Naderian Wars

The Naderian Wars
Portrait of Nader Shah
Date 1720s-1747 Location Khorasan, Iranian Plateau, Mesopotamia, Kurdistan, Caucasus, Anatolia, Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Peninsula, Hindu Kush, Punjab, Indus Valley, Transoxiana, Khwarezm Result Resurgence & Eventual Collapse of Persian Hegemony in Western, Central & Southern Asia[1] Expulsion of the Hotaki from Persia Re-establishment of the Safavids Expulsion of the Ottomans & Russians from Persia Conquest of the Caucasus Overthrow of the Safavids Establishment of the Afsharid Dynasty End of the Hotaki Dynasty Conquest of the Persian Gulf Invasion of & partial annexation of Mughal India Conquest of Central Asia Nader Shah's Psychological & Mental Deterioration[2][3] Military Setbacks in Daghestan & Mesopotamia Outbreak of Numerous Rebellions in the Empire Assassination of Nader Shah Collapse of the Persian Empire Territorial changes The Persian Empire expands to its greatest extent since antiquity and subsequently collapses
Belligerents
Safavid Empire (prior to 1736) Afsharid Empire (after 1736) Numerous Clients & Vassal States	Abdali Afghans Hotaki dynasty Ottoman Empire Crimean Khanate[4] Safavid Loyalists ‹See TfD› Mughal Empire Khanate of Bukhara Khanate of Khiva Lezgis Sultanate of Muscat
Commanders and leaders
/ Nader Shah / Tahmasp Khan Jalayer / Lotf Ali Khan / Fath Ali Khan Kayani / Latif Khan / Mirza Qoli / Haji Beg Khan / Ibrahim Khan / Mullah Adineh Mostafi / Morteza Qoli Khan / Nasrollah Mirza / Heraclius II	Allahyar Khan Zulfaqar Khan Ashraf Hotaki Mohammad Seidal Nasrullah Khan Zebardust Khan Hussain Hotaki (POW) Mohammad Seidal Khan (POW) Tahmasp II  Ahmed III Mahmud I Topal Osman Pasha † Hekimoğlu Ali Pasha Köprülü Abdullah Pasha † Ahmad Pasha Mehmet Yegen Pasha † Abdollah Pasha Jebhechi Muhammad Shah Nizam-ul-Mulk Burhan-ul-Mulk Khan Dauran VII,1st Mir Bakhshi  † Qamar-ud-Din Khan, Grand Vizier Sa’ad ud-Din Khan, Mir Atish Nisar Muhammad Khan Sher Jung Khwaja Ashura Muzaffar Khan  † Ali Hamid † Muhataram † Aslih Khan † Ali Ahmad Khan † Shahdad Afghan † Yadgar Hasan Khan Koka † Ashraf Khan † Abu ol-Fayz Khan Ilbares Khan Haji Dawood Myushkyurskogo
Casualties and losses
~1 million dead[5][6]

The Persian Empire at its greatest extent under Nader Shah

The Naderian Wars (in Persian:جنگ‌ھای نادری pronounced Janghā-ye Nāderi) were a series of conflicts fought in the early to mid-eighteenth century in western Asia primarily by the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah. After the Afghan invasion of Persia and the disastrous Battle of Gulnabad the central government of the Safavid dynasty lost sway over many regions under its nominal control and was shortly thereafter overthrown. Amidst the chaos an orphaned son of a goat-herder by the name of Nader Qoli became one of the plethora of warlords in the country. After the Safavid pretender to the Persian throne, Tahmasp II, requested and received Nader's allegiance a number of expeditions were undertaken which successfully resulted in the securing of Khorasan and the city of Herat.

Nader soon liberated Persia from Afghan rule and went on to expel the Ottomans and Russians from the former territories of the empire. In an astonishingly brilliant set of campaigns, Nader drove the Ottomans out of Persia and cast the shadow of Persian hegemony over the Caucasus after having all but crushed the Ottoman presence there. Nader's extraordinary successes allowed him to become the new Persian Shahanshah (king of kings),^[7] and establish the Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796) which is regarded as one of the most powerful Persian dynasties in Iranian history.

The first campaign after bestowing a regal legitimacy to his power, was the conquest of Qandahar which he followed up with his invasion of the Mughal Empire of Northern India. His Indian campaign stands among his most impressive military achievements and filled the Persian empire's coffers up with such a stupendous amount of riches that Nader proclaimed that there would be no taxes in the empire for the following three years. Upon his return from India he launched Nader's Central Asian Campaign against the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva in Central Asia and brought them under Persian suzerainty, in effect expanding the eastern reaches of his empire so greatly that not since the days of the Persian Shahs of antiquity, could Iran boast of such dominance on her eastern flank. Nader Shah also sought to control the Persian gulf, ordering numerous expeditions to various islands and across the gulf to establish a Persian enclave in Oman.^[8]

The invasions of both Ottoman Iraq and northern Daghestan were much less successful, however, due both to Nader's deteriorating mental health as well as the numerous rebellions throughout his vast realm. In inexplicable explosions of rage and paranoia, Nader would order loyal subjects and even his own successor to be either killed or maimed. The militarism of Nader's reign had strained the Persian empire greatly and caused a great deal of political turmoil across the land, providing fertile ground for rebellions. Nader Shah was assassinated by a faction of his own officers in 1747, plunging the country into civil war and partition.^[9]

See also

• Safavid Empire
• Afsharid Empire
• Ottoman Empire
• Mughal Empire
• Treaty of Ganja
• Treaty of Constantinople

References

Sources

• Moghtader, Gholam-Hussein (2008). The Great Batlles of Nader Shah, Donyaye Ketab
• Axworthy, Michael (2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, I. B. Tauris
• Ghafouri, Ali (2008). History of Iran's wars: from the Medes to now, Etela'at Publishing
• Farrokh, Kaveh (2011). Iran at War: 1500–1988, p. 114. Osprey Publishing