Hotak dynasty
Hotak dynasty امپراتوری هوتکیان د هوتکيانو ټولواکمني | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1709–1738 | |||||||||||
Emir | | ||||||||||
• 1709–1715 | Mirwais Hotak | ||||||||||
• 1715–1717 | Abdul Aziz Hotak | ||||||||||
• 1717–1725 | Mahmud Hotak | ||||||||||
• 1725–1730 | Ashraf Hotak | ||||||||||
• 1725–1738 | Hussain Hotak | ||||||||||
Historical era | Revolt by Mirwais Hotak | 21 April 1709 | |||||||||
24 March 1738 | |||||||||||
|
The Hotak dynasty (
In 1715, Mirwais died of natural causes and his brother Abdul Aziz succeeded him. He did not reign long as he was killed by his nephew Mahmud, who deposed the Safavid Shah and proclaimed his own rule over Iran. Mahmud in turn was succeeded by his cousin Ashraf following a palace coup in 1725. Ashraf, however, did not retain his throne for long, as the Iranian conqueror Nader-Qoli Beg (later Shah), leading the resurgent Safavid banner, defeated him at the Battle of Damghan of 1729. Ashraf Hotak was banished to what is now southern Afghanistan, confining Hotak rule to a small corner of their former empire. In 1738, Hotak rule ended when Nader Shah defeated Ashraf's successor Hussain Hotak after a lengthy siege of Kandahar. Subsequently, Nader Shah began re-establishing Iranian suzerainty over regions lost decades before to Iran's archrivals—the Ottoman and Russian Empires.[4]
History of the Hotak Dynasty
Rise to power and Reign of Mirwais Hotak
Decline of the Safavids
The
Governorship of Gurgin Khan
In 1704, the Safavid Shah
The Georgians were hated throughout the province. They ruled with brutality towards the local population.[10] This would encourage the Ghilzais to revolt against Safavid rule, and Mirwais was involved in one of these revolts. Gurgin Khan found out and sent Mirwais to Isfahan.[6][9][7] While there, he saw the weakness of the Safavid court and complained about the brutality of Gurgin Khan. He turned the shah and his court against Gurgin Khan, and then went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He managed to get a fatwa from the religious authorities approving Mirwais's plan to overthrow tyrannical Safavid rule. In the summer of 1708 or January 1709[11] he returned to Kandahar and waited for the opportunity to kill Gurgin Khan.[10][9][7]
Rebellion
That opportunity came in April 1709. The Kakar tribe refused to pay taxes and revolted, so Gurgin Khan and his men went out to campaign against them. Protected by the Ghaznavid Nasher Khans,[12] Mirwais and his men ambushed Gurgin Khan on April 21 and killed him.[13][9][7][6][10] They expelled the Georgian garrison from Kandahar and the surviving Georgians fled to Gereshk and waited.[9] When the Safavid court heard of this, they sent Kaikhosro Khan with 12,000 men to recapture Kandahar. He left Isfahan for Qandahar in November 1709,[9] and were aided by members of the Abdali tribe.[7][6][11] The army progressed slowly as the court was unwilling to help much, and they arrived at Farah in April–May[11] or November 1710.[9] In the summer of 1711 Kaikhosro marched to Kandahar and besieged it. The Ghilzais sued for peace but Kaikhosro refused to accept it, so they kept fighting. The Baluchis frequently harassed the Georgians and forced them to retreat on October 26.[9][7][6] The defenders of Kandahar emerged and pursued the Georgians, resulting in the death of Kaikhosro. Another Persian army was sent to Kandahar in 1712 but they never made it there as their commander died in Herat, leaving the Hotaks to their own devices. With this, Mirwais was able to extend his control over the entire province of Kandahar. After his peaceful passing in November 1715 from natural causes, his brother Abdul Aziz succeeded him; the latter was murdered later by Mirwais' son Mahmud after having only ruled for eighteen months.[9]
Invasion of Iran
In 1720, Mahmud's Afghan forces crossed the deserts of Sistan and captured Kerman.[14] He planned to conquer the Persian capital, Isfahan.[15] After defeating the Persian army at the Battle of Gulnabad on March 8, 1722, he proceeded to besiege Isfahan.[16] The siege lasted about six months and the people of Isfahan were in such a state of hunger that they were forced to eat rats and dogs.[17] On October 23, 1722, Sultan Husayn abdicated and acknowledged Mahmud as the new Shah of Persia.[18] For the next seven years until 1729, the Hotaks were the de facto rulers of most of Persia, and the southern areas of Afghanistan remained under their control until 1738.
The Hotak dynasty was a troubled and violent one from the very start as an internecine conflict made it difficult to establish permanent control. The majority of Persians rejected the leaders as usurpers, and the dynasty lived under great turmoil due to bloody succession feuds that made their hold on power tenuous. After the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotak dynasty was eventually removed from power in Persia.[19]
Decline
List of rulers
History of Afghanistan | |
---|---|
Timeline | |
410–557 | |
Nezak Huns | 484–711 |
Part of a series on |
Pashtuns |
---|
Empires and dynasties |
Name | Picture | Reign started | Reign ended |
---|---|---|---|
Mirwais Hotak Woles Mashar
|
1709 | 1715 | |
Abdul Aziz Hotak Emir
|
1715 | 1717 | |
Mahmud Hotak Shah
|
1717 | 1725 | |
Ashraf Hotak Shah
|
1725 | 1729 | |
Hussain Hotak Emir
|
1729 | 1738 |
See also
Notes
References
- ^ a b c Bausani 1971, p. 63.
- ^ ISBN 1402172788. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ISBN 0060505087. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-10. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PERSIA DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES (A.D. 1722-1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 33. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ISBN 9780823938636. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84511-745-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-85773-347-4.
- ^ Nadir Shah and the Afsharid Legacy, The Cambridge history of Iran: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic, Ed. Peter Avery, William Bayne Fisher, Gavin Hambly and Charles Melville, (Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lockhart, Laurence (1958). The Fall of the Safavi Dynasty and the Afghan Occupation of Persia. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ ISBN 9780816050567. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ a b c Nejatie, Sajjad (November 2017). The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān (Thesis thesis). Archived from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ISBN 978-0-313-33798-7.
- ISBN 978-3-7001-7202-4.
- ^ "AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PERSIA DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES (A.D. 1722-1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 29. Archived from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ Nancy Hatch Dupree and others. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present, page 78
- ^ Axworthy pp.39-55
- ^ "AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PERSIA DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES (A.D. 1722-1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 31. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ISBN 978-2-910640-05-7.
- Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
Sources
- Bausani, Alessandro (1971). "Pashto Language and Literature". Mahfil. 7 (1/2 (Spring - Summer)). Asian Studies Center: 55–69.
External links
- Balland, D. (2011) [1987]. "AŠRAF ḠILZAY". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 8. pp. 796–797.
- Tucker, Ernest (2009). "Ashraf Ghilzay". In Fleet, Kate; ISSN 1873-9830.