ZAND, KARIM KHAN (c. 1705–1779)

Karim Khan Zand was the ruler of western Iran from 1751 until 1779. A chieftain of the minor tribe of the Zand, of the Lakk branch of the Lors, Karim Khan led his contingent from the debacle of Nader Shah's army in 1747 back to their inner-Zagros mountain ranges. In alliance with ˓Ali Mardan Khan of the Bakhtyari, he established a puppet Safavid shah in Isfahan and consolidated the southwest under their rule. In 1751 he overthrew ˓Ali Mardan, and subsequently defeated several other contestants for regional power among Afghan, Afshar, and Qajar leaders. By 1765 he had emerged as de facto ruler of the whole of Iran except Khorasan, with his capital at Shiraz.

Karim did not assume the title of shah, even when the putative Safavid king predeceased him, but ruled as vakil alra˓aya, "people's representative" (the term for a traditional local ombudsman). He encouraged internal and foreign trade, granting the East India Company a base at Bushire, and rebuilt Shiraz (many of his fine buildings are still standing). A nominal Shi˓ite, he practiced religious toleration, and did not actively seek the endorsement of the ulema. In 1776, after a year's siege, he captured the port of Basra in Ottoman Iraq, but his death in 1779 brought a withdrawal.

The Vakil, as he is affectionately known, has left a reputation as a strong but humane and unassuming ruler who restored a measure of peace and prosperity to Iran. His successors were by contrast cruel , rapacious, and unpopular, excepting the last, Lotf ˓Ali Khan (1789–1794), and soon succumbed to the rising power of the Qajars.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Perry, John R. "Justice for the Underprivileged: The Ombudsman Tradition of Iran." Journal of Near Eastern Studies 37 (1978): 203–215.

Perry, John R. Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran, 1747–1779. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979.

John R. Perry