Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al- (al-Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah) (al-Afdal Shahanshan) (1066 - December 11, 1121). The Fatimid vizier in Egypt for twenty-seven years. During his office, the country enjoyed internal tranquility, although in 1103 Acre fell to the Crusaders.
Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali was born in Acre, the son of Badr al-Jamali, an Armenian Mameluke. Badr was vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his deth in 1094, when al-Afda succeeded him. Caliph Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah died soon afterwards, and al-Afdal appointed as caliph al-Musta'li, a child, instead of al-Mustali's much older brother Nizar. Nizar revolted and was defeated in 1095. His supporters, led by Hassan-i-Sabah, fled west, where Hassan established the Ismai'li community, sometimes erroneously called the Hashashin, or Assassins.
At this time, Fatimid power in Palestine had been reduced by the arrival of the Seljuk Turks. In 1097, he captured Tyre from the Seljuks, and in 1098 he took Jerusalem, expelling its Ortoqid governor Ilghazi in place of a Fatimid. Al-Afdal restored most of Palestine to Fatimid control, at least temporarily.
Al-Afdal misunderstood the Crusaders as Byzantine mercenaries. This misperception caused al-Afdal to conclude that the crusaders would make for natural allies, as each were enemies of the Seljuk Turks. Fatimid overtures for an alliance with the Crusaders were rebuffed, and the crusaders continued southward from Antioch to capture Jerusalem from Fatimid control in 1099.
When it became apparent that the Crusaders would not rest until they had control of the city, al-Afdal marched out from Cairo, but was too late to rescue Jerusalem, which fell on July 15, 1099. On August 12, the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon surprised al-Afdal at the Battle of Ascalon and completely defeated him. Al-Afdal would reassert Fatimid control of Ascalon, as the Crusaders did not attempt to retain it, and utilize it as a staging ground for later attacks on the crusader states.
Al-Afdal marched out every year to attack the nascent Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1105 attempted to ally with Damascus against them, but was defeated at the Battle of Ramla. Al-Afdal and his army enjoyed success only so long as no European fleet interfered, but they gradually lost control of their coastal strongholds. In 1109, Tripoli was lost, despite the fleet and supplies sent by al-Afdal, and the city became the center of an important Crusader county. In 1110, the governor of Ascalon, Shams al-Khalifa, rebelled against al-Afdal with the intent of handing over the city to Jerusalem (for a large price). Al-Khalifa's Berber troops assassinated him and sent his head to al-Afdal. The Crusaders later took Tyre and Acre as well, and remained in Jerusalem until the arrival of Saladin decades later.
Al-Afdal also introduced tax (iqta) reform in Egypt, which remained in place until Saladin took over Egypt. Al-Afdal was nicknamed Jalal al-Islam) ("Glory of Islam") and Nasir al-Din ("Protector of the Faith"). Ibn al-Qalanisi describes him as "a firm believer in the doctrines of Sunnah, upright in conduct, a lover of justice towards both troops and civil population, judicious in counsel and plan, ambitious and resolute, of penetrating knowledge and exquisite tact, of generous nature, accurate in his intuitions, and possessing a sense of justice which preserved him from wrongdoing and led him to shun all tyrannical methods."
Al-Afdal was murdered during Eid ul-Adha in 1121. According to Ibn al-Qalanisi, "it was asserted that the Batinis (Hashshashin) were responsible for this assassination, but this statement is not true. On the contrary it is an empty pretence and an insubstantial calumny." The real cause was the growing boldness of the caliph al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah, who had succeeded al-Musta'li in 1101, and his resentment of al-Afdal's control. Ibn al-Qalanisi states that "all eyes wept and all hearts sorrowed for him; time did not produce his like after him, and after his loss the government fell into disrepute." He was succeeded as vizier by al-Ma'mun.
In Latin, his name was rendered as "Lavendalius" or "Elafdalio."
Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah, al- see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Afdal Shahanshan, al- see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Jalal al-Islam see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Glory of Islam see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Nasir al-Din see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Protector of the Faith see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al- (al-Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah) (al-Afdal Shahanshan) (1066 - December 11, 1121). The Fatimid vizier in Egypt for twenty-seven years. During his office, the country enjoyed internal tranquility, although in 1103 Acre fell to the Crusaders.
Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali was born in Acre, the son of Badr al-Jamali, an Armenian Mameluke. Badr was vizier for the Fatimids in Cairo from 1074 until his deth in 1094, when al-Afda succeeded him. Caliph Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah died soon afterwards, and al-Afdal appointed as caliph al-Musta'li, a child, instead of al-Mustali's much older brother Nizar. Nizar revolted and was defeated in 1095. His supporters, led by Hassan-i-Sabah, fled west, where Hassan established the Ismai'li community, sometimes erroneously called the Hashashin, or Assassins.
At this time, Fatimid power in Palestine had been reduced by the arrival of the Seljuk Turks. In 1097, he captured Tyre from the Seljuks, and in 1098 he took Jerusalem, expelling its Ortoqid governor Ilghazi in place of a Fatimid. Al-Afdal restored most of Palestine to Fatimid control, at least temporarily.
Al-Afdal misunderstood the Crusaders as Byzantine mercenaries. This misperception caused al-Afdal to conclude that the crusaders would make for natural allies, as each were enemies of the Seljuk Turks. Fatimid overtures for an alliance with the Crusaders were rebuffed, and the crusaders continued southward from Antioch to capture Jerusalem from Fatimid control in 1099.
When it became apparent that the Crusaders would not rest until they had control of the city, al-Afdal marched out from Cairo, but was too late to rescue Jerusalem, which fell on July 15, 1099. On August 12, the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon surprised al-Afdal at the Battle of Ascalon and completely defeated him. Al-Afdal would reassert Fatimid control of Ascalon, as the Crusaders did not attempt to retain it, and utilize it as a staging ground for later attacks on the crusader states.
Al-Afdal marched out every year to attack the nascent Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1105 attempted to ally with Damascus against them, but was defeated at the Battle of Ramla. Al-Afdal and his army enjoyed success only so long as no European fleet interfered, but they gradually lost control of their coastal strongholds. In 1109, Tripoli was lost, despite the fleet and supplies sent by al-Afdal, and the city became the center of an important Crusader county. In 1110, the governor of Ascalon, Shams al-Khalifa, rebelled against al-Afdal with the intent of handing over the city to Jerusalem (for a large price). Al-Khalifa's Berber troops assassinated him and sent his head to al-Afdal. The Crusaders later took Tyre and Acre as well, and remained in Jerusalem until the arrival of Saladin decades later.
Al-Afdal also introduced tax (iqta) reform in Egypt, which remained in place until Saladin took over Egypt. Al-Afdal was nicknamed Jalal al-Islam) ("Glory of Islam") and Nasir al-Din ("Protector of the Faith"). Ibn al-Qalanisi describes him as "a firm believer in the doctrines of Sunnah, upright in conduct, a lover of justice towards both troops and civil population, judicious in counsel and plan, ambitious and resolute, of penetrating knowledge and exquisite tact, of generous nature, accurate in his intuitions, and possessing a sense of justice which preserved him from wrongdoing and led him to shun all tyrannical methods."
Al-Afdal was murdered during Eid ul-Adha in 1121. According to Ibn al-Qalanisi, "it was asserted that the Batinis (Hashshashin) were responsible for this assassination, but this statement is not true. On the contrary it is an empty pretence and an insubstantial calumny." The real cause was the growing boldness of the caliph al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah, who had succeeded al-Musta'li in 1101, and his resentment of al-Afdal's control. Ibn al-Qalanisi states that "all eyes wept and all hearts sorrowed for him; time did not produce his like after him, and after his loss the government fell into disrepute." He was succeeded as vizier by al-Ma'mun.
In Latin, his name was rendered as "Lavendalius" or "Elafdalio."
Malik al-Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali Shahanshah, al- see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Afdal Shahanshan, al- see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Jalal al-Islam see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Glory of Islam see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Nasir al-Din see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Protector of the Faith see Afdal ibn Badr al-Jamali, al-
Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Afghani, Jamal al-Din al- (Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani) (Sayyid Muhammad ibn Safdar al-Husayn) (Sayyid Jamal-al-din Asadabadi) (1838 - March 9, 1897). Muslim reformer, apologist, and anti-colonialist who is known as the “Father of the Pan-Islamic Movement.”
Afghani was born near Hamadan and educated in Iran and the Shi‘ite shrine cities of Ottoman Iraq. Educated in rationalist philosophy, taught more in Iran than elsewhere in the Muslim world, Afghani was also influenced by the philosophically oriented and innovative Shaikhi school of Shi‘ism. Around 1857, he went to India, where he seems to have acquired his lifelong hatred of British imperialism. After a trip, probably via Mecca and Iraq, he went to Afghanistan and entered the counsels of the Afghan emir, advising him to fight the British. When his patron was defeated by Amir Shir Ali, the latter expelled Afghani.
Afghani went briefly to India and Cairo, and then to Istanbul, where he became a friend of the head of the Dar al-Fonun, a new university. In 1870, Afghani gave a lecture at the university. He compared philosophy to prophecy and implied that prophecy was a craft, thus giving the Ottoman ulama (religious scholars), already hostile to the secular university, an excuse to attack the university and bring on Afghani’s expulsion.
Afghani stayed then in Cairo from 1871 to 1879. There he did his most fruitful work. He was given a stipend by the Egyptian government to teach young Egyptians. Among his disciples was the later great Muslim reformer Muhammad Abduh. From 1875 onwards, Afghani entered politics by (1) leading an Arab Masonic lodge, which he tried to use to achieve the abdication of Isma‘il in favor of his son Tawfiq, (2) promoting the formation of political newspapers by his disciples, and (3) giving effective mass orations, directed especially against Westerners in Egypt. When Tawfiq took power with Franco-British aid in 1879 and Afghani continued to attack the British, he was exiled to India in August 1879.
In India, Afghani went to the Muslim principality of Hyderabad, where he published several Persian articles and his one treatise, known as the Refutation of the Materialists, which was aimed mainly at the pro-British Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and his school. After detention by the British in Calcutta, Afghani left for Paris, stopping in London. In London and Paris, Afghani wrote articles against the British occupation of Egypt, and also wrote the irreligious French “Answer to Renan,”a notable defense of Islam against Ernest Renan. He got Abduh to join him in Paris, where they published the reformist and anti-British paper, Al-urwa al-wuthqa, in 1884. It was at this time that Afghani first expressed the pan-Islamic views most often associated with him. Until then, he had spoken rather in terms of regional nationalisms.
In 1886, Afghani sailed to the Iranian port of Bushehr, where his books and papers had been sent from Egypt. He planned to go to Russia, where the Slavophile editor Mikhail Katkov had invited him, but the Iranian minister of press invited him to Tehran. Jamal al-Din stayed with the wealthy Amin al-Zarb. His anti-foreign talk evidently disturbed the shah, who asked Amin al-Zarb to take Afghani with him to Russia, which he did. There he made futile attempts to convince Russia to fight Britain. Afghani overtook the shah’s party in Munich in 1889, and after a brief return to Russia he came back to Iran, where the prime minister refused to see him. Afghani then began to encourage secret organization and leaflets against the government, and forestalled expulsion by taking sanctuary at a shrine. In January 1891, he was expelled from Iran after a leaflet attacked the government for its concessions (especially the tobacco concession) to foreigners. When the Qajar Shah (Nasir al-Din) had Afghani forcibly removed from a place near Tehran which had been regarded as an inviolable sanctuary (in Persian, bast) Afghani developed feelings of hatred and a desire for vengeance towards the shah.
Afghani went to Iraq, and when the Tobacco Rebellion broke out in Iran, a mujtahid expelled from Shiraz visited Afghani, who wrote a letter against the shah and the tobacco concession to the leading mujtahid, Mirza Hasan Shirazi, who was important in the concession’s cancellation.
Frequently opposed by the ulama (the Muslim clergy) and suspected as dissident by the temporal powers, Afghani was often on the run. In 1891 and 1892, Afghani spent months speaking and writing in England with Malkom Khan. In 1892, Afghani was invited to be the guest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid in Istanbul. In Istanbul, Afghani was employed by Sultan Abdulhamid (‘Abd al-Hamid II) to promulgate pan-Islamic ideals. There he worked with a group of Iranians and Shi‘ites to get Shi‘ites to recognize Abdulhamid’s claim to be caliph of all Muslims.
In 1896, Afghani’s disciple, Mirza Riza Kirmani, visited Afghani. Afghani inspired Mirza to kill Nasir al-Din Shah on May 1, 1896. The friendship between Afghani and the Sultan subsequently cooled, essentially because of Afghani’s complicity in the assassination of the Persian ruler. Indeed, Afghani was placed under house arrest by the Sultan. Iran’s futile efforts to extradite Afghani ended with Afghani’s death in 1897.
Afghani died on March 9, 1897 in Istanbul and was buried there. However, in late 1944, at the request of the Afghan government, his remains were taken to Afghanistan and laid to rest in Kabul inside the Kabul University where a mausoleum was erected for him.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was most effective as a pamphleteer, journalist, orator, and revolutionary activist. As a Muslim modernist and political propagandist, he advocated unity of the Islamic world and selective borrowing from the West for the purpose of stemming the tide of Western imperialism. He was the adviser of Muslim rulers in many parts of the Islamic world and a political activist in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, and the Ottoman empire. With him, began the reform movement which gave rise to the Salafiyya and, later on, to the Muslim Brothers.
Afghani, above all else, called for unity amongst all Muslims. However, he did not believe that all Muslims ought to unify under one ruler, or Caliph. Instead, cooperation amongst Muslims was his answer to the weakness that had allowed Muslims to be colonized by the Europeans (namely Britain, Russia, and France). He believed that, in fact, Islam (and its revealed law) was compatible with rationality and thus, Muslims could become politically unified whilst still maintaining their faith based on a religious social morality. These beliefs had a profound effect on Muhammad 'Abduh, who went on to expand on the notion of using rationality in the human relations aspect of Islam (mu'amalat).
Afghani’s development of the philosophical bases for Islamic modernism was left to his most illustrious pupil from the Cairo period, Muhammad ‘Abduh. However, in Afghanistan, Afghans revere his memory and believe him to be a descendant of a family of Sayyids from Asadabad in Kunar Province of Afghanistan, even though most Western scholars agree on Afghani’s Iranian origin.
As a believer in reform and as a pioneer in various forms of political activisim and agitation in many countries, Afghani had an important influence that continues in the Muslim world today.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
“Father of the Pan-Islamic Movement” see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Muhammad ibn Safdar al-Husayn see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Jamal-al-din Asadabadi see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Afghani, Jamal al-Din al- (Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani) (Sayyid Muhammad ibn Safdar al-Husayn) (Sayyid Jamal-al-din Asadabadi) (1838 - March 9, 1897). Muslim reformer, apologist, and anti-colonialist who is known as the “Father of the Pan-Islamic Movement.”
Afghani was born near Hamadan and educated in Iran and the Shi‘ite shrine cities of Ottoman Iraq. Educated in rationalist philosophy, taught more in Iran than elsewhere in the Muslim world, Afghani was also influenced by the philosophically oriented and innovative Shaikhi school of Shi‘ism. Around 1857, he went to India, where he seems to have acquired his lifelong hatred of British imperialism. After a trip, probably via Mecca and Iraq, he went to Afghanistan and entered the counsels of the Afghan emir, advising him to fight the British. When his patron was defeated by Amir Shir Ali, the latter expelled Afghani.
Afghani went briefly to India and Cairo, and then to Istanbul, where he became a friend of the head of the Dar al-Fonun, a new university. In 1870, Afghani gave a lecture at the university. He compared philosophy to prophecy and implied that prophecy was a craft, thus giving the Ottoman ulama (religious scholars), already hostile to the secular university, an excuse to attack the university and bring on Afghani’s expulsion.
Afghani stayed then in Cairo from 1871 to 1879. There he did his most fruitful work. He was given a stipend by the Egyptian government to teach young Egyptians. Among his disciples was the later great Muslim reformer Muhammad Abduh. From 1875 onwards, Afghani entered politics by (1) leading an Arab Masonic lodge, which he tried to use to achieve the abdication of Isma‘il in favor of his son Tawfiq, (2) promoting the formation of political newspapers by his disciples, and (3) giving effective mass orations, directed especially against Westerners in Egypt. When Tawfiq took power with Franco-British aid in 1879 and Afghani continued to attack the British, he was exiled to India in August 1879.
In India, Afghani went to the Muslim principality of Hyderabad, where he published several Persian articles and his one treatise, known as the Refutation of the Materialists, which was aimed mainly at the pro-British Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan and his school. After detention by the British in Calcutta, Afghani left for Paris, stopping in London. In London and Paris, Afghani wrote articles against the British occupation of Egypt, and also wrote the irreligious French “Answer to Renan,”a notable defense of Islam against Ernest Renan. He got Abduh to join him in Paris, where they published the reformist and anti-British paper, Al-urwa al-wuthqa, in 1884. It was at this time that Afghani first expressed the pan-Islamic views most often associated with him. Until then, he had spoken rather in terms of regional nationalisms.
In 1886, Afghani sailed to the Iranian port of Bushehr, where his books and papers had been sent from Egypt. He planned to go to Russia, where the Slavophile editor Mikhail Katkov had invited him, but the Iranian minister of press invited him to Tehran. Jamal al-Din stayed with the wealthy Amin al-Zarb. His anti-foreign talk evidently disturbed the shah, who asked Amin al-Zarb to take Afghani with him to Russia, which he did. There he made futile attempts to convince Russia to fight Britain. Afghani overtook the shah’s party in Munich in 1889, and after a brief return to Russia he came back to Iran, where the prime minister refused to see him. Afghani then began to encourage secret organization and leaflets against the government, and forestalled expulsion by taking sanctuary at a shrine. In January 1891, he was expelled from Iran after a leaflet attacked the government for its concessions (especially the tobacco concession) to foreigners. When the Qajar Shah (Nasir al-Din) had Afghani forcibly removed from a place near Tehran which had been regarded as an inviolable sanctuary (in Persian, bast) Afghani developed feelings of hatred and a desire for vengeance towards the shah.
Afghani went to Iraq, and when the Tobacco Rebellion broke out in Iran, a mujtahid expelled from Shiraz visited Afghani, who wrote a letter against the shah and the tobacco concession to the leading mujtahid, Mirza Hasan Shirazi, who was important in the concession’s cancellation.
Frequently opposed by the ulama (the Muslim clergy) and suspected as dissident by the temporal powers, Afghani was often on the run. In 1891 and 1892, Afghani spent months speaking and writing in England with Malkom Khan. In 1892, Afghani was invited to be the guest of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid in Istanbul. In Istanbul, Afghani was employed by Sultan Abdulhamid (‘Abd al-Hamid II) to promulgate pan-Islamic ideals. There he worked with a group of Iranians and Shi‘ites to get Shi‘ites to recognize Abdulhamid’s claim to be caliph of all Muslims.
In 1896, Afghani’s disciple, Mirza Riza Kirmani, visited Afghani. Afghani inspired Mirza to kill Nasir al-Din Shah on May 1, 1896. The friendship between Afghani and the Sultan subsequently cooled, essentially because of Afghani’s complicity in the assassination of the Persian ruler. Indeed, Afghani was placed under house arrest by the Sultan. Iran’s futile efforts to extradite Afghani ended with Afghani’s death in 1897.
Afghani died on March 9, 1897 in Istanbul and was buried there. However, in late 1944, at the request of the Afghan government, his remains were taken to Afghanistan and laid to rest in Kabul inside the Kabul University where a mausoleum was erected for him.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was most effective as a pamphleteer, journalist, orator, and revolutionary activist. As a Muslim modernist and political propagandist, he advocated unity of the Islamic world and selective borrowing from the West for the purpose of stemming the tide of Western imperialism. He was the adviser of Muslim rulers in many parts of the Islamic world and a political activist in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, and the Ottoman empire. With him, began the reform movement which gave rise to the Salafiyya and, later on, to the Muslim Brothers.
Afghani, above all else, called for unity amongst all Muslims. However, he did not believe that all Muslims ought to unify under one ruler, or Caliph. Instead, cooperation amongst Muslims was his answer to the weakness that had allowed Muslims to be colonized by the Europeans (namely Britain, Russia, and France). He believed that, in fact, Islam (and its revealed law) was compatible with rationality and thus, Muslims could become politically unified whilst still maintaining their faith based on a religious social morality. These beliefs had a profound effect on Muhammad 'Abduh, who went on to expand on the notion of using rationality in the human relations aspect of Islam (mu'amalat).
Afghani’s development of the philosophical bases for Islamic modernism was left to his most illustrious pupil from the Cairo period, Muhammad ‘Abduh. However, in Afghanistan, Afghans revere his memory and believe him to be a descendant of a family of Sayyids from Asadabad in Kunar Province of Afghanistan, even though most Western scholars agree on Afghani’s Iranian origin.
As a believer in reform and as a pioneer in various forms of political activisim and agitation in many countries, Afghani had an important influence that continues in the Muslim world today.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
“Father of the Pan-Islamic Movement” see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Muhammad ibn Safdar al-Husayn see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Sayyid Jamal-al-din Asadabadi see Afghani, Jamal al-Din al-
Afrasiyab
Afrasiyab. The legendary king of the Turanians according to Iranian tradition. It is also the name of the founder of a line of governors of Basra (r. 1612-1668).
Afrasiyab. The legendary king of the Turanians according to Iranian tradition. It is also the name of the founder of a line of governors of Basra (r. 1612-1668).
Afshar, Haleh
Haleh Afshar (b. May 21, 1944, Tehran, Pahlavi Iran – d. May 12, 2022, Heslington, England) was a British life peer in the House of Lords.
Haleh Afshar was born as the eldest of the four children born to Hassan Afshar and Pouran Khabir on May 21, 1944 in Tehran. Afshar was a professor of politics and women's studies at the University of York, England, and a visiting professor of Islamic law at the Faculté internationale de droit comparé (international faculty of comparative law) at Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, France. Afshar served on several bodies, notably the British Council and the United Nations Association, of which she was honorary president of international services. She was appointed to the board of the Women's National Commission in September 2008. She served as the chair for the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. Afshar was a founding member of the Muslim Women's Network. She served on the Home Office's working groups, on "engaging with women" and "preventing extremism together".
Afshar was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to equal opportunities. On October 18, 2007, it was announced that she would be made a baroness and join the House of Lords as a cross-bench life peer. She was formally introduced into the House of Lords on December 11, 2007, as Baroness Afshar, of Heslington in the County of North Yorkshire.
In March 2009, Afshar was named as one of the twenty most successful Muslim women in the United Kingdom on the Muslim Women Power List 2009. The list was a collaboration between the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Emel Magazine, and The Times, to celebrate the achievements of Muslim women in the United Kingdom.
In April 2009, she was appointed an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Afshar died from kidney failure at her home in Heslington on May 12, 2022 at the age of 77.
In 2011, Afshar received an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex.
In January 2013, Afshar was nominated for the Services to Education award at the British Muslim Awards.
In 2017, Afshar received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford.
Afsharids
Afsharids. Afghan dynasty in Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan (r.1736-1796). Their main capital was Mashhad. The dynasty was founded by General Nadir Shah Afshar from the Afghan Qizilbash tribe, part of the Afshars. Nadir advanced as the military leader of a Safavid shadow shah, expelled the Afghans (Ghalzai) from Persia in 1730 with the conquest of Isfahan, and finally rose to the throne himself as Nadir Shah (1736-1747).
Nadir’s empire, at its zenith, included the whole of Iran and Afghanistan, with vassals in Iraq, Central Asia (Khiva), and northern India. After his death, the rule of his successors was soon confined to the city of Mashhad and the metropolitan province of Khurasan.
Nadir’s last years were punctuated by rebellions throughout his empire. His nephew Ali Quli Khan, sent to quell a revolt in Sistan, joined the rebels and was already marching on Mashhad when Nadir was assassinated in June of 1747. Ali Quli Khan was proclaimed king under the regnal name Adil Shah (“the just king”). Having secured Nadir’s fortress of Kalat, he massacred all his uncle’s male issue, preserving only Shahrukh, a teenage grandson by a daughter of the last Safavid monarch, as a hedge against a pro-Safavid coup. Adil sent his younger brother Ibrahim to govern western Iran from the old Safavid capital of Isfahan. He himself remained in Mashhad. Most of Nadir’s tribal levies, however, were returned home, especially to the hinterland of Isfahan. Ibrahim used these reinforcements in a bid for power and defeated Adil Shah’s forces near Zanjan in June 1748.
Ibrahim was proclaimed shah at Tabriz in December, but meanwhile Shahrukh, the grandson of Nadir, had been raised to the throne in Mashhad by a junta of Kurd and other tribal chiefs. In the spring of 1749, Ibrahim’s army evaporated on the advance of Shahrukh’s forces. Ibrahim was taken to Mashhad (together with his brother, Adil, whom Ibrahim had already blinded) and executed.
Mir Sayyid Muhammad -- like Shahrukh a grandson of the last Safavid shah and an influential figure as warden of the shrine mosque at Mashhad -- became the figurehead of a popular insurrection orchestrated by yet another military faction. Shahrukh Shah was deposed (and later blinded), and in January 1750 the sayyid was crowned Shah Sulayman II of the Safavid dynasty. He soon alienated his patrons by disbursing Nadir’s waning treasury to parasitical relatives. Within three months, Shah Sulayman had been deposed and blinded. Shahrukh was reinstalled and ruled nominally for a further forty-five years.
By 1750, Iran’s political center of gravity had shifted to Isfahan and Shiraz, under Karim Khan Zand. Afghanistan and Mughal India were ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani, who had escaped with his Afghan contingent from the debacle of Nadir’s assassination to be elected first shah of Afghanistan. Afsharid Khurasan remained an impoverished buffer zone between these states, ravaged by continuing power struggles between tribal chieftains and Shahrukh’s sons Nasr Allah Mirza and Nadir Mirza, and invaded three times by Ahmad Shah. The booty Nadir had brought from India was long dissipated, and Shahrukh’s sons resorted to stripping the shrine of ornaments to pay their fickle forces. Although Mashhad retained its prestige as a Shi‘ite shrine, chronic anarchy reduced commercial and pilgrim traffic and plunged Khurasan into an economic depression that lasted well into the nineteenth century. In 1796, Aqa Muhammad Qajar, having secured western Iran, stormed Mashhad and tortured Shahrukh to death to reveal the remnants of the fabled Afsharid jewels.
Afsharids. Afghan dynasty in Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan (r.1736-1796). Their main capital was Mashhad. The dynasty was founded by General Nadir Shah Afshar from the Afghan Qizilbash tribe, part of the Afshars. Nadir advanced as the military leader of a Safavid shadow shah, expelled the Afghans (Ghalzai) from Persia in 1730 with the conquest of Isfahan, and finally rose to the throne himself as Nadir Shah (1736-1747).
Nadir’s empire, at its zenith, included the whole of Iran and Afghanistan, with vassals in Iraq, Central Asia (Khiva), and northern India. After his death, the rule of his successors was soon confined to the city of Mashhad and the metropolitan province of Khurasan.
Nadir’s last years were punctuated by rebellions throughout his empire. His nephew Ali Quli Khan, sent to quell a revolt in Sistan, joined the rebels and was already marching on Mashhad when Nadir was assassinated in June of 1747. Ali Quli Khan was proclaimed king under the regnal name Adil Shah (“the just king”). Having secured Nadir’s fortress of Kalat, he massacred all his uncle’s male issue, preserving only Shahrukh, a teenage grandson by a daughter of the last Safavid monarch, as a hedge against a pro-Safavid coup. Adil sent his younger brother Ibrahim to govern western Iran from the old Safavid capital of Isfahan. He himself remained in Mashhad. Most of Nadir’s tribal levies, however, were returned home, especially to the hinterland of Isfahan. Ibrahim used these reinforcements in a bid for power and defeated Adil Shah’s forces near Zanjan in June 1748.
Ibrahim was proclaimed shah at Tabriz in December, but meanwhile Shahrukh, the grandson of Nadir, had been raised to the throne in Mashhad by a junta of Kurd and other tribal chiefs. In the spring of 1749, Ibrahim’s army evaporated on the advance of Shahrukh’s forces. Ibrahim was taken to Mashhad (together with his brother, Adil, whom Ibrahim had already blinded) and executed.
Mir Sayyid Muhammad -- like Shahrukh a grandson of the last Safavid shah and an influential figure as warden of the shrine mosque at Mashhad -- became the figurehead of a popular insurrection orchestrated by yet another military faction. Shahrukh Shah was deposed (and later blinded), and in January 1750 the sayyid was crowned Shah Sulayman II of the Safavid dynasty. He soon alienated his patrons by disbursing Nadir’s waning treasury to parasitical relatives. Within three months, Shah Sulayman had been deposed and blinded. Shahrukh was reinstalled and ruled nominally for a further forty-five years.
By 1750, Iran’s political center of gravity had shifted to Isfahan and Shiraz, under Karim Khan Zand. Afghanistan and Mughal India were ruled by Ahmad Shah Durrani, who had escaped with his Afghan contingent from the debacle of Nadir’s assassination to be elected first shah of Afghanistan. Afsharid Khurasan remained an impoverished buffer zone between these states, ravaged by continuing power struggles between tribal chieftains and Shahrukh’s sons Nasr Allah Mirza and Nadir Mirza, and invaded three times by Ahmad Shah. The booty Nadir had brought from India was long dissipated, and Shahrukh’s sons resorted to stripping the shrine of ornaments to pay their fickle forces. Although Mashhad retained its prestige as a Shi‘ite shrine, chronic anarchy reduced commercial and pilgrim traffic and plunged Khurasan into an economic depression that lasted well into the nineteenth century. In 1796, Aqa Muhammad Qajar, having secured western Iran, stormed Mashhad and tortured Shahrukh to death to reveal the remnants of the fabled Afsharid jewels.
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