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50 followed by his being deprived first of his eyesight, and later, of his life. His sons and grandsons, with one exception, shared the same fate. The only one of the family who was spared was Jafer, the half-brother of Ali Murad by his mother. He had disapproved of his father's ambitious designs, and he lived to fill his throne.

In the time of Kereem the government of Damghan had been confided to Hussein Kuli Khan, the second son of Mahomed Hassan Khan Kajar, who had taken advantage of a favourable opportunity to revolt. He was defeated by the brother of Kereem, and forced to fly to the Turkomans, by whom he was seized and put to death. At the death of Kereem, Aga Mahomed Khan, the eldest of the nine sons of Mahomed Hassan Khan Kajar, made his escape from the city of Sheeraz, where he had been detained as a hostage.

The following is the manner in which this escape was effected. The sister of Mahomed Hassan Khan, after the death of that chief, became the wife of Kereem Khan. This lady, Khadeejah Begum Khanum, was the mistress of the harem of the Zend chief and was consequently in a position to befriend her nephew, Aga Mahomed, with whom she was in the habit of communicating through his page, Soleiman Khan Kajar. When her husband was at the point of death she sent a message to her nephew that if he remained in Sheeraz he would, after the demise of Kereem, be put to death by the chiefs of the Zend. Aga Mahomed, upon learning this, left Sheeraz on a hunting excursion in the neighbourhood. When news was brought him of the death