Lotf Ali Khan 1

Lotf Ali Khan

Lotf Ali Khan

Reign 1789 – 1794

Born c. 1769

Died 1794

Dynasty Zand dynasty

Lotf Ali Khan Zand

Lutf or Lotf Ali Khan (Persian: لطفعلى خان زند) (c. 1769-1794) was thelast Shah of Persia (Iran) (reigned 1789–94) of the Zand dynasty.

Lotf Ali Khan Zand came to power after a decade of infighting amonga succession of violent and inept Zand chiefs following the death in1779 of the dynasty's founder, Karim Khan Zand. Their failure to agreeon a successor and to govern with the same benevolence as KarimKhan eroded public faith in the Zands. An increasing number of localand regional leaders began aligning themselves with the eunuch AghaMohammad Khan Qajar, who sought to defeat and succeed the Zands.

Accounts of Lotf Ali Khan's personality and behavior depict a personof courage and perseverance who inspired great loyalty among hisfollowers. Had he been able to defeat Agha Mohammad Khan, hemight have restored his family's dynasty and its good name. But a fatalmistake in a pivotal battle effectively ended Lotf Ali Khan's ambitions. With his defeat, the 44 year reign of theZands came to an end and the first chapter in the 131 year Qajar Dynasty was written.

The son of Jafar Khan, Lotf Ali Khan claimed the throne in 1789 upon the death of his father. Jafar Khan had beenpoisoned by a slave bribed by a rival family member, Sayed Morad Khan Zand. On hearing of his father's murder,Lotf Ali Khan marched to the Zand capital of Shiraz. Sayed Morad Khan was forced to surrender and was executed.Soon after assuming his title, Lotf Ali Khan's principal rival, Agha Mohammad Khan of the Qajar dynasty, marchedsouth to Shiraz. Their two armies met outside of the city in a battle in which Agha Mohammad Khan prevailed,using camels to scare the Zand horses on the battlefield. Despite this defeat, the Zand leader was able to hold Shirazuntil the Qajar forces withdrew to Tehran.

Lotf Ali Khan 2

The following year, 1790, Lotf Ali Khan led his forces against the Governor of Kerman, who had refused to appearin person to acknowledge the Zand leader. This campaign failed due to harsh winter conditions which led to the lossof a large number of men.In 1791, Lotf Ali Khan marched to reestablish his control over Isfahan. He had grown increasingly suspicious of theloyalties of Haji Ibrahim, the kalantar of Shiraz. As a result, he took the kalantar's son with him. Once the Zand armyhad left the city, Haji Ibrahim had the remaining Zand officers arrested and sent word to his brother, a member ofLotf Ali's army, that the city was now under his control. A mutiny ensued and Lotf Ali and several hundred loyalsoldiers fled back to Shiraz, where they found the gates barred against them. Fearing reprisals against their familieslocked within the gates, most of Lotf Ali's men deserted him.With only a handful of followers remaining, The Zand ruler then fled to Bushire. Here, too, he encountered a hostilelocal leader. With the help of a sympathetic governor in the port city of Bandar Rig Lotf Ali Khan managed to raise asmall army made up of sympathetic locals. With their help, Lotf Ali defeated an attack from Bushire and Kazerun.The governor of Kazerun was captured and blinded, an impulsive act by Lotf Ali Khan that "weakened the sympathywhich his youth, his courage, and his misfortunes were so calculated to incite."[1]

Emboldened, Lotf Ali Khan returned to Shiraz, which Haji Ibrahim had offered to Agha Mohammad Khan. There hedefeated an army led by Mostafa Qoli Khan Qajar. Lotf Ali Khan's smaller force also succeeded in repelling theattack of a second Qajar force. At this point, Agha Mohammad Khan himself led 30-40 thousand men against themuch smaller Zand army.In a pivotal battle near Persepolis whose outcome would determine the leadership of the nation, Lotf Ali Khangained the upper hand over the much larger Qajar army, launching a nighttime raid on the main camp of the AghaMohammad Khan. As the Qajar soldiers scattered, Lotf Ali assumed Agha Mohammad Khan had fled with them andthat the camp was secured. He forbade his men from plundering the camp and withdrew to wait for sunrise. ButAgha Mohammad Khan had remained hidden in the royal pavilion. At dawn the call to prayer signaled that the Qajararmy had regrouped. Lotf Ali Khan had no choice but to retreat. (An alternate version of this story suggests that LotfAli Khan was tricked into waiting until daybreak to enter the enemy camp on advice of a Qajar spy named MirzaFathollah-e Ardelani.)[2]

He and his followers fled first to Kerman (1792), but with the Qajars in pursuit they were forced to Tabas. With theaid of a sympathetic governor in Tabas, Lotf Ali attempted without success to retake Shiraz. At this time the formerZand capital was firmly under the control of Agha Mohammad Khan. In July 1792 the Qajar shah ordered the familyand harem of Lotf Ali Khan and other Zand nobles and their families sent to his new capital, Tehran.Repelled in his effort to reclaim Shiraz, Lotf Ali Khan decided to travel east to Kandahar in modern-day Afghanistanto solicit the aid of Timur Shah, but after a few days he learned of Timur Shah's death. Feeling indecisive anddepressed[2] Lotf Ali Khan turned back. His spirits were restored by pledges of support from tribal leaders from Bamand Narmashir. Bolstered by an additional 1,000 horsemen Lotf Ali Khan took Kerman in 1794. He held the city forfour months against Agha Mohammad Khan and a large army. During this time gold coins were struck in Kerman intribute to the Zand leader. One of these coins found its way to Agha Mohammad Khan who was so enraged that hesent orders that Fatollah Khan, the son of Lotf Ali who had been taken to Tehran with other Zand nobility, was to becastrated.[2] As the siege of Kerman wore on, some troops became disaffected and ultimately opened the citadelgates to the Qajar army. After a three hour battle Lotf Ali fled by night to Bam.Agha Mohammad Khan exacted a brutal revenge on the people of Kerman for harboring his enemy. All the maleinhabitants were killed or blinded, and a pile was made out of 20,000 detached eyeballs and poured in front of thevictorious Qajar leader.[3] The women and children were sold into slavery, and the city was destroyed over ninetydays.

Lotf Ali Khan 3

Miniature portrait of Lotf Ali Khan, 18 thCentury AD, National Museum of Iran.

Finally, Lotf Ali Khan was betrayed by the ruler of Bam who fearedthat his brother had fallen into Qajar hands in Kerman. Lotf Ali Khanand was captured soon after, nearby. The legend has it, the Lotf AliKhan fought 14 men single handedly for two full hours before falling.

The last of the Zand rulers was finally delivered to Agha MohammadKhan who had long waited to exact revenge on his arch-rival. "Thepage of history would be stained by a recital of the indignities offeredto the royal captive..."[1] It is reported that Lotf Ali Khan was blindedafter being raped publicly by royal grooms. He was castrated inrevenge by Agha Mohammad Khan. Lotf Ali Khan was imprisonedand tortured in Tehran for nearly three years before being choked todeath.

The British writer Sir Harford Jones Brydges knew Lotf Ali whom hecalled, "the last chivalrous figure among the kings of Persia." Brydgeswrites sadly of Lotf Ali's death, of his "little son" who was castrated,his daughters who were forced to marry "the scum of the earth" and hiswife who was dishonored.[4]

His tomb is in Emamzadeh Zeid in the Old Bazaar of Tehran. His portrait is in the Museum of Fine Arts in SadabadPalace. It is said that Lotf Ali Khan was uniquely handsome and tremendously skillful with the sword.

Today one of the main avenues in Shiraz bears Lotf Ali Khan Zand's name. In Shiraz and other cities, streets bear thename of the Zand patriarch Karim Khan. They are the only former rulers of Iran whose names have been preservedin this way in the post-revolutionary period. This is largely due to the fact that Karim Khan Zand never claimed thetitle of king or Shah, but chose simply to declare himself the advocate or regent of the people.

References[1] Malcolm, John, The History of Persia, Vol. II, Part 1,1829[2] Busse, Heribert, History of Persia Under Qajar Rule (Translation of Farsnama-ye Naseri by Hasan-e Fasat), ISBN 0-231-03197-1, Columbia

Univ. Press, 1972, p.33-58[3] Hasan Pir Nia, A. Eghbal Ashtiani, History of Persia (Tarikh-i Iran), ISBN 964-6895-16-6, Tehran, 2003, p.655[4] Brydges, Harford Jones, An Account of the Transactions of His Majesty's Mission to the Court of Persia in the Years 1807-11, 1834

• Perry, John R., Karim Khan Zand A History of Iran 1747-1779, ISBN 0-226-66098-2, Univ. of Chicago Press,1979, pp. 299–301

• Mostafa, Abdollah, The Administrative and Social History of the Qajar Period Vol. 1, ISBN 1-56859-041-5,Mazda Publishers, 1997, pp. 6–8

•• Malcolm, John, "The History of Persia, Volume II Part 1, 1829 (Reprinted 2004 by Elibron Classics)• Sykes, Percy Molesworth, "A History of Persia Vol 1", MacMillan and Co, 1915

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Article Sources and ContributorsLotf Ali Khan  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=504443988  Contributors: Aelfthrytha, Afshin868686, Ahmade, Aidin joon, Alborz Fallah, Alex Middleton, Alexanderj,BD2412, Ben Ben, Bgwhite, Bokan995, Boris Živ, ChrisGualtieri, Cunado19, DabMachine, EvKnight13, Hessamnia, Houshyar, Hégésippe Cormier, Justin Bacon, Kashk, Klemen Kocjancic,Languagehat, MALLUS, Mandarax, Mardavich, Niemin2, Rjwilmsi, ShayanMirza, Sherurcij, Shervin1982, Takabeg, Thayerbrook, Zereshk, 22 ,علی ویکی anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Lotf Ali Khan.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lotf_Ali_Khan.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: "By Mssrs Layfayette"File:Lotf Ali Khan Zand.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lotf_Ali_Khan_Zand.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors:ThayerbrookFile:Lotfali khan zand.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Lotfali_khan_zand.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:البرز فالحفیلتر

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