Nader Shah vs. the Ottomans - Master of Iran ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY

TL;DR

Nader Shah overcame his first defeat at Samarra to crush Ottoman forces at Kirkuk and Arpachay, fully restoring Safavid borders.

Key Points

• 1.Nader governed through fear and mobility, not palaces. He shifted Iran's capital to Mashhad, ran administration on campaign, and enforced heavy taxation to fund a standing army, devastating merchants and peasants alike.
• 2.The Siege of Baghdad (1733) ended in strategic failure. Nader encircled Baghdad with 100,000 men, but an 80,000-strong Ottoman relief force under Topal Osman Pasha forced him to split his army and march to Samarra.
• 3.The Battle of Samarra was Nader's first defeat, costing 30,000 men. Topal Osman Pasha used terrain, wind, and a feigned weak vanguard to bait Nader into a costly frontal assault; a rumor of Nader's death triggered a 9-hour collapse.
• 4.Nader rebuilt his army in just 3 months and destroyed Topal Osman Pasha at Kirkuk. A double-envelopment cavalry maneuver crushed the Ottoman flanks while musketeers broke the center; Topal Osman Pasha was killed in the fighting.
• 5.The Caucasus campaign secured a Russian alliance via the 1735 Treaty of Ganja. Russia agreed to withdraw from Caspian territories in exchange for a joint front against the Ottomans, freeing Nader to press into Ottoman-held territory.
• 6.At the Battle of Arpachay, Nader personally stormed the Ottoman artillery position with 2,000–3,000 musketeers. The shock capture of Abdullah Koprulu's guns collapsed Ottoman morale, forcing a full withdrawal and restoring the old Safavid borders.