Treaty of Kerden explained

Treaty of Kerden (Turkish: Kerden Antlaşması, Persian:عهدنامه گردان) was signed between Ottoman Empire and Afsharid Iran on 4 September 1746. It concluded the Ottoman-Persian War of 1743-1746.

Background

During the last years of the Safavid dynasty in Iran, Ottomans were able to annex most of Caucasus and west Iran, due to hereditary strife, civil unrest and total chaos. Meanwhile, Afghans were able to annex a part of Khorasan. The shah had to appoint Nadir, an Iranian Afshar Turkoman^[1] warlord, as his commander in chief. Under Nadir’s brilliant commandship, Iran was able to regain most of her losses. After the victories, it was an easy matter for Nadir to seize the throne. In 1736, Nadir Shah founded the Afsharid dynasty,^[2] which lasted until 1796. Nadir Shah was planning to found another great Persian empire, stretching from the Indus to the Bosphorus, like in ancient times. After reconquering former territories of Iran, he further tried to annex the eastern territories of the Ottoman Empire (eastern Anatolia and Iraq). He also proposed to reconcile the two major sects of Islam. (The Ottoman dynasty was of Sunni faith and most Iranians were of Twelver Shia faith.) He planned to force the Ottoman Empire, the most powerful Sunni state, to accept Twelver Shia Islam as a fifth legal school of jurisprudence of Sunni Islam.^[3]

The terms of the treaty

The treaty was signed in Kerden (a location^[4] near Qazwin, Iran). The representatives were Hasan Ali Haji (Afsharid side) and Mustafa Nazif (Ottoman side).^[5]

1. The boundary line between the two countries was the same boundary line drawn roughly a century earlier according to the Treaty of Zuhab of 1639 (i.e., which included roughly the demarcation of the modern Turkey-Iran and Iraq-Iran border lines).
2. The Ottomans agreed to stop opposing the Afsharid dynasty as the rulers of Iran.^[6]
3. The Ottomans also agreed to allow the Iranian hajis (pilgrims) to Mecca (then under Ottoman control).
4. Exchange of consulates (Turkish: şehbender) were permitted in both countries.
5. Iran abandoned to force the Ottomans to convert to Shia Islam.
6. Both sides agreed to liberate the prisoners of war.

References and notes

1. http://www.history.co.uk/encyclopedia/ndir-shh.html Encyclopædia Britannica
2. [Afshar tribe|Afshar]
3. Nicolae Jorga: Geschiste des Osmanichen vol IV, (trans: Nilüfer Epçeli) Yeditepe Yayınları, 2009,, p. 371
4. The military camp of Shah Nadir
5. Prof. Yaşar Yüce-Prof. Ali Sevim: Türkiye tarihi Cilt IV, AKDTYKTTK Yayınları, İstanbul, 1991 p 26
6. During the war Ottomans were backing Safavid prince Safi Mirza as the legal shah of Iran.

Sources

• Book: Fisher . etal . 7 . The Cambridge History of Iran: From Nadir Shah to the Islamic Republic. 1991. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0521200950. 309. Both sides now saw that neither could win a decisive victory, and that continuation of the war would only drain their strength. Nadir Shah hoped to use his victory at Baghavard to secure a favourable settlement, finally abandoning his claims on behalf of the Ja'fari sect, and instead concentrating on the demand that all of Iraq, including Baghdad, Basra and the Shi'i holy places of Najaf and Karbala, be turned over to him along with the Kurdish area of Van. A series of letters and exchanges of ambassadors followed, and eventually an agreement was hammered out on 4 September 1746, by which the Qasr-i-Shirin treaty boundaries were restored without change, with provisions made for the exchange of prisoners, as well as the exchange of ambassadors once every three years. Nadir Shah thereby abandoned all his former demands and the Ottomans accepted peace in accordance with the earlier agreements..