| Mostowfian Ashtiani خاندان مستوفیان آشتیانی | |
|---|---|
| Persian Political Noble Family | |
 Family tree of Mostofian Ashtiani family | |
| Place of origin | Ashtian, Persia |
| Founder | Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani |
| Final head | Mohammad Mosaddegh |
| Titles | Prime Minister of Iran Grand vizier Mostowfi ol-Mamalek Mostowf Mirza Khan Agha |
| Members | |
| Dissolution | 1967 (death of Mohammad Mosaddegh) |
| Cadet branches | Dadvar family Farhad family |
Mostowfian Ashtiani family were a Persian family during the Zand period who came to power in the Qajar dynasty and retained power until the middle of the Pahlavi dynasty. Their family occupation was land ownership,[1] but after in Qajar introduced the position of Mostowfi into the Iranian bureaucracy, the family began to work as Mustawfis and took their name from this title. Mostowfian Ashtiani became known as the Hezar Famil (Persian: هزار فامیل, lit. 'The Thousand Families') because of their influence and power in the Qajar bureaucracy.[2]
Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani was the ancestor of Mostowfian Ashtiani and one of Karim Khan Zand's contemporaries, who owned a lot of property in Ashtian district, traditionally belonging to Tafresh County, and ran a kind of local government.[3] His stronghold at Ashtian, parts of which still stand, was 20,000 square meters in size and included a fort, a courtyard, a water tank, stables, a kitchen, a crew section, and an interior and exterior. It is known that Aqa Mohsen sheltered him in this fort when Karim Khan Zand was trying to gain power and was in pursuit with his enemies, and Khan Zand recruited his three children to serve in the court to compensate for this help. From the three sons of Aqa Mohsen Ashtiani, three branches of the Mostofian Ashtiani family were formed. From then on, the members of this dynasty were directly present in the bureaucracy of the Zand dynasty and then the Qajar dynasty, and held positions ranging from secretaries to princes and nobles to Mustawfi to the prime minister.
The six members of this family who became the Prime Minister of Iran and were well-known figures in the field of politics in the contemporary history of Iran are: Mirza Yusuf Ashtiani, Mostowfi ol-Mamalek, Vossug ed Dowleh, Ahmad Qavam, Mohammad Mosaddegh[4] and Ahmad Matin-Daftari. The family names of Mostowfi, Daftari, Matin-daftari, Mossadegh, Maykadeh, Vossugh, Qavam, Shokooh, Dadvar, Farhad, Farhad Motamed and Moghtadar are related to Mostowfian Ashtiani family.[5]
- ^ Mahdi Shamshiri, Mossadegh and the family of Mostofian Ashtiani, p.12
- ^ Shaʻbānī, ʻAlī (2018). The Thousand Families: Commentary on Leading Political Figures of Nineteenth Century Iran. Lang, Peter. ISBN 978-1-4331-4386-1.
- ^ Bagher Agheli, Ruling families in Iran, p. 191
- ^ Mehdi Shamshiri, Mossadegh and Mostofian Ashtiani family, p. 9
- ^ Bagher Agheli, Ruling families in Iran, p. 194