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Treaty of Kerden

Treaty of Kerden (, ) was signed between the Ottoman Empire and Afsharid Iran on 4 September 1746. It concluded the Ottoman–Persian War (1743–1746).

Background

During the last years of the Safavid dynasty in Iran, the Ottomans were able to annex most of the Caucasus and western Iran, due to hereditary strife, civil unrest and total chaos. Meanwhile, the Afghans were able to annex parts of Khorasan. The shah had to appoint Nader, an Iranian Afshar Turkoman warlord, as his commander in chief.

Under Nader's commandship, Iran was able to regain most of its losses. After the victories, Nader was able to seize the throne and, in 1736, establish the Afsharid dynasty, which would last until 1796. Nader Shah was planning to found another great Persian empire, stretching from the Indus to the Bosphorus, as in the ancient times.

After reconquering former territories of Iran, he further tried to annex the eastern territories of the Ottoman Empire (eastern Anatolia and Iraq). He also proposed to reconcile the two major sects of Islam (the Ottoman dynasty was of Sunni faith and most Iranians were of Twelver Shia faith). He planned to force the Ottoman Empire, the most powerful Sunni state, to accept Twelver Shia Islam as a fifth legal school of jurisprudence of Sunni Islam.

The terms of the treaty

The treaty was signed in Kerden (a location near Qazvin, Iran). The representatives were Hasan Ali Haji (Afsharid side) and Mustafa Nazif (Ottoman side).

  1. The boundary line between the two countries was the same boundary line drawn roughly a century earlier according to the Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 (i.e., which included roughly the demarcation of the modern Iran–Turkey and Iran–Iraq border lines).
  2. The Ottomans agreed to stop opposing the Afsharid dynasty as the rulers of Iran.
  3. The Ottomans also agreed to allow the Iranian hajis (pilgrims) to Mecca (then under Ottoman control).
  4. Exchange of consulates () were permitted in both countries.
  5. Iran abandoned to force the Ottomans to convert to Shia Islam.
  6. Both sides agreed to liberate prisoners of war.

References and notes

Sources