might of Safavi kingship remained a potent image. This was proven
dramatically by the fate of Shah Tahmasb II. By the 1730s, Tahmasb's
armies, led by the future Nader Shah, had reconquered most of Iran
including the northwestern territory up to the Aras River. Further
operations beyond that line were interpreted by renewed difficulties
with the Afghans. Therefore, Shah Tahmasb tried to complete the
conquest of the northwest while his general campaigned in the north-
east. However, Tahmasb was defeated resoundingly and had to cede
the territory Nader had conquered. This defeat gave Nader a chance
to rally opposition to the shah by denouncing the territorial loss as
"contrary to the will of Heaven."
6
Nader then deposed Tahmasb and
eventually claimed the throne for himself. After the breakup of Nader's
empire, many contenders for power used a puppet Safavi to provide
symbolic legitimacy.^7
The Qajars were in a particularly good position to appropriate Sa-
favi prestige since they had been members of the Qizilbash confeder-
ation. Therefore, the main ideological justification for the new dy-
nasty's pretentions was that the Qajars, as loyal defenders of the Sa-
favis, had reunited the provinces that had once comprised the fallen
empire and had simultaneously restored the power of Shii Islam
(which Nader Shah, as a Sunni, had opposed). Therefore, the struggle
for control of the northwestern marches was a pillar of the ideologi-
cal justification for Qajar rule. Aqa Mohammad's demand that Erekle
submit addressed the issue clearly:
The late Shah Ismail Safavi, may his grave be fragrant, in the period of conquer-
ing the kingdoms of Iran had sovereignty over Georgia. ... By the grace of God,
we have solidified our claim to the throne. That realm [Georgia] ought to be an
appendage of the kingdom of Iran once more, in accordance with ancient law.^8
Aqa Mohammad did not claim the title of shah until after his 1795
Caucasian campaign, which, from his point of view, secured the sub-
mission of Georgia and other neighboring principalities. He was
crowned shah in March of the following year. At that time, he put on
the sacred sword from the shrine of Sheikh Safi od-Din, the ancestor
of the Safavi shahs. He then proclaimed his intention to subdue all of
Khorasan next and campaigned there later in the year. The city of
Herat, then under Afghan control, was one of his main objectives.
Keeping to his theme of restoring the empire to its Safavi dimensions,
he claimed the city on the grounds that it had been part of Safavi
Iran.^9 (As matters developed, he never reached Herat. The Russian
operations in the Caucasus forced him to cut short the Khorasan
campaign.)
Origins of the First Russo-lranian War 93