MUHAMMAD REZA SHAH PAHLAVI

(1919-1979)

   Usually known during his lifetime as simply the shah, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ascended the throne in Iran in 1941 after his father, Reza Shah Pahlavi, was forced to abdicate because of reputed pro-German sentiments. The new shah continued his father's policies of centralization, which tended to reduce the power of the Kurdish tribes.

   After crushing the Mahabad Republic of Kurdistan in December 1946, the shah hanged its highly respected leader Qazi Muhammad in March 1947. In March 1975, the shah treacherously ended his support for Mulla Mustafa Barzani by making a deal with Saddam Hussein. Barzani's long-running revolt quickly collapsed, while Barzani himself went into exile and died in March 1979. The shah's collapse in 1979 helped lead to a new Kurdish revolt in Iran, but it too was crushed by the new Islamic Republic of Iran headed by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.