The ruler Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, founder of Iran’s Qajar dynasty.
He reunified Iran through force and diplomacy and was crowned shah in 1796. His rule was marked by military ambition and severe punishments.
According to accounts summarized by Encyclopaedia Iranica, two palace servants, Sadeq Khan and Khodadad Esfahani, quarrelled so loudly that the shah ordered them executed.
A commander reportedly pleaded for them, but the shah agreed only to delay the sentence until after the approaching Friday religious observance. He then allowed the condemned men to return to their duties.
That night, they enlisted another servant, Abbas Mazandarani, and stabbed the sleeping shah to death on 17 June 1797. They took jewels and sought protection from a commander.
The assassination ended Agha Mohammad Khan’s reign and disrupted his army’s campaign.
His nephew, Fath-Ali Shah, succeeded him, beginning a period of Qajar rule.
