War with Lotf Ali Khan, family disputes, and the first invasion of Azerbaijan Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

1 war lotf ali khan, family disputes, , first invasion of azerbaijan

1.1 first attack on shiraz , dispute jafar qoli khan qajar
1.2 invasion of azerbaijan

1.2.1 conquest of fars

war lotf ali khan, family disputes, , first invasion of azerbaijan
first attack on shiraz , dispute jafar qoli khan qajar

now zand dynasty no longer under rule of jafar khan zand, agha mohammad khan saw opportunity capture shiraz once , all. marched towards city, , neared it, attacked lotf ali khan. battle fought on 25 june 1789, ended in lotf ali khan withdrawing shiraz while agha mohammad khan followed him , besieged city. siege lasted until 7 september. set encampment , returned tehran, stayed until end of ensuing nowruz. on 17 may 1790, agha mohammad khan once again marched towards shiraz. when reached fars, governor of bihbahan acknowledged authority. lotf ali khan once again left shiraz in order stop agha mohammad khan s advance, qajar ruler withdrew qazvin , surroundings, had resolve problems. agha mohammad khan later quarreled jafar qoli khan, saw himself best heir of qajar dynasty. agha mohammad had him executed, believed necessary having seen in zand family how dynasty decline due disputes on throne.

invasion of azerbaijan

while lotf ali khan having problems kerman, agha mohammad khan freely focus on azerbaijan. appointed baba khan governor of persian iraq , marched azerbaijan in spring of 1791. stopped @ tarum, , sent relative suleiman khan qoyunlu make talysh khanate acknowledge qajar authority. agha mohammad khan thereafter went sarab, forced sarab khanate submission. went ardabil, subdued ardabil khanate , visited city s shrine. went qarajadagh, brought end resistance against him. appointed donboli noble hosayn qoli donboli governor of khoy , tabriz.

conquest of fars

painting of agha mohammad khan (right) , grand vizier hajji ebrahim shirazi (left)

while agha mohammad khan conquering azerbaijan, lotf ali khan used opportunity attack isfahan. hajji ebrahim shirazi, popular governor of shiraz, used lotf ali khan s absence city stage coup, while brother mohammad-hosayn shirazi, zand ruler s general, mutinied along many other troops. lotf ali khan rushed shiraz, when arrived @ city, inhabitants refused open gates. went mountains , raised army big enough capture shiraz. hajji ebrahim sent emissary agha mohammad khan, asking him become ruler of fars, offering give him 3,000 mares if accepted, did. when agha mohammad khan arrived @ fars, appointed hajji ebrahim governor of whole province, , sent 1 of men take lotf ali khan s family tehran, , take possessions of zand family. furthermore, ordered baba khan establish garrison nearby shiraz prepared hajji ebrahim if needed.

battle between agha mohammad khan , lotf ali khan.

in meantime, lotf ali khan had defeated men sent hajji ebrahim , had captured stronghold of kazerun. marched countryside outside shiraz , prepared starve city. time later, qajar army nearby garrison attacked lotf ali khan s men , winning—until lotf ali khan himself decided participate in battle, , qajar army defeated. when agha mohammad khan found out this, sent 7,000 horsemen reinforce hajji ebrahim s forces, , ordered surviving qajar forces nearby garrison same.

lotf ali khan let reinforcements arrive shiraz, expecting forces of hajji ebrahim strengthened, come out of shiraz, , overhelmed in open battle. correct in prediction—a battle shortly took place west of shiraz, lotf ali khan defeated united forces of hajji ebrahim , qajar reinforcements. took place in late 1791, or 1792.

agha mohammad khan s capture , sack of kerman

the inhabitants of shiraz faced extremely hardship siege, , questionable if able endure. large parts of fars ravaged warfare, , 3–4 years pandemic had spread around landscape. albeit lotf ali khan s forces had gone through difficulty forces of hajji ebrahim, of latters forces had begun desert zands. agha mohammad khan raised large army , marched fars. on 5 june 1792, lotf ali khan, small force of men, made bold night raid on agha mohammad khan s encampment near persepolis.

at first, choice seemed in lotf ali khan s favor—he qajars routed, made him in delight let men spread around , rest night, find out @ daybreak agha mohammad khan still held ground. lotf ali khan fled tabas through neyriz. agha mohammad khan set foot in shiraz on 21 july 1792, , stayed there month, maintaining retinue in bagh-e vakil. before leaving shiraz, appointed hajji ebrahim governor of fars, , had body of karim khan zand exhumed , reburied in tehran, went after stay in shiraz.

two years later, after battle of krtsanisi brought eastern georgia , other principal territories in north caucasus , south caucasus within iranian domains, proclaimed himself shahanshah (king of kings) on mughan plain, nader shah had done sixty years earlier.