Treaty of Kerden (, 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 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, 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.

The terms of the treaty

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

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