Karim Khan
Karim Khan-e Zand ( Persian کریم خان زند Karim Chān-e Zand , DMG Karīm Ḫān-e Zand , formerly Muhammad Karim Beg or Tuschmal Karim ; * around 1705; † March 2, 1779 in Shiraz ) was a tribal leader of Kurdish descent, general under Nadir Shah , later himself ruler of Persia (1760–1779) and founder of the short-lived dynasty of the Zand princes .
Life
After the assassination of Nadir Shah in 1747, a civil war broke out in Persia. Karim Khan led his tribe in Khorasan lived in exile, returned to his home in Malayer in western Iran. He decided with other tribal leaders like Abdulfath and Ali Mardan Khan of the Bakhtiars to divide the country into three administrative areas and the seventeen-year-old Ismail III. Installed as Shah in Isfahan in 1750 .
Later, however, Karim Khan distrusted Ali Mardan Khan and appointed himself sole patron and deputy ( Wakil ) of the young ruler. Ali Mardan Khan rebelled against Karim Khan but was later murdered. Karim Khan, meanwhile, managed to fend off other heir apparent. Karim Khan de facto ruled almost all of Persia, except for Khorasan, where the grandson of Nadir Shah - Shah Ruch - ruled. As the ruler of Persia, Karim Khan did not take on the title of Shah , but that of "Wakil ar-Ra'aya" ( Arabic وكيل الرعايا, DMG wakīl ar-ra'āyā 'Agent / Defender of the Subjects ').
During his reign he made peace in the country despite some local uprisings. In addition, he established relations with Great Britain and allowed the East India Company to set up a trading base in southern Iran. Karim Khan made Shiraz his capital, which he expanded. At his court he valued musical performances and surrounded himself with young musicians. In terms of foreign policy, he used the weakness of the Ottoman Empire to conquer the port city of Basra in 1776 . His last years were marked by family tragedies and illnesses. He died on March 2, 1779. His body was later transferred first to Tehran and then to Najaf by the hostile successor dynasty of the Qajars .
Since Karim Khan had not made any succession arrangements, a bloody war broke out between his brothers and relatives after his death in 1779, so that his dynasty ended after a short time.
Web links
- Karim Khan . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references)
- Article about the Zand dynasty in the Iranchamber
- Biography, Karim Khan
Individual evidence
- ↑ See H. Wehr: Arabic dictionary for the written language of the present , Wiesbaden 1968, p. 973 f.
- ↑ Jean During, Zia Mirabdolbaghi, Dariush Safvat: The Art of Persian Music . Washington DC 1991, ISBN 0-934211-22-1 , p. 42.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Khan, Karim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Khan Zand, Karim (full name); Beg, Muhammad Karim; Karim, Tushmal; کریم خان زند (Persian) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Shah of Persia and founder of the dynasty of the Zand princes |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1705 |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 2, 1779 |
| Place of death | Shiraz |