ʿAlī Mardān Khān Bakhtiyārī - Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE
[Article]
Matthee, Rudolph P.
Leiden
Brill
(374 words)
ʿAlī Mardān Khān Bakhtiyārī (d. 1167/1754) was a Bakhtiyārī chief of the Chahār Lang Bakhtiyār branch who rose to prominence in the service of Nādir Shāh (r. 1148-60/1736-47). Rustam al-Ḥukamāʾ portrays him as one of the pretenders to the throne following Nādir Shāh's demise who were responsible for the further ruination of Iran. Although ʿAlī Mardān Khān was a rival of Muḥammad Karīm Khān Zand (r. 1163-93/1750-79), the two cooperated to capture Isfahan from Abū l-Fatḥ Khān Bakhtiyārī, a member