Mughal-Safavid war of 1638

Mughal-Persian war of 1638[1] is a conflict which took place in 1638, A conflict between Safavid Empire of Persia and Mughal Empire of Hindustan which took place over a city in present day Afghanistan named Kandahar[2] The war resulted in a victory for the Mughals when Ali mardan Khan surrendered the keys of Kandahar to the Mughals.[3]

Siege of Kandahar
Part of Mughal-Persian Wars

The Surrender of Kandahar, a miniature painting from the Padshahnama depicting Persians surrendering keys to the city to Kilij Khan in 1638
Date1637-1638
Location
Kandahar
Result Mughal victory[4][5]
Territorial
changes		 Kandahar Falls back to Mughal India
Belligerents
Safavid Iran Mughal India
Commanders and leaders

Safi of Persia

Ali Mardan Khan Surrendered		 Shah Jahan of Hindustan
Dara Shikoh

Backround

Mughals had previously lost the City of Kandahar to the Safavids. It was considered important for the Mughal Empire that the twin gateway-cities to Hindustan, i.e. Kabul and Kandahar, be brought under Mughal rule. Central Asian trade provided the Mughals with warhorses, without which not only the military forces would be incapacitated, but could also potentially spark tribal revolts and foreign invasions.[6] Kandahar in particular was at the crossroads of a number of major commercial trade routes in Central Asia. The two cities were thus the subject of deep strategic concern.[7]

War

In 1639, the armies of Shah Safi of Persia captured Bamyan and it appeared that they would attack Kandahar next. In 1646, Shah Jahan, with Kamran Khanand Malik Maghdood, had marched on Kandahar and asked the surrender from the Persian commander,[8] Ali Mardan Khan. He expected the Persians to attempt to regain the city soon and so he ordered that the wall be repaired rapidly while a large Hindustani army based in Kabul protected the area. In 1646, when no Persian attack came, the Emperor sent his son, Murad Baksh, to invade Uzbek-controlled Badakhshan. In the following year, Aurangzeb, another son, routed an Uzbek force outside of Balkh and captured the city, Kandahar was captured by the Hindustanis in 1638 too.[9]

Surrender of Ali Mardan

Ali Mardan khan, Soon surrendered the city of Kandahar to the Mughal garrison,[10][11] This resulted in the Reconquest of Kandahar by the Mughals[12][13][14]This betrayal of Ali mardan khan enabled the Mughals to re-take Kandahar until the next siege of Kandahar in 1649 which would be led by the Safavid army.[15]

References

  1. ↑ George C. Kohn (2006). Dictionary of wars. Facts On File, Incorporated. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-4381-2916-7. Mogul-Persian War of 1638: Exactly one century before the PERSIAN INVASION OF MOGUL INDIA, the forces of Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) recaptured the city of Kandahar, lost in the MOGUL-PERSIAN WAR OF 1622-23.
  2. ↑ George C. Kohn (2006). Dictionary of wars. Facts On File, Incorporated. p. 337. ISBN 978-1-4381-2916-7. Mogul-Persian War of 1638: Exactly one century before the PERSIAN INVASION OF MOGUL INDIA, the forces of Mogul emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666) recaptured the city of Kandahar, lost in the MOGUL-PERSIAN WAR OF 1622-23.
  3. ↑ Smith, Vincent Arthur (1919). Early history of India by Oxford . Sterling Publishers Pvt. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Iranica 2011
  5. ↑ kohn, George C. (January 2006). Dictionary of Wars. Infobase. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Kinra 2015, p.157
  7. ↑ "Z-Library single sign on".
  8. ↑ Andrea, Alfred J. (January 2011). World History Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Chandra 2005, p. 226
  10. ↑ Verlag, Harrassowitz (2022). Mughal Empire, Britannica. ISBN 9781932705546.
  11. ↑ Smith, Vincent arthur (1919). Early history of India by Oxford . Sterling Publishers Pvt. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Black, Jeremy (1996). Illustrations of War by Cambridge University press. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Andrea, Alfred J. (January 2011). World History Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Mikaberidze, Alexander (January 2011). Conquest in the Islamic world. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781932705546. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  15. ↑ Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2014). The Pearl in Its Midst: Herat and the Mapping of Khurasan (15th-19th Centuries). Austrian Academy of Sciences. p. 68. ISBN 978-3700172024.