Quick Facts
Biography
Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi (Persian: میرزا مهدی خان استرآبادی), also known as Etemad-ed-Dowleh (اعتماد الدوله) and Monshi-ol-Mamalek (منشی الممالک) (born and died in the 18th century) was the chief secretary, historian, biographer, advisor, strategist, friend and confidant of King Nadir Shah Afshar, it was he who wrote and accepted the different decisions and files related to the Empire.
Biography
Mirza Mehdi Khan, son of Mohammad Nassir, spent his young life in Isfahan where he frequented the Royal Court during the Safavid period. During the reign of the last Safavid King, the Afghans attacked Iran. When military chief Nader Shah expelled the Afghans, Mirza Mehdi Khan supported him in the Safavid court.
Mirza Mehdi was named private secretary, historian, and strategist of the imperial court at the time Nader Shah became emperor of Persia (Iran) and became Nader Shah Afshar (1736-1747).
During Nader's Dagestan campaign, he accompanied him. About Nader's disembarking he noted "The banners that conquered the world are leaving Iran and heading to Dagestan".
In 1747, Mirza was sent as an ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. However, when he learned about the death of Nader Shah, he was forced to go back to Iran.
Work
He was the author of historical books such as Tarikh-e-Jahangoshay-e-Naderi (History of Nadir Shah's Wars), which is a book studied in the Yale University and has this presentation : « Tarikh-i Nadiri. A history of Nadir shah Afshar, who ruled Iran from 1736 to 1747, written in Persian by Mahdi Khan Astarabadi (d. 1759), his secretary and court historian ». This book was also the object of research in 1996 by United States Naval Academy. Mirza Mehdi Khan also wrote "Dareh Nadareh" and "A Persian Guide to the Turkish Language" in 1759 with an introduction of Sir Gerard Clauson.
In 1768, King Christian VII of Denmark visited England. He took with him the book of Nader Shah, written by Mirza Mehdi Khan and asked Sir William Jones (1746-1794), orientalist and specialist in the history of old India, to translate it into French. This, in turn, led to the publication of the book, "Histoire de Nader Chah", in 1770.