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.

[5] Fath-Ali Shah successfully revamped his realm from a mostly Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy based on the old imperial design.

[4] At the end of his reign, his difficult economic problems and military and technological liabilities took Iran to the verge of governmental disintegration, which was quickened by a consequent struggle for the throne after his death.

The marriage was a political union organized by Agha Mohammad Khan to make peace with the Yokhari-bash branch of the Qajars, the clan of Asiya Khanom.

[6] Baba Khan took part in his uncle's war with the Zands in southern Iran, where he in 1787 narrowly succeeded in defeating the governor of Yazd, Mohammad-Taqi Bafqi, who acknowledged Qajar suzerainty.

[citation needed] Much of his reign was marked by the resurgence of Persian arts and painting, as well as a deeply elaborate court culture with extremely rigid etiquette.

In particular during his reign, portraiture and large-scale oil painting reached a height previously unknown under any other Islamic dynasty, largely due to his personal patronage.

Fath Ali also ordered the creation of much royal regalia, including coronation chairs; the "Takht-e Khurshīd" or Sun Throne; the "Takht-e Nāderi" or Naderi Throne, which was also used by later kings; and the "Tāj-e Kiyāni" or Kiani Crown, a modification of the crown of the same name created by his uncle Agha Mohammad Khan.

[9] During the early reign of Fath Ali Shah, Imperial Russia took control of Georgia, a territory which Iran had ruled intermittently since 1555 with the Peace of Amasya.

To punish his Georgian subjects, his uncle, Agha Mohammad Khan, had invaded and sacked Tbilisi, seeking to reestablish full Iranian suzerainty over Georgia, in which he succeeded.

The war began with notable victories for the Iranians, but Russia shipped in advanced weaponry and cannons that disadvantaged the technologically inferior Qajar forces, who did not have the artillery to match.

Iran had to ask for help from France, sending an ambassador to Napoleon and concluding a Franco-Persian alliance with the signature of the Treaty of Finkenstein.

On account of consecutive defeats of Iran and after the fall of Lankaran on 1 January 1813, Fath Ali Shah, was forced to sign the disastrous Treaty of Gulistan.

In return, Russia pledged to support Abbas Mirza as heir to the Iranian throne after the death of Fath Ali Shah.

In January 1828, when the Russians reached the shores of Lake Urmia, Abbas Mirza urgently signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay on 2 February 1828.

The Turkmenchay Treaty was signed on 21 February 1828 by Hajji Mirza Abol Hasan Khan and General Ivan Paskevich.

[6] He is instantly recognizable in all 25 known portraits – mainly due to his immense, deeply black beard, which reached well beneath his narrow waist.

[14] Besides eulogistic chronicles, the only real sources that allow us to judge his personality are those of British, French and Russian diplomats [citation needed].

[18] The Scottish statesman and historian John Malcolm, who met Fath-Ali Shah in 1800, described him as "above the middle size, his age little more than thirty, his complexion rather fair, his features regular and fine, with an expression denoting quickness and intelligence.

"[6] During his reign, Fath-Ali Shah successfully revamped his realm from a mostly Turkic tribal khanship into a centralized and stable monarchy based on the old imperial design.

(Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif, who lived a hundred years earlier in Morocco, is said to hold the record for the most number of children born to a man.)

This was because Dowlat Shah's mother, Ziba Chehreh Khanoum, was of non-Qajar origin (she was a Georgian woman), and therefore he was passed over in favour of his younger brother.