User:HistoryofIran/Mir Ways

Mir Ways ibn Shah Alam, commonly known as Mir Ways was an Afghan chieftain of the Hotak clan, who established the Hotak dynasty in 1709, ruling until his death in 1715.

Background
Mir Ways, a chief of the Hotaki clan of the Afghan Ghilzai tribe, who also served as the kalantar (mayor) of the city. An affluent man from prominent family, Mir Ways was charitable towards his supporters and the poor. He had been under service of the Safavids for a long time, serving as the qafilah-salar, whose function was to patrol the caravan passage between Iran and India.

Balochi raids
The most exposed part of Iran's frontier was located in the extensive arid lands to the east. The area was populated by tribes that neither the Safavids nor the Mughals were ever successful in pacifying. In 1699, the Kerman province was overwhelmed by a Balochi invasion.

In response, Sultan Husayn appointed the Georgian prince Gorgin Khan (George XI) as beglerbeg (governor) of Kerman. The latter had previously served as the vali (viceroy) of Georgia, but had been dismissed in 1688 for helping rebel forces against the Safavid governor of Kakheti. Brave and strong-willed during warfare, Gorgin Khan preferred to use as the solution to any problem. With the help of his brother Shahqoli Khan (Levan), he routed the numerically superior Balochis in various encounters. In 1703, as a result of incursions by the Afghans, Sultan Husayn appointed Gorgin Khan as the sepahsalar (commander-in-chief) and governor of Qandahar, as well as the vali of Georgia.

Gorgin Khan's governorship of Qandahar
At Qandahar, Gorgin Khan soon competed against Mir Ways, a chief of the Hotaki clan of the Afghan Ghilzai tribe, who also served as the kalantar (mayor) of the city. An affluent man from prominent family, Mir Ways was charitable towards his supporters and the poor. He had been under service of the Safavids for a long time, serving as the qafilah-salar, whose function was to patrol the caravan passage between Iran and India. However, he was dismissed as qafilah-salar in 1706, apparently due to his poor service and negligence of his responsibility in collecting fees and taxes. Meanwhile, the Afghan relations with Gorgin Khan had become uneasy due to his oppressive rule. Most sources agree that his rule started to become oppressive quickly after his assumption of power in Qandahar.

The (nominally Shi'i) Georgian soldiers of Gorgin Khan concealed goods, seized Afghan girls and women, and increased taxes. They also disregarded the religious freedom that the Sunni Afghans had been guaranteed as a condition for accepting Safavid rule. They were said to have defiled Sunni mosques by bringing pigs and wine inside, as well as taking advantage of underrage girls and 9-10 year old boys, with some of them ending up being killed, and their corpses thrown in front of their parents' homes.

The Afghans, aggrieved by this treatment, sent complaints to Isfahan, but they were seized by Gorgin Khan's men at the court and thus never reached Sultan Husayn. Mir Ways planned to rebel against the Georgians, but was soon arrested and brought to Isfahan under the orders of Gorgin Khan, who was suspicious of him. The latter urged Sultan Husayn to eliminate him, or at least prohibit him from going back to Qandahar. During his stay at Isfahan, Mir Ways observed the fragility of the Iranian regime, as well as the possibility to benefit from the factional strife there. Through proficent flattery and bribery, he successfully reintegrated himself. He persuaded Sultan Husayn that Gorgin Khan was not trustworthy, as he planned to make his rule in Qandahar autonomous, and also planned a Russo-Georgian alliance against Iran.

Rebellion and rule
Mir Ways was given permission to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he convinced the religious authorities to declare a fatwa that gave the Afghans the right to become independent of Iranian control. In 1708, he was sent back to Qandahar as a shadow administrator, where he launched a massive rebellion. In April 1709, the Afghans made a surprise attack against Gorgin Khan and his retinue, killing them in their tents. They subsequently took control over Qandahar, and massacred its Georgian garrison. The news of these developments did not motivate the government to take action. Sultan Husayn instead sent two emissaries in a row to protest, but they were both jailed.

Sultan Husayn then responded by selecting Gurgin Khan's nephew Khosrow Khan (Kay Khosrow) as the commander of the Afghan expedition. The latter had previously served as the darugha (prefect) of Isfahan, and following Gorgin Khan's death became the new sepahsalar and vali of Georgia. Khosrow Khan struggled to prepare the expedition, as he was given an insufficient amount of 7,000 to pay for 3,000 soldiers. The grand vizier, as well as members of the the anti-Georgian court faction, greatly hindered the release of funds for the expedition. Khosrow Khan instead found reassurance through military support by the Herat-based Afghan Abdali tribe, the adversaries of the Ghilzai.

After two years of warfare with the Ghilzai, Khosrow Khan finally besieged Qandahar with Abdali assistance. Two months, later the Ghilzai appealed for peace. However, after being demanded of total surrender to the Iranian forces, they continued fighting. In October 1711, Khosrow Khan and his exhausted soldiers were forced to withdraw, due to the summer heat, illness, shortage of supplies, and attacks by the Baluchi, who had joined the Afghans. Khosrow Khan and many of his troops were killed by the pursuing Afghan soldiers, who took their military equipment.

In late 1712, Kabul was conquered by the besieging forces of Mir Ways. Around the same time, the qorchibashi (head of the mounted cavalry or royal guards) Mohammad Zaman Khan was entrusted with the task of attacking the Afghans whilst assembling an army en route. However, the lack of funds greatly hindered his expedition. Rather than using money from his own treasury, Sultan Husayn forced the merchants in Isfahan and New Julfa to give a combined amount of 14,000 tomans. The expedition eventually fell apart when Zaman Khan died near Herat in the spring of 1712.