The Hotaki were a Pashtun (Afghan) tribe and dynasty that ruled the Persian Empire from 1722 to 1729, after defeating and replacing the Persian Safavid dynasty. The Hotaki dynasty was founded in 1709 by Mir Wais Hotak, the tribal chief of the Ghilzai Pashtuns of Kandahar.[1] After his death in 1715, the kingdom passed on to his brother followed by his sons and nephew until the dynasty finally ended in 1738 when Nader Shah and his Afsharids defeated Hussein Hotaki at Kandahar.[2]
Hotaki dynasty | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1709–1738 | |||||||||
| Capital | Kandahar and Isfahan | ||||||||
| Common languages | Persian (official) Pashto (native language of the rulers) | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1709 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1738 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Rise to power
Mirwais and his followers rose against the Safavid dynasty of Persia in Kandahar City in April of 1709, killing George XI (Gurgīn Khān), the Georgian governor of Kandahar province since 1704 and a representative of the Persian king. Next, Mirwais ordered the deaths of the remaining Persian government and military officials in the region. The Afghans then defeated twice a large Persian army that was dispatched from Isfahan (capital of the Safavid Empire).[3]
Several half-hearted attempts to subdue the rebellious city having failed, the Persian Government despatched Khusraw Khán, nephew of the late Gurgín Khán, with an army of 30,000 men to effect its subjugation, but in spite of an initial success, which led the Afgháns to offer to surrender on terms, his uncompromising attitude impelled them to make a fresh desperate effort, resulting in the complete defeat of the Persian army (of whom only some 700 escaped) and the death of their general. Two years later, in A.D. 1713, another Persian army commanded by Rustam Khán was also defeated by the rebels, who thus secured possession of the whole province of Qandahár.[3]
— Edward G. Browne, 1924
Mirwais was given the title "Prince of Qandahár and General of the national troops" by his Afghan countrymen.[3] He died peacefully in 1715 from a natural cause and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, who was murdered by Mir Wais' son Mahmud. In 1722, Mahmud led an Afghan army and invaded Persia. After defeating the Persian Army at the Battle of Gulnabad on March 8, 1722, he proceeded to and sacked the city of Isfahan.[4] On October 23, 1722, Soltan Hossein abdicated and acknowledged Mahmud as the new shah of Persia.[5]
Majority of the Persian people, however, rejected the Afghan regime as usurping. For the next seven years until 1729, the Hotakis became the de facto rulers of Persia, but the southern and eastern areas of Afghanistan still remained under their control until 1738.
The Hotaki dynasty was a troubled and violent one as internecine conflict made it difficult to establish permanent control. The dynasty lived under great turmoil due to bloody succession feuds that made their hold on power tenuous, and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power in Persia.[6] On the other hand, the Afghans were also suppressed by the Safavid government under Gurgin Khan before their uprising in 1709.[7]
Decline
Ashraf Khan, who took over the monarchy following Shah Mahmud's death in 1725, and his soldiers were defeated in the October 1729 Battle of Damghan by Nader Shah, head of the Afsharid Turkmens. Nader Shah had driven out the remaining Ghilzai forces from Persia and began enlisting the Abdali Afghans of Herat in his military. Nader Shah's forces (among them were Ahmad Shah Abdali and his 4,000 Abdali troops) conquered Kandahar in 1738. They destroyed the last Hotaki seat of power, which was held by Hussein Hotaki (or Shah Hussein).[8] [9] Nader Shah then built the new town "Nāderābād", named after himself, next to the old destroyed Ghilzai's town.
List of rulers
| Name | Picture | Reign started | Reign ended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mir Wais Hotak |
File:Mirwais-Hotak.jpeg | 1709 | 1715 |
| Abdul Aziz Hotak |
1715 | 1715 | |
| Mahmud Hotaki |
|
1715 | 1725 |
| Ashraf Hotaki |
|
1725 | 1729 |
| Hussein Hotaki |
1729 | 1738 |
See also
References and footnotes
- ^ Malleson, George Bruce (1878). History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878. London: Elibron.com. p. 227. ISBN 1402172788, 9781402172786. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "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. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ a b c "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. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ "Account of British Trade across the Caspian Sea". Jonas Hanway. Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ 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. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ Otfinoski, Steven Bruce (2004). Afghanistan. Infobase Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 0816050562, 9780816050567. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ "AFGHANISTAN x. Political History". D. Balland. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
- ^ "Last Afghan empire". Louis Dupree, Nancy Hatch Dupree and others. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-09-24.