This paper explores Qajar imperial identity in conjunction with extraterritoriality during the late nineteenth century. By analyzing what it means to be a Qajar subject, I focus on the idea of “subjecthood,” the state of being a subject, and its significance in an era prior to nation-states and formalized citizenship. Through the framework of subjecthood, I challenge the weak imagery surrounding the Qajar government and show the Qajar extension of power outside its borders. During the mid-nineteenth century, the Qajar and Ottoman empires signed multiple treaties conceding legal rights over their respective subjects. By doing so, the Qajar Empire maintained sovereignty over its subjects as they traveled to or even lived within the Ottoman Empire. These treaties enabled the Qajar Empire to extend its influence beyond its borders and lobby for both Qajar subjects and native Shi’i communities in Ottoman territory. It is evident from the capitulations made between empires that the protection of the subjects had become a pertinent issue during this era. Discussion of the topic, however, remains overwhelmingly neglected in the existing scholarship. Although previous scholars have alluded to extraterritoriality in their research, the discourse on subjecthood and identity beyond an empire’s borders has been ignored in the Middle Eastern context. In this study, I argue that although Qajar subjects had always travelled to the Ottoman Empire for religious or economic reasons, the Treaties of Erzurum in 1828 and 1848 enabled the growth of these communities by legally allowing the Qajar government to exercise sovereign rights over them. By doing so, subjecthood was no longer determined by location alone, but rather dependent on imperial treaties and definitions. This paper explores the implications of the Treaties of Erzurum for imperial-subject relations during the late nineteenth century. The examination of Qajar government documents, Persian travelogues and newspapers reveals a complicated relationship between the Qajars and three different groups in the Ottoman Empire: Qajar travelers, expatriate communities, and Iraqi Shi’i communities. Because the Qajars defined themselves as the protector of Shi’is, they treated Ottoman Shi’is much like their own subjects despite lacking any formal ties to the Qajar lands. In this way, imperial identity extended beyond the designated Qajar borders and reached different regions of the Ottoman Empire. By addressing various aspects of government-subject relations, this paper stresses the importance of extraterritoriality in foreign affairs and its significance for imperial identity, propaganda, and later constructions of citizenship.