Reza Qoli Mirza Afshar (Persian: رضا قلی میرزا افشار; 1719–1747) was the eldest son of Nader Shah, King of Afsharid Iran.

Reza Qoli ensured peace through harsh measures when collecting taxes and executed people for petty crimes.

[1] His mother was the daughter of Baba Ali Beg Kuse Ahmadlu, the governor of Abiward and an important tribal leader among the Afshars of Khorasan, a large region on the east of Iran.

[4] Reza's mother died five years after his birth, Nader married her younger sister, Gowhar Shad, with whom he had two sons.

[6] Amid the power vacuum left by Safavid's collapse, Nader conquered Mashhad, south of Abiward, and relocated his court, including Reza Qoli, to there in 1726.

[8] When Reza Qoli was twelve years old, the Abdali Afghans revolted and besieged Mashhad while Nader was in Anatolia, campaigning against the Ottomans.

[13] However, Nader's prestige and renown allowed him to bid for the throne, so he summoned the great leaders across the realm to gather in Mughan Plain and give consent for his ascension.

[15] Nader thus put an end to the Safavid tradition of imprisoning the crown princes in the harem by giving Reza Qoli an army to command and a region to rule over.

[16] Furthermore, Nader bestowed upon Reza Qoli the duty of preservation and protection of the northern borders and the maintenance of Khorasan's security.

[1] In early 1737, Reza Qoli and Jalayer amassed an army to suppress the rebellion of Ali Mardan Khan Afshar, one of the fellow tribesman of Nader, who ruled the cities of Andkhoy and Balkh (both in modern-day Afghanistan).

[17] Reza Qoli quickly subjugated Chichaktu (today in Qaysar District), marched through Maymana and camped outside of Andkhoy.

[19] Reza Qoli continued his campaign by successfully seizing Sheberghan and Aqcha (in northern Afghanistan) and later besieging Balkh in July 1737.

[20] Pleased with the news of Reza Qoli's success, Nader Shah offered many valuable gifts to his son, among them were high-bred horses, three hundred robes of honour and gold.

[18] Afterwards, Reza Qoli, supported wholeheartedly by Jalayer, crossed the Amu Darya and advanced into the lands of the Khanate of Bukhara, ignoring Nader's direct orders barring them from it.

Initially, Abu al-Fayz pushed Reza Qoli back, but through the use of their artillery, the Afshar army obliterated his cavalry.

Reza Qoli and Jalayer returned southwards but did not end their campaign, instead they marched into Kunduz and the mountainous Badakhshan in the east.

[24] Nader reviewed his son's troops, provided them with new armours and Arab horses and appointed Reza Qoli as the Regent of Iran while he was absent, campaigning in India.

[26] Reza Qoli dedicated the first three months of his rule in Mashhad to forming a special corps of 12000 jazayerchi (musketeer) soldiers.

[30] To remedy this problem, in 1739, Reza Qoli granted a trading charter to the representatives of the Muscovy Company, Captain John Elton and Mungo Graeme.

[1] While Reza Qoli must have been more well-informed than the general populace about the whereabouts of his father, a breakdown in communication in spring 1739 may have left Nader's position in ambiguity.

[33] Around these times, Reza Qoli was visited by Mohammad Hossein Khan Qajar, the custodian of Tahmasp II and Abbas III, who reported of a probable pro-Safavid rebellion fueled by the rumours of Nader's death.

[36] When the people of Sabzavar heard the news, they began an uprising against Mohammad Hossein and Reza Qoli, likening the death of Tahmasp and his son to the Battle of Karbala and the culprits to Shimr and Yazid I (r. 680–683).

The news of his victory reached Reza Qoli's court in June 1739, who reportedly, had become crestfallen for the deaths of Tahmasp and Abbas.

[39] Reza Qoli held a banquet in honour of his father's victory, during which, his wife, Fatemeh Begum, who was a sister of Tahmasp, learnt of his family's death from her old wet nurse.

[52] In Summer 1742, Nader's agents brought him a man called Nik Ghadam, who had admitted that he was the assassin and that Reza Qoli Mirza was his employer.

[59] In order to secure his inheritance, Adel Shah sought the death of Nader's sons and grandsons, including Reza Qoli Mirza, his brothers and their offspring.

[60] Both contemporary and modern historians agree that Reza Qoli's blinding was the catalyst to Nader Shah's decline in rulership and character.

[63] Contemporary historians all regard Reza Qoli's character and abilities with positivity, therefore, per speculation, he could have become a worthy ruler for his people, combining his father's military with his own knowledge of commerce and finance to build a more constructive administration.