'Report on Kurdistan' [‎49r] (102/220)

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In 1200 A H Zaffar Khan Zend, a pretender to the throne of Persia came
purposely from Isfahan to Hamadan to endeavour to attach to his cause Khusrau
Khan, then one of the most powerful chiefs in Persia. Khusrau Khan consulted his
people and proceeded to Hamadan at the head of his troops, and invited Muhammad
Husain Khan Karagozlu the Khans of Garrus and ’ Ali Khan Khamseh, to join him
24thSh° 1 h nd ionoTw 5 :w men Et Bahar Dear Hamadan > and the following dav,’
24th Shaban 1200 A.H., the two armies met. The fight was put an end to by night
KarL n0 ° n ^ e . nextda y’ A1 i Khan Khamseh and Muhammmad Husain Khan
Karag ,zlu were defeated and their men dispersed. Khusrau Khan with one
thousand of his men attacked Zaffar Khan, and put his army to flight. Zaffar
Khan, unable to escape on account of his great stature, took refuge in the Sangar
! ry iF ar ’ and 1 the ne * td *y through the intermediary of a Hamadan
mujtahid he sent all his jewelry and a Koran to Khusrau Khan begging him to
allow him to escape. Khusrau Khan acceded to his request and with three of
h!s own people Zaffar Khan repaired to Isfahan. Thirteen hundred Persians
and Zend Lurs were killed and 800 surrendered during this battle whilst the loss
on the Kurdish side was only 344 killed.
^ . ?l r< ? m Hamadan Khusrau Khan marched to the conquest of Malavar
ui-birkan, Rezaz, Farahan and Gulpaigan. At Gulpaigan he allowed" his
men a few days rest, and it is said that whilst there asked one of his compa
nions what he thought of his new kingdom. “ Oh ”! was the answer, “ our tur
nips and porridge (bruised barley and wheat) are better than your kingdom ”
I his set Khisrau Khan thinking, and the next day he sent the Zend prisoners
and., affar Khan s jewels to Aga Muhammad Khan Kajar and recognised him as
his hege lord. Aga Muhammad Khan sent him valuable gifts in return, together
with the robe of honour and firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). ot Kurdistan, to which province he added the
districts of Sungur and Kuliai.
After his accession to the throne Aga Muhammad Shah ordered Khusrau
Khan to come to Tehran. These orders Khusrau Khan at first refused to obey
but eventually in 1203 A.H. he proceeded to the Court of the new Shah. He had
an attack of epilepsy in Tehran, and shortly afterwards became worse and com
pletely lost his reason on hearing of the death of his son Khan Ahmad Kh an
accidentally shot when on an expedition. In 1204 A.H. the Shah named LutfaU
Khan, his uncle, Yah in place of Khusrau Khan, who died in 1206, having been
Yah for 33 years. °
In 1206 A.H., Lutfali Khan set out with his army to conquer
Lutfah Khan, 1204—1209 Khuzistan, and afterwards returned to Kurdistan,
A.H. (1789—1794 A.D.). In 1208 A -H. the people of Khuzistan again rebelled,
. and Shah sent Hassan ’Ali Khan, son of Lutfali
Khan, and at that time a servant of the court of Tehran to Khuzistan to
repress the rebellion.
Lutfali Khan died in 1209 A.H. after six years’ governorship, and was
replaced by his son who had already returned some time before to the court of
Tehran from his expedition of Khuzistan.
Hasan ’Ah Khan, 1209— Hasan ’Ah Khan passed his time hunting, and
1212 A.H. (1794 1797 A.D.). P ai y no attention to his affairs which were left
entirely in the hands of one of his men.
^ 1211 A -H. he left with 500 horsemen for Azarbaijan, Karabagh, Shisheh
and Tiflis. Sobhan Verdi Khan, a nephew of his, gathering about him the
principal notables of Kurdistan, started for the court of Aga Muhammad Shah
but only reached Kaleh Shisheh the day after he Shah’s assassination.