Abu'l-Fath Khan Bakhtiari

Abu'l-Fath Khan Bakhtiari (Persian: ابوالفتح خان بختیاری, romanized: Abōlfatḥ Khān-e Bakhtīārī) was the Bakhtiari supreme chieftain (ilkhani) of the Haft Lang branch.

[1] When the Chahar Lang chieftain Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari and the Zand chieftain Karim Khan stormed the gates of Isfahan in May 1750—Abu'l-Fath 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.

[2] 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 a 17 year old Safavid prince, Abu Turab, as a puppet ruler—on June 29, Abu Turab was declared shah, and assumed the name of Ismail III.

[2] Ali Mardan then took the title of Vakil-e daulat ("deputy of the state")[3] 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.

However, a few months later, while Karim Khan was on an expedition in Kurdistan, the ambitious Ali Mardan had Abu'l-Fath deposed and killed.

An illustration of Isfahan from the south.