Abu Torab's father was Mirza Morteza, who was a former court official, and his mother was a daughter of the former Safavid king (
shah)
Sultan Husayn (r. 1694–1722). In May 1750, the
Chahar Lang chieftain
Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari and the
Zand chieftain
Karim Khan stormed the gates of
Isfahan—its governor
Abu'l-Fath Khan Bakhtiari and other prominent residents assembled to protect the fortress of the city, but agreed to surrender and collaborate with them after Ali Mardan's reasonable proposals. Abu'l-Fath, together with Ali Mardan and Karim Khan, formed an alliance in western Iran under the cover of restoring the Safavid dynasty, appointing the 17 year old Abu Torab as a puppet ruler—on June 29, Abu Torab was declared shah, and assumed the dynastic name of Ismail III. Ali Mardan then took the title of
Vakil-e daulat ("deputy of the state") as the head of the administration, while Abu'l-Fath maintained his post as governor of Isfahan, and Karim Khan was appointed commander (
sardar) of the army, and was given the task of conquering the rest of Iran. Ali Mardan eventually broke the alliance by killing Abu'l-Fath and extracting heavy tax on the inhabitants. In January 1751, Karim Khan returned to Isfahan and restored order in the city. A battle shortly occurred between him and Ali Mardan in
Luristan—during the battle, Ismail III and Zakariya Khan (who was now his
vizier), together with several prominent officers, deserted Ali Mardan and joined Karim Khan, who eventually emerged victorious, forcing Ali Mardan and the remains of his men, together with the governor of Luristan, Ismail Khan Feyli, to retreat to
Khuzestan. After Karim Khan's accession as
vakil (regent) in the same year, Ismail was kept in safe custody at the stronghold of
Abadeh, where he lived till his death, in 1773. == References ==