Nadir Shah of Persia, King of Kings and Conqueror of the World (1688-1747)

In 2018 I found an old book in a laundry room entitled My Life as an Explorer by Sven Hedin which was published in 1925.

Sven Hedin was a wealthy Swedish explorer in the early 20th century. In this book he visits, among other places, Persia (Iran).

About Meshhed, the City of Martyrs, he wrote:

The third grave is that of Nadir Shah. He was a Tatar robber, who ravaged Khorasan, became mighty and powerful, offered Shah Thamas II his support, reconquered for him all the provinces taken by the Turks, expanded the borders of Persia in all directions, dethroned the Shah and had him assassinated, drowned Delhi in blood (1738), blinded his son, built pyramids of human heads on the mosque-roofs, and stamped on his coins, "O coin, announce to all the Earth the reign of Nadir, the king who conquered the world".

(In 1747) Sale Bek, a colonel of the guards, stole into his tent at night and cut his head off. The body was buried in a mausoleum; but Aga Mohammed Khan, founder of the present royal house (the Kajars), on attaining power in 1794, opened the grave of the conqueror, and let the body be devoured by dogs.

I became interested in the Nadir Shah coin with such an inscription or a similar one. I could not find one with the exact inscription, but as these inscriptions were in Persian Arabic there were many translations of them.

This coin was struck during Nadir Shah's invasion of India in 1740:


Persia Rupee, Nadir Shah, Bhakkar, AH 1153 (AD 1740)
Silver, 20 mm, 11.32 gm, KM A385.2
Obverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Shah-e-Shahan Nadir Sahib Qiran (King of Kings Nadir, Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction)
Line 2: Hast bar salatin jehan (There is over kings of the world)
Line 3: Sultan (King)
Reverse: Three horizontal lines of text
Line 1: Khallid Allah Mulhaku (May Allah perpetuate his reign)
Line 2: Bhakkar (mint)
Line 3: Zarb (struck at)
The year "1153" is on the reverse center. AH 1153 is around AD 1740. The coin has no regnal year.

The title on the obverse has been rendered several ways, including "Nadir is the King of Kings over all the kings of the world".

The "Auspicious Conjunction" usually meant that someone was born during a time when the planets Jupiter and Venus were close together in the sky. In their Astrology it meant that the person was destined for greatness.

Nadir Shah launched an invasion of India from 1738 to 1740, conquering much of the disintegrating Mughal Empire.

In 1739 his army sacked Delhi and left after the Mughal Emperor Mohammad Shah paid him a huge ransom.

His conquests were being watched all over the world including in Britain which had interests in India.

Nadir Shah's conquests and cruelties impressed more recent would-be world conquerors including Napoleon and Stalin.