Elsewhere in the Middle East, Nader Shah is considered something of a historical tyrant. But here he’s a local hero for briefly returning Khorasan to the centre of a vast Central Asian empire. Nader’s equestrian statue crowns his otherwise dour grey-granite mausoleum, built in 1956 to emulate the lines of a tent (Nader was reputedly born and died under canvas).

　　A small museum displays guns, a rhino-hide shield and a carpet portrait of Nader on horseback. 'Guarding' the monument is a Portuguese cannon made in the 1590s and seized 30 years later at Hormuz.