History of Iran
Iran , due to its geographical and strategic location which connects middle Asia to the east and west ,has been one of the most glamorous region in the world. Iran plateau is 800,000 years old and since pre historic era has been a land of Aryans.
Researchers believe that Aryans were people from Africa, central Asia, Caucasus and the Indian subcontinent who emigrated to this region.
Elamites capital and country’s first great city, Susa, was built on the Iranian plateau around 3200 B.C.
Medes 700-550 B.C
The Medes were an ethic group of Aryans who settled down in the west of plateau, Azerbaijan. This area was known as little media and the rest of Zagros area was called as Great media.
The capital of Medes was Hegmataneh which is currently known as Hamedan. The median empire was founded by Diocese the exact date is unknown but it assumed to be the first half of seventh century. And he governed about 32 years.
And later on, the Medes empire was abolished by the Cyrus the great in 550 B.C and the Median rule passed to the Achaemenid.
Persian Empire, Achaemenid 550-330 B.C
The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. The founder was the Cyrus the great around 550 B.C and this empire soon became the world’s first superpower stretching from peninsula in the west and Indus valley in the east, Mesopotamia, Egypt’s Nile.
Cyrus the great
Achaemenid Cyrus defeated the Lydian king Croesus.. He built strong buildings there that remained stand still until Alexander’s attack include Persepolis.
Seleucid period
After putting Persepolis on fire during the monarchy of Darius III, Alexander was able to protect the lands of the Persians for just only seven years. He died at the age of 31. This period of history is known as Seleucid period.
Parthians
In this period of Iran’s history, animal husbandry, agriculture and trade were very prosperous and slavery was growing. Their religion was the religion of Zoroastrianism. Other beliefs were also free. Their language was Middle Persian, which, due to a lot of contact with the Romans, language and civilization had been effected by the Romans.
Their script is Syriac Aramaic and some coins engraved in Greek. Some of their masterpiece are Anahita temple in Kangavar, the ruins of Kangavar temple, bas-relief motifs from Mehrdad and Guderz period in Biston.
The Sassanians 224-562 A.D
The Parthian dynasty was demolished by Ardeshir I Sassanid. He founded the Sassanid dynasty, which lasted until 652 AD. The Sasanian government was a national government based on Iranian religion and civilization.
The Sassanids are the persian imperial family , who were originally from Pars province ,governed this land from 224 to 651 AD. The Sassanid emperors, ruled over a large part of the western continent of Asia. The Sassanid capital was the city of Tisphon near today’s Baghdad ,Iraq.
HISTORY OF Iran AFTER ISLAM
After the establishing Islam in this land, which happened as a result of the victory of the Muslim Arabs over the Sasanians and the conquering of Iran by them
some fundamental changes occurred in the social,religious and Political system of Iran.
Taherian
The first reign after emergence of Islam was Taherian dynasty.
Language
Then the Safarian used foreign language instead of Arabic. From the Samanian dynasty the new Persian script had been mixed with Arabic alphabets in (818-999)A.D.
The Rulers of Al Boyeh 977-1055 A.D
Al Boyeh era is one of the most brilliant eras of Islamic civilization. Al-Buyeh was the first Iranian dynasty that succeeded in conquering Mesopotamia.
The Ghaznavids 977-1886 A.D
They presented themselves as Ghazis or Muslim warriors in the history of persia and invaded lands such as India.
The Seljuks 1038-1194 A.D
They established their government by the victory over the Ghaznavids with the help of great Iranian ministers and scholars, and brought the whole of Iran under their control.
but finally they were demolished by the Khwarezmshahs.
Khwarezmian Empire 1077-1231 A.D
It was another government in the history that begun with the invasion of Mongols .
The result of this invasion was the extinction of the Khwarezmian empire and the looting of cities and the massacre of Iranian people, which was accompanied by the destruction of Iran’s economy and agriculture.
Mongols 1228 A.D
They quickly occupied the territory of persia and annihilated the Islamic caliphate while marching to Baghdad and killing the Abbasid caliph.
Their leader was Genghis, who was a ruthless and bloodthirsty person who wanted to rob the people.
Timurids 1370-1506 A.D
After the Mongols, the Timurids invaded Iran and once again made the land of Iran a field of conquest and plunder.
Safavid 1732-1501 A.D
From the Safavid era, Shiism was introduced as the official religion of Iran for the first time in the history of Iran. The Shia religion with its political and social characteristics caused the unity and independence and preserved its national identity against the attacks and deadly blows of the Ottoman Empire, and once again throughout the history of Iran, it was able to rise as a great political and religious power.
During the reign of Shah Abbas, the Great, the city of Isfahan was chosen as the capital of persia and reached the peak of greatness and glory, so that many relics of that era have been remained today.
Afsharian 1734 A.D
Afshar defeated the Afghans and established the Afshar dynasty while dominating all of it. After the Afsharians, the Zandians (1750-1796 AD) relied on their power, and during their rule, Shiraz was chosen as the capital and became a magnificent and large city.
The Qajar dynasty 1779-1924 A.D
The founder of Qajar dynasty was Agha Mohammad Khan. He was officially crowned in 1174 in Tehran. And the last Qajar king is Ahmad Shah, who was deposed in 1304 and Reza Shah Pahlavi took his place.
It was from the periods of Iran’s history that the influence of colonial powers such as England and Russia developed here.
The Qajar dynasty is famous for its incompetence in the history of pesria, and during this period, Iran’s economy went into decline.
Pahlavi dynasty 1924-1979 A.D
Reza Khan came to power in 1924 and announced the establishment of the Pahlavi dynasty. During the Pahlavi period, Iran’s oil industry was nationalized under the leadership of Dr. Mohammad Mosadegh, and this issue became the basis for independence uprisings, which ultimately led to the Iranian Revolution in 1357 AH (1979 AD).
Islamic republic 1357-present
Iran’s 1357 revolution was a populist, nationalist and Shiite Islamic revolution that replaced a constitutional monarchy with a theocracy based on religious authority.
Persia has seen many transformations throughout history, but it is still a tourist destination for many people of the world.