second Herat War in 1856. After overthrowing Sa'id Mohammad Khan on 15 September 1855, the Durrani prince Mohammad-Yusuf Mirza Durrani requested Iranian assistance against Kuhandil Khan's brother Dost Mohammad Khan, who had been acknowledged him as ruler of all of Afghanistan by the British partly to prevent Iranian plans for Herat. Fearing a lack of Iranian support, Mohammad-Yusuf Mirza subsequently defected to the British side. In April 1856, Morad Mirza laid siege to Herat with 30,000 troops. After months of resistance, including efforts by Morad Mirza to sow discord, Herat surrendered on 25 October 1856 due to supply shortages. Britain saw this as a violation of the 1853 agreement and declared war on Iran on 1 November 1856.

Burdened by an empty war treasury and the risk of political disaster, the Iranian government signed the Treaty of Paris on 4 March 1857, which ended the war and required Iran to leave Herat and abandon all claims to Afghanistan. After this, Morad Mirza continued to hold various administrative roles, including the governorship of the Fars province twice (1859–1861 and 1865–1868). Before he could assume his position as governor of Khorasan for the fifth time, he died and was buried in the Imam Reza Shrine.