Nader's victory at Damghan proved the superiority of his artillery-based tactics over Afghan cavalry and set the stage for expelling the Hotaki dynasty from Persia.
Key Facts
- Dates of battle
- 29 September – 5 October 1729
- Victor
- Nader and the Safavid cause
- Defeated commander
- Ashraf Hotak (Ghilzai Afghan)
- Follow-up battle
- Battle of Murcheh-Khort, near Isfahan
- Hotak dynasty ended
- 1738
- Ashraf Hotak killed
- 1730
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Ghilzai Afghan Hotaki dynasty had seized the Persian throne, displacing the Safavids. Nader, acting as military champion of Safavid claimant Tahmasp II, launched a campaign to drive the Afghans out of Iran and restore legitimate Safavid rule, bringing his artillery-equipped forces against Ashraf Hotak's predominantly cavalry-based Afghan army near Damghan.
From 29 September to 5 October 1729, Nader's forces engaged Ashraf Hotak's Afghan army near the city of Damghan. Nader's artillery-dependent tactics proved decisively superior to the Afghan cavalry system, producing an overwhelming Safavid victory. Though Ashraf escaped and attempted a counteroffensive with Ottoman artillery at Murcheh-Khort, he was again defeated by Nader's army.
The twin defeats at Damghan and Murcheh-Khort forced the Hotaki Afghans off the Persian throne and back to their territory in what is now southern Afghanistan. Ashraf Hotak was killed in 1730, and Nader completed the overthrow of the Hotak dynasty by 1738, restoring Safavid authority and establishing his own military dominance over Iran.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Nader (Nader Shah).
Side B
1 belligerent
Ashraf Hotak.