Nader Shah

Nader was born into a poor family of the Qirqlu branch of the Afshar Turkmen tribe in Khorasan. When the Safavid state collapsed under the Afghan invasion he became commander for Tahmasp Mirza, defeated the Afghans in 1729 and then recovered the lands lost to the Ottomans and Russia.

In 1736 he called an assembly on the Mughan plain and proclaimed himself shah. In 1739 he defeated the Mughal army at Karnal and entered Delhi, carrying off the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. In his last years his harsh rule bred discontent, and in 1747 he was murdered by his own officers.