Battle of Damghan (1729)

Battle of Damghan
Part of Nader's Campaigns
Painting of the Battle of Damghan, illustrating Persian decisive artillery fire against the Afghans.
Date September 29 – October 5, 1729 Location Mihmandoost near Damghan Result Safavid victory
Belligerents
Safavid loyalists	Hotaki dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Nader Shah 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[1] or 4,000[2]	12,000 killed[2]

The Battle of Damghan (Persian: نبرد دامغان) or Battle of Mehmandoost (Persian: نبرد مهماندوست) was fought on September 29 to October 5, 1729, near the city of Damghan. It resulted in an overwhelming victory for Nader Shah and the Safavid cause he had taken up, though by itself it did not end Ashraf's rule in Iran, 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 artillery-dependent 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 - relying on guns and artillery-men from the Ottomans - he failed to construct an adequate military structure to hold up against Nader's army.