Battle of Damghan (1729)
Battle of Damghan | |||||||
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Part of Nader's Campaigns | |||||||
Painting of the Battle of Damghan, illustrating Persian decisive artillery fire against the Afghans. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Safavid loyalists |
Hotaki dynasty | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Nader Shah Lotf Ali Khan Tahmasp Khan Jalayer Fath Ali Khan Kayani Latif Khan |
Ashraf Hotaki Mohammad Seidal Nasrullah Khan Zebardust Khan | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~25,000 | 40,000–50,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3,000[1] or 4,000[2] |
12,000 killed Fall of the Safavids ]
Afghan Campaigns
Rebellions & Civil War
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The Battle of Damghan (
The battle of Damghan proved the supremacy of Nader's artillery-dependent military system in comparison to the old exclusively cavalry based system utilised by the Afghans. Although Ashraf sought to remedy this in the subsequent engagement at Murcheh-Khort - relying on guns and artillery-men from the Ottomans - he failed to construct an adequate military structure to hold up against Nader's army.
Background
Ashraf having come to power in the aftermath of a coup against his predecessor,
Meanwhile, Nader & Tahmasp had been campaigning in the north-east building up a base from which to challenge Ashraf's claim on his newly acquired dominion. Hearing of the Nader's
By the time Ashraf reached and besieged Semnan his force had grown to 40,000 compared to Nader's estimated strength of 25,000. Leaving a token force behind to resume the siege of Semnan Ashraf marched east towards Shahroud sending a fraction of his command ahead to seek out and destroy Nader's artillery. The first clash of arms between the two side occurred in a small but savagely fought skirmish south-east of Shahroud in which 14 Afghans were made prisoners whom were taken to Nader for interrogation. Nader continued to press forward until dusk, whence he began to make camp east of an obscure village by the name of Mihmandoost. That night Tahmasp promised him his sister's hand in marriage if Nader gained victory in battle on the following day.
Battle
Deployments & pre-engagement manoeuvres
In the morning of September 29, Ashraf drew up his army in the traditional fashion in three separate formations making up the centre, left and right as opposed to the Persian army which Nader had formed up in four divisions. Ashraf was so confident of victory that he set aside two to three thousand of his horsemen to hunt down and capture Tahmasp and Nader after his victory.
A rearguard of a few thousand mounted troops covered Nader's ongoing deployment to the left, on the Tal hills. In a break with conventional deployment patterns in oriental armies of this period Nader placed his artillery pieces behind his line infantry, where from their elevated positions on the high ground they overlooked the compact formations of Persian
The Afghan charge is broken up
A harrowing roar of cannon fire echoed throughout the valley as the Persian guns atop the crest of the hills were submerged under a white cloud of billowing smoke causing "three or four hundred Afghan soldiers to be sliced through like cucumbers". As the flanks of the Afghan army came into range of the
Nader's thrust through the centre
A Persian counter-attack materialised in the form of a grouping of
Aftermath
Leaving behind 12,000 dead, Ashraf marched hastily westward in a frantic bid to make good his losses in time for a subsequent confrontation. He wagered on an ambush which he set up around Khwar pass. Meanwhile, Nader and Tahmasp fell out over what course of action to take in the aftermath of Mihmandoost, as Nader (possibly disingenuously) advocated a return to Mashad to re-consolidate, to Tahmasp's extreme chagrin. In fact Tahmasp was so disconcerted by Nader's foot dragging that he marched out of camp in protest, prompting Nader to send reconciliatory emissaries inviting the King to return to the army although Nader would leave him at Tehran before resuming the campaign any further.
See also
- Military of the Afsharid dynasty of Persia
- Battle of Gulnabad
- Battle of Murche-Khort
- Battle of Khwar Pass
References
- ^ Ferrier, J. P. (1858). History of the Afghans. Murray. p. 61. Retrieved 2010-09-30.
J.P.Ferrier.
- ^ a b Axworthy(2009), The Sword of Persia, p. 89.
- ^ Axworthy, Michael (2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, p. 131. I. B. Tauris