afghanistan‘Abdalis called out in Pushtu and tricked the enemy into thinking that
reinforcements had arrived. Having located the camp, the ‘Abdalis attacked
and routed the Ghilzais.
Nadir Shah reached Kandahar in March 1737 and placed it under siege.
The old city of Kandahar was a strongly fortified position dominated by
the narrow Qaital Ridge and presented a formidable challenge to any army,
even with artillery. Realizing that the siege was likely to be protracted,
Nadir Shah constructed a new town in the plains east of the town out of the
range of the Afghan guns. Nadirabad, as it was known, was a fully function-
ing urban space with bazaars, housing, mosques and bath houses, which
made it relatively comfortable for Nadir’s troops to survive what turned out
to be a year-long siege, while their enemies holed up in Kandahar starved.
Having sealed off Kandahar, Nadir Shah sent columns of troops to subdue
key strongholds. Shahr-i Safa was the first to fall and in fulfilment of his
pledge he returned it to the ‘Abdalis. After a two-month siege, the Ghilzai
citadel of Qalat-i Ghilzai, commanded by Saidal Khan, surrendered. As
punishment for his support of the Saddozai sultans of Herat, Saidal Khan’s
eyes were put out. Nadir Shah then sent a column into the hill country
north of Kandahar to subdue the Sunni Hazaras of Deh Zangi and Deh
Kundi who had been raiding trade caravans in the area. Darwish ‘Ali Khan,
their chief, eventually submitted and he and many of his tribesmen were
conscripted into Nadir Shah’s army.
In March 1738 Nadir Shah ordered a full-scale assault of Kandahar’s
city walls. The first attack, led by Kurds and ‘Abdalis, was beaten back, but
on the second attempt they broke through the breaches and took posses-
sion of the town. Shah Husain Hotaki retreated into the citadel, but when
Nadir Shah’s artillery pounded its walls, he sent his sister, Zainab, and
senior officers to plead for mercy and discuss terms of surrender. The
following day Sultan Husain came in person and flung himself at the
feet of Nadir Shah. Remarkably his life was spared, but he and his family
were condemned to spend the rest of their days in exile in Mazandaran.
The Hotak tribe was also exiled en masse to Sabzawar and other regions
of Persia. Their homes, lands and pasturages were handed over to the
‘Abdalis, who were allowed to return from exile. The Hotakis never recov-
ered from this defeat and exile. Even though many eventually returned to
the Kandahar region, they had lost most of the sources of their wealth to
the ‘Abdalis. Ahmad Shah and his successors also made sure the Hotak
tribe were excluded from power.
The Tokhi Ghilzais were exempt from the collective punishment
imposed on the Hotaks, for while they had participated in the conquest of