1 Lays siege to Herat,
2 1731.
3 He renounces the
4 Shid and adopts the
5 Sunni faith.
6 Deposes and blinds
7 his own sovereign.
8 His cautious
9 measures.
10 Ts saluted king of the
11 Persians amidst accla-
12 mations, under the
13 name Nadir Shah, 1736.
14 Affiance with the
15 Sifvian family.
16 196 HISYORY OF THE PANJAB.
17 back to their own territory with great slaughter. In the beginning of 1731
18 Nadir laid siege to Herdt, a task even more arduous than that of reducing
19 the Abdalis, and took it after a most obstinate resistance, which lasted
20 ten months. At this juncture, both the Abdalis and the dhiljis entered
21 into a combination against the invader. After this conquest, the victor
22 banished the leading Saddozais to Multan, and compelled a large force of
23 the Abddlis to join the army. It was about this time that Nddir relin-
24 quished the Shid faith of his ancestors and embraced Sunaniism, thus enlist-
25 ing the sympathy of the Abdélis, who subsequently became his most
26 powerful allies and devoted followers.
27 In 1731, Nddir defeated the Turks in Hamdan and regained the Ar-
28 menian provinces, which had been seized by the Turks during the reign of
29 Ashraf, but on his return he was annoyed with his sovereign for entering
30 into a disadvantageous treaty with the Turks, and, having deposed him,
31 deprived him of sight. The wary general did not, however, yet venture
32 to occupy the vacant throne himself, but, ordering the king’s son, who was
33 then in his cradle, to be brought out of the seraglio, placed the royal dia-
34 dem on his head, and proclaimed him king, under the name of Abbas ITI,
35 1732. The puppet king died in 1736. The way to the throne was now
36 clear for Nadir. He had a firm hold on the affections of the soldiery and
37 on the fears of the nation. But even now this sagacious politician did not
38 give up his characterstic caution. At Murghab, he summoned all the grandees
39 of the kingdom, the civil and military officers, the governors of provinces
40 and magistrates, and, amidst an assembly of 100,000 persons was, by popular
41 acclamation, saluted as the king of the Persians, under the name of Naddir
42 Shah. Like Cesar, he went through the form of refusing a proffered crown.
43 He thanked them for the honour they had done him, which was contrary to
44 his intention in calling them together, yet he looked on the voice of the
45 people as the voice of God, and, with seeming reluctance, and on the condi-
46 tion that the Shid& sect be abolished, and that of the Sunnis established
47 throughout the kingdom, he at last agreed to accept his elevation to the
48 throne, and was crowned king,~February 26th, 1736.* He married his
49 eldest son to the sister of Shah Thamasp, thereby allying his own family
50 with that of the Safvian kings, who still commanded the respect of the people.
51 It was his policy, while usurping the possessions of other sovereigns, thus to
52 unite his own family by marriage ties with those of the vanquished monarchs ;
53 and he subsequently formed such alliances with the emperor of Bokhdra, a
54 pe ee ee ee es ee
55 We irk Shah, on being proclaimed king, struck coins in his name bearing the following in-
56 Blad ESAS gymd 9 ute} yiyeth OG whe 33! waAble abi oS 95 yh ake
57 “The coins of Nédir of Persia, protector of tk i i ;
58 thecusheneeee cake » Pp of the world, have proclaimed his empire
59 On the reverse, in a cypher, was the inscription :— ta be $ eal
60 Meani ‘What i tis best.” T) a ae
61 Meaning, hat is past is best. le mumerical val i
62 up 1148, the year of his Slovauion to the throne. Stray Peano Or tne letverso this. motto anne
63 At Kandahar he struck coins, which had the word BILL, “The Sultan Nadie,”
64 on one side, andthe words )Lag.3 wv Sead - alo slp sla “May God perpetuate his
65 reign. Struck at Kandahar,” on the other.
66 After his victory at Karnal, he struck the following coin in India :—
67 We Wate 995 wlots sls WL bila x” wlhlea wwe
68 aaregad ot nes on the Earth and the Lord of Lords is Nadir, the Blessed.”
69 ; SLE lyr gle asap yy Wye ~aSle sUypsts
70 May God prolong his reign: struck Shah at J: ahéndbdd, the capital, 1152.”
71 Sri Satguru J agjit Singh Ji eLibrary NamdhariElibrary@ gmail.com