The Niavarān Palace Complex traces its origin to a garden in Niavaran, Tehran, that was used by Nasir edin Shah(16 July 1831 – 1 May 1896) as a summer residence. The palace erected by Nasir al-Din Shah in this garden was originally referred to asThe Niavarān Palace and was later renamed The Sahebqraniyeh Palace. During the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi all the peripheral buildings of The Sahebqraniyeh Palace, with the exception of The Ahmad-Shahi Pavilion (or Kushk-e Ahmad-Shahi), were demolished and the buildings and the structures of the present-day Niavarān Palace Complex were built to the north of The Sahebqraniyeh Palace. In this period, The Ahmad-Shahi Pavilion served as an exhibition area of the presents of the world leaders to Iran.
Niavaran Palace Complex is a historical complex situated in the northern part of Tehran, Iran. It consists of several buildings and a museum. The Sahebqraniyeh Palace, from the time of Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar dynasty, is also inside this complex. The main Niavaran Palace, completed in 1968, was the primary residence of the last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Imperial family until the Iranian Revolution. The main palace was designed by the Iranian architect Mohsen Foroughi.
HAREM
Women played an important role in the life of the Qajar monarchs. Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah and Nāṣer-al-Din Shah, in particular, kept a large harem.
Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah’s harem. Though the number of his wives and concubines can not accurately be determined, it was probably over a thousand, with an inevitable huge offspring (for a partial biographical list of Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah’s wives, daughters, and sons prepared by Navāʾi, see Solṭān-Aḥmad Mirzā, pp. 336-64).
Women had the most disparate origins (daughters of Qajar notables, of tribal chiefs, of members of the Afsharid and the Zand dynasties, etc.) and belonged to different religious groups (Jewish, Zoroastrian, Armenian, and Muslim). Every woman had white and black servants and eunuchs, whose number varied according to her status. Some wives had a house apart with personnel and stables of their own, whose expenses were supported by the crown (Solṭān-Aḥmad Mirzā, p. 24).
Though the harem consisted of several thousand people, its internal administration was precise and based on the women’s rank. At the top of the hierarchy was the shah’s mother, who was referred to as Mahd-e ʿOlyā (Sublime Cradle), and had, amongst other duties and prerogatives, the responsibility of safeguarding the harem wealth, especially the jewels, which she administered with the help of female secretaries (mirzās; Solṭān-Aḥmad Mirzā,
