Battle of Damghan (1729)

Safavid Ghilzai War
Part of Nader's Campaigns
Painting of the Battle of Damghan, illustrating Nader's decisive artillery fire against the Afghans.
Date September 29 – October 5, 1729 Location Mihmandoost near Damghan Result Decisive Persian victory
Belligerents
Safavid Loyalists	Hotaki dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Nader Lotf Ali Khan Tahmasp Khan Jalayer Fath Ali Khan Kayani Latif Khan	Ashraf Hotaki Mohammad Seidal Nasrullah Khan Zebardust Khan
Strength
~25,000	40,000-50,000
Casualties and losses
3,000 or 4,000	12,000

The Battle of Damghan or Battle of Mihmandoost was fought on September 29 to October 5, 1729, near the city of Damghan. It resulted in an overwhelming victory for Nader and the Safavid cause he had taken up, though by itself it did not end Ashraf's rule in Persia, it was a significant triumph which led to further successes in the following engagements of the campaign to restore Tahmasp II to the throne. The battle was followed by another one in Murcheh-Khort, a village near Isfahan. Nader's forces were victorious in both battles, which led him to remove the Ghilzai Afghan dynasty from their short stay on the Persian throne. The Hotakis were forced back to their territory in what is now southern Afghanistan.

The battle of Damghan proved the supremacy of Nader's military system in comparison to the old exclusively cavalry based system utilised by the Afghans. Although Ashraf sought to remedy this in the subsequent engagement at Murcheh-Khort, he failed to construct an adequate military structure to hold up against Nader's army.

Ashraf having come to power in the aftermath of a coup against his predecessor, Mahmud Hotaki, had achieved great success in the war with the Ottomans where with a much inferior force he overcame a superior Turkish army and agreed to a settlement which divided the west of the former Safavid Empire with his Ottoman adversary in the aftermath of which he secured Turkish support and acceptance as the legitimate ruler of Persia.

Meanwhile, Nader & Tahmasp had been campaigning in the north-east building up a base from which to challenge Ashraf's claim on his newly acquired dominion. Hearing of the Nader's march on Herat, Ashraf set out from Isfahan in August 1729 with a host 30,000 strong, in the hope of conquering Khorasan while Nader was waging war on the Abdali Afghans further to the east. Unfortunately for Ashraf, Nader subjugated Herat and returned to Mashad before Ashraf could invade Khorasan. Upon hearing of Ashraf's approach Nader gathered his fighting men to set out via Sabzevar on September 12, 1729.

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