Nādir Shah

born Oct. 22, 1688, Kobhan, Ṣafavid Iran

died June 1747, near Fatḥābād

Iranian conqueror and ruler.

Originally a bandit of the Turkish Afshar tribes, he helped restore Ṭahmāsp II of the Safavid dynasty to Iran's throne, defeating the Ghilzay Afghan usurper Maḥmūd. He later deposed Ṭahmāsp II to place the latter's infant son on the throne; he made himself regent, then deposed the son and took the throne himself in 1736. He engaged in constant warfare with his neighbours, enlarging his empire from the Indus River to the Caucasus Mountains. Suspicious of those around him and capriciously cruel, he was assassinated by his own troops.

Nādir Shāh, painting by an unknown artist, c. 1740; in the Victoria and Albert ...

By courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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▪ Iranian ruler

also spelled  Nāder Shāh , original name  Nādr Qolī Beg , also called  Ṭahmāsp Qolī Khan 

born Oct. 22, 1688, Kobhān, Ṣafavid Iran

died June 1747, Fatḥābād

 Iranian ruler and conqueror who created an Iranian empire that stretched from the Indus River to the Caucasus Mountains.

      Nādr Qolī Beg had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Ṣafavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nādr formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership. In 1726, as head of this group of bandits, he led 5,000 followers in support of the Ṣafavid shah Ṭahmāsp II, who was seeking to regain the throne his father had lost four years earlier to the Ghilzay Afghan usurper Maḥmūd. Nādr reformed Iran's military forces and utterly defeated the Ghilzay Afghans in a series of brilliant victories, after which he restored Ṭahmāsp to the Iranian throne.

      Nādr then attacked and routed the Ottoman Turks, who had occupied adjacent areas of Azerbaijan and Iraq. Meanwhile, Ṭahmāsp had rashly attacked the Turks while Nādr was absent quelling a revolt in Khorāsān, but the shah was heavily defeated and was forced to conclude peace with the Turks on ignominious terms. Enraged at this, Nādr hurried back, deposed Ṭahmāsp, placed the latter's infant son on the throne, and declared himself regent. After sustaining a defeat at the hands of the Turks in Iraq, Nādr revenged himself by driving them completely out of Iran. Then, by threatening Russia with war, he forced that nation to relinquish its Caspian provinces to Iran. In 1736 Nādr deposed the youthful ʿAbbās III (as Ṭahmāsp II's son was styled) and ascended the Iranian throne himself, taking the title of Nādir Shāh.

      With the navy he proceeded to build, Nādir Shāh was able not only to take Bahrain from the Arabs but also to invade and conquer Oman. In February 1739, after capturing several cities of the Mughal Empire (Mughal Dynasty) of northern India, he moved against the main Mughal armies at Karnāl (Karnal, Battle of), India. He won the battle and entered Delhi, returning to Iran with vast amounts of loot, including the fabulous Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-noor diamond. He then attacked the Uzbeks around the cities of Bukhara and Khiva; his empire had reached its furthest expansion and rivaled the territorial extent of the ancient Iranian empires.

      In 1741, after an assassination attempt on him had failed, Nādir Shāh suspected his eldest son of complicity and had him blinded. He also attempted to make the largely Shīʿite populace of Iran adopt the Sunnī form of Islām. In 1743 Nādir Shāh again attacked the Ottoman Turks, but revolts in Iran forced him to conclude a truce. He renewed hostilities with the Turks as soon as possible, winning a great victory over them near Yerevan. Peace was concluded in 1746.

      Although brilliantly successful as a soldier and general, Nādir Shāh had little talent for statesmanship or administration, and Iran became utterly exhausted during the later years of his reign. Tens of thousands of people perished in his ceaseless military campaigns, and the exactions of his tax gatherers ruined the country's economy. Nādir Shāh had always been harsh and ruthless, but these traits became more pronounced as he grew older. His suspiciousness and capricious cruelty continued to grow, and wherever he went he had people tortured and executed. The consequence was that revolt after revolt against him occurred. In the end he was assassinated by his own troops while attempting to crush an uprising in Khorāsān. Nādir Shāh's only interests were war and conquest. Once, when informed that there was no warfare in paradise, he remarked: “How then can there be any delights there?”

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