War and Peace in Qajar Persia: Implications Past and ... - Oguzlar.az

Between Scylla and Charybdis 45in their own names in the mints of these Khanates as a sign of their suzerainty.In particular are the coins of Fath-Ali Shah from the Erivan mint and the coinsof Agha Mohammad Khan from the Ganja mint, Ganja being one of the ancestralareas of the Qajars, where Qajars are found by name to this day. (For a listof these Khanates, see also G. Hambly, op. cit., p. 146.)31 The author has in his possession one of these silver coins dated 1211/1796 mintedin Tiflis, Georgia, with the invocation “ya kareem” addressing Karim Khan Zand.As is customary with Islamic coins, the inscriptions often include clever word plays.In this case, “kareem” is a reference to God (Allah), one of whose names or titlesin the Koran is “kareem” (Great or Generous); it is also a reference to the invocation“ya kareem ol kaatebeen,” (“oh generous/benevolent writers”) denotingthe two angels in the Koran who record the good and bad deeds of men for God’sJudgment Day; it is also a reference to the “recorder” (i.e. calligrapher) of thecoin on which the inscription occurs, and lastly, a reference to Karim Khan Zand,who was the nominal ruler over these dominions as successor to the Safavids. Itis noteworthy to remember that Karim Khan had been dead since 1779.32 Only the Georgian rulers bore the title “vaali,” a higher ranked title than“khaan” (khan), given that they were kings in their own right. The other localrulers all bore the title “khan,” and in this there is a possible explanation as towhy the Georgians considered themselves legitimately more autonomous.33 Hambly, op. cit., p. 146.34 As Hambly states (op. cit., p. 129), Agha Mohammad Khan had refused to becrowned until then on the grounds that he did not yet control all of Persia. Heaccepted the crown after the conquest of the Khanates of the Caucasus; at thattime he indicated that the job of unification was not complete and he was makingpreparations for the subjugation of Khorasan, Bokhara and Herat. Only thenwould he be satisfied that he was indeed Shahanshah of all Persia. This was not,as has been at times claimed, a question of weak legitimacy. He came from a longline of khans and his father already held the title Shah. He was not like Nader,who boasted that his legitimacy came from his sword. Agha Mohammad Khanconsidered himself the rightful heir to the long line of kings and emperors of Persiagoing back to Cyrus and Darius. Not in the way the Pahlavis tried to tie themselvesto that line, but because of the historical facts of hundreds of years of chieftainshipby the Qajars before his time and the immediate history of the years beforehis accession to the throne. The question of legitimacy was never raised in histime or in the time of the Qajars. It became a question later under the Pahlavis.It is true that Qajar historians created official histories linking Qajar bloodlinesto the Safavids, yet it was not based on those accounts that the Qajars and AghaMohammad Khan in particular, were considered legitimate rulers of Persia.Legitimacy, beyond the question of legacy, was acquired through unification ofterritory and accession to power, since it was not possible for Agha MohammadKhan to acquire it by heredity, given the untimely death of his father. It is noteworthythat the acquisition of legitimacy by the Qajars was thus no different fromthat of the Safavids.35 Hambly, op. cit., p. 136. Hambly’s assessment on the process of decisionmakingof Agha Mohammad Khan would deserve full quotation, as would that ofMalcolm and Fraser, contemporary observers of Persian politics. These assessmentsleave no room for doubt on the complete applicability of the rationality assumptionand the rational decision-making model to the actions of Agha MohammadKhan, even to his reputed acts of cruelty, which upon examination, though perhapslarger in scale than those of his immediate predecessors, were intended tofend off further challenges and spare him and his armies the need for battle.He would offer safe haven if surrender was made and even rewarded those whosubmitted. Only if his offer was rejected would he resort to punishment of the