Nadir Shah Afshar's capture of Samarkand | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Nader Shah's Central Asian campaign and Campaigns of Nader Shah | |||||||
![]() Portrait of Nadir Shah Afshar | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() | ![]() Abu Salam Khan |
Nadir Shah Afshar's capture of Samarkand, one of the political and economic centers of the region, during his Central Asian campaign. According to Nader Shah, who was an admirer of Amir Timur, Samarkand had a symbolic meaning. The capture occurred in 1740 and Nader Shah entered Samarkand almost unopposed. According to legend, Nader Shah brought the double doors of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque made of gold, silver, precious stones, jewelry and other precious metals, located in Samarkand, as well as a number of architects, artists, and scientists, to the center of the Afshar Empire.
The foundations of the campaign that would lead to the capture of Samarkand appeared in the 1730s. At this time, Nader was on the Indian campaign, and his successor, Prince Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar, had managed to win several brilliant victories over the states of Central Asia. Rzagulu's capture of Khiva angered Ilbars Khan, the ruler of Khiva, who threatened him to launch a counterattack. Since Nader himself was far away, he ordered his son to end hostilities. His plan was to carry out more successful operations under his command after his return.
After the annexation of Khiva, Nader had Ilbars executed and replaced him with Abulfaz Khan. Nadir thought he would be more faithful. As a result of this campaign, a victory was won over Central Asia that almost none of the states which existed in the region, including the Safavids, could achieve. [2]
Nader Shah wanted to conquer Turkestan. As the first step for this, he built a bridge over the Amu Darya. This bridge was convenient for two loaded camels to cross side by side. After the construction of the bridge which took 45 days, fortifications were erected on both sides of the bridge according to the order of Nader. Five thousand soldiers were placed in each fortification. After these preparations, Afsharid's army under the command of Nader Shah began to march towards Bukhara, and despite the fact that the army was exhausted, it quickly launched attacks.
From the camp on the shore of Amu Darya, Nader Shah sent an army of eight thousand people to Reza Qoli Mirza to capture the city of Charjo. Another commander, Ali Qoli Khan, was instructed to advance towards the cities located in the east of the river and capture unsubordinated places. By the time Reza Qoli Mirza approached Charjo, the city had long been left. The population of the city heard about the approach of Afsharid's army, left the city and went to Khwarazm. Ali Qoli Khan also subdued the necessary places without facing strong resistance. [3]
The governor of Bukhara, Abulfaz Khan, was afraid of the strength of Nader's army and sent the vizier Bi Ataliq to Nader's camp. Nader, who welcomed the ambassador with respect, welcomed his peace offer, but rejected Abulfaz Khan's offer to meet in Garagul. Nadir said that if Abulfaz Khan wanted peace, he should have come to this camp himself, and this request was accepted. But at this time, Abulfaz Khan received the news that an army of 100,000 people gathered from different tribes was ready to help him. He thought about the possibility of defeating Nader with this army and increasing his influence in the region, and he refused to negotiate with Nader about peace. Many nobles and army chiefs of Turkestan also defended Abulfaz Khan's decision to go to war with Nader. At the end, Abulfaz Khan prepared his armies and left Bukhara. He wanted to meet Nader in the precinct called Islam, which is located two miles from Bukhara. After Nader saw that there was no news from Abulfaz Khan, he learned what was happening through his scouts and started discussions with his generals. [4]
To ensure the security of the troops, the duty of guard was assigned to a group of 3,000 under the leadership of Haji Khan Kurd and Gasim Bay Afshar. This guard unit came face to face with Abulfaz Khan's guard unit near Qatartut and a battle took place between them. Nader's troops won this heavy battle.
Nader Shah's artillery inflicted heavy losses on Abulfaz Khan's troops. The Uzbek and Turkmen forces met for the first time with cannons, which influenced to the confusion among them. In particular, the forces in the center collided. However, Abulfaz Khan's troops did not retreat. When they saw that it was impossible to advance from the center, they continued the attack from the flanks, from the directions where the cannons did not work. In any case, the mutual efforts of the opposing sides created the basis for the intensification of close combat. Despite all the existing tension, Nader Shah managed to direct the main strike force of his troops to the positions where Abulfaz Khan was standing. This destroyed the fighting power of Turkestan troops. Seeing the disintegration of the general ranks, the general of Agili left the battlefield and turned back. When this happened, Abulfaz Khan was sure that he would not be able to win and retreated to the Bukhara fortress. [5]
Realizing that he would not be able to win against Nader, Abulfaz Khan again sent a messenger and declared that he agreed to peace. Nader Shah accepted this reconciliation proposal and even sent valuable gifts to Abulfaz Khan through the messengers who came to him. After hearing the news brought by Doctor Ataliq, Abulfaz Khan also sent valuable gifts to Nader Shah. After peace was gained with Abulfaz Khan, Nader Shah moved towards Bukhara. In order not to endanger the population of Bukhara, Nader Shah entrusted the issue of supplying the troops to Hakim Ataliq. During Nader Shah's stay in Bukhara, Hakim Ataliq had to provide food for his troops. The commanders of the troops were instructed that the fighters should not disturb the local population regarding the issues of food and catering. Nader Shah also instructed the commanders to keep discipline among the troops under control. According to Nader's order, those who touched the local population and violated the discipline should be arrested and executed. After entering Bukhara, a sermon was read in the name of Nader Shah and a coin was minted. [6] At that time, the capture of the city of Samarkand was ahead.
Nader Shah's army attacked Samarkand in 1740. At that time, the Khanate of Bukhara was already dependent on the state of Nader Shah. According to Nader Shah, who was an admirer of Amir Timur, Samarkand had a symbolic meaning. Nader Shah entered Samarkand almost unopposed, and from there prepared to march on Ilbars Khan, who was still a threat to his state. [7]
Nader Shah, who easily captured Samarkand, received information that an army consisting of 20,000 soldiers of Samarkand, Bukhara and Kokand forces was approaching him. An army was sent against them under the leadership of Lutfali Khan, and although the rebels learned about this and began to retreat, Lutfali Khan managed to catch up with them and defeated their army.
According to legend, Nader Shah brought the double doors of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque made of gold, silver, precious stones, jewelry and other precious metals, located in Samarkand, as well as a number of architects, artists, and scientists, to the center of the Afshar Empire. [8]
Tajikistan harkens to the Samanid Empire (819–999). The Tajik people came under Russian rule in the 1860s. The Basmachi revolt broke out in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and was quelled in the early 1920s during the Russian Civil War. In 1924, Tajikistan became an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union, the Tajik ASSR, within Uzbekistan. In 1929, Tajikistan was made one of the component republics of the Soviet Union – Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic – and it kept that status until gaining independence 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Shahrokh Shah or Shahrokh Mirza, better known by his dynastic title of Shahrokh Shah was the Afsharid king (shah) of the western part of Khorasan from 1750 to 1796, with a two-month interruption. A grandson of the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah, Shahrokh was the son of Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar and his Safavid wife Fatemeh Soltan Begom, who was the sister of Tahmasp II, the penultimate Safavid shah of Iran. Shahrokh's half-Safavid descent made him stand out amongst his Afsharid relatives, and was used to bolster the legitimacy of his grandfather. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747, his nephew Ali-qoli Khan, ascended the throne in Mashhad and had all of Nader Shah's descendants in fortress of Kalat massacred. Shahrokh was spared in case his Safavid lineage would come to use, and was instead kept in the fortress as a prisoner. While Adel Shah was battling his rebellious younger brother Ebrahim Mirza, a party of Turkic, Kurdish, and Arab tribal leaders took advantage of his absence and installed Shahrokh on the throne. Both Adel Shah and Ebrahim were eventually defeated and killed, but Shahrokh was not long afterwards overthrown by a party of dissident tribal leaders, who installed the Safavid pretender Mir Sayyed Mohammad on the throne. Shahrokh was soon blinded at the instigation of Mir Alam Khan Khuzayma and other leading nobles, much against Suleiman II's will.
Muhammad Shaybani Khan was an Uzbek leader who consolidated various Uzbek tribes and laid the foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana and the establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara. He was a Shaybanid or descendant of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi, Genghis Khan's eldest son. He was the son of Shah-Budag, thus a grandson of the Uzbek conqueror Abu'l-Khayr Khan.
The Khanate of Khiva was a Central Asian polity that existed in the historical region of Khwarezm in Central Asia from 1511 to 1920, except for a period of Afsharid occupation by Nader Shah between 1740 and 1746. Centred in the irrigated plains of the lower Amu Darya, south of the Aral Sea, with the capital in the city of Khiva. It covered present-day western Uzbekistan, southwestern Kazakhstan and much of Turkmenistan before the Russian arrival at the second half of the 19th century.
The Emirate of Bukhara was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the fertile land along the lower Zarafshon river, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of Samarqand and the emirate's capital, Bukhara. It was contemporaneous with the Khanate of Khiva to the west, in Khwarazm, and the Khanate of Kokand to the east, in Fergana. In 1920, it ceased to exist with the establishment of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.
The Khanate of Bukhara was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1501 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its capital during the reign of Ubaydallah Khan. The Khanate reached its greatest extent and influence under its penultimate Abu'l-Khayrid ruler, the scholarly Abdullah Khan II.
Ali-qoli Khan, commonly known by his regnal title Adel Shah was the second shah of Afsharid Iran, ruling from 1747 to 1748. He was the nephew and successor of Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty.
Nader Shah Afshar was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars. Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia, the Sword of Persia, or the Second Alexander. Nader belonged to the Turkoman Afshars, one of the seven Qizilbash tribes that helped the Safavid dynasty establish their power in Iran.
The Bukhara operation (1920), was a military conflict fought between the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Young Bukharians against the Emirate of Bukhara. The war lasted between 28 August and 2 September 1920, ending in the defeat of the Bukhara Emirate, which was instead replaced by the RSFSR-controlled Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.
The Tabriz Khanate was a Caucasian Khanate from 1757 to 1799, centered around Tabriz and led by members of the Turkified Kurdish Donboli tribe.
During the mid-eighteenth century the Afsharid empire of Nader Shah embarked upon the conquest and annexation of the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva. The initial engagements were fought in the late 1730s by Nader Shah's son and viceroy Reza Qoli Mirza who gained a few notable victories in this theatre while Nader was still invading India to the south. Reza Qoli's invasions of Khiva angered Ilbars Khan, the leader of Khiva. When Ilbars threatened to make a counter-attack Nader ordered hostilities to cease despite his son's successes and later returned victoriously from Delhi to embark on a decisive campaign himself.
Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar (1719–1747) was the eldest son of Nader Shah, King of Afsharid Iran. After his father's coronation in 1736, Reza Qoli, aged 17, became the Governor of the important province of Khorasan. During his tenure, he showed courage by subduing rebellious khans and campaigning up until Bukhara to put an end to the Khanate of Bukhara, his father's enemies. Before heading off to India, Nader Shah appointed Reza Qoli the regent of Iran. As regent, Reza Qoli kept the peace intact but in doing so he was cruel, demanding taxes and executing people for mere crimes. He had Tahmasp II and Abbas III, two pretenders to the throne, killed, which caused an uproar among the people. When Nader Shah returned from India, he dismissed Reza Qoli as regent, snubbing him for his actions during the regency.
Afshar conquests in the Persian Gulf and Oman — It was intended to transform the Afshar empire into the hegemonic state of the Gulf by capturing the Persian Gulf and its surrounding territories. All campaigns to capture these regions were initially very successful and many targets were captured. However, Mohammad Taghi Khan, whom Nadir Shah Afshar had appointed as admiral, rebelled, and as a result of the loss of power directed at suppressing this rebellion, some of the earlier territories were lost. However, in the end, Muhammad Taghi Khan was captured, the rebellion was suppressed and the previously lost territories were returned.
The Khoy Khanate, also known as the Principality of Donboli, was a hereditary Kurdish khanate around Khoy and Salmas in Iran ruled by the Donboli tribe from 1210 until 1799. The khanate has been described as the most powerful khanate in the region during the second half of the 18th century. The official religion of this principality was originally Yezidism, until some rulers eventually converted to Islam. The principality has its origins under the Ayyubid dynasty and was ultimately dissolved in 1799 by Abbas Mirza. During this period, the status of principality oscillated between autonomous and independent.
Tomb of Nader Shah is a building in Mashhad designed by Hooshang Seyhoun.
The Khanate of Nishapur, also known as the Qara Bayat Amirdom, was a semi-independent state ruled by the Bayat tribe that existed in Khorasan from 1747 to 1800, whose capital was in the city of Nishapur.
Abu al-Fayz Khan was the Janid ruler of the Khanate of Bukhara from 1711 to 1747. It was during the rule of Abu al-Fayz Khan that Janid rule lost its authority in the khanate of Bukhara.
Afsharid Iran, also referred as the Afsharid Empire, was an Iranian empire established by the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, establishing the Afsharid dynasty that would rule over Iran during the mid-eighteenth century. The dynasty's founder, Nader Shah, was a successful military commander who deposed the last member of the Safavid dynasty in 1736, and proclaimed himself Shah.
The Qajar Principality of Merv was an independent principality that existed in Central Asia from c.1747 to 1788. It was ruled by the 'Izz al-Dinlu clan of the Qajars of Merv, who had been governors of the oasis since Safavid times. It gained its independence after the death of Nader Shah in 1747 and had good relations with the ruler of Bukhara, Daniyal Biy. When his son, Shah Murad took over in 1785, he launched a campaign that killed the ruler of the principality, Bayram 'Ali Khan Qajar. By 1788 the entire oasis was conquered and annexed to Bukhara. The last ruler, Mohammad Husayn Khan, fled to Iran.
The Battle of Pitnak was fought in 1740 between Nader Shah and Ilbars Khan II, the ruler of the Khiva Khanate. Fought in Pitnak, now in Uzbekistan, the battle took place within the framework of Nader's Central Asian campaign.