Hotak dynasty
| History of Afghanistan |
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 The palace of the emir in 1839 |
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The Hotaki dynasty (1709-1738) was founded in 1709 by Mirwais Khan Hotak, an Pashtun (Afghan) of ethnic Tatar. The Hotaks are considered as a sub-group of the Ghilzai clan[1] of Kandahar province in modern-day Afghanistan. Mirwais and his followers rose against the Persian Safavid rulers starting in the city of Kandahar. They began by killing Gurgin Khan, the Georgian-born governor of Kandahar, who was representing the Persian kings. Next, Mir Wais ordered the deaths of the remaining Persian government officials in the region. The Ghilzai Afghans then defeated the Persian army that was dispatched from Isfahan (capital of the Safavids).
Mirwais Khan Hotak died peacefully in 1715 from natural cause and was succeeded by his son Mir Mahmud Hotaki, who later led his army to invade Persia. In 1722, Mir Mahmud sacked the city of Isfahan and declared himself Shah of Persia (meaning King of Persia). However, the great majority still rejected the Ghilzai regime as usurping.
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.[2][3] In October 1729, they were defeated by Nader Shah, head of the Afsharids, in the Battle of Damghan and pushed back to what is now Kandahar (Afghanistan).
See also
References and footnotes
- ^ See Malleson, George Bruce (1879) "Chapter 7: The Ghilzai Rule" History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878 W.H. Allen & Co., London, OCLC 4219393, limited view at Google Books, for details on the origins of Mir Wais, chief of the Ghilzai tribe.
- ^ Prof. D. Balland, "Ašraf Ghilzai", in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition 2006, (LINK)
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica - The Hotakis (from Afghanistan)...Link
External links
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