Sword of Persia: Nader Shah, from Tribal Warrior to Conquering Tyrant

This is not to say that Shi‘ite governments did not arise. In the year 1501, a sixteen-year-old amir named Ismail conquered Iran and installed himself as the first Shah, or King, of the Safavid Empire. Ismail proclaimed Twelver Shi‘ism to be the official state religion of Iran and initiated a brutal jihad against Sunni Islam both within his land an

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Islamic rule under the early khalifas (caliphs) depended on tribal garrisons watching over the unreliable townsmen. It was not a lasting solution. Under urban conditions, tribal unity weakened. There was no aristocracy to apply a feudal remedy, and the problem of government was control of the towns. The answer was found in recruiting military slave

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One person whom Aurangzeb never deceived was his father. From an early age, Shah Jehan made it clear that he did not care for his third son, and instead increasingly lavished attention on the more amiable Dara Shukoh. Dara he kept at court, showered with favours and titles, while Aurangzeb was sent to the empire’s southernmost border, the unruly De

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Dara was taken to Delhi, placed on a filthy elephant and to his humiliation, was paraded through the streets in chains. Aurangzeb then called a council which judged Dara to be a political threat and also guilty of apostasy. He was executed by four of Aurangzeb’s henchmen on the 30th August 1659. His severed head was taken to Aurangzeb for identific

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