57 
1887.] E. E. Oliver —The Safwi Dynasty of Persia. 
killed and seeing his head fixed on a lance, the Turks fled. Tiflis, 
Ganja, Kars, and Irwan, all submitted to Nadir, and the Ottoman 
Court was glad to conclude a peace on the lines whilom proposed by the 
Ba gh dad Pasha. 
Nadir Shah. 1149—1160 H. 
On the eve of this victory was brought news of the death of the 
baby king, and now Nadir thought the time had come for the actual 
assumption of the crown. On the great festival of Nauroz, on the plains 
of Chowal Mugam, near Ardibil, he assembled the principal nobles and 
officers to choose a king. “ Choose,” said he, “ one of the princes of 
the blood, or some other you know to be great and victorious. It is 
enough for me that I have restored the glory of the throne and have 
delivered my country from Af gh ans. Turks and Russians.” But the 
unanimous request, repeated every day for a month, was that Nadir 
would accept the crown himself. At last he consented, on the condi¬ 
tions that the Shi’ah belief should be set aside, and the authority of the 
first four Khalffahs be once more acknowledged. “ Since the schism of 
Shi’ah has prevailed, this country has been in continual distraction, let 
us all become Sunnis and it will cease. But as every national religion 
should have a head, let the holy Imam Ja’far be the head of ours.” The 
assembly finally consented to the change and a royal mandate issued to 
proclaim it. The ceremony of the coronation took place in a splendid 
hall; Nadir seated on a throne covered with jewels had the crown 
placed on his head, at, says the chronicler, 20 minutes past eight on the 
morning of the 26th February 1736 (1149 H.). # Coins were immediate¬ 
ly struck in his name, bearing the inscription: 
“ Sikka bar zar kard nam-i-saltanat ra dar jahan 
Nadir-i-Iran zamin o Khusraw-i-giti sitan,” 
i. e., “ the impression stamped on this coin proclaims throughout the 
world the sovereignty of Nadir of the land of Persia, the hero who 
subdued the earth. ”f The chronogram on the reverse, “ A1 Khairu 
fi ma waqa’ ”, forms the date of his accession, 1149 H., # and reads : “ That 
'* [This should be 1148 H. The chronogram on the reverse of these coins forms 
the date 1148, which date is also given in figures. The obverse has the date 1149 
in figures. The latter year commenced only on the 1st May 1736. The discrepancy 
in the dates is explained by Marsden (Numismata Orientalia, p. 473) by the supposi¬ 
tion that the date on the obverse is that of the actual issue of the coin, while the 
date on the reverse is that of the accession. The date has been corrected in the list 
of coins, No. XXXV, Ed.] 
t [The couplet rather means : “ Nadir (or the Wonder) of the land of Persia 
and the hero that subdued the earth has stamped the impression upon this coin for 
the sake of the fame of his sovereignty throughout the world.” Ed.] 
