Nader Mirza Afshar
Nader Mirza Afshar was the great-grandson of Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran. He was the fourth son of Shahrokh Shah.
Biography
Nader Mirza Afshar is believed to have been born somewhere between 1760 and 1764 in Mashhad, the standing Afsharid administrative capital at the time. In Nader's early life, he developed a bitter rivalry with his elder brother, Nasrollah Mirza. The two brothers engaged in a few armed clashes, Nader Mirza forced to flee to Tabas in one of them. In 1775, Nasrollah was ousted from Mashhad by Nader Mirza, Nasrollah resorting to Shiraz to supposedly gain support against his father and younger brother. This had resulted in Nader Mirza restoring himself as crown prince, solidifying his position in Mashhad. In 1796, Shahrokh Shah was defeated by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, the founder of the Qajar dynasty. As a result, Mashhad fell to the Qajar Dynasty, forcing the remaining members of the Afsharid Dynasty, including Nader Mirza himself, to flee the city to Herat. He was tortured and killed, Agha Mohammad then installing Mohammad Vali Mirza as Governor of Khorasan in MashhadWhen Agha Mohammad Khan died in 1797 and Fath-Ali Shah Qajar ascended the throne, Nader Mirza proceeded to lead the reclamation of Mashhad itself to exploit the existing internal turmoil, succeeding in ousting Mohammad Vali Mirza. Nader would reestablish his control over Mashhad itself and the immediate surrounding area. Following this, several campaigns were led to establish Qajar control over the region by Fath-Ali Shah in retaliation.
Fath-Ali Shah’s first and second Khorasan campaigns in June 1798 and June 1800 failed despite much ravaging and destruction by the Qajar troops, being repelled by the numerically inferior Nader Mirza in Mashhad, along with a loose confederation of Kurdish and Qarai khans.
A third campaign in May of 1802 led by Fath-Ali Shah would see relatively more success, resulting in the capture of Mashhad after a lengthy set of three major campaigns. After the chief mujtahid of Mashhad switched allegiances to the Qajars, Nader Mirza was captured and brought to Tehran. He was blinded and had his tongue cut off, being eventually executed in the presence of Fath-Ali Shah in April of 1803, along with his eldest sons Abbas Mirza and Ibrahim Mirza. His other three sons Tahmasp Mirza, Khaliq Vardi Mirza and Mahboub Ali Mirza were blinded by the orders of Fath-Ali Shah. Another son, Ismail Mirza, fled to Hyderabad, Deccan. He settled there with the assistance of Sir John Malcolm.