Siege of Kandahar (1605–1606)

01A city between empires

Kandahar sat on the trade road from India to Persia, and the Mughals and Safavids both claimed it. Akbar had taken it peacefully in 1595 when its Safavid prince handed it over. On news of Akbar’s death and of Prince Khusrau’s revolt against Jahangir, the Safavid governors of Herat and Farah marched on Kandahar, expecting the new emperor to be too busy to defend it. Shah Beg Khan shut the gates.

02Relief

The garrison held through the winter. Jahangir, once he had crushed Khusrau’s revolt, sent Mirza Ghazi Beg with an army to relieve the city. As it approached in 1606 the besiegers withdrew. Shah Abbas I wrote to Jahangir that the attack had been made without his orders. Jahangir accepted the explanation, but kept Kandahar strongly garrisoned. Sixteen years later, in 1622, Shah Abbas came himself and took it while Jahangir’s son Shah Jahan was in revolt.