Abdol-Hossein Farman Farma

Prince Abdol-Hossein Farmanfarma was born to Prince Nosrat Dowleh Firouz and Hajieh Homa Khanoum in 1858 in Tabriz, and was a grandson of the Qajar crown prince Abbas Mirza. He was extensively educated at home by private tutors in traditional subjects such as poetry, literature, mathematics, Arabic, and religion, along with modern sciences and Western languages. In 1878, at age 21, he continued his education at the Austrian Military Academy in Tehran, where he distinguished himself as a soldier and strategist. After the death of his father in 1885, he assumed his father's former title of "Nosrat-ed-Dowleh". In 1891, as commander of the Azerbaijani troops, he received the title "Salar Lashgar", and subsequently in 1892 he received the title "Farmanfarma" upon the death of his elder brother. In 1885 he married Ezzat ed-Dowleh Qajar, daughter of Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar. Following the marriage, out of respect for Ezzat ed-Dowleh and also due to her high social rank, he took no other wives for the next twenty years.

Among the Cossacks accompanying Farman-Farma during the 1912 campaign to Kermanshah was an officer known as "Reza Maksim" because he was good at maneuvering a Maxim gun. This was none other than Reza Khan Mirpanj, who would become known as Sardar Sepah, and then as Reza Khan Pahlavi, the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. Later Reza Khan, leader of the Cossacks brigade, became involved in a British operation and shortly afterwards in a British backed coup, to establish himself as the new Shah in 1921. The once friendly relationship between Farman-Farma and Reza Khan, who had once been his subordinate, became more tenuous as Reza rose in stature and power, first as minister of war and then as shah.

His full official name and title was Hazrat Aghdas Vala Shahzadeh Abdol Hossein Mirza Farman Farma. This translates approximately as "His Highness, Prince Abdol Hossein, the Eminent and Exalted One, the Greatest of All Commanders". When surnames became compulsory he took his last title as his family name, viz. Farman Farma, which literally translates as "giver of an order", and is roughly equivalent to "viceroy". The title "Farman Farma" did not originate with Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza Farman Farma. It was first held by his grand-uncle Hossein Ali Mirza Farman Farma, a son of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Prince Abdol Hossein's father, Prince Firouz, would battle his own uncle, Prince Hossein Ali Farman Farma, in support his brother Prince Mohammad (later Mohammad Shah Qajar) and win the right to the succession for Prince Mohammad. Forty years later, Naser al-Din Shah, Firouz Mirza's nephew, would bestow the title Farman Farma on Prince Firouz in gratitude for his role in consolidating the succession to the Qajar (Kadjar) throne. The title Farman Farma then passed on to his son Prince Abdol Hossein Mirza, during the reign of Naser ed-Din Shah. Naser ed-Din Shah and Prince Abdol Hossein were cousins, but Naser ed-Din Shah was about thirty years his senior. Only Prince Abdol Hossein carried the title "Farman Farma", while most of his offspring carry the family name derived from the former title "Farman Farmaian" (lit. Those belonging to Farman Farma). His elder son Firouz Nosrat-ed-Dowleh III however chose the family name "Firouz", which is carried by his offspring.

He was awarded the following honors outside of Iran:

Farmanfarma differentiated his family from most others through his many children. Contrary to many Iranian royals and politicians at the time and due to the uncertain political climate, he emphasised classical Iranian training as well as modern Western education and foreign languages. This applied equally to his daughters as well as his sons, and women from his family were among the very first members of the social elite to appear publicly in Western dress after Reza Shah outlawed the veil. He saw to it that his children were each sent to different countries to cultivate global relationships as well as to further their education. He ensured that they worked particularly hard towards this goal throughout their lives. As a consequence, the vast majority of his sons and daughters, after having obtained first class educations, went on to work in senior and key roles throughout the Iranian government from the turn of the century until the 1979 Islamic Revolution.