‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎118v] (241/722)

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<c The trihe of Kajar are originally from Syria. Thev were brouclifc
from that country to Persia in the year of the Hijra 803 by TainTur
After the death of that prince and his immediate successor, this tribe in
creased so much in numbers, and showed, on repeated occasions, so seditious
and insubordinate a spirit, that Shah Thamasp, fearing their power one dav
might subvert the government, determined to divide them in such a manner
as to render them incapable of united action. He in consequence separated
them into divisions—one of which, called Azdanlu, he sent to the town of
Marv in Khurasan; one to Ponnah (?) in Azarbaijan ; one to Kasvm in Irak •
one to Ganjah in Georgia (these afterwards attached themselves to Nadir
Shah and earned the title of Kajar Afshar; they declined from the death
of that monarch); and another to Astarabad in Mazandaran. In that
part of this numerous tribe which was sent to Astarabad there were two
chief families. The one was distinguished by the name of Yokaribash the
other by that of Ashagabash, as above stated. The latter became cele
brated for the numbers of warriors and statesmen whom it produced, who suc
cessively reached the highest honors in the court of the Safavian monarchs
and in the commencement of the weak reign of Shah Thamasp, the last
and most unfortunate prince of that race, Fateh All Khan Kajar, who was
the representative of the Ashagabash family, obtained the height of power,
and was entrusted by his indolent sovereign with the seal of empire, which
he employed more to further his own ambition than to advance the interests
of his master.
“ At this period Nadir Kuli Karklu, so well known afterwards by the
1725 A.D. name of Nadir Shah, entered the service of Shah
Thamasp, and began early to form those vast pro
jects of ambition which he afterwards matured. Fateh Ah Khan, who was
in fact pursuing the same road, was from his character the only noble that
Nadir conceived had the spirit and ability to oppose his aggrandizement.
He therefore determined to remove him ; and combining with those ministers
who were jealous of Fateh Ah Khan's fortune, he procured from the prince,
m a moment of intoxication, an order for his confinement, which was carried
into execution on the 29th September 1725 ; and the unfortunate Fateh All
was lodged as a prisoner in the camp of his rival, by whose order he was
immediately assassinated.
“ Husain Khan, the son of Fateh AH, the moment he heard of his father's
fate, mounted a fieet horse and tied to Turkumania, and while Nadir Shah
lived he never visited Persia. Put taking advantage of the troubles that
occurred at that tyrant's death, he returned, aided by a body of Turkumans,
to his native town, Astarabad; and collecting all his tribe in that quarter,
soon formed an army, which made him master of the provinces of Mazan
daran and GOan. Elated with his success, he marched against Adil Shah,
the brother of Nadir Shah, by whom he was completely defeated; and his
eldest son, Agha Muhammad, fell a prisoner into the hands of the victor,
who on the spot deprived him of his virility.
a Ihe dissensions that arose in the family of Nadir Shah soon ended in
its destruction; and Persia was for a period without a monarch, torn by the
most bloody civil wars, carried on by usurpers, which rose like baneful weeds
in every village of that distracted empire.
^ 1 he chief among those were Flusain Khan in Mazandaran, Asad
Khan Afghan in Azarbaijan, AH Mardan Bakhtiari at Isfahan, and Karim
Khan Zand in Irak. The contest for power raged with violence nearly five
years. Fortune then declared for Karim Khan Zand. Asad Khan Afghan