Mahmud Hotak


Shāh Mahmūd Hotak, or Shāh Mahmūd Ghiljī, also known by his epithet, The Conqueror, was the ruler of the Hotak dynasty who overthrew the Safavid dynasty to become the king of Persia from 1722 until his death in 1725.

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.

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 his fellow Afghans. Mahmud, seeing that his father Mirwais Hotak's achievements would be undone, assembled many of his father's 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.

Rule (1717–1725)

Campaigns against Iran (1720–1725)

Mahmud Hotak, ambitious and wishing to expand his territories, began to wage war against the Safavids. His first campaign was in 1720, where he besieged Kerman. After defeating his neighbor, Sadozai Sultanate of Herat in battle in 1720, he began preparing for a campaign again against the Safavids. 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 Afghans routed the Persian army, and advanced on Isfahan. The Afghans besieged Isfahan. 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 that during the siege, over 80,000 of its inhabitants died. The Safavid Shah of Iran Soltan Hoseyn, accompanied by 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.

Reign as Shah (1722–1725)

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 pretence 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, reducing the territory under Mahmud's control.
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.

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 described as skinny, appearing like a skeleton. 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. Due to extreme itching, he would often tear at his own flesh with his fingernails, and even eating it. 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 coup which placed Ashraf on the throne. Mahmud was assassinated by his cousin. Other sources say he died as a result of his insanity.

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. Ghilji 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.