Agha Mohammad Khan

Agha Mohammad Khan besieged and captured Kerman, the last Zand stronghold. He ordered the massacre of the city's defenders and the blinding of the Zand ruler Lotf Ali Khan, brutally crushing all opposition and solidifying Qajar control over southern Persia.

Agha Mohammad Khan defeated the Zand dynasty and established the Qajar dynasty, unifying Persia under his rule. He crowned himself shah in 1796, ending decades of civil war and foreign intervention, and establishing a dynasty that would rule until 1925.

Agha Mohammad Khan invaded Georgia, then under Russian protection, and sacked Tbilisi. He reasserted Persian sovereignty over the region, but this campaign provoked Russian intervention and led to the Russo-Persian War of 1804-1813, which ultimately resulted in Persian loss of the Caucasus.

Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated by his own servants in Shusha, Karabakh, during a dispute. His death created a succession crisis, but his nephew Fath-Ali Shah quickly took the throne, continuing the Qajar dynasty. The assassination highlighted the violent internal politics of the Qajar court.