Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati

Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati
ilkhan of the Qaraei Tribe
Reign	1816-1832
Predecessor	Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati
Successor	none
Born	c. 1790 Zaveh
Died	c. 1870s Somewhere in Ottoman Empire (Possibly Beirut or Bursa)
Spouse	numerous wives of which two were 1. daughter of Amir Hasan Khan Sheybani of Tabas 2. daughter of Mohammad Khan of Shahr-e-Now (no children from this marriage)
Issue	Sons: 1. Yaqoub Khan of Abdulabad (possibly the son who was killed in battle before 1831) 2. Mohammad Vali Khan 3. a son married one of Abbas Mirza's daughters 4. Abolghasem Khan (fled to Karbala, Iraq in 1886) 5. Allahyar Khan (full-brother of Abolghasem Khan, both went to exile in Tabriz with their parents and then returned to Khorasan sometime in 1860s) 6. Allah Qoli Khan Qaraei-Torbati (his mother was daughter of Amir Hasan Khan Sheybani Governor of Tun and Tabas) Daughters: 1. a daughter married to one of the sons of Ali Mohammad Khan Nizam al-Dawla and Princess Shams al-Dawla Qajar 2. daughter married to a son of Abbas Mirza 3. Sardar Khanum married to her cousin Abdolhossein Khan Sartip Qarai
House	Qaraei tribe
Father	Eshaq Khan Qaraei-Torbati

Sardar Mohammad Khan Qaraei-Torbati (Template:Lang-fa), was one of the wealthiest and most powerful chieftains in Khorasan during the reigns of Fath Ali Shah. He was admired by his friends and cursed by his foes.

The Qajar central government attempted to conciliate the new ruler of Turbat by recalling Muhammad Wali Mirza to Tehran, dishonoring him while there, and sending Prince Hasan Ali Mirza Qajar Shoja os Saltaneh in his place. Hasan Ali ventured to Zaveh to attempt to placate Mohammad Khan for the treacherous murder of his father. The essence of the lies exchanged at their meeting was that Tehran denied any implication in the murder of Eshaq while Mohammad professed allegiance to the Qajars. The deal was sealed with Mohammad granting his sister to Prince Hasan Ali Mirza for marriage. The result of this marriage was Qahreman Mirza Qajar ancestor of famous Qahreman, Qahremani and Shojania families of Khorasan.

After Hasan Ali's departure Mohammad aligned himself with Bunyad Khan Hazara and began a career of depredation and slave dealing. This latter practice gained him covert alliances with the Khan of Khiva and the Emir of Bukhara, a situation that did little to enhance his reputation in Tehran. In 1832 the crown prince, Abbas Mirza, after subduing the Salor of Sarakhs, turned his attention to Mohammad Khan and his renegade tribe. Under the guise of using Zaveh as a staging ground for his army's invasion of Herat, Abbas moved the royal forces into the Qaraei district where he deceived Mohammad into a meeting that resulted in his capture. He then was briefly a prisoner in Arg-i Tabriz, later under house arrest and exile in Tabriz where he lived with one of his wives, and some of his children (two young sons accompanied him when he was arrested).

The independence of the Qaraei tribe and the district of Zaveh ended with Mohammad Khan. The governors of the district were thereafter no longer of the Qaraei tribe but of the Qajar tribe. The chief of the Qarais traditionally served alternate terms of naib and vazir to the Qajar governor for the rest of the 19th century.

Mohammad Khan fled Tabriz in March 1862, took a route via Baghdad, Damascus, Istanbul and finally reached Edirne. He lived until he was 80 years old, so his year of death was in 1870s. His place of death and burial are somewhere in the territory of Ottoman Empire, Bursa and Beirut are possible places mentioned by resources.

Positions held

• Hakim of Ghurian 1813–1816
• Hakim of Mashhad 1829
• Hakim of Dowlatabad (Khorasan) 1816-1833
• Ilkhan of Qaraei tribe 1816-1833
• Vazir to Governor of Khorasan
• Sardar(Commander-in-Chief) of Persian army, in Khorasan