Nadir Shah Afshar's Goals of Establishing a Naval Fleet in the Caspian Sea and its Outcome

The Caspian Sea has always been the most important northern waterway of Iran during all historical periods. The Safavids played an important role in establishing the security and commercial prosperity of the Caspian Sea ports by restoring Iran's sovereignty over its borders and the existence of local governments subordinate to them in the north of Iran. With the fall of the Safavids and the dominance of the Afghans, a turbulent period was created, which brought commercial stagnation, especially maritime trade. After Nadir Shah Afshar (1735-1747 AD/ 1148-1160 AH) came to power, it became necessary to be directly present and seize the vital resources of the Caspian Sea, so Nadir, by providing facilities for the establishment of the navy, created a suitable ground for the resumption of activity. provided maritime trade. The central issue of this research, in addition to examining the policies and efforts of Nadir Shah in improving the state of trade, seafaring and shipbuilding, is his motivation and goals for establishing a naval fleet in the Caspian Sea and the reasons for the Russian government's suspicions regarding this matter. Is the main data of this research consists of historical texts and content analysis extracted from them, and in addition, archaeological evidence such as the sunken ship on the shores of Chamkhale, Langarud and its analysis using a historical approach have also been used. The findings of the research indicate that Nadir Shah intended to help commercial prosperity by forming a naval fleet in the Caspian Sea and, in