PERSIA

The Zand Dynasty

BRIEF HISTORY

The Zand tribe of Kurds originated in Luristan and rose to prominence during the chieftainship of Muhammad Karim Khan-e Zand. He became ruler of Southern Persia as Regent for the Safawi Ismail III in 1750. His death in 1779 resulted in a bitter succession dispute within his family which considerably weakened the dynasty and resulted in increasing power amongst the regional war lords and tribal chieftains. A long rivalry with these regional rulers finally resulted in the victory of the Qajars over Karim Khan's nephew in 1794 and the subsequent eclipse of the dynasty.

Karim Khan Zand together with his kinsmen

SOURCES:
Bierbrier, M.L. "The Descendants of Theodora Comnena of Trebizond". The Genealogist, Volume 11, No. 2, Fall 1997 to 14, No. 1, Spring 2000 (inclusive). American Society of Genealogists, Picton Press, Rockport, ME.
Diba, Layla S. (ed.) and Ekhtiar, Maryam. Royal Persian Paintings: The Qajar Epoch 1785-1925, I.B. Tauris Publishers, New York, 1998.
Burke's Royal Families of the World II Africa & The Middle East, London 1980
Extract from a letter to Fort William dated 7^th May 1808, part 3 in Home Miscellaneous Series, India Office Library.
Perry, John R. Karim Khan Zand: A History of Iran 1747-1779, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1979.
Watson, Robert Grant. A History of Persia from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the year 1858, with a review of the principal events that led to the establishment of the Kajar Dynasty. Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1866.

ZAND 2

PERSIA

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