Ali-Morad Khan Zand was born in , when Iran was ruled by the
Afsharid dynasty. He was the son of Qaytas Khan, a member of the Hazara clan of the
Zand tribe. The Zands were a rural tribe of
Laks, a branch of
Lurs, who may have been originally
Kurdish. Their summer pastures were on the
Zagros hills north of
Kermanshah, while their winter grounds were on the
Hamadan plains close to
Malayer. After the death of the first Zand ruler
Karim Khan Zand,
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar who was a hostage—in light of preventing an outbreak of war between the
Qajar tribes in the northern Iran and the Zands—escaped promptly and reached
Mazandaran. Subsequently, he took command of his tribe in
Astarabad, and declared independence from the Zand Shah. Therefore,
Zaki Khan Zand dispatched the Zand army under the command of his nephew, Ali-Morad Khan against the Qajar lord. Ali-Morad was given power over the Zand army to destroy rebellious Qajar tribes in the north, but he betrayed
Abol-Fath Khan Zand, and left him defenseless in capital to be slain by
Sadeq Khan Zand. Ali-Morad then captured
Isfahan. He levied high taxes on the people and tortured and killed whoever refused. Finally, on 14 March 1781, he captured
Shiraz, and killed Sadeq Khan, and sat on the throne. Ali-Morad continued the war with Agha Mohammad Khan and raised an army allowing his cousin Rostam to command it. Rostam took this army to the province of Mazandaran where he fought against a Qajar army under the command of Ja'far Qoli Khan. However, Rostam quickly lost the battle and was forced to retreat back to the south. On 11 February 1785, Ali-Morad Khan died in
Murchakhur. == Personality ==