Unseen photos from Reza Shah's coronation ceremony

Reza Khan was born in the village of Alasht in the region of Savad Kouh in the province of Mazandaran. Alasht was an isolated village and at the turn of the century its population was about 1,000. Abbas Ali, father of Reza Shah was a member of the Savad Kouh provincial army regiment and probably reached the rank equivalent to major, married his second wife, Noush Afrin, around 1877. She was a girl of Persian-speaking stock whose father had come to Iran from Erivan. The following year 1878, a son, Reza, was born.