Abstract:

In the first half of the 18th century, Afshar Nader Shah had played an essential role in the history of Iran and the countries around. It was an area extending from the northeastern boundries of the Ottoman Empire to India and from Oman to Transoxiana wherein more than ten independent states exist in the present day. Nader Shah has been renowned most widely for having recovered the usurped Iranian throne from the Ghilzai Afghans and for uniting the country. However a considerable amount of literature has touched upon his military career, striking achievements and the armed forces during his reign. There has been a unanimity among the majority of the researchers that he was one of the unusual military leaders of the history who had grown up facing hardships and precious lessons of the battlegrounds. He had felt certain admiration for Timur who had once reigned over almost the same area. The army of Nader Shah had borne traces of previous Turkish and Safavid armies. On the other hand he had blended the prominent features, namely, mobility and firepower of either armies and developed an idiosyncratic military organization which was suitable for fighting over a vast area with diverse geographical features.

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