Muhammad Ali Khan Chapishlu (Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot, 1898)

Muhammad Ali Khan Chapishlu

MANSUR EL MULK, MUHAMMAD ALI KHAN―

Is the present chief of the Daragez district of Khorassan. His present title was conferred upon him, as a personal distinction, by Nassir ed Din Shah in 1893.

The family inhabiting this district is of Turk origin. The first chief, Baba Khan, Beglarbeggi, a petty khan of Karshi, in Bokhara, migrated to Khorassan with a few hundred of his tribe―the Chapashlu―and received a grant of land from the governor of Abiverd, in Daragez. Baba Khan became a favourite of Nadir Shah and accompanied him through his campaigns. He was rewarded by Nadir Shah with the governorship of Herat and subsequently of other provinces in Persia. He was killed at the siege of Bokhara. His nephew, Behbud Khan, one of the commanders of Nadir Shah’s troops in Bokhara, was governor of Abiverd, but was killed by a Turkoman. Behbud Khan’s son, Aka Muhammad Khan, who succeeded his father as governor, occupied the valley of Daragez. He and his family have since maintained themselves against the Turkomans, and have remained hereditary governors of the Daragez district. The present governor succeeded his elder brother, Allahyar Khan, about 15 years ago, and has since then retained his position.

 The above Allahyar Khan is still alive, and has often tried to oust Muhammad Ali Khan from his position and to get himself reinstated governor, but so far he has been unsuccessful.

The present members of the chief’s family are:―

Brothers―

I.                    Allahyar Khan; lives in Meshed and has the following sons:―

1.      Lutf Ali Khan 30 years of age

2.      Reza Kuli Khan 28

3.      Husain Kuli Khan 25

4.      Subhan Kuli Khan 20

5.      Kahar Kuli Khan 17

6.      Haidar Khan 10

7.      Issa Khan 6

II.                 Mansur el Mulk, Muhammad Ali Khan, present governor, age 55; has the following sons:―

1.      Gholam Husain Khan, Hakim of Nankhandan, age 25.

2.      Hishmat Ullah Khan, age 15.

3.      Nur Veri Khan, age 14.

III.               Kara Khan Aka, Hakim of Lutfabad; has a son, Saadat Kuli, age 9; age 45.

IV.              Aliyar Khan Aka; lives in Daragez; has a son, Kilieh Aka, age 14; age 45.

V.                 Sayyid Ali Khan; lives in Meshed; has a son, Masud Khan, age 12; age 40.

Biographical Notices of Members of the Royal Family, Notables, Merchants, and Clergy, dated December 1897 and compiled by Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Philip Picot, Military Attaché at Teheran [Tehran] for the use of the British Legation // Correspondence and Papers on Persia. ― Simla, 1898, pp. 99―100.