‘GAZETTEER OF PERSIA VOL. I Comprising the Provinces of ASTARÁBÁD, SHÁHRUD-BÚSTAN, KHÚRÁSÁN, AND SÍSTÁN’ [‎287v] (581/722)

528
ascended the throne. It is this fact which probably originated that bloody
rivalry between the two classes of nomads, which is known in Persian his
tory as the struggle between the Zand and the Kajar.
The Zands are, perhaps, the most illustrious of all the Persian tribes.
According to tradition, they derive their name from having been entrusted
by Zoroaster with the care of the sacred Zandavasta.* The chief of the
tribe at the period under review was Karim Khan. After the death of
Nadir Shah, this chief succeeded in establishing himself in Isfahan and the
southern provinces. The Ka,jars, on the other hand, were a Turkish tribe,
who had been transplanted from Syria by Taimur, and settled in the
northern provinces between the Alburz and the Caspian. The Kajars
were formed into two branches—the upper and the lower ; and this distinc
tion should be borne in mind, as it is not without importance even in the
present day. Prior to the abdication of Shah Husain, the last of the
Safavian sovereigns, the upper branch had always been superior. But
Fateh All Khan, Kajar, who supported the cause of prince Tahmasp, was
chief of the lower branch; and his subsequent position, as general of the
army of Tahmasp, gave him an ascendancy over the upper branch. After
the ' death of Fateh Ah Khan the jealousies between the upper and lower
branches were fermented by Nadir Shah, who gave the command of Astar-
abad to the chief of the upper branch. Accordingly Muhammad Hasan
Khan, the eldest son of the deceased Fateh Ah Khan, took refuge amongst
the independent Turkumans beyond the eastern frontier until the death of
Nadir Shah; and then, amidst the anarchy which followed that event,
this chief returned to his native country, and took possession of the three
provinces between the Alburz and the Caspian, namely, Astarabad, Ma-
zandaran, and Gilan.
A deadly war thus commenced soon after the death of Nadir Shah
between Karim Khan, Zand, and Muhammad Hasan Khan, Kajar. In this
struggle Shah Rukh of Khurasan took no part. It was simply a contest
between the Zand and the Kajar for the possession of provinces in which
Shah Rukh could have no share, and to which after his blindness he could
lay no claim. The termination of the conflict is significant of the treacheries
of the period. The Kajar chief gained a number of successes, and seemed
to be on the point of crushing Karim Khan, when his army was bought
off by gold, and he was compelled to retreat towards his own territory, be
yond" the Alburz mountains. On his way he was murdered by a rival
chief of the upper branch of the Kajars; but he left a son. named Agha
Muhammad Khan, who, in after years, fully revenged the death of his
father by the destruction of the dynasty of the Zands.
The establishment of the Zand dynasty seems for a while to have re
stored tranquillity to Persia; hut the death of its founder, and indeed every
subsequent succession, was accompanied by civil wars, which filled the
country with bloodshed, and weakened the Zand dynasty to a degree which
finally enabled the Kajars to acquire the ascendancy.
The reign of Karim Khan lasted only nineteen years ; but may be
characterised as just and comparatively peaceful. He transferred the capital
from Isfahan to Shiraz. Khurasan still remained under Shah Rukh ; and
thus there could have been little or no communication between the Persian
government and the governments of Bukhara and Afghanistan. Meantime
the sons of the unfortunate Kajar chief, together with other members of
Properly “ Zand-u-Avasta. ;