- Ashraf Khan
Ashraf Khan (b.
? - d.1729) was the last ruler of theHotaki dynasty . He was an ethnic Pashtun ("Afghan") from theGhilzai tribe, who succeeded to the throne after the death ofMir Mahmud Hotaki in 1725. The nephew ofMirwais Khan Hotak , his reign was noted for the sudden decline in the Hotaki Empire under increasing pressure from Turkish,Russia n, and Persian forces. [Prof. D. Balland, "Ašraf Ghilzai", inEncyclopaedia Iranica , Online Edition 2006, ( [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f8/v2f8a024.html LINK] )]Ashraf Khan halted both the Russian and Turkish onslaughts, in case of the
Ottomans they were defeated in a battle near Kirman-shah, despite having reached within miles ofIsfahan . This led to peace negotiations with theSublime Porte , which were briefly disrupted after Ashraf's ambassador insisted his master should beCaliph of the East and the Ottoman Sultan Caliph of the West. It caused great umbrage to the Ottomans, but finally concluded in a peace agreement signed atHamadan in September of 1727. [Encyclopaedia Britannica - "The Hotakis (from Afghanistan)"... [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-21394/Afghanistan Link] ]Ultimately though it was a little known rebel, Nader Qoli Beg (better known as
Nader Shah ), who defeated the Afghans at theBattle of Damghan in late September of 1729 and drove them from Persia back to what is now Afghanistan. During the retreat, Ashraf was murdered byBaloch tribesmen. This was probably on the orders from his cousin, who was holdingKandahar at the time.His death marked the end of the Hotaki dynasty, but was only a short pause before the establishment of a permanent independent Pashtun kingdom ("Afghanistan").
ee also
*
Hotaki
*History of Afghanistan References
External links
* [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v2f8/v2f8a024.html Encyclopaedia Iranica - Ashraf Ghilzai]
* [http://www.afghansite.com/afghanistan/afghanistan.asp?File=28 Hotak Rule]
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