The Battle of Samarra was the only defeat Nader-not-yet-Shah ever suffered in his entire career. Following Tahmasp II's disastrous offensive into the Caucasus in 1731, Nader sought to force the Ottomans to hand back the territories lost in that campaign by capturing Baghdad. Unfortunately for him, the Persian army's artillery, made up mostly of zamburaks, was unable to destroy the city's defenses, forcing him to try to starve its defenders into surrendering.
This gave the Ottomans enough time to assemble a relief force of 80.000 men, which defeated their opponents thanks to two major factors, the first being superior positioning - they camped next to the Tigris, giving them an easy source of water while the Persians became increasingly thirsty in the sweltering Mesopotamian summer. The second factor was the timely arrival of reinforcements the night before the battle, which allowed them to strengthen their left flank. The battle still lasted for hours, however, and the victors' casualties numbered in the tens of thousands.
So what if Nader manages to put his army close to a good source of water (alleviating his army's thirst), or the Ottoman reinforcements don't reach the battlefield in time? Baghdad will almost certainly fall in this scenario, so what happens next? Will he trade it for the eastern Caucasus, or get greedy and try to take it all - which is certainly possible, given his later victories?
Would he still invade the Mughal Empire, or focus more on attacking Syria and eastern Anatolia ITTL? Could Persia retain Mesopotamia indefinitely, assuming it doesn't fall apart as badly as it IOTL did when Nader dies?
This gave the Ottomans enough time to assemble a relief force of 80.000 men, which defeated their opponents thanks to two major factors, the first being superior positioning - they camped next to the Tigris, giving them an easy source of water while the Persians became increasingly thirsty in the sweltering Mesopotamian summer. The second factor was the timely arrival of reinforcements the night before the battle, which allowed them to strengthen their left flank. The battle still lasted for hours, however, and the victors' casualties numbered in the tens of thousands.
So what if Nader manages to put his army close to a good source of water (alleviating his army's thirst), or the Ottoman reinforcements don't reach the battlefield in time? Baghdad will almost certainly fall in this scenario, so what happens next? Will he trade it for the eastern Caucasus, or get greedy and try to take it all - which is certainly possible, given his later victories?
Would he still invade the Mughal Empire, or focus more on attacking Syria and eastern Anatolia ITTL? Could Persia retain Mesopotamia indefinitely, assuming it doesn't fall apart as badly as it IOTL did when Nader dies?