ZAND

Following the death of Nader Shah [i] in 1747, a power vacuum emerged in Iran [ii]. In 1750, Karim Khan Zand became regent for the infant Safavid King Esmail III [iii]. Karim Khan never took the title of “King of Kings” but ruled through Esmail III who remained the figurehead of the empire. Having named no successor, the death of Karim Khan in 1779 led to years of instability. Five Zand leaders ruled briefly before Lotf Ali Khan [iv] came to power in 1789. Facing constant pressure from a decades-long rebellion by the Qajars [v], Lotf Ali Khan was defeated in 1794, ending the Zand Dynasty [vi].

With few regional allies to speak of, the Zand Dynasty’s most powerful adversaries were the Qajars. Karim Khan Zand launched multiple campaigns [vii] against the Qajars during his dynasty’s expansion throughout Iran but was ultimately unsuccessful in subjugating them. Karim Khan also launched campaigns against Azad Khan [viii] during the capture of Azerbaijan and against the Ottomans throughout Mesopotamia. Among the Zand’s most important victories was the capture of the port of Basra [ix] from the Ottomans [x] in modern-day Iraq. The capture of Basra allowed the Zand Dynasty to expand its footprint in international trade and facilitated its most notable economic alliance, Great Britain.

The Zand Dynasty left an indelible mark on Iranian history through art and architecture. Setting his capital in Shiraz [xi], Karim Khan Zand was a patron of the arts and attracted many influential poets, artists, and musicians to the capital. Despite the relatively short rule of the Zands, a distinct Zand art emerged which influenced art during the later Qajar Dynasty [xii]. Today, the Arg of Karim Khan [xiii] still stands in Shiraz and is operated as a museum [xiv]. The Zand legacy also lives on through the Vakil Bazaar [xv], the main bazaar in Shiraz, which was designed by and named after Karim Khan Zand.

Karim Khan Zand broke with the Persian tradition of royal rule by refusing to assume the traditional title [xvi] of “Shahanshah” or “King of Kings” [xvii], instead referring to himself as “Vakil” [xviii] meaning regent or advocate. While no other Zand ruler assumed Karim Khan’s title of Vakil, they also rejected the title of Shah, opting instead to be referred to as advocates of the people. The deliberate choice to avoid the traditional titles of nobility reflected a growing sense among the population that the government should exist to serve the citizens of the empire, rather than treating citizens as subjects of the regime.

The Zand Dynasty emerged from the chaotic power-grab that followed the death of Nader Shah in 1747. A leading military officer under Nader Shah, Karim Khan Zand began to consolidate his power in central and southern Iran [xix]. The Zand capture of Isfahan in 1750 saw the installation of Esmail III, a descendant of Safavid [xx] kings who was only an infant at the time. Ruling through the figurehead king, Karim Khan looked to stabilize Iran which had been devastated by decades of civil war. Having brought stability and prosperity to Iran, the Zands quickly moved to expand their footprint throughout Western Asia.

Among the Zand’s most notable accomplishments were the revitalization of agriculture, the capture of the strategic port of Basra, and the reconsolidation of a fractured empire plagued by internal conflict. The expansion of the port of Bushehr [xxi] allowed Iran to become a major player in the international trade market, and later Persian dynasties built upon this foundation. The Zands are also credited with rebuilding the city of Shiraz which had been destroyed by war prior to their rule. Today Shiraz stands as a center of art, poetry, and scholarship, and is referred to by many Iranians as the City of Gardens [xxii].

One of the primary objectives of the early Zand empire was the restoration of agriculture in the Fars Province [xxiii] of Iran. Agriculture in this region had been decimated by wars and by a taxation system which unduly burdened farmers and other agricultural workers. Karim Khan Zand set out to resolve the dual problems of low agricultural production and an unstable financial system by shifting tax burdens from farmers to other sectors of the economy. The economy also flourished under policies of open trade, including trade with the British East India Company [xxiv] and trade which flowed through the Ottoman port of Basra.