Mughal–Safavid war (1649–1653) facts for kids
The Mughal–Safavid War of 1649–1653 was a big fight between two powerful empires: the Mughals and the Safavids. It happened in what is now Afghanistan. While the Mughals were busy fighting the Uzbeks, the Safavids took over Kandahar, an important city. The Mughals tried hard to get it back, but they couldn't.
Quick facts for kids Mughal–Safavid war |
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| Part of Mughal–Persian Wars | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Khanate of Bukhara |
 Jaipur State |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Abbas II Mehrāb Khan Autar Khan Muhammad Khan |
Shah Jahan Saadullah Khan (Mughal Empire) Jai Singh I Aurangzeb Murad Baksh Dara Shikoh |
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Contents
Why the War Started
The Safavids had wanted to control Kandahar for a long time. Back when Humayun was the Mughal Emperor, the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp helped him. In return, Humayun let the Safavids take Kandahar. Later, during the rule of another Mughal emperor, Jahangir, there were more fights over this area.
In 1638, a leader named Ali Mardan Khan gave Kandahar to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. This meant both Kabul and Kandahar were now under Mughal control. These two cities were very important to the Mughals for a few reasons.
First, the Mughals saw their empire in India as a small prize compared to their old capital, Samarkand. They had lost Samarkand to the Uzbeks. They always wanted to expand their western borders to get back what they felt was theirs.
Second, trade from Central Asia brought warhorses to the Mughals. These horses were vital for their army. Without them, their military would be weak, and there could be revolts or invasions. Kandahar was especially important because it was a major crossroads for trade routes in Central Asia. So, controlling Kabul and Kandahar was a big deal for the Mughals.
In 1646, Shah Jahan sent a large army of 60,000 soldiers to Kabul. From there, they went to Badakshan and Balkh. His son, Murad Baksh, led this army. They were helping Nazr Muhammad and his son against the ruler of Balkh. However, Nazr Muhammad and his son later turned against the Mughals and ran away to Isfahan.
Another campaign in 1647, led by Aurangzeb, cost the Mughal empire a lot of money. They also lost Balkh and Badakshan, which they had just gained.
Around 1639, the armies of Shah Safi of Persia captured Bamyan. It looked like they would attack Kandahar next. In 1646, Shah Jahan, with help from others, marched to Kandahar. He negotiated with the Persian commander, Ali Mardan Khan, to surrender the city. Shah Jahan expected the Persians to try and get the city back soon. So, he ordered the city walls to be fixed quickly. A large Mughal army in Kabul protected the area.
In 1646, no Persian attack came. The Emperor then sent his son, Murad Baksh, to invade Uzbek-controlled Badakhshan. The next year, Aurangzeb, another son, defeated an Uzbek army near Balkh and took the city. Even though they won the battles, the Mughals couldn't hold onto the lands they had conquered. Shah Jahan had to call his armies back from Badakhshan.
The War Begins
On April 4, 1648, Shah Abbas II felt confident because of the Mughal losses in Badakhshan. He marched from Isfahan with an army of 40,000 soldiers. After taking Bost, he started to surround Kandahar on December 28. He easily captured it after a short siege on February 22, 1649. The failure of the Balkh campaign had made the Mughals weak at the border. Kandahar fell quickly, in just two months. This showed how vulnerable the Mughals were in Afghanistan. The Mughals tried to take the city back in 1651, but winter arrived and forced them to stop their attack.
Fights for Kandahar
Shah Jahan sent Aurangzeb and his chief minister, Saadullah Khan, with 50,000 soldiers. This army included different groups like the Barha Sayyids, Rajput fighters, and local Afghans. Their goal was to recapture Kandahar. Aurangzeb defeated the Safavids outside the city, but he couldn't take the city itself. His cannons were not strong enough for the job.
Aurangzeb tried to take the fortress city again in 1652. Abdul Aziz, the ruler of Bukhara, had made a deal with Shah Abbas. In May 1652, he sent 10,000 troops to Kabul. Their job was to bother the Mughal supply lines. Even though they weren't strong enough to stop the siege, the Uzbeks put a Mughal group of 2,000 soldiers in danger. This group was carrying a lot of silver coins to the army at Kandahar. After two months of fighting the Persians and dealing with the growing Uzbek attacks, Aurangzeb had to give up the campaign.
In 1653, Shah Jahan sent his son, Dara Shikoh, with a very large army. He also brought two of the empire's heaviest cannons. But after a five-month siege, the Mughals couldn't starve the city into surrender. Their attempts to break the walls with cannon fire also failed. The Mughals finally stopped trying to get Kandahar back.
Tough Environment and Weather
The tribes living in the Hindu Kush mountains were often rebellious. The Mughal army constantly had to deal with them. These tribes would raid Mughal supply lines and small groups of soldiers, which caused big problems for the army. Sometimes these fighters acted on their own, and sometimes they worked with the Uzbeks.
Getting money for the army was very hard. The money systems in Mughal India and Afghanistan were different. So, the army had to carry heavy gold and silver coins across the steep mountain passes of the Hindu Kush.
Also, the land and weather in the Hindu Kush are very harsh. It was not easy for soldiers to get food or money from the areas they conquered. This was because not much food was grown there. There were also no local people like the Banjaras in India who carried grain. It was hard to find food because Uzbek troops and local tribes were always raiding.
The very cold Afghan winter made things even worse. During winter, it was almost impossible to transport goods across the Hindu Kush. This was a major reason why several Mughal campaigns against the Safavids in Central Asia failed.
See also
- Juriaen Ambdis
- Mughal-Safavid War (1622–1623)
- Foreign relations of the Mughal Empire
Sources
