Expansive Realm of Khorașan

	Expansive Realm of Khorașan; Xoraşan Geniş Sahəsi; مُلك ڤَسِ' َل-فَزَ-يِ كهُرَسهَن
; Flag	; Emblem
	Motto; "Dövlət-i Ebed-müddet"
	National Anthem; "Səlam-e Şāh"
Languages	English
Religion	Secular
Government	Theocratic Absolute; monarchy
• Şāhanşāh	Ali Haydar Khan
• Grand Vizier	=
Formation
• As Pavlov	8 July 2012
• Current form	1 August 2017
Population	18
HDI	▲ 0.933 (2017); very high

Khorașan, officially the Expansive Realm of Khorașan (Azerbaijani: Xoraşan Geniş Sahəsi), is one of two constituent countries of Nedlando-Khorașan, having multiple international territorial claims within its jurisdiction. Its capital is Diyar-i Hussain.

Initially established on 1 August 2017, Khorașan regards itself and bases its claim to its monarchy on being the successor state of Afsharid Iran. This is an aspect of the country that can be seen throughout its political structure and culture, with it incorporating many elements of the former state within its own government. Khorașan has also been described as spiritual successor of the Empire of Pavlov.^[1]

Etymology

See also: Greater Khorasan

The name "Khorāsān" is derived from Middle Persian Khwarāsān, a compound of khwar (meaning "sun") and āsān (from āyān, literally meaning "to come" or "coming" or "about to come"). Thus the name Khorasan (or Khorāyān خورآيان) means "land where the sun rises"^[2] or "east".^[3] The Persian word Khāvar-zamīn (خاور زمین), meaning "the eastern land", has also been used as an equivalent term.^[4]

The Iranian village of Khorāshān, although more commonly known as Kharashah, shares its name with Khorașan.

History

Foundation of the Afsharid dynasty

Nader Shah was born (as Nadr Qoli) into a humble semi-nomadic family from the Afshar tribe of Khorasan, where he became a local warlord.^[5] His path to power began when the Ghilzai Mir Mahmud Hotaki overthrew the weakened and disintegrated Safavid shah Sultan Husayn in 1722. At the same time, Ottoman and Russian forces seized Iranian land. Russia took swaths of Iran's Caucasian territories in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia, as well as mainland northern Iran by the Russo-Persian War (1722-1723), while the neighbouring Ottomans invaded from the west. By the 1724 Constantinople Treaty, they agreed to divide the conquered areas between themselves.^[6] On the other side of the theatre, Nader joined forces with Sultan Husayn's son Tahmasp II and led the resistance against the Ghilzai Afghans, driving their leader Ashraf Khan easily out of the capital in 1729 and establishing Tahmasp on the throne. Nader fought to regain the lands lost to the Ottomans and Russians and to restore Iranian hegemony in Iran. While he was away in the east fighting the Ghilzais, Tahmasp allowed the Ottomans to retake territory in the west. Nader, disgusted, had Tahmasp deposed in favour of his baby son Abbas III in 1732. Four years later, after he had recaptured most of the lost Persian lands, Nader was confident enough to have himself proclaimed shah in his own right at a ceremony on the Moghan Plain.^[7]

He subsequently made the Russians cede the taken territories taken in 1722–23 through the Treaty of Resht of 1732 and the Treaty of Ganja of 1735.^[8] Back in control of the integral northern territories, and with a new Russo-Iranian alliance against the common Ottoman enemy,^[9] he continued the Ottoman–Persian War (1730–35), which ended with the Ottoman armies being expelled from western Iran and the rest of the Caucasus, and resulted in the Treaty of Constantinople (1736) which amongst the terms of the treaty, forced the Ottomans to confirm Iranian suzerainty over the Caucasus and recognised Nader as the new Iranian shah (king).

State organization and politics

Khorașan is governed as a theocratic hereditary absolute monarchy, ruled by the Şāhanşāh. However, the Şāhanşāh must comply with the Basic Law, a short charter that serves as a constitution, and Sharia law.

Executive and judicial power is directly vested within the Şāhanşāh. Legislative powers is de jure directly vested within the Şāhanşāh, who has the power to issue imperial decrees that supersede bye-law. However, as established within the Basic Law, legislative power is jointly vested within the Şāhanşāh and the Qoroltay. The Qoroltay is a unicameral legislative body composed of the Valis of each vəlāyat, excluding the Qara Vəlāyat which is under the direct rule of the Şāhanşāh, whom are appointed by the Şāhanşāh. The head of the Qoroltay and de facto head of government, known officially as Vazīr-e Azam but also informally referred to as the Prime Minister by foreigners, is nominated by their fellow Valis and formally appointed following the approval of the Şāhanşāh. The current Vazīr-e Azam is Hasan Çakar, the Vali of Hasanistan. Although the Şāhanşāh possesses the power to issue imperial decrees without consulting the Qoroltay, laws passed by the Qoroltay form the basis of the country's legislation.

While the Basic Law does grant some level of decentralization to the vəlāyats, the majority of decisions are made at a national level and Khorașan is effectively a unitary state.

Millet system

The millet system of Khorașan is a government policy that establishes separate court of laws pertaining to "personal law" for religious groups recognized in the Quran, allowing for recognized religious groups to manage their personal matters within accordance to their own religious laws and principles. As there are neither any Jews or Sabians within Khorașan, only the Christian and Muslim millets exist. The Christian millet, known officially as the Rûm millet meaning Roman nation, is led by the Vali of Nazir.