Nadir Shah Afshar in the Ahmadi Shrine (Shah Chiragh)

Nadir Quli Bayg Afshar allied himself with the second Safavid Shah Tahmasb (the son of Shah Sultan Husain) in 1139 (A.H.) and liberated Khurasan in his name from the occupation of King Mahmud Sistani. He took the reign of Shah Tahmasb's government since. Observing Nadir's political and military ever-increasing progresses, Ashraf Afghan who succeeded Mahmud Afghan after being murdered in 1137 A.H. decided to seize the opportunity of the engagement of Nadir in conquering Harat and campaigned to Khurasan. However, after sustaining heavy defeats from Nadir's her army retreated away to Shiraz and Nadir finally scattered them in totality in the vicinity of Zarqan. Thus, in 1142 A.H. Nadir entered Shiraz proudly and by his command the trusteeship of Shah Chiragh was given to the former trustee again. He also assigned a great sum for the development of Shah Chiragh and dedicated a precious gift to that holy shrine. Once again, in campaigning to Shiraz in 1146 (A.H.) to suppress his revolting commander: Muhammad Khan Baluch, he went on pilgrimage to Shah Chiragh and paid a sum of money for repairing that Shrine. Given that Nadir is supposed to be a Sunni Muslim, this paper tends to answer the question weather his actions in supporting Shiism and developing their holy shrines were arisen out of a kind of political policy or that he really believed in Shiite Imams and their pious and noble children or not?