Key Facts
- Duration
- 1720–1747 (approx. 27 years)
- Force at Khyber Pass
- 10,000 men
- Mughal numerical advantage
- Six to one against Nader
- Battle of Mughal heartland
- Mughal army crushed in ~3 hours
- Successor state
- Afsharid dynasty, est. 1736
Strategic Narrative Overview
Nader expelled the Hotaki Afghans and restored Tahmasp II, then waged a five-year war recovering western territories from the Ottomans and reimposing Iranian suzerainty over the Caucasus. He deposed the Safavids and founded the Afsharid dynasty, invaded Afghanistan, and crossed the Khyber Pass with 10,000 men to crush the Mughal army at Karnal. He sacked Delhi and extended Iranian hegemony into Central Asia beyond even Sassanid precedents.
01 / The Origins
The campaigns arose from the collapse of the Iranian Safavid empire following the Hotaki Afghan capture of Isfahan. Tahmasp II, a Safavid claimant, enlisted Nader, then a minor warlord in Khorasan, to restore the dynasty. This alliance gave Nader the platform to subdue rival Afghan factions, neutralise Ottoman and Russian encroachments, and ultimately consolidate enough political legitimacy to seize the Iranian throne himself in 1736.
03 / The Outcome
Nader's later years were marred by mental deterioration, paranoia, and brutal suppression of rebellions across the empire. Though he annihilated an Ottoman army near Kars, forcing Istanbul to seek peace, his tyranny alienated subordinates. He was assassinated by his own officers in 1747. His death plunged Iran into prolonged civil war lasting over half a century, concluding only with the founding of the Qajar dynasty under Agha-Mohammad Khan Qajar.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Nader Shah, Tahmasp II (nominal Safavid ruler, early phase).
Side B
5 belligerents
Muhammad Shah (Mughal Emperor).
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.