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101 by the hostile attitude of some of the Princes in the East. An offensive alliance between France, Persia and Afghanistan might render the danger at once real and imminent. It was therefore thought expedient to dispatch a mission to Persia and to instigate that power to keep Zaman Shah busy on his western frontier. It was obvious that, threatened with invasion from the west, Zaman could never think of leading an expedition against the British in India. Persia was at this time ruled by Fateh Ali Shah, a member of the Kajar dynasty. After the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, the mighty Empire which he had erected fell to pieces. In Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani was elected King. The southern and western provinces of Persia fell to the lot of Karim Khan of the Zend tribe. All that was left to Shah Rukh, the grandson of Nadir Shah, was the province of Khurasan, and he was protected in this possession by the Afghan King. Karim Khan Zend, a just and enlightened ruler, died in 1779. His death was a signal for fresh uprisings marked by atrocious cruelties, in course of which his four surviving sons were