khanate · Mesopotamia and Iran
Khanate of Urmia
Origins
Urmia was home to a branch of the Turkic Afshar tribe, kin of Nader Shah. After Nader's assassination in 1747 and the break-up of the Afsharid Empire, Afshar chiefs held Urmia and its plain as a khanate.
Rule and society
Fath Ali Khan Afshar, the most ambitious of the khans, fought Azad Khan Afghan and Karim Khan Zand for control of north-western Iran. Karim Khan besieged and took Urmia in 1763, and Fath Ali Khan was later killed. The khanate continued under other Afshar khans as Zand vassals. Its population included Azerbaijani Turks, Kurds and Assyrian Christians, and the plain produced grain, fruit and tobacco.
Decline and legacy
Agha Mohammad Khan's Qajar Iran took Urmia in the 1790s, and by 1797 the khanate was incorporated into the Qajar province of Azerbaijan.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (3)
- Khanate of Urmia was conquered by Zand Empire1763 CE
- Khanate of Urmia was a vassal of Zand Empire1763 CE – 1779 CE
- Khanate of Urmia was conquered by Qajar Iran1797 CE
More states of Mesopotamia and Iran →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Khanate of Urmia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/khanate-of-urmia
- MLA
- “Khanate of Urmia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/khanate-of-urmia. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Khanate of Urmia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/khanate-of-urmia.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Khanate of Urmia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/khanate-of-urmia (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻