Arghun dynasty | ||||||||||
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Capital | Bukkur | |||||||||
Languages |
Arabic Sindhi |
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Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
History | ||||||||||
• | Arghun dynasty begins | 1520 | ||||||||
• | Arghun dynasty ends | 1554 | ||||||||
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The Arghun dynasty ruled the area between southern Afghanistan and the Sindh province of Pakistan from the late 15th century to the early 16th century. They claimed their descent and name from Ilkhanid-Mongol Arghun Khan, and were a dynasty of either Mongol,Turkic or Turco-Mongol ethnicity. The Arghuns can be divided into two branches: the Arghun branch of Dhu'l-Nun Beg Arghun that ruled until 1554, and the Tarkhan branch of Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan that ruled until 1591.
In the late 15th century the Timurid sultan of Herat, Husayn Bayqarah, appointed Dhu'l-Nun Beg Arghun as governor of Kandahar. Dhu'l-Nun Beg soon began to ignore the authority of the central government in Herat and in around 1479 he began expanding in the direction of Baluchistan, taking over Pishin, Shal and Mustang. In 1485 his sons Shah Beg and Muhammad Mukim Khan also seized Sibi from the Samma dynasty of Sindh, although this gain was only temporary.
In 1497 Dhu'l-Nun Beg threw his support behind the revolt of Husayn Bayqarah's son Badi' al-Zaman against his father. Dhu'l-Nun Beg, who married off his daughter to Badi' al-Zaman, subsequently gained a prominent position in the latter's government when the Timurid succeeded Husayn Bayqarah in Herat in 1506. Unfortunately for them, the Uzbeks under Muhammad Shaybani invaded Khorasan shortly after Badi' al-Zaman's ascension. In 1507 Dhu'l-Nun Beg was killed in battle against the Uzbeks and succeeded by his sons Shah Beg and Mukim.