Mir Wais Hotak, while in Mecca, had sought from the leading authorities a fatwa against the Shia Safavid rulers who are persecuting the Pashtun people in his homeland.

The Pashtun tribes rankle under the ruling Safavids because of their continued attempts to forcefully convert them from Sunni to Shia Islam.

The fatwa had been granted and Mir Wais had carried it with him to Iṣfahan and subsequently to Kandahar, with permission to return and make strong recommendations to Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor.

Mir Wais begins organizing his countrymen in 1709 for a major uprising, and in April, when a large part of the Persian garrison is on an expedition outside the city, he and his followers fall on the remainder and kill the greater number of them, including Gurgin Khan.

After Gurgin Khan and his escort are killed, the Hotaki soldiers take control of the city, then the province.