| Afsharid Military | |
|---|---|
 Nader Shah's battle standard | |
| Active | 1736–1747 (national military) 1747–1796 (dynastic military only) |
| Country | .svg){kind=small} Imperial Persia |
| Allegiance | Shahanshah (King of Kings) |
| Branch | Armed forces |
| Type | Land forces, navy |
| Size | 375,000 at its peak |
| Garrison/HQ | Mashhad |
| Patron | Shahanshah of the Persian Empire |
| Engagements | Nader's Campaigns |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Nader Shah, Ebrahim Khan Afshar, Tahmasp Khan Jalayer, Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar, Adil Shah, Nasrollah Qoli Khan Afshar, Fath-Ali Khan Afshar, Heraclius II of Georgia |
The military forces of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran had their origins in the relatively obscure yet bloody inter-factional violence in Khorasan during the collapse of the Safavid state. The small band of warriors under local warlord Nader Qoli of the Turkoman Afshar tribe in north-east Iran were no more than a few hundred men. Yet at the height of Nader's power as the king of kings, Shahanshah, he commanded an army of 375,000 fighting men which, according to Axworthy, constituted the single most powerful military force of its time,[1][2] led by one of the most talented and successful military leaders of history.[3]
After the assassination of Nader Shah at the hands of a faction of his officers in 1747, Nader's powerful army fractured as the Afsharid state collapsed and the country plunged into decades of civil war. Although there were numerous Afsharid pretenders to the throne, (amongst many other), who attempted to regain control of the entire country, Persia remained a fractured political entity in turmoil until the campaigns of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar in towards the very end of the eighteenth century reunified the nation.
- ^ Axworthy, Michael (2007). "The Army of Nader Shah". Iranian Studies. 40 (5). Informa UK: 635–646. doi:10.1080/00210860701667720. S2CID 159949082.
- ^ Axworthy, Michael (2009). The Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from tribal warrior to conquering tyrant, . I. B. Tauris
- ^ Axworthy, Michael, "Iran: Empire of the Mind", Penguin Books, 2007. p158