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Battle Of Khwar Pass
The Battle of Khwar Pass was a failed ambush set up by Ashraf Hotaki during his retreat in the aftermath of his defeat at the Battle of Damghan (1729). Gathering what forces lay on his route, Ashraf pulled together another formidable fighting force around the remains of his badly bloodied force, even having enough men to spare for an ambush set up at a narrow pass east of Varamin. Battle Placing hidden guns and sharpshooters on the high ground overlooking the pass and fortifying the narrow pathway Ashraf even left a significant body of cavalry behind in order to hunt down the survivors of the ambush. Nader's spies however reported on Ashraf's designs at Khwar. Skirting around the ambush Nader, personally taking command, launched a two-pronged assault utilizing musketeers with artillery support, catching the Afghans in an ambush of his own, forcing the Pashtuns to flee leaving their guns and baggage behind. Consequences As a result of the battle, Nader's advance into the hear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nader's Campaigns
The campaigns of Nader Shah, or the Naderian Wars, were a series of conflicts fought in the early to mid-eighteenth century throughout Central Eurasia primarily by the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah. His campaigns originated from the overthrow of the Iranian Safavid dynasty by the Hotaki Afghans. In the ensuing collapse and fragmentation of the empire after the capture of the Iranian capital of Isfahan by the Afghans, a claimant to the Safavid throne, Tahmasp II, accepted Nader (who was no more than a petty warlord in Khorasan) into his service. After having subdued north-west Iran as well as neutralising the Abdali Afghans to the east as well as turning Tahmasp II into a vassal, Nader marched against the Hotaki Afghans in occupation of the rest of the country. In a series of incredible victories the Afghans were decimated and Tahmasp II returned to the throne as a restored Safavid monarch. In the aftermath of the Safavid restoration Nader campaigned in the western and northern r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varamin
Varamin (; fa, ورامين, also Romanized as Varāmīn and Verāmin) is a city and capital of Varamin County, Tehran Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 218,991, and at the 2006 census, its population was 208,569, in 53,639 families. Etymology The word "''Varamin''" has been recorded with the same spelling and pronunciation in Perso-arabic script since 3rd A.H. century. While its etymology is not clear, there have been many speculations which are almost all not more than guesses. The entry "Varām" in Burhan-i Qati is defined as:"... Things that are easy and light, and a city in ''Mulk-i Rayy'' that is known also as ''Varāmin''." The name has been transliterated in Latin scripts in many ways; such as ''Veramin'', ''Veramine'', ''Weramin'', ''Weramine'', ''Veraumin'', and other variants, while Encyclopedia Iranica uses ''Varāmīn''. History Until 1220s, Varamin was an agricultural center of Ray. The raiding of Ray by the invading Mongols caused a flux o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan to the north, by Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, and by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south. It covers an area of , making it the 17th-largest country. Iran has a population of 86 million, making it the 17th-most populous country in the world, and the second-largest in the Middle East. Its largest cities, in descending order, are the capital Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz. The country is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, beginning with the formation of the Elamite kingdoms in the fourth millennium BC. It was first unified by the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, in the seventh century BC, and reached its territorial height in the sixth century BC, when Cyrus the Great founded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safavid Dynasty
The Safavid dynasty (; fa, دودمان صفوی, Dudmâne Safavi, ) was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic GreekAnthony Bryer. "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 29'' (1975), Appendix II "Genealogy of the Muslim Marriages of the Princesses of Trebizond" dignitaries, nevertheless they were Turkis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hotaki Dynasty
The Hotak dynasty ( ps, fa, ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful revolution against the declining Persian Safavid empire in the region of Loy Kandahar ("Greater Kandahar") in what is now southern Afghanistan. In 1715, Mirwais died of natural causes and his brother Abdul Aziz succeeded him. He did not reign long as he was killed by his nephew Mahmud, who deposed the Safavid shah and proclaimed his own rule over Iran. Mahmud in turn was succeeded by his cousin Ashraf following a palace coup in 1725. Ashraf, however, did not retain his throne for long, as the Iranian conqueror Nader-Qoli Beg (later Shah), leading the resurgent Safavid banner, defeated him at the Battle of Damghan of 1729. Ashraf Hotak was banished to what is now southern Afghanistan, confining Hotak rule to a small corner of their former empire. In 1738, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nader Shah
Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian history, ruling as shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747, when he was assassinated during a rebellion. He fought numerous campaigns throughout the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars. Because of his military genius,The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant "Nader commanded the most powerful military force in Asia, if not the world" [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashraf Hotaki
Shāh Ashraf Hotak, (Pashto/Persian: ; died 1730), also known as Shāh Ashraf Ghiljī (), son of Abdul Aziz Hotak, was the fourth ruler of the Hotak dynasty. An Afghan from the Ghilji Pashtuns, he served as a commander in the army of Mahmud Hotak during his revolt against the heavily declining Safavid Persians. Ashraf also participated in the Battle of Gulnabad. In 1725, he briefly succeeded to the throne to become Shah of Persia after he killed his cousin Mahmud. The nephew of Mirwais Hotak, his reign was noted for the sudden decline in the Hotak tribal rule under increasing pressure from the two great powers of the time Turkish, Russian, and Persian forces. Ashraf Khan halted both the Russian and Turkish onslaughts. He defeated the Ottoman Empire, who wanted to reestablish their former arch rivals, the Safavids, back on the throne, in a battle near Kermanshah after the enemy had come close to Isfahan. This led to peace negotiations with the Sublime Porte, which were briefl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Damghan (1729)
The Battle of Damghan ( fa, نبرد دامغان) or Battle of Mehmandoost (Persian: ) was fought on September 29 to October 5, 1729, near the city of Damghan. It resulted in an overwhelming victory for Nader and the Safavid cause he had taken up, though by itself it did not end Ashraf's rule in Iran, it was a significant triumph which led to further successes in the following engagements of the campaign to restore Tahmasp II to the throne. The battle was followed by another one in Murcheh-Khort, a village near Isfahan. Nader's forces were victorious in both battles, which led him to remove the Ghilzai Afghan dynasty from their short stay on the Persian throne. The Hotakis were forced back to their territory in what is now southern Afghanistan. The battle of Damghan proved the supremacy of Nader's artillery-dependent military system in comparison to the old exclusively cavalry based system utilised by the Afghans. Although Ashraf sought to remedy this in the subsequent engag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically referred to as Afghans () or xbc, αβγανο () until the 1970s, when the term's meaning officially evolved into that of a demonym for all residents of Afghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity. The group's native language is Pashto, an Iranian language in the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Additionally, Dari Persian serves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan while those in the Indian subcontinent speak Urdu and Hindi (see Hindustani language) as their second language. Pashtuns are the 26th-largest ethnic group in the world, and the largest segmentary lineage society; there are an estimated 350–400 Pashtun tribes and clans with a variety of origin theories. The total ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Citadel Of Varamin By Jane Dieulafoy
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In a fortification with bastions, the citadel is the strongest part of the system, sometimes well inside the outer walls and bastions, but often forming part of the outer wall for the sake of economy. It is positioned to be the last line of defence, should the enemy breach the other components of the fortification system. The functions of the police and the army, as well as the army barracks were developed in the citadel. History 3300–1300 BC Some of the oldest known structures which have served as citadels were built by the Indus Valley civilisation, where citadels represented a centralised authority. Citadels in Indus Valley were almost 12 meters tall. The purpose of these structures, however, remains debated. Though the structures fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Axworthy
Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000. Personal life and family Michael Axworthy was born in Woking on 26 September 1962. He spent his childhood in West Kirby, Radyr, Ilkley and Chester, where he attended The King's School. Axworthy visited Iran frequently during holidays as a teenager because his father, Ifor, was involved in a project there with the Midland Bank. He recalled leaving the capital, Tehran, around September 1978 soon after the first large demonstrations against the soon-to-be-deposed Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had taken place in the city. While studying history at Peterhouse, Cambridge, in the 1980s, Axworthy was greatly influenced by historians and other academics with interests in the history of ideas, such as Tim Blanning, Maurice Cowling, and Martin Goldin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Murche-Khort
The Battle of Murche-Khort was the last decisive engagement of Nader's campaign to restore Tahmasp II to the Persian throne. Ashraf Hotak had failed to arrest Nader's advance onto Isfahan at Khwar pass where his ambush was discovered, surrounded and ambushed itself. The battle was fought in an uncharacteristic manner by the Afghans who to some extent sought to replicate their foes tactical systems which had so badly devastated their armies up to this point. Victory opened a clear road south towards Isfahan and the return of Safavid rule for a few brief years before Nader himself would overthrow it. Background Events in Isfahan Ashraf's arrival in Isfahan heralded a massacre of over 3,000 Persian aristocrats & clergymen carried out in the cruel, cold calculation that his catastrophic defeat at Mihmandoost would encourage an uprising in Isfahan as soon as he were to ride out of the city with his army to meet Nader's forces which were bearing down on Isfahan. Removing any pote ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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