Siege of Isfahan

The siege of Isfahan was a 6-month-long siege of Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, by the Hotaki-led Afghan army, which lasted from March to October 1722 and resulted in the city's fall and the beginning of the end of the Safavid dynasty.

Isfahan was besieged by the Afghan forces led by Mahmud Hotaki after their decisive victory over the superior Safavid army at the battle of Gulnabad, close to Isfahan, on 8 March 1722. After the battle, the Safavid forces fell back in disarray to Isfahan. The Afghans lacked artillery to breach the city walls and blockaded Isfahan in order to bend Shah Sultan Husayn Safavi, and the city's defenders into surrender. Ill-organized Safavid efforts to relieve the siege failed and the shah's disillusioned Georgian vassal, Vakhtang VI of Kartli, refused to come to the Safavid aid. Shah Husayn's son, Tahmasp, and some 600 soldiers fled their way out of the city. The famine soon prevailed and the shah capitulated on 23 October, abdicating in favor of Mahmud, who triumphantly entered the city on 25 October 1722.