Nadir Shah

Nadir Shah of Persia, the Conqueror, belonged to a Turkish tribe, and was born in Khorassan in 1688. He entered the service of the governor of Khorassan, and soon obtained high promotion; but, having been degraded for some offence, he betook himself to a lawless life, and for several years was the daring leader of a band of 3000 robbers, and gradually extended his territorial authority. Persia was at this time ruled by Ashraf, an Afghan, whose grinding tyranny and cruelty produced in the mind of every Persian a deadly hatred of the very name Afghan. Nadir having avowed his intention of expelling the hated race from the country and restoring the old dynasty, numbers flocked to his standard, and Meshed, Herat, and all Khorassan were speedily reduced. Ashraf, signally defeated in several engagements, fled before the avenger, who, with a celerity only equalled by its thoroughness, purged Persia of even the semblance of Afghan domination. The rightful heir, Tamasp, then ascended the throne, and Nadir received for his services the government of the provinces of Khorassan, Mazanderan, Seistan, and Kerman. He was sent against the Turks in 1731, and defeated them at Hamadan; but his sovereign having engaged unsuccessfully the same enemy, Nadir caused him to be put in prison, and elevated his infant son, Abbas III., to the throne in 1732. The death of this puppet, in 1736, opened the way for the elevation of Nadir himself, who was crowned as Nadir Shah. He resumed the war with the Turks, and, though totally defeated in the first two battles, turned the tide of fortune in the subsequent campaign. He also conquered Afghanistan, and drove back the invading Uzbegs. Difficulties arose with the Great Mogul, and, his envoy having been murdered at Jelalabad, Nadir ravaged the North-west Provinces, and took Delhi, which he pillaged. With booty to the amount, it was said, of £20,000,000, including the Koh-i-nûr (see DIAMOND), he returned to the west bank of the Indus. He next reduced Bokhara and Khaurezm, restoring to Persia her limits under the golden reign of the Sassanides. From this period his character underwent a sudden change; he became suspicious, avaricious, and tyrannical, and was assassinated 20th June 1747. See H. Maynard's Nadir Shah (Stanhope Essay, 1885).