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Notorious Lives

Genghis Khan.

Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives

Nadir Shah

by John P. Dunn

Shah of Persia (1736-1747)

Cause of notoriety: Nadir Shah was a brutal warlord and a bandit leader on an international scale.

Active: 1708-1747

Locale: Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, and Uzbekistan

Early Life

In the twilight years of Safavid Iran, Nadir Shah (NAY-duhr shah) rose to fame through his skills as a border raider. A local celebrity by the age of twenty, he quickly caught the attention of provincial authorities, who inducted him into an elite military unit.

Between 1723 and 1726, Persia nearly collapsed as Ottoman, Afghan, and Russian armies marched across the land. Nadir fought numerous battles and skirmishes during this period, building on his reputation as a leader who produced victory. Shah Tahmasp II invited Nadir to join the imperial army and promoted him to khan. However, this was only a temporary alliance, as Nadir deposed Tahmasp in 1731. Over the next five years, Nadir claimed to act as regent for the infant prince Abbas, while simultaneously building a collection of allies in the court, armed forces, and government. Then, from January to March, 1736, Nadir organized a grand congress of Iranian notables, a quriltai.

Military and Political Career

Nadir’s quriltai featured thousands of tents, parties, feasts, and—despite the Islamic proscription against consuming alcohol—plenty of wine. Nadir used the latter to loosen tongues and had spies listen for negative opinions. If too loud in their complaints, such critical men disappeared or were murdered. Rank was no cover, for even Persia’s chief religious figure, the Mullah Basha, was killed at this bloody conclave. The end result was Nadir’s election as Persia’s next shah.

Nadir’s interests were purely military; he had little time or interest in civil functions. His only efforts in such were designed to raise money for support of his large army. Indeed, most of his military campaigns seemed more like massive looting expeditions, very much in the tradition of fourteenth century warlord Tamerlane (Timur), whom Nadir admired and claimed as kin.

Following in his “ancestor’s” footsteps, Nadir took his army eastward in 1737-1738, invading Afghanistan, then the Mughal Empire. Very wealthy but not especially well organized, the Mughals failed to stop Nadir’s formidable army and asked for terms. Wily Nadir agreed to negotiate, using diplomacy to cover a successful kidnapping of the Mughal emperor, Muhammad Shah. Next, Nadir surrounded the Mughal army in camp and made clear that their food supply was at his mercy.

Having immobilized the Mughal army and incapacitated the government, Nadir marched into the Mughal capital, Delhi, one of the most prosperous cities on the subcontinent. In February, 1739, Nadir began collecting “taxes” and “gifts.” Within a month, he acquired 6.5 million gold tumans (more than three times the total cost of this campaign). Resulting riots brought fierce suppression and heavy fines and allowed Nadir’s soldiers to loot the more prosperous neighborhoods. So much came from these new requisitions that Nadir remitted taxes back home for the next three years and paid all his soldiers a bonus worth six months of salary.

Still not finished, Nadir forced a Mughal princess to marry his son and then collected an additional 3.5 million tumans for her dowry. Finally ready to leave, Nadir politely freed Muhammad Shah, gave him back his now bankrupt state, and marched home. According to one source, Nadir and his men carried back so much loot that the river and mountain passes were full of furniture, carpets, and other goods too difficult to carry home.

Nadir returned to Persia, displaying vast quantities of spoils, including the 105-carat Koh-i-noor diamond and the jewel-encrusted Peacock Throne, which became the symbol of legitimacy for every subsequent government. Mayhem and looting expeditions next moved to Central Asia, then to Iraq, and finally ended in 1747, when a cabal of army officers, disgruntled over their pay, murdered Nadir Shah.

Impact

The reputation of Nadir Shah has undergone a variety of interpretations over the years. He has been seen as the last great Asian conqueror, spun from the traditions of Amir Timur and Genghis Khan; as the “Napoleon of Iran”; and as one of history’s most successful bandit leaders. Modern scholarship tends to support the latter view of Nadir Shah, who ruled Persia badly for ten years.

Further Reading

1 

Abraham, Erwants’i. History of the Wars, 1721-1738. Translated and edited by George Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, Calif.: Mazda, 1999. A essential source on the wars that propelled Nadir to power.

2 

Axworthy, Michael. Sword of Persia: Nadir Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Despot. London: I. B. Tauris, 2006. Solid scholarship and a good supplement to Lockhart.

3 

Lockhart, Laurence. Nadir Shah. London: Luzac, 1938. Although dated, still considered one of the best biographies of Nadir.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
Dunn, John P. "Nadir Shah." Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2007. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLN_1434.
APA 7th
Dunn, J. P. (2007). Nadir Shah. In C. L. Bankston III (Ed.), Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Dunn, John P. "Nadir Shah." Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2026. online.salempress.com.