Loading

History of Iran

Home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations.. 6 eras, 550 BCE to today.

Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE Draft, not yet reviewed

The Achaemenid Empire was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. At its peak, its territorial extent was roughly 5.5 million square kilometres, making it the largest empire of its time. In 330 BC, amidst a Macedonian military campaign that began in 336 BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered in its entirety by Alexander the Great, who annexed it to his Macedonian Empire.

Seat of power: Babylon

Rulers

Sasanian Empire, 224 CE–651 CE Draft, not yet reviewed

The Sasanian Empire was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651 AD. After defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia at the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, it began competing far more zealously with the neighboring Roman Empire than the Arsacids had, thus sparking a new phase of the Roman-Iranian Wars. They maintained Ctesiphon as the capital city for all but the first two years of their empire's existence, when Istakhr briefly served in this capacity. Following the rise of Islam in Arabia, and a devastating war with the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire, the Sasanian Empire fell to the early Muslim conquests.

Seat of power: Istakhr

Rulers

Safavid Iran, 1501–1736 Draft, not yet reviewed

Safavid Iran was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled by the Safavid dynasty from 1501 to 1736, albeit others place the end on the year 1722, when Isfahan fell to the Afghans. Shah Ismail I established Twelver Shi'ism as the official religion of the empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. At their height, they controlled all of what is now Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, eastern Georgia, parts of the North Caucasus including Russia, and Iraq, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Seat of power: Isfahan

Rulers

Qajar Iran, 1789–1925 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly known as Qajar Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Qajar dynasty, which lasted from 1789 to 1925. It was founded by Agha Mohammad Khan, a chieftain of the Qajar tribe, a Turkic tribe based in northern Iran. In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty lost much of its conquered territory to the Russian Empire in the first decades of the 19th century, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia, Russia (Dagestan), Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In the early 20th century, the Persian Constitutional Revolution created an elected parliament or Majles, and sought the establishment of a constitutional monarchy, deposing Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar for Ahmad Shah Qajar.

Seat of power: Tehran

Rulers

Pahlavi Iran, 1925–1979 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Imperial State of Iran, commonly referred to as Pahlavi Iran, was the Iranian state under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty. On 12 December 1925, Iran's Majles, convened as a constituent assembly, deposed the Qajar dynasty and proclaimed Reza Khan, then serving as prime minister, shah, thereby establishing the Pahlavi dynasty. Although Iran declared neutrality during World War II, it was invaded and occupied by British and Soviet forces in 1941, forcing Reza Shah to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It existed from the establishment of the dynasty in 1925 until its overthrow during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, which ended Iran's over 2,500-year-old monarchy.

Seat of power: Tehran

Rulers

Iran, 1979 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

The Iranian Revolution in 1979 overthrew the monarchy, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was established by Ruhollah Khomeini, the country's first supreme leader. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, sparking the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War. Iran's government is a theocratic Islamic republic governed by elected and unelected institutions, with ultimate authority vested in the supreme leader.

Seat of power: Tehran

Rulers

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.