 Born in Rezaieh, West Azerbaijan, Iran to a wealthy feudal family, his father was Mohammad Vesugh Ghassemlou, a landowning Kurdish nationalist Agha and Khan from the Shekak tribe who was born in 1875.His mother was Nana Jan Timsar, an Assyrian Christian.His father was an adviser to the Shah of Iran, who gave him the title "Wussuq-e Divan."