Iran After Nader’s Death

Almost immediately after Nader’s murder in Damghan, the country fell into anarchy. All of Nader’s commanders started collecting forces and declaring themselves kings. The first one was Ahmad Khan Ebdali, one of Nader’s Afghan commanders. Ahmad Khan invaded Kabul, Ghandehar and Mazarsharif and declared himself king of Afghanistan, he later captured Harat for a short period of time.

At the same time, Nader’s nephew, Ali Khan declared himself king as Adel Shah (the Just King). The first action of this “Just” ruler was t kill all of his cousins! He killed reza Gholi Mirza, Emam Gholi Mirza and all of other descendants of Nader who could be a problem for him. As you can expect, he did not enjoy his “just!” actions for a long time and was soon killed by his own brother who became Ebrahim Shah. Ebrahim Shah also gave his place to other adventurers.

Next, the nobles elected Shahrokh, the teenage son of Reza Gholi Mirza, Nader’s blind son, as the new king, but it was not long until a new person came along, Shah Soleyman III. This man, originally called Mirza Mohammad, was the son of Shah Soleyman I Safavis daughter and a clergy man in Mashhad. Encouraged by some nobles, he called himself the true heir to the throne and captured and blinded Shahrokh. In his own term, he did not last a long time (1749-1750). He was captured and blinded, and Shahrokh returned to the throne, with blind eyes! His “reign” continued 1796, when he was imprisoned by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (see next chapter).

At the other side of the country, three local chiefs tried to gain the power. They were Ali Morad Khan Bakhtiari, Karim Khan Zand, and Abolfath Khan Haft Lang. They found a grandson of Shah Soltan Hossein and called him Ismail III. Under the name of protecting the “rightful” king, these three gained power. Abolfath Khan became the Prime Minister, Karim Khan got the job of the army chief commander and Ali Morad Khan became the regent. The three friends, as they came to be known, conquered all of the country with the exemptions of Azerbaijan (ruled by Azad Khan Afghan), Mazandaran (controlled by Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar) and Khorasan (still under the power of Shahrokh). Then, as long as some people are smarter than others, Karim Khan and Ali Morad Khan got rid of Abolfath Khan, and then Karim Khan just illuminated Ali Morad Khan! In the process, “Shah” Ismail III just was not important any more!!! So, Karim Khan, becoming the only “regent”, decided to do the better thing and called himself, well, not king, rather “The Servant of the People” (Vakil Al-Melleh).