Nadir Shah (1688 - 1747) was Shah of Persia and has sometimes been described as the "Persian Napoleon". He drove out the Afghans who were occupying Persia and took the throne in 1736. In 1738, he conquered Kandahar and Kabul. He continued on to India, defeating a great Mughal army, plundering Delhi starting on March 20, 1739, and massacring thousands of its people. He returned home with vast treasures, including the Peacock Throne, which thereafter served as a symbol of Iranian imperial might and the Koh-i-Noor diamond. He was assassinated in 1747.
