The expansion of world-system and long-run decline of dynastic states in Iran with consideration to Nader Shah Rule

The nearly two-decade period encompassing Nader Shah’s conquests (1727–1736) and reign (1736–1747) represents a vivid narrative of the rise and fall of one of the last large-scale nomadic campaigns originating from Central Asia and the Iranian plateau. During this time, Nader ruled over the Iranian heartland and newly annexed territories, stretching from India and Turkestan to the southern Persian Gulf and parts of the Caucasus . His campaigns echo the classic examples of earlier nomadic movements, such as those of the Ghaznavids and Seljuks in the 10th and 11th centuries, the Mongols and Ilkhanids in the 13th century, and Timur in the 14th century. What forces drove the establishment, disintegration, and ultimate collapse of these final nomadic governmental systems in Central Asia and Iran? Was the downfall of Nader’s regime an inevitable outcome?
This article first illustrate, respectively, the fall of the Safavid dynasty, the Afghan occupation, and the rise of Nader Qoli Khan Afshar (1722–1736), as well as Nader Shah Afshar’s major military campaigns (1736–1747). His conquests, originating from the Abiward region, bear a striking resemblance to Timur’s earlier campaigns. Born in 1698 into a low-income Turkmen nomadic family in northern Khorasan, Nader belonged to the Qerekhlu clan of the Afshar tribe, a core member of the Qizilbash confederation. His rise to prominence began during the Safavid interregnum in 1722, when he initially served as a military commander for Shah Tahmasp II in Khorasan, earning the title Tahmasp Qoli in 1725. By 1729, after a series of decisive victories, he had expelled the Ghilzai Afghans from Isfahan. Acting as a liberator, Nader restored the nominal Safavid monarchy from 1727 to 1736 before ultimately seizing the throne himself, ruling as king from 1736 until 1747. A striking feature of Maps 1 and 2, and a key to Nader Shah’s remarkable success, was his early ability to unify disparate tribal groups into a cohesive and effective military force. These groups included Khorasan Kurds, various Qajar tribes and their Turkmen allies, Baluchis, southeastern tribes, Abdali and Ghilzai Afghans, and even Uzbeks. What set Nader’s organization apart from earlier Turkic-Mongol structures was the multi-ethnic composition of his army, which allowed him to integrate rural populations from distant villages into his forces. This innovative approach to military organization played a crucial role in his initial successes but also highlighted the challenges of maintaining such a diverse and far-flung empire .Nader Shah’s campaigns occurred during the Safavid interregnum, a period when Iran’s political structure, though fragile in competition with the Ottomans and the Mughal Empire, had at least united the people of central Iran under a single political framework. The sacred Safavid monarchy, along with the belief that its kings were descendants of the Prophet, was a legacy that could not be easily replaced. Shiism was so deeply ingrained in the urban population’s consciousness that any attempt by Nader to introduce an alternative sparked major uprisings. As a result, by the late 18th century, no stable model of governance had emerged in Iran. The Qajar rulers managed to establish only a shaky foundation of legitimacy in the 19th century, which later collapsed under the weight of Pahlavi-era nationalism.
The institutional structure of the Safavid state was composed of three layers: military, bureaucratic, and religious. Under Nader, however, only the military layer retained significance, while the other layers diminished in importance. Military despotism became a major obstacle to effective governance and administrative understanding. Nader’s continuous struggle against the Safavid bureaucracy and his replacement of administrative elites with military nobles quickly proved destructive. The bureaucratic foundation of the Safavid dynasty never recovered. The direct consequence of Nader Shah’s relentless campaigns was the transformation of the Safavid Empire’s strategic commercial landscape into scorched earth, reducing the country’s trade capabilities to a critical point. In its final years, the Safavid dynasty was on the brink of collapse, facing incursions by powerful neighbors and emerging foreign rivals. Even in the absence of Nader’s conquests and rule, the prospect of restoring its former position would have been highly challenging. In this context, the depletion of territorial, class, and human resources during Nader’s era left the country ill-equipped for economic resurgence in the 19th century and beyond. Although Iran’s peripheralization and colonization were less severe compared to other dynastic states in Asia, the damage inflicted during Nader’s reign defined the unique characteristics of its long-term decline and posed enduring challenges for the country’s future restoration.