Mahmud Hotak

Shāh Mahmūd Hotak, (Pashto/Dari: شاه محمود هوتک), or Shāh Mahmūd Ghiljī (شاه محمود غلجي), also known by his epithet, The Conqueror[2][3] (lived 1697 – April 22, 1725), was the ruler of the Hotak dynasty who overthrew Safavid dynasty to become the king of Persia from 1722 until his death in 1725.[4]

Not to be confused with Mahmud of Ghazni.
"Shah Mahmud" redirects here. For the village in Iran, see Shah Mahmud, Iran.
Mahmud Shah Hotak
محمود شاه هوتک
Shah
Emir
The Conqueror
Sketch of Mahmud Shah Hotak
Shah of Persia
Reign23 October 1722 – 22 April 1725
Coronation23 October 1722 (as Shah of Persia)
PredecessorSoltan Hoseyn
SuccessorAshraf Hotak
Emir of the Hotak dynasty
Reign1717-1725
Coronation1717
PredecessorAbdul Aziz Hotak
SuccessorAshraf Hotak
Born1697
Kandahar, Safavid Empire
DiedApril 22, 1725 (age 27)
Isfahan, Hotak dynasty
SpouseShahbanu Alamiyan Govhar Sultan Safavi
Names
Mir Mahmud Shah Hotak
HouseHotak dynasty
FatherMirwais Khan Hotak
MotherKhanzada Sadozai[1]
ReligionSunni Islam

Early Life (1697-1715)

Mahmud was the eldest son of Mirwais Hotak, the chief of the Ghilji Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan, who had made the Kandahar region independent from Safavid rule in 1709.[5]

Reign of Abdul Aziz Hotak and coup (1715-1717)

Upon the death of Mirwais in 1715, he was succeeded by his brother, Abdul Aziz. Abdul Aziz sided with the Persians and re-entered the suzerainty of Safavid Iran, which proved unpopular with fellow Afghans. Mahmud, seeing that his father, Mirwais Hotak's achievements would be washed away, assembled many of his fathers loyal followers, and entered the royal palace. Mahmud Hotak himself killed Abdul Aziz, and ascended the throne of the Hotaks at the age of 18.[6][7][8]

Rule (1717-1725)

Campaigns against Iran (1720-1725)
Main articles: Battle of Gulnabad and Siege of Isfahan
The Abdali Pashtuns inhabited the region of Khorasan while the Ghiljis controlled the Kandahar region (Candahar) to the southeast.

Mahmud Hotak, ambitious and wishing to expand his territories began to wage war against the Safavids. His first campaign was in 1720, where he marched to Kerman. After defeating his neighbor, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat in battle in 1720, he began preparing for campaign again against the Safavids.[9] In 1722, Mahmud assembled 20,000 men and began advancing on Isfahan. The Persians and Afghans met in the Battle of Gulnabad on 8 March 1722. Despite being outnumbered, and poorly equipped in comparison, the Persian army was routed, and the Afghans advanced on Isfahan.[10] The Afghans arrived before Isfahan and besieged it. Mahmud and his army lacked siege equipment, and as a result, the siege of the city lasted for months, not ending until 23 October 1722. It is believed during the siege, over 80,000 of its inhabitants died.[11] Soltan Hoseyn, accompanied with his courtiers and officers, went to Farahabad, where the Afghans were encamped. Sultan Hoseyn removed his crown and placed it on the turban of Mahmud, officially now reigning as Shah.[12][13]

Reign as Shah (1722-1725)
10 Shahi coin of Mahmud; Isfahan mint, 1723

In the very early days of his rule, Mahmud displayed benevolence, treating the captured royal family well and bringing in food supplies to the starving capital. But he was confronted with a rival claimant to the throne when Hosein's son, Tahmasp declared himself shah in November. Mahmud sent an army against Tahmasp's base, Qazvin. Tahmasp escaped and the Pashtuns took the city but, shocked at the treatment they received at the hands of the conquering army, the population rose up against them in January 1723. The revolt was a success and Mahmud was worried about the reaction when the surviving Pashtuns returned to Isfahan to bring news of the defeat. Suffering from mental illnesses and fearing a revolt by his subjects, Mahmud invited his Persian ministers and nobles to a meeting under false pretences and had them slaughtered. He also executed up to 3,000 of the Persian royal guards. At the same time the Persian arch rivals, the Ottomans, and the Russians took advantage of the chaos in Persia to seize land for themselves, limiting the amount of territory under Mahmud's control.[14]

His failure to impose his rule across Persia made Mahmud depressed and suspicious. He was also concerned about the loyalty of his own men, since many Pashtun tribes preferred his cousin Ashraf Khan. In February 1725, believing a rumour that one of Soltan Hoseyn's sons, Safi Mirza, had escaped, Mahmud ordered the execution of all the other Safavid princes who were in his hands, with the exception of Soltan Hoseyn himself. When Soltan Hoseyn tried to stop the massacre, he was wounded, but his action led to Mahmud sparing the lives of two of his young children.[15]

Death (1725)

Mahmud began to succumb to insanity as well as physical deterioration. Mahmud spent 40 days in solitary confinement in a practice called Chilla. This period of time in confinement is meant to control the powers of Jinns. However after he left confinement, numerous illnesses plagued him, such as a deadly parasitic disease, similar to scabies. This isolation was said to have caused his mental derangement, and his body was skinny to appear like a skeleton at that point. Sources describe that when his face was immersed in sunlight, his face appeared pale and his body starving. His staring was also described to show the strain his body went through. As a result, he developed extreme paranoia.[16] Due to extreme itching, he would often tear at his own flesh with his fingernails, and even eating it.[16] On April 22, 1725, a group of Afghan officers freed Ashraf Hotak, his cousin, from the prison where he had been confined by Mahmud and launched a palace revolution which placed Ashraf on the throne. Mahmud died from assassination after being killed by his cousin. Other sources say he died as a result of his insanity.[16][17]

...Thereafter his disorder rapidly increased, until he himself was murdered on April 22 by his cousin Ashraf, who was thereupon proclaimed king. Mír Maḥmúd was at the time of his death only twenty-seven years of age, and is described as "middle-sized and clumsy; his neck was so short that his head seemed to grow to his shoulders; he had a broad face and flat nose, and his beard was thin and of a red colour; his looks were wild and his countenance austere and disagreeable; his eyes, which were blue and a little squinting, were generally downcast, like a man absorbed in deep thought."[18]

— Edward G. Browne, 1924

Administration

Numerous high-ranking administrators were slain by Mahmud and Ashraf, who also destroyed the majority of Safavid records. Ruling most of Iran, however, Mahmud began to regret his hasty actions. Ghilzay chiefs were not unfamiliar with bureaucratic procedure as they had long served as the kalantars of Kandahar under the Safavids. They therefore sought assistance and rebuilt the central bureaucracy. Mahmud ordered Mirza Sami'a to compose the Tazkerat al-Moluk, a manual for the government that outlined how the nation was administered, who was responsible for paying what taxes, and how much money was paid to which officials for what kinds of duties.[19]

See also

References
  1. The Pearl of Pearls: The Abdālī-Durrānī Confederacy and Its Transformation under Aḥmad Shāh, Durr-i Durrān by Sajjad Nejatie. https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/80750.
  2. Ali Maiwandi 1958, p. 18.
  3. Abdul Aziz, Ahmad, Mu̇hammad, Jamal-ud-Din (1936). Afghanistan: A Brief Survey. Longmans, Green. p. 156.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. "AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PERSIA DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES (A.D. 1722–1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 29. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  5. Dupree, Mir Wais Hotak (1709–1715)[Usurped!]
  6. Lansford, Tom (2017). Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. p. 205. ISBN 9781598847604.
  7. Ali Maiwandi, Mohammed (1958). Afghanistan: The National Awakening. Punjab Educational Press. p. 15.
  8. Axworthy p.38
  9. Axworthy pp.39–55
  10. Ali Maiwandi 1958, p. 17.
  11. Axworthy 2006, pp. 54–55.
  12. Lee, Jonathan (2019). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 78. ISBN 9781789140101.
  13. Ali Maiwandi 1958, p. 17-18.
  14. Axworthy pp.64–65
  15. Axworthy pp.65–67
  16. Ali Maiwandi 1958, p. 29.
  17. Lee 2019, p. 79.
  18. "AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF PERSIA DURING THE LAST TWO CENTURIES (A.D. 1722–1922)". Edward Granville Browne. London: Packard Humanities Institute. p. 31. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  19. Floor 2018, p. 156.

Sources
  • Michael Axworthy, The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant Hardcover 348 pages (26 July 2006) Publisher: I.B. Tauris Language: English ISBN 1-85043-706-8
  • Floor, Willem (2018). "Tribal Resurgence in the Eighteenth Century: A Useful Label?". In Axworthy, Michael (ed.). Crisis, Collapse, Militarism and Civil War: The History and Historiography of 18th Century Iran. Oxford University Press. pp. 151–162. ISBN 978-0-19-025033-1.
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