section_path: Military campaigns/Safavids and Kandahar
section_name: Safavids and Kandahar
paragraph_text: Safavids and Kandahar
  
  Kandahar (also known as the ancient Indian kingdom of Gandhara) had connections with the Mughals from the time of the Empire's ancestor, Timur, the warlord who had conquered much of Western, Central, and parts of South Asia in the 14th century. However, the Safavids considered it to be an appanage of the Persian-ruled territory of Khorasan, and declared its association with the Mughal emperors to be a usurpation. In 1558, while Akbar was consolidating his rule over northern India, Safavid Shah Tahmasp I seized Kandahar and expelled its Mughal governor. The recovery of Kandahar had not been a priority for Akbar, but after his military activity in the northern frontiers, he moved to restore Mughal control. At the time, the region was also under threat from the Uzbeks, but the Emperor of Persia, himself beleaguered by the Ottoman Turks, was unable to send reinforcements.
  
  In 1593, Akbar received the exiled Safavid prince, Rostam Mirza. Rostam Mirza pledged allegiance to the Mughals; he was granted a rank (mansab) of command over 5,000 men and received Multan as a jagir. The Safavid prince and governor of Kandahar, Mozaffar Hosayn, also agreed to defect to the Mughals. Hosayn, who was in an adversary relationship with his overlord, Shah Abbas, was granted a rank of 5,000 men, and his daughter Kandahari Begum was married to Akbar's grandson, the Mughal prince Khurram. Kandahar was secured in 1595 with the arrival of a garrison headed by the Mughal general, Shah Bayg Khan. The reconquest of Kandahar did not overtly disturb Mughal-Persian relations. Akbar and the Persian Shah continued to exchange ambassadors and presents. However, the power equation between the two had now changed in favour of the Mughals.