Nader Shah

Lore & Background

Nader rose to power during a period of chaos in Iran after a rebellion by the Hotaki Afghans had overthrown the weak emperor Soltan Hoseyn, while the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire seized Iranian territory. Nader reunited the Iranian realm and removed the invaders. He deposed the last members of the Safavid dynasty and declared himself Shah in 1736. His campaigns created a great empire encompassing parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Oman, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, the North Caucasus, and the Persian Gulf. His military spending ruined the Iranian economy. He was assassinated in 1747, and his empire disintegrated into civil war. His grandson Shahrokh Shah was the last of his dynasty, deposed in 1796 by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar.

Reader's Guide

Nader Shah is a powerful military leader in Europa Universalis, representing the Afsharid dynasty. His early life was marked by hardship: born in the fortress of Dastgerd in Khorasan, he lost his father at age 13 and gathered firewood to survive. He was captured by Uzbeks around age 17 and later returned to Khorasan. He enlisted as a musketeer at 15 and rose to become a governor's right-hand man. He fought numerous campaigns, winning battles at Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevārd, Khyber Pass, Karnal, and Kars. His empire briefly made him West Asia's most powerful sovereign.

Did You Know?

• Nader Shah idolized Genghis Khan and Timur, imitating their military prowess and ruthlessness.
• He belonged to the Turkoman Afshar tribe, one of the seven Qizilbash tribes that helped the Safavids.
• His preferred language was Turkic, though he learned Persian; his knowledge of Arabic is undocumented.