Iranian Erotic Ruler - with MANY wives & MANY Defeats! Fath-Ali Shah Qajar reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. He lost twice to Russian empire & lost much of his territory. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, comprising what is nowadays Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Persian Wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 and the resulting treaties of Gulistan and Turkmenchay.1
He "is famous among Iranians for three things: his exceptionally long beard, his wasp-like waist, and his progeny. Ladies, Ladies & more Ladies … Fath-Ali Shah is reported to have had more than 1,000 spouses. He was survived by fifty-seven sons and forty-six daughters, along with 296 grandsons and 292 granddaughters.2
"It is believed that Fetteh Ali had the largest number of children ever born to a man. Like a pious Mohammedan, he had only four wives, but his harem generally contained from 800 to 1,000 ladies. By these he had 130 sons and 150 daughters, and it is believed that at the time of his death his descendants numbered five thousand souls" 3
Harem Marble slide Most of his ladies were ethnically Georgian or Armenian understandably because blue-eyed beauties exist in such Caucasian states. These were the very states he lost to Russia! The Encyclopedia Iranica notes that Western visitors commented on "the royal palace of Negārestān and salacious reports about its slide used for erotic purposes". The image of decadence was epitomised by the story that he had a special harem slide of marble constructed. Every day he would lie on his back naked "as, one by one, naked harem beauties swooped down a slide, specially made for the sport, into the arms of their lord and master before being playfully dunked in a pool." 4
A book published in England in 1874 provided different numbers: 1 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Persian_War_(1826–1828) Joseph M. Upton, The History of Modern Iran: An Interpretation. Contributors: - Author. Publisher:
Harvard University Press. Place of publication: Cambridge, 1960, p.4
3 4
Piggot, John (1874). Persia: Ancient & Modern. London: Henry S. King & Co https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naser_al-Din_Shah%27s_slide