native name	برج آزادی
name	Azadi Tower
location	Tehran, Iran
coordinates
roof
completion date	1971
building type	Cultural
architect	Hossein Amanat }}

The Azadi Tower (, ''Borj-e Āzādi''; translated: Freedom Tower), previously known as the ''Shahyād Āryāmehr'' (; ), is the symbol of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and marks the entrance to the city.

Construction

The architect, Hossein Amanat, won a competition to design the monument, which combines elements of Sassanid and Islamic architecture. Amanat, a Baha'i, was driven from the country by the revolution against the Shah of Iran and the removal of religious pluralism.

Museum

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The entrance of the tower is directly underneath the main vault and leads into the Azadi Museum on the basement floor. The black walls, the pure, sober lines, and the proportions of the whole building create an intentionally austere atmosphere. Heavy doors open onto a kind of crypt where lighting is subdued. The shock is immediate. The lighting there seems to issue from the showcases placed here and there, each containing a unique object. Gold and enamel pieces, painted pottery, marble, the warm shades of the miniatures and of the varnished paintings glitter like stars among the black marble walls and in the semi-darkness of the concrete mesh which forms the ceiling of this cave of marvels. There are about fifty pieces selected from among the finest and most precious in Iran. They are in excellent condition and each represents a particular period in the country's history.

The place of honour is occupied by a copy of the Cyrus Cylinder (the original is in the British Museum). A translation of the cuneiform inscription on the cylinder is inscribed in golden letters on the wall of one of the galleries leading to the museum's audio-visual department; opposite, a similar plaque lists the Twelve Points of the White Revolution. Next to the Cyrus Cylinder, a magnificent gold plaque commemorates the presentation of the museum to the Shah by the Mayor of Tehran.

Among the earliest testimonies of Iran's history on display here are square flagstones, gold sheeting, and terra cotta tablets from Susa, covered with cuneiform characters of astonishingly rigorous geometry. Potteries, ceramics, varnished porcelains (such as the beautiful seventh-century blue and gold dish from Gorgan), an illuminated Koran, and a few exceptional miniatures highlight milestones in the country's annals up to the nineteenth century, which is itself represented by two magnificent painted panels from Empress Farah Pahlavi's collection.

Audio/Visual Theatre

The original show, devised in 1971, was replaced in 1975 by a new one which invited visitors to discover Iran's geographic and natural diversity along with its fundamental historical elements. The landscapes and works of art, the faces and achievements, calligraphied poems and technical undertakings, the life and hopes of a population were shown through its ancient miniatures as well as through the smiling studiousness of Iran's new generation of children. This creative "Sound and Light" performance, devised by a Czechoslovakian firm, required 12,000 metres of film, 20,000 colour slides, 20 movie projectors, and 120 slide projectors. Five computers operated the entire system.

Azadi Square

Azadi tower is situated in the middle of Tehran's famous Azadi Square (), or Freedom Square. Called Shahyad (; literally "Remembrance of the Shahs (Kings)") Square before the Iranian revolution, it was the site of many of the demonstrations leading to the Iranian Revolution on 12 December 1979.

Junctions

Video

Video detailing the history behind the construction of Azadi Tower

See also

List of city squares by size

Tower

Milad Tower

List of towers

Iranian architecture

References

Category:Towers in Iran Category:Buildings and structures in Tehran Category:Visitor attractions in Tehran Category:Iranian architecture Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1971

ar:برج آزادي bn:অজদী মিনার bg:Азади de:Freiheitsturm (Azadi) es:Torre Azadi fa:برج آزادی fr:Tour Azadi it:Torre Azadi he:מגדל אזאדי pt:Torre Azadi ru:Башня Азади sk:Bordž-e Ázádí fi:Azadin torni sv:Azaditornet zh:阿扎迪塔

Reza Fazeli (1935, Tehran - 2009, California), Iranian actor, film director and leading opposition figure.

After a period of one year in the Imperial Iranian Air Force he left the country in 1953. In the following years he was in the area of the Persian Gulf as well as in Lebanon and Egypt and finally passed eight years in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States of America. After years of education and work he returned to Persia. Reza Fazeli made a career as an actor and film director in Iranian cinema and in international productions.

After the Islamic Revolution he left Iran and founded "KVC", a company where he produced political documentaries against the new government in Iran.

From 2002 through 2005 he worked in AZADI TV ("Freedom TV"), a political broadcasting service based in the United States and working against the clerical government in Iran. Later, he continued his political activities in another Persian TV channel, Pars TV.

External links

Filmography:

Category:Iranian film actors Category:Iranian film directors Category:Iranian actors Category:People from Tehran Category:1935 births Category:2009 deaths

de:Reza Fazeli fa:رضا فاضلی

name	Zaman Shah Durrani
title	King of Afghanistan
reign	Durrani Empire: 1793 - 1800
full name	Zaman Shah Durrani
predecessor	Timur Shah Durrani
successor	Mahmud Shah Durrani
dynasty	Durrani dynasty
father	Timur Shah Durrani
birth date	1770
death date	1844

Zaman Shah Durrani ,(Pashto, Farsi, Urdu, Arabic: ) ,(c.1770 - 1844) was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1793 until 1800. He was the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son of Timur Shah Durrani. An ethnic Pashtun like the rest of his family and Durrani rulers, Zaman Shah became the third King of Afghanistan.

Early years

He seized the throne of the Durrani Empire on the death of his father, Timur Shah. He defeated his rivals, his brothers, with the help of Sardar Payenda Khan, chief of the Barakzais. He extracted an oath of allegiance from the final challenger, Mahmud, and in return relinquished the governorship of Herat. In so doing, he divided the power base between Herat and his own government in Kabul, a division which was to remain in place for a century. Kabul was the primary base of power, while Herat maintained a state of quasi-independence. Kandahar was fought over for the spoils.

During his reign he tried to combine his dispersed relatives together who were deported by his father Timur Shah. His uncle Saifullah Khan Durrani, his sons Mohammad Umar, Bashir Ahmad Khan and Shams Ur Rehman, his cousins Faizullah Khan and Abdullah Khan lived in Akora Khattak in present day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They were contacted to come back to Afghanistan but without success. Saifullah Khan died in 1779 and after that the family was led by Faizullah Khan but he disliked the bad habits of Abdullah Khan and Bashir Ahmad Khan and left Akora Khattak and went to Bannu without informing his relatives. Later on, after the death of his wife, Abdullah Khan Durrani migrated to Kohat in 1791 where he married a widow, Pashmina.

Zaman Shah tried his best to recombine his family members and relatives so as to gain power but many of them were living an unknown life. Some of them have even been forgotten their identity.

He attempted to repeat his father's success in India, but his attempts at expansion brought him into conflict with the British. The British induced the Shah of Persia to invade Durrani, thwarting his plans by forcing him to protect his own lands.

In his own lands things went well for Zaman, at least initially. He was able to force Mahmud from Herat and into a Persian exile. However, Mahmud established an alliance with Fateh Khan, with whose support he was able to strike back in 1800, and Zaman had to flee toward Peshawar. But he never made it; on the way, he was captured, blinded and imprisoned in Kabul, in the Bala Hissar. Little information about the rest of his life is available, but he was probably imprisoned for nearly 40 years, until his death, during which time Afghanistan continued to experience much political turmoil.

References

External links

The British Library - Chronology: from the emergence of the Afghan Kingdom to the Mission of Mountstuart Elphistone, 1747-1809

Encyclopedia Britannica - Zaman Shah (1793–1800)

Category:1770 births Category:1844 deaths Category:Emirs of Afghanistan Category:Durrani Empire Category:Pashtun people

de:Zaman Mirza Shah Durrani fr:Zaman Shâh ml:സമാൻ ഷാ ദുറാനി mr:झमनशाह दुराणी no:Zaman Shah Durrani ps:شاه زمان خان pl:Zaman Szah Durrani ru:Земан-шах Дуррани