expand political influence. In the years between the two wars with Russia, various issues led to a war between Iran and the Ottoman Empire in 1821, which ended with the military victory of Iran and the conclusion of the First Treaty of Erzurum in 1823. The treaty did not resolve fundamental differences, the most important of which was the delimitation of the two states, and left it vague. There were also disputes such as the persecution of Iranian pilgrims to Shiite holy sites by the Ottomans and the citizenship of border tribes. Another contentious issue was the trade rivalry between Khorramshahr and Basra. From the beginning of his reign, Fath-Ali Shah tried to present himself as a pious king in the eyes of Shiite clerics and went so far as to declare his monarchy a subrogation for the ulama. During his reign, Isfahan once again took on the image of the religious capital of Iran, and the government left the hands of Shiite clerics free to persecute religious minorities. Sufis suffered the most. Fath-Ali Shah took upon himself to lead their persecution; In such ways like ordering to "suffocate" the Sufi leaders of Tabriz. Early life Childhood Mohammad Mirza was born on 5 January 1808 in Tabriz. He was the eldest son of Crown prince Abbas Mirza and Glin Khanum, daughter of Mirza Mohammad Khan Qajar Davallu. During his childhood and youth, Mohammad Mirza was a "quiet" and "shy" boy with no apparent political ambitions. He completed his traditional princely education in Tabriz and became a skilled calligrapher and painter, and learned painting under Robert Ker Porter. His level of knowledge, however, was limited compared to that of his brothers, especially Djahangir Mirza and Farhad Mirza, who excelled in writing and other "branches of science". An important moment of his life was when Mirza Bozorg Qa'em-Maqam, the majordomo of Abbas Mirza, summoned the dervish Haji Mirza Aqasi to his father's household. By Mirza Bozorg's orders, Aqasi was appointed the chief tutor to Mohammad, who quickly became devoted to Aqasi and his Sufi teachings. Abol-Qasem Qa'em-Maqam, another of Mohammad's tutors, tried to dissuade Mohammad from studying under Aqasi but Aqasi's influence on Mohammad increased. When Mohammad Mirza was 12 years old, Fath-Ali Shah summoned him from Tabriz to Tehran to marry Malek Jahan Khanom, the daughter of Mohammad Qasim Khan Zahir al-Dawla, to establish solidarity between the royal family and the