The campaigns of Nader Shah (Persian: لشکرکشیهای نادرشاه), or the Naderian Wars (Persian: جنگهای نادری), were a series of conflicts fought in the early to mid-eighteenth century throughout Central Eurasia primarily by the Iranian conqueror Nader Shah. His campaigns originated from the overthrow of the Iranian Safavid dynasty by the Hotaki Afghans. In the ensuing collapse and fragmentation of the empire after the capture of the Iranian capital of Isfahan by the Afghans, a claimant to the Safavid throne, Tahmasp II, accepted Nader (who was no more than a petty warlord in Khorasan) into his service. After having subdued north-west Iran as well as neutralising the Abdali Afghans to the east and turning Tahmasp II into a vassal, Nader marched against the Hotaki Afghans in occupation of the rest of the country. In a series of incredible victories the Afghans were decimated and Tahmasp II returned to the throne as a restored Safavid monarch.
In the aftermath of the Safavid restoration Nader campaigned in the western and northern reaches of the empire to regain territory lost to the Ottomans and Russians. After a bitter war lasting five years Nader had managed to restore the western frontier of Iran as well as reimposed Iranian suzerainty over most of the Caucasus. The legitimacy which his astonishing military achievements brought him allowed a bloodless coup against the Safavid monarchy in which he had the unanimous support of the Iranian ruling elite. Nader Shah's first campaign as the monarch of the newly established Afsharid dynasty was the subjugation of Afghanistan in its entirety. The result of the annexation of Afghanistan by Nader's empire was that he now had a direct path to the invasion of Mughal India. In one of his most extraordinary campaigns he crossed the Khyber pass with just 10,000 men and subsequently descended down into the Mughal heartland where he engaged the Mughal army and despite being outnumbered six to one, crushed his foes in little over three hours. After he had made the Mughal emperor his vassal and marched to Delhi he looted the city and massacred its population after they revolted against his occupation.
Nader's return to the empire signaled new wars in the central Asian regions. Nader expanded Iranian hegemony in central Asia to such extents that they surpassed even the old Iranian empires of the Sassanids. At this juncture however Nader was beset by ever worsening mental health as he slowly deteriorated into insanity and paranoia. His subsequent campaigns against the Lezgins in the northernmost reaches of the Caucasus proved to be less successful and his siege of Baghdad was lifted prematurely due to an uncharacteristic lethargy in Nader's generalship. As Nader continued ruinous policies against the inhabitants of the empire and brutal suppression of dissent he alienated many of his subordinates and close associates. He had his heir's eyes gouged out in a fit of delusional paranoia and declared many of his loyal subjects traitors and rebels, forcing them to erupt in rebellion against him.
Nader's last years are characterised by wandering his own empire in a series of barbaric campaigns in which rebellions were put down in the most brutal and cruel manner. One of his very last major battles was a battle near Kars against the Ottomans where he annihilated the Ottoman army sent against him, prompting Istanbul to seek terms of peace. He was finally assassinated by a faction of his officers in his own tent. The death of Nader spelt the beginning of an extremely troubled and bloody chapter in Iranian history where continuous civil war engulfed the nation for over half a century before the establishment of the Qajar dynasty under Agha-Mohammad Khan Qajar.
Prior to his major campaigns, Nader implemented military reforms that shifted the army's reliance from irregular tribal cavalry to a more structured standing force. He expanded the Jazayerchi corps, an infantry unit armed with the heavy jazayer matchlock musket. The army also extensively utilized Zamburak (camel-mounted swivel artillery) and incorporated Georgian and Caucasian cavalry contingents into its regular formations.
Conquest of Khorasan
Rebellion & Separation
Revolts swept through the province during the 1720s as a direct consequence of the Afghan revolt in the eastern provinces of the empire which eventually led to an invasion led by the Hotaki leader Mahmud Hotaki. In a pitched battle Mahmud inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Imperial forces sent from Isfehan in the battle of Gulnabad, after which he marched on the capital itself where he captured Isfehan after a terrible siege.
A courtier in Isfahan by the name of Malek Mahmoud Sistani reached an accord with the Hotaki Afghan conquerors in which he would set up an independent kingdom in Khorasan in exchange for his recognition of Mahmud as Shah of Iran. Sistani entered Khorasan and managed to regain most of Khorasan from the rebels and local warlords in a relatively short period of time with the capital Mashad falling into his hands. At this juncture Nader had established himself in the fortress of Kalat north of Mashad and with a mere force of 1,200 men raided Sistani's territory, although they did not come into direct confrontation Nader had established himself as the only real challenge to Sistani's influence in Khorasan.
Tahmasp II and the siege of Mashhad
After the conclusion of the siege of Isfahan Mahmud sent a contingent of his Afghans to subdue Qazvin where a new Safavid pretender Tahmasp had risen and proclaimed himself Shah. He was forced to flee Qazvin but could not stay in the region permanently as those areas not under Afghan control were unremittingly coming under the marching boots of Ottoman soldiers invading from the west. Tahmasp was chased from the west of the country and in Astarabad found a loyal if difficult subject warlord by the name of Fathali Khan of the Qajar clan.
Deciding that it was too soon to march on Isfahan to liberate the heartland of Iran they would begin in Khorasan where they could forge alliances and rally more troops under their banner. Marching toward Khorasan they came into contact with Nader whose loyalty they acquired along with his now much enlarged fighting force (Nader had campaigned against the Kurds and successfully incorporated many of them into his small army). A combined force of 30,000 men lay siege to Mashad with Sistani and his commander-in-chief Pir Mohammad trapped within the city's walls. Tahmasp had developed a tense relationship with Fathali Khan and matters came to a head on 10 October 1726, when Nader brought Tahmasp an intercepted letter, the damning contents of which provided abundant evidence of a clandestine line of communication between Fathali and Sistani. Nader, fearful that the Qajar contingent may leave if any harm befell their leader, advised Tahmasp to spare his life for the time being. Tahmasp, though agreeing with Nader's judgement, nevertheless had Fathali executed the subsequent day.
The Qajar contingent however remained with the Loyalist army despite Fathali's beheading and ironically it was a betrayal on the other side of the conflict that brought the siege to an end where Pir Mohammad allowed Nader to infiltrate the city walls forcing Sistani to take refuge in the citadel, surrendering shortly after.
Aftermath of the Siege
The defeated Malek Mahmoud Sistani was surprisingly treated with courtesy and in a show of reconciliatory mercy allowed to spend the rest of his life as a sage (Though he was executed the following year when he became suspect in Nader's eyes). The results of the siege had gifted the capital of Khorasan to Tahmasp as well as gifting Fathali's position to the sole person of Nader as he now took to subdue the remaining Khans and tribes of the province hence further augmenting his forces. His conquest of Khorasan allowed the Safavid loyalist movement to next focus on an expedition further east towards Herat.
Conquest of Western Afghanistan
The Conquest of Afghanistan by Nader Shah consisted of a series of intermittent and fluid engagements culminating in the finale of Nader's military operations against the Abdali Afghans. Nader having recently concluded a successful campaign against his own monarch and prince, the badly humiliated Tahmasp II, set out from Mashad on 4 May 1729, making sure the Shah also accompanied him on this journey where he could be kept under close supervision.
The conflict also bears significance in terms of the effects of Nader's army perfecting its tactical system through experience gained from going up against deadly light cavalry armies, something that would prove of incalculable importance in the battle of Mihmandoost (where the Afghans were given a rude introduction to modern warfare by Nader's well-drilled army). The Abdali forces consisted of 15,000 riders under Allahyar Khan, the governor of Herat, concentrated around Kafer Qal'eh and another detachment of 12,000 men led by an impetuous commander by the name of Zulfaqar Khan which was approaching Kafer Qal'eh from the south. In the ensuing ebb and flow of marches and counter marches where dozens of skirmishes, charges, feints, ruses and retreats Nader would find himself hard-pressed to keep the upper hand in a constantly changing battlefield environment where even the weather would prove unpredictable.
The Road to Herat
The battle of Kafer Qal'eh resulted in a tactical victory for Nader after which Allahyar Khan was pursued and re-engaged. At the height of the battle Nader's scouts brought word of Zulfaqar Khans approach prompting Nader to carry out an ingenious ruse. A column of Iranian troops was sent on a march round Allahyar Khan's army with their victory drums & horns sounding loudly which led him to believe that Zulfaqar Khan's men had already been defeated forcing him to beat another hasty retreat.
As Allahyar broke away towards Herat Nader dispatched a portion of his army to pursue him but kept the bulk of his men to turn and face the fresh troops under Zulfaqar Khan's command, however before Nader engaged Zulfaqar's contingent a sandstorm swept into the area rendering any further fighting all but impossible, thereby providing a cover under which the Abdali forces managed to withdraw towards Herat unmolested.
The entire campaign thus far had been a chain of skirmishes, marches and counter marches where Nader excelled as a quick thinking commander who outwitted his foes at every corner despite at times seemingly caught in near impossible situations such as when news of Zulfaqar's imminent arrival reached him when he was already heavily engaged with Allahyar Khan's men. The impressive campaign however did not result in the Abdali's destruction and Nader followed their retreat eastward until he came in view of Herat where the combined forces of Allahyar & Zulfaqar rode out to meet him in a finale to the campaign.
Subjugation of Herat
When battle was joined for the final time in view of Herat itself the action was uncannily similar to the previous engagements between the Iranians and the Abdalis except that on this particular occasion the frontal charge of the Abdalis was firmly halted by muskets of the Iranian line infantry crashing out simultaneously breaking the impetus of the Afghans charge and providing adequate persuasion to the Abdalis to fall behind the city walls. Herat now came under an intense bombardment from the Iranian guns and mortars, convincing the governor of Herat, Allahyar Khan, to sue for peace in exchange for recognition of Iran as suzerain of Herat.
Strategic & Tactical Ramifications
With the Abdalis of Herat subdued, the road to the heartland of the Iranian empire lay open and the liberation of Isfahan appeared feasible after the successes of earlier campaigns. Nader had also demonstrated the effectiveness of his military system. Through repeated engagements he had refined the technique of breaking fierce cavalry charges by means of steady infantry formations supported by cannon and protected on the flanks by cavalry; the combined fire of muskets and artillery would disrupt the attacking horsemen. This tactical system was put to its severest test at the battles of Mihmandust and Murche-Khort, where Nader’s veteran troops faced some of the finest cavalry forces in the region.
Safavid Restoration
The Safavid restoration to the throne of Iran took place in the latter part of 1729 by a series of battles fought between Nader, Tahmasp's commander-in-chief and Ashraf Hotaki. Despite nominally bringing Tahmasp to the seat of power, true authority still rested with Nader who had, ever since the debacle in northern Khorasan, managed to seize Tahmasp II as his vassal. As for Afghan rule, the Ghilzai Afghans were ejected from the Iranian Plateau permanently and in the following years were re-annexed by Nader whence they were once again absorbed into the Iranian empire.
Battle of Mihmandoost
Having delayed a confrontation with Tahmasp long enough, Ashraf found himself threatened by the pretender to the Safavid throne and his young general Nader. Hearing of their expedition against the Abdali of Herat Ashraf decided to march on the capital of Khorasan and capture Mashad before Nader could return from the east. However Nader was back in Mashad well before Ashraf had a chance of invading Khorasan.
Marching towards Damghan Nader and Ashraf clashed near the village of Mihmandoost where despite being heavily outnumbered the Iranians gave the Afghans a terribly bloody lesson in modern warfare and crushed Ashraf's army, forcing him to retire towards Semnan.
Ambush at Khwar pass
Ashraf retreated west where he set up a well thought out ambush in the Khwar pass where he hoped the Iranians, flushed with their recent triumph, would be surprised and dealt a heavy blow. Nader upon discovering the ambush encircled and then completely destroyed it with whatever remnants fleeing towards Isfahan.
Battle of Murche-Khort
Requesting urgent support from the Ottoman Empire Ashraf sought to counter the Iranian army's thrust towards Isfahan. The Ottomans keen to hold Ashraf in power instead of seeing a resurgent Iran on their eastern frontier were all too eager to help with both guns and artillerymen. At the battle of Murche-Khort, the Afghans were yet again decisively defeated, forcing Ashraf to flee south.
Liberation of Isfahan
Nader liberated Isfahan and soon after received Tahmasp II outside the main city gates where the Shah expressed his gratitude to Nader. The city had been devastated by the Afghans leaving very little in terms of riches for when Nader arrived. Tahmasp famously wept when he saw what had befallen the capital. The city was greatly reduced both in terms of population and in terms of wealth. The people took vengeance on those Afghans who were found hiding throughout the city.
End of Afghan rule in Iran
Nader set out from Isfahan heading towards Shiraz where Ashraf was busy raking together what he could with the support of some of the local Arab tribes. At this juncture there was no realistic hope for a revival of Afghan fortunes and near Zarghan the Iranian engaged and decimated the last army Ashraf commanded, with historical sources disagreeing on the latter's exact fate in the aftermath of the battle.