Geographically and culturally, Greater Iran is generally acknowledged to include the entire Iranian plateau and its bordering plains,^[1] extending from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus in the west, to the Indus River in the east, and from the Oxus River in the north to the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman in the south.

History of Greater Iran
until the rise of modern nation-states
Pre-modern
Pre-Islamic  BCE Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization 3200–2800 Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Bactria-Margiana Complex 2200–1700 Kingdom of Mannai 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 250-125 Parthian Empire 248–CE 224 CE Kushan Empire 30–275 Sassanid Empire 224–651 Hephthalite Empire 425–557 Kabul Shahi kingdom 565–879
Islamic  Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghurid dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuq Empire 1037–1194 Khwarazmian dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–353 Kartids dynasty 1231–389 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 Mughal Empire 1526–1857 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925

Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC)

Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD)

Sassanid Empire (224–651)

Safavid Empire (1501–1722)

This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Greater Iran (in Persian: ایرانِ بُزُرگ‎ Irān-e Bozorg, or ایران زَمین Irānzamīn "Iranian soil" or ایران شهر Irānshahr "The Land of Iran") refers to the regions of South, West, and Central Asia that have significant Iranian cultural influence and have historically been ruled by Iranian peoples.^[2][3][4] It roughly corresponds to the territory on the Iranian plateau and its bordering plains,^[1] stretching from Iraq, the Caucasus, and Turkey in the west, to the Indus River of Pakistan in the east. It is also referred to as Greater Persia,^[5][6][7] while the Encyclopædia Iranica uses the term Iranian Cultural Continent.^[8]

The term 'Iran' is not limited to the modern state, more or less equivalent to western Iran. Iran includes all the political boundaries ruled by the Iranian including Mesopotamia and usually Armenia and Transcaucasia.^[9][10] In a sense the concept of Greater Iran, starts from the history that originated with the first Persian Empire or the Achaemenid Empire in Persis (Fars), and in fact is synonymous with history of Iran in many aspects. Persia lost many of its territories gained under the Safavid dynasty, including Iraq to the Ottomans (via Treaty of Amasya in 1555 and Treaty of Zuhab in 1639), Afghanistan to the British (via Treaty of Paris in 1857^[11] and MacMahon Arbitration in 1905^[12]), and its Caucasus territories to Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries.^[13] The Treaty of Gulistan in 1813 resulted in Persia ceding Armenia, Azerbaijan, and eastern Georgia to Russia.^[14] The Turkmanchey Treaty of 1828, after the Russo-Persian wars permanently severed the Caucasian provinces from Iran and settled the modern boundary along the Aras River.^[15]

Due to this geographic diversity, newly independent nations under Russian or British involvement, while maintaining a cultural or language connection with Persia, developed their own unique socio-political and cultural paths. Some of these nations included Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Iraq, and Pakistan. In 1935 under the rule of Reza Shah, the endonym Iran was made the official international name.^[16] From a native Persian perspective, both Iran and Persia are interchangeable but until then the official name of Iran was Persia, but now both terms are interchangeably used even though Iran is the official political title.

Etymology[link]

The name “Irān“, meaning “land of the Aryans”,, is a new Persian of the old genitive plural aryānām (proto-Iranian, meaning "of the Aryans"), first attested in the Avesta as airyānąm (the text of which is composed in Avestan, an old Iranian language spoken in northeastern Greater Iran, or in what are now Turkmenistan and Tajikistan).^{[17][18][19][20]} The proto-Iranian term aryānām is present in the term Airyana Vaēǰah, the homeland of Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism, near the provinces of Sogdiana, Margiana, Bactria, etc., listed in the first chapter of the Vidēvdād, immediately after it.^[21][22] The Avestan evidence is confirmed by the Greek sources: Eratosthenes apud Strabo speaks of Arianē as being between Persia and the Indian subcontinent.^[18]

Although, up until the end of the Parthian period in the 3rd century C.E, idea of “Irān“ had an ethnic, linguistic, and religious value, it did not yet have a political import. The idea of an “Iranian“ empire or kingdom in a political sense is a purely Sasanian one. It was the result of a convergence of interests between the new dynasty and the Zoroastrian clergy, as we can deduce from the available evidence. This convergence gave rise to the idea of an Ērān-šahr “Kingdom of the Iranians,” which was “ēr“ (Middle Persian equivalent of Old Persian “ariya“ and Avestan “airya“).^[18]

Definition[link]

Richard Foltz notes that while "A general assumption is often made that the various Iranian peoples of 'greater Iran'—a cultural area that streched from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus into Khwarizm, Transoxiana, Bactria, and the Pamirs and included Persians, Medes, Parthians and Sogdians among others—were all 'Zoroastrians' in pre-Islamic times... This view, even though common among serious scholars, is almost certainly overstated." Foltz argues that "While the various Iranian peoples did indeed share a common pantheon and pool of religious myths and symbols, in actuality a variety of deities were worshipped—particularly Mitra, the god of covenants, and Anahita, the goddess of the waters, but also many others—depending on the time, place, and particular group concerned.".^[23] To the Ancient Greeks, Greater Iran ended at the Indus.^[24]

Richard Nelson Frye defines Greater Iran as including "much of the Caucasus, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, with cultural influences extending to China and western India." According to Frye, "Iran means all lands and peoples where Iranian languages were and are spoken, and where in the past, multi-faceted Iranian cultures existed."^[25]

According to J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams most of Western greater Iran spoke SW Iranian languages in the Achaemenid era while the Eastern territory spoke Eastern Iranian languages related to Avesta.^[26]

George Lane also states that after the dissolution of the Mongol empire, the Ilkhanids became rulers of greater Iran^[27] and Uljaytu, according to Judith G. Kolbas, was the ruler of this expanse between 1304-1317 A.D.^[28]

Primary sources, including Timurid historian Mir Khwand, define Iranshahr (Greater Iran) as extending from the Euphrates to the Oxus^[29]

Traditionally, and until recent times, ethnicity has never been a defining separating criterion in these regions. In the words of Richard Nelson Frye:

Only in modern times did western colonial intervention and ethnicity tend to become a dividing force between the provinces of Greater Iran. As Patrick Clawson states, "ethnic nationalism is largely a nineteenth century phenomenon, even if it is fashionable to retroactively extend it."^[30] "Greater Iran" however has been more of a cultural super-state, rather than a political one to begin with.

In the work Nuzhat al-Qolub (نزهه القلوب), the medieval geographer Hamdollah Mostowfi wrote:

چند شهر است اندر ایران مرتفع تر از همه
Some cities of Iran are better than the rest,
بهتر و سازنده تر از خوشی آب و هوا
these have pleasant and compromising weather,
گنجه پر گنج در اران صفاهان در عراق
The wealthy Ganjeh of Arran, and Esfahān in Iraq,
در خراسان مرو و طوس در روم باشد اقسرا
Merv and Tus in Khorasan, and Konya (Aqsara) too.

The Cambridge History of Iran takes a geographical approach in referring to the "historical and cultural" entity of "Greater Iran" as "areas of Iran, parts of Afghanistan, and Chinese and Soviet Central Asia".^[31] A detailed list of these territories follows in this article.

Background[link]

Greater Iran is called Iranzamin (ایرانزمین) which means "The Land of Iran". Iranzamin was in the mythical times opposed to the Turanzamin the Land of Turan, which was located in the upper part of Central Asia.^[32]

In the pre-Islamic period, Iranians distinguished two main regions in the territory they ruled, one Iran and the other Aniran. By Iran they meant all the regions inhabited by ancient Iranian peoples. That region was much vaster than it is today. This notion of Iran as a territory (opposed to Aniran) can be seen as the core of early Greater Iran. Later many changes occurred in the boundaries and areas where Iranians lived but the languages and culture remained the dominant medium in many parts of the Greater Iran.

As an example, the Persian language (referred to, in Persian, as Farsi) was the main literary language and the language of correspondence in Central Asia and Caucasus prior to the Russian occupation, Central Asia being the birthplace of modern Persian language. Furthermore, according to the British government, Persian language was also used in Iraqi Kurdistan, prior to the British Occupation and Mandate in 1918-1932 [3].

With Imperial Russia continuously advancing south in the course of two wars against Persia, and the treaties of Turkmenchay and Gulistan in the western frontiers, plus the unexpected death of Abbas Mirza in 1823, and the murdering of Persia's Grand Vizier (Mirza AbolQasem Qa'im Maqām), many Central Asian khanates began losing hope for any support from Persia against the Tsarist armies.^[33] The Russian armies occupied the Aral coast in 1849, Tashkent in 1864, Bukhara in 1867, Samarkand in 1868, and Khiva and Amudarya in 1873.

"Many Iranians consider their natural sphere of influence to extend beyond Iran's present borders. After all, Iran was once much larger. Portuguese forces seized islands and ports in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century, the Russian Empire wrested from Tehran's control what is today Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan, and part of Georgia. Iranian elementary school texts teach about the Iranian roots not only of cities like Baku, but also cities further north like Derbent in southern Russia. The Shah lost much of his claim to western Afghanistan following the Anglo-Iranian war of 1856-1857. Only in 1970 did a UN sponsored consultation end Iranian claims to suzerainty over the Persian Gulf island nation of Bahrain. In centuries past, Iranian rule once stretched westward into modern Iraq and beyond. When the western world complains of Iranian interference beyond its borders, the Iranian government often convinced itself that it is merely exerting its influence in lands that were once its own. Simultaneously, Iran's losses at the hands of outside powers have contributed to a sense of grievance that continues to the present day." -Patrick Clawson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy^[34]

"Iran today is just a rump of what it once was. At its height, Iranian rulers controlled Iraq, Afghanistan, Western Pakistan, much of Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Many Iranians today consider these areas part of a greater Iranian sphere of influence." -Patrick Clawson^[35]

"Since the days of the Achaemenids, the Iranians had the protection of geography. But high mountains and vast emptiness of the Iranian plateau were no longer enough to shield Iran from the Russian army or British navy. Both literally, and figuratively, Iran shrank. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Afghanistan were Iranian, but by the end of the century, all this territory had been lost as a result of European military action."^[36]

Provinces[link]

In the Middle Ages, the territory of Greater Iran was known to be composed of two portions: Persian Iraq (western portion) and Khorasan (eastern portion). The dividing region was mostly along with Gurgan and Damaghan cities. Especially the Ghaznavids, Seljuqs and Timurids divided their Empire to Iraqi and Khorasani regions. This point can be observed in many books such as "Tārīkhi Baïhaqī" of Abul Fazl Bayhqi, Faza'ilul al-anam min rasa'ili hujjat al-Islam (a collection of letters of Al-Ghazali) and other books. Transoxiana and Chorasmia were mostly included in the Khorasanian region.

Middle East[link]

Iraq[link]

The Tāq-e Kisrā in Baghdad Province, Iraq, constructed between the 3rd and 6th centuries. It is the largest vault ever constructed in Persia and the world's largest single-span freestanding arch.^[37][38]

Iraq has formed an intrinsic part of the Iranian world for most of the last three millennia. It is where the Achaemenid capital Babylon, and the Parthian and Sassanian capital Ctesiphon were located.

During the time of the Sassanid Empire, from the 3rd century to the 7th century, the major part of Iraq was called in Persian Del-e Īrānshahr (lit. "the heart of Iran"), and its metropolis Ctesiphon (not far from present-day Baghdad) functioned for more than 800 years as the capital city of Iran.^[40][41]

The Cyrus Cylinder, written in Babylonian cuneiform in the name of the Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great. It describes the Persian takeover of Babylon (the ancient name of Iraq).

Because the Achaemenid Empire or "First Persian Empire" was the successor state to the empires of Assyria and Babylonia based in Iraq, and because Elam is part of Iran, the Iranians also share in the heritage of ancient Mesopotamia together with the Iraqis. The ancient Persians adopted Babylonian cuneiform script and modified it to write their language, along with adopting many other facets of ancient Iraqi culture, including the Aramaic language which became the official language of the Persian Empire.

The Cyrus Cylinder, written in Babylonian cuneiform in the name of the Achaemenid king Cyrus, describes the Persian takeover of Babylon (the ancient name of Iraq). An excerpt reads:

According to Iranologist Richard N. Frye:

The Timurid historian Ḥāfeẓ-e Abru (d. 1430) wrote of Iraq:

The Imām Husayn Shrine in Karbalā, Iraq is one of Shīa Islām's holiest sites and a place of great annual pilgrimage.

Iraqis share significant religious, cultural and ethnic ties with Iranians. Close to two-thirds of Iraqis adhere to Twelver Shīa Islam – the same religion, sect, and school adhered to by most Iranians – and around one-fifth of Iraqis speak Iranian languages. Many Iraqis who speak Arabic are of Iranian origin, and Iranian surnames are common in Iraq. Many Iraqis hold elements of Persian identity, while still loving Iraq — a legacy of several millennia of cultural synergy and migration between the Iraqi lowland and the Iranian highland.

Iraqi culture has much in common with the culture of Iran. The spring festival of Nowruz is celebrated in Iraq by Kurdish and Shī'i Iraqis. Indeed, a spring festival has been practised in Iraq since Sumerian times. The Mesopotamian cuisine is very similar to the Persian cuisine and features many Persian dishes and cooking techniques. The Iraqi dialect has absorbed many words from the Persian language.^[47]

There are still cities and provinces in Iraq where the Persian names of the city are still retained. e.g. ’Anbār and Baghdād. Other cities of Iraq with originally Persian names include Nokard (نوكرد) --> Haditha, Suristan (سورستان) --> Kufa, Shahrban (شهربان) --> Muqdadiyah, Arvandrud (اروندرود) --> Shatt al-Arab, and Asheb (آشب) --> Amadiya.^[48]

In the modern era, the Safavid dynasty of Iran briefly asserted their hegemony over Iraq in the periods of 1501–1533 and 1622–1638, losing Iraq to the Ottoman Empire on both occasions (via the Treaty of Amasya in 1555 and the Treaty of Zuhab in 1639). Ottoman hegemony over Iraq was reconfirmed in the Treaty of Kerden in 1746.

When the Kingdom of Iraq was formed in 1921 by the British, the Persian government refused to recognize the state, claiming Najaf and Karbala as "holy places of Persia".^[49] During the four-decade-long British occupation of Iraq, the British sought to reduce Persian influence in the country^[50] – a policy continued under the later Ba'athist dictatorship which came to power through a US-sponsored coup in 1963. Following the fall of the Ba'athist regime in 2003 and the empowerment of Iraq's majority Shī'i community, relations with Iran have flourished in all fields. Iraq is today one of Iran's largest trading partners.

Many Iranians were born in Iraq or have ancestors from Iraq, such as the Chairman of Iran's Parliament Ali Larijani, the former Chief Justice of Iran Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, who were born in Najaf and Karbala respectively. In the same way, many Iraqis were born in Iran or have ancestors from Iran, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who was born in Mashhad.

Kurdistan[link]

Culturally and historically Kurdistan has been part of what is known as Greater Iran. Kurds who speak a Northwestern Iranian language known as Kurdish comprise the majority of the population of the region there are also communities of Arab, Armenian, Assyrian, Azeri, Jewish, Persian, and Turkic people traditionally scattered throughout the region. Most of its inhabitants are Muslim, but there are also significant numbers of other religious sects such as Yazidi, Yarsan, Alevi, Christian, Kurdish Jews, and a modern revival of interest in Zoroastrianism, though the last of these is largely, if not entirely, nominal.

Caucasus[link]

Armenia[link]

Armenia was a province of various Persian Empires since the Achaemenid period and was heavily influenced by Persian culture. Armenia however, has historically been largely populated by a distinct Indo-European-speaking people who merged with local Caucasian peoples, rather than being directly associated with the Iranian peoples. Ancient Armenian society was a combination of local cultures, Iranian social and political structures, and Hellenic/Christian traditions.^[52] Due to centuries of independent indigenous development, conquests by western powers including the Romans and Russians, and its diverse diasporic population that has absorbed many cultural traits, especially those of Europe and Lebanon.

Iran continues to have a sizeable Armenian minority that links Armenians to Iranian culture. Many Armenians such as Yeprem Khan were directly involved and remembered in the History of Iran.

Azerbaijan[link]

With the Treaty of Gulistan, Iran had to cede all the Khanates of the South Caucasus, which included Baku Khanate, Shirvan Khanate, Karabakh Khanate, Ganja Khanate, Shaki Khanate, Quba Khanate, and parts of the Talysh Khanate. Derbent (Darband) was also lost to Russia. These Khanates comprise what is today the Republic of Azerbaijan. By the Treaty of Turkmenchay, Iran was forced to cede Nakhichevan Khanate and the Mughan regions to Russia, as well as Erivan Khanate. These territories roughly constitute the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan and Republic of Armenia. Most localities in this region bear Persian names or names derived from Iranian languages.

Georgia[link]

Prince Muhammad-Beik, 1620. Artist is Reza Abbasi. Painting is located at Berlin's Museum Für Islamische Kunst.

The eastern Georgian regions of Kartli and Kakheti were Persian Provinces during Sassanid times (particularly starting with Hormozd IV). Some members of the Georgian elite were involved in the Safavid government and Amin al-Sultan, Prime Minister of Iran, was the son of a Georgian father.^[53]

Eastern Georgia was under the influence of Persia until 1783 when Erekle II of Kartli and Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the Russian Empire. Persia officially gave up claim to parts of Georgia according to the terms of the Gulistan and Turkmenchay Treaties.

Nakhchivan[link]

Early in antiquity, Narseh of Persia is known to have had fortifications built here. In later times, some of Persia's literary and intellectual figures from the Qajar period have hailed from this region. Also separated from Greater-Iran/Persia in the mid-19th century, by virtue of the Gulistan Treaty and Turkmenchay Treaty.

که تا جایگه یافتی نخچوان
Oh Nakhchivan, respect you've attained,
بدین شاه شد بخت پیرت جوان
With this King in luck you'll remain.
---Nizami

North Caucasus[link]

North Caucasus region in today's southern Russia including the republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkariya and other republics and oblasts of the region long formed part of Persia and the Iranian cultural sphere until they were annexed by Imperial Russia over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. Strong Persian cultural influence can be traced up as far as Tatarstan in central Russia. Fine examples of Iranian architecture in many Caucasus cities like the Sassanid citadel in Derbent bear witness to the importance of these territories before the arrival of Russians to the region, when it was under Persian influence, rule and suzerainty. (Even today, after decades of partition, some of these regions retain a sort of Iranian identity, as seen in their old beliefs, traditions and customs (e.g. Norouz)).^[54]

Central Asia[link]

Khwarazm is one of the regions of Iran-zameen, and is the home of the ancient Iranians, Airyanem Vaejah, according to the ancient book of the Avesta. Modern scholars believe Khwarazm to be what ancient Avestic texts refer to as "Ariyaneh Waeje" or Iran vij. Iranovich These sources claim that Urgandj, which was the capital of ancient Khwarazm for many years, was actually "Ourva": the eighth land of Ahura Mazda mentioned in the Pahlavi text of Vendidad. Others such as University of Hawaii historian Elton L. Daniel believe Khwarazm to be the "most likely locale" corresponding to the original home of the Avestan people,^[55] while Dehkhoda calls Khwarazm "the cradle of the Aryan tribe" (مهد قوم آریا). Today Khwarazm is split between several central Asian republics.

Superimposed on and overlapping with Chorasmia was Khorasan which roughly covered nearly the same geographical areas in Central Asia (starting from Semnan eastward through northern Afghanistan roughly until the foothills of Pamir, ancient Mount Imeon). Current day provinces such as Sanjan in Turkmenia, Razavi Khorasan Province, North Khorasan Province, and Southern Khorasan Province in Iran are all remnants of the old Khorasan. Until the 13th century and the devastating Mongol invasion of the region, Khorasan was considered the cultural capital of Greater Iran.^[56]

Afghanistan[link]

Afghanistan was part of Greater Khorasan, and hence was recognized with the name Khorasan (along with regions centered around Merv and Nishapur), which in Pahlavi means "The Eastern Land" (خاور زمین in Persian).^[57]

Afghanistan is where Balkh is located, home of Rumi, Rabi'a Balkhi, Sanāī Ghaznawi, Jami, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari and where many other notables in Persian literature came from.

ز زابل به کابل رسید آن زمان
From Zabul he arrived to Kabul
گرازان و خندان و دل شادمان
Strutting, happy, and mirthful
---Ferdowsi in Shahnama

Tajikistan[link]

The national anthem in Tajikistan, "Surudi Milli", attests to the Perso-Tajik identity, which has seen a large revival, after the breakup of the USSR. Their language is almost identical to that spoken in Afghanistan and Iran, and their cities have Persian names, e.g. Dushanbe, Isfara, Rasht Valley, Garm, Murghab, Vahdat, Zar-afshan river, Shurab, and Kulob ([4]). Its also important to note that Rudaki, considered by many as the father of modern Persian Language, was from Tajikistan.

Turkmenistan[link]

Home of the Parthian Empire (Nysa). Merv is also where the half-Persian caliph al-Mamun moved his capital to. The city of Eshgh Abad (some claim that the word is actually the transformed form of "Ashk Abad" literally meaning "built by Ashk", the head of Arsaced dynasty) is yet another Persian word meaning "city of love", and like Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, it was once part of Airyanem Vaejah.

Uzbekistan[link]

Uzbekistan has a local Tajik population. The famous cities of Afrasiab, Bukhara, Samarkand, Shahrisabz, Andijan, Khiveh, Navā'i, Shirin, Termez, and Zar-afshan are located here. These cities are the birthplace of the Islamic era Persian literature. The Samanids, who claimed inheritance to the Sassanids, had their capital built here.

ای بخارا شاد باش و دیر زی
Oh Bukhara! Joy to you and live long!
شاه زی تو میهمان آید همی
Your King comes to you in ceremony.
---Rudaki

Xinjiang[link]

The Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County regions of China harbored a Persian population and culture.^[58] Chinese Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County was always counted as a part of the Iranian cultural & linguistic continent with Kashgar, Yarkand, Hotan, and Turpan bound to the Iranian history.^[59]

South Asia[link]

Pakistan[link]

The western provinces and territories of Pakistan, which comprise Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and Baluchistan, are Iranian-speaking regions where Pashtuns and Baluchis comprise the majority of the local populations. The Baluch and Pashtun tribes are the easternmost of the Iranic peoples and the Baluchistan region, which covers southwestern Pakistan, is the easternmost region of the Iranian plateau.

Historical maps of Iran[link]

Treaties[link]

• 1555 Treaty of Amasya: The first treaty between Safavid Persia and the Ottoman Empire.
• 1639 Treaty of Zuhab: Iran loses Iraq to the Ottoman Empire.
• 1813 Gulestan Treaty: Iran loses a large amount of its land in the Caucasus.
• 1828 Turkmenchay Treaty: Signed by Fath Ali Shah. Russia gains sovereignty over the Caucasus.
• 1857 Paris Treaty: Signed by Nasereddin Shah. Iran loses Herat and parts of Afghanistan in exchange for the evacuation of Iran's southern ports by Great Britain.
• 1881 Akhal Treaty: Signed by Nasereddin Shah. Iran loses Merv and parts of Khwarazmia in exchange for security guarantees from Russia.
• 1893: Iran transfers to Russia additional regions near the Atrek River that were Iranian under the Akhal Treaty. This treaty was signed by General Boutsoff and Mirza Ali Asghar Amin al-Sultan on May 27, 1893.
• 1907: Persia was to be carved up into three regions, according to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907.
• 1970: Iran abandons sovereignty rights over Bahrain to Great Britain in exchange for Greater and Lesser Tunbs and Abu Musa islands in the Persian Gulf.

See also[link]

	Iran portal
	Zoroastrianism portal

References[link]

External links[link]

In English[link]

• Article on Iranian.com
• Persians in China
• Pirooz in China
• Ethnic Identity in Iran by Richard Nelson Frye, JSAI 26, 2002, see p. 82

In Persian[link]

• Interview: where "Iran e Bozrorg" is discussed (3)

v t e Iran topics History Pre-Islamic Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization BCE 3200– BCE 2800 Elamite dynasties BCE 2800– BCE 550 Bactria-Margiana Complex BCE 2200– BCE 1700 Kingdom of Mannai BCE 10th– BCE 7th cent. Median Empire BCE 728– BCE 550 Achaemenid Empire BCE 550– BCE 330 Seleucid Empire BCE 330– BCE 150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom BCE 250– BCE 125 Parthian Empire BCE 248–CE 224 Kushan Empire CE 30–CE 275 Sassanid Empire CE 224–CE 651 Hephthalite Empire CE 425–CE 557 Kabul Shahi kingdom CE 565–CE 879 Islamic Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1375–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 or 1736 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925 Modern Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government of Iran 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran 1979–present See also Ancient Iran Iranian Cultural Continent Indo-Iranians (languages) Jiroft civilization Aryans Persian peoples Tajik people Iranian peoples Kings of Persia Military history Years in Iran Politics Government Intellectual movements Women's movement Elections Constitution Supreme Leader President Judicial system Assembly of Experts Parliament Guardian Council Expediency Discernment Council Supreme National Security Council City and Village Councils Human rights LGBT Officials Provincial governors Reformists Principlists United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 Ambassadors Foreign relations Ministry of Intelligence Terrorism Military Army Air Force Navy Censorship Nuclear program Allegations of state terrorism Iranian Green Revolution Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Operation Ajax White Revolution Iranian Revolution Embassy siege Iran-Iraq war Iran Air Flight 655 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims Chicago's Persian heritage crisis History of the Islamic Republic of Iran Iranian Presidential Election, 2009 Persian Constitutional Revolution Propaganda Demographics Iranian citizens abroad Religion Muslims Bahá'ís Christians Azerbaijanis Armenians Persian Jews Ethnic minorities Religious minorities Zoroastrians persecution Women Languages Persian language Iranian Languages Azerbaijani Language Armenian Language Indo-Iranian languages Geography Cities list Iranian Azerbaijan Iranian Balochistan Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Plateau Islands Mountains Provinces Earthquakes Wildlife Economy Economic history of Iran Agriculture Fruit Industry Water and sanitation Health care Central bank Companies automobile manufacturers Banks Research centers Brain drain Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) Military equipment IDRO National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) Space Milad Tower and complex Military exports Rial Tehran Stock Exchange Electronic banking Intellectual property International Oil Bourse Bonyad Asalouyeh industrial corridor Kish Island Free Trade Zone Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone Labor and tax laws Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Mining Construction Privatization Foreign Direct Investment Supreme Audit Court Communications Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) Transport Railways Metro Airlines Iran Shipping Lines Energy Petroleum industry Nuclear program Tourism Environmental issues Economic Reform Plan Middle East economy List of major economic laws in Iran Iran and WTO Economic history of Iran Society Culture Iranian nationality Iranology Education Higher Science Scientists and scholars Universities Philosophy List of Iranians Literature Media News agencies student newspapers Architecture architects Achaemenid architecture Art modern/contemporary Persian gardens Cinema Cuisine Public holidays National symbols Opium consumption Music Ey Iran Heavy metal Persian traditional music Folk Pop Rap and hip-hop Rock and alternative Blogs Mythology Folklore Islam Islamization Scouting Sport Football Other topics Calendar Persian New Year Crown jewels Anti-Iranianism Persian names Tehrangeles International rankings of Iran Sorood-e Shahanshahi Iran Portal

Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53

Islamic Republic of Iran جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān
Flag Emblem
Motto: استقلال. آزادی. جمهوری اسلامی Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic
Anthem: National Anthem of Islamic Republic of Iran
Capital (and largest city)		Tehran 35°41′N 51°25′E / 35.683°N 51.417°E / 35.683; 51.417
Official language(s)		Persian
Spoken languages		Persian, Azeri, Kurdish, Arabic, Balochi, Lori, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Turkmen, Armenian, Aramaic
Demonym		Iranian
Government		Unitary state, Islamic republic
-	Supreme Leader	Ali Khamenei
-	President	Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
-	First Vice President	Mohammad-Reza Rahimi
-	Speaker of the Parliament	Ali Larijani
-	Chief Justice	Sadeq Larijani
Legislature		Islamic Consultative Assembly
Unification[3]
-	Median Empire	625 BCE
-	Achaemenid Empire	550 BCE
-	Safavid Empire	1501[4]
-	Islamic Republic	24 October 1979
-	Current constitution
Area
-	Total	1,648,195 km2 (18th) 636,372 sq mi
-	Water (%)	0.7
Population
-	2012 estimate	78,868,711[5] (18th)
-	2011 census	74,700,000
-	Density	48/km2 (162rd) 124/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$990.219 billion[6]
-	Per capita	$13,053[6]
GDP (nominal)		2011 estimate
-	Total	$482.445 billion[6]
-	Per capita	$6,359[6]
Gini (2008)		38[7] (medium)
HDI (2011)		0.707[8] (high) (88th)
Currency		Rial (﷼) (IRR)
Time zone		IRST (UTC+3:30)
-	Summer (DST)	IRDT (UTC+4:30)
Drives on the		right
ISO 3166 code		IR
Internet TLD		.ir, ایران.
Calling code		98
1	Bookrags.com
2	Iranchamber.com
3	Statistical Center of Iran. "جمعيت و متوسط رشد سالانه" (in Persian). http://www.sci.org.ir/content/userfiles/_sci/sci/SEL/f02/2.1.html. Retrieved 13 February 2009. [dead link][dead link]
4	CIA Factbook

This article contains Persian text, written from right to left with some letters joined. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters written left-to-right, instead of right-to-left or other symbols instead of Persian script.

Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/^[9] or /aɪˈræn/;^[10] Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia.^[11][12] The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/).^[10][13] Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.^[14][15]

The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million.^[5] It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power,^[16][17] and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.^[18]

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.^[19] The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC.^[3] They were succeeded by the Iranian Achaemenid Empire, the Hellenic Seleucid Empire and two subsequent Iranian empires, the Parthians and the Sassanids, before the Muslim conquest in 651 AD. Iranian post-Islamic dynasties and empires expanded the Persian language and culture throughout the Iranian plateau. Early Iranian dynasties which re-asserted Iranian independence included the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids and Buyids.

The blossoming of Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, astronomy, mathematics and art became major elements of Muslim civilization. Iranian identity continued despite foreign rule in the ensuing centuries^[20] and Persian culture was adopted also by the Ghaznavids,^[21] Seljuk,^[22][23] Ilkhanid^[24] and Timurid^[25] rulers. The emergence in 1501 of the Safavid dynasty,^[4] which promoted Twelver Shia Islam^[26] as the official religion of their empire, marked one of the most important turning points in Iranian and Muslim history.^[27] The Persian Constitutional Revolution established the nation's first parliament in 1906, within a constitutional monarchy. In 1953 Iran became an authoritarian regime, following a coup d'état instigated by the UK and US. Growing dissent with foreign influence culminated during the Iranian Revolution which led to establishment of an Islamic republic on 1 April 1979.^[28][29]

Iran is a founding member of the UN, NAM, OIC and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The highest state authority is the Supreme Leader. Shia Islam is the official religion and Persian is the official language.^[30]

Etymology[link]

The name of Iran (ایران) is the Modern Persian derivative from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānā,, meaning "Land of the Aryans", first attested in Zoroastrianism's Avesta tradition.^{[31][32][33][34]} The term Ērān is found to refer to Iran in a 3rd century Sassanid inscription, and the Parthian inscription that accompanies it uses the Parthian term "aryān" in reference to Iranians.^[35] However historically Iran has been referred to as Persia or similar (La Perse, Persien, Perzië, etc.) by the Western world, mainly due to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis (Περσίς), meaning land of the Persians. In 1935 Rezā Shāh requested that the international community should refer to the country as Iran. Opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and in 1959 both names were to be used interchangeably.^[36] Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 the official name of the country has been the "Islamic Republic of Iran."

History[link]

Pre-Historic era[link]

The earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran were found in the Kashafrud and Ganj Par sites that date back to the Lower Paleolithic era. Mousterian Stone tools made by Neanderthal man have also been found.^[37] There are more cultural remains of Neanderthal man dating back to the Middle Paleolithic period, which have been found mainly in the Zagros region and less frequently in central Iran at sites such as Shanidar, Kobeh, Kunji, Bisetun, Tamtama, Warwasi, Palegawra, and Yafteh Cave.^[38] Discovery of human skeletons in the Huto cave and the adjacent Kamarband cave near the town of Behshahr in the Mazandaran Province, and Amol and Babol old cities north of Iran, south of the Caspian Sea, suggest human habitation of the area as early as 75,000 years ago.^[39] However, recent studies in the valleys of Shuresh, around the earlier mentioned caves, led to the discovery of 400,000 year old stone tools.^[40] Evidence for Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods are known mainly from the Zagros region in the caves of Kermanshah and Khorramabad.

Early agricultural communities such as Chogha Bonut in 8000 BC,^[41][42] Susa (now a city still existing since 7000 BC)^[43][44] and Chogha Mish dating back to 6800 BC.^[45][46] started to form in the western Iran. Dozens of pre-historic sites across the Iranian plateau point to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the 4th millennium BC,^[46][47][48] centuries before the earliest civilizations arose in nearby Mesopotamia.^[49]

Early history (3200 BC – 625 BC)[link]

19th century reconstruction of a map of the world by Eratosthenes, c.200 BC. The name Ariana (Aryânâ) was used to describe the region where the Iranian plateau is found.

Elam was part of the early urbanization during the Chalcolithic. The emergence of written records from around 3000 BC also parallels Mesopotamian history. In the Old Elamite period (Middle Bronze Age), from around 2800 BC, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. The Elamite kingdom continued its existence until the emergence of the Median and Achaemenid Empires.

Proto-Iranians first emerged following the separation of Indo-Iranians, and are traced to the Andronovo culture.^[50] Proto-Iranian tribes arrived in the Iranian plateau in the third and second millennium BC, probably in more than one wave of emigration, and settled as nomads.

Further separation of Proto-Iranians into "Eastern" and "Western" groups occurred due to migration. By the first millennium BC, Medes, Persians, Bactrians and Parthians populated the western part, while Cimmerians, Sarmatians and Alans populated the steppes north of the Black Sea.

Other tribes began to settle on the eastern edge, as far as on the mountainous frontier of the north-western Indian subcontinent and into the area which is now Balochistan. Others, such as the Scythian tribes, spread as far west as the Balkans and as far east as Xinjiang. Avestan is an eastern Old Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Gathas in c. 1000 BC.

Pre-Islamic statehood (625 BC – 651 AD)[link]

The Cyrus Cylinder a document issued by Cyrus the Great and regarded by some as a charter of human rights

The Medes are credited with the unification^[3] of Iran as a nation and empire (625^[3]–559  BC), the largest of its day, until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians leading to the Achaemenid Empire (559–330  BC), and further unification between peoples and cultures. After Cyrus' death, his son Cambyses II continued his father's work of conquest, making significant gains in Egypt.

Following a power struggle after Cambyses' death, Darius the Great was declared king (ruled 522–486 BC). Under Cyrus and Darius, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest and most powerful empire in human history up until that point.^[51] The borders of the Persian empire stretched from the Indus and Oxus Rivers in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, extending through Anatolia (modern day Turkey) and Egypt.

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, at about 500 BC

In 499 BC, Athens lent support to a revolt in Miletus which resulted in the sacking of Sardis. This led to an Achaemenid campaign against Greece known as the Greco-Persian Wars which continued through the first half of the 5th century BC. During the Greco-Persian Wars Persia made some major advances and razed Athens in 480 BC, but after a string of Greek victories the Persians were forced to withdraw. Fighting ended with the peace of Callias in 449 BC.

The rules and ethics emanating from Zoroaster's teachings were strictly followed by the Achaemenids who introduced and adopted policies based on human rights, equality and banning of slavery.^{[citation needed]} Zoroastrianism spread unimposed during the time of the Achaemenids and through contacts with the exiled Jewish people in Babylon freed by Cyrus, Zoroastrian concepts further propagated and influenced the Abrahamic religions. The Golden Age of Athens marked by Aristotle, Plato and Socrates also came about during the Achaemenid period while their contacts with Persia and the Near East abounded. The peace, tranquility, security and prosperity that were afforded to the people of the Near East and Southeast Europe proved to be a rare historical occurrence, an unparalleled period where commerce prospered and the standard of living for all people of the region improved.^[52]

In 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid Empire, defeating the last Achaemenid Emperor Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. He left the annexed territory in 328–327. In each of the former Achaemenid territories he installed his own officers as caretakers, which led to friction and ultimately to the partitioning of the former empire after Alexander's death, and the subsequent formation of the Seleucid Empire.

A bust from the National Museum of Iran of Musa of Parthia

The Parthian Empire (238 BC–226 AD), led by the Arsacid Dynasty, was the third Iranian kingdom to dominate the Iranian plateau, after defeating the Greek Seleucid Empire, beginning in the late 3rd century BC, and intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between ca. 150 BC and 224 AD. This was the third native dynasty of ancient Iran and lasted five centuries. After the conquests of Media, Assyria, Babylonia and Elam, the Parthians had to organize their empire. The former elites of these countries were Greek, and the new rulers had to adapt to their customs if they wanted their rule to last. As a result, the cities retained their ancient rights and civil administrations remained more or less undisturbed.

Parthia was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire in the east, limiting Rome's expansion beyond Cappadocia (central Anatolia). By using a heavily armed and armoured cataphract cavalry, and lightly armed but highly mobile mounted archers, the Parthians "held their own against Rome for almost 300 years".^[53] Rome's acclaimed general Mark Antony led a disastrous campaign against the Parthians in 36 BC, in which he lost 32,000 men. By the time of Roman emperor Augustus, Rome and Parthia were settling some of their differences through diplomacy. By this time, Parthia had acquired an assortment of golden eagles, the cherished standards of Rome's legions, captured from Mark Antony, and Crassus, who was defeated by General Surena in the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.^[54]

Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis

The end of the Parthian Empire came in 224 AD, when the empire was loosely organized and the last king was defeated by Ardashir I, one of the empire's vassals. Ardashir I then went on to create the Sassanid Empire. Soon he started reforming the country both economically and militarily. The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, referring to it as Erânshahr or Iranshahr, , "Dominion of the Iranians", (i.e. of Iranians), with their capital at Ctesiphon.^[55] Unlike the diadochic Seleucids and the succeeding Arsacids, who used a vassalary system, the Sassanids—like the Achaemenids—had a system of governors (MP: shahrab) personally appointed by the Emperor and directed by the central government. The Romans suffered repeated losses particularly by Ardashir I, Shapur I, and Shapur II.^[56] During their reign, Sassanid battles with the Roman Empire caused such pessimism in Rome that the historian Cassius Dio wrote:

Geographical extent of Iranian influence in the 1st century BC. The Parthian Empire (mostly Western Iranian) is shown in red, other areas, dominated by Scythia (mostly Eastern Iranian), in orange.

In 632 raiders from the Arab peninsula began attacking the Sassanid Empire. Iran was defeated in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, paving way for the Muslim conquest of Persia.

During the Parthian and later Sassanid eras, trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Indian subcontinent, and Rome, and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world. Parthian remains display classical Greek influences in some instances and retain their oriental mode in others, a clear expression of the cultural diversity that characterized Parthian art and life.^[58]

The Parthians were innovators of many architecture designs such as that of Ctesiphon, which later influenced European Romanesque architecture.^[59][60] Under the Sassanids, Iran expanded relations with China. Arts, music, and architecture greatly flourished, and centers such as the School of Nisibis and Academy of Gundishapur became world renowned centers of science and scholarship.

Middle Ages (652–1501)[link]

Map of Iranian Dynasties c. 1000

After the Muslim conquest of Persia, most of the urban lands of the Sassanid Empire, with the exception of Caspian provinces and Transoxiana, came under Islamic rule.^[61] Many provinces in Iran defended themselves against the Arab invaders, although none in the end were able to repulse the invaders. However, when the Arabs had subdued the country, many of the cities rose in rebellion, killing Arab governors, although reinforcement by Arab armies succeeded in putting down the rebellions.

However, the Iranians' conversion to Islam was a complex process and is generally considered to have been gradual; the notion of force has largely been discredited,^[62] although occasional acts of violence did take place, with Zoroastrian scriptures being burned and Zoroastrian priests being executed.^[61][63]

By the 9th century, Islam became a dominant religion in Persia and the conversion of Iranians to Islam brought profound changes to their life and culture.^[61] However, in some regions, such as the Fars province, Zoroastrianism remained strong up to the 9th century, although Sufis such as Abu Eshaq Kazeruni, the founder of Kazeruni Sufi order, brought mass conversion of Zoroastrians to Islam in the 10th century.^[61]

Persian manuscript describing how an ambassador from India brought chess to the Persian court.

During the Abbasid caliphate decline, independent^[64][65] and semi-independent native Iranian dynasties arose in different parts of Persia including the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids, Afrighids, Ghurids, Sallarids, Justanids, Shaddadids and Buyids. Socially, the Arabs abolished the previous social class system of Sassanians while later, especially under the Ummayyads, another form of discrimination and exclusion against non-Arabs evolved.^[66] In reaction to these, Abu Moslem, an Iranian^[67][68] general, expelled the Umayyads from Damascus and helped the Abbasid caliphs to conquer Baghdad. The Abbasid caliphs frequently chose their Iranians as their "wazirs" (viziers), and Iranian governors acquired a certain amount of local autonomy. Thus in 822, the governor of Khorasan, Tahir, proclaimed his independence and founded a new Persian dynasty of Tahirids. And by the Samanid era, Iran's efforts to regain its independence had been well solidified.^[69]

Attempts at Arabization thus never succeeded in Iran, and movements such as the Shu'ubiyya became catalysts for Iranians to regain their independence in their relations with the Arab invaders.^[70] Other notable major revolts, some by Iranian Muslims and others by practitioners of old Iranian religions against Arab rule were led by Al-Muqanna, Sunpadh, Khurramites, Babak Khorramdin, Maziar, Mardavij, Ustadh Sis and Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari.

The cultural revival of the post-Abbasid period led to a resurfacing of Iranian national identity. The resulting cultural movement reached its peak during the 9th and 10th centuries. The most notable effect of the movement was the continuation of the Persian language, the official language of Iran to the present day. Ferdowsi, Iran's greatest epic poet, is regarded today as the most important figure in maintaining the Persian language. After an interval of silence Iran re-emerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam.

In 1218, the eastern Khwarazmid provinces of Transoxiana and Khorasan suffered a devastating invasion by Genghis Khan. During this period more than half of Iran's population was killed,^[71] turning the streets of Persian cities such as Nishapur into "rivers of blood", as the severed heads of men, women, and children were "neatly stacked into carefully constructed pyramids around which the carcasses of the city's dogs and cats were placed".^[72]

Khwarezmid Empire around 1200

According to Steven R. Ward, "Overall, the Mongol violence and depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century."^[73] In a letter to King Louis IX of France, Holaku, one of the Genghis Khan's grandsons, took sole responsibility for 200,000 deaths in his raids of Iran and the Caliphate.^[74] He was followed by yet another conqueror, Tamerlane, who established his capital in Samarkand.^[75] The waves of devastation prevented many cities such as Nishapur from reaching their pre-invasion population levels until the 20th century, eight centuries later.^[76]

In 1387, Tamerlane avenged a revolt in Isfahan by massacring 70,000 people.^[77] But both Hulagu, Tamerlane, and their successors soon came to adopt the ways and customs of that which they had conquered, choosing to surround themselves with a culture that was distinctively Persian.^[78] The mid-14th-century Black Death killed about 30% of the country's population.^[79]

Illustration from Jami "Rose Garden of the Pious", dated 1553. The image blends Persian poetry and Persian miniature into one, as is the norm for many works of the Timurid era.

Iran was gradually Islamized after the collapse of the Sassanid Empire; however, it was not Arabized. Iranian culture re-emerged with a separate and distinctive character and made an immense contribution to the Islamic civilization.^[80][81] When Islam came through Iran, what developed was an Iranian Islam or Persian Islam rather than the original Arab Islam, and this new Islam is sometimes referred to by scholars as Islam-i Ajam (Persian Islam).^[80][82]

It was this Persian Islam and Sufism which was brought to new areas and new peoples such as the Turks of Central Asia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Indian subcontinent.^[80] Among the major Iranian Muslims who cultivated Sufism and helped the spread of Islam through Sufism, one can mention Habib Ajami, Hallaj, Hasan Basri, Junayd Baghdadi, Bayazid Bastami, Maruf Karkhi, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, Moinuddin Chishti, Jalaluddin Rumi, Najmuddin Kubra, and Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari. Note should also be made of Abu Hanifa, the founder of the Hanafi school of thought which is followed by most Muslims today.

Arabic writer Ibn Khaldun has remarked that the sedentary culture which was necessary for the development of civilization was rooted in the Persian empire.^[83]

One of the main developments after the advent of Islam in Iran was the rise of the New Persian language as an important Indo-European language. The New Persian language was an evolution of Middle Persian, which in turn was derived from Old Persian. New Persian absorbed a considerable amount of Arabic vocabulary^[84][85] during this era, although the Arabic vocabulary that was Persianized^[86] often took a different meaning than the Arabic origin. In terms of contribution to the Arabic language, Iranians like Sibawayhi^[87] pioneered writing books of grammar of the Arabic language.

Tamerlane defeating the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt.

Culturally, Iranians preserved their language, while they used Arabic for scientific and philosophical discourses;^[88] this enabled them to reach a worldwide audience for the first time.^[88] After the 10th century, Persian, written in the modified Perso-Arabic script alongside Arabic, was used for scientific, philosophical, historical, mathematical, musical, and medical works, as important Iranian writers such as Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Avicenna, Qotb al-Din Shirazi, Gurgani, Nasir Khusraw, Biruni, Abd al-Qadir Maraghi made contributions to Persian scientific writing.

During this era, Iranians continued on a much larger scale the cultural and scientific enterprises set up by the Sassanids.^[89] The blossoming Persian literature, philosophy, medicine, and art became major elements in the forming Muslim civilization. The Islamic Golden Age, which is characterized by developments in science, owed to a large extent its importance to vital contributions made by Iranians.^[90] The Islamic Golden Age reached its peak in the 10th and 11th centuries, during which Persia was the main theatre of scientific activity.^[89] The Persian influence of this period relied heavily upon the achievements of the Sassanids, and the weight of this influence has led the Muslim world to accept Islamic civilization as the Perso-Islamic civilization.^[91]

Even in the development of Arabic scientific prose itself, which differs in style from that of the Quran, Persian scholars such as Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ had a major role. Indeed, the class of clerks and civil administrators that was responsible for the cultivation of the sciences in the early Islamic centuries consisted mostly of Persians.^[92] The contributions of Iranians to the Arabic language are however not limited to scientific prose but are also found in Arabic poetry. The contributions by Iranians are characterised as "the lively and graceful fancy, elegance of diction, depth and tenderness of feeling, and a rich store of ideas".^[93]

Iranian philosophy after the Islamic conquest is characterized by different interactions with Old Iranian philosophy, with Ancient Greek philosophy, and with the development of Islamic philosophy. Illuminationism and transcendent theosophy are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of this era in Persia. These movements continued well into the 11th century, during which the Nizamiyya University was founded, and hundreds of Iranian scholars and scientists contributed greatly to technology, science, and medicine, later influencing the rise of European sciences during the Renaissance.^[94]

Early modern era (1501–1925)[link]

Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty (1501–1736)

Iran's first encompassing Shia Islamic state was established under the Safavid dynasty (1501–1722) by Shah Ismail I. The Safavid dynasty soon became a major political power and promoted the flow of bilateral state contacts. The Safavid peak was during the rule of Shah Abbas The Great.^[27] The Safavid dynasty frequently warred with the Ottoman Empire, Uzbek tribes and the Portuguese Empire.

The Safavids moved their capital from Tabriz to Qazvin and then to Isfahan, where their patronage for the arts propelled Iran into one of its most aesthetically productive eras. Under their rule, the state became highly centralized, the first attempts to modernize the military were made, and even a distinct style of architecture developed. In 1722 Pashtun rebels headed by the Hotakis of Kandahar defeated Sultan Husayn and ended the Safavid dynasty, but in 1735, Nader Shah successfully drove out the Pashtuns from Isfahan and established the Afsharid Dynasty.

Sattar Khan was a key figure in the Persian Constitutional Revolution

He then staged an incursion into India in 1738, securing the Peacock Throne, Koh-i-Noor, and Darya-ye Noor among other royal treasures. His rule did not last long, however, as he was assassinated in 1747. The Mashhad based Afshar Dynasty was succeeded by the Zand dynasty in 1750, founded by Karim Khan, who established his capital at Shiraz. His rule brought a period of relative peace and renewed prosperity.

The Zand dynasty lasted three generations, until Aga Muhammad Khan executed Lotf Ali Khan, and founded his new capital in Tehran, marking the dawn of the Qajar dynasty in 1794. The Qajar chancellor Amir Kabir established Iran's first modern college system, among other modernizing reforms. Iran suffered several wars with Imperial Russia during the Qajar era, resulting in Iran losing almost half of its territories to Imperial Russia and the British Empire, via the treaties of Gulistan, Turkmenchay and Akhal. The Great Persian Famine of 1870–1871 is believed to have caused the death of 2 million persons.^[95]

In spite of The Great Game Iran managed to maintain her sovereignty and was never colonized, unlike neighbouring states in the region. Repeated foreign intervention and a corrupt and weakened Qajar rule led to various protests and constitutionalization efforts which eventually resulted in the establishment of the nation's first parliament in 1906. This was followed by the Jangal movement of Gilan which lead to the short-lived Gilan Republic.

Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)[link]

In 1925, Reza Khan overthrew the weakening Qajar dynasty and became Shah. Rezā Shāh initiated industrialization, railroad construction, and the establishment of a national education system. Rezā Shāh sought to balance Russian and British influence, but when World War II started, his nascent ties to Germany alarmed Britain and Russia. In 1941, Britain and the USSR invaded Iran to use Iranian railroad capacity during World War II. The Shah was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

In 1951, after the assassination of prime minister Ali Razmara, Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected prime minister by a parliamentary vote which was then ratified by the Shah. As prime minister, Mosaddegh became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized Iran's petroleum industry and oil reserves. In response, the British government, headed by Winston Churchill, embargoed Iranian oil and successfully enlisted the United States to join in a plot to depose the democratically elected government of Mosaddegh. In 1953 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized Operation Ajax. The operation was successful, and Mosaddegh was arrested on 19 August 1953. The coup was the first time the US had openly overthrown an elected, civilian government.^[96]

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Empress Farah in official uniform, 1977.

After Operation Ajax, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's rule became increasingly autocratic. With American support, the Shah was able to rapidly modernize Iranian infrastructure, but he simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition with his intelligence agency, SAVAK. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became an active critic of the Shah's White Revolution and publicly denounced the government.

Khomeini was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 1964 Khomeini publicly criticized the United States government. The Shah was persuaded to send him into exile by General Hassan Pakravan. Khomeini was sent first to Turkey, then to Iraq and finally to France. While in exile, he continued to denounce the Shah.

Islamic Republic (1979–present)[link]

The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution,^[97][98][99] began in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations against the Shah.^[100] After strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country and its economy, the Shah fled the country in January 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to Tehran. The Pahlavi dynasty collapsed ten days later, on 11 February, when Iran's military declared itself "neutral" after guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting. Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979, when Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so.^[28][29] In parallel nation wide uprisings against the new regime erupted in Kordestan, Khuzestan, Balochistan and other areas, though were eventually subdued, with some lasting until late 1980.