Principality of Kandahar

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Principality of Kandahar
شاهزاده نشین قندهار
1818–1856
Capital Kandahar
Common languages Persian
Pashto
Ethnic groups
Pashtuns
Farsiwan
Qizilbash
Hazaras
Baloch
Religion
Sunni Islam (official)
Shia Islam
Demonyms Kandahari (Persian)
Kandaharai/Kandaharəi (Pashto)
Government Principality
• 1818–1826 (first)
 Sher Dil Khan
• 1826–1830
Pur Dil Khan
• 1830–1839; 1842–1855
Kohan Dil Khan
• 1855–1856 (last)
 Rahim Dil Khan [a]
History 
• Established
1818
• Disestablished
1856
Today part of Afghanistan
Iran
Pakistan


The Principality of Kandahar [b] [1] was a principality based in Kandahar and its surroundings from 1818 to 1856. Founded by Sher Dil Khan in August 1818 as a breakaway from the Durrani Empire, it was ruled by the Dil brothers, members of the Barakzai dynasty. [2] In September 1856, the principality was conquered by the Kabul-based half-brother of the Kandahari Dil brothers, [3] Dost Mohammad Khan. [4] [2] [5]

Contents

History

In August 1818, the Dil brothers led by Sher Dil Khan seized Kandahar and its surroundings and declared independence. Sher Dil Khan was in charge of the military in the principality. [2] The rule of the four brothers was very unpopular. Sher Dil Khan was supposed to be in charge of Kandahar's walls but after his death in 1826, the brothers fought each other and allowed the city's walls to fall into decay. [6]

In 1842, the Dil Brothers Kohan Dil Khan, Mehr Dil Khan, and Rahim Dil Khan left their exile in Kerman and set out towards Kandahar. They occupied Kandahar and re-established the principality. [7] In the aftermath of the First Anglo-Afghan War, Kohan Dil Khan aimed to expand his influence into Sistan, which had fractured into a number of tribal fiefdoms. As part of this move, Kohan Dil Khan expanded his sphere of influence up to the district of Rudbar, controlled by the Sanjarani Baloch. [8] Herat under Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai also claimed Sistan as part of his domain, and this would cause clashes between both powers.

In 1855, the death of Kohan Dil Khan sparked a succession crisis between Rahim Dil Khan, and the sons of Kohan Dil led by Mohammad Sadiq Khan. Dost Mohammad Khan capitalized off of this period of anarchy and conquered the principality in September 1856. [9]

Territory and subdivisions

The territory of the principality seems to have been split among the various brothers. At the time of Charles Masson's visit to Kandahar, the division of the principality seems to have been as follows:

Sindh and Balochistan were dependent on the principality, but were able to break away in August 1826 following the death of Sher Dil Khan. [2]

List of princes

1818–1839

NameLifespanReign startReign endNotesFamilyImage
Sher Dil Khan 1786 – 9 August 1826August 18189 August 1826Established the Principality of Kandahar in August 1818, as a breakaway from the Durrani Empire ruled by Mahmud Shah Durrani Barakzai Sher Dil Khan.jpg
Pur Dil Khan 1785 – 22 June 18309 August 182622 June 1830Succeeded the death of his younger brother Sher Dil Khan Barakzai Pur Dil Khan.jpg
Kohan Dil Khan 1792 – 21 August 185522 June 18308 May 1839Succeeded the death of his elder brother Kohan Pur Dil Khan Barakzai Sardar Kohan Dil Khan.png

1842–1856

NameLifespanReign startReign endNotesFamilyImage
Kohan Dil Khan 1792 – 21 August 18559 August 184221 August 1855Re-established the Principality of Kandahar following the deposition of Durranis and British soldiers from Kandahar Barakzai Sardar Kohan Dil Khan.png
Rahim Dil Khan 1796 – 185921 August 1855September 1856Succeeded the death of his elder brother Kohan Dil Khan which sparked a succession crisis between him and Kohan Dil's son Mohammad Sadiq Khan, later overthrown by Dost Mohammad Khan of Kabul in the Conquest of Kandahar Barakzai Sin foto.svg

Notes

  1. ↑ Disputed with Mohammad Sadiq Khan
  2. ↑ Persian: شاهزاده‌نشین قندهار, romanized: Shahzāda Nashīn-i Qandahār [ʃɑː.zɑː.dá/ʃäɦ.zɑː.d̪ánä.ʃíː.nɪqän̪.d̪ɑːɑ́ːɾ/qän̪.d̪ä.ɦɑ́ːɾ]

References

  1. ↑ Samāddāra, Raṇabīra (2002). Space, Territory, and the State: New Readings in International Politics. Orient Blackswan. ISBN   978-81-250-2209-1.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Noelle, Christine (2012-06-25). State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826-1863). Routledge. ISBN   978-1-136-60317-4.
  3. ↑ Adamec, Ludwig W. (1975). Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan. Graz: Akademische Druck-u. Verlagsanstalt. p. 388. ISBN   978-3-201-00921-8.
  4. ↑ Lee, Jonathan L. (2019-01-15). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. ISBN   978-1-78914-010-1.
  5. ↑ Kuhzad, Ahmad Ali (c. 1950s). Men and events : through 18th and 19th century : Afghanistan. Robarts - University of Toronto. Kabul : [s.n.]
  6. ↑ Trousdale, William B. (2021-03-08). Kandahar in the Nineteenth Century. BRILL. ISBN   978-90-04-44522-2.
  7. ↑ Yusuf, Mohamed (1988). A History of Afghanistan, from 1793 A.D. to 1865 A.D. ISBN   1466222417.
  8. ↑ Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences Press. ISBN   978-3-7001-7202-4.
  9. ↑ Lee 2019, p. 317.


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