The Battle of Merv (1510)




I have written this article because of the Battle of Merv's importance in the history of Western and Central Asia. Shah Ismail Safavi's victory over Muhammad Shaybani of the Uzbeks ensured that Iran would be Shiah and not Sunni, this legacy would follow down to contemporary Iran. Firstly however it is important to give a background to the diplomatic relations between both the Safavids and Uzbeks.

Failed diplomacy




Shah Ismail had come to power in 1501, he had forced conversions of Muslims from Sunni Islam to Shiah Islam and many massacres had ensued. Muhammad Haidar Dughlat remarked that there was no shortage of misdeeds on his part. However as Ismail expanded his dominions, his frontiers soon bordered that of the Sunni Uzbek Khanate under Muhammad Shaybani. There was a diplomatic exchange between both rulers with gifts and this letter was sent by Shah Ismail:

Hitherto the dust of dissension has never settled upon the skirts of our thoughts to such an extent as to raise a cloud of enmity. Let the path of fatherly conduct be observed on your side, and on this side the bonds of filial relationship shall be established.

[VERSE]

"Plant the tree of friendship: for its fruit will be the desire of your heart;
Root up the sapling of enmity, which produces countless griefs"

Muhammad Shaybani however replied with contempt for Shah Ismail:

It is fitting that every man follows the profession of his father, If he follows his mother he is going backwards. For Uzun Hasan withdrew himself from the circle of kings, on the day that he gaves his daughter in marriage to your father, as did Sultan Yakub, son Hasan, in giving him his sister.You had a right to make claims on your mother's side, so long as there was no son in the world like me, Sultan son of a Sultan. As the proverb says "Let the song do the father's work, and the daughter the mother's"

[VERSE]

"Kings know the secrets of the business of the realm
Oh! Hafiz, thou beggars sitting in the corner, do not complain"

If you place your foot on the step of sovereignty think of your own danger

[VERSE]

"He may clasp the bride of sovereignty firmly to his breast,
Who dares to kiss her admit the clashing of keen swords"

Muhammad Shaybani sent a staff and a beggar's bowl to remind Shah Ismail of his Sufi background and to advise return to the profession of his ancestors as a Sufi pir (master).

Shah Ismail returned the compliment by sending a spinning wheel and spindle with the reply:

You wrote in your letter to me, "Whosoever would clasp the bride of sovereignty close to his breast...." I, too, say the same thing, and behold, I have bound on the girdle to offer your fight, and have placed the foot of contest in the stirrup of fierce warfare. If you come out to meet me face to face in battle, our claims shall be thereby decided. And if you will not fight go and sit in a corner and busy yourself with the little present I am sending you

[VERSE]

"We have had many experiences in this monastery of Recompenses.
Whosoever quarrelled with the Family of the Prophet was defeated"

This was a declaration of war between the Safavids and Uzbeks

The Battle



Muhammad Shaybani was now in Merv and had disbanded his army by the time Shah Ismail's reply had arrived. Muhammad Shaybani dispatched messages to assemble an army from neighbouring districts. At this time Shah Ismail had arrived and pitched his camp near Merv. For three days there were skirmishes however Shah Ismail had to move from the broken ground where his camp was, the Uzbeks interpreted this as a sign that the Safavids had given up and were now turning back. The Uzbeks then marched out with a force of 20,000 men however Muhammad Shaybani's advisers, Amir Kambar and Amir Rai told him:

"Today we had better suspend hostilities and not pursue Shah Ismail; for Ubaid Ullah Sultan and Timur Sultan are encamped with 20,000 men at one farsakh (6.24 kilometres) ; tomorrow they will come and join their force to ours. Moreover, it has been positively ascertained that the enemy, in thus returning, either means to retreat or to draw us on to battle. If they wish to fight, we had better wait until more troops have assembled from the surrounding districts and engage them with as large a force as possible. And if they are really in flight, there is no necessity for the chief to pursue them in person. Ubaid Allah Sultan, Timur Sultan, and a few other Amirs can follow them, while His Majesty the Khan (Muhammad Shaybani) can travel quietly and leisurely, stage by stage, right into Iraq. It is evident that in the case of his retreating from this place, our man can drive him forward and rout him, so that he will not have strength to establish himself in Iraq"

Muhammad Shaybani replied to this advice however:

"You have said well, nevertheless, to make war on Shah Ismail is a holy war, and one of importance: moreover there will be much plunder, and it would be a sacrifice of gain in this world advantage in the next, were I to share this undertaking with the Sultans. We must be bold"

Thus Muhammad Shaybani set out to pursue Shah Ismail’s army. The Uzbeks marched onto the open plain and saw that the Safavids had halted with a force of 40,000 men. However the Uzbeks didn't have time to get into battle positions, since a contingent of Turkmens charged them and were able to outflank them. This caused a panic in the Uzbek army and they soon fled while the leaders of the army, including Muhammad Shaybani stood their ground until he and his officers were killed by the Safavids.

Shah Ismail had won a great victory over the Uzbeks

Aftermath



Many of the Uzbeks fled after taking their families from the fort at Merv. When news of this defeat reached Muhammad Shaybani's advisers, they fled and afterwards Shah Ismail entered Merv, thus followed a massacre of the people of Merv. Then Shah Ismail returned to Herat and had the khutba read in his name to curse the names of the first three caliphs, symbolising the triumph of a Shiah army over a Sunni one. When news of this victory reached the Mughal Emperor Babur in Kabul, he was compelled to ally himself with Shah Ismail and attempt to retake his ancestral lands in Maveranahr (Transoxania).However Babur would not hold onto these lands for long especially due to the fact that Babur had to dress as a Safavid Qizilbash due to the terms of his treaty with Shah Ismail. This led to a revolt by the Uzbeks who deemed this heretical due to its Shiah connotations. Babur would now turn to the rich lands of Hindustan and look to forge a new empire there.

The Ottomans however felt threatened by the growing strength of Shiah Islam under Shah Ismail, thus in 1514 they sent an army to crush the Safavids at Chaldiran. Thus reversing the fortunes of the Safavid dynasty.

Mughal Afghanistan, a case study of a foreign occupying force in Afghanistan and why it is relevant to today

I am writing this article to cover an often overlooked period of Afghanistan's history and which I feel is relevant to today,as Abu Fazl said:

Intelligent men of the past have considered Kabul and Qandahar as the twin gates of Hindustan, one (Qandahar) for the passage to Iran, and the other for that of Turan.By guarding these two places, Hindustan obtains peace from the raider, and global traffic by these two routes prosper.


The control of Afghanistan has always been vital for either the security of India or conquering it, and for its links to Turan (Central Asia) and Iran.

Suba Kabul

Abu Fazl wrote this about Kabul:

The country of Kabul is surrounded on all sides by lofty mountains, so that the sudden invasion of an enemy is attended with extreme difficulty.The Hindu Kush separates Kabul from Badakhshan and Balkh and seven routes are employed by the people of Turan in their marches to and fro.Three are by the Panjshir valley, the highest of which is over the Khawak Pass, below this is Tul, and the next lower in succession,Bazarak.The best of these is Tul, but it is somewhat long as its name implies.The most direct is over the heights called Haft Bachah.From Anderab two roads unite at the foot of the main pass and debouch on Pawan by the Haft Bachah.This is extremely arduous.Three other roads lead by Poran up the Ghorband valley.The nearest route is by the pass of Yangi-Yuli (the new road) which leads down to Waliyan and Kinjan; another is Qipchak Pass, Also somewhat easy to traverse, and the third is the Shibertu. In the summer when the rivers rise, it is by this pass that they descend by the way of Bamian and Talikan, but in the winter the Abdorah route is chosen, for at this season, all other routes but this are closed


In the Mughal period,the suba (province) of Kabul bordered Uzbek lands to the North, who controlled Balkh,the Uzbeks held sway over the lands of Mawaranahr (Transoxania),lands which the Mughals consider to be their birthright as heirs of Timur

Zahiruddin Muhammed Babur had been expelled from Samarkand by Muhammed Shayban Khan and sought a new kingdom, he saw Kabul as a suitable base for further conquests.Thus Kabul became his capital after taking advantage of the turmoil there to capture it.Babur's description of Kabul:

The province of Kabul is in the fourth clime in the middle of the civilised region.To the east are the Laghman region and Peshawar, in which highlands are Karnu and Ghor.As of this date those mountains are the strongholds of the Hazara and Negudari


It was from here that he would launch a series of raids into India which finally culminate in his victory at Panipat.



However Kabul remained his most loved city,since he said this of his lands east of the Khyber Pass,which he called Hindustan, this constituted the Indo-Gangetic plain which covers much of Pakistan and North India:

The cities and provinces of Hindustan are all unpleasant. All cities, all locales are alike. The gardens have no walls, and most places are flat as boards

Later under his successor, Humayun, it would become his base yet again when he returned from exile in Iran with troops to reconquer his empire from the Suri Pathans,he would not live long to see the benefits of his reconquest.

But in Akbar's reign,Kabul was once again a suba as he expanded Mughal power northwards and westwards in a series of campaigns in the late 16th Century.

His son,Jahangir hoped to use the turmoil in the Uzbek empire to achieve the Timurid dream of reconquering Samarkand and Bukhara,thus he didn't seek friendly diplomatic terms with the Uzbeks, however with the increasing power of Shah Abbas I of Safavid Iran, he changed his mind and sought to cultivate good relations with them but his overtures were not reciprocated as their leader, Imam Quli lost interest in the alliance.In 1628. Kabul faced a raid by Nazr Muhammed,the Uzbek governor of Balkh and Badakhshan, in light of the Mughal loss of Qandahar to Shah Abbas' forces,at this time Jahangir faced a rebellion from his son, Shah Jahan, back in India so he was unable to reinforce his army in Kabul.Nazr had hoped to subvert the Hindu Kush and share his spoils with the Persians,however it was repelled.

In Shah Jahan's reign,Kabul was used as a based by Murad Bakhsh and Aurangzeb to launch an attempted invasion of Balkh and Badakhshan,I will touch upon this in the next section.

Under Aurangzeb,there was a revolt by the Yusufzai tribe near Peshawar.Their leader was Muhammad Shah,who was able to rally support from the local Pathans (Pashtuns).The governor of Attock,Kamil Khan set out and fought with Muhammed Shah,he was able to defeat him and recover the imperial outposts.Shamshir Khan crossed the river Nilab and came towards Attock and entered the enemy's territory on the otherside of the river opposite Yusufzai lands.The rebels fled to the hills and waited for an opportunity, Muhammed Amin Khan Mir Bakhshi was despatched from court with 9,000 troops in all to crush this uprising,he harried and desolated their homes as far as possible,Aurangzeb ordered him to leave Shamshir Khan there and come to Lahore.

After Aurangzeb's death, the Mughal Empire began to weaken rapidly and in 1738, Nadir Shah Afshar,the ruler of Iran, was able to conquer Kabul and use it as a base to invade India,he later went to confront the Mughals at Karnal.From this point, never again would the Mughals control Kabul.

Suba Balkh and Suba Badakhshan (1646-7)

In the reign of Shah Jahan, in 1646, Shah Jahan's son Murad Bakhsh was sent north to conquer Balkh and Badakhshan,with the intent of making the Oxus River,the northernmost frontier of the Mughal empire.A description of the Oxus:

The Oxus, to the North of Balkh, is well known, and the fords and passages of that river have been reckoned up with fair accuracy.From time immemorial every horde of Skythic origin, Nagas,Sakas or Jatas must have passed these fords from the hills and valleys of the Central Asian divide on the way to India.The Oxus fords have seen men in millions making south for the valley of Badakhshan and Golden Gates of Central Asiatic ideal which lay yet farther south beyond the grim line of the Hindu Kush


An additional motive for this invasion was to punish Nazr Muhammad for his earlier raids in the 1620s,as well as restore law and order in the regional and suppress the Almans who have committed numerous attrocities.There was also a civil war between Nazr Muhammad and Abd Al-Aziz at this time.

The Mughal army advanced northwards and was able to take Qunduz and Balkh by mid-July, Murad Bakhsh had hoped to receive the submission of Nazr Muhammed in Balkh but this was not possible after Nazr fled.Murad was furious at this and dispatched Asalat Khan in hot pursuit,who was able to inflict a defeat on Uzbek forces near Shibarghan, however Nasr Muhammed was able to flee to Isfahan in Safavid Iran.Nevertheless It was a remarkable feat for an army of 60,000 men to conquer Balkh,Andkhud, Maimana, Shibarghan and Termez.

However Murad soon realised that Balkh and Badakhshan was a financial drain on the Mughal treasury,the revenue was just a tenth of that of Lahore and Delhi during Akbar's reign,this was a huge disappointment.Meanwhile the Uzbeks retained the iniative by launching raids along the Oxus frontier which aimed at destroying their supply lines and the productive countryside.If things couldn't get any worse, Nazr Muhammed returned from Iran to besiege Maimana.

In response to this, Shah Jahan dispatched Aurangzeb to confront the Uzbeks, this time round they proved to be more adept at using their horse-archers to counter-balance the firearms and light cannons of the Mughal army.In the end Shah Jahan finally gave into pressure from the epidemics,famines,Uzbek raids and the threat of a new winter, to finally order Aurangzeb to withdraw from Balkh and Badakhshan, and cede them to Nazr Muhammed.The campaign had cost the Mughals at least 20 million rupees,it is ironic that the now heavily Indianised Mughal army was overcome by the same Central Asian strategy which had been used by Babur so effectively at the beginning of his career.

Suba Qandahar


Qandahar had first been conquered by Babur in the 1520s, he held on it despite an attempted siege by Muhammed Shaybani Khan of the Uzbeks,where he was unable to take the citadel so he withdrew.After Babur's death, Humayun took over the rule of the Mughal empire but proved to be incompetent and lost all of Babur's hard won conquests in Hindustan to Sher Shah Suri.Humayun fled to Qazwin in the Safavid empire and begged Shah Tahmasp to grant him an army to reconquer Hindustan, which was granted on the condition that he cede Qandahar to the Safavids.

Humayun's successor, the greatest of the Mughals, Akbar, was able to regain Qandahar from the Safavids thanks to instability in Iran, thus the "gate" between Iran and Hindustan was securely in Mughal hands.However in Jahangir's reign,Shah Abbas I the greatest ruler of the Safavid empire was able to regain Qandahar, he put his annexation politely to Jahangir:

You will be aware that after the death of the Nawab Shah Jannat-Makan (Shah Tahmasp) great misfortunes befel Persia.Many territories which belonged to our saintly family passed out of possession, but when this suppliant at the throne of Grace became sovereign, he, by God's help, and the excellent measures of friends, recovered the hereditary lands which were in the possession of enemies. As Qandahar was held by agents of your lofty family, I regarded you as myself, and did not make any objection. From feelings of unity and brotherhood we waited, thinking that you would, after the manner of your ancestors who are in Paradise, voluntarily take the matter into your consideration.


This gave the Uzbeks confidence to raid Kabul as mentioned earlier, and left the Mughals vulnerable.Later after regaining Qandahar for a short period, Jahangir's successor, Shah Jahan lost it again because of a Kurdish turncoat, Ali Mardan Khan who handed over Qandahar to the Safavids.In reaction to this treachery, Shah Jahan imposed "restraint to this merchants from trading in Persia".In 1652,Aurangzeb tried in vain to reconquer Qandahar but from then onwards, Qandahar would remain in Safavid hands,Aurangzeb would be more focused on conquering the Deccan.

Thus Afghanistan was to remain divided between the Iranians in Herat,Farah and Qandahar in the West, the Uzbeks in Balkh,Qunduz and Badakhshan in the North and finally the Mughals in Kabul,Ghazni and Gardez in the East.

Welcome to my blog

I would like to introduce myself, my name is Azeem

I was born in New Delhi, India where I lived in Ansari Nagar.I moved to Hong Kong and lived in Pokfulam and then I moved to the UK and started living in London,where I have been ever since.

I am currently studying Politics with International Relations at Kent University