Adil Shah

Last updated March 06, 2019

Adil or Adel Shah Afshar, born ʿAlī-qolī Khan (Modern Persian: عادل شاه افشار) (died 1749) was the Afsharid Shah of Iran from 1747 to 1748, a nephew and successor of Nader Shah, the founder of the Afsharid dynasty.

The Afsharid dynasty were members of an Iranian dynasty that originated from the Turkic Afshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling 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 Shah of Iran.

Shah is a title given to the emperors, kings, princes and lords of Iran. It was also adopted by the kings of Shirvan namely the Shirvanshahs, the rulers and offspring of the Ottoman Empire, Mughal emperors of the Indian Subcontinent, the Bengal Sultanate, as well as in Afghanistan. In Iran the title was continuously used; rather than King in the European sense, each Persian ruler regarded himself as the Šāhanšāh or Emperor of the Persian Empire.

Iran, also called Persia and officially known as the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a country in Western Asia. With over 81 million inhabitants, Iran is the world's 18th most populous country. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), it is the second largest country in the Middle East and the 17th largest in the world. Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq. The country's central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance. Tehran is the country's capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center.

Family and early career

Ali-qoli khan was the eldest son of Nader's brother, Ebrahim Khan. Nader appointed him governor of Mashad in 1737. In the same year he married Princess Ketevan, daughter of the Georgian king Teimuraz II, Nader's ally. In 1740 he was also married to a daughter of Abu'l-Fayz, ruler of the recently subdued Bokhara.^[1]

Ketevan was a Georgian princess royal (batonishvili) of the Bagrationi dynasty. She was a daughter of Teimuraz II and sister of Heraclius II and married the Afsharid Iranian royal Adil Shah in 1737.

Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres (26,911 sq mi), and its 2017 population is about 3.718 million. Georgia is a unitary semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy.

Teimuraz II (1680/1700–1762) of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Kakheti, eastern Georgia, from 1732 to 1744, then of Kartli from 1744 until his death. Teimuraz was also a lyric poet.

Rise to power

From 1743 to 1747, Ali-qoli khan commanded Nader's troops against the Yazidis of Kurdistan, the Karakalpaks and Uzbeks of Khwarazm and in Sistan. He then ran in trouble with his uncle over the latter's decision to levy 100,000 tomans on him combined with Nader's suspiciousness. In April 1747, in conjunction with the rebels of Sistan, Ali-qoli khan occupied Herat and induced the Kurds to enter into a rebellion. Nader, while marching against the insurgents, was murdered by a group of his officers, who then offered the crown to Ali-qoli.^[1]

Kurdistan or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural historical region wherein the Kurdish people form a prominent majority population and Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges. The territory corresponds to Kurdish irredentist claims.

The Karakalpaks or Qaraqalpaqs are a Turkic ethnic group native to Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan. During the 18th century, they settled in the lower reaches of the Amu Darya and in the (former) delta of Amu Darya on the southern shore of the Aral Sea. The name "Karakalpak" comes from two words: "qara" meaning black, and "qalpaq" meaning hat. The Karakalpaks number nearly 620,000 worldwide, out of which about 500,000 live in the Uzbek Republic of Karakalpakstan.

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group; the largest Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan but are also found as a minority group in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Russia and China. Uzbek diaspora communities also exist in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

On arriving at Mashad, Ali-qoli sent a loyal force to the fortress of Kalat, where they killed all of Nader's issue with the exception of his 14-year-old grandson Shahrokh Mirza. On 6 July 1747, he was declared the shah under the name of Adel-Shah, "the just king". He sent his brother Ebrahim Mirza as a governor to Isfahan, while he remained in Mashad with his unpopular Georgian favourite, Sohrab Khan. Later that year, he defeated his erstwhile Kurdish allies, who had refused to supply grain for his famine-stricken army and capital, and had several of his supporters put to death on suspicion of conspiracy. He then marched against Mazandaran in a futile attempt to bend the Qajar tribe into submission. The Qajar chief Mohammad Hasan Khan was killed and his four-year-old son, the future Agha Mohammad Khan, was castrated on Adil's orders.^[1]^[2]

Shahrokh Mirza Afshar, better known by his dynastic name of Shahrokh Shah, was a king of the Afsharid dynasty and a contemporary of the Zand kings.

Ibrahim Mirza or Ebrahim Shah Afshar was the Shah of Persia during the Afsharid Empire from July to September 1748. He was Adil Shah's brother and Nader Shah's nephew. He toppled his brother in order to seize the power, and he blinded him on July 6, 1748. However, two months later his own troops rebelled against him. He was slain on 24 September, ending his short reign. Ebrahim was succeeded by Nader's grandson, Shahrokh Mirza, who was elected by the nobles to ascend to the throne.

Isfahan is a city in Iran. It is located 406 kilometres south of Tehran, and is the capital of Isfahan Province.

Overthrow and death

In the meantime, Ebrahim Mirza, who had consolidated his hold over western Iran, rose in rebellion against his reigning brother. He murdered Adil's favourite Sohrab Khan and in, June 1748, he marched to join his forces with Amir Aslan Khan, the sardar of Azerbaijan against Adil. The latter, at the head of a numerically superior army, advanced from Gilan to prevent the rebel forces combining, but the defection of many of his commanders precipitated his complete defeat. Adil fled to Tehran, but a local governor surrendered Adil to Ebrahim, who had him blinded. Six months later, Ebrahim was proclaimed shah, but his reign was quickly terminated by a coup which brought Nadir's surviving grandson Shahrokh Mirza to the throne. Ebrahim was blinded and soon died, while Adel was sent in chains to Mashad, where he was tortured to death.^[1]

Sardar, also spelled as Sirdar, Sardaar, Shordar or Serdar, is a title of nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, and other aristocrats. It has also been used to denote a chief or leader of a tribe or group. It is used as a Persian synonym of the Arabic title Amir.

Azerbaijan (Iran) region in northwestern Iran

Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan, also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq, Turkey, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Iranian Azerbaijan is administratively divided into West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan provinces. The region is mostly populated by Azerbaijanis, with minority populations of Kurds, Armenians, Tats, Talysh, Assyrians and Persians.

Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of around 8.694 million in the city and 15 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and has the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area.

Related Research Articles

Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah, was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as king (shah). Originally chieftain of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe, Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned as the king of Iran in 1789, but was not officially crowned until March 1796, having deposed Lotf Ali Khan of the Zand dynasty in 1794. Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was famously the eunuch Monarch, being castrated as a young adult upon his capture by Adel Shah Afshar, and hence was childless. On June 17, 1797, he was assassinated, and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar.

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Nadir Mirza Afshar was great-grandson of Nader Shah the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Persia. He was the fourth son of Shahrukh Afshar emperor of Khorasan.

Donboli are a Turkic-speaking sub-ethnic group of Kurds originality in the Khoy khanate and Tabriz khanate regions of West Azarbaijan Province of Iran.

The Karai or Qarai Turks, calling themselves Persian: قراي تركلر‎ or Persian: ترک های سیاه‎, are a Turkic-speaking minority mostly found in Khorasan and Iran especially Torbat-e Heydarieh.

Nader Shah Afshar was one of the most powerful Iranian rulers in the history of the nation, ruling as Shah of Iran (Persia) from 1736 to 1747 when he was assassinated during a rebellion. Because of his military genius as evidenced in his numerous campaigns throughout Middle East, Caucasus, Central and South Asia, such as the battles of Herat, Mihmandust, Murche-Khort, Kirkuk, Yeghevard, Khyber Pass, Karnal and Kars, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia, Sword of Persia, or the Second Alexander. Nader Shah was an Iranian who belonged to the Turkmen Afshar tribe of Khorasan in northeastern Iran, which had supplied military power to the Safavid dynasty since the time of Shah Ismail I.

Mirza Abolhassan Khan Shirazi Ilchi Kabir was an Iranian statesman who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1824 to 1834, and then again from 1838 until his death in 1846. He also served as the ambassador to Imperial Russia and Great Britain, and was the main Iranian delegate at the signing of the notorious Treaty of Gulistan (1813) with neighbouring Russia.

Azād Khān Afghān, or Azād Shāh Afghān, was a Pashtun military commander and a major contender for supremacy in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747. Azad rose to power between 1752 and 1757, and controlled part of the Azerbaijan region up to Urmia city, northwestern and northern Persia, and parts of southwestern Turkmenistan and eastern Kurdistan. Azad was a contemporary of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire.

Ebrahim Khan Zahir od-Dowleh was an Iranian statesman from the Qajar dynasty. He is mostly known for his 22-year-old governorship of the Kerman Province (1803-1824).

Ebrahim Kalantar Shirazi, also known as Hajji Ebrahim and E'temad al-Dawla, was an influential Iranian politician in the Zand and Qajar era.

The Tabriz khanate was one of the Caucasian khanates, located in historic Azerbaijan which became for nearly fifty years semi-independent from the Iranian mothercountry.

Khoy Khanate was an Iranian khanate in the province of Azerbaijan. The city of Khoy was inhabited and ruled by the Donboli clan, a Kurdish tribe originally from Anatolia, since the 14th century B.C. In 1530 Hajji Beg Donboli, son of Sheikh Ahmad Beg, received the rule over Khoy and Sokmanabad on behalf of the Safavid Shah Tahmasp II and could establish his family's rule over the whole area and finally also over the city of Tabriz, where another branch ruled the Tabriz Khanate.

After Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747, his nephew Ali Qoli seized the throne and proclaimed himself Adil Shah. He ordered the execution of all Nader's sons and grandsons, with the exception of the 13-year-old Shahrokh, the son of Reza Qoli. Meanwhile, Nader's former treasurer, Ahmad Shah Abdali, had declared his independence by founding the Durrani Empire. In the process, the eastern territories were lost and in the following decades became part of Afghanistan, the successor-state to the Durrani Empire. The Ottomans regained lost territories in Eastern Anatolia and Mesopotamia. The northern territories, Iran's most integral regions, had a different fate. Erekle II and Teimuraz II, who, in 1744, had been made the kings of Kakheti and Kartli respectively by Nader himself for their loyal service, capitalized on the eruption of instability, and declared de facto independence. Erekle II assumed control over Kartli after Teimuraz II's death, thus unifying the two as the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, becoming the first Georgian ruler in three centuries to preside over a politically unified eastern Georgia. Due to the frantic turn of events in mainland Iran he would be able to remain de facto autonomous through the Zand period. Under the successive Qajar dynasty, Iran managed to restore Iranian suzerainty over the Georgian regions, until they would be irrevocably lost in the course of the 19th century, to neighbouring Imperial Russia. Meanwhile, Azad Khan Afghan managed to take control over the land between the Aras river, and the Urmia Lake by 1750. Azad Khan would later go on to capture Isfahan and occupy Shiraz, before losing all his territories by 1758 to Karim Khan. Meanwhile, the Absheron Peninsula and surrounding territories, were under the control of the Khanate of Baku, while the Avar Khanate took control over modern day Dagestan. Alongside eastern Georgia, these territories would all be re-incorporated into Iran but eventually permanently and irrevocably lost as well in the course of the 19th century, through the two Russo-Persian Wars of the century, to neighbouring Imperial Russia. Lastly, Oman and the Uzbek khanates of Bukhara and Khiva regained independence. The Afsharid dynasty would continue to live on in parts of Khorasan with Mashhad as the capital. When the Zand empire expanded rapidly, Karim khan allowed the Afsharids to continue rule in Khorasan, showing his respect for Nader Shah. It was eventually dissolved upon the Qajars ascension to the throne.

Hasan-Ali Beg Bestami was an important Safavid official, who subsequently became one of the closest associates of Nader Shah, serving as his chief assayer.

Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari was the Bakhtiari supreme chieftain (ilkhani) of the Chahar Lang branch, and major contender for supremacy in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah in 1747.

Hossein Qoli Khan Qajar was the Qajar chieftain of the Qoyunlu branch from 1759 till his death in 1777.

References

1 2 3 4 J. R. Perry (December 15, 1983), "ʿĀdel Shah Afšār", in: Encyclopædia Iranica , Vol. I, Fasc. 5, p. 452. Iranica Online (Last Updated: July 22, 2011). Accessed April 16, 2012.
↑ Richard Tapper, Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan (Cambridge University Press, 1997: ISBN 0-521-58336-5), p. 118.

Preceded by Nader Shah Afshar	Shah of Persia 1747–1748	Succeeded by Ebrahim Shah

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[iranica-1] 1 2 3 4 J. R. Perry (December 15, 1983), "ʿĀdel Shah Afšār", in: Encyclopædia Iranica , Vol. I, Fasc. 5, p. 452. Iranica Online (Last Updated: July 22, 2011). Accessed April 16, 2012.

[2] Richard Tapper, Frontier Nomads of Iran: A Political and Social History of the Shahsevan (Cambridge University Press, 1997: ISBN 0-521-58336-5), p. 118.