Ottoman–Persian War (1722–27)

The Ottoman–Persian War of 1722–1727 were a series of conflicts fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Afghan Hotaki dynasty of Persia, over control of all western and northwestern parts of Iran.

Background
The Hotaki's were an Afghan tribe and dynasty that ruled over Afghanistan, most of Iran, and northwestern parts of Pakistan from 1722 to 1729, after defeating the Safavid dynasty. The Hotaki dynasty was founded in 1709 by Ghilzai Pashtuns of Kandahar who led a successful revolution against the Safavids.

During decline of the Safavid state, the Ottoman and Russian empires, the two powers which had taken advantage of Iran’s decadence to annex de facto a large number of frontier districts. Posing as the legitimate inheritor of the Iranian throne, Ashraf demanded restitution of all the annexed territories. The Ottomans took offense at this arrogance, as they saw it, and proceeded to sever relations and open hostilities in Azerbaijan in the spring of 1726. Since one of their declared war aims was to restore the Safavids as a client dynasty, Ashraf’s first response was to put Sultan Husayn, who was living in captivity at Isfahan, to death in the autumn of 1726. Then, after strengthening the city’s fortifications, he marched out to meet Turkish troops and defeated them at Khoramabad, south of Hamadan, on 20 November 1726. The Afghan victory over a greatly superior military opponent was largely due to infiltration of the Ottoman ranks by agents provocateurs who emphasized the common Sunni faith of the Turks and the Afghans, deplored the fratricidal war between them, and advocated alliance against their common enemies, the heretical Persians; this adroit tactic sapped the morale of the Turkish troops and procured the defection of the Kurdish cavalry. Preferring not to push onward, Ashraf opened negotiations which led to the signature of a peace treaty in October, 1727 (Treaty of Hamedan). This confirmed Ottoman sovereignty over all the western and northwestern parts of Iran and, in return for Ashraf’s abandonment of his territorial claims, gave him official recognition as Shah of Persia with rights of minting coins and sending annual pilgrimage caravans to Mecca.

Aftermath
The great majority of Iranians still rejected the Afghan regime as usurping. The resultant wave of internal revolts caused countrywide insecurity and exhausted the strength of the Isfahan-based central government. That paved way for the rise of Nader Shah and subsequently the continued wars of the Persian Empire with Ottoman Empire.