How India Lost Afghanistan: The Saga Of A Bloody Battle And A Humiliating Treaty

Mughal India lost control of key lands 285 years ago today, and it marked the beginning of Afghanistan as a separate nation.

Afghanistan's Panjshir valley

New Delhi: Today is the 285th birth anniversary of Afghanistan. It was on this day when India - a territory of the Mughal empire - lost its control over a significant area of land. And this is how Afghanistan was born. Emperor Muhammad Shah Rangila signed a treaty with Persian invaded Nadir Shah on May 26, 1739 for the formal cession of key Afghan territories to Persia.

Rangila had to sign the agreement as a result of a crushing defeat - which followed Shah's invasion. The development changed the geography and political landscape of the subcontinent for ever.

Plagued by repeated invasions, financial troubles and internal strife, by early 18th century, the Mughal empire had started to fall. The Mughals had lost control over their far-away territories because of Rangila's ineffective rule. 

The outcome of the Battle of Karnal in 1739 that was fought near today's Haryana was an indication of the weakening of the empire.

Nadir Shah's Rise and Expansionist Ambition

Shah, during that period, emerged as a powerful military leader in Persia (today's Iran) who overthrew the Safavid dynasty - setting his sights on expansion. 

Strategically located between the Mughal Empire and Persia, he made Afghanistan his first target.

Began in 1738 with the capture of Kandahar from the Ghilzai Afghans, Shah then moved quickly to take over Ghazni and Kabul - both under nominal Mughal control. Already weakened, the Mughal forces failed to offer strong resistance. As a result, the Persian ruler had made inroads into northern India by early 1739.

On February 24, 1739, Shah defeated the Mughal army at the Battle of Karnal and took into custody Nizam-ul-Mulk (Rangila's key general).

His forces then advanced towards Delhi and carried out a trail of destruction and massacre. The Persian army looted the city for a week and seized immense wealth, which also included the much talked about Koh-i-Noor diamond.

Kandahar Treaty

Left with no option, Rangile proposed ceasefire to put an end to the bloodshed. It resulted into the Kandahar Treaty, according to which the Mughals handed over a vast region west of the Indus River, including Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, parts of Sindh, Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul. 

In addition, the Mughals also had to pay a massive indemnity to Shah.

Afghanistan's Birth

Though the then Mughal territories came under Persian control, the situation in just seven years. Shah was killed in 1747 by his commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan general who then established the Durrani Empire. 

Durrani is credited with laying the foundations of modern Afghanistan. He established it as a seperate geographic and political state.

The Kandahar Treaty remains an important event in the history of South Asia that marked the irreversible decline of Mughal authority and the emergence of Afghanistan as an independent region.