Battle of Herat (1729)
| Battle of Herat | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Nader's Campaigns | |||||||
 The countryside of Herat today | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Safavid Loyalists |
 Abdali Afghans | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Nader |
Allahyar Khan Abdali  Zulfiqar Khan Abdali | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3,000 | Heavy | ||||||
The Battle of Herat (Persian: نبرد هرات) was fought between the military forces from the Abdali Afghans and the army of the Safavid Iran on July 1729
Background
After the defeat of Afghans at the Battle of Kafer Qal'eh[2]Allahyar Khan with several Abdali leaders went to Nader at his camp near outside the gates of Herat and asked for peace Nader agreed to accept peace on the condition that they surrender their artillery After these returned to Herat a messenger from Zulfiqar Khan brought Allahyar Khan a message that reinforcements would arrive soon and that he would not surrender so he refused to surrender the artillery[3]Zulfiqar Khan's forces entered the city at night through the southern gates of the city and joined Allahyar Khan forces.[3]
Battle and Fall of Herat
At sunrise the Abdali forces began attacking Nader's camp with cold weapons Nader Shah ordered the cavalry that was advancing towards Farah to turn back and attack the Herat[3]Nader with the help of his cavalry, decided to provoke and draw the entire Abdali army into battle so that he could draw them close and use his cannons against them He sent his cavalry in small groups towards the Abdali army and encouraged the Abdali cavalry and infantry to fight. The Abdali, who were confident due to the strong fortress of Herat behind them, attacked Nader's retreating cavalry when they reached the range of Nader's army the heavy fire of the cannons and 15,000 firearms of Nader's army even prevented many of the Abdali forces from returning and inflicted heavy casualties on them The remaining Abdali forces quickly reached the castle and took refuge there.[3]Nader decided to conquer the Herat, so he bombarded the city with cannons As the artillery fire intensified on the city, many houses and buildings were damaged The restless people of the city pressured Allahyar Khan and forced him to accept peace and surrender the city to Nader. He sent a letter of complaint to Nader asking for forgiveness, and Nader released them because they had surrendered the city.[3][4] And the city was conquered by Safavids again.
See also
References
- ^ "HERAT iii. HISTORY, MEDIEVAL PERIOD". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
Nāder Shah Afšār, the successor of the Safavids, recaptured Herat in 1729, and it remained a part of the Persian state throughout his reign
- ^ Perry, J. R. (1985). "ALLĀHYĀR KHAN ABDĀLĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 8. p. 893.
Allāhyār Khan lost battles at Kāfer Qaḷʿa (present-day Eslām Qaḷʿa) and Rebāṭ-e Parīān, fell back on Herat, and was soon obliged to surrender.
- ^ a b c d e Larudi 2008, p. 68-69.
- ^ Ghafouri 2009, p. 370.
Sources
- Michael Axworthy, The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant Hardcover 348 pages (26 July 2006) Publisher: I.B. Tauris Language: English ISBN 1-85043-706-8
- Larudi, Nurullah (2008). Nader, Son of the Sword. Tehran: Parse. ISBN 978-600-5026-56-6.
- Ghafouri, Ali (2009). History of Iranian Wars. Tehran. ISBN 978-964-423-738-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Shabani Reza (2009). History of Iran in the Afsharid era. Tehran ISBN 978-964-372-362-0