I was browsing Iran's wikipedia today and read this:
During Nader Shah's reign, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sassanian Empire, reestablishing Persian hegemony over all of the Caucasus, other major parts of West Asia, Central Asia and parts of South Asia, and briefly possessing over what was probably the most powerful empire in the world.
Can someone expand on this? Prior to today, I had never heard of Nader Shah, nor have I heard of any Iranian/Persian empire being considered the greatest in the world, especially in the 18th century when England was quite the world power. Is this just a case of poor editing on a wikipedia citation?
Nader Shah was successful in asserting his authority over Iran, by 1736. He exploited the disarray of the Safavid Dynasty after the death of Shah Sultain Hussain. In the seven years after his death, there were 18 Safavid pretenders to the throne, but the real power was held by the Ghilzais, a small group of Afghan warriors. After Nader Shah broke the power of the Ghilzais, there were a further 12 pretenders to the Safavid throne.
Nader Shah was a good general and was able to conquer and loot Delhi in 1739, weakening the Mughals in India. He was able to defeat the Uzbeks and capture Bukkara and Khiva in 1740. Between 1744 and 1747 Nader Shah fought the Ottomans, capturing Baghdad and conquering all of Azerbaijan. He ruled a powerful empire, but it is probably a stretch to say it was the most powerful Empire in the World in 1747. The Qing Empire in China had more people and more wealth, even if it was not as large, in area. The Spanish Empire in the Americas was larger in area and wealthier, even if it was not as populous.
Nader Shah left no magnificent buildings or works of art. Intellectuals did not thrive during his reign. Except for the three years after the sack of Dehli, when no taxes were collected at all, his taxes in Iran were high and kept going higher. He also put all three of his sons to death in 1747 and became so unhinged, his own bodyguards hacked him to death on August 1747. His grandson, Shah Rukh, ruled a small rump state in Khurasan until 1796. However, most of Iran was nominally ruled by the Safvid prince Shah Ismail III, who was really nothing more than the puppet of Karim Khan Zand from 1751 to 1779.
Nader Shah's most important social innovation was trying to find a third way between Sunni and Shite Islam. Their theological divide wracked havoc with his kingdom's internal stability. Specifically, he looked at the teachings of the Sixth Shite iman, after the death of Ali, Jafar al-Sadiq. He called this the "Fifth School of Islam" and the ullamah that preached this new doctrine were called Jafarites. However, the Ottomans showed no interest in this theological innovation and Nader Shah lost interest in pressing this reform before he died.
Source: "The Mughal Emperors and the Islamic Dynasties of India, Iran and Central Asia" by Francis Robinson