Sayed Morad Khan, was a ''

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

'' of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

who reigned from January 23, 1789 until May 10, 1789. He was the eighth king of the

Zand dynasty The Zand dynasty ( fa, سلسله زندیه, ') was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand (1751–1779) that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later quickly came to expand to include much of the rest o ...

. His brief reign is indicative of the ruthless and brutal struggle for power that prevailed among members of the Zand family following the death of

Karim Khan Zand Mohammad Karim Khan Zand ( fa, محمدکریم خان زند, Mohammad Karīm Khân-e Zand; ) was the founder of the Zand Dynasty, ruling from 1751 to 1779. He ruled all of Iran (Persia) except for Khorasan. He also ruled over some of the Ca ...

in 1779.

Life

Sayed Murad Khan was a member of the court of his predecessor, Jafar Khan, in the Zand capital of Shiraz. It was apparently Jafar Khan's treatment of Sayed Murad Khan that led the latter to plot the king's overthrow. Sayed Murad Khan had been governor of Shiraz but was later confined with his family and, according to one account beaten on Jafar Khan's orders in an effort to force him to divulge his wealth.Malcolm, John, ''The History of Persia, Vol. II, Part 1'',1829 footnote, p. 106. In 1789 a group of individuals, led by Sayed Morad Khan conspired to poison Jafar Khan. A female slave was employed to carry out their wishes. Sayed Morad Khan and his followers overcame the weakened shah, killing him, decapitating him and throwing his head from the citadel. After the murder of Jafar Khan, Sayed Morad became the new

of Iran. Jafar Khan's son, Lotf Ali Khan, then marched to

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

, where he was popular among the people. Sayed Morad Khan held out for a short while in the city's citadel, but after reigning for less than 4 months he was forced to surrender and was executed. Lotf Ali Khan succeeded him on May 10, 1789.

References

Sources

*Perry, John R., ''Karim Khan Zand A History of Iran 1747-1779'', , Univ. of Chicago Press, 1979, pg. 299 *Waring, Edward Scott, "A Tour to Sheeraz by the Route of Kazroon and Feerozabad", , Elibron Classics, 2005.

External links

Rulers of Iran
Zand monarchs Year of birth missing Murdered Persian monarchs 1789 deaths 18th-century murdered monarchs 1789 murders in Asia {{Iran-royal-stub