Fall of Isfahan
An Afghan army brings down the Safavid state
In March 1722 the Ghilzai Afghans of Mahmud Hotak defeated the shah's army at Gulnabad and besieged Isfahan, the Safavid capital and one of the largest cities in the world. During the seven-month siege, by various accounts up to 80,000 inhabitants died of hunger and disease; in October Shah Soltan Hoseyn surrendered and crowned Mahmud himself. Russia and the Ottomans exploited Iran's weakness until Nader Shah restored order.
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Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — 19 years earlier
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — 13 years earlier
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — 1 year earlier
Alive at the time
- Isaac Newton (aged 79)
- Kangxi Emperor (aged 68)
- Peter the Great (aged 50)
- Johann Sebastian Bach (aged 37)
- Voltaire (aged 28)
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 16)
- Mikhail Lomonosov (aged 11)
- Ahmed III (aged 49)
- Vitus Bering (aged 41)
- Tokugawa Yoshimune (aged 38)