Jun 10

The Quchan coup-d’etat, assassination of Nader Shah and conversion of the course of Middle East

Nader Shah At A BattleField On 10th June 1747 AD (20 Khordad 1128, a day like today) in Fathabad, Quchan, Nader Shah was killed in his bed by some of his generals, and as a result, the Napoleon of the East died, a man whose wish was to make Iran once again a super power.     In 1736 AD Nader Shah was selected as king by the high ranking officials of Iran, heads of tribes, headmen and trusted men of different parts of Iran. He drove the Russian forces out towards north of Daghestan and imposed heavy defeat on the Ottamans. He calmed down Fararoud area (Central Asia), punished the rebellious Pashtuns of eastern Iran and conquered Delhi in 1739 AD (Nowrooz). Nader not only established Iran’s domination in the whole of Persian Gulf area, but also attracted the chiefs of Oman and Muscat to join him. He started building warships and had the plan to conquer the Zangbar Island in the east coast of Africa in order to block the way for western colonism.     Nader spent two thirds of his life on saddle, and went on continuous war expeditions and his consequent physical fatigue and weakness made him gradually short tempered, which resulted in his rough decisions and also severe and immediate punishment of his officials, including his senior army officers.     Nader spent his last Nowrooz season of his life in Kerman, and towards mid Khordad, on his way back to the capital (Mashhad), he camped in Fathabad, Quchan. In this camp that was set up 12 km away from Quchan (called Khiyushan in those days), Nader gave the responsibility of guarding the camp to Ahmad Khan Darani, a 25 years old Pashtun officer and this decision caused fear among the officers who felt their lives in danger. This fear and anxiety, very soon, gathered 70 officers together, who were mostly from the Ghajar or Afshar tribes, to make an oath to kill Nader. These conspirators went towards the tent where Nader was sleeping (10 June 1747), throttled the guard of the tent and entered the tent. Nader drew out his sword to defend himself, but Saleh Khan cut his hand and one Ghajar general cut his head off, and the next day, in that huge camp, nothing was left but the body of Nader. This was the end of one of the great men of history of the     East.      Nader Shah Nader’s body was buried in the grave that he had prepared for himself in Mashhad. During burial, those present realized that Nader had dyed his beard to hide his age.     Nader would dictate all the events of the day, at the end of each day, to his secretary, Mirza Mehdi, in order to keep record. Except for his physician he never took help from Europeans. Nader was very negative towards Europeans. Due to this attitude, instead of buying ships from Europe, he transferred logs of wood from Mazandaran, through Khorasan, being a smoother route, to Bushehr and built 19 ships with cannons. It was through Nader’s initiative that light cannons, (which were not made anywhere upto that date) were manufactured and these cannons which were carried on camels, were named Zanburak’ (small bees). Nader did not approve importing technology from Europe and had repeatedly said that such purchases would deprive Iranians of innovation. He would say “We should produce our own industrial necessities, they (the Europeans) do not know much more than us. We should not form the habit of depending on others.     According to European historians, unlike the Safavid’s, Nader did not have the least interest in Europeans and in order to drive them back from eastern waters, he was planning to create a huge sea force in order to keep the islands of the Indian Ocean, including Zangbar, away from the reach of Europeans whose intention was to impose their influence over the East, and for this purpose, he employed ship manufacturing engineers from among Indians and the Parsis living in India. These historians have written that Nader was extremely pessimistic about Europeans and had promised military support for the lands eyed by the Europeans, for example, Oman. Nader considered the establishment of Europeans in the Indian Ocean ports and the gulfs, with the excuse of doing commerce, a means for laying hands on the whole of the East.     Nader had an unusual interest for collecting books and donating them to libraries. He has donated hundreds of volumes of very valuable handwritten books to the Razavi Library in Mashhad.     The coup of 10 June `747 in Quchan not only changed the course of history of Iran but changed the destiny of the whole of the East. If this coup had not taken place, England would not gain control over South Asia and later the Middle East and Russia over Caucasia and later over Central Asia. Afghanistan (a name that the English had put on the Iranians living in the east of Iran) would not separate from Iran, and an issue by the name of Kashmir would not be created and the map of South Asia would be different, and . . .     To prove the extent of patriotism in Nader for Iran, these two reasons are sufficient: one was carving this phrase on his coins, “Nader of the lands of Iran” and another was his arriving Delhi on Nowrooz day. After defeating the Indian army, he waited till Nowrooz and then entered Delhi.     2070 years before the assassination of Nader Shah, Alexander of Macedonia also died on 10 June (323 BC) in Babylonia (south-west of present Iraq) and so, 10 June is the anniversary of the death of three great rulers in the world. Fredrick Barbousa (red beard), King of the holy kingdom (the European Catholics) also died on 10 June 1190 AD. He was drowned in the Celp River, south-west of Anatolia (present Turkey) during military expedition to Middle East (the crucifix wars).          Translation by Rowshan Lohrasbpour