Tomb of Nader Shah

The Tomb of Nader Shah (Persian: آرامگاه نادرشاه; Arabic: ضريح نادر شاه), also known as the Mausoleum of Nader Shah, is a mausoleum located in Mashhad, in the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan, Iran. Designed by Hooshang Seyhoun and completed in 1963, the structure contains the grave of Nader Shah.^[2][3][4][5]

Tomb of Nader Shah
آرامگاه نادرشاه
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Mausoleum
Status	Active
Location
Location	Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province
Country	Iran
Location of the tomb in Iran
Geographic coordinates	36°17′42″N 59°36′38″E
Architecture
Architect(s)	Hooshang Seyhoun
Type	Islamic architecture
Style	Mughal Pahlavi
Completed	1963
Specifications
Dome(s)	One
Shrine(s)	One: Nader Shah
Materials	Granite
Iran National Heritage List
Official name	Tomb of Nader Shah
Type	Built
Designated	9 December 1975
Reference no.	1174
Conservation organization	Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran
[1]

The structure was added to the Iran National Heritage List on 9 December 1975, administered by the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran.

About Nader Shah

Main article: Nader Shah

Nader Shah was born into an ordinary family from the Qirqlu branch of the Afshars, a Turkic tribe living in Khorasan. When Safavid Iran was invaded by the Afghans, he entered the service of Safavid shah Tahmasp II and was named Tahmasp Qoli Khan. Subsequently, he defeated the Afghans, the Ottomans, and the Russians in a short period of time. During this process, he strengthened his position, dethroned Tahmasp II in 1732, and proclaimed himself the regent to the new shah, Tahmasp II's infant son, Abbas III. In 1736, calling a congress in Mughan, he dethroned Abbas III and declared himself shah, ending 235-years of Safavid rule.

Tomb history

After Nader Shah's successful campaign against the Mughal Empire, he returned with immense wealth: the peacock throne, the Koh-i-Noor and Daria-i-Noor diamonds, and “700 elephants, 4,000 camels and 12,000 horses carrying wagons all laden with gold, silver and precious stones”. After the precious jewels brought from India were hidden near Kalat, Nader ordered the Mughal architects he had brought with himself to build a magnificent mausoleum for him, completed in the Mughal style.^[6]

Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747. However, the mausoleum was not completed during his lifetime. Kakh-e Khorshid  – meaning the Sun Palace – was another mausoleum that was converted into a residential palace by various tribal leaders. Also completed in the Mughal style, Nader Shah’s body remained un-commemorated in this building, until the 1960s when a concrete monument was constructed for him in the vicinity of a heavily polluted traffic intersection in Mashhad.^[7]

Despite its incomplete exterior, the interior of the Khorshid is fully refined: each doorway is decorated by miniature paintings and Mughal frescoes.^[7]

Gallery

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  Tombstone of Nader and Ferdowsi, Mashhad, 1970s
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  Head of Nader Shah's statue
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  The statue of Nader Shah, kept in the mausoleum

See also

• Iran portal
• Islam portal

• List of mausoleums in Iran
• Islam in Iran