According to
Pyotr Butkov, he was born . His father's name was recorded as Sofi Nabi by
Mirza Hasan Alkadari and
Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov. His epithet ''Zarnava'i'' suggests he was born in
Zarnava (currently in
Ismayilli district, inhabited by
Tats). Butkov suggest that Hajji Mohammad has already established his power base by 1734 thanks to an appointment by
Nader Shah following his
Dagestan Campaign while Bakikhanov mentions him as a "receiver of supplies". Following Nader's murder in 1747, Hajji Mohammad became ruler of settled population of Shirvan. According to Bakikhanov, he was soon besieged in 1755 in his capital
New Shamakhi by
Hajji Chalabi of
Shaki Khanate, who claimed to be ruler of Shirvan. Hajji Mohammad in his turn appealed to
Husayn Ali Khan of
Quba Khanate for support. The latter arrived with 3,000 strong army, supported by
Amir Hamza,
Utsmi of Kaitags who came with 500 men. Allies won the battle against Shaki forces despite being outnumbered. According to Bakikhanov, after getting
khan title from
Zand ruler
Karim Khan Zand (),
Muhammad Said Khan and
Aghasi Khan invaded New Shamakhi and killed Hajji Mohammad "who loved the glory and wants to live in peace" in 1765. Both Gmelin and Butkov, however, report that only Muhammad Said got the title of khanship and was invited by people of New Shamakhi who were displeased by Hajji due to his drunkenness and many vanities in 1761. Although, according to them, he wasn't killed but taken prisoner and sent to Old Shamakhi where he died next year at the age of 80. The Russian consul in
Anzali, Ilia Igumnov, however provided a very different account. In his report to the
College of Foreign Affairs of 30 March 1764, Igumnov noted that Hajji Mohammad Ali hosted
Azad Khan Afghan who was on the run from Karim Khan Zand at the time. Hajji Mohammad reportedly "not only received them with joy, but also gave them better places for settlement and assigned each a satisfactory pension". Azad Khan and his courtiers began to offend the dignity of Shamakhi locals, to harass them, to make advances on their daughters, and to take other men's wives by force. "Mohammad Ali Khan dismissed the complaints of Shamakhi denizens, did not listen to them — the latter finally rose up and overthrew him from power," according to Igumnov's report. Based on this reading,
Sarkar brothers used the opportunity to side with Zands and take the power in their hands. Igumnov puts year of Hajji Mohammad's arrest in 1763, saying he died within five weeks in Old Shamakhi, probably because of being poisoned. His son
Manaf Zarnava'i would later surface to claim Shirvan khanate. == References ==