He reigned for nearly 50 years from 1848-96 when he was assassinated by Mirza Reza Kermani, a fervent follower of the political activist Jamal al-Din al-Afghani who believed that the Shah's concessions to foreign powers, including the British Empire, could threaten the Middle East by making it vulnerable to being conquered by European imperialism in the same way that India was. The Shah, shortly before death, is reported to have said 'I will rule you differently if I survive'. He is buried at the shrine of Shah-Abdol-Azim, near Tehran where he was offering prayer when the assassination took place.
