"The Great Khasraw Khan" or "Khasraw Khan I" was a powerful Amir of the Ardalan dynasty who was fired by the Iranian rulers several times. During "Khasraw Khan's" era, the "Zand", "Afshar" and "Qajar" clans were fighting over Iran's kingdom. Finally, "Karim Khan Zand" killed Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar and became the king himself. "Suleiman Pasha Baban" found an opportunity and made a good relationship with Karim Khan Zand by spending some money asking for Ardalan governorship. Being aware of "Khasraw Khan's" friendship with Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar, Karim Khan ordered "Suleiman Pasha" to become Ardalan region's governor in Kurdistan which led to Khasraw Khan's migration to other lands (Hazhar, 2002: 162).
After "Suleiman Pasha" was killed, the Ardalan region did not have any peace and settlement thus, they decided to bring back Khasraw Khan to rule the region again as he was the only man who could control the situation (Mastoura, 2005: 140).
After "Karim Khan Zand" passed away, the Zand dynasty's prominent men began their conflicts over gaining power and becoming Karim Khan's successor. After a while, Ali Morad Khan took control of everything. Meanwhile, Zolfaqar Khan Afshar, a relative of Nader Shah Afshar, demanded to become Iran's king. The army of "Ali Morad Khan Zand" defeated "Zolfaqar Khan's" army with the help of the Ardalan army and killed him. After this success, Khasraw Khan went to visit "Ali Morad Khan Zand" after he invited Khasraw Khan but he did not come back since Ali Morad Khan ordered "Kohzad Khan" to become the governor. Since Kohzad Khan was not experienced enough, once again Khasraw Khan took charge of everything in the Ardalan region. Ali Morad Khan did not have any more enemies to defeat, so he knew he must take Khasraw Khan to Esfahan to be under their direct supervision. Thus, he sent his brother, "Jafar Khan", along with five thousand men to arrest Khasraw Khan and take him to Esfahan. However, Khasraw Khan did not accept this order and did not surrender. (Hazhar, 2002: 175)
Khasraw Awa, Khasraw Khan Ardalan's Mansion and Governing Hall
After "Ali Morad Khan Zand" passed away, chaos spread again and everyone demanded to become Iran's king. Khasraw Khan was able to come back to Kurdistan now. "Allah Quli Khan Zangana" prepared an army from all the clans settling in Kermashan to capture "Sna". Along with seven hundred armed men, Khasraw Khan confronted "Allah Quli Khan" in "Sungur" and after a fatal battle killed Allah Quli Khan and the commander of his army. The soldiers who had lost their commander scattered and ran away. Khasraw Khan succeeded in capturing Kermashan and going back to Sna (Mastoura, 2005: 159).
At the same time, "Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar" had revolted and was going to rule Iran. "Jafar Khan Zand" on the other hand, claimed to be Iran's king from Esfahan, so he prepared an army to confront the Qajar. The Qajar army, however, ran away to Mazandaran without a fight. "Jafar Khan" had sent an order to Khasraw Khan commanding him to join him in Esfahan. Khasraw Khan rejected this order directly and began to prepare his army. He took his army to the Bahar region in Hamadan to confront the Zand army which led to a war. The cavalries of Kurdistan attacked the enemy and defeated them in their first attack. Jafar Khan fled back to Shiraz. (Hazhar, 2002: 179)
Khasraw Awa, Khasraw Khan Ardalan's Mansion and Governing Hall
After defeating Jafar Khan, Khasraw Khan captured "Broujerd", "Farahan", "Golpayegan" and Ajam Iraq. He wanted to capture Esfahan which was the capital city, too. He ordered his army to camp near Esfahan. That night when the commanders and counselors were gathered around Khasraw Khan, one of his ministers, "Ahmad Khan" said: today you captured Iraq, Khouzestan, Lorestan, and Kermashan. Esfahan is already in your hands and there are not any kings in Iran. There is also no other army that could confront you so you can easily become Iran's king because "Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar" is not strong enough to have any claims. It is better to raise your flag, mintage your coins, and declare your rule. Another counselor of him, named "Jafar Bag" asked for permission to express his opinion and said: that wishes and demands never end and if one wishes to fulfill all of them can never feel peace and happiness. A world where one cannot have peace in it does not worth living. I say let us leave all these wishes behind and go back to Kurdistan. Khasraw Khan thought about these words for a while and finally said: it is obvious that right now nobody is more powerful than me in Iran, however, this will not remain the same forever. Today I can capture the power completely and rule this country successfully, however, my successors and heirs would not behave the same as me and after a while, people will not respect us anymore. God blessed me with Kurdistan's territory and I do not want more than that. I do not want to waste our ancestors' efforts after seven hundred years (Mastoura, 2005: 165) (Mukeriyani, 2002: 179, 180, 197).
Due to his friendship with Mohammad Hassan Khan Qajar, he wrote a letter to Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, son of Mohammad Hassan Khan, and granted him all the lands he had captured with all the arrested men, cannons, and royal jewelry. He gave the Qajar dynasty Iran's kingdom to give it up himself and then he returned to Kurdistan.
Ayatollah Mardokh wrote about the Great Khasraw Khan: "Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar" became Iran's King and then asked Khasraw Khan to meet him but Khasraw Khan did not go himself and sent some other men instead. After the king tried to get closer to Khasraw Khan for two years, once again he asked Khasraw Khan to meet him. Since Agha Mohammad Khan's father was friends with Khasraw Khan and Khasraw Khan had helped Agha Mohammad Khan himself, he accepted the offer and went to Tehran which had become the Capital city of Iran leaving his son, Ahmad Khan, to take charge of Kurdistan's affairs while he was gone. Agha Mohammad Khan held Khasraw Khan for six months treating him as a special guest apparently; however, he always felt threatened by Khasraw Khan's powerful charisma so he was looking for an opportunity to kill him. When Agha Mohammad Khan made sure that Khasraw Khan trusted him, he ordered him to kill Khasraw Khan with poison. The poison Khasraw Khan had eaten made him go mad. When this information reached Kurdistan, chaos began everywhere. While Ahmad Khan, Khasraw Khan's son, was confronting the rebellions, he got shot and died young. Finally, Khasraw Khan died in Tehran after being poisoned.
In the end, Agha Mohammad Khan, the king of Iran's treason, ended Khasraw Khan Ardalan's dynasty unfairly; but if Khasraw Khan could have gained Iran's kingdom by ruling this country based on Kurdish cultures which is the opposite of the Iranian kings' methods for governing the country, could it not be better? If that day, Khasraw Khan Ardalan would have become Iran's King, would our fate as Kurds have been the same as it is right now?
Sources:
Mukeriyani, Hazhar (2002) Ardalan's History, Tehran: Taze Negah Publication.
Mastoura Ardalan, Mahsharaf Khanm (2005) Tarikh Al Akrad, Hawler: Aras and Education Ministry Publications.
Ayatollah Mardokh (1351), Kurd and Kurdistan History, Sanandaj: Ghariqi.
