'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME II' [‎181v] (367/706)

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KIRMINSHAH
Persians point to one as the site of Khusrau Parviz’s palace. No excavations
have ever been made, and, for the present, one can only make conjectures
as to what may lie hidden under these tumuli or buried within the en
closures of the mud embankment at Taq-i-Bustan.
The village of Kirmanshah Kuhneh is supposed to have been the em
placement of the Government buildings and arsenal before and during the
Turkish occupation.
Amongst European authors, for centuries, no mention of the place is
made. The Jesuit, Raphael Dumas of Isfahan, just mentions it as Kirman
shah “ la capitale des Gourdes.” Pietro della Valle who in 1616-17 passed
the plain of Kirmanshah on his way from Mahidasht to the Pul-i-Shah or
Pul-i-Kara Su, never mentions Kirmanshah, although he must have passed
within a few miles of the town.
In the time of Mahmud Khan Afghan, Kirmanshah was mbdued by
Ahmad, the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. of Baghdad, but later on Ashraf Khan compelled him
to leave Kirmanshah and to fall back upon Baghdad.
During the wars between Nadir Shah and the Turks, 752-757 A. D., Kir-
manshah was taken and retaken many times by the Turks, but remained
finally in the hands of the Persians.
Mirza Muhammad Taki was Governor of Kirmanshah under Nadir Shah,
who in 1770 A. D. bestowed upon him the title of Mustaufi-ul-Mamalak.
On the death of Nadir Shah, Mirza Muhammad Taki took the part of ’AH
Shah against Ibrahim Shah. This latter besieged Kirmanshah, which
was surrounded by Mirza Muhammad Taki, together with all the military
implements and stores collected in the town by Nadir Shah. Ibrahim
Shah having been defeated and killed by Shah-Rukh, Mirza Muhammad
Taki declared himself independent chief of Kirmanshah. The town was
many a time pillaged by the Zends under the direction of Karim Khan,
then a highwayman whose stronghold was at Parlveh near Harsin.
Karim Khan, having taken in hand the reins of Government, invested
Kirmanshah in 1780 A. D., but had to retire on hearing of the defeat of ’Ali
Mardan Khan. ’Ali Mardan Khan was killed near Nihavand, and the siege
of Kirmanshah was renewed, and vigorously pushed on. After a stub
born resistance of two years the town had to surrender on account of the
ravages caused by famine.
Mirza Muhammad Taki and his nephew Mirza-ibn-Muhammad Amin
were taken prisoners, but escaped and retook possession of Kirmanshah
which they held in the name of Azad Khan Afghan, who inflicted a
severe defeat on the armies of Karim Khan. Shortly afterwards Mirza
Muhammad Taki was murdered by the Zends, and Mirza-ibn-Muhammad
Amin escaped to India where in the years 1810-1811 A. D. he wrote history.
In the early part of the century, Path ’Ali Shah conferred the Governor
ship of the province and city upon his eldest son Muhammad ’AH Mirza,
whose jealousy of ’Abbas Mirza, the heir-apparent, plays so a large part
in the history of the contemporary writers. Muhammad ’Ali Mirza,
Daulat Shah, was succeeded by his eldest son Muhammad Husam
Mirza, Hashmat-ud-Dauleh, who was Governor for ten years. A few years
later Imam Quli Mirza Tmad-ud-Dauleh, brother of Hashmat-ud-Dauleb,
was appointed Governor, in which position he remained for 21 years.