Nāder Shāh Afshār (also known as Nāder Qoli Beg, or Tahmāsp Qoli Khān; November, 1688 or August 6, 1698 – June 19, 1747) rules as Shah of Iran (1736–47) and is the founder of the Afsharid dynasty.

Because of his military genius, some historians have described him as the Napoleon of Persia or the Second Alexander.

Nader Shah is a member of the Turkic Afshar tribe of northern Persia, which has supplied military power to the Safavid state since the time of Shah Ismail I. Nader rises to power during a period of anarchy in Iran after a rebellion by the Hotaki Afghans had overthrown the weak Persian Shah Sultan Husayn, and both the Ottomans and the Russians had seized Persian territory for themselves.

Nader reunites the Persian realm and removes the invaders.

He becomes so powerful that he decides to depose the last members of the Safavid dynasty, which has ruled Iran for over 200 years, and becomes shah himself in 1736.

His numerous campaigns throughout the Naderian Wars create a great empire that encompasses what is now part of or including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, India, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Oman and the Persian Gulf but his military spending has a ruinous effect on the Persian economy.

Nader idolizes Genghis Khan and Timur, the previous conquerors from Central Asia.

He imitates their military prowess and—especially later in his reign—their cruelty.

His victories briefly make him the Middle East's most powerful sovereign, but his empire quickly disintegrates after he is assassinated in 1747.

Nader Shah is credited for restoring Iranian power as an eminence between the Ottomans and the Mughals.