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Hossein-Qoli Nezam al-Saltaneh Mafi
Mirza Hossein-Qoli Khan Mafi (Persian: میرزا حسینقلی خان مافی; 1832 – 6 August 1908) titled Nezam al-Saltaneh (نظام السلطنه) was an Iranian politician serving as the prime minister of Iran from 21 December 1907 to 21 May 1908.[1][2][3] Hossein-Qoli belonged to a sub-branch of the Lur Bayranavand tribe, the Mafi clan. Since 1794, the clan had lived in Qazvin and its surroundings.[3] Before becoming prime minister, Hossein-Qoli served as the governor of Bushehr (1857), Yazd (1874), Dashtestan (1875), Zanjan (1885), Khuzestan and Bakhtiari areas along with Chaharmahal (1887 and again in 1894), Azerbaijan (1899) and Fars.[4] He died at the age of 86 and is buried in Imamzadeh Abdollah, Ray. Numerous contemporary accounts describe Hossein-Qoli as an aspirational, thoughtful, and trustworthy administrator. He was a devoted Muslim and an ardent nationalist. He followed traditional social norms and, like his brother Mohammad-Hasan Khan, he was against the growing trend of many of their peers copying everything that was European. Hossein-Qoli was a patron of the poets Iraj Mirza and Forsat-od-Dowleh Shirazi and was well-versed in classical Persian literature and Iranian history.[3] His letters were frequently mixed with sayings and poetry. Hossein-Qoli described his tour to the ruins of the Sasanian city of al-Mada'in in Ottoman Iraq with a sarcastic sense of humor and a pragmatic approach to life in general. He wrote, "I beheld Mada'in, but took no heed," a reference to the famous poem by the 12th-century poet Khaqani in which the viewer at the ruins of Mada'in is cautioned to pay heed to the shifting fortunes and ravages of time.[3] References
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