0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Besides
its religious significance, Mashhad has played an important political role as
well. It saw its greatest glory under Nadir Shah, ruler of Iran from 1736
to 1747 and also a great benefactor of the shrine of the Imam Reza, making the
city his capital. It remained the capital of the Afsharid dynasty until Agha
Mohammad Khan Qajar conquered the then larger region of Khorasan in
1796. In 1749 Ahmad Shah Durrani (The Duranni Pashtun Empire) took possession
of Herat, which was ruled by Nadir Shah's grandson, Shah Rukh. Herat fell to
Ahmad after almost a year of siege and bloody conflict, Afterwards Mashhad(in
present-day Iran) was taken by the The Durrani Empire as well.
In
1912, the sanctuary of the Imam Reza was bombed by the Russian forces, causing
widespread and persisting resentment in the Shiite Muslim world.
1935 Imam Reza shrine rebellion
In
1935 a backlash against the modernizing, anti-religious policies of Reza
Shah erupted in the Mashed shrine. Responding to a
