The Mir of Badakhshan was the ruler of Badakhshan, a region that occasionally was politically independent and at other times was subservient to Afghanistan.
From 1657 until 1873, the rulers of Badakhshan were Sunnis of the Yarid dynasty. [1] They claimed descent from Alexander the Great. [2] These rulers usually carried the titles of Shah, Mir, or Amir. [3] In 1873 the last Mir of Badakhshan became a pensioner of Kabul and all power shifted to the Hakim of Badakhshan. [4]
Below is a list of the Mirs of Badakhshan along with their dates of reign and brief biographical descriptions.
Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Badakhshan lies within Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in the southeastern part of the country. The music of Badakhshan is an important part of the region's cultural heritage.
Emir Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai, nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani dynasty, he became the Emir of Afghanistan in 1826. An ethnic Pashtun, he belonged to the Barakzai tribe. He was the 11th son of Payendah Khan, chief of the Barakzai Pashtuns, who was killed in 1799 by King Zaman Shah Durrani.
Sultan Ahmad Khan b. Sardar 'Azim Muhammadzai, also known as Sultan Jan was the ruler of the Principality of Herat from September 1857 to April 1863. He was a nephew of Dost Mohammad Khan. In 1855-56, Sultan Ahmad Khan sent a petition to the Shah, Nasir al-Din. If the Iranians would support Sultan Ahmad Khan with an army, he would overthrow the Amir-i Kabir and incorporate Afghanistan into the Guarded Domains. However, Sultan Ahmad Khan was intercepted by Dost Mohammad Khan, who exiled Sultan Ahmad Khan to Iran.
Alakozai is a Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan. They are one of the four tribes of the Zirak tribal confederacy of Durrani Pashtuns.
The Musahiban are a Mohammadzai family who founded the Afghan Barakzai dynasty, and members of the royal lineage that ruled Afghanistan as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978. They descend from Sultan Mohammad Khan Telai (1795–1861) and his older brother Emir Dost Mohammad Khan (1792-1863), and were the last rulers of the Mohammadzai dynasty before being overthrown in the Saur Revolution in April 1978.
The Turkic people in Afghanistan are Turkic people from modern day Afghanistan. The major Turkic tribes are the Afghan Qizilbash, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Turkmens and Hazaras. The Qizilbash came to Afghanistan during the Afsharid and Durrani rule in Afghanistan and since they worked at high government jobs, but also made up parts of the army, especially when Timur Shah Durrani wanted to get rid of the dependency on Pashtun tribes and expanded his army by 12.000 Qizilbash soldier. Zaman Shah Durranis cavalry consisted of 100.000 men, who were mostly Qizilbashs. Today they live in big cities like Kabul, Mazar e Sharif and Kandahar. Currently they speak mainly Persian as their language, however in some regions, as in Kandahar, they also speak Pashto. They speak the same language as their ethnic equivalents in Central Asia. In addition to that the Afghan Tatars are scattered across much of northern Afghanistan and live in isolated rural areas. Kyrgyz people settle the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan and are also really isolated there. The number of them was 1,130 in 2003, all from eastern Wakhan District in the Badakhshan Province of northeastern Afghanistan. They still lead a nomadic lifestyle and are led by a khan or tekin.
Jawanshir Qizilbash is an Azerbaijani tribe and a part of the Afshar, adherents of Twelver Shi'ism. They belong to Afghan Qizilbash people. This tribe is living in Kabul city especially in Chindawol, Moradkhani, and Wazirabad.
Nawab Sir Muhammad Akram Khan was the ruler of the Indian princely state of Amb from 1877 until his death in 1907. Son of Jehandad Khan, he was only nine years old when his father died. People of that time thought that Maddad Khan Tanoli, the ruling Khan of Phulra, might assert a claim as ruler but no such event occurred at that time.
Mir Yazdanbakhsh was a chieftain of the Behsud Hazaras in the Hazarajat of central Afghanistan in the 19th century. Son of Mir Wali Beg, he was born in 1790.
Mir Masjidi Khan is one of many celebrated Afghan resistance leaders from Shamali Plain who opposed the installation of Shuja Shah Durrani as Emir of Afghanistan by the Government of British India during the First Anglo-Afghan War. He kept up a fierce struggle against the occupation forces in and around Kabul and Northern Afghanistan, until his death.
Sultan Mohammad Khan, also known as Ghazi Sardar Sultan Mohammad Talaei, and known by his epithet, Sultan Mohammad Khan the Golden was an Afghan chief minister and regent. He was a powerful brother of Emir Dost Mohammad Khan, the eventual ruler of Afghanistan who seized control of Kabul from him. Prior to and during the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan, Sultan Muhammad Khan Telai was chief minister and governor of various regions of Afghanistan, including Kabul, Peshawar and Kohat. He was the first of the Musahiban, a Mohammadzai dynasty that began with him and ruled Afghanistan for more than 150 years, in various forms such as emir, king or president from 1823 to 1978.
The Afghan Civil War was fought from 9 June 1863 to January 1869. It began as a result of Dost Mohammad Khan's death on 9 June 1863 and the subsequent power struggles among his sons. Dost Mohammad consolidated his power in the second half of his reign within his inner family. His sons were appointed governors of provinces and effectively acted autonomous from the central government. This would inevitably lead to his sons fighting for control after his death.
Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai bin Abdullah Khan was the vizier of the Principality of Herat from 1829 to 1842, and the ruler of Herat from 1842 until 1851. He was born in 1790 into the Alakozai tribe. In 1829, he became vizier of Herat. In 1842, he deposed Kamran Shah Durrani and became the new ruler of Herat. He expanded the country's domains to the Chahar Wilayat and Lash-Joveyn before dying in 1851. He held a marriage alliance with Akbar Khan.
The Afghan Turkestan Campaign of 1838-39 began in the winter of 1838 and ended in March 1839. The campaign was sent as a result of the tyranny of the Kunduz Khanate's ruler, Murad Beg. It was also launched for reasons such as additional revenue gain and tribute from many of the Uzbek states present in the region, including an attempt at subjugating the prominent states of Khulm and Qataghan. Dost Mohammad also feared the rise of Murad Beg and that the Kunduz Khanate was slowly enroaching on Bamiyan.
Dost Mohammad's Campaign to Jalalabad (1834) took place in Early 1834, prior to the summer invasion of Shah Shuja Durrani in Kandahar. Dost Mohammad Khan wished to raise troops and subjugate the regions around Jalalabad, which was ruled by many different polities, one of the most significant being Mohammad Zaman Khan, who was centred in Jalalabad. This invasion from Dost Mohammad would be opposed by the rulers of Kunar, and the Mohmand tribe.
Muhammad Ali beg (?-1835) was an independent Tajik warlord of Bamiyan province. Specifically in the district of Saighan and Bamiyan. He was known for his Slave-trade and harsh behaviour towards the Hazara people.
The Chahar Wilayat was a historical region in northern Afghanistan, covering modern-day Faryab, Jowzjan, and Sar-e Pol Provinces. It was named after the 4 former khanates in the area: Maymana, Sar-i Pul, Sheberghan, and Andkhui. Maimana was traditionally the most powerful and influential of the khanates. The Chahar Wilayat's population was majority Uzbek.
The Kunduz Khanate, also known as the Khanate of Qunduz or the Emirate of Kunduz, was a historical khanate in northern Afghanistan. It reached the apex of its power under Muhammad Murad Beg. The Khanate was eventually conquered by Afghanistan in 1859. In 1888, it was abolished by Abdur Rahman Khan.
Mir Muhammad Murad Beg was Khan of the Kunduz Khanate in the 19th century. During Murad Beg's reign, he defeated Mir Yar Beg to take control of Badakhshan, and extended his rule north of the Amu Darya into regions like Qurghan Tappa and Kulab. Ahmed Beg was his dewan. He lost a war against Dost Mohammad Khan in the Afghan Turkestan Campaign of 1838-39, ultimately resulting in the decline of his power. Dates on his death are contradictory, ranging from 1838 to 1846.