Iranian History/The Great Game

The 'Great Game' is the term used to refer to the antagonism that pervailed between Russia and the United Kingdom who competed with each other for control of the Central Asian tract comprising Afghanistan,Iran and Turkestan and the cold war like atmosphere which prevailed between the two powers specifically between the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Victorian England and Tsarist Russia vied with each other for control of this tract and adopted tactics of occasional coercion as well as threat to consolidate their supremacy and solidify their authority over the so-called buffer states of Afghanistan and Iran.

Fateh Ali Shah Qajar 1797-1834
When Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated at Shusha in the year 1797, the throne was left vacant and a civil war followed. According to accounts, just before his death, Agha Mohammed Khan had nominated his nephew Baba Khan as his successor.