The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant
by Michael Axworthy
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"Nader Shah, ruler of Persia from 1736 to 1747, embodied ruthless ambition, energy, military brilliance, cynicism and cruelty. His reign was filled with bloodshed, betrayal and horror. Yet Nader Shah is central to Iran's early modern history. From a shepherd boy he rose to liberate his country from foreign occupation, and make himself Shah. He took eighteenth-century Iran in a trajectory from political collapse and partition to become the dominant power in the region, briefly opening the show more prospect of a modernising state that could have resisted colonial intervention in Asia. He recovered all the territory lost by his predecessors, including Herat and Kandahar, and went on to conquer Moghul Delhi, plundering the enormous treasures of India. Nader commanded the most powerful military force in Asia, if not the world. He repeatedly defeated the armies of Ottoman Turkey, the preeminent State of Islam, overran most of what is now Iraq and threatened to take Baghdad on several occasions. But from the zenith of his success he declined into illness, insane avarice and horrific savagery, committing terrible atrocities against the Persian people, his friends, and even his family, until he finally died as violently as he had lived." "The Sword of Persia recreates the story of a remarkable, ruthless man, capable of both charm and brutality. It is a rich narrative, full of dramatic incident, including much new research into original Iranian and other material, which will prove indispensable to historians and students."--Jacket. show lessTags
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Author Information
5 Works 857 Members
Michael Axworthy teaches at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter (UK). The author of The Sword of Persia and Revolutionary Iran, Axworthy publishes widely in the field of Iranian history.
Common Knowledge
- People/Characters
- Topal Osman Pasha; Nader Shah Afshar; Taqi Khan Shirazi; Tahmasp Khan Jalayer; Shah Tahmasp II; Shah Sultan Husayn (show all 31); Shah Mahmud Hotaki (Shah Mahmud Ghilzai); Shahrukh Mirza; Adil Shah Afshar; Reza Qoli Mirza; Shahrukh Shah Afshar; Ebrahim Shah Afshar; Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia; Saadat Ali Khan I, Subadar Nawab of Awadh (1732-1739); Shahanshah Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad Shah, Mughal emperor (1719-1748); Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi, Nizam ul-Mulk (1713-1748); Mortaza Qoli Mirza; Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar; Mirwais Khan Hotaki (Mirwais Ghilzai); Malek Mahmud Sistani; Mahmud I, "The Hunchback", Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1730-1754); Jonas Hanway; George XI, King of Kartli (AKA Gorgin Khan); Fath Ali Khan Qajar; Shah Ashraf Hotaki (Ashraf Ghilzai); Ahmed III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1703-1730); Ahmad Pasha of Baghdad; Ahmad Shah Durrani, King of Afghanistan; Abu'l-Faiz Khan, Khan of Bukhara; Abdullah Pasha Köprülü; Shah Abbas III
- Important places
- Yerevan, Armenia; Tehran, Iran; Tbilisi, Georgia; Tabriz, Iran; Shiraz, Iran; Samarkand, Uzbekistan (show all 37); Sabzevar, Iran; Kandahar, Afghanistan; Mashhad, Iran; Qazvin, Iran; Peshawar, Pakistan; Lahore, Pakistan; Najaf, Iraq; Muscat, Oman; Mosul, Iraq; Baghdad, Iraq; Merv, Turkmenistan; Mazandaran Province, Iran; Kirkuk, Iraq; Khurasan Province, Iran; Khiva, Uzbekistan; Kermanshah, Iran; Kerman, Iran; Karbala, Iraq; Kabul, Afghanistan; Jalalabad, Afghanistan; Istanbul, Turkey; Isfahan, Iran; Herat, Afghanistan; Hamadan, Iran; Echmiadzin, Armenia; New Delhi, India; Derbent, Dagestan; Bukhara, Uzbekistan; Basra, Iraq; Balkh, Afghanistan; Gorgan, Iran
- Important events
- Battle of Gulnabad (1722-03-08); Siege of Kandahar (1737); Ottoman–Persian Wars (1730–35 and 1743-1746); Siege of Baghdad (1733); Siege of Jalalabad (1738); Battle of Mehmandoost (1729) (show all 10); Battle of Karnal (1739-02-13); The Sack of Delhi (1739); Siege of Qars (1744); Assassination of Nader Shah Afshar (1747-06-20)
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- Members
- 50
- Popularity
- 602,003
- Rating
- (5.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 2
