Read about Iranian History...

The Great Persian Empire (IRAN)

- PERSIAN VERSION

- IRAN BEFORE IRANIANS
- THE ARIANS
- THE MEDES
- THE ACHAEMENIANS
- CYRUS THE GREAT
- THE GREEKS
- THE PARTHIAN EMPIRE
- THE SASSANIANS
- ARAB CONQUEST
- THE ABBASSID CALIPHATES
- THE SAMANIDS
- THE TURKISH DYNASTIES
- MONGOL INVASIONS
- THE SAFAVIDS
- AFSHAR DYNASTY
- ZAND DYNASTY
- QAJAR DYNASTY
- PAHLAVI DYNASTY
- ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

PERSIA:

"The earliest evidence of humans in what is now Iran dates back about 100,000 years, when small hunter-gatherer groups formed a sparse population. From about 38,000 to about 12,000 years ago, there were various flint-working cultures in the area. By about 6000 BC, agricultural villages were located over much of the Iranian Plateau. However, most of the area did not progress into literate urban cultures, such as those of the Indus Valley or Mesopotamia. The exception was Elam, which-from about 2700 BC-had a federal government with checks and balances and a complicated system by which official power was inherited. The system lasted for more than 1,500 years before Elam was conquered by Babylon."
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The people inhabiting the region between Mesopotamia and the Indus are a proud and dynamic folk with a strong sense of their common heritage, even given that they derive from diverse sources. An Indo-European people (their name for themselves, "Irani", is simply the local pronunciation of "Aryan"), they have been a major civilization for very long time, and they have had a strong influence on the world at large, given their position as a vital link between East and West.

MEDES

Median names are followed by their Greek transcriptions, as those are generally better recognized.

SCYTHIAN

 
MEDES

ACHAEMENID

As with the Medes, I give the much more widely recognized Greek transcriptions of these names in parentheses, where I have them available.

MACEDON

SELEUCID

PARTHIA

SASSANID

Ardashir I Shapur I Hormazd I Bahram I Bahram II Bahram III Narses Hormazd II Adarnarseh Shapur II Ardashir II Shapur III Bahram IV Yazdegerd I Khusrau the Usurper Bahram V the Wild Ass Yazdegerd II Hormazd III Firuz I Balash Kobad I Jamasp Kobad I (restored) Khusrau I the Just Hormazd IV Khusrau II the Victorious Bahram VI the Usurper Khusrau II the Victorious (restored) Kobad II Ardashir III Shahrbaraz the Usurper Khusrau III Juvansher Boran Gushnasbandeh Azarmidurht Hormazd V Khusrau IV Firuz II Khusrau V Yazdegerd III To the Caliphate [Arabs] .... To the Abbasid Caliphs [Arabs] ....

227-241 241-272 272-273 273-276 276-293 293 293-303 303-310 310 310-379 379-383 383-388 388-399 399-420 420 420-438 438-457 457 457-484 484-488 488-497 d. 531 497-499 499-531 531-579 579-590 590 590-591 591-628 628 628-630 630 630 630 630-631 631 631 631-632 632 632 632-633 633-649 d. 651 649-755 755-867

SAFFARID

Yaqub the Coppersmith Amir I Tahir

867-879 879-901 901-902 d. 908

An era of disunity follows, as competing local dynasts established spheres of influence from the 10th century onwards. From 900 to 999 the dominant power in the region was Bokhara, under the Samanids. From 1029 to 1194 the Seljuqs were supreme.

SELJUQ

Mahmud II Toghril Mas'ud Malik Shah III Mohammed II Sulaiman Shah Arslan Shah Toghril III

1118-1131 1131-1134 1134-1152 1152-1153 1153-1160 1160-1161 1161-1176 1176-1194

From 1194 to 1221 the great regional power was Khwarazm.

Most Iranian locals become Mongol vassals Most of Iran under direct Mongol rule

1221-1253 1253-1295

IL-KHANS (Mongol)

(Local Mongol authority under the Great Horde, followed by independent Khans.

Hulegu Khan Abaqa Teguder Arghun Gaikhatu Baidu Mahmud Ghazan Oljeitu Abu Sa'id Arpa Musa Mohammad Sati Beg (fem.) Jahan Timur Suleiman

1256-1265 1265-1282 1282-1284 1284-1291 1291-1295 1295 1295-1304 1304-1316 1316-1335 1335-1336 1336-1337 with... 1336-1338 1338-1339 1339-1340 with... 1339-1343

Another period of disunity, as remnants of the Hordes competed with local dynasts for authority. This era ends with the sweep of conquests by Timur Khan (known in Western Europe as Tamburlane).

TIMURID (Barlas Tribe)

Timur the Lame Djalal Ud-Din Miran Shah Khalil Sultan Ayyal Ailankar Shah Rukh Ulugh Beg

1380-1405 1405-1409 1409-1414 1414 1414-1415 1415-1447 1447-1449

A third period of fragmentation, as Timur's Empire loses cohesion and local rulers strive against each other.

QARA QOYUNLU

Jahan Shah

1458-1466

Yet a fourth era of fragmentation, followed by reunification under the Safavid Dynasty.

SAFAVID

Ismail I Tahmasp I Ismail II Mohammed Khodabanda Shah Abbas I Safi Abbas II Suleiman Shah Sultan Husein Tahmasp II Abbas II

1502-1524 1524-1576 1576-1578 1578-1581 1581-1629 1629-1642 1642-1667 1667-1694 1694-1722 1722-1732 1732-1736

AFSHARID

Nadir Shah Adil Shah Rukh Ibrahim

1736-1747 1747-1748 1748-1749 d. 1755 with... 1748-1749

ZAND

Mohammad Karim Khan Zand Abul Fath Ali Murad Sadiq Ali Murad (restored) Jafar Luftf Ali

1750-1779 1779 1779 d. 1785 1779-1782 1782-1785 1785-1789 1789-1794

QAJAR

Aga Mohammad Shah Baba Khan Fath Ali Shah Mohammed Shah Nasir Ed-Din Shah Muzaffar Ed-Din Shah Mohammed Ali Shah Ahmed Shah

1779-1797 1797 1797-1834 1834-1848 1848-1896 1896-1907 1907-1909 1909-1925 d. 1929

PAHLAVI

Reza Anglo-Soviet occupation Mohammed Reza Theocratic State

1925-1941 d. 1944 1941-1946 1941-1979 d. 1980 1979

ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei

1979-1989 1989- ?

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