Nader Shah Afshar: The Iranian Napoleon
One of the most striking and remarkable rulers in Iranian history is Nader Shah Afshar. He rose from humble origins in a time of chaos and despair for Iranians to create a great and powerful empire and military force. He has often been referred to as “The Napoleon of Persia” and the last great Central Asian conqueror. There is no doubt that Nader Shah had a tremendous impact on the history of Iran but the question is, was the impact overall positive or negative? Some historians such as Axworthy hail him for having created an island of stability in Iran and praise his reforms as being indicative of a modern progressive ruler. Other historians criticize his massive military spending which left Iran impoverished and depopulated and his brutality toward enemies particularly during the end of his reign, Axworthy recognizes this aspect as well. Nader Shah was at his core a warrior and a military ruler, rather than a builder.
Nader Shah was born in Dastgerd in Khorasan to the Turkic Afshar tribe which was one of the tribes which served the Safavid state and formed the Qizilbash. He came from relatively humble origins his father was a shepard and died when Nader was still a child. His mother was taken by slavers possibly Uzbeks or Turkmen who frequently raided the northern frontiers of Iran. The Safavid state of the time was in severe decline a succession crisis had occurred following the death of Shah Tahmasap between Hosein Mirza, and Abbas Mirza, ultimately Hosein was chosen. Sultan Hosein a weak ruler who had little interest in running affairs of state. He was known for being most interested in sex wine, and eating, he neglected the military which had begun to decay, the cannon corps which had been founded by Shah Abbas had been disbanded.
When a Ghilzay Afghan rebellion broke out in Kandahar and the Safavid governor was killed the Safavid state was ill equipped to deal with it. The rebellion lead was lead by Mir Veis who was a Sunni Muslim who took over Heart, Baluchistan, Khorasan, Shirvan and Bahrain, and later his som Mahmud would lay siege to Isfahan and ultimately took it forcing Sultan Hosein to abdicate to him while his son Tahmasap II fled to Tehran. Meanwhile the Russians lead by Peter the Great had landed along the Caspian Coast in the north while in the west the Ottomans had taken several territories. It was a time of poverty and hardship for Shia’s and many were taken as slaves. It was in this context that Nader Shah rose to power. At first he commanded a gang of brigands but later gained leadership over the Afshar tribe and allied with Tahmasap declaring himself to be Tahmasap Qoli Khan or “Slave of Tahmasap”. He retook Isfahan and defeated the Afghans in several battles and finally destroyed Kandahar crushing the Afghan rebellion.
Nader’s victories and his success in battle would be key to his rise to power. Nader was first and foremost a military leader and the military was the foundation of his rule. Nader made army reforms to increase the training and firepower of the soldiers and used to drill to create a professional and modern army. He instituted merit based promotion and lead by personal example. Nader’s army was the most powerful military force of the time. Nader as a military leader is fundamental to his identity, after he reinstated the Shah he demanded that he be allowed to collect taxes himself to support his army and this was granted to him, or as Axworthy refers to it as “a state within the state, based on the army.” Nader had essentially established a military state in Iran, all of his reforms were intended to make his wars more successful and efficient.
After defeating the Ottomans and restoring Iranian territories in the west he headed to Heart to put down the Afghans who had risen again in revolt, it was at this point that Tahmasap restarted the war and lost Nader’s gains to the Ottomans. In a unique moment in Iranian history Nader pulled off a bloodless coup and deposed Shah Tahmasap by displaying him drunk and had the infant Abbas instated with himself as regent. He would later depose Abbas and establish the Ashrafid dynasty putting an end to Safavid rule once and for all. His rule was established in a kurltai on the Moghan Plain in the ancient Persian tradition and he was sworn fealty by nobles, chieftains, and clerics and he swore that he would conquer Baghdad, Delhi, Bokhara, and Samarkquand. This emphasis on conquests supports the notion of Nader Shah as a largely military ruler.
The emphasis on military would take extract a heavy cost from Persia. Nader Shah would go on to invade India and loot Delhi and massacred between 20,000-30,000 people. From India he would gain great wealth 700,000,000 rupees allowing him to remit taxes for 3 years, he also took the crown jewels of Persia such as the Kuh-e-Nur diamond and the Peacock Throne. But this great wealth which could have served to enrich the struggling Iranian economy and rebuild the country devastated by years of war would go towards building up the military. A large army of 375,000 would be raised to invade Iraq as well as a navy created in the Persian Gulf to extend control over Bahrain and Oman, the Iranian military was “the most powerful single military force in the world at the time”
This put tremendous pressure on the Iranian people in terms of taxation which resulted in rebellions breaking out across the empire by Kurds, by the Qajars and others, the amount of troops was simply unsupportable and the economy collapsed. This would be compounded by defeats in Daghestan and an assassination attempt which would fuel Nader Shah’s paranoia. He had his son blinded on suspicion of a plot and executed those who witnessed his son’s blinding. Iranian sources speak of his increased cruelty and despotism during this time. The war in Iraq would not go well and after initial sieges of Basrah and Baghdad, Nader Shah would be defeated at Mosul. Nader was eventually assassinated and Iran would slide back into chaos following his death.
It is true that Nader did also undertake other reforms not directly related to military conquest or improvement of the army, such as his religious reforms. As a Sunni he ended the Shia practices most offensive to Sunnis such as the cursing of the names of the first three Prophets and he attempted to reform Shia Islam as the Ja’fari school of Islam so that the Ottomans would allow pilgrimage to Mecca and he would receive revenue from it. This revenue would go toward fueling the Persian military machine. Furthermore he would be able to get endowments from Shia mosques and shrines for his soldiers, and it also represented a clear break from the past and emphasized it was now a new dynasty and the end of the Safavids. Similarly the monetary reform which created the Naderi a silver coin that could be exchanged with the rupee helped facilitate trade with India, and the purchase of thirty war ships. All of Nader’s reforms were concentrated on benefitting the military to the exclusion of the common Iranian people.
The Iranian population decline greatly from 9 million to 6 million and despite amassing tremendous wealth from conquests and plunder the majority of it went to supporting the army. The economy suffered under the strains of taxation and war and the country remained impoverished. Unlike rulers such as Shah Abbas who was committed to building infrastructure and enriching Iranian culture and arts, Nader Shah did not have such interests. Nader Shah was a warrior at heart. There is no doubt as Axworthy says that he achieved great things and was a modern ruler ahead of his time but at the same time his victories came at a terrible cost to Iran.
Bibliography:
Abrahamian, Ervand. A History of Modern Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.
Axworthy, Michael Empire of the Mind: A History of Iran London: Hurst & Company, 2007
Axworthy, Michael. The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant. London: I.B. Tauris, 2006. Print.
Browne, Edward G. “PHI Persian Literature in Translation.” Packard Humanities Institute — Persian Literature in Translation. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <http://persian.packhum.org/persian/main?url=pf?file=90001014&ct=30>.
