ナーデル・シャーとアフガン軍団

In October 1722, the Afghan’s capture of Eṣfahān brought the de facto downfall of the Safavid Dynasty. Nāder, One of the military leaders in Khorāsān, reunified the former Safavid territories and founded the Afsharid Dynasty in 1736. Some researchers have pointed out that many Afghans served in the army under the command of Nāder, but little is known about their importance or impact. The purpose of this study is to investigate the roles and activities of the Afghans in Nāder’s regime, which had a great influence on eighteenth century Iran, as well as the foundation of the Durrānī Dynasty, the prototype of modern Afghanistan.Through the analysis of historical materials mainly written in the eighteenth century, we can find that there were two types of Afghan corps in Nāder Shāh’s regime: one was the Abdālī Afghan corps and the other was the Eastern Afghan corps.The Abdālī corps was organized after Nāder’s conquest of Herāt. The number of the Abdālī corps was about six to seven thousand and they served Nāder in person. Since 1738, Nāder entrusted the Abdālīs with the government of Qandahār, which was strategically important in the east of Nāder’s territory. In addition the Abdālī corps was well treated in the contemporary chronicles because of their meritorious service in the war with the Ottomans.The Eastern Afghan corps was organized during the invasion of India in 1738-9, counting more than forty thousand. Although contemporary chroniclers described them as just Afghān, in reality they consisted of not only Yūsufzā’ī Afghans but also Hazāras, etc. The Eastern Afghan corps was dispatched to many places in the Iranian Plateau in order to maintain public peace and to repress the local rebels. Their severe violence against citizens in this repression caused great hostilities.According to these investigations, we can recognize the difference between the Abdālī corps and the Eastern Afghan corps from the standpoint of their roles, contents and impressions from the local societies in the Iranian Plateau.After the assassination of Nāder in 1747, the Abdālī corps returned to Qandahar and founded a new dynasty i.e. the Durrānī Dynasty, which was really influenced by Nāder’s policies toward the Abdālīs. On the other hand, the Eastern Afghan corps, which remained in the west and central parts of the Iranian Plateau, fell into severe antagonism with local societies and Iranian corps. The opposition between the Eastern Afghan corps and the Iranian resulted in the complete collapse of Nāder’s regime. After that, many rival powers utilized Afghans as mercenaries. Finally, in March 1760, the Afghans remaining in Iran were entirely exterminated in the last phase of Karim Khān Zand’s consolidation of his power in the western and central parts of the Iranian Plateau. They were excluded as dangerous outsiders toward the creation of new Iran. In addition, antagonism against Afghans was relevant to the hostilities against the Durrānī Dynasty, which urged the social and mental separation between Iran and Afghanistan.