Siege of Shiraz (1758)
1758 siege
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The Siege of Shiraz was a watershed siege engagement fought in 1758 between the Qajars of Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar and Karim Khan Zand. It ended in a decisive victory for the Zands, who not only forced the Qajars to suspend the siege but conquered their lands afterwards.
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Zand victory
- Qajar failure in capturing Shiraz
| Siege of Shiraz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Qajar-Zand Wars | |||||||
The Arg of Karim Khan, a citadel erected by Karim Khan Zand, who defeated the Qajars.[1] | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Zand Iran |
 Qajars Supported by: Lar Afshars of Urmia Afghans Uzbeks Azeris | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Karim Khan Zand Shaykh Ali Khan Zand Nadr Khan Zand |
Mohammad Hasan Ebrahim Khan Boghayeri Abu'l Qasem Khan (POW) Allies: Fath-Ali Khan Afshar Nasir Khan Lari | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
10,000
|
At least 27,000 [a] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Negligible | Very heavy almost the entire force annihilated | ||||||
Background
In 1757, Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar defeated Azad Khan Afghan at the Battle of Urmiya and occupied his capital, forcing the latter to flee to Baghdad.[2] This allowed him to concentrate his resources on Karim Khan Zand, who mustered only about 10,000 poorly supplied troops in his capital in Shiraz by mid-January 1758.[2] The Zands heavily re-fortified Shiraz and stocked it with ammunition and food in order to sustain a long siege,[3][4] and went as far as devastating the countryside around Shiraz to diminish enemy supplies;[4] the Qajars occupied most of Fars including Kazerun where Fath-Ali Khan Afshar and Ebrahim Khan Boghayeri's 5,000 men ousted Shaykh Ali Khan Zand, arrived, and defeated a detachment commanded by Nadr Khan Zand[2] before beginning the siege on 11 May 1758.
Siege
Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar brought with him siege cannons from Kazerun,[2] and received the support of Nasir Khan Lari who arrived the month after it began.[2] However, they were outgunned by the superior Zand defenders and were subject to daily sorties from Shaykh Ali Khan Zand,[2] Karim's cousin who drained their supplies and fostered dissent in the Qajar ranks,[4] which was a fluid patchwork of multiple different ethnic groups, largely defectees from Azad Khan Afghan's ranks.[2][3]
Shaykh 'Ali intercepted Abu'l Qasem Khan, the nasaqchi-bashi[b] of Mohammad Hasan and defeated his band of 300, confiscating 12–13,000 mules who were sent 60 miles out of Shiraz to pasture, further diminishing Mohammad Hasan's offensive capability.[2]
Eventually, some disaffected Uzbeks and Afghans plundered the Qajar camp at night[4] on 3 July and dealt heavy damage to the Qajar ranks,[3] leaving Shiraz. Mohammad Hasan decided to withdraw the next morning.[2]
Aftermath
The Qajars lost the majority of their forces as a result of the defeat; the endogenous force Mohammad Hasan had put together collapsed.[2] The Qajars managed to retreat to Isfahan within 3 days but the garrison commander, Hoseyn Khan Develu, had made for Mazandaran with his troops, so Mohammad Hasan moved north to Astarabad[3] via Kashan[2] to secure his position there.[2] Karim used the victory to cement his position in Fars before reconquering the rest of Iran, eventually defeating and killing Mohammad Hasan at the Battle of Astarabad in 1759.[2][3]