Shah Mahmud Hotak (King Mahmud I) شاه محمود هوتک | |||||
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Ghazi Emir of Afghanistan | |||||
Sketch of Mir Mahmud Shah
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Emir of the Hotak Empire | |||||
Reign | 1717-1725 | ||||
Coronation | 1717 and 1722 (as Shah of Persia | ||||
Predecessor | Abdul Aziz Hotak | ||||
Successor | Ashraf Hotak | ||||
Born | 1697 | ||||
Died | April 22, 1725 (age 28 or 29) Isfahan, Hotak Empire | ||||
Spouse | Shahbanu Alamiyan Govhar Sultan Safavi | ||||
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House | Hotak dynasty | ||||
Father | Mirwais Khan Hotak | ||||
Religion | Islam |
He was the eldest son of Mirwais Hotak, the chief of the Ghilji Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan, who had made the Kandahar region independent from Persian rule in 1709. When Mirwais died in 1715, he was succeeded by his brother, Abdul Aziz, but the Ghilji Afghans persuaded Mahmud to seize power for himself and in 1717 he overthrew and killed his uncle.
Mahmud takes the throne of Iran
The Abdali Pashtuns inhabited the region of Khorasan while the Ghiljiscontrolled the Kandahar region (Candahar) to the southeast. |
Mahmud's reign as shah
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 Afghans 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 Afghans 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 pretences and had them slaughtered. He also executed up to 3,000 of the Persian royal guards. At the same time the Persian arch rivals, Ottomans, and the Russians took advantage of the chaos in Persia to seize land for themselves, limiting the amount of 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 Afghans preferred his cousin Ashraf Khan. In February 1725, believing a rumour that one of Sultan Husayn'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 Sultan Husayn himself. When Sultan Husayn tried to stop the massacre, he was wounded, but his action led to Mahmud sparing the lives of two of his young children.
Death
Mahmud began to succumb to insanity as well as physical deterioration. On April 22, 1725, a group of Afghan officers freed Ashraf Khan from the prison where he had been confined by Mahmud and launched a palace revolution which placed Ashraf on the throne. Mahmud died three days later, either from his illness – at it was claimed at the time – or murder by suffocation.
...Thereafter his disorder rapidly increased, until he himself was murdered on April 22 by his cousin Ashraf, who was thereupon proclaimed king. Mír Maḥmúd was at the time of his death only twenty-seven years of age, and is described as "middle-sized and clumsy; his neck was so short that his head seemed to grow to his shoulders; he had a broad face and flat nose, and his beard was thin and of a red colour; his looks were wild and his countenance austere and disagreeable; his eyes, which were blue and a little squinting, were generally downcast, like a man absorbed in deep thought."
— Edward G. Browne, 1924
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 Afghans preferred his cousin Ashraf Khan. In February 1725, believing a rumour that one of Sultan Husayn'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 Sultan Husayn himself. When Sultan Husayn tried to stop the massacre, he was wounded, but his action led to Mahmud sparing the lives of two of his young children.
Death
Mahmud began to succumb to insanity as well as physical deterioration. On April 22, 1725, a group of Afghan officers freed Ashraf Khan from the prison where he had been confined by Mahmud and launched a palace revolution which placed Ashraf on the throne. Mahmud died three days later, either from his illness – at it was claimed at the time – or murder by suffocation.
...Thereafter his disorder rapidly increased, until he himself was murdered on April 22 by his cousin Ashraf, who was thereupon proclaimed king. Mír Maḥmúd was at the time of his death only twenty-seven years of age, and is described as "middle-sized and clumsy; his neck was so short that his head seemed to grow to his shoulders; he had a broad face and flat nose, and his beard was thin and of a red colour; his looks were wild and his countenance austere and disagreeable; his eyes, which were blue and a little squinting, were generally downcast, like a man absorbed in deep thought."
— Edward G. Browne, 1924
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