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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Siege of Kandahar (1648–1649)
| image =
| caption =
| partof = the [[Mughal–Safavid war (1649–1653)]]
| date = {{start and end dates|1648|12|28|1649|2|22|df=yes}} {{nwr|({{Age in years, months, weeks and days|month1=12|day1=28|year1=1648|month2=2|day2=22|year2=1649}})}}
| place = [[Kandahar]], modern day [[Afghanistan]]
| result = [[Safavid Empire|Safavid]] victory
| territory = Kandahar falls to the Safavids
| combatant1 = [[File:Safavid Flag.svg|23px|border]] [[Safavid Iran]]
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Mughal Empire.png|border=}} [[Mughal Empire]]
| commander1 = [[File:Safavid Flag.svg|23px|border]] [[Shah Abbas II]]<br>[[File:Safavid Flag.svg|23px|border]] [[Mihrab Khan]]
| commander2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Mughal Empire.png|border=}} [[Daulat Khan Mayi]]{{Surrender}}
| strength1 = 40,000{{sfn|Iranica|2010}}
| strength2 = 7,000{{sfn|Roy|2014|pages=113–114}}
| casualties1 = 2,000, including 600 [[Qizilbash]]{{sfn|Roy|2014|pages=112–113}}
| casualties2 = 400{{sfn|Roy|2014|pages=112–113}}
}}
The '''siege of Kandahar''', also known as the '''Kandahar campaign''', was led by [[Shah Abbas II]] of [[Safavid Empire]] against the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]-held city of [[Kandahar]], in modern day [[Afghanistan]]. It lasted from 28 December 1648 to 22 February 1649, and ended in the permanent loss of Kandahar by the Mughals.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kandahar (1648–1649)}}
[[Category:Sieges involving Safavid Iran]]

==Background==
Kandahar had been under Mughal control since the [[Fall of Kandahar (1638)]], when the Safavid commander [[Ali Mardan Khan]] handed it over to the Mughals. The Safavids did not make a move over the city until 1648, when the Mughals were engaged in the [[Shah Jahan's Central Asian campaign|campaigns in Balkh and Badakhshan]], which proved to be disastrous. In the summer of 1648 Shah Abbas II led an army numbering 40,000 and after taking the city of [[Lashkargah|Bost]] besieged Kandahar.{{sfn|Iranica|2010}}

==Siege==
The 7000-men strong Mughal garrison under Daulat Khan fortified their positions but made the fatal mistake of not safeguarding the two [[Watchtower|watch towers]] on the top of a nearby hill from which guns could be fired into the fort. Persians at once seized them and opened fire into the fort's interior. Due to winter, the Mughal garrison did not expect any reinforcement to arrive before spring. A portion of army under two [[Tatars|Tartar]] chiefs who had entered the Mughal service after the end of the Balkh war, mutinied and opened negotiations with the Persians. Daulat Khan failed to maintain discipline within the troops and consequently surrendered the fort to the Persians on 22 February 1649, on the promise of safe passage to India.{{sfn|Sarkar|1912|pp=134–136}}{{sfn|Roy|2014|pages=112–113}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:The Siege of Kandahar. Attributed to Payag Mughal, mid-17th century. Opaque watercolor on paper. The Knellington Collection, Courtesy Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.jpg|thumb|The failed Mughal [[Mughal sieges of Kandahar (1649–1653)|Siege of Kandahar in 1649]]. Attributed to [[Payag]]. Mughal, mid-17th century. ''[[Padshahnama]]''. Opaque watercolor on paper. The Knellington Collection, Courtesy Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts.<ref name="Metro">{{cite book |last1=Welch |first1=Stuart Cary |title=India: art and culture, 1300-1900 |date=1985 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art : Holt, Rinehart, and Winston |location=New York |isbn=978-0030061141 |page=248 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/india-art-and-culture-1300-1900 |quote=If Murad's siege raised the spirits of his imperial patron, Payag's view of an episode in 1649, during the unsuccessful attempts to recapture strategic Kandahar must have lowered them. Although Murad was noted for his cheerful portrayals of grand events at court-and, we suspect, as a designer of architectural ornament, which he painted so inventively-Payag is admired for portraits of holy men and ravaged old soldiers, and for views of war in all its horror.}}</ref>]]
Shah Abbas II appointed Mihrab Khan as the governor, and returned to [[Isfahan]]. The siege cost Safavids 2000 men including 600 [[Qizilbash]] while Mughals suffered 400 casualties. Subsequently the Mughals [[Mughal sieges of Kandahar (1649–1653)|besieged Kandahar thrice]] between 1649 and 1653, but failed to re-capture it, making the loss of Kandahar permanent.{{sfn|Sarkar|1912|pp=138–}}{{sfn|Roy|2014|pages=112–113}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |url= |title=Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750: Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78093-813-4 |pages= |language=en}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica | volume = 15 | fascicle = 5 | title = KANDAHAR iv. From The Mongol Invasion Through the Safavid Era |author-link = | last = Matthee | first = Rudi |author-first2= Hiroyuki |author-last2= Mashita| url = https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kandahar-from-the-mongol-invasion-through-the-safavid-era | pages = 478–484| ref ={{harvid|Iranica|2010}}}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sarkar |first=Sir Jadunath |author-link=Jadunath Sarkar |url= |title=History of Aurangzib: Reign of Shah Jehan |date=1912 |publisher=M.C. Sarkar & sons |pages= |language=en |chapter=First siege of Qandahar |oclc=5733274}}

[[Category:1640s conflicts]]
[[Category:17th century in the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:17th century in Asia]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1648]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1649]]
[[Category:1648 in India]]

Siege of Kandahar (1648–1649) - Revision history

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