Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai bin Abdullah Khan [1] (Persian : یارمحمد خان الکوزی بن عبد الله خان) 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. [2] In 1829, he became vizier, or chief minister, of Herat. [2] In 1842, he deposed his Emir, Kamran Shah Durrani, and became the new ruler of Herat. [3] [1] [4] He expanded the country's domains to the Chahar Wilayat and Lash-Joveyn before dying in 1851. [1] He held a marriage alliance with Akbar Khan, a Barakzai prince, general, and later the emir of Afghanistan for a year. [5]
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 Payinda 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.
Wazīr Akbar Khān, born Mohammad Akbar Khān and also known as Amīr Akbar Khān, was a Barakzai prince, general, emir for a year, and finally wazir/heir apparent to Dost Mohammad Khan until his death in 1847. His fame began with the 1837 Battle of Jamrud, while attempting to regain Afghanistan's second capital Peshawar from the Sikh Empire.
Ghurian is a city and the administrative center of Ghurian District in Herat Province, Afghanistan. It is 790 m high with a population of more than 54,000 people. It is situated south of the Hari River along the Mashhad-Herat highway at 34.34°N 61.47°E. There is a local TV station and a health center. Ghurian is close to the old city of Pushang. In 2020 Ghurian was connected by rail to Khaf in 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.
Kamran Shah Durrani, was a member of the Sadozai dynasty of Afghanistan who ruled over independent Herat from 1829 to 1842. He was the son of Mahmud Shah Durrani, grandson of Timur Shah Durrani and the great grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire. He was deposed and killed in early 1842, by his vizier Yar Muhammad Khan Alakozai.
The First Herat War was an attack on the Principality of Herat by Qajar Iran during the Great Game. Herat was held by Kamran Shah and his vizier Yar Mohammad Khan Alakozai. The Shah of Persia was Mohammed Shah Qajar. Four Europeans were involved: the British, Sir John McNeill and Eldred Pottinger as well as the Russians, Count Simonich and Jan Prosper Witkiewicz. Sher Mohammad Khan Hazara, an ally of Kamran and chieftain of the Qala-e Naw Hazaras, helped form a Sunni confederacy of Aimaq, Turkmen, and Uzbek tribes and played a crucial role in defending Herat when the city was besieged. The siege ended when neither side gained a clear advantage, the British threatened to take military action and the Russians withdrew their support.
The Battle of Kafir Qala was fought in June 1818 between Iran and the Durrani Empire.
Timur Shah Durrani, also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the second eldest son of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
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 Revolt of Hasan Khan Salar(Persian: شورش حسن خان سالار) was a revolt that occurred in Khorasan from 1846 to 1850. It began as a result of the power struggle in the Qajar court. One of the factions manifested itself in Khorasan by Hasan Khan Salar. Salar's revolt sought to promote Bahman Mirza and his claim to power.
The Herat campaign of 1862–1863 was a conflict between the Principality of Herat and the Emirate of Afghanistan, from March 1862, when Sultan Jan captured Farah from the Muhammadzai Emirs and continued through the 10-month long siege of Herat, ending on May 27, 1863, when the city fell to the Amir-i Kabir, thus completing the unification of Afghanistan.
The Principality of Herat, the Emirate of Herat, the Herat Khanate or simply Herat was a state in Afghanistan from 1793 to 1863, and one of the three main khanates that existed in 19th century Afghanistan after the breakup of the Durrani Empire.
The Principality of Kandahar was a state that existed in Kandahar from 1818 to 1855. It was ruled by the Dil brothers, members of the Barakzai dynasty, as a confederation. In 1855 the principality was conquered by the Kabul-based half-brother of the Kandahari Dil brothers, Dost Mohammad Khan.
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.
The Maimana Khanate was an Uzbek Khanate in Northern Afghanistan centered around the town of Maimana. It was founded in 1747 with the death of Nader Shah. The Mings had been the governors of Maimana since 1621. Hajji Bi Ming was the first independent ruler of the khanate. After the death of Ahmad Khan in 1814, Sar-i Pul seceded from the khanate. In the 1830s Sar-i Pul took the district of Gurziwan from Maimana. The Aimaq tribes of the Murghab broke away from Maimana by 1845. In 1847 and 1850 it resisted attempts by the Emirate of Herat to annex it. In 1875 the khanate rebelled against Afghanistan but it was crushed and the city sacked. In 1892 the khanate was annexed by Afghanistan.
Sufi Eslam, also known as Islam Shaykh was an Uzbek Naqshbandi pir in Herat who established a convent in Karokh. He famously led the Afghans during the Battle of Shahdih in 1807 and encouraged Firuz al-Din Mirza to attack Iran. He died during the battle but his movement in Karokh survived after his death. He was a controversial figure during his lifetime and still to this day his practices are the subject of much debate by historians.
The Afghan Qizilbash are a Persian-speaking ethnic group in Afghanistan, mainly residing in Herat, Kabul and Kandahar. Numbering around 30,000, they are adherents of Twelver Shia Islam.