TEHRAN – The 18th-century Qasr-e Khorshid (“the Sun Palace”) was once a residence for Nader Shah of Persia (1688–1747).

Commonly known as “Napoleon of Iran,”, Nader created a mighty empire stretching from northern India to the Caucasus Mountains.

The 20-meter-high monument, which is known as Kalat-e Naderi, currently serves as a museum of anthropology and a unique travel destination in the Kalat county of Khorasan Razavi province, northeast Iran.

The building includes a picturesque exterior with a circular fluted shape, a sizable ground floor level, a cellar, and a cylindrical tower that is supported by 66 columns.

The palace has 12 rooms ornamented with paintings and decorative pieces like plaster moldings. Eight pools with connecting streams and fountains are located in the surrounding garden.

Narratives say the monument is named after Khorshid, who was one of Nader’s wives. However, it was never completed due to an ambiguous state of affairs that poured in following Nader Shah’s sudden death.

The exterior panels feature pineapple and pear motifs, which are thought to be uncommon in the then-Khorasan region, leading some to speculate that foreign artisans were hired to build it.

Records indicate that the structure served as a residential headquarters in the early Qajar era (I785 to 1925) as well.

Nader Shah is widely considered one of the most powerful rulers in the history of the nation. He assumed power when a period of chaos overwhelmed Iran.

Nader managed to reunite the Persian realm while repelling invaders. He is sometimes referred to as the Napoleon of Persia (Iran) or the Second Alexander, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Born Nader Qoli Beg, Nader had an obscure beginning in the Turkish Afshar tribe, which was loyal to the Safavid shahs of Iran. After serving under a local chieftain, Nader formed and led a band of robbers, showing marked powers of leadership. In 1726, as head of this group of bandits, he led 5,000 followers in support of the Safavid shah Ṭahmasp II, who was seeking to regain the throne his father had lost four years earlier to the Ghilzay Afghan usurper Mahmad.

Nader reformed Iran’s military forces and utterly defeated the Ghilzay Afghans in a series of brilliant victories, after which he restored Tahmasp to the Iranian throne.

In 1736, Nader deposed the youthful ʿAbbas III (as Tahmasp II’s son was styled) and ascended the Iranian throne himself, taking the title of Nader Shah.

Although brilliantly successful as a soldier and general, Nader Shah had little talent for statesmanship or administration, and Iran became utterly exhausted during the later years of his reign. Tens of thousands of people perished in his ceaseless military campaigns, and the exactions of his tax-gatherers ruined the country’s economy.

AFM