Identification and Introduction of the Seals of the Qajar Chancellors

Seals are important tools for experts to describe archives and for researchers to describe and recognize old records. The purpose of this research is to produce a reference source for the seals of the Qajar Chancellors.

Library research and a checklist  used to investigate the edicts in the Qajar records of Contemporary Historical Research Institute and other archives. 

The texts of the seals were derived from the verses of the Qur'an, dhikr, prayer, nickname, title, and personal name from the beginning of the Qajar period to the middle of the Nasserite period. From the presidency of Mirza Agha Khan Nouri, the word "Chancellor" began to appear in the text. Atabak Azam and Vazir Azam - both have the same meaning- became popular in the seals in the Mozaffari period. In the seals of the Mohammad Ali Shah period, the words Atabak Azam and Sadra Azam were observed. From the Nasserite period, the symbol of lion and sun appeared in some seals. The shapes of the seals were various - rectangle, square, oval, octagon, and pear - and the script of most of them was Nasta'liq. The languages of the texts were Arabic, Persian / Arabic, and Persian.  54 seals of 24 chancellors were described and explained thoroughly in this research, which can be a reference for archivists and researchers to recognize the seals of dignitaries of the Qajar.