page_title: Karim Khan Zand
section_title: Return to western Iran
hierarchical_section_title: Karim Khan Zand / Rise to power / Return to western Iran
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Vue d'Ispahan côté du sud English: Isfahan to the south side فارسی: اصفهان از سمت جنوب
context_page_description: Mohammad Karim Khan Zand was the founder of the Zand Dynasty, ruling from 1751 to 1779. He ruled all of Iran except for Khorasan. He also ruled over some Caucasian lands and occupied Basra for some years.
  While Karim was ruler, Iran recovered from the devastation of 40 years of war, providing the war ravaged country with a renewed sense of tranquility, security, peace, and prosperity. The years from 1765 to Karim Khan's death in 1779 marked the zenith of Zand rule. During his reign, relations with Britain were restored, and he allowed the East India Company to have a trading post in southern Iran. He made Shiraz his capital and ordered the construction of several architectural projects there.
  Following Karim Khan's death, civil war broke out once more, and none of his descendants were able to rule the country as effectively as he had. The last of these descendants, Lotf Ali Khan, was executed by Qajar ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, who became the sole ruler of Iran.
context_section_description: Nader Shah was later murdered in 1747 at the hands of his own men, which gave the Zands under Karim Khan the opportunity to return to their former lands in western Iran. In 1748/49, Karim Khan allied with the military leader Zakariya Khan, and clashed with the Bakhtiari chieftain Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari, whom they initially defeated, but were shortly suffered a loss and were forced to withdraw from the strategic town of Golpayegan, which Ali Mardan seized.
  In the spring of 1750, Ali Mardan attempted to capture the former Safavid capital of Isfahan, but was defeated at Murcheh Khvort, a town near the city. He then started to dispatch messengers at Golpayegan to his regional opponents, which included Karim Khan and Zakariya Khan, who accepted his offer of terms, and combined their forces with the latter, which made the number of their men strengthen to 20,000.
  In May 1750, they stormed the gates of Isfahan—its governor Abu'l-Fath Khan Bakhtiari and other prominent residents assembled to protect the fortress of the city, but agreed to surrender and collaborate with them after Ali Mardan's reasonable proposals. Abu'l-Fath, together with Ali Mardan and Karim Khan, formed an alliance in western Iran under the cover of restoring the Safavid dynasty, appointing a 17 year old Safavid prince, Abu Turab, as a puppet ruler—on June 29, Abu Turab was declared shah, and assumed the dynastic name of Ismail III.
  Ali Mardan then took the title of Vakil-e daulat ("deputy of the state") as the head of the administration, while Abu'l-Fath maintained his post as governor of Isfahan, and Karim Khan was appointed commander (sardar) of the army, and was given the task of conquering the rest of Iran. However, a few months later, while Karim Khan was on an expedition in Kurdistan, Ali Mardan began breaking the terms which they had promised the inhabitants of Isfahan—he greatly increased his shakedown on the city, which New Julfa suffered the most from. He then further broke the terms he had made with the two chieftains, by having Abu'l-Fath deposed and killed. He then appointed his uncle as the new governor of the city, and without conference, marched towards Shiraz and began pillaging the province of Fars. After having plundered Kazerun, Ali Mardan left for Isfahan, but was ambushed at the dangerous passage of Kutal-e Dokhtar by regional guerrillas under Muzari Ali Khishti, who was the chieftain of the neighbouring Khisht village. They managed to seize the plunder of Ali Mardan and kill 300 of his men, which forced the latter to withdraw to a more difficult passage to reach Isfahan. By winter, the forces of Ali Mardan had decreased even more due to abandonment from some of his men.
caption: An illustration of Isfahan from the south.
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