Sykes' History of Persia Vol 2 (pdf) - Heritage Institute

372 HISTORY OF PERSIA
defeated and captured. Ahmad Shah after occupying
Herat marched against Meshed. Mir Alum met him,
but was defeated and killed, and Meshed surrendered.
With a moderation both rare and sagacious, Ahmad Shah,
after adding Herat and Sistan to his kingdom, decided to
constitute Khorasan a separate state under Shah Rukh,
but acknowledging Afghan suzerainty.
The Afghans,
it is
interesting to note, have never forgotten that the
Pul-i-Abrisham, or " Bridge of Silk," some seventy miles
to the west of Sabzawar on the Meshed-Teheran road,
was once the western boundary of their empire.
The Origin of the Kajar Tribe. The Kajar
tribe is of
Turkish origin. Settled for a long time in Armenia, it
was brought to Persia by Tamerlane. As already mentioned,
it was one of the Kizilbash tribes which supported
the Safavi dynasty. Shah Abbas divided the Kajars into
three sections. Of these, one was established at Merv,
a second in
Georgia, and the third which was subdivided
into the Yukhari-bash and Ashagha-bash, or
"upper" and "lower" branches on the River Gurgan.
It is with the Gurgan
section alone that we are concerned.
The head of the