Arghun Dynasty

The Arghun Dynasty was a dynasty of either Mongol [Davies, p. 627] , Turkish or Turko-Mongol [Bosworth, "New Islamic Dynasties," p. 329] ethnicity that ruled parts of Afghanistan in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, as well as the region of Sindh for most of the 16th century. 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 [Bosworth, "New Islamic Dynasties," p. 329] .

Arghun governors of Kandahar

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. [Davies, p. 627]

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 [Babur, Vol. II p. 40] . 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. [Davies, p. 627]

Wars with Babur

The Arghuns ultimately lost control of their portion of Afghanistan to the Timurid prince Babur, who had been expelled from Transoxiana by the Uzbeks and had made his way south to Husayn Bayqarah's kingdom. In 1501/1502 Mukim had peacefully gained the submission of Kabul, which was in chaos after the death of its ruler Ulugh Beg ibn Abu Sa'id [Babur, Vol I, p. 126] . This was contested by Babur, who besieged and took the city in 1504; Mukim fell back to Kandahar [Bosworth, "Kabul" p. 357M] .

After Dhu'l-Nun Beg's death Babur decided that as long as Shah Beg and Mukim remained in Kandahar they would remain a threat to them. In 1507 or 1508 he attacked them, but the brothers saved their position by agreeing to submit to the Uzbek Muhammad Shaybani. In the following years Babur spent his time fighting against the Uzbeks in an attempt to regain Samarkand, giving Shah Beg and Mukim a degree of respite. [Davies, p. 627]

Shah Beg, however, seems to have realized that in the long term it would be impossible to hold Kandahar against Babur. In 1520, in the hopes of establishing a new power base, he invaded Sindh, where the Samma dynasty was struggling under Djam Firuz. Shah Beg defeated Djam Firuz's army and proceeded to sack Thatta. The two sides agreed to a peace, where Shah Beg gained the upper half of Sindh while the Sammas retained the lower half. Djam Firuz almost immediately broke this agreement, but was defeated by Shah Beg and forced to flee to Gujarat. This marked the end of Samma rule in Sindh, as Shah Beg gained control of the whole region. [Davies, p. 627]

Arghun Dynasty of Sindh

Arghun Branch

In 1522 Babur took Kandahar after a drawn out siege and annexed it [Bosworth, "Kandahar," p. 536] . Following this, Shah Beg made Bakhar his official capital. He died in 1524 and his son Shah Husayn succeeded him. Shah Husayn had the khutba read in Babur's name and attacked Multan, probably at Babur's insistence. Multan, which was ruled by the Langah, fell in 1528 after an extended siege and Shah Husayn appointed a governor of the city. Shortly after Shah Husayn departed Multan for Thatta, however, the governor was thrown out of the city. The rebels administered Multan for a time independently, but soon afterwards submitted to the Mughal Empire, which had been founded by Babur after his capture of Delhi in 1526. [Davies, pp. 627-8]

In 1540 Shah Husayn had to deal with the arrival of Babur's successor Humayun, who had been expelled from Hindustan by Sher Shah Suri. Humayun implored Shah Husayn to provide assistance in fighting against Sher Shah, but was unable to convince him to do so. Some time after this Humayun later attempted to wrest Sindh from Shah Husayn, but the latter was able to force a stalemate. The Mughal Emperor eventually agreed to leave Sindh and made his way to Kandahar in 1543. [Davies, p. 628]

Shah Husayn became increasingly incapable of ruling as he approached the end of his life. Because of this, the nobles of Sindh decided to elect Mirza Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan, who was a member of a senior branch of the Arghuns, as their ruler in 1554. Shah Husayn was set aside and died childless in 1556. [Davies, p. 628]

Tarkhan Branch

During the civil war between Shah Husayn and Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan, the latter had sent a request for the help to the Portuguese at Bassein. A 700 man force under the command of Pedro Barreto Rolim sailed up to Thatta in 1555, only to find that Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan had already won the conflict and there was no need for their assistance. Furious at the governor of Thatta's refusal to pay them, the Portuguese sacked the defenseless city and killed several thousand people. ["Report of the Western Circle"]

Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan was soon forced to deal with a rival claimant, Sultan Mahmud Gokaldash. He was eventually compelled to make peace with Sultan Mahmud; the two agreed that Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan would keep lower Sindh, with his capital at Thatta, while Sultan Mahmud would rule upper Sindh from Bakhar. In 1567 Muhammad 'Isa Tarkhan died and was succeeded by his son Muhammad Baki. During the latter's reign upper Sindh was annexed by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1573. [Davies, p. 628]

Muhammad Baki committed suicide in 1585, and was succeeded by his son Jani Beg. In 1591 Akbar sent an army to conquer lower Sindh. Jani Beg put up a resistance but was defeated by the Mughal forces and his principality was annexed. In 1599 he died of delirium tremens. [Davies, p. 628]

Notes

References

*Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. "The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual." Great Britain: Columbia University Press, 1996. ISBN 0231107145

*Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. "Kabul." "The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume IV." New Ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978. ISBN 9004057455

*Davies, C. Collin. "Arghun." "The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume I." New. Ed. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960. ISBN 9004081143

*"Memoirs of Zehīr-ed-dīn Muhammed Bābur, Emperor of Hindustan." Trans. John Leyden & William Erskine. Annotated and edited by Lucas King. London: 1826.

*" [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/DS416.A3/ Report of the Western Circle, 1898.] " 20 January 2005. Accessed 2 May 2008.