Karīm Khān Zand

Vakil of Persia (r. 1751-1759)

• Born: c. 1705
• Birthplace: Khorāsān, Persia (now in Iran)
• Died: March 1, 1779
• Place of death: Shīrāz, Persia (now in Iran)

The vakil, or regent, of Persia under the infant Shah Esmāՙīl III, Karīm founded the short-lived Zand Dynasty. His regency brought a period of peace to Persia after four decades of war and developed commerce, handicrafts, and architecture. He established Shīrāz as his capital city and enriched it particularly with magnificent architecture.

Early Life

Among the men who ruled Persia between the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, Karīm Khān Zand (kah-REEM khahn ZAHND) was the only one not of Turkish origin. He was a member of the Zand, an indigenous pastoral tribe that was part of the Aryan tribe of Lak in southern Persia. Karīm Khān, known then as Muḥammad Karīm, was reared while the Zand were in exile in northern Khorāsān. The Zand had been deported from their home territory in the course of punitive raids on several Zagros tribes launched by Nādir Shāh in 1732. Enlisted as a common soldier in Nādir Shāh’s army, the young Muḥammad Karīm marked himself as a great fighter in clashes with neighboring chieftains. Soon his abilities rendered him a leader. After Nādir Shāh’s death in 1747, he succeeded in leading the Zand out of exile to the village of Piriya (modern Pari), a short distance from Malavir, where the clan had settlements prior to their exile.

At the time of Nādir Shāh’s assassination, there were multiple rivals for his throne. Two of the most prominent were members of groups that returned from exiles imposed by Nādir Shāh in the wake of his death. ՙAli Mardan Khān led the Bakhtiari tribe back to their homeland, just as Muḥammad Karīm guided the Zand to theirs. As Nādir Shāh’s Afshar successors proved unable to maintain hegemony over the formerṢafavid capital of Eṣfahān, a power vacuum emerged. The two chieftains, Karīm andՙAli, moved in to occupy the city in 1750. To enhance their legitimacy, they soon placed an eight-year-oldṢafavid prince on the throne in Eṣfahān and pronounced him Esmāՙīl III.

Life’s Work

Nominally in the service of Esmāՙīl III, Karīm held the office of commander in chief, while ՙAli Mardan Khān held the office of vakil, or guardian of the sovereign.ՙAli made a bid for exclusive power but was defeated in battle. Karīm captured Eṣfahān, setՙAli Mardan Khān aflight, and assumed the title of vakil himself. Later, in 1764, his rival would be assassinated. In the meantime, Karīm Khān found himself defending the cities of Eṣfahān and Shīrāz against new claimants to the throne, who included the Kajar Muḥammad ḥasan Khān, the Afshar FathՙAli, and the Afghan Azad Khān. After a fierce struggle in which Muḥammadḥasan was assassinated in 1759, Fath ՙAli and Azad Khān joined forces with Karīm in 1763 and 1765 respectively.

Emerging as the undisputed ruler of Persia, Karīm sought peace in the land. He left Khorāsān in the hands of Nādir Shāh’s descendants and succeeded in suppressing local revolts among tribes in Khūzestān, Kohkīlūyeh Kermān, Fārs, Astarabad, Māzandarān, and the Gulf region. Meanwhile, Esmāՙīl III had deserted Karīm in 1752, only to return seven years later, at which point the nominal shāh (king) was deposed as incompetent. Esmāՙīl was held in honored captivity, while Karīm forged ahead as de facto ruler. He had no claim to the title of shāh, and he did not abandon his official title of vakil. Instead, he altered its meaning to define his role as regent for the people and turned his attention to the establishment of trade and domestic development.

Karīm Khān established new commerce, local crafts, and agriculture by removing some of the heavy burdens of taxation from the agricultural classes. He granted commercial privileges to European companies in the Persian Gulf in return for their agreement to police the coasts. In 1763, he opened Persia itself to foreign influence by allowing the British East India Company to establish a trading post in the Persian Gulf port of Būshehr. To further advance his trade policy, in 1775-1776 he attacked and captured Basra, the Ottoman port at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which had previously diverted much of the trade with India away from Persian ports.

Karīm Khān is perhaps best known for his patronage of the arts. He established a new capital city at Shīrāz, where he instigated an urban renewal on par with the reconstruction of Eṣfahān under Ṣafavid ruler ShāhՙAbbās. He reinforced the city walls and oversaw the construction of a palace citadel, a covered bazaar, mosques, shrines, and numerous gardens. He also drew poets and artists into residence in the capital, expanding its reputation as a premier cultural center.

The ruler’s last years were wrought with personal losses. He mourned the loss of a young son and a beloved wife and endured a series of illnesses, to which he finally succumbed in March of 1779. Karīm Khān was buried in the capital city of Shīrāz, which he had worked tirelessly to embellish. Members of the Kajar Dynasty, eager to extinguish his popularity, transferred the ruler’s remains to Tehran and later to Najaf. His death was followed by internal dissentions and a series of disputes over the succession. Between the years 1779 and 1789, five Zand shāhs ruled for short periods of time. In 1789, LutfՙAli Khān proclaimed himself the new Zand shāh and attempted to put down a rebellion led by the Kajar Agha Muḥammad Khān. Outnumbered by the Kajar forces, LutfՙAli Khān was finally defeated and captured at Kermān in 1794, marking the end of the Zand Dynasty.

Significance

Karīm Khān Zand reorganized Persia’s fiscal system, expanded its foreign trade, and decreased taxation of the agricultural classes. His rule, a paternal monarchy based on tribal traditions, was marked by unprecedented peace and good will. His only foreign expedition was an attack on Basra, driven by specific commercial motivations rather than a quest for territorial gain as an end in itself. The peaceful interregnum he created allowed for the development of the capital city of Shīrāz and for achievement in the arts of literature and painting. His many impressive qualities—including his military skills, physical strength, sense of humor, and benevolence—have been commemorated in Persian folktales.

Bibliography

Amīn,ՙAbd al-Amīr Muhammad. British Interests in the Persian Gulf, 1747-1780. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1967. Explores the role of trade and foreign policies under Karīm Khān.

Avery, Peter, Gavin Hambly, and Charles Melville, eds. From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. Vol. 7 in The Cambridge History of Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991. The most comprehensive source on political developments between the fall of theṢafavid Dynasty and the rise of the Kajar Dynasty. Contains plates, maps, illustrations, genealogical tables, and a rich bibliography.

Clarke, John I. The Iranian City of Shiraz. Durham, England: Department of Geography, University of Durham, 1963. A monograph on Shīrāz under Karīm Khān.

Daniel, Elton L. The History of Iran. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001. A general survey that locates Karīm Khān’s rule in the broader scope of Persia’s history. Contains maps, a glossary of terms, and a bibliographical essay.

Lockhart, Laurence. The Fall of the Safavid Dynasty and the Afghan Occupation of Persia. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1958. The primary study that laid out the historical framework of the lateṢafavid period, this source still offers unsurpassed information on the end of Ṣafavid hegemony and the period leading up to Karīm Khān’s rule. Contains illustrations, maps, a genealogical table of theṢafavid Dynasty, and a bibliography listing primary sources, including European travelers’ accounts.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based Mainly upon Contemporary Sources. London: Luzac, 1938. The principal monograph on the period preceding Karīm Khān’s rule. This study, which contains material from difficult-to-access primary sources, is yet to be surpassed. Contains a genealogical table, maps, and a bibliography of primary sources.

Perry, John R. Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747-1779. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979. The single best source on the ruler. Incorporates the chief Persian histories and contains a comprehensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources from both premodern and modern eras. Contains maps and illustrations.

Zarrinkoob, A. H. “Karim Khan Zand.” In The Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by H. A. R. Gibb. Rev. ed. Vol. 4. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1960-2004. Comprehensive synopsis of scholarship on Karīm Khān Zand’s life and accomplishments. Includes a thorough bibliography complete with sources published in both Persian and English.