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

LZXIII
SHORT-LIVED ZAND DYNASTY 38
:
Ibrahim. )rahim, son of Haji Hashim, a magistrate of Shiraz.
He had rendered good service to Jafar by securing the
adhesion of his native city
when the Zand chief had fled
from Isfahan, and had been rewarded by appointment as
Kalantar 1 of Fars, a position which is still held by his
family. Upon the assassination of Jafar, Haji Ibrahim won
over the Shirazis to the side of Lutf Ali, who consequently
owed to him his throne. Lutf Ali was noted before his
accession for kindness of heart and generosity, and these
combined with his unrivalled skill as a leader and
qualities,
man-at-arms, caused him to be beloved by all but ;
upon
securing the throne he became imperious and overbearing.
During his absence in Kerman many charges had been
made against Haji Ibrahim, who was a strong and astute
personality somewhat after the type of Bismarck, and whose
services to his master were dangerous by reason of their
magnitude. The case which convinced him that it would
be imprudent to continue to serve Lutf Ali was that of
a certain Mirza Mehdi, an army accountant who had been
convicted of embezzlement by Jafar and sentenced to lose
his ears.
When Jafar had been assassinated his head was
cut off and thrown from the citadel, and it was alleged
against Mirza Mehdi that he had avenged himself by
cutting
off the ears from his master's head. Haji Ibrahim,
affirming that he did not believe the report, had persuaded
Lutf Ali to pardon the man, and even to bestow upon him
a robe of honour. Jafar's widow reproached her son for
this treatment of a man guilty
of so great an insult to the
dead Jafar, and thereupon Lutf Ali, in a hasty moment, condemned
him to be flung into a fire.
Haji Ibrahim himself
informed Malcolm that this was the reason for his desertion
of Lutf Ali ;
but it is more probable that his treachery
had a personal motive, in the desire to be dissociated from
a losing
cause.
His Successful Plot. In A.H. 1205 (1791) Lutf Ali
marched north to meet the army of Aga Mohamed, and
Haji Ibrahim took advantage of his absence from Shiraz
1
Kalantar signifies Chief Civil Magistrate. The Katvam-ul-Mulk is the title now
borne by the head of the family. In a poem by Hafiz reference is made to Haji Kawamu-Din
and the late Kaivam-uI-Mulk quoted the verse to me and stated that it referred to
his ancestor. This, however, is denied in some quarters.