Afsharid dynastyW
Afsharid dynasty

The Afsharid dynasty was an Iranian dynasty that originated from the Turkoman Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Iran (Persia) in the mid-eighteenth century. The dynasty was founded in 1736 by the brilliant military commander Nader Shah, who deposed the last member of the Safavid dynasty and proclaimed himself as the Shah of Iran.

Battle of GulnabadW
Battle of Gulnabad

The Battle of Gulnabad was fought between the military forces from Hotaki Dynasty and the army of the Safavid Empire. It further cemented the eventual fall of the Safavid dynasty, which had been declining for decades.

Dastur al-MulukW
Dastur al-Muluk

Dastūr al-Mulūk by Moḥammad Rafiʿ Anṣāri known as Mirzā Rafiʿā is one of only three surviving administrative handbooks from early 18th-century Safavid Iran and an important research tool for scholars in Iranology. The Persian manuscript was edited during the 1960s by the Iranian scholar Mohammad Taqi Danesh Pajouh.

Hotak dynastyW
Hotak dynasty

The Hotak dynasty was an Afghan monarchy of the Ghilji Pashtuns. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak who lead a successful revolution against their declining Persian Safavid overlords in the region of Loy Kandahar in what is now southern Afghanistan.

Kazakh sultanateW
Kazakh sultanate

Kazakh sultanate or Gazakh sultanate was established at the end of the XV century. During the Safavid Empire, it was part of the Karabakh principality. In 1605, by the decree of Abbas the Great, Shamsaddin sultan of Kazakh was given the rank of Khan.

Khanates of the CaucasusW
Khanates of the Caucasus

The khanates of the Caucasus, or Azerbaijani khanates or Persian khanates, or Iranian khanates,were various provinces and principalities established by Persia (Iran) on their territories in the Caucasus from the late Safavid to the Qajar dynasty. The Khanates were mostly ruled by Khans of Azerbaijani origin and were vassals and subjects of the Iranian shah (King). Persia permanently lost a part of these khanates to Russia as a result of the Russo-Persian Wars in the course of the 19th century, while the others were absorbed into Persia.

Kingdom of Kartli-KakhetiW
Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti

The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (1762–1801) was created in 1762 by the unification of two eastern Georgian kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti. From the early 16th century, according to the 1555 Peace of Amasya, these two kingdoms were under Iranian control. In 1744, Nader Shah granted the kingship of Kartli to Teimuraz II and that of Kakheti to his son Heraclius II, as a reward for their loyalty. When Nader Shah died in 1747, Teimuraz II and Heraclius II capitalized on the instability in Iran proper, and declared de facto independence. After Teimuraz II died in 1762, Heraclius succeeded him as ruler of Kartli, thus unifying the two.

Map of Iran in Afsharid EraW
Map of Iran in Afsharid Era

The map of Iran, in the Afsharid era of the year 1747, was drawn by Emanuel Bowen the British geographer and monographer. This map shows the boundaries and the extent of the rule of the Afsharid dynasty. Apart from displaying the name of the Persian Gulf, the map also has the names of many regions, cities, lakes and seas which were parts of Iran at that time.

Nader's Dagestan campaignW
Nader's Dagestan campaign

Nader's Dagestan campaign, refers to the campaigns conducted by the Persian Empire under the ruling king Nader Shah between the years 1741 and 1743 in order to fully subjugate the Dagestan region in the North Caucasus Area. The conflict between the Persian Empire & the Lezgins and a myriad of other Caucasian tribes in the north was intermittently fought through the mid-1730s during Nader's first short expedition in the Caucasus until the last years of his reign and assassination in 1747 with minor skirmishes and raids. The incredibly difficult terrain of the northern Caucasus region made the task of subduing the Lezgins an extremely challenging one. Despite this Nader Shah gained numerous strongholds and fortresses from the Dagestan people and pushed them to the very verge of defeat. The Lezgins however held on in the northernmost reaches of Dagestan and continued to defy Persian domination.

Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746)W
Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746)

The Ottoman–Persian War of 1743–1746 was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Afsharid dynasty of Iran.

Peacock ThroneW
Peacock Throne

The Peacock Throne was a famous jewelled throne that was the seat of the Mughal emperors of India. It was commissioned in the early 17th century by emperor Shah Jahan and was located in the Diwan-i-Khas in the Red Fort of Delhi. During the invasion of 1739, Nader Shah, the emperor of Iran, looted the precious jewels attached to it. It was named after a peacock as two peacocks are shown dancing at its rear.

Persian Gulf ResidencyW
Persian Gulf Residency

The Persian Gulf Residency was an official colonial subdivision of the British Raj from 1763 until 1947, whereby the United Kingdom maintained varying degrees of political and economic control over several states in the Persian Gulf, including what is today known as the United Arab Emirates and at various times southern portions of Persia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.

Russian conquest of the CaucasusW
Russian conquest of the Caucasus

The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. In that era the Russian Empire expanded to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Iran and Turkey, as well as the North Caucasus region of modern Russia. Multiple wars were fought against the local rulers of the regions, as well as the dominant powers, the Ottoman Empire and Persian Empire, for control. By 1864 the last regions were brought under Russian control.

Sceriman familyW
Sceriman family

The Sceriman family, also referred to as the Shahremanian, Shahremanean, Shahrimanian, Shehrimanian, Shariman, or Seriman family, were a wealthy Safavid merchant family of Armenian ethnicity. A Catholic family, they had their roots in early 17th-century New Julfa, and relatively quickly came to preside over branches all over the world, stretching from Italy in the west, to Pegu (Burma) in the east. Apart from being renowned as a trader's family, some Scerimans were high-ranking individuals in the Safavid state, including in its military, religious, and bureaucratic systems. Later, similar positions were obtained abroad, such as in the various Italian city-states and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They especially became renowned in the Republic of Venice, where they were well integrated into its ruling class. Nevertheless, until their decline in the late 1790s and eventual inactivity in the 19th century, they remained bound to their original base in Iran.

ShamshadilW
Shamshadil

Shamshadil, Shamshaddil, or The Sultanate of Shamshaddil was a sultanate established in 1747. Its area was 4,200 versts, and the population mainly consisted of Zulgadar clan, taking roots from the Qizilbash Turkic tribes. The sultanate was located near Lake Sevan and covered the territories of the modern day Tavush Province in Armenia and some parts of Tovuz District in Azerbaijan, with the center in the village of Oksuzlu, in the territory of Tovuz.

Safavid TalishW
Safavid Talish

The region of Talish was a region of the Safavid Iran (1501–1736), loacated in the greater Talish, present-day divided between Iran and Azerbaijan countries. The territory of the region was principally made up of the two subordinate governorates of "Astara" and "Lankaran". The city of Astara was its administrative center, the base of Safavid power in the region.

Zand dynastyW
Zand dynasty

The Zand dynasty was an Iranian dynasty, founded by Karim Khan Zand that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later quickly came to expand to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran, as well as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and parts of Iraq and Armenia.