The siege of Kandahar, also known as the Kandahar campaign, was led by
Shah Abbas II
Abbas II (; born Soltan Mohammad Mirza; 30 August 1632 – 26 October 1666) was the seventh Shah of Safavid Iran, ruling from 1642 to 1666. As the eldest son of Safi and his Circassian wife, Anna Khanum, he inherited the throne when he was ni ...
of
Safavid Empire
The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
against the
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
-held city of
Kandahar
Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...
, in modern day
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. It lasted from 28 December 1648 to 22 February 1649, and ended in the permanent loss of Kandahar by the Mughals.
Background
Kandahar had been under Mughal control since 1638 when the Safavid commander
Ali Mardan Khan
Ali Mardan Khan (; died 2 April 1657) was a Kurdish military leader and administrator, serving under the Safavid kings Shah Abbas I and Shah Safi, and later the Mughal ruler Shah Jahan. He was the son of Ganj Ali Khan. After surrendering th ...
handed it over to the Mughals. The Safavids did not make a move over the city until 1648, when the Mughals were engaged in the
campaigns in Balkh and Badakhshan, which proved to be disastrous. In the summer of 1648 Shah Abbas II led an army numbering 40,000 and after taking the city of
Bost besieged Kandahar.
Siege
The 7000-men strong Mughal garrison under Daulat Khan fortified their positions but made the fatal mistake of not safeguarding the two
watch towers on the top of a nearby hill from which guns could be fired into the fort. Persians at once seized them and opened fire into the fort's interior. Due to winter, the Mughal garrison did not expect any reinforcement to arrive before spring. A portion of army under two
Tartar chiefs who had entered the Mughal service after the end of the Balkh war, mutinied and opened negotiations with the Persians. Daulat Khan failed to maintain discipline within the troops and consequently surrendered the fort to the Persians on 22 February 1649, on the promise of safe passage to India.
Aftermath
Shah Abbas II appointed Mihrab Khan as the governor, and returned to
Isfahan
Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
. The siege cost Safavids 2000 men including 600
Qizilbash
Qizilbash or Kizilbash (Latin script: ) ; ; (modern Iranian reading: ); were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman "The Qizilbash, composed mainly of Turkman tribesmen, were the military force introduced by the conquering Safavis to the Irani ...
while Mughals suffered 400 casualties. Subsequently the Mughals
besieged Kandahar thrice between 1649 and 1653, but failed to re-capture it, making the loss of Kandahar permanent.
References
Sources
*
*
* {{Cite book , last=Sarkar , first=Sir Jadunath , author-link=Jadunath Sarkar , url= , title=History of Aurangzib: Reign of Shah Jehan , date=1912 , publisher=M.C. Sarkar & sons , pages= , language=en , chapter=First siege of Qandahar , oclc=5733274
17th-century conflicts
17th century in the Mughal Empire
17th century in Asia