The Most Beautiful Persian King
Baba Khan later returned to Damghan (according to the 19th-century Iranian writer Reza-Qoli Khan Hedayat, this took place in 1775), where he was witness to the conflict amongst the Davallu Qajar chiefs of Astarabad, which ultimately led to the murder of his father by the Kuklan Turkmens in 1777. Baba Khan sought shelter with his uncle Morteza Qoli Khan Qajar in the village of Anzan (near Astarabad), where he stayed for two years. Following the death of Karim Khan in 1779, Baba Khan shifted his allegiance to Agha Mohammad Khan, who had returned to Mazandaran and overpowered Morteza Qoli and two other brothers in Barforush. Albeit Agha Mohammad Khan had been castrated at a young age, he married Baba Khan's mother in Sari and practically became his stepfather and guardian.