In the late 19th century, some enlightened reformers in Iran saw the "tribal problem" as the main obstacle to Iran's modernization transition, and they began to focus on solving the problems of tribal autonomy and the establishment of a modern bureaucracy. In the early days of the state, King Fattah Ali inherited the management model of the Safavid dynasty.
At the local level, tribal leaders, religious leaders, landowners, members of the royal family, etc. are appointed to be responsible for regional affairs. Local governors controlled taxes, land and militia as if they were a separate entity. In the center, the king handles all matters in every detail, leaving only a prime minister and a few civil servants to assist in affairs. As Curzon said, "The word of the king is the law." He combines legislative, executive and judicial functions and is the hub of public life. ”
The duties of the officials were confused, sycophant, and only the king was the leader. This can easily lead to frequent errors in administrative decision-making and low administrative efficiency, which in turn shakes the people's hearts and triggers. In addition, out of distrust of Iran's native officials, King Fatah Ali assigned key senior positions in the ministry to members of the Qajar tribe.
Members of the Qajar royal family and tribal leaders of the Kovanu tribe held key positions, but they indulged in wealth and pleasure and were unable to manage and serve effectively. This phenomenon of cronyism and vegetarianism not only failed to improve the efficiency of affairs, but in the long run it encouraged the ambitions of the tribesmen and posed a serious threat to the royal power. Under the authoritarian dictatorship of the king and the inefficient management of the bureaucracy, the state apparatus functioned inefficiently and increasingly fell into the abyss of depravity.
In the face of internal strife within the royal family, the Bab's uprising, and the aggressive interference of Britain and Russia, King Nasser al-Din was determined to implement reforms and improve his ability to govern and prestige. In a letter to Prince Kamrang Mirza, King Nasser al-Din expressed concern about disorderly management and the establishment of modern institutions: "Don't you see that the prestige of Persia has been destroyed by unjustified titles, official positions, and honors? What dignity and prestige can a worthless person have. I want to establish a parliament that will lay a legal foundation for the selection of good people. The letter expressed the king's urgent determination to weaken the tribal influence and establish modernity and centralization.
In 1858, Nasser al-Din launched a deepening reform in response to the shortcomings of the central government. The Shah has set up six ministries in the center: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Religious Funds and the Ministry of the Interior, each of which is headed by Iranian officials with rich management experience, directly responsible to the Shah, and only the King has the right to issue orders. In 1859, Nasser al-Din established a national advisory committee that included princes, nobles, officials, and the ulema, the first attempt in Iran to form a cabinet. However, both attempts were unsuccessful for various reasons.
In 1873, at the urging of Prime Minister Haji Mirza Hussein, King Nasser al-Din announced the implementation of the Decree on the Reorganization of Institutions. On the one hand, reform of the old administration. First, the reorganization of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Waqf, with subordinate agencies and the appointment of secular officials, deprived Ulema of some of his privileges in both ministries. Second, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was ordered to recruit foreign instructors to support the establishment of a police organization in Tehran, which changed the reliance on tribal armed forces to maintain order. Third, rectify the cabinet. Mirza stipulated that the Prime Minister had the power to nominate members of the Cabinet, and the King had the power to approve and appoint members of the Cabinet. Regular weekly cabinet meetings are held and fixed office space is set up. The reorganization of the cabinet deprived the tribal nobility of real power, and the king and prime minister took the initiative to rule, thus breaking the influence of the tribe.
On the other hand, new administrative departments have been created. Thanks to the efforts of the Prime Minister, new ministries of Education, Commerce and Post and Telegraph were established. The Ministry of Education is mainly responsible for Iran's only higher education institution, the Tehran Institute of Technology, and is fully invested in the construction of this higher education school that trains modern bureaucrats and talents. The Ministry of Commerce is designed to deal with all aspects of commercial trade between Iran and foreign countries, but its role is limited to a few ports on the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf coast. The Department of Postal and Telegraph had been controlled by the family of Muheb Daulai and was mainly responsible for the services of the national postal system and the laying of telegraph lines, and by 1900 the telegraph had been extended to all provincial capitals connecting Tehran with the rest of Iran.
Previously, the king assigned the post of governor of important provinces to princes, allowing them to directly rule important provinces and gain governance experience. Due to the strong power of the local tribes, the control of the prince governor was limited. "The leaders of the Kashkai tribe control Shiraz and openly challenge the Kaiga regime in the capital, Tehran, while the Luri tribe frequently plunders the inhabitants. The princely governor was unable to control the situation in the area and was even forced to need tribes to supplement his military power. ”
It can be seen that the autonomy of local tribes hinders the control of the state over the local area and poses a strong threat to the royal power. In order to strengthen the centralization of power, the king appointed Iranian civil servants with extensive local administration experience to the local provinces to rule the provinces in the name of the king of Qaegar, and assisted the prince governor in governing the regions. After the reform, the provinces established places in the provincial capital, with the prince governor as the core and the Iranian clique of civilian officials assisting in the administration. This reform undermined the tradition of local tribal autonomy and strengthened centralization.
This reform basically changed the traditional governance model that relied on tribal chiefs in the early days of the dynasty. In 1800, Iran's bureaucracy was small and inefficient. In the 19th century, the administration grew and modernized itself, until ten administrative departments were established in the 90s of the 19th century. Of course, this reform still has its limitations. After the Qajar tribe came to power, it was successfully assimilated into Iran's civilian tradition and authoritarian culture, but when Western liberal democratic ideas poured into Iran, the country had to achieve a complete transformation from a traditional autocracy to a modern democracy, which was unimaginable for the Qaigas rulers from the tribe.
Therefore, the reform could not completely eradicate tribal influence and shake the foundation of the Kaiga regime. Once the center weakened, the tribe was active again on the Iranian stage. Reza Khan built on the two pillars of military and bureaucratic institutions established by the Qaigas dynasty, adopting a harsher tribal policy than the Qaigas dynasty, thus establishing a strong centralized state. The early reforms of the Qaija period eliminated backward tribal forces to some extent, laying the foundation for more profound reforms in the later Pahlavi dynasty.