OMAR was succeeded by a race of Califs, the Popes of Asia, who assumed at once a regal and a priestly character, the one as conquerors of Persia, and the other as successors of Mahomed. The family of OMMIA preserved their power and dignity; but, under the house of ABBAS, the Califate was reduced to a shadow of sovereignty, and their Empire was divided among a number of independent Princes.
The division of the Empire prepared it for dissolution; the sons of GENGHIZ, who led a numerous army of Tartars over the Oxus, found the conquest of Persia an easy task. It is related, that Holagu, a Mogul prince, who put an end to the Califate in the thirteenth century, was incited to besiege Bagdad by the great astronomer Nassireddîn, who had taken offence at the Calif’s behaviour to him; so that the subversion of a splendid Empire was owing to the resentment of a private Philosopher*. The Genghizians were followed by TIMUR, improperly called Tamerlane, whose dominions extended from the Ganges to the borders of Museovy, and from the Archipelago to the frontiers of China; which kingdom he was beginning to invade at the time of his death. The metropolis of his Empire was Samarcand, a rich and flourishing city, the ancient Maracanda, situated in the beautiful valley of Sogd, about a day’s journey from Cash, the place of his birth. At the opening of the fifteenth century, not many months before his death, he celebrated the nuptials of his sons and grandsons by a sumptuous festival in a delightful plain called Gánigul*, or The Treasury of Roses. All the riches of Xerxes and Darius, of which our historians talk so extravagantly, were trifling in comparison of the jewels and gold exhibited on this occasion.
His vast possessions were inherited by the illustrious SHAHROKH, who distributed them among his children. In his reign the princes of the BLACK RAM grew very powerful and insolent; they were, however, reduced by UZUN HASSAN, or Hassan the Tall, who was the sixth king of the WHITE RAM, and subdued many provinces of Persia, but was defeated by Sultan Mahomed II. who took Constantinople in the middle of the fifteenth century. These two families were distinguished by the Rams of different colours, which were painted on their ensigns.
The sons of Hassan weakened their Empire by their violent dissensions; and, in the beginning of the sixteenth century, left it open to ISMAIL, whose grandfather Juneid had married a daughter of Hassan. This prince is considered as the founder of the Sefi family, but his ancestor SHEIKH SEFI was the true cause of its rise. The story of that singular man deserves to be told at full length. When Timur returned to Persia, after his victories in Syria, he passed through Ardebil, a large city of Media. There lived at that time in this city a man named Sefieddín, or the Purity of Religion, by contraction Sefi, who was much respected by the Citizens, as a Philosopher of singular virtue and piety, and a reputed descendant from the prophet Ali. The Tartarian Conqueror, who was not inferiour to Alexander, visited Sefi, who was far more benevolent than Diogenes; and at that time Tamerlane happened to have with him a great number of captives in chains, for the most part natives of Carmania, whom he had determined to put to death upon some publick occasion. He was charmed with the conversation of the philosopher, and, like the Macedonian Hero, offered to give him any thing he could desire. The Sage pointed to the Captives, and entreated him to save the lives of those young Carmanians who were in his train. Timur consented; and gave them all to Sefi as his slaves; but the virtuous old man supplied them with the necessaries of life, and sent them to their native city. The families of those prisoners, who were the principal men of Carmania, retained so grateful a sense of this benefit, that they expressed it in the most extravagant manner: they made it the business of their lives to visit their benefactor and to carry him presents; and even enjoined their children to pay the same respect to the posterity of this excellent man. But all his descendants had not his benevolence; and Ismail employed those very Carmanians in raising him to the throne of Persia, and in substituting the sect of Ali, his real or supposed ancestor, to that of Omar, the acknowledged successor of Mahomed.
Ismail had many eminent qualities, but sullied them all by his detestable cruelty. His successors, without excepting ABBAS, absurdly called the Great, were such a disgrace to human nature, that an account of their lives would be more like a description of the Tigers in some publick collection of wild beasts, than a piece of history: almost every day of their lives was distinguished by some horrid act of intemperance, lust, or murder, aggravated with some new circumstance of wickedness: their very love was fierce and inhuman, and they burned for the slightest offences the most beautiful women of Asia, either because they declined drinking a cup of wine more than usual, or interceded for some courtier in disgrace. At length the vein of inhumanity seemed exhausted in the family, and left nothing behind it but an inconceivable stupidity.
HUSSEIN, who reigned at the opening of this century, was a weak Zealot; and, by committing the management of his kingdom to Eunuchs and pernicious Ministers, left it open to the Savages who invaded it, and assaulted him even in his Metropolis. A barbarous nation, called Afgans, or Avgans*, who inhabited the mountains between Candahar and the river Indus, rushed like a torrent into Persia, and took Ispahan after a violent siege, under the command of MAHMUD, son of MIRVEIS, who, as all Europe knows, had shaken off the Persian yoke, and governed Candahar for eight years*.
The kingdom of Persia was reduced to a deplorable state, when TAHMASP was raised to the throne, after the abdication of his father Hussein, who was soon after murdered. Mahmud, the Usurper reigned in Ispahan, and was succeeded by his cousin Ashraf†, who added to his dominions the cities of Kom, Yezd, and Kazvin. The inhabitants of Candahar, the ancient Paropamisus, and those of Herat or Ariana had thrown off their allegiance to the Sultan, having established separate and distinct governments: in the provinces of Ghilán, Kermán, and Pars, several pretenders arose at the head of considerable forces: the rebel Melek had made himself master of Khorasan, ordered money to be coined in his name, and wore the diadem of Persia; the Turks had subdued great part of Azarbigian or Media, and all the districts near the shore of the Caspian were in the hands of the Russians. This was not all; a number of barbarous tribes, who inhabited the forests and mountains, joined in the general commotion, and concurred to fill the whole Empire with desolation and rapine; while the new Emperor, who had scarce common sense, was driven like a fugitive from city to city, attended only by a few troops, and some Nobles as weak as himself.
At this time a young man, named NADERKULI, or The Servant of the Wonderful, advanced from the deserts bordering on the Caspian Sea, and attacked the enemies of his country. It is He, of whose life and actions we propose to give a succinct account in the following work.
NADER KULI was born on Sunday, the eleventh day of November in the year 1688, in a castle named Destegerd, about sixty miles to the north of Meshed, Capital of Khorasan. His birth was neither eminently high, nor contemptibly low; for his Ancestors seem to have been the principal men of a Tartarian tribe, called Afshars, who had formerly removed from the Transoxan provinces to avoid the oppression of the Moguls: their life was divided between war, and pastoral amusements, and, like the Arabs, they continued to change their quarters according to the mildness or severity of the season. We may suppose, however, that his family was not very considerable, as the Persian author makes A.D.1703. Nad. 15. a long apology for the obscurity of his extraction, and, in the manner of the Oriental writers, throws out several poetical illustrations of what he had asserted, “that the cimeter acquires its merit from the natural excellence of its temper, and not from the mine, where it was formed; and that the diamond owes not its superiority over all other jewels to the rock where it grew, but to its native brightness.” Let that be as it may, it is certain that he was born with admirable parts, and soon discovered a peculiar genius for military exercises: even at the early age of fifteen years, he gave many signal proofs of his valour, in every expedition that he was engaged in; but the first circumstance which promoted and distinguished him, was his alliance with the Chief of a neighbouring tribe, a man of great power and dignity, who had signalized himself in several wars with the nations of the adjacent districts, and who then possessed a strong hold near the city of Abiúrd: this chief was so pleased with the dawning merit of the young Naderkuli, that he gave him his daughter in marriage, in preference to a croud of competitors.
He A.D.1718. Nad. 31. was thirty-one years old, when his son Rizakuli was born, whose mother died five years after; and Nader married the daughter of another Chief, by whom he had two sons Imámkuli, and Nasralla. We must not omit, that he had a brother named Zoheireddoula, who had also two sons Ibrahim and Ali: as these are the principal actors in the following History, the reader must keep them constantly in his memory, for if he once lose the chain of events in this narrative, we are not answerable for any obscurity or A.D.1723. Nad. 36. confusion, that he may find in it; nor is it less necessary for him, to hold perpetually in his mind the situation of the provinces in Persia, and the state of those provinces, when Naderkuli began his career*.
It was in the thirty-sixth year of his age, that he formed the design of delivering his Country from the tyrants, who infested every part of it; and, knowing that he must proceed gradually in the execution of this great project, he began it, by collecting under his banners a number of the tribes contiguous to his own, and persecuted or destroyed all those, who refused to support him in his enterprise. In a short time he had assembled a body of resolute and warlike youths, who were strongly attached to his interests, and attended him faithfully through all the changes of his fortune: with their assistance he took possession of Kelat, a Castle very advantageously situated, and made yet stronger by the help of art.
The first dangerous enemy that he determined to crush, was Melek, who had usurped the large and beautiful province of Khorasan, or the Region of the Sun: he was not yet strong enough to repel this usurper by force of arms; and was obliged to have recourse to a base dissimulation, far below the natural greatness of his mind. He accepted the terms of amity, which Melek had proposed to him with a design equally treacherous; and they passed some time together with every outward mark of friendship, whilst each was seeking an opportunity to circumvent and ruin A.D.1723. Nad. 36. the other: at length Naderkuli, perceiving his danger in the court of the tyrant, determined to strike the first blow, and formed a conspiracy against him, in which he failed by a want of agility that seems incredible; for he had agreed with his associates, that, while he and Melek were engaged in the Asiatick exercise of throwing the Gerid, or javelin, they should attack his guards, and leave him to hazard a single combat with the Usurper, but that they should not stir, till they saw him seize the reins of Melek’s horse; at a proper time he was going to give the signal, but in the hurry of the exercise, he missed his aim, and Melek rode by without perceiving his attempt, so that he resolved to defer his vengeance till another day: but his great mind was not formed for the low arts of deceit; and he was reserved for a nobler victory over this tyrant. He soon discovered his errour, and, having retired from the court of Melek to his own castle, began to take measures for an open and vigorous war.
Since his troops were as yet very little used to fire-arms, and had only fought with lances or sabres, he was obliged to act with great caution against the artillery of Melek: he constantly avoided a decisive battle, but seized with incredible vigilance every advantage that presented itself. He had, however, several engagements with his enemies, in which he was generally victorious; and he soon received a great accession to his power, by the concurrent forces of all the neighbouring tribes, and by the number of strong holds in the district of Abiurd, which he had taken either by composition, or by storm.
While A.D.1724. Nad. 37. this young Adventurer was training his new army to a kind of war, of which they had no idea before his time, the Sultan Tahmasp was regaining a little strength, and making a feeble effort towards the recovery of Khorasan; with which view, he sent a detachment into that province, under the command of Riza, a weak and imprudent officer. This General was extremely surprised to hear on every side the fame of Nader’s exploits, and to find that he had forced Melek to remain inactive within the walls of Meshed, against which he had actually led his forces: he considered, that the success of this young man would entirely efface his own glory, and render his expedition ineffectual; accordingly he sent him orders to desist from his enterprise, and to avoid an engagement with the rebels. Naderkuli obeyed; and, retiring to Abiurd, left the field open for the General, not doubting but that his service would soon be necessary, and that Riza would repent of having refused it: he was not deceived; for Melek, being informed of Nader’s retreat, and knowing the incapacity of Riza, sallied eagerly from his intrenchments, defeated the Imperial army, and compelled the General to fly with a few of his guards.
Nader, upon this, prepared again for action, and led his troops towards the city of Nishapor, which Melek had invested; but a mutiny, that was raised in his army, gave the rebels time to push the siege with vigour, and the garrison surrendered the city to the tyrant. When Nader had calmed the dissension of his tribes, he resolved to hazard a battle, and met the enemy in a plain near Meshed; but his soldiers were so harrassed by the musketry of the rebels, that they A.D.1724. Nad. 37. soon fled in confusion, and Nader himself, attended only by two of his officers, retired to Kelát, with indignation in his heart. It was not long, before he reinforced his army in the districts of Abiurd, and, marching at their head towards Meshed, incamped within a few miles of the city. Melek, elated with his former success, advanced boldly against him; but Nader was so animated by the sense of his late disgrace, and the ardent desire of revenge, that he resolved to exert his utmost powers, and rushed with a wild fury upon the rebels. The engagement was obstinate, and lasted with equal violence on both sides, from noon till sunset; at which time, Melek, finding the greater part of his army slain, fled precipitately to an adjacent fortress, leaving his ammunition and artillery in the hands of the Conquerors. Nader was prevented, by some troubles in his little territory, from pursuing his conquest at that time, and Melek returned to Meshed, full of madness and despair.
In A.D.1725. Nad. 38. the mean while, the Emperor was wandering like an exile in the province of Mazenderan, the ancient Margiana: he heard every quarter ring with the name of Nader, and, being assured that this young warriour had no other intent than to extirpate the oppressors of his country, he sent one of his ministers named Hassan Ali, to compliment him upon his late victory, and to desire the continuance of his help. Nader received this minister with great dignity, declared that his intention was, to omit no step towards restoring the Sultan to his former power, and accompanied Hassan Ali in his return through part of Khorasan, in order to defend him from any A.D.1726. Nad. 39. danger or insult. After this he resumed his arms, and took several strong places by assault, among which was the ancient city of Meru: he enlisted the young captives into his army, and distributed the spoils among his own Afshars.
The Sultan in the mean time was advancing to Khorasan, with his small army commanded by a General named Fetah Ali, and sent a second message to Nader, intreating him to join him with his forces: Nader set out instantly, and met the Emperor, with whom he had a long conference; and on the seventh of September 1727, both armies marched towards Meshed.
During A.D.1727. Nad. 40. these transactions Melek had not been idle: he had taken all the forts in the adjacent districts, and laid waste the habitations of all the tribes that opposed him; but, hearing that Nader and the Sultan had joined their forces, he was seized with such fear, that he returned in haste to the Capital of his province, and made preparations for sustaining the tempest, which he saw impending over him.
About this time Fetah Ali, the commander in chief, was accused of disaffection, and put to death by the Emperor’s order: though the Persian writer seems to acquit his Hero of any concern in this accusation, yet we cannot help suspecting that He was the contriver of it; it is certain at least, that he was immediately invested with the supreme command of the imperial army, which he exercised upon every occasion with great authority, disposing of places and governments according to A.D.1727. Nad. 40. his pleasure. He soon began to draw his lines round the city, while Melek, being almost driven to despair, made several bold attempts to impede his progress, and often sallied from the gates, but was, as often, repulsed with great loss, and was at length obliged to act merely a defensive part. When the siege had lasted near two months, the officers of Melek deserted from him every day; and one of them, named Pîr Mohammed, offered to deliver the city to the besiegers, if the Sultan would grant him a full pardon; accordingly, he opened the gates at midnight on the twenty-ninth of November, and Nader entered them at the head of twelve thousand men: most of the garrison laid down their arms; the rest were put to the sword, and Melek, with a few of his chiefs, fled to the citadel, where they made a short resistance, but at last surrendered at discretion. The rebels were treated with lenity, and Melek, at his own request, was permitted to wear the habit of a Dervise, and to retire into a cell belonging to the mosque of Riza, the son of Musa, a Mahomedan saint, who was buried in the city of Meshed. The officer, who betrayed him, was recompensed for his service by a considerable government.
The Sultan entered his city in a kind of triumph, and a short interval of rest succeeded to all his misery.
Nader had made a vow that, if he took Meshed, he would cause the dome of the sacred mosque to be gilt; he, therefore, employed the few days of repose after his success, in giving orders for adding this ornament to the city, and at the same A.D.1727. Nad. 40. time the ablest architects were engaged, by his command, in raising another dome equally splendid.
By these acts of affected piety, but of true magnificence, he won the hearts of the populace, and of his army; but raised in the courtiers and ministers of the Sultan, that envy and malevolence, which ever accompany a consciousnefs of inferiour merit: they were perpetually insinuating to the credulous prince, that his General was daring and ambitious, that his power was already out of all reason, and that no authority whatever would be able to controll him, if he were allowed to pursue his present course. These suggestions had such an effect on the Emperor, that, when Nader had begun to march into an adjacent territory, in order to reinforce his troops, the imperial mandate was issued to recall him. Upon his disobedience the Sultan left Meshed, and, retiring in disguise to a neighbouring castle, sent circular letters to all the northern provinces, in which he accused his General of high treason, and declared him a rebel. These letters were brought to Nader together with the news of the Sultan’s retreat: he was moved with a just indignation at this ingratitude, but knowing that gentle measures would be ineffectual, he led his troops against the castle, where Tahmasp and his courtiers were concealed, and, upon their disobeying his summons, he laid siege to it in form. Soon after, a large supply of money and military stores, which a Persian officer was bringing to the Sultan, was intercepted by one of Nader’s commanders, and brought to his camp: this loss so reduced Tahmasp, that he was obliged to propose amicable terms A.D.1727. Nad. 40. to his General, and to promise that, if he would desist from hostilities, himself and his court would return to Meshed, and rely for the future on the prudence of his conduct. He accepted these terms; and reconducted the Monarch to his capital, with every outward mark of respect, but, in reality, with the highest contempt both of his power and understanding.
It is probable, that Nader conceived at this time a design of taking the government into his own hands, and of extending his conquests even beyond the limits of the Persian empire; for on the morning after his return to Meshed, he told his officers a dream, which he had, no doubt, invented, and which they did not fail to interpret according to his wishes: “he dreamed, as he said, that he saw a lake, in which were a large water-fowl, and a white fish with four horns; that his attendants strove in vain to catch them, but that, when He stretched out his hand, he took them with great ease.” His adherents immediately declared, according to an old proverb current in Persia, that, to dream of birds and fish denoted a certainty of arriving at sovereign power; but the circumstance of the four horns could not then be explained by them, though they were afterwards supposed to portend the four kingdoms of Persia, India, Tartary, and Kharezm. Nothing should be omitted in an History, which may tend to place in a clear light, the characters of the principal persons in it: we see by this little fact, that the smallest arts of policy were united in this singular man, with all the fierceness of heroism; and we shall have occasion, in the course of our narrative, to mention the A.D.1727. Nad. 40. great influence, which he gained over his army by the same artifice of forging a dream. This has been a common deceit of great officers; as, in the siege of Tyre, we are told, that Alexander encouraged his soldiers, by assuring them that Hercules had appeared to him in a dream, and, taking him by the hand, had led him into the City*.
Nader A.D.1728. Nad. 41. was not suffered to remain a long time inactive: the inconstant and mutinous nation of the Curds, privately supported by the ministers of the Sultan, had taken arms, and driven his brother Zoheireddoula into a castle, where they kept him under a close blockade. He found no great difficulty in reducing these rebels: he was able to encounter any open force whatever; but he was at the same time attacked by more secret and more dangerous enemies. Melek, who, as it has been said above, had retired into the cell of a dervise, was employing all his art to incite the Tartars, that inhabited the city of Meru, to rebel against Nader; and the Court assisted him in these intrigues; while the Emperor, either through folly or malignity, but, certainly, with an excess of ingratitude, rejoiced at the storm, which he thought ready to break over the head of his Deliverer: but the designs of Melek were discovered; and Nader, finding him no less dangerous in a cell than in the field, determined to put him to death, and dispatched one A.D.1728. Nad. 41. of his attendants for that purpose, who gladly undertook the office, since a brother, whom he tenderly loved, had been unjustly slain by Melek during his government of Khorasan. This Usurper was a base, perfidious, artful tyrant; he had been governor of Segestan, but removed into Khorasan, when the Afgans invaded Persia, and was delighted with the ruin of his country, as it gave him an opportunity of raising himself to absolute power.
Nader had now recovered a great part of the finest province in the Persian Empire; and he resolved to bring the whole of it to subjection, before he carried his arms into the West. As to the Sultan, he neither feared nor regarded him: he showed him, indeed, a great deal of outward respect, but acted in all his affairs with a sovereign authority; for he well knew that nothing could injure him, while he was at the head of thirty thousand hardy soldiers, who were firmly attached to his interest, as well from the veneration, which his amazing courage extorted from them, as from the hope of sharing the fruits of his victories.
On the twenty-seventh of July, he set out upon an expedition against the Afgans, who had by this time penetrated into the heart of Khorasan: those banditti fled precipitately from his army, which advanced, as the poet says, like a flame that consumes all before it. He came in a few days to one of those vast deserts of sand, that are so frequent in Asia; where, mounted on a camel, with a lance in his hand, he led his soldiers without intermission, and held in common with them the toil and danger of A.D.1728. Nad. 41. these fatiguing marches. He arrived on the ninth of September at a fortress called Behadin, which he took by storm, together with many other strong holds: but the castle of Sencán gave him more trouble; the governor made an obstinate resistance, and would not surrender till the twenty-second, after having sustained a vigorous fire from the Persian artillery. One day he was standing by a canon of an enormous size, and giving directions to his engineers; some accident called him away, and he had scarce stepped three paces from the canon, before it burst, and the splinters of it killed several soldiers, and one officer of distinction, who stood near it in the place, which Nader had just left.
On the day after the taking of Sencán, he had notice, that seven or eight thousand Afgans were marching from Herat to the relief of the Governor: Nader immediately advanced to meet them, and encamped towards evening in a plain called Abadcáf. It was not, however, his intention, to come to a decisive battle with these dauntless savages, who had been trained to war by a long course of rapine and havock; he meaned only to harrass them by slight skirmishes, and to enure the Persians by degrees to confront a nation, which they had been used to consider as something more than human. Agreeably to this design, he placed his forces behind strong intrenchments, and never acted offensively till he discovered some favorable opening, but on the moment that he perceived any weakness in the enemy, he sallied out at the head of a light-armed troop, which constantly gained some advantage, and returned to their companions, A.D.1728. Nad. 41. wondering at their own success. In this manner he contrived to exercise his whole army by turns, and, having kept the Afgans in play for four days, he made a general attack: the shock was violent; and they, who were too much exhausted to resist it, fled in confusion to Herat, whence they came. Nader reserved the reduction of that City for some future occasion, and, thinking it imprudent to pursue the Afgans too far, returned to Meshed, where the battle of Abadcáf greatly increased his glory.
His domestick foes were more obstinate, more insidious, and more dangerous: in the field he opposed valour to valour; in the palace he was obliged to contend with envy, folly, and malevolence. The Sultan and his ministers were perpetually soliciting him to undertake the recovery of Ispahán, and to march directly against that city: it was vain for him to alledge, that there were still many desperate enemies in the midst of Khorasan, that the inhabitants of Herat were still very refractory, and that it was too early for so distant an expedition. They affected to consider these prudent remonstrances as a refusal to comply with the Emperor’s request; they even intimated, that his unwillingness to invest Ispahan proceeded from some disloyal intention, and spread a report through the province, that Nader was stripped of all his honors, and had no longer a share in the government. This dissension went so far, that a civil war seemed ready to break out: the Sultan left Meshed a second time, together with his courtiers, and, taking the road of Mazenderan, assaulted and seized a castle belonging to a tribe of Nader’s firmest A.D.1728. Nad. 41. adherents. The General was soon informed of their motions and advanced in haste to the castle, where he desired an explanation of this proceeding; but they ordered the gates to be shut and refused to admit him. He made immediate preparations for a siege, and his artillery had actually begun to play, when the Emperor came in person to Nader, and, in an abject manner, made an apology for the behaviour of his ministers; Nader affected to be convinced of his sincerity, and returned with him to Meshed, but prevented his having any further intercourse with the confederates, who were obliged to lie concealed, till the storm was in some measure abated.
It may be thought strange, that Nader, who had a powerful army at his disposal, and had been so ill rewarded for his service, did not at this time assume the name of Emperor, or at least of Protector, to which last he was justly entitled: he could not be weak enough to respect an obstinate idiot, because the accident of a royal birth had placed him upon a throne, which he disgraced: but he despised his weakness; and he knew how little the vain name of King could add to his power, which was already as great as he could desire. He acted, indeed, as Sovereign upon every occasion, and about this time sent an ambassador in his own name to the court of Russia, demanding in high terms the restitution of Ghilan, a province famed for its rich silk, which Peter I, who was desirous of engrossing the dominion of the Caspian lake, had wrested from Tahmasp in the year 1723; when he penetrated into Persia, on a pretence of supporting the Sultan Hussein against Mahmùd, who A.D.1728. Nad. 41. had just made himself master of Ispahan.
On A.D.1729. Nad. 42. the tenth of March was celebrated the festival called Nurúz, in which the ancient Persians used to solemnize the Sun’s entrance into the Ram, and the return of the vernal season. The General entertained the populace with sumptuous shows, gave splendid feasts to the Nobles, and chief men of his army, and distributed among his soldiers the prizes, that he had won in his late expeditions: in these largesses he wisely proportioned the value of his gifts to the degree of courage, which he had observed in his men; a noble example of attention in a General, which should be followed by all great commanders, as, by exciting a warm emulation in an army, it might raise their troops to the glory of the old Spartan and Roman legions.
Nader now prepared for his expedition against Herat, and, leaving Meshed on the twenty-fourth of April, encamped in the plains of Jám, a small town, famous for being the birth-place of Noureddin, thence called Jámi, a most spirited and lively poet, who flourished, in the middle of the fifteenth century, with a great reputation for wit and genius.
Herat, the Aria of Ptolemy, is a city of Khorasan, frequently mentioned in the histories of the East: it is pleasantly situated, and was remarkable for the delightfulness of the gardens which surrounded it, before it was laid waste by the violence of war; it had been plundered by the two greatest warriors of Asia, A.D.1729. Nad. 42. Genghiz and Timúr, and was now reserved for the arms of as desperate a soldier: the historians of Herát mention this circumstance, as some alleviation to the miseries which they have suffered, as if the splendid name of an oppressor could give any ease to the oppressed. In the year 1722, so fatal to the Sultan Hussein, there was a violent insurrection in this city; the inhabitants persisted for five years in opposing the power of the Emperor, and had elected an Afgan governor named Allayar. In a few days Nader reached the city, but had been forced to open his way to it, by making a passage through the numerous forces of the rebels; he constantly defeated them in all his engagements, in which he behaved with a personal valour, that struck an awe into his whole army, who began to look upon him as something above a mortal: he usually charged at the head of his cavalry, and carried a general terrour wherever he moved; yet in all his battles, he received only a slight wound in his foot from the point of a javelin.
Allayár, who expected a speedy supply from the governor of Ferah, contrived to gain time by proposing terms of agreement on one day, and retracting them on the next; in the mean while Nader had invested the City, and was making preparations for a regular siege: the commander of Ferah had, indeed, sent a body of men with ammunition and artillery to Allayar; but they were intercepted by the Persians, their military stores taken, and themselves forced to fly with precipitation; which when Allayár discovered, he came with his chiefs and all the magistrates of the city, to the tent of the General, making the most solemn vows of subjection A.D.1729. Nad. 42. and obedience: Nader accepted his offers, and suffered him, rather imprudently, to continue in his government; after which he returned towards Meshed, and entered it in triumph on the twenty-second of June. On his return he found the same weakness in the Sultan, and the same malignity in his courtiers; but he appeased them in some measure by a promise, which he made, of advancing in a few months against Ispahan; where Ashraf, a cousin of the tyrant Mahmúd, then reigned with all the insolence of an Usurper.
NADER A.D.1729. Nad. 42. was forming a plan of operations against the Afgans, and doubting what course to pursue, when the imprudence of Ashraf, who had succeeded to Mahmud in the absolute government of Ispahan, brought his designs at once to maturity; for the usurper, hearing of Nader’s expedition against Herát, imagined that he had a fair opportunity in his absence to plunder Khorasan; on the borders of which he arrived on the thirtieth of July. The Persian general, having notice of his arrival, ordered all his forces to be in readiness, and his best artillery to be brought into the field; but he was not able to leave Meshed till the beginning of September, at which time he advanced with great rapidity, and reached a fortress, which an officer of Ashraf was besieging. The Afgan raised the siege at his approach, and retreated precipitately to a plain called Mehmandost*, whither he was followed by Ashraf, who encamped on the banks of a small river.
On the twentieth, Nader appeared before them in order of battle; he drew the flower of his A.D.1729. Nad. 42. army into a compact phalanx, ordering them to keep their ground in a most profound silence, that they might hear his orders to a moment: his voice, as a man, who heard it at the siege of Bagdad, informed one of my friends, was uncommonly clear and strong. The Afgans were marching towards him with great haste, but with more spirit than regularity; they then unfolded their front to right and left, and formed three divisions, in hopes of enclosing his troops, and attacking them in flank. Nader perceived their design, and, in order to frustrate it, covered the sides of his phalanx with his artillery. Ashraf rushed onward, hoping to strike a panick into the Persians, and mistaking, perhaps, their wonderful composure and solemn silence for a want of resolution to attack him; his army were just within musket-shot of the enemy, when Nader gave the word, and the Persians sired with great steadiness, marching at the same time with incredible order. Ashraf, little expecting to meet with such a check, was alarmed and disconcerted; his troops were thrown into disorder; his standard-bearer was killed by his side; the Persian phalanx still advanced like a column of fire, striking down whole lines at every discharge; and at length the usurper fled with the few Afgans that remained, and took the road of Ispahan. The General would not suffer his men to pursue the Afgans, but promised to indulge their eagerness on the first occasion, and returned to his camp in the same order, without any unmeaning clamours or marks of inconsiderate joy.
After this victory, Nader sent an ambassador to the Turkish court, insisting upon the restitution of A.D.1729. Nad. 42. Azarbigian or Media, and giving plain hints, that the should soon be able to seize it by force, is they paid no attention to his just demand.
A violent enmity had ever subsisted between the Persians and Turks, which, indeed, could hardly be avoided between two nations, who were always disputing, either about their frontiers, or on some point of religion; and each of whom, as it generally happens, was jealous of the other’s glory. Othman, from whom the Turkish Emperors take their name, was very formidable to the princes of Persia at the close of the thirteenth century, and Alaeddín, sovereign of Lycaonia, was forced to secure his alliance, by giving him the rank of his commander in chief, and inciting him against the Greeks: his descendants enlarged their Empire; and their hatred to the Persians was increased, when a party, who asserted the right of Ali to the Califate, opposed them in every part of Asia, and thwarted all their designs. When the sect of the Alides was introduced among the Persians by the family of Sefi, the Turks affected to treat them as a detestable faction, which the name of Shiahs implies, and the Mufti never failed, when the Porte was inclined to declare war against them, to assert, that it would be a merit in the army of the Faithful, to shed the blood of such impious Hereticks: but they rejoiced at the schism which they pretended to detest: while the Persians continued to acknowledge the succession of Omar, they had a right, and were bound, indeed, by their religion, to make a yearly visit to Mecca; so that, under the pretence of a A.D.1729. Nad. 42. pilgrimage, they might lead a numerous army through the heart of the Turkish empire; but Ismaïl imagined, that, by transferring the scene of this religious ceremony from Arabia, to the tomb of Ali in his own dominions, he should cause a considerable sum of money to be circulated every year in his kingdom, instead of being carried to that of his natural enemy.
Selim I. an active and enterprising monarch, made this heresy of Ismaïl, a pretext for invading Persia, and pushed his conquest with great rapidity: his son, the warlike but unfortunate Soliman II. was equally successful in his expeditions against the Sultan Tahmasp I. who had first protected, and afterwards betrayed, the Prince Bayazid, Son of Soliman by the Russian captive, Roxolana: His successors engaged in many bloody wars with the race of Sefi, and the city of Bagdad had been a subject of perpetual contention between them, from the sixteenth century to the middle of the present.
In the year 1703 Ahmed III.*, the twenty-third Emperor of the Turks, was placed on the throne in the room of his brother Mustafa, who lost his diadem by preferring the decisions of the Mufti to the good will of his generals: he was deposed with the Alcoran in his hand, and confined till his death in the seraglio. His brother, sensibly reflecting that the authors of one revolution would have the power to cause another, gave private orders for the chief officers of A.D.1729. Nad. 42. the Janissaries to be seized one by one, and thrown by night into the sea; but he left his work unfinished: if, like Peter I. he had entirely broken that formidable militia, he might have avoided the terrible event which happened twenty-seven years afterwards, in consequence of Nader’s victories.
When Persia was torn in pieces by the ravages of Mahmud, and the Czar was securing to himself three of its finest provinces, Ahmed, eager to share the ruins of his rival’s empire, seized the rich province of Azarbigian; and, as he had an immoderate love of riches, divided it into districts, and sold them, as military fiefs, to his janissaries, who were determined to keep them, and heard with disdain the demand of the new Persian General.
Nader in the mean time was pursuing Ashraf, and observing all his motions: in one of his excursions he discovered a body of Afgans, who were encamped in a very advantageous situation. It was a narrow pass, called Serdekhar, between two mountains, upon which the Afgans had planted their artillery: in a place like this, before the invention of fire-arms, a small number of resolute men might have stopped an whole army: but the Persians attacked the enemy with such vigour, that they left their post, and fled to Ashraf; who, grown more cautious since his defeat, retreated with all his forces to Ispahan, where he massacred most of the inhabitants in cold blood, and, among them, a number of learned men, who had retired from the world, and hoped to close their days in a studious tranquillity.
He A.D.1729. Nad. 42. soon, however, recovered his spirits, and, having raised a numerous army, advanced to a plain called Morche khort*. It was late in the evening, on the twelfth of November, when Nader came in sight of the enemy, and, resolving to lose no time, while the Afgans retained an impression of his valour, he ordered a body of Curds to attack their advanced guard: they fought with great resolution; slew about four hundred of the rebels, and returned at night with several prisoners, who gave notice that a Turkish general, governor of Hamadan, had joined Ashraf with a formidable army. This piece of intelligence was very unexpected, and the Turks seem to have violated the law of nations, in taking the field without a formal declaration of war; or without giving any answer to the Persian ambassador: the circumstance was the more alarming to Nader at this juncture, as he was by no means prepared to engage with so powerful an enemy; he retired, therefore, to his tent, and passed the night without sleep in a great agitation of mind. At break of day he advanced towards the Afgans, who, together with the Turks, were encamped on an eminence: when he had almost reached the foot of the hill, he turned aside, and pretended to bend his course towards Ispahan, hoping by this motion to draw Ashraf from his intrenchments; but the usurper, having acquired some degree of prudence from the battle of Mehmandóst, remained firm in his station. Nader continued his feigned march, and retiring at a proper distance, discovered a part of the enemy’s camp which seemed to be very A.D.1729. Nad. 42. ill defended: he instantly sent a resolute officer with the artillery to attack it, while himself, at the head of his cavalry, prepared to receive the Afgans, if they should be forced, as he expected, to give him battle. His project succeeded; his officer made a vigorous assault, drove the enemy into the plain, and, having seized their cannon, continued to harrass them in the rear, while Nader met them in front with equal alacrity. A general action ensued, which lasted for several hours; and this, indeed, was the first decisive battle, in which Nader had been engaged: he was fighting against two great armies, and must either, by gaining the field, recover Ispahan from the rebels, or, by losing it, must abandon all his projects, and be reduced to nothing:
| ——— no vulgar prize they play, |
| No vulgar victim must reward the day, |
| Such as in races crown the speedy strife; |
| The prize contended was great Hector’s life*. |
At noon the Turks began to give way; which Nader, who lost no advantage that offered itself, immediately observed, and pushed his troops against them so vigorously, that they had recourse to flight, and were soon followed by their allies: a great number of Afgans and Turks were made prisoners; the former of whom, as rebels, were reserved for a publick execution at Ispahan, but the latter were treated with lenity, and sent back to their quarters at Hamadan.
Ashraf, A.D.1729. Nad. 42. breathing nothing but fury and revenge, returned to Ispahan with bitterness in his heart: he there called together his few adherents, and fled in the evening towards Shiraz. The Persians, who dwelled in the districts near Ispahan, crouded into the city, which was stripped of inhabitants, but full of treasures, the collected plunder of many years, which the rebels had not time to carry with them: these oppressed natives had now a kind of new life infused into them, by the departure of their oppressors, and immediately sent intelligence to Nader of Ashraf’s flight; upon which he advanced to Ispahan, and entered it in triumph. He soon after sent the Sultan an account of his victory, and invited him to sit on the throne of his ancestors in the metropolis of their Empire.
Tahmasp came with all possible haste, and reached the city on the twentieth of December. Ispahan soon recovered its ancient splendour: it was decorated on all sides with a profusion of ornaments, and forty days were spent in pleasures and entertainments; but the person, who seemed the least pleased in the whole metropolis, and who had reason to be the most so, was the Sultan himself: he often heard Nader talking of his design to return into Khorasan, and, conscious of his own weakness, he foresaw that he should be exposed to his enemies without the continued support of his deliverer. In a full council, therefore, of the Nobles and Generals, he renewed his instances, and entreated Nader to stay at Ispahan till he was firmly seated on the throne. All the officers declared, that his Majesty ought to be contented with the great advantages, which A.D.1729. Nad. 42. Nader had already procured him, without opposing his reasonable designs; they added, that his Majesty ought to raise an army of Persians, and dismiss the Khorasanians, who had served him so faithfully; for that, if his ministers were resolved to thwart their General Nader in all his projects, they could not be responsible for any calamity that might ensue. The Sultan was so provoked with these remonstrances, that he tore from his head a little coronet, which he usually wore, and threw it upon the ground. Nader, in order to pacify him, was obliged to promise, that he would be at hand to assist him at any warning, and that “he would not return to Meshed, till he had wholly extirpated the race of the Afgans, and driven the Turks from the western borders of Persia.”
It would, indeed, have been dangerous for the Sultan, to have been left at this juncture. Ashraf was collecting strength in Shiraz, and had assembled a number of barbarous tribes, resolving to make a last and desperate attempt. Nader was soon apprised of his motions, and met him at a place, called Zercan, where he cut most of his troops to pieces, and forced him, with his general Seidal, to fly towards Candahar. His approach was soon learned by Hussein, Prince of that country, whose brother Mahmud had been murdered by Ashraf: the Prince, therefore, put him to death, justifying his act by the law of retaliation, but received Seidal into his City, and gave him the command of his troops. Ashraf seems to have been a perfect barbarian, furious, bloody, and implacable; his life had been a a constant series of assassinations and massacres, and, in his last moments, he ordered his women to A.D.1729. Nad. 42. be strangled, lest they should fall into the hands of his enemies.
After the battle of Zercan, Nader gave a remarkable proof of his penetration, and showed his skill in seeing through the hearts of men. Among the Afgan prisoners, whom he intended to put to death at Ispahan, he observed one Melazafrán, on whose countenance he saw the marks of fury and despair so strongly imprinted, that he privately told his officers to keep a watchful eye upon him, if they hoped to carry him alive: but they were negligent of this order; and, as they were passing over a bridge, their captive Melazafran leaped suddenly into the river, and was drowned.
As A.D.1730. Nad. 43. soon as Nader heard the fate of Ashraf, he advanced to Shiraz, where he distributed the vast riches of the Afgans among his officers and soldiers, proportioning his rewards to the different degrees of valour, which he had observed in them.
SHIRAZ is a city of Persia properly so called: it was the birth-place of many illustrious men, among whom were the poets Hafez and Sadi, of whose works there are many fine copies in our publick libraries. There is a beautiful ode of Hafez in honour of his native city, which begins with these lines: “Hail, Shiraz, delightfully situated! May heaven preserve her from ruin! May the Almighty defend our stream of* Rocnabád! for its waters supply us with length A.D.1730. Nad. 43. of days*. The gale, scented with ambergris, breathes between Jáferabád and Mosella. Come to Shiraz, and ask a profusion of the sacred spirit from its inhabitants, who are perfectly virtuous. How should the sugar of Egypt be brought to Shiraz, without being surpassed by the sweetness of our fair damsels?”
The Persians have so high a veneration for the memory of this poet, that they give him the title of Divine; and have a custom of opening his book of Odes, upon every remarkable occasion, as our old scholars used to open Virgil, in order to gather some omen from the first lines, which present themselves.
When Nader and his officers were passing by the tomb of Hafez, near Shiraz, one of the company opened a collection of his poems, and, either by accident or by design, first cast their eyes upon the following Ode, which they applied with one voice to the Conqueror: “It is but just that thou shouldst receive a tribute from all fair youths, since thou art the Sovereign of all the Beauties in the universe: thy two piercing eyes have thrown Khata and Khoten into confusion; India and China pay homage to thy curled ??ocks. thy graceful mouth A.D.1730. Nad. 43. gave the streams of life to Khezr; thy sugared lip renders the sweet reeds of Egypt contemptible*.”
At the festival of Nurúz, a nobleman of high rank was sent by the Sultan to Nader, with a congratulatory letter upon his fresh victories, in which he made him a grant of four provinces, Khorasan, Mazenderan, Carman, and Seistan, requesting him to accept the title of Sultan, and to wear a diadem set with jewels, which he received at the same time. The same nobleman brought a number of rich mantles, which he presented, in the Asiatick manner, to Nader’s officers; and he was attended by Abu’l Cassem, a man of the Law, who had orders to propose a marriage between Rizakuli, Nader’s son, and a younger daughter of the late Shah Hussein. The General accepted most of these honours, but declined bearing any title, which might only raise envy, without bringing any solid advantage: however, A.D.1730. Nad. 43. that he might pay his troops with a princely liberality, he ordered money to coined in his name in the province of Khorasan; by which act he virtually assumed the government of the whole Empire. It was at this time, if ever, that he took the name Tahmasp Kuli, or, Servant of Tahmasp, together with the title of Khan or lord; though it is by no means certain, that he was at all known by that name, which is not once given to him by his Persian historian: his favourite general, indeed, was named Tahmasp Kuli Khan, and our merchants in Asia, who were, perhaps, unacquainted with the true state of affairs, might easily confound the titles of these illustrious friends.
When all these ceremonies were ended, Nader led his army to Shuster, the ancient Susa, Capital of a Province to which it gives its name. Here an officer, whom Ashraf had sent to Constantinople, and who was returning with an answer from the Porte, threw himself before the feet of Nader, and gave him the letter of Sultan Ahmed to the usurper, by which he clearly discovered, that a war with the Turks could not possibly be avoided. His own ambassador also sent word, that he could not procure a direct answer from the Turkish ministers, with regard to the restitution of Azarbigian, and that the Turks had committed many open acts of hostility. He soon found this account to be true; and received intelligence, that a numerous army, under the command of Osmán Pasha, was encamped near the city of Hamadan: upon which he advanced, and offered them battle; but, after a few discharges of their artillery, Osman retreated towards the city, where being joined by Timúr Pasha, Governor of A.D.1730. Nad. 43. Van, he returned at the head of their united forces, and met the Persians in a plain, called Meláir. There is nothing so tedious in general as the descriptions of battles, unless they display some striking instance of sagacity, or are diversified with some interesting events; but, where a victory is gained merely by superiour force or courage, which is usually the case in unpolished nations, it is difficult to render such descriptions either instructive or entertaining. In this place it will be sufficient to say, that Nader entirely defeated the two Basha’s, seized their artillery, together with an immense booty, and entered the city of Hamadan without obstruction. The inhabitants received him with a tumultuous joy, and ten thousand Persian captives, whom the Turks had kept in chains, regarded him as a beneficent power, sent for their delivery.
Hamadan is a city of Parthia, first built, if we believe the Eastern writers, by Darius, who made it the seat of his Empire. Its situation is greatly celebrated by the Persians, who frequently enlarge upon the beauty of its walks and gardens, and the clearness of the rivulets, by which they are watered. There is a valley near the city, called Mawashán, which is described by an Arabian poet, as one of the most delightful spots in Asia.
In this agreeable place Nader reposed for several days; and afterwards marched to Tabriz, the capital of Azarbigian, which he entered without any considerable opposition, as the two generals, Osman and Timur, had not yet recovered the shock of their late defeat. He treated the Turkish officers, who were taken prisoners, with A.D.1730. Nad. 43. great respect and politeness; but employed the captives of a lower rank in repairing the walls of the city, and sent the largest cannons and mortars, which the Turks had left behind them, to his fortress of Kelat, the destined place of his retirement.
A number of smaller cities were recovered by this victory; and the report of Nader’s success spread a general consternation in the very Capital of the Turkish Empire. It must seem strange at the first view, that, although the Turks bring into the field more numerous armies, than most other nations, yet they seldom have gained any considerable advantage by the superiority of their numbers. The truth of it is, an army, like an human body, may be less active in proportion to its bulk; and there is no more reason, why the Turk should defeat the Persian mountaineer, because he outnumbers his enemies ten to one, than, why an elephant should overpower a tiger by its superiour strength and size. We may add to this, that the Turkish horses are in general too large and inactive, and that their cavalry bears no kind of proportion to their infantry.
While Nader was pursuing this noble course in Asia, a dreadful revolution happened in the metropolis of the Othman empire. When he first demanded the restitution of Azarbigian or Media to the Persians, Ahmed and his Vizir were very willing to restore it; but were prevented by an insurrection of the Janissaries, who were justly enraged at losing their estates, and insisted upon defending them with the best of their blood. After the defeat of Ashraf, and the taking A.D.1730. Nad. 43. of Hamadan, the Vizir was again on the point of concluding a peace with the Persian General; but the Turkish feudatories, incensed at his proceeding, compelled the Sultan to give him up, and put him to a cruel death: after which they deposed Ahmed, who survived his disgrace but a short time, and raised his nephew Mahmúd to the throne of Constantinople.
Nader was now meditating the siege of Erivan, capital of Armenia, when he received a very alarming piece of news from the province of Khorasan.
Hussein, prince of Candahár, very justly fearing, that it would be his own turn to feel the weight of Nader’s arm, had taken advantage of his distant expedition against the Turks, and had sent an army into Khorasan, under the command of his new General Seidal. The whole province was soon thrown into confusion: the inhabitants of Herat and Ferah openly revolted; and the Afgans advanced even to the walls of Meshed. On receiving this intelligence, he left Armenia, and sent notice to his brother Zoheireddoula of his intended return to Khorasan, strictly enjoining him to avoid a battle with the Afgans: but that rash and obstinate prince neglected the order, and, sallying from the city on the twenty-seventh of July, engaged the besiegers, who drove him back after a sharp conflict.
In the mean time Nader was marching towards Khorasan, and reached Cazvin on the seventeenth of August: his very name spread terrour before him, and compensated the ill success of his brother’s arms, by delivering Meshed from a A.D.1730. Nad. 43. desperate siege. The Afgans, ever haughty and insolent, retired from the city with a mixture of fear and indignation; whence they retreated slowly to Herat, pillaging all the districts, through which they passed.
Nader could not reach Meshed till October; where he spent the remainder of the year in regulating the affairs of his metropolis, and in reviewing his troops. His army was encamped in a plain called Cheharbág, or, the four gardens, famous for containing the tomb of Ali, son of Musa, the tutelar saint of the province: All the soldiers panted with impatience for the opening of the campaign; and his presence gave a new life to the citizens, who began to resume in peace their usual occupations, and looked up to him with veneration, as their sovereign and deliverer.
At A.D.1731. Nad. 44. the beginning of the new year, were solemnized the nuptials of Fathima, sister of the Shah, and the prince Rizakuli, a hopeful youth, about fourteen years old. On this occasion, near two months were spent, either in rejoicing and feasts, or in hunting in the forests of Abiurd. There is something very martial in the Asiatick manner of hunting: a large tract of woodland is enclosed with toils; which are gradually contracted, till a great number of wild beasts are collected in a small circle, where the hunters kill them with spears, to the sound of trumpets and other instruments of warlike musick.
On the fourteenth of March, Nader left Meshed, and encamped on the second of April, upon the banks of a river, before the walls of Herat. At A.D.1731. Nad. 44. midnight a body of Afgans, with Seidal at their head, passed the river, and, secured from detection by the darkness of the night, appeared suddenly before a castle, where Nader, attended only by eight guards, was giving orders to his engineers. As soon as he was apprised of his danger, he drew his sabre, and rushed into the midst of the enemies, where he sustained a very unequal fight, till his other guards came to his relief, who compelled Seidal to retreat, with the loss of his best men, and to save himself by swimming over the river.
On the next morning Nader invested the city: he was greatly impeded in his works by the frequent sallies of the Afgans, but they were so often repulsed, that they determined at last to remain within the walls, and to act only upon the defensive. Nader however, finding the city admirably fortified, and having intelligence from a prisoner, that the inhabitants were distressed for provisions, preferred the slow, but certain, effect of a blockade to the danger of a siege, and enclosed the city on every side. In the mean while, Zoheireddoula made some attonement for his late disgrace, by the vigour with which he pushed the siege of Feráh: he soon took it, and put the Afgans, who had defended it, to the sword.
The blockade of Herat lasted till the close of the year; at which time, Allayar, whose provisions were exhausted, began to think of capitulating; though his principal officer, Zúlficár, a fierce and desperate barbarian, had made the garrison take a solemn oath on the Alcoran, that they would rather die than open the gates. It happened, A.D.1731. Nad. 44. that, Allayar, in the confusion occasioned by Nader’s approach, had left his women and children in a neighbouring fortress, where they had been taken by the Persians; and, as an Asiatick cannot support the idea of a dishonour offered to his seraglio, he sent some of his ministers, to propose terms of accommodation, and promised to surrender the city, if his women were restored. Nader accepted the proposal; and invited the messengers to a feast in his tent, which they were surprised to see adorned with the heads of three hundred Afgan chiefs, fixed upon lances. In the morning he sent the women to Allayar, who, shocked at the reception of his ministers, and having obtained his principal end by the return of his family, resolved to perish by famine, rather than submit to the besiegers, and having ordered his women to be strangled, that they might not survive their lord, he prepared to sustain the siege. The Persian General, irritated by the perfidy of the governor, began to bombard the city, and, perceiving a practicable breach, was on the point of giving orders for an assault, when the garrison opened the gates, and surrendered at discretion. Nader, who was no less mild after a victory, than violent before it, treated the perfidious Governor with great humanity, and gave him a settlement in the province of Multán, whither he soon retired with his dependents, and the miserable remains of his family. The other Afgans were transplanted to those parts of Khorasan, which required most cultivation; and the city of Herat was filled with a Persian garrison.
The savage race of Afgans, who had ruined the kingdom of Persia, were now either destroyed, or A.D.1731. Nad. 44. dispersed in various parts of the Empire, without a possibility of regaining their strength: those only remained, who had taken refuge in the city of Candahar, and the northern parts of Indostan, which kingdom was then ruled by Mohammed Shah, an indolent and luxurious prince, who was wholly immersed in voluptuousness, and at that time little thought, how soon a victorious invader would dispose of his immense treasures, and fill the streets of DEHLI with the blood of his subjects.
THE A.D.1732. Nad. 45. Ministers of the Sultan, who sought every occasion to humiliate Naderkuli, persuaded the credulous prince to take advantage of his absence in Khorasan, and to assume the command of the Persian army: they extolled the valour of the Monarch, extenuated the merits of his General, and pressed him to bear a part at least in the glory of delivering Persia; by which suggestions he was at length induced to take the field, and marched towards Erivan, the Capital of Armenia. A body of Turks, who opposed his passage, were put to flight; and this first success so elated him, that he sat down before the City, thinking to strike a panick into the inhabitants by the terrour of his name. His method of attack was extremely new: he remained near three months on the banks of the Aras, in a constant course of diversions and feasts, until, finding his provisions almost spent, he retreated to Tabriz; where he took a City already taken, deposed the governor, whom Nader had appointed, and advanced in triumph to Sultania, with a determined resolution to destroy all the Turkish armies, who should dare to obstruct him.
Whilst he was amusing himself with these splendid projects, he was unfortunately met by an army of Turks under the command of Ahmed Pasha, a consummate General, and an admirable Statesman; A.D.1732. Nad. 45. who, for many years, had cluded the intrigues of his rivals at the Porte, and, having preserved his government of Bagdad with uncommon reputation, had outlived most of the Bashas of the Turkish empire. Tahmasp, once in his life, acted wisely; and attempted to decline a battle; but, finding himself under the necessity of engaging with Ahmed, he gave the chief command of his army to one of his Generals, Mohammed Khan, and reserved the left wing to himself. Mohammed began the fight with great intrepidity; but, after a short engagement, the left wing, which the Sultan commanded, was seen to give way; and the Turks, animated by the example and exhortations of Ahmed, pursued their advantage so vigorously, that the rout of the Persians became general: five thousand of them were slain on the field, and those, who could not save themselves by flight, were made prisoners: the Persian camp was seized, with the ammunition and artillery, and Tahmasp returned to Ispahan, attended only by a few of his officers.
In a short time after this, Ahmed retook Hamadan and Tabriz; so that the glorious actions of Nader were reduced to nothing by the vanity, obstinacy, and cowardice of a Prince, whom he had restored to the throne of his ancesters. Ahmed, acquainted equally with the superiour abilities of Nader, and with the weakness of Tahmasp, made an offer of peace to the Shah, and proposed, in the name of the Sultan Mahmúd, that the Persians should keep the cities which Nader had taken, together with all the territories lying to the east of the Aras: the Persian ministers readily accepted the proposals, and signed A.D.1732. Nad. 45. the articles of peace, which were sent to Constantinople to be ratified. A publick rejoicing was ordered on this occasion in the Turkish Capital; and Ahmed, whose valour and address were universally applauded, was confirmed in his government of Bagdad.
NADER KULI was rejoicing at the total reduction of the Afgans, and preparing to renew the war against the Turks, when he received an account of the Shah’s expedition, and, with it, a copy of the articles which he had signed. His indignation was excessive: he dispatched an officer to Constantinople, with this short message to Mahmud, Either restore the whole province of Azarbigian, or expect nothing but a desperate war: another was sent to Ahmed Pasha, bidding him prepare for a sudden visit from the Deliverer of Persia: and a third set out for Ispahan with an expostulatory letter to the Emperor, requesting him to dismiss his pernicious counsellors, to cancel their dishonourable treaty, and to meet him at Kom with all his forces, that they might march together into Armenia and Parthia. At the same time he published a spirited manifesto, in every province and city of Persia, protesting against the peace, and threatening with his displeasure all those, who should refuse to concur with him in recovering Media from the Turks: he declared, “that, after the festival of the new year, he would leave Meshed, and march against the Turkish hereticks; that the same providence, which had enabled him to expel the Barbarians from his country, would now protect him against the opposers of the true sect; that the very angels, who encircled the tomb of Ali, called aloud for the deliverance of those A.D.1732. Nad. 45. brave Persians, who had lost their liberty in defending the rights of their prophet, and who were not so much as named in the Emperor’s treaty; that it was an ignoble bargain, to accept only the territories on the one side of the Aras, when those on the other side of it also might have been wrested from the enemy by force; that it was the highest dishonour to conclude a peace after a defeat, which the haughty sons of Othman would affect to consider as an act of lenity on their side, and of subjection on the side of the Persians:” he concluded by denouncing perpetual infamy on all those, who should be remiss in pursuing the Turkish war, and declaring, that he would punish as rebels, those, who in any sense should oppose his designs.
He spent the next three months in recruiting his army, and encouraging his officers and soldiers, by the most striking acts of liberality*. In this interval also he visited Kelat and Abiurd, the scenes of his youthful exploits, for which he retained to his last hour peculiar fondness; and, observing the ruins of some old castles in a plain about thirty-six miles from Meshed, which was watered A.D.1732. Nad. 45. with beautiful rivulets, and had likewise the advantage of an excellent air, he ordered those edifices to be rebuilt, and the whole country around them to be cultivated, with a design, no doubt, of passing the decline of his life in that part of his dominions.
On his return to Meshed the twenty-sixth of May, an Ambassador arrived from the Russian court, who declared that, in compliance with his request, the Empress was willing to resign the province of Ghilan, and the other conquests of Peter I. on the coasts of the Caspian sea. He dismissed the Ambassador; and sent with him two approved officers, to see his orders punctually executed. At the beginning of July, intelligence was brought, that the Russians had departed peaceably from the frontiers of Persia; upon which Nader appointed a governor of Ghilan, who set out immediately for the place of his residence.
While Naderkuli was thus employed in preparing a powerful army against the Turks, the Shah, directed by his ministers, was concerting pacifick measures in Ispahan, and confirming his treaty with Ahmed.
On hearing this, the General left Khorasan, and bent his course towards Ispahan, marching all night with great expedition, and halting each day at noon by reason of the intense heat. On the sixteenth of August he encamped in a plain, called The garden of Hezargeríb, close to the walls of Ispahan: his arrival was equally unexpected to the court, and to the populace, but it had a very different effect on them; since the first A.D.1732. Nad. 45. considered him as a powerful and incensed enemy, the second, as the guardian of their liberties: the courtiers showed him those marks of respect, which they could not safely refuse, but the inhabitants in general celebrated his presence with the most grateful and undissembled joy.
After a day spent in mirth and festivity, the emperor supped with Nader in his tent, together with the principal officers of his army. It was the design of his Highness, says the Persian author, to drown all causes of animosity between the Shah and himself, in the flowing cups of the banquet, and to procure his approbation of the Turkish war; at the conclusion of which, he meaned to leave the reins of empire with Tahmasp, and to retire into his own territories: but, whether this were his real intention or not, it is certain, that he could not prevail with the Emperor to break the peace, which his ministers had concluded, but was mortified to see him sit with a sullen reserve, during the whole entertainment.
The next day he called a Council of all his officers, and, having related to them what had passed in the preceding night, insinuated, that he could not be answerable for the dangers, which might ensue, if the Sultan should persist in his dislike to the war; and that he seemed rather an associate of their enemies, than a father of his people: upon which the whole assembly exclaimed with one voice, that the Sultan was unworthy of a throne, which he could neither defend by his valour, nor dignify by his wisdom; and that the diadem justly belonged to Him, whose courage A.D.1732. Nad. 45. and conduct had restored it to its original splendour.
It is not easy to say, whether Nader had thoughts of assuming the regal dignity at this time; but, whether he waited for a more favourable juncture, or was not sufficiently secure of his strength, he declined the flattering offer of the Council, yet consented, that Tahmasp should be dethroned, and his place supplied by his son Abbas, an infant only eight months old. Upon this, Abbas, the third of that name, was crowned king of Persia with great solemnity; and Nader was proclaimed Regent during his infancy: his unfortunate father was sent in a litter to Khorasan, where a magnificent prison was prepared for him and his seraglio, in which he passed the remainder of his life, and, no doubt, found his retirement, however disgraceful, more suitable to the indolence of his temper, and the weakness of his understanding, than the perpetual anxieties of a throne.
The first act of the Regent was, to send Ambassadors to the Empress of Russia, and the Great Mogul, informing them of the accession of Shah Abbas, and requesting the Indian monarch, in the most pressing terms, to prevent the Afgan fugitives from taking shelter in his territories.
He then prepared for his grand project of driving the Turks from the Persian frontiers; and accordingly, having marched by Carmanshah, he encamped in a plain, called Mahidesht, intending to advance the next day against the strong hold of Zohab, where the enemy had reposited a considerable store of ammunition, and A.D.1732. Nad. 45. the taking of which would contribute greatly to his success in the siege of Bagdad: but, hearing that a large body of Turks had left the castle, and were advancing to oppose him, Nader, whose prudence was equal to his valour, chose to decline a battle, at a time, when the loss of his men would have been a great obstacle to his designs, and determined to reach Zoháb by another route, which lay over a vast mountain, called Carvan: he therefore set out at break of day, in opposition to the remonstrances of his Generals, who represented the defiles as impassable. He convinced them, however, that few things were impossible to perseverance and activity; and leading his army, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, through narrow passes covered with snow, and on the borders of precipices, he brought them by sunset to a valley on the other side, where, after a short interval of rest, he left his main body, and advanced in person at the head of only six hundred men: he rode all night without intermission, and, in the morning, found himself close to the fortress, which, although his army had not yet joined him, he prepared to attack, as he knew it to be almost defenceless. The Turks, awakened by the trampling of the Persian horse, appeared on the battlements, and, alarmed at their sudden approach, dropped their arms on the first summons, and surrendered. Nader found a rich booty in the castle, and treated the Turkish garrison with great lenity: he had ridden an hundred and three miles without stopping, and, by this vigorous step, struck his enemies with terrour whilst he secured to himself a most advantageous situation. Some days after this, the army arrived, astonished at their leader’s A.D.1732. Nad. 45. intrepidity, and encouraged by his example: he built several forts near Zohab, and was soon joined by the forces of Azarbigian, commanded by the governor of Tauris.
The A.D.1733. Nad. 46. city of Bagdad had every possible advantage. It was situated in a large plain on the banks of the Tigris: its circuit was perfectly round, and it was enclosed by a double wall, flanked with strong bastions: its suburbs, built on the western side of the river, resembled a smaller city, and were joined to the greater by an elegant bridge; but its surest defence was in the prudence and resolution of its governor, Ahmed, who determined to maintain it to the last extremity.
The Regent wished to put the whole campaign to the hazard of a decisive battle, and made a show of marching towards the city of Kercúk, in hopes of drawing Ahmed into the field, but, finding that he remained within the walls, he returned by another route towards Bagdad. He was met in his return by twelve thousand Turks, commanded by Fateh, governor of Diarbecr, who was taken prisoner at the first onset, and his misfortune was soon followed by a total rout of his army.
Nader was equally successful on the next morning; and defeated a Basha, named Mohammed, whom Ahmed had sent to reconnoitre the Persians. In this last action, a Persian soldier pursued a Turk so far, that, before he could kill him, he was overtaken by the night, and forced to wander about the plains till break of day, when he was greatly surprised to find himself under A.D.1733. Nad. 46. the walls of Bagdad: he no sooner perceived his danger, than, by a singular presence of mind, he advanced boldly to the Turkish sentinels, and demanded an audience of the governor, as a messenger from the Regent of Persia; upon which he was treated with respect, and introduced to Ahmed, to whom he said, as from Nader, “The Persians have long desired to give you battle: if you have any spirit, meet them in the field; if not, open the gates of the city.” Ahmed replied, that it was not in his power to act in opposition to the positive orders of his court, and sent him back with an escort of Janissaries. When the regent heard this adventure, he smiled at the address of the man, but ordered his prisoner Fateh, whom he generously set at liberty, to assure the governor, that no such message came from Him.
On the eighth of February, the Persians prepared to pass the Tigris on a raft or float, contrived by an European engineer: it was formed of large beams of palm-tree wood, fastened together with cables, and made less liable to sink, by having a number of camel’s skins tied to it, which were sewed up, and filled with air. Nader first went over with two thousand five hundred men, and, having left orders for the rest of his troops to follow him, marched on with great rapidity. On the next morning fifteen thousand men passed on the float; after which it fell to pieces, and much time was lost in repairing it. In the mean while, the Regent was in a country little known to him, surrounded with a multitude of enemies, at the head of a small part only of his army, and separated from his camp by a broad river.
It A.D.1733. Nad. 46. was his intention, to fall suddenly upon the Turks, who were stationed opposite to the Persian camp; but, a body of Janissaries having discovered him, they fled with precipitation, and carried the alarm into the city. Ahmed, who had diligently observed his motions, and was now apprised of his situation, sent against him thirty thousand men, commanded by Mustafa Pasha, with a formidable train of artillery; upon which the Regent, perceiving an engagement to be inevitable, detached a body of Curds and Afgans against the enemy; the former of whom retreated after a short skirmish, but the latter, with a fierceness, that ever characterized their nation, supported the fight vigorously against a very superiour force. The Regent strove, as far as he was able, to raise the spirits of his troops; but, knowing the danger of engaging, and fearing the infamy of appearing to retreat, he was penetrated with the deepest affliction: all his glory, acquired by so many desperate enterprises, was likely to be obscured, and his magnificent projects were on the point of being reduced to nothing, by his own impatience and rashness. Whilst he was fighting more through despair, than with any well-grounded hope of victory, he discovered a cloud of dust, which he soon found to be raised by the fifteen thousand Persians, who had passed the river on the float: as soon as they reached the plain, Nader led them to the attack with a furious joy, and sustained the battle with such advantage, that the Turkish army was thrown into disorder; and each squadron, consulting their own safety, fled at random towards the city whence they had sallied. In this action five thousand Turks were slain; all their sield-pieces were seized, and A.D.1733. Nad. 46. the Persians took possession of a town, called Old Bagdad, with a strong bridge over the Tigris: the night was spent by the conquerors in mirth and exultation, and on the next morning, the Regent amply rewarded the Afgans, to whose valour the success was chiefly owing, but sternly reprimanded the Curdish officers, whose detachment had so shamefully left the field. This defeat of Mustafa Pasha was a severe blow to the Turks: in a short time after it they lost five adjacent cities, which were ill defended, and the Regent was enabled to push the siege of Bagdad with every advantage imaginable. He invested the city on all sides, and enclosed it with round towers, built at equal distances from each other, in which he stationed a company of men, who prevented the garrison from making a sally; he repaired the first raft, and ordered others to be made, which were continually passing and repassing the river with ammunition and stores; besides which, a number of barges were, by his orders, launched in the Tigris, for the convenience of transporting his men and artillery. His want of large cannon put it out of his power to batter in breach; nor had he a sufficient store of shells to support a regular bombardment; so that he dropped all thoughts of storming the city, and determined to reduce it by a blockade. In about two months the garrison began to be distressed for want of provisions; and soon after, a famine ensued, which drove the inhabitants to such an excess of despair, that many of them threw themselves over the ramparts; and they, who outlived the fall, came in a suppliant manner to the Persian camp, where they were received with great liberality.
From A.D.1733. Nad. 46. this time to the beginning of July, the governor of Bagdad amused the Regent with pretended negotiations, sometimes expressing a desire to surrender the city, and sometimes requesting a month’s delay to consider of it; till a spy, who, under the disguise of a Persian, had approached near enough to the walls to throw a letter over them, gave notice, that Osman Pasha was making forced marches to his relief at the head of a numerous army; on which Ahmed broke all his engagements, and declared, that he would defend the city to extremity. Nader, having also received information of Osman’s approach, resolved to give him battle, and marched against him on the seventeenth of July, leaving twelve thousand men at Bagdad to continue the blockade. He met the Turkish army in a plain, divided by the Tigris, and immediately attacked their van with undaunted courage: in a short time the action became general, and both sides fought with intrepidity; till the intense heat of the sun took away their strength and spirits. In the midst of the combat, Nader, who shared the toil and danger of it with the meanest of his soldiers, had mortally wounded two Turks, who were fallen under him; but one of them, in the agony of death, struck his horse in the belly, who fell down with great force, and exposed the Regent to extreme peril: he soon recovered the shock, and mounted another horse, who was presently shot under him, as he was galloping between the lines. He vaulted with agility on a third horse; but the intolerable heat, the vast number of the enemies, who were said to fall little short of an hundred thousand men, and the imminent danger to which the Regent had been twice exposed, entirely disheartened his A.D.1733. Nad. 46. troops; and he, perceiving them inclined to give way, commanded a retreat to be sounded, and sent orders for the twelve thousand men, whom he had left before Bagdad, to raise the siege, and to follow him with all possible expedition. The Persians, who were stationed on the eastern side of the Tigris, joined the main body without much difficulty; but those on the opposite side, seeing that Ahmed had demolished the bridge, and set fire to the boats, were obliged to take another route, conducted through forests and over mountains by some wandering Arabs, who are always glad to testify their abhorrence of the Turkish nation. On this day two thousand Persians were slain, and more than twice that number of Turks: Osman entered Bagdad in triumph, and was considered by the inhabitants as a guardian angel.
The Regent, only more animated by this disgrace, was turning all his thoughts upon the means of retrieving his honour; with which view he summoned the governors of all his provinces, to meet him, at the head of their best troops, in a plain near Hamadan, whither he arrived on the second of August: here he reviewed his army, and, as if his late defeat had been a signal victory, distributed a large sum among his soldiers, to each of whom he gave double the value of the arms or horses, which they had lost in the battle of Bagdad.
On the thirtieth of September he led his troops into the field, which were now considerably reinforced by the arrival of the Persian governours: he took the road of Carmanshah, where hearing, that Mohammed Pasha and other Turkish commanders A.D.1733. Nad. 46. were waiting to oppose his passage, he advanced with incredible celerity, in hopes of surprising them by night; but, having met with unexpected delays, he could not reach their camp till daybreak. His sudden appearance, at the head of a large army, so confounded the Turks, that they fled in disorder without striking a blow, and left their ammunition to the Persians, who, being wearied with their long march, reposed for several days in the plain. On the twenty-second of October, the Regent advanced towards Kercúk, and halted in a place, called Elmidaran: here he reviewed his army, and exhibited a feigned battle with all the evolutions and operations of a real engagement.
Osman, in the mean time, having left Bagdad, was encamped near Kercúk: his tents were enclosed with strong intrenchments; and he was so elevated with his late success, that, on hearing of Nader’s approach, he disdained to meet him in person, and sent a small detachment against him, commanded by one of his officers. These were soon defeated, and fled promiscuously towards Erzerúm; which disaster, joined to the intelligence, continually brought, of Nader’s strength, alarmed the Turkish general, and determined him to act with greater caution; so that the Regent, having in vain attempted to draw him into the field, and having sent him a most reproachful challenge without receiving an answer, returned to Bagdad; where having easily recovered his former stations on the Tigris, he renewed the siege with greater vigour than before: his troops were considerably reinforced, and his camp abounded with provisions; whilst Ahmed, who, relying upon Osman’s support, had neglected A.D.1733. Nad. 46. to prepare for a second siege, was again reduced to a distressful situation.
The Turkish commander in chief, hearing of Nader’s return to Bagdad, detached against him a body of twelve thousand men, under a Basha named Memesh; who, after a rapid march, pitched his tents in a valley, at a small distance from a very extensive plain. Nader was extremely rejoiced at a prospect of regaining his honour, and, having selected the flower of his troops, advanced at their head by a road little frequented, and was close to the Turkish camp early in the morning; when, observing the enemy to be in great disorder, he attacked them with uncommon violence, and drove them from their station. Mean while Osman, fearing lest Memesh should gain the credit of the second victory, led his whole army into the plain, just as the detachment of the Basha had broken their ranks, and were flying with precipitate speed. The Persians pursued them with eagerness, and penetrated into the heart of the Turkish army, who were thunderstruck with a blow so little expected. Osman was seated in a splendid litter, his age and infirmities rendering him incapable of much fatigue, and his principal officers were receiving his orders, when the flight of Memesh struck terrour into his men: in a short time their consternation was so great, that he was persuaded to mount his horse, and save himself by a swift retreat; but, the Regent having sent two bodies of Persians round the mountains to intercept him, he found himself suddenly attacked in front, while the impetuous Nader harrassed him in the rear. His anxiety was soon at an end: a Persian soldier, who distinguished him A.D.1733. Nad. 46. by the richness of his dress, thrust him furiously from his horse, and, having first stabbed him to the heart, carried his head to the Regent on the point of a spear. Ten thousand Turks were slain, before the Persians were clearly masters of the field: the camp and military stores of the enemy were seized, and a number of Turkish officers were made prisoners, most of whom the Regent set at liberty, and dismissed them with the head and corse of Osman, that they might be honourably interred by his relations. After this victory, the Persians returned to Bagdad, with a full assurance of a successful siege.
On the second of December, Ahmed sent a messenger to the Regent, with proposals of accommodation, for which his court had given him full powers: the chief articles of the proposed convention were, that all the provinces, which had been wrested from the Persians, during the troubles in 1723, should be restored to them; that the limits of the two Empires should be fixed at the ancient boundaries; and that all the Persian prisoners should be released; on condition that the Regent would raise the siege of Bagdad, and withdraw his army from the Turkish frontiers. Nader accepted this offer; the articles were signed; and sent to Constantinople to be ratified by the Sultan and his Vizir: Ahmed, having released all the Persians, who had been taken in the last war, and having distributed some rich presents among the Regent’s officers, dispatched a peremptory order to the Bashas of Georgia, Armenia, Shirvan, Azarbigian, and Irak, to evacuate their provinces as soon as possible. After this important victory, Nader spent several weeks in A.D.1733 Nad. 46. visiting the tomb of Ali, and other Mahomedan saints, who were buried in the neighbourhood of Bagdád.
At A.D.1734. Nad. 47. the beginning of the year the Regent marched to Shiraz, where he passed three months, and in April advanced to Ispahan; where he was informed that the Princess, married to Rizakuli Mirza, had been delivered of a son just before his arrival, whom they had named Shahrokh: on this occasion, as well as on account of his late victories, the inhabitants of Ispahan were entertained with a sumptuous jubilee, and many weeks were spent in pageants and rejoicings.
In the month of May, a Turkish messenger arrived with a letter from the Grand Vizir, informing the Regent, that Sultan Mahmud could not consider his convention with the governour of Bagdad as definitive; but that his Highness had appointed Abdalla, the son of Kiupruli, his plenipotentiary and commander in chief; that Abdalla was in Diarbecr with his army, where he waited for a Persian minister, that the articles of peace might be ratified in form. This proceeding of the Vizir was in compliance with the ancient maxim of the Turks, which enjoins them to make peace at the head of an army on the frontiers, that a cessation of hostilities may seem an act of condescension only on their side; for that high-minded nation cannot support the idea of leaving the field through necessity. As the Othman court are strangers to that delicacy of sentiment, which Europeans call the point of honour, it is probable that Ahmed’s treaty, how solemnly soever it was signed, was no more than a pretext to induce the Regent to decamp; and that he had privately A.D.1734. Nad. 47. advised the vizir to send an army into Mesopotamia: it is also very reasonable to conjecture, that he had secretly instructed the governours of Shirvan, and other dismembered provinces of Persia, to delay the restitution of their governments by all the arts they could devise. We must confess, that Nader was highly blameable in raising the siege of Bagdad, and that, in the whole negotiation he was fairly overreached by the abilities of Ahmed: it is reported, that he frequently used to acknowledge his errour, and always expressed an high veneration for the talents of that able governour, who, baffling the intrigues of his own court, and resisting the attacks of the Persian, had kept himself in great measure independent of both.
Though the Regent began to suspect the sincerity of the Porte, yet he was unwilling to drop the negotiation; and sent a plenipotentiary to Abdalla, giving him this alternative: either to ratify the convention, made at Bagdad, or to meet him in the field, and decide their difference by the longest sword. In the mean time he left Ispahan, and marched towards Hamadan, which he reached on the fourteenth of June; and, learning that the Bashas of Shirvan and Daghestan were greatly averse to the convention, and had refused to evacuate their cities, he advanced by forced marches to their provinces, and spent the four next months in reducing them to obedience, which he effected with no great loss, and with no variety of incidents: perceiving at length that Abdalla detained his ambassador, and meaned to amuse him with specious offers, he determined to renew the war with greater spirit than ever.
Armenia A.D.1734. Nad. 47. was chosen to be the scene of his exploits; and, having caused a large bridge to be raised over the Aras, a river, which has been represented by some writers as too impetuous to support such a work*, he passed it at the head of his army, and encamped on the third of November before the city of Ganja. A Basha, named Ali, who then governed this city, answered his summons with haughtiness, and prepared to make a resolute defence: he therefore deserted the suburbs, and retired to the Citadel, which was very strongly fortified, and contained a numerous garrison. Nader on the other side resolved to make a regular siege; and, having ridden around the walls, and examined their strength, gave orders for the works to be begun, which were carried on with uncommon expedition.
When the trenches were opened, the Persians battered the walls; and the Regent, observing a very high mosque in the suburbs, which commanded great part of the city, and which Ali had neglected or forgotten to destroy, placed some large cannon in it, which played for several days with no small success, but it was at last demolished by the fire from the ramparts. The besiegers bombarded the city day and night, and brought to the ground most of its mosques and other conspicuous buildings; but, not satisfied with this vehement attack, they had recourse also to the more secret, but not less formidable, expedient of sapping, and sprung several mines with great effect, in one of which a son of the Governour A.D.1734. Nad. 47. lost his life together with seven hundred Turks.
The Regent visited the trenches every day to direct and encourage his engineers; and one morning, as he was looking over a breastwork, without a sufficient regard to his safety, a cannon ball passed by his face, and struck off the head of a Persian officer, who stood so near him that his robe was sprinkled with the blood: another day a shell, fired from a mortar in the city, fell into a pavilion, where he was sitting, and burst close by his side, but killed only one of his attendants.
During A.D.1735. Nad. 48. the siege, Abdalla was advancing towards Ganja; and Ali, having notice of his approach, resolved to persist to extremity; which Nader also discovering, sent a strong detachment, under an able commander, with some battering cannon, and mortars, to invest Teflis, the Capital of Georgia, hoping to distract the mind of the Turkish General between the defence of two important cities: in the mean while he continued the siege of Ganja, but was greatly impeded by the very heavy falls of snow, which obstructed his engineers, and hindered the effect of his bombardment by stifling the explosions of the shells; the walls also were so thick and strong, that no practicable breach had yet been made in them.
At this time intelligence was received, that Ilbars, prince of Kharezm, having had the assurance to make an incursion into Khorasan, had met with a very rough reception from the Persian A.D.1735. Nad. 48. governour, and been forced to repass the Oxus with great loss.
Just after the festival of Nurúz, the Regent began to be impatient at the dilatory motions of Abdalla; and, having left one of his Generals to continue the siege, he departed from Ganja about the middle of April. As he drew near Teflis, he heard that Timur, the Governour of Van, was hovering about the city with a numerous army: he therefore marched with great speed in hopes of intercepting him; but could not prevent his reinforcing the garrison, and supplying them with plentiful stores. Upon this disappointment he advanced towards the city of Cárs, where Abdalla was encamped, and surrounded with strong intrenchments: here he waited for some time in hopes of enticing the Turkish general into the field; but, finding him determined to avoid a battle, and not thinking it prudent to attack his camp, he led his troops to Erivan, and prepared to besiege it, not doubting but that the danger of three principal cities would rouse Abdalla from his inactivity.
Abdalla, mistaking this motion for a retreat, and imputing it to fear, led forth his army, which consisted of seventy thousand horse, and fifty thousand foot, including a large body of janissaries: on the eighth of June he reached a spacious plain near Erivan, called Baghavend, where he encamped. In the evening, Nader appeared on the opposite side of the plain with no more than fifteen thousand men: he was employed till midnight in disposing his forces to the best advantage, and in procuring information of his enemies’ strength. He stationed his troops on a rising ground, A.D.1735. Nad. 48. and bade them prepare for an action at day break; after which he retired to his tent, and slept for a few hours. Early in the morning he harangued the officers, representing to them the danger to which they would be exposed, if they failed to exert their utmost valour and sagacity on this occasion; he told them, that the Turks outnumbered them eight to one, and that nothing but the most undaunted courage on their side could preserve themselves from destruction, and their country from ruin: yet he bade them be assured of victory, if they would obey his orders and follow his example; for that he dreamed in the night, that a furious beast had rushed into his tent, where, after a long struggle, he brought it to the ground and slew it. “With these omens, therefore, said he, of success to your arms, and confusion to your enemies, advance intrepidly to the field; where you will fight under the protection of that Power, who raises his weakest servants to glory, and covers his proudest opposers with dishonour.” He had scarce ended, when Abdalla marched against him in full array, with a vast train of artillery, and with a show of the most determined spirit; upon which he gave the word, and, descending from the eminence, poured into the plain with great impetuosity: he attacked in person the right wing of the Turks, whilst one of his Generals strove to break their centre, and another made a desperate attempt against their artillery-men, who soon abandoned their charge, and left their field-pieces, which were converted to their own destruction. The action was general; the Persians did incredible execution with their musketry, whilst the Turkish cavalry, galled with the smartness of their sire, began to be thrown into disorder: the Regent A.D.1735. Nad. 48. fought in the thickest ranks, animating his troops by his example, and watching every advantage that was offered: at last a Persian soldier, named Rostam, having met Abdalla, whom he knew by sight, seized the reins of his horse, and dragged him forcibly to the ground; where, having severed his head from his body, he brought it to Nader, who ordered it to be raised on a spear, and shown to the enemy. The Turks, destitute of a leader, and unable to recover their ranks, fled confusedly to different parts, leaving, says the Persian author, near half their army dead or wounded: the Governour of Van, who had retreated with his troops, was intercepted by a body of Armenians, who skirmished with him, till a detachment of the Persian army came to their assistance, and attacked him so furiously, that near three thousand of his men were killed, and the Basha himself escaped with great difficulty. Among the Turkish officers, who were slain in this engagement, was Mustafa, Governour of Diarbecr, a relation by marriage to the Sultan Mahmud; the Regent sent his head, together with that of Abdalla, to the cities of Erivan and Cars, with a view of intimidating the garrisons with those bloody trophies of his victory: he dispatched also a number of Turkish prisoners to Ganja and Teflis, in order to inform the inhabitants of this event. Nader in the mean time encamped in the plain of Baghavend, where he distributed the treasures of the enemy among his soldiers, and signally rewarded those, who had distinguished themselves in the battle by their valour or address.
The Governours of Ganja and Teflis, alarmed at the death of Abdalla, and the defeat of his army, A.D.1735. Nad. 48. opened their gates to the Persians at the beginning of July; but Hussein, the Basha of Erivan, desired a respite of forty days to consider of the subject, and Timur, who had retreated to Cars, exhorted the commander of that city to make an obstinate defence. The Turkish court, however, now thought seriously of a peace, and gave Ahmed full powers to renew the negotiations with the Regent: his overtures were accepted; the cities of Cars and Erivan were surrendered on the twenty-second of September, and all farther hostilities ceased on both sides; but, as Nader had increased his demands, a number of delays intervened, and gave him leisure to regulate the affairs of the province, which he had recovered: he spent the three next months in reducing the savage nation, called Leczi’s, who infested the mountains of Caucasus: his success against these banditti was very rapid; but, as his battles with the mountaineers have nothing in them either instructive or entertaining, it will be more agreeable to the reader to omit them, and to prepare him for other events of a more extraordinary nature.
THE A.D.1736. Nad. 49. following year presents us with the most remarkable scene in the life of Naderkuli; which was succeeded by a series of noble actions, that might have added lustre to the most shining characters of antiquity. He had now restored the kingdom of Persia to its former splendour, he had extended its limits, and expelled its invaders; and was forming a design of retiring to his castle of Kelat, and of passing the remainder of his days in a splendid retreat, when the death of the young king Abbas gave a new turn to his thoughts, and awakened his natural passions, the love of dominion, and the desire of conquest. He sent immediate orders to the governours and principal men of every province, to attend a general diet, and to repair with all possible haste to the plains of Mogan, which lie near the confluence of the rivers Cyrus and Araxes, and which are equally famous for their vast extent, and their agreeable situation. At the same time, he sent a great number of ingenious artists and builders to the plains just mentioned, in order to raise several temporary palaces, for the reception of the noblemen and commanders, whom he had summoned. These edifices were very slight, but extremely elegant, and consisted of pavilions, baths, temples, and apartments adorned in the richest manner. Naderkuli marched at the head of his troops, who were A.D.1736. Nad. 49. now recovered from the fatigue of their late expedition against the rebels of Daghestan: and on the twelfth of January he encamped in Mogan, where he was joined by a considerable number of the Persian Nobles, and found near a hundred thousand men assembled on the plains. When the council was formed, he opened to them the affair for which they were summoned, and bade them proceed to the election of a King, advising them at the same time, to chuse one whom they knew to be endowed with great and noble qualities. Mohammed Massûm, a man of an illustrious rank in Shiraz, replied, that the Persians would be ruled by no other sovereign than their deliverer and protector, which assertion was immediately confirmed by the concurrence of every voice in the assembly. Naderkuli refused the offer of the kingly name and authority, protesting that he had never entertained the least hopes of the regal diadem, and that he was amply recompensed by the satisfaction he received from the happy deliverance of his country, and the reduction of its enemies. These assemblies continued a whole month, but were always broken off, with the same offer of the crown on the one side, and the same refusal of it on the other; till, upon the pressing entreaties of the nobles and the populace, Naderkuli consented to accept it, on condition that they would forsake the sect of Ali, and embrace that of Omar, which he assured them would be the only method to restore the Persian empire to its ancient tranquillity. They agreed to this proposal, and an edict was immediately proclaimed for a general conformity of religion. Upon Nader’s acceptance of the diadem, the whole multitude seemed to testify their joy by the loudest A.D.1736. Nad. 49. acclamations. The twenty-sixth of February was fixed for the day of the coronation, which was celebrated with all the magnificence, that the riches of the East could supply, and that the fertile inventions of the best artists could devise. That day, the prayers in the mosques were made in the name of the new monarch; and coins of various sorts were struck with all his titles on the one side, and, on the reverse, with an Arabick inscription, implying that what had happened, was the best*. The letters of this sentence are numeral, and, when added together, make eleven hundred and forty-nine, the year of the Mahometan epoch in which Nader was raised to the throne of Persia.
Nader Shah began his reign by allotting the chief provinces of his Empire to proper governors. He assigned the government of Khorasan to the prince Rizakuli, and that of Azarbigian to his brother Zoheireddoula: Herat was intrusted to Babakhan; Fars to Mohammed Taki of Shiraz, and Shirvan to Mahadibeg, who on this occasion was honoured with the title of Khan. These governors departed for their respective provinces, and all the Nobles, who attended the diet, were dismissed with the highest marks of distinction, and each of them was presented, after the oriental manner, with a silken robe interwoven with gold. The Turkish minister also received leave to depart; and Abdelbaki, a nobleman of distinguished rank and eminent qualities, was sent to the Porte in company with Abulcassem, the chief man of the law, A.D.1736. Nad. 49. in order to inform the Great Turk of Nader’s elevation to the Persian throne; for which purpose an ambassador was at the same time despatched to the court of Russia. Nader Shah sent the Turk a present of elephants and other curiosities, with a letter containing the most amicable proposals, and expressing a desire to establish a firm and lasting peace between the two empires. In the same letter, he gave an account of the reformation, which he had made in the religion of his subjects, and proposed the following terms to the Turkish court; “that, as there were four orthodox sects in the religion of Mahomed, the Persians should be considered as the fifth sect, under the protection of Jaffer son of Mohammed Becr, who was related to the Prophet, and distinguished for his excellent qualities: that a fifth pillar should be erected in the mosque of Mecca in honour of the new sect: that the Persian pilgrims should be conducted to Mecca through part of Syria, and that the Porte should send a man of rank and power to defend them from any insult: that the prisoners of both nations should be set at liberty, and that there should be a free trade between the two kingdoms: that the sovereigns of both empires should appoint able and faithful ministers, to reside constantly at their respective courts, in order to determine every important affair, and to fix the peace between them upon the surest basis.” It seems difficult at first, to assign a reasonable motive for the proposal of the three first articles, but, on a nearer view, we discover the great sagacity and foresight of this extraordinary man; he certainly had no intentions of maintaining a perpetual peace with the Turks, but he was not disposed to engage in a war with them, A.D.1736. Nad. 49. while the Afgans were gathering strength in Candahar, and while several revolts were breaking out in different parts of the Empire, to the suppression of which he foresaw a Turkish war would be a great obstacle. He determined, therefore, to amuse them and keep them in play, by proposing terms of religion, to which he knew those superstitious zealots would never consent; while their refusal would at any time supply him with a plausible pretence for declaring war, though his abolition of the sect of Ali had deprived them of their usual pretext for being the aggressors. At this time, a complaint was brought against Alimerdan governor of Endekhod, who had refused to submit to the royal mandate, and was preparing for a revolt: Nader Shah immediately sent a detachment to reduce him to obedience, and they marched toward the just mentioned district by the way of Badghis.
On the tenth of March, the festival of Nurûz was celebrated with all the splendour imaginable; and several days were spent in shows, banquets, and festivity. This was the time that Nader Shah had fixed for his memorable expedition against Candahar; accordingly he made the strictest enquiries concerning the strength of that City, and the nature of the country through which he must pass to it; and, on the fourth of April, he marched towards Cazvin at the head of a numerous army. Near Carachemen he was joined by Zoheireddoula with the troops of Azarbigian, whom he dispatched, in conjunction with the prince Nasralla, to destroy a tribe of wild barbarians, that inhabited the forests and mountains, and were always ripe for revolt. The two commanders were so successful, that they A.D.1736. Nad. 49. slew two thousand savages, with no very considerable loss on their side, and so expeditious, that they reached Cazvin as soon as the royal army. The Prince remained with his father, but Zoheireddoula returned with his troops to Tauris, the Capital of his province.
While Nader Shah was in Cazvin, he received the agreeable news of the conquest of Bahrein, which had long been governed by an Arabian prince named Gebâra, but was then attacked and taken by Mohammed Taki, governor of Farsistan. About this time a messenger arrived from Dilaver, chief of the tribe of Taimni, a bold and treacherous rebel, who had often revolted, and as often been received into favour; but at last, having committed several acts of violence, and being overpowered by the royal troops, he fled to the habitation of the Afgans, by whom he was received with open arms; he contracted an intimacy with Hussein, prince of Candahar, who soon took offence at his arrogant behaviour, and drove him from the mansion, which had been allotted him. This reduced him to the necessity of sending a suppliant message to Nader Shah, entreating forgiveness for his insolence and ingratitude, and promising to atone for his rashness by the most perfect submission. The prince Rizakuli had already interceded in favour of all the revolted tribes; but the King, divided between his just resentment, and his desire to gratify his son, gave no answer at that time to the petition, but pursued his march towards Candahar. In his way he resolved to chastise a more formidable rebel, named Alimorad, whom the savage nation of the Bakhtiaris had chosen as their leader. These were a wild race A.D.1736. Nad. 49. of mountaineers, that inhabited the rocks and caverns in the very heart of Persia, and always refused to submit to a superiour power. As they were very numerous, enured to war from their earliest youth, and naturally fortified by craggy mountains, and thick woods, they had often gained considerable advantages over the troops that were sent against them; especially, at the time when Nader was engaged in laying siege to Erivan. The total reduction of them was reserved for Nader in his regal character, who sent several troops to attack them on all sides, and, having left the care of the military stores to the prince Nasralla, set out on the sixth of August, and arrived on the same day at the habitation of the rebels. He immediately sent a detachment to drive them from their retreat; and the Bakhtiaris after a short skirmish were put to flight. The fugitives took advantage of the darkness of the night, and, having passed the river Leirûk, demolished the bridge, and fled precipitately to the inmost recesses of the caverns and mountains. In the morning Nader Shah reached the river, and finding the bridge destroyed, ordered it to be rebuilt with all possible expedition. This was some obstruction to his progress; but at length he passed the Leirúk, and encamped on the summit of a mountain; whence he despatched his troops on all sides, to discover the places where the savages had concealed themselves. A considerable number of them were found in the dens and caves, and about three thousand families were either taken prisoners or slain. It happened in the mean time, that Alimorad, who lay with a few companions in the cavity of a rock, was distressed for want of water, and, A.D.1736. Nad. 49. going in search of it, passed by the foot of the mountain, on which the forces of Nader Shah were encamped. He was discovered and brought before the king, who condemned him to be blinded, and to lose his right a??m and leg: in this miserable situation he languished two days, at the end of which he expired. But Nader Shah showed more lenity to the other captives, whom he set at liberty, and removed to a distant and more accessible habitation: at last having spent a whole month in reducing this barbarous race, he marched towards the source of the river Zenderoud. Here he was joined by the prince Nasralla, and advanced with him towards Ispahan, which he entered on the fifth of October. He stayed some time in this City, in order to relieve his army after their fatigue, and to regulate some affairs of his kingdom. On the twelfth of November, he marched towards Candahar by the way of Kerman; and when he reached Seistan, he intrusted the baggage to the care of an approved officer, and set out upon an expedition against the Afgans of the districts bordering on Candahar.
The A.D.1737. Nad. 50. King left Seistan on the twenty-fourth of January, and, in sixteen days, reached a castle belonging to the Afgans, which he took by storm. He then sent two detachments, under the command of able officers, against two adjacent forts; and on the twelfth of February he passed the river Hirmend. The plains on the other side of the river were naked and barren; as the prince of Candahar had set fire to all the forage on the borders of his territory. This was a great distress to the army, and obliged them to change their route, till, in about twelve days, A.D.1737. Nad. 50. they pitched their tents on the banks of the Arghendáb. Hussein, having received notice of their approach, resolved to make a desperate attempt, and to attack the Persian camp at midnight; but he was unsuccessful, and, having lost a great number of his men, retired in confusion to Candahar. The next day Nader Shah led his army over the river Arghendab, which at that time was very rapid; and marched with his artillery to a village about two leagues from the city, which he had marked for destruction. Candahar was fortified on one side by a mountain, by the foot of which the Persians marched with incredible order and regularity, though they were exposed to the fire from the ramparts. When Nader Shah had reached the eastern side of the city, he ordered the tents to be pitched, and prepared to celebrate the annual festival of the tenth of March. When all the ceremonies were ended, he despatched a select body of men to attack a neighbouring fort, from which he apprehended some danger. Hussein was soon informed of this design, and sent his principal officer Seidal, to obstruct the progress of the Persians. Seidal soon discovered them upon an eminence, where they had halted, and, believing themselves in perfect security, had neglected to set a guard on the brow of the hill; which the Afgans perceiving, lay in ambush on the plain below, and waited for a proper opportunity to attack them. By a very fortunate circumstance, a Persian prisoner had escaped from the city, and apprised Nader Shah of Hussein’s project, and Seidal’s expedition; upon which the King set out in person, and overtook the Afgans, who fled at his approach: many of them were slain in their flight, and those A.D.1737. Nad. 50. who escaped, retired with Seidal to a very strong castle, where they found Mohammed, son of Hussein, with several other chiefs. Nader Shah returned to his camp, and gave a considerable present to the prisoner above-mentioned, who had informed him of Seidal’s excursion.
On the thirtieth of March, the royal tents were removed to a place more convenient for a design which Nader had conceived, of building a large city adjacent to Candahar, and of reducing Hussein to despair by the length of the siege. Agreeably to this vast project, a surprising number of architects and masons were summoned from all quarters of the empire, who made such inconceivable expedition, that, in a few days, they had laid the foundations of sumptuous edifices, aqueducts, baths, mosques, stables, markets, and houses for the common inhabitants: they contrived to turn a small, but very clear, river, called Torpuk, through the city; and some were employed in finishing the buildings in the most elegant manner, whilst others were raising a noble Citadel, and the rest, either decorating the royal palace, or building the walls of the new city, which was named Naderabâd, or The mansion of Nader.
In the mean time Ashref, an Afgan chief of high rank, deserted from the service of Hussein, and was favourably received by the Persian monarch. A short time after, a troop of Afgans made an excursion towards the river Arghendab, but were repulsed with great loss: after this defeat they acted entirely upon the defensive, and could not be induced to leave their walls, though Nader Shah had left the plain A.D.1737. Nad. 50. open, in hopes of enticing them to give him battle. This made him determine to enclose the city of Candahar on all sides with strong towers, at a considerable distance from each other: between these towers he erected a number of batteries, which he was obliged to multiply, on perceiving that some Afgans had sallied from their gates at midnight; but, by raising two more batteries between each of the large towers, he totally precluded them from the least possibility of passing his lines. At the beginning of May he received intelligence, that his officers had taken the town of Sefa, and the castle of Bast, the former by storm, and the latter by capitulation; upon which he sent other commanders to guard those places, and recalled those who had taken them. At the close of the month the King’s women and the baggage, which had been separated from the army in Seistan, arrived at Naderabad. The castle, to which Seidal had retired, was at this time taken by a Persian commander named Imamvirdi, who seized the just mentioned Afgan, with the other chiefs, and the son of Hussein, and sent them in chains to the royal camp. It has already been related in the preceding sections, that Seidal had ever been a promoter of violence and sedition; for which he was at this time punished with the loss of his sight: but the son of Hussein was treated with every mark of kindness and lenity.
While Nader Shah was endeavouring to tire out the Prince of Candahar by a tedious blockade, his son Rizakuli was enlarging the limits of his province, and pursuing a course no less glorious than that of his father. He had recovered Endekhod, and chastised its rebellious governor A.D.1737. Nad. 50. Alimerdan; he had defeated the numerous army of Abulhassan, Prince of Balkh, whose capital city he had taken, and whose territories he annexed to the kingdom of Persia. He afterwards passed the river Oxus with twelve thousand men, and put to flight forty thousand Tartars, commanded by the Kings of Bokhara and Kharezm; the latter of whom fled before the action, while the former, having lost a great number of his men, retired to a strong hold called Kershi. While the Prince was preparing to storm this castle, he received from his father a magnificent present of gold, beautiful horses, and rich vests, together with a letter applauding his valour, but desiring him to desist for the present from any further hostilities against the King of Bokhara. It is not easy to account for this check to the career of so brave a young man, unless we suppose that Nader Shah was desirous of moderating the power of his son, whose actions might possibly have eclipsed his own; or that he wished to reserve for himself the conquest of Transoxan Tartary, which the ancient kings of Persia were not able to subdue, in the course of a long and memorable war. The Prince, however, obeyed his command, and repassed the Oxus, which had been fixed, before the reign of Cyrus, for the boundary of the Persian empire.
The A.D.1738. Nad. 51. blockade of Candahar had now lasted ten months; but the Afgans, relying upon the plenty of their provisions, which they had been collecting for several years, and, deceived by the apparent strength of their situation, had not entertained the least thoughts of surrendering their City. Their obstinacy compelled the King to have A.D.1738. Nad. 51. recourse to more violent measures; and he made preparations for a general assault upon the citadel. In a short time the Persians took sixteen towers, two of which were built of stone, and situated upon a craggy mountain, which commanded a view of the whole town. The assailants, by the King’s order, carried their mortars and cannons of a vast size over this mountain, and planted them upon the summit of it. On the next morning they began to bombard the citadel, and filled the garrison with the utmost consternation; but a body of Persians, attempting too hastily to mount a breach, were repulsed by the Afgans, and two hundred of them were either killed or wounded. The tenth of March was celebrated with the usual solemnities; and on the twelfth, four thousand Persians were ordered to lie concealed in different parts of the mountain, and to wait for a proper opportunity of scaling the walls. The next day a tower, called Dehdeh, was taken by a company of Bakhtiari’s, who were enlisted in the service of Nader Shah. These intrepid barbarians passed on, in defiance of the Afgans, and planted the Persian ensigns on four other forts; which opened a way for the soldiers who lay hid on the mountain, and who, by the help of scaling-ladders, forced in a short time the gates of the citadel; whence they poured like a torrent through the city, and destroyed all that opposed them. Hussein had scarce time to fly with a few Afgans, and some of his women, to a fortress situated on an eminence in the northern part of the city: Nader Shah pointed his artillery against this fortress, and had actually begun to storm it, when Hussein, finding himself reduced to the last extremity, sent his sister Zeineb, a princess of excellent virtue, A.D.1738. Nad. 51. to implore the clemency of the conqueror. Nader received her with kindness, and promised to accept the submission of her brother. The next day, Hussein and his family, together with the Afgan commanders who had escaped the violence of the storm, prostrated themselves before the throne of Nader Shah, who gave them their lives, and sent Hussein with his son Mohammed, and all his relations, to the province of Mazenderan, where he allotted them a settlement. He divided all the plunder of the city among his soldiers, and having ordered the citadel of Candahar to be demolished, he appointed Naderabad the Capital of the province, and gave the government of it to Abdalgani, a nobleman, who had once been suspected of disaffection, but had since been restored to favour. He rewarded Ashref, who had left Hussein, during the siege, with the government of a castle, and made him chief of a tribe named Touki: he selected a company of stout young Afgans for the reinforcement of his army, and gave the rest an habitation in the districts adjacent to Nishapour. This colony passed the Arghendab on the third of April, and were conducted to their new settlement in Khorasan.
On the twenty-seventh of the same month, the King’s ambassadors to the Porte arrived at Naderabad. They had been received with great respect by the Othman court, who had sent with them an ambassador, and two doctors of the Turkish law, with a congratulatory letter to Nader Shah upon his elevation to the throne, in which he was desired to dispense with the two articles proposed by him, concerning the fifth pillar in the temple of Mecca, and the march of the A.D.1738. Nad. 51. Persian pilgrims through Syria. They assured him, “that the first would be a dangerous innovation, and that the second would be attended with infinite trouble; but that if he would suffer the pilgrims to take the route of Irak, the inhabitants of Bagdad should make the roads commodious for their progress, and should provide every thing necessary for their security and convenience.” The Great Turk’s letter was accompanied with a present of valuable rarities, and, among the rest, of some fine Arabian horses with trappings of gold. Nader showed all imaginable marks of distinction to the Turkish ministers, and presented each of them with an ermine robe, and a beautiful horse richly caparisoned. He discoursed with them publickly upon the two articles in question, and told them he hoped to prevail with their court to consent to the ratification of them: in order to press this point, he named an able minister his ambassador to the Porte, who departed on the ninth of May, in company with the three Turks above-mentioned.
AS A.D.1738. Nad. 51. soon as Nader had determined to extirpate the whole race of the Afgans, he sent an ambassador to the Indian court, with an earnest request to the Great Mogul Mohammed, that he would prevent the fugitives of that nation from finding a retreat in his dominions. The Mogul received the Persian ambassador with every mark of respect, and dismissed him with a promise, that he would not fail to intercept the flight of the Afgan rebels, and that he would, for that purpose, send fresh supplies to the governors of the provinces bordering on Persia. Some time after, a Persian nobleman was sent upon an embassy to India, in order to renew the same request; and he returned with a repetition of the same promise: but, during the siege of Candahar, a great number of Afgans fled towards Cabul and Gazna, without any obstruction from the Indians of those provinces. A detachment of Persians was ordered to pursue them, but they made no very considerable slaughter, as they had been strictly forbidden to pass the frontiers of the Indian empire, and enjoined to do no injury to the subjects of the Mogul. In the mean time the Afgans were flying by troops to the provinces just mentioned; and it was soon discovered, that no step had been taken by the Indian monarch towards intercepting them in their progress. Nader Shah was highly irritated, to find his great designs baffled by the A.D.1738. Nad. 51. indolence of a perfidious ally, who, without any regard to a repeated promise, had allowed a safe harbour to the most dangerous enemies of the Persian Empire. He had the moderation, however, to suppress or dissemble his resentment, and to send a third ambassador to the Great Mogul, who arrived at Dehli on the second of May in the preceding year, where he had strict orders to stay only forty days: but the Indian ministers made no reply to his remonstrances, and constantly eluded his endeavours to be dismissed with a satisfactory answer. A whole year had now elapsed since the departure of this ambassador; and Nader Shah, provoked beyond expression at this delay, sent a positive command to him to return immediately, either with the Mogul’s answer, or without it: we can assign no other reason for Nader’s expedition into India, than the insult he had received from the sovereign and ministers of that empire; and probably he had no intention at first to advance as far as Dehli. His great object was to reduce the Afgans to an entire subjection, which could never be effected, while they were permitted to lie concealed in India, whence at any time they might rush in swarms upon the borders of his dominion. Accordingly, at the beginning of May, he passed a rivulet called Mekhor, which was the common boundary of the Persian and Indian empires, and marched towards Gazna, the Capital of Zablestan. The governor and chief men of the city, finding themselves unable to oppose him, gave him an immediate admission within their walls, and, after the Asiatick manner, accompanied their offers of service with many valuable presents. A few days after this, Nader Shah adadvanced towards A.D.1738. Nad. 51. Cabul, and, in the course of his march, destroyed a considerable number of Afgans, who lurked in the mountains; but selected those, who had either youth or vigour, and enlisted them in his cavalry: in these victories he received no little assistance from the valour of his son Nasralla, who made an excursion in the districts of Bamian and Gorbend, and returned with a great increase of glory. Upon Nader Shah’s approach, the principal inhabitants of Cabul came in a body, and offered to give him a reception in their city suitable to his dignity: but they had made this offer without the consent of the governor and the commander of the city, who refused to admit the Persian army, and were preparing to sustain a siege. When the Persians, therefore, began to pitch their tents near the walls, the garrison sallied out and attacked them with fury; but they were repulsed with great loss, and saved themselves by a precipitate retreat. Nader Shah was soon informed of their insolence, and ordered some pieces of artillery to be planted against the citadel: the Indians made a bold resistance against a continued fire of several days, but were forced at last to surrender at discretion.
The Persian army lay encamped in the plains of Cabul till the middle of June; in which interval Nader Shah sent an expostulatory letter to the Mogul, containing a succinct narrative of the affront he had received, of his resolution to chastise the insolence of the Afgans, and of the obstruction made to his progress by the inhabitants of Cabul; he declared, that he had strictly inhibited the least act of violence from his soldlers, and that he desired nothing so much as A.D.1738. Nad. 51. the continuance of their mutual friendship, This letter was intrusted to an envoy, who set out for Dehli attended by several chiefs of Cabul, who were enjoined to confirm the truth of his assertions: but, when they reached Gelalabad, the governor of that place put the Persian envoy to death, and compelled the chiefs of Cabul to return. Nader Shah could no longer brook such a succession of injuries, but marched with great rapidity towards Gelalabad, and, on the twenty-eighth of July, encamped at Kendemac, a place remarkable for the serenity of its air, and the beauties of its situation. From this place he detached a body of Persians against Gelalabad, who entered the city without opposition on the tenth of August: but the governor Mir Abbas, conscious of his crime, and fearing the punishment due to it, retreated to a fortress situated on a mountain of very difficult access. The Persians attacked his intrenchments, and took the fort by assault: Mir Abbas was killed, together with the Indians that attended him, and his family were sent in chains to the royal camp.
On the twenty-ninth of September, the prince Rizakuli, who had been summoned from his province, arrived at Gelalabad, and was received by his father with every mark of affection and applause. Nader Shah spent several days in reviewing the prince’s army, and having imparted to him his design of penetrating into the heart of the Indian empire, appointed him Regent of Persia, with the full power, during his absence, of raising or deposing governors, and of acting as he judged best for the safety and dignity of the kingdom. The prince was permitted A.D.1738. Nad. 51. to wear a diadem, with the plume of feathers on the right side, after the regal manner, and on the eighth of October he returned with great pomp to the seat of his regency. A few days after, the Persian army marched to the east of Gelalabad, and halted in the station of Rikab, where Nader Shah received intelligence of a formidable army, that was preparing to oppose him. Nasserkhan, governor of Cabul, had assembled a considerable body of Afgans and Indians, and was resolved to dispute with the Persian invaders the passage of Peishor, which was also defended by a strong castle. Upon this information, Nader left the artillery with the prince Nasralla, and advanced with great celerity towards Peishor; the next day, after a rapid march, he reached the army of Nasser, who were so amazed at the incredible haste of the Persians, that their courage and resolution wholly forsook them: their ranks were broken in an instant, and those only escaped the sword, who had recourse to a precipitate flight. Nasser, and several Indian chiefs, were taken prisoners; and their camp was entirely pillaged: the captives were kept under a close confinement, and the plunder was distributed to the Persian soldiers. After this victory the fortress of Peishor was easily taken, and the King stayed several days in the adjacent plains, in order to refresh his troops, and to wait for the arrival of the prince Nasralla.
In this interval, Nader Shah received a piece of news, which gave him the highest affliction. His brother Zoheireddoula had undertaken to chastise a tribe of Leczies, that warlike and mutinous race of banditti, who inhabited the mountains A.D.1738. Nad. 51. and deserts, and lived in a perpetual defiance of any superiour power. He was at first extremely successful, and, having gained some signal advantages over the Leczies, and set fire to their tents, began to entertain hopes of extirpating the whole tribe: but those bold freebooters, who had been taught, by a long course of rapine, to practise every art of deceit, had recourse to a stratagem, which proved the ruin of the Persian troops, and occasioned the death of their commander. They appeared in order of battle, at some distance from the Persians, and, having enticed them to advance very far in the forest, they pretended to fly with every appearance of dismay and confusion; but, instead of flying onward, they returned on each side through narrow passes of the mountains, whence they poured down upon the Persians, who were eager in their pursuit. In this encounter, Zoheireddoula was killed by a musket-shot, and his troops were entirely defeated. There was nothing more remarkable in the life of this prince, than the continual series of misfortunes in which it was involved. He seems to have had no share of that enterprising genius, which so highly distinguished his brother, and to have been guided by a star directly opposite to that, which attended Nader in his most daring attempts. He was rash and inconsiderate in his projects, but wanted neither vigour nor intrepidity in the execution of them.
Nader Shah had no time at present for fruitless grief, and, having appointed a governor of Azarbigian in the place of his brother, and sent troops to avenge his death, he led his army towards the province of Lahor, and conducted them A.D.1738. Nad. 51. safely over the five branches of the river Indus, which at that season were swoln with the rains, and flowed with the most rapid current. A numerous army was assembled on the opposite banks, under the command of Zekaria, governor of Lahor: but whether they were alarmed at the swift progress and formidable appearance of the Persians, or confounded at their surprising passage over the Indus, they retreated with a mixture of terrour and astonishment. As Nader Shah continued to advance towards the city of Lahor, Zekaria sent an officer of rank, with a considerable present, to implore his clemency, and to promise the strictest submission. This messenger had a favourable reception, and Zekaria, having received many marks of distinction, was confirmed in his government of Lahor. At the same time Nasser was admitted into favour, and returned, by the permission of his conqueror, to the capital of his province.
In A.D.1739. Nad. 52. the mean while, the Great Mogul was preparing to obstruct the progress of these victorious invaders; he had marched twenty-five leagues from the metropolis of his empire, and lay encamped on the plain of Karnal, with an army of thirty thousand Indians, and two thousand armed elephants: the rest of his very numerous forces were making all possible haste to join him, and were commanded by the most illustrious princes of India. It was not long before Nader’s emissaries gave him a full account of Mohammed’s situation; upon which he left Lahor, and arrived at Serhind on the eighth of January, whence he despatched six thousand Persians to examine the Indian camp, while he marched A.D.1739. Nad. 52. towards it with the rest of his army. On the tenth he reached Ambala, about thirty miles from Karnal; and, in the same night, the detachment fell upon the Mogul’s camp, and, having slain or taken prisoners a great number of the guards, retreated to Azimabad, where they were joined on the fourteenth by the royal forces. Nader was informed by the Indian prisoners, that the plain of Karnal was defended on the eastern and western sides by a broad river, and a very thick forest, that the intrenchments of Mohammed were guarded by three hundred pieces of artillery, and that he was waiting for the vast armies of the Vizir, his commander in chief, and his other ministers. The next morning the Persians continued their march, and pitehed their tents six miles from the Mogul’s camp; towards which Nader made an excursion, and returned after an exact survey of it. He then advanced to the east of Karnal, and, arriving at a large plain about a league from the Indians, he encamped in a very advantageous situation. In the evening he had intelligence, that Saádet, an Indian prince of very high rank, was hastening to join Mohammed with thirty thousand men. It was too late to intercept this reinforcement, which reached Karnal at midnight: but a troop of Persians, who had been sent for that purpose, attacked the rear of the Indians, and plundered the baggage of Saadet. This loss exasperated that imprudent General to the highest degree, and drove him to the fatal resolution of advancing the next day against Nader Shah, without considering the disadvantage of acting offensively against an invading enemy, who might otherwise have been reduoed to great extremities in a country so A.D.1739. Nad. 52. little known to him, or compelled to fight upon very unequal terms: but Mohammed and the Indian princes, who had been softened by a life of luxury and indolence, deceived by the vast number of their forces, and wholly void of experience in military affairs, determined to venture on a battle, and hastened to the support of Saadet, with a vain confidence of victory. They were soon joined by Khandouran, commander in chief, Nezamelmolc, prince of Decan, Kamreddin, the Grand Vizir, and many other able generals, at the head of very numerous armies, divided into three bodies, which extended to an amazing length on the field of battle. Nader Shah was so far from being disheartened at the sight of this formidable armament, that he is said to have been animated beyond his usual degree of courage: he knew, that an army of soft and enervated Indians were little able to oppose the hardy troops, whom he had trained to arms by the most excellent discipline, and allured to engage with more ardour than ever, by the hopes of sharing the spoils of so rich a kingdom; he perceived the folly of his adversaries, in bringing to the field such enormous pieces of ordnance, which they were unable to conduct with skill, and in depending upon the number of their elephants, which could not fail to distress and impede them in a general action.
These considerations gave him such an assurance of success, that he ordered Nasralla to stay behind with the greatest part of the artillery, and rushed with a wild impetuosity upon the Indians. The shock was equally violent on both sides, but the two armies were conducted with A.D.1739. Nad. 52. a very different spirit; for while the Persians were able, with very little impediment, to seize every advantage that presented itself, their enemies were quickly thrown into confusion, and would have made but a short resistance, if so unwieldy a body could even have retreated with speed. After a scene of havock and disorder for five hours, the prince Saádet, who had been the first to take the field, was the first to leave it; and his troops by their sudden flight imparted a general terrour to Mohammed, and his ministers, who retired in haste to their camp at Karnal, and depended for their safety on the strength of their intrenchments. The rout of the Indian army soon became universal; the two nephews of Saádet, who were mounted upon the same elephant, were taken prisoners; Khandouran received a wound, of which he died the next day; and ten princes of eminent rank, with an hundred nobles and officers of distinction, and thirty thousand of their soldiers were slain in the action: a great number of Indians were made captives, and all their elephants, horses, and instruments of war fell into the hands of the conquerors.
After this victory, Nader Shah advanced to the camp of Mohammed, which he found so strongly fortified, that he could not attack it with advantage, but thought it more prudent to enclose it on all sides, and to distress the Indians, who were almost destitute of provisions, by a continual blockade: on the third day after this, the ministers of Mohammed, finding it impossible either to exist in that confinement or to escape from it, prevailed with him to preserve his life at the expence of his kingdom, and, by A.D.1739. Nad. 52. resigning his diadem, to calm the resentment of the conqueror. The great Mogul perceived the necessity of this expedient, and left his intrenchments, attended only by the prince of Decan, the grand vizir, and his other nobles. When Nader Shah was informed of his approach in this submissive manner, he sent the prince Nasralla to meet him, and himself received him at the door of his tent, where he took him by the hand with great mildnass, and placed him by his side on the throne. Mohammed resigned his crown in form, and was treated, on that day and the next, as a guest in the Persian camp, where he received every demonstration of respect. On the first of February, Nader Shah advanced towards Dehli; and on the seventh, he encamped in the gardens of Shalehmah; where Mohammed obtained leave to enter the city, in order to prepare his palace for the reception of his vanquisher. Nader followed him on the ninth; and was conducted to a magnificent edifice, built by the Mogul Shahgehan, which, upon this occasion, was decorated with every ornament, that the treasury of Mohammed could supply. That unfortunate monarch, finding himself reduced to the condition of a private nobleman, prepared to attend his conqueror with the lowest marks of submission: but Nader Shah soon raised him from the state of dejection into which he was sunk, by declaring that he would reinstate him on the throne of his ancestors, and that he would repair the late breach in their friendship, by maintaining a perpetual alliance with the Indian empire, and by giving him a sure support upon every exigence: but that he would stay some time at Dehli, to refresh his army after their long expedition. The Mogul was so penetrated with A.D.1739. Nad. 52. this unexpected act of generosity, that he expressed his gratitude in the strongest manner, and having stripped his treasury of the most valuable jewels and curiosities that were reposited in it, he brought them as a present to Nader Shah. These treasures consisted of rich vases adorned with gems, vast heaps of gold and silver in coin and ingots, with a great variety of sumptuous furniture, thrones, and diadems: among the rest was the famous throne in the form of a peacock, in which the pearls and precious stones were disposed in such a manner as to imitate the colours of that beautiful bird, and which was said to be worth two millions and a half sterling. The princes and ministers of the Indian court followed the example of their king, and vied with each other in making presents to Nader Shah, who received in this manner about nine million three hundred and seventy-five thousand pounds, exclusive of the jewels, gold, and valuable pieces of furniture, which must have amounted to more than double that sum.
On the thirteenth of March, when all affairs seemed to be calm and peaceful, a very unfortunate event had almost caused a fatal reverse in the fortunes of Nader, and compelled him to preserve the fruits of his victory, by an action no less horrid than necessary. Two Indian noblemen of considerable rank raised a violent sedition in the night, and inflamed the multitude to such a degree, that they rushed with a mad rage upon the Persians, who were quartered in the city, and, having slain a great number of them, ran to the stable of the royal elephants, and put their keeper to death. When Nader Shah was apprised of this tumult, he ordered his A.D.1739. Nad. 52. officers to act wholly upon the defensive during the remainder of the night; and in the morning, finding the riot rather increased than abated, and sensible of his own danger, if the Indian army should revolt and join the rioters, he gave orders for a general massacre in that part of the city, where the sedition first broke out. Upon these orders the enraged Persians destroyed all they met, and demolished every building by which they passed: this dreadful carnage lasted several hours, and when the richest edifices in Dehli were levelled with the ground, and near thirty thousand of the inhabitants slain, the Great Mogul and his ministers interceded with Nader for the pardon of the other citizens; they entreated him to moderate his resentment, which they allowed to be just, and to be satisfied with the punishment he had inflicted upon the guilty, without shedding the blood of the innocent. Nader Shah complied with their request, and gave immediate orders for a cessation of the massacre; but he was determined to chastise the authors of the sedition, who had fled with about four hundred of their associates to a fortress not far from the city. Two Indian ministers were charged with the odious office of putting their countrymen to death: these unfortunate men, whose precipitate rashness had brought such a number of their fellow-citizens to destruction, were taken after a short resistance, and suffered the punishment which their folly deserved, though their good design, perhaps, might give them a claim to better success.
After a scene of such terrour and consternation, it will justly seem surprising that there should be A.D.1739. Nad. 52. any room in the breasts of the Indians for mirth and entertainment, yet such was their infatuation, that, in about ten days after the massacre, the nuptials of Prince Nasralla with a daughter of the Mogul were celebrated with all the marks of joy and festivity. Mohammed presented his son-in-law with a rich vest almost covered with pearls and diamonds, with six elephants, and as many beautiful horses with saddles and trappings of gold, enriched with precious stones: and a whole week was spent in banquets, shows, pageants, and diversions of every kind, among which were the battles of wild beasts, which are trained by the Indians for that purpose. Nader Shah in the mean time gave an ample recompense to his army for their faithful services; and, besides the valuable presents which he distributed among his officers, he assigned a largess of above twelve pounds to every private soldier*: and, that his subjects in general might enjoy the fruits of his conquest, he ordered it to be proclaimed through all the provinces of Persia, that they should pay no kind of tax for the space of three years. As he was now preparing to leave India, he convened an assembly of all the princes and ministers of the Mogul’s court, and with his own hand replaced the imperial diadem on the head of Mohammed, and helped him to ascend the throne, which he had received from his progenitors: after this he harangued the Indian Ministers, and gave them the most salutary advice for the welfare of A.D.1739. Nad. 52. their country, enjoining them to obey in every respect the commands of their present sovereign. Mohammed expressed a most grateful sense of these favours, and entreated Nader to accept of all the provinces situated on the other side of the river Atok, together with those of Sind and Tata, and their dependencies. The King of Persia was glad to annex these provinces to his empire, as they were advantageously situated, and as some of them had been formerly considered as part of Khorasan: he therefore readily accepted the present; and the Mogul made a cession in form of the territories just mentioned. On the twenty-fifth of May Nader Shah led his army from Dehli, and repassed the Indus; but a bridge, which he had built over that river, was broken down by the rapidity of the current before half his troops had passed; and the rest were obliged to cross it in boats: this accident detained them in that sultry climate till the middle of summer, and was the cause of their suffering incredible pain in their marches, from the very intense and oppressive heat. At this time Nader Shah formed a plan of renewing hostilities against the kings of Bokhara, and Kharezm, whom his son Rizakuli had defeated during the siege of Candahar, but whose entire reduction he reserved for himself. Agreeably to this design, he sent a number of approved artists to Balkh, with orders to build several barges, and to launch them in the Oxus, that he might at any time transport his men and ammunition into Turkestan, or the Transoxan Tartary.
Abulfeiz, king of Turan, or of Bokhara, as the oriental writers call him, had made several irruptions into Persia in conjunction with Ilbars, sovereign A.D.1739. Nad. 52. prince of Kharezm, and had committed many acts of violence, for which Nader Shah now determined to make reprisals on them, and to chastise their insolence. They had been already defeated by Rizakuli, as it has been related; but, finding Nader Shah engaged in his Indian expedition, Ilbars had the boldness to pass the Oxus a second time, with intent to lay waste the borders of Khorasan. The prince, then regent of Persia, was at Herat, when he received intelligence of this incursion; and immediately led his army against the invader. Ilbars retired to a castle near Abiurd, where he imagined himself in perfect security; but while he was preparing to strengthen the place of his retreat, the governor of Abiurd advanced with a body of men to examine the situation of the enemy: a report was instantly spread among the Kharezmians, that the prince Rizakuli was close to the castle with a numerous army; which false alarm threw Ilbars into such a panick, that he decamped in confusion and returned to the seat of his dominion. Nader Shah, in the mean time, was pursuing his march towards Cabul, which he left on the twenty-seventh of November, and advanced towards his new territories in the province of Sind: but he had not neglected to send ambassadors to the courts of Russia and Turky, in order to inform them of his success in India, and to present the sovereigns of those empires with part of his spoils. This embassy to Russia seems to have been merely ceremonial, unless we suppose it to have a mixture of vanity and ostentation; but he had other views in that to the Sultan, with whom he was far from intending to preserve a lasting amity: and he was willing upon this occasion to A.D.1739. Nad. 52. show him how far the Persian arms could extend.
In Nader Shah’s march through Sind, he met with some obstructions from the chiefs of several castles, who attempted to oppose him, but were all reduced to submission after a short resistance: but the groundless fears, and avarice of Khodaiar, governor of that province, delayed him longer than the fierceness and valour of the other chiefs. This weak man had been very officious in paying his court to Nader Shah, during his conquests in Persia, and in sending him letters of congratulation upon the success of his arms: but, after the Indian expedition, he was so apprehensive of losing his treasures, and so afraid of falling into the hands of the conqueror, that he payed no regard to his repeated invitations, peremptorily refused to do homage at the throne of the Persian monarch, and fled to a strong hold in the midst of a barren desert, called Amercout, where he concealed his money and jewels in a subterraneous cavern. When Nader heard of his flight, he resolved to pursue him, and to punish him for A.D.1740. Nad. 53. disobeying his command: accordingly he passed the river Sind over a bridge of boats, and, having marched over a rough desert, which had before been thought impassable, he arrived on the fifteenth of February, before the castle of Khodaiar. As soon as the silly Indian saw the victorious army under his walls, he attempted to make his escape; but was taken by the Persian soldiers, and brought with all his family and attendants before Nader Shah; to whom he discovered in what place he had reposited his treasure, hoping by that discovery to save his life, A.D.1740. Nad. 53. which Nader, however, had no thought of taking: but in order to make him sensible of his errour, he kept him in chains several days; at the end of which he gave him his liberty, restored him to his possessions, and appointed him governor of Tata and part of Sind, the rest of which province he divided among his faithful commanders.
After having settled the affairs of his new dominion, the king of Persia returned to Naderabad, the city which he had built during the siege of Candahar, and from which he had been absent two years. He stayed but five days in this city; and advanced towards Herat, which he entered on the twenty-sixth of May: here he was joined by his nephew Alikuli, together with the young princes Imamkuli, and Shahrokh, who were received by the King with every mark of affection: they made at the same time an apology for the absence of the prince Rizakuli, who was detained by some affairs of great importance to the empire, and promised to meet the king his father at Badghis. Shahrokh seemed to be the favourite of the court, and it was remarked, that a prince of the same name, the son of Timur, had fixed the seat of his empire in the city of Herat: upon which the magistrates of that city struck a number of medals with the name and title of the young prince. In this place, Nader chose to make his triumph for the conquest of India, and to show his subjects the riches he had gained by it: as he was highly pleased with the peacock-throne, which he brought from Dehli, he had ordered his jewellers to make another in the same form, and with the same splendour, together with a pavilion, equally rich A.D.1740. Nad. 53. and magnificent. These works were now finished in the highest perfection, and exhibited at one view the finest pearls and, precious stones, that remained from the spoils of Dehli: they were displayed in publick on the fourth of June, which day and several others were spent in pageants, shows, and entertainments. On the tenth, Nader gave a considerable present to each of the princes, and, leaving them in Herat, advanced towards Badghis, where he met Rizakuli at the head of his army. As soon as the prince saw him, he ran to him and kissed his stirrups, expressing at the same time his subjection to his father and to his king: and Nader Shah, having raised him with great tenderness, applauded in the strongest terms his prudence in the government of Persia, and his valour in the defence of it. After this they advanced to the royal tents, both of them equally ignorant of their unhappy destiny, and very little apprehensive of the dreadful events, which were to succeed to their long course of victory and good fortune. Nader Shah spent several days in reviewing the troops of his son, whom he amply rewarded for their services, and, having presented the prince with a diadem and bracelet set with gems of considerable value, led his forces towards the city of Balkh, where he had ordered preparations to be made for his expedition into Tartary.
M. d’Herbelot treats this anecdote as a fable.
↩
These Afgans were, probably, the Paropamisadæ of the Ancients, whom Quintus Curtiús describes in the seventh book of his Life of Alexander, “Ipse rex nationem, ne finitimis quidem suis satis notam, quippe nullo commercio colentem mutuos usûs, cum exercitu intravit. Paropamisadæ appellantur, agreste hominum genus, et inter barbaros maximè inconditum.” Curtius is extremely confused in his Asiatick Geography; but Ptolemy rightly places this nation with India on the east, the Country of Aria or Herat on the west, part of Khorasán on the north, and Zablestán, or Moltán on the south. The Avgans are mentioued by Ali Yezdi in his life of Tamerlane. M. de la Croix, in his maps, calls them Ouganís.
↩ In Arabick
See the Introduction.
↩Q. Curt. lib. 4. cap. 7. At ille, haudquaquam rudis tractandi militares animos, speciem sibi Herculis in somno oblatam esse pronuntiat, dexteram porrigentis: illo duce, illo aperiente, in urbem intrare se visum.
↩ In Persian
In Arabick
In Persian
Pope’s Iliad. Book XXII. 207.
↩Rocnabad was the name of a very clear rivulet, which flowed by a chapel, called Mosella, near Shiraz, where the poets and philosophers of that city used to sit and compose their works, and which is no less celebrated by their writers than the Ilyssus and Cephisus of the Athenians.
↩ Literally the life of Khezr: this Hero or Sage is said, in
the Persian romances, to have gained immortality by drinking
(Abi heiat) the fountain of life. See MENINSKI in
the word
In the same manner, before his expedition against Tauris, his friends consulted the poems of Hafez, and, upon opening the volume, found the following couplet: “O Hafez, thou hast taken Irák and Pars with thy sweet poetry; come, for it is now the turn of Bagdad and Tauris.” This is the last couplet of the Ode, which begins,
Although the wine inspires us with joy, and the gale scatters roses around us, yet drink no more to the sound of the lute, for the Censor is extremely severe.
↩ Among the many presents, which Nader gave at this
time to his officers, were several of the finest horses of Asia,
in the breeds of which he was particularly curious: the
Persian historian says, in his figurative style, that these horses were
of the race of Gulgún and shaped like Rakhsh. Gulgún
Pontem indignatus Araxes. VIRG.
↩See these coins in the Bodleian library.
↩An illustrious French writer (Montesq. Consider. sur la Grandeur des Romains) supposes, that Nader Shah gave no more than twelve pounds to each of his soldiers, lest, by growing rich with the spoils of India, they should sink into softness and luxury.
↩