Annal Ambedkar Makkal Peravai at 06:20, 30 March 2026

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{{Short description|Series of wars fought in the 17th and 18th centuries}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Mughal–Persian wars
| image = Nadir Shah at the sack of Delhi - Battle scene with Nader Shah on horseback, possibly by Muhammad Ali ibn Abd al-Bayg ibn Ali Quli Jabbadar, mid-18th century, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| caption = Representation of [[Nader Shah]] at the sack of [[Delhi]]
| partof = [[Decline of the Mughal Empire]]
| result =
| date = 1557–16 May 1739
| place = [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] and [[Afsharid Iran]], [[Mughal India]]
| combatant1 = [[Safavid Iran]] [[Afsharid Iran]]
| combatant2 = [[Mughal Empire]]
| commander1 = [[Tahmasp I]] [[Abbas I of Persia]] [[Abbas II of Persia]] [[Mihrab Khan|Mehrāb Khān]] [[Otar Khan|Autar Khan]] [[Nader Shah]] [[Heraclius II of Georgia]]
| commander2 = [[Akbar]] [[Jahangir]] [[Kilich Khan]] [[Murad Bakhsh]] [[Dara Shikoh]] [[Aurangzeb]] [[Muhammad Shah]]
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
}}
{{Campaignbox Mughal–Persian wars}}{{Campaignbox Iranian-Indian Wars and Conflicts}}
The '''Mughal–Persian wars''' or '''Mughal–Iranian''' wars were a series of wars fought in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries [[Mughal–Safavid war (disambiguation)|between]] the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] and [[Afsharid Empire]]s of Persia, and the [[Mughal Empire]] of India, over what is now Afghanistan. The Mughals consolidated their control of what is today India and Pakistan in the 16th century, and gradually came into conflict with the powerful Safavids and Afsharids, led by [[Abbas the Great]] and [[Nader Shah]] respectively. Aside from [[Nader Shah's invasion of India|Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire]], most of the conflict between the two powers were limited to battles for control over Kandahar.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d1wUgKKzawoC&pg=PA150 |title=''Advanced Study in the History of Modern India 1707–1813''|isbn=9781932705546|accessdate=4 April 2014|last1=Mehta|first1=Jaswant Lal|date=January 2005}}</ref> From a Safavid point of view, the Mughal army counted as "far less formidable" than that of their arch rivals the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matthee |first1=Rudi |title=Safavid Iran and the "Turkish Question" or How to Avoid a War on Multiple Fronts |journal=Iranian Studies |date=2019 |volume=52 |issue=3–4 |page=516 |doi=10.1080/00210862.2019.1648228|s2cid=204483128 }}</ref>

==War of 1557–1558==
[[Tahmasp I|Shah Tahmasp]] of Persia tried to exploit the inexperience of the young Mughal Emperor [[Akbar]], then an adolescent. He sent an army to lay siege to [[Kandahar]], a vital southern Afghan city held by Shah Muhammad, a governor appointed by the Mughal regent Bairam Khan. With no way to offer military assistance, [[Akbar]] was compelled to surrender [[Kandahar]] to the Persians. The [[Persians]] held the city on and off for almost four decades before the Mughals recovered it.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

==War of 1605–1606==
{{Main|Siege of Kandahar (1605–1606)}}

The siege of Kandahar lasted from November 1605 to January 1606 and was led by Safavids to take the Mughal frontier city of Kandahar. After two months of constant assaults, the relief army forced the Persians to retreat. Thus, resulted in a victory for the Mughal Empire of India.

With the unsuccessful siege, Kandahar remained in the hands of the Mughals.

==War of 1622–1623==
{{Main|Mughal–Safavid war (1622–1623)}}

The Mughal–Safavid war of 1622–1623 was fought over the important fortress city of [[Kandahar]], in [[Afghanistan]], between the Safavid empire of Persia and the Mughal empire of India. It resulted in a clear [[Safavids|Persian]] victory.

[[File:Muhammad Ali Beg.jpg|thumb|Muhammad Ali Beg was the [[Persia]]n ambassador sent to the Mughal court of [[Jahangir]] by [[Abbas I of Persia]], arriving in time for [[Muharram]] in March 1631. He remained there until October 1632, thus negotiating an end to the conflict between the Mughals and the [[Safavids]].]]

Having secured crushing victories against the Ottomans, Shah Abbas desired to capture the strategic fortress on Kandahar since he had lost it in 1595.<ref name="Burton159">Burton 1997, p. 159</ref> In 1605 the governor of [[Herat]], Hosayn Khan, besieged the city but the tenacious defense of the Mughal governor, Shah Beg Khan, and the arrival in the next year of a relieving Mughal army to Kandahar forced the Safavids to retreat.<ref name="Iranica">Iranica 2011</ref><ref name="Kohn337">Kohn 2007, p. 337</ref> With the conclusion of the [[Ottoman–Safavid war (1603–1618)]], Shah Abbas was secure enough for a war on his eastern frontier,{{r|Burton159}} so in 1621 he ordered an army to gather at [[Nishapur]].{{r|Burton159}} After celebrating the new year at Tabas Gilaki in southern [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], Abbas joined with his army and marched on Kandahar where he arrived on 20 May and immediately began the siege.{{r|Burton159}} Though [[Jahangir]] already had information of the Persian's movements, he was too slow to respond,{{r|Burton159}} and without reinforcements the small garrison of 3,000 men could not hold for long against the superior Persian army.<ref name="Chandra221">Chandra 2005, p. 221</ref>

The Emperor asked his son and heir apparent [[Shah Jahan|Khurram]] who was at [[Mandav|Mandu]] in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]] to lead the campaign, but Khurram evaded the assignment fearing to lose his political power while he was away from court.<ref name="Chandra242">Chandra 2005, p. 242</ref> The relief force the Mughal's could assembled proved too small to raise the siege,{{r|Kohn337}} so after a 45-day siege the city fell on 22 June followed shortly after by [[Zamindawar]].<ref name="Burton160">Burton 1997, p. 160</ref> After fortifying the city and appointing [[Ganj Ali Khan]] as governor of the city,{{r|Iranica}} Abbas returned to [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]] via [[Ghōr Province|Ghur]], subduing on the way troubling emirs in [[Chaghcharan]] and [[Gharjistan]].<ref name="Burton161">Burton 1997, p. 161</ref> The rebellion of Khurram absorbed the Mughal's attention, so in the spring of 1623 a Mughal envoy arrived at the Shah's camp with a letter from the Emperor accepting the loss of Kandahar and putting an end to the conflict.<ref name="Burton162">Burton 1997, p. 162</ref>

==War of 1638==
{{Main|Mughal-Safavid War of 1638}}

[[File:The Surrender of Kandahar.jpg|thumb|The Safavids surrendering the keys of [[Kandahar]] to Mughal general Kilij Khan]]

The Mughal-Safavid war of 1638 took place over the city of [[Kandahar]] in present day Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OIzreCGlHxIC&dq=Mogul-Persian+War+of+1638%3A+Exactly+one+century+before+the+PERSIAN+INVASION+OF+MOGUL+INDIA%2C+the+forces+of+Mogul+emperor+Shah+Jahan+%281592-1666%29+recaptured+the+city+of+Kandahar%2C+lost+in+the+MOGUL-PERSIAN+WAR+OF+1622-23.&pg=PT349|quote=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.|title=Dictionary of wars|author= George C. Kohn
|date=2006 |publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated |page=337|isbn=978-1-4381-2916-7 }}</ref>
The war resulted in a victory for the Mughals, and Ali Mardan Khan surrendered the keys of Kandahar to the Mughals.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofi00smituoft/page/401/ |title=The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911 |last1=Smith|first1=Vincent Arthur|date=1919|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=401}}</ref>

==War of 1649–1653==
{{Main|Mughal–Safavid war (1649–1653)}}

The Mughal–Safavid war of 1649–1653 was fought between the Mughal and [[Safavid Empire|Safavid]] empires in the territory of modern [[Afghanistan]]. The war began after a Persian army, while the Mughals were at war with the [[Khanate of Bukhara|Janid Uzbeks]], captured the fortress city of [[Kandahar]] and other strategic cities that controlled the region. The Mughals attempted unsuccessfully to regain the city from the Persians, thus the war resulted in a Persian victory.

[[File:Abbas II of Persia and the Mughal ambassador.jpeg|thumb|Abbas II of Persia and the Mughal ambassador. 17th century Persian painting]]

==Nadir Shah's invasion of India==
{{main|Nader Shah's invasion of India}}

Attracted by its wealth and knowing that the victim was much weaker, Emperor [[Nadir Shah]], the [[Shah of Iran]] (1736–47) and founder of the [[Afsharid dynasty]], invaded Northern India with a fifty-five thousand strong army, eventually attacking [[Delhi]] in March 1739 where he completely [[sack of Delhi|sacked and looted the city]], after issuing orders for a general massacre to take place.<ref name=Ma200>[[#Ma|Marshman, P. 200]]</ref> His army had defeated the Mughal emperor [[Muhammad Shah]] at the battle at [[Battle of Karnal|Karnal]] in less than three hours and had taken over control of northern India.<ref name=br>{{cite web |title= Nadir Shah|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/401451/Nadir-Shah |publisher=[[Britannica.com]] }}</ref> The Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah had to beg Nader to grant him and his people mercy, after ceding the keys of the city and royal treasury to him. (Which included the legendary [[Peacock throne]], the symbol of Iranian imperial might, and the fabulous [[Darya-e noor]] and [[Koh-i-Noor]]).

The [[Battle of Karnal]] (13 February 1739), was a decisive victory for [[Nader Shah]], the emperor of the [[Afsharid dynasty]] during his [[Nader Shah's invasion of India|invasion of India]]. The Shah's forces defeated the numerically superior army of [[Muhammad Shah]], the Indian emperor of the Mughal dynasty, in little more than three hours thus paving the way for the Persian [[sack of Delhi]]. The battle took place at [[Karnal]], {{convert|110|km|mi}} north of [[Delhi]].

==References and notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Safavids}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mughal-Persian Wars}}
[[Category:Wars involving Safavid Iran]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving Afsharid Iran]]
[[Category:Wars involving Afghanistan]]
[[Category:16th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:17th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:18th-century conflicts]]

Mughal–Persian wars - Revision history

Annal Ambedkar Makkal Peravai at 06:20, 30 March 2026