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{{History of Iran}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=January 2024}}

The '''history of Iran''' (or [[Name of Iran|Persia]], as it was known in the Western world) is intertwined with [[Greater Iran]], a sociocultural region spanning from [[Anatolia]] to the [[Indus River]] and from the [[Caucasus]] to the [[Persian Gulf]]. Central to this area is modern-day [[Iran]], which covers the bulk of the [[Iranian plateau]].

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.<ref name="People.cn">[http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html People, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran", 10 Aug 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224223600/http://en.people.cn/90001/90782/90874/6236885.html |date=24 February 2021 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref> The western part of the Iranian plateau participated in the traditional [[ancient Near East]] with [[Elam]] (in [[Ilam province|Ilam]] and [[Khuzestan]]), [[Kassites]] (in [[Kuhdasht|Kuhdesht]]), [[Gutian people|Gutians]] (in [[Luristan]]) and later with other peoples such as the [[Urartu|Urartians]] (in [[Oshnavieh]] and [[Sardasht, West Azerbaijan|Sardasht]]) in the southwest of [[Lake Urmia]]<ref>https://scholar.harvard.edu/pizzorno/presentations/dinkha-tepe-revisited</ref><ref>https://iranicaonline.org/articles/denka-dinkha-tepe</ref><ref>https://en.mehrnews.com/news/12769/Capital-of-Musasir-government-in-northwest-Iran-experts-believe</ref><ref>https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/130071/Search-for-Musasir-capital-resumes-at-Rabat-Tepe-next-week</ref> and [[Mannaeans]] (in [[Piranshahr]], [[Saqqez]] and [[Bukan]]) in the [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurdish]] area.<ref>https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ziwiye</ref><ref>https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/500219/Qalaichi-s-ancient-necropolis-excavated-for-the-first-time</ref><ref>https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/essentials/countries/mannea/</ref><ref>https://www.worldhistory.org/elam/</ref><ref>https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/489442/Amazing-archaeological-finds-dating-back-to-Elamite-era-unearthed</ref><ref>https://typeset.io/papers/a-new-decorated-bronze-belt-from-orumiyeh-region-north-2x453z5m</ref><ref>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/05786967.2018.1505441</ref><ref>https://archaeopresspublishing.com/ojs/index.php/aramazd/article/view/1304</ref><ref>https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/lurs-iran</ref> [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] called the Persians the "first Historical People".<ref name="IRHEGEL">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Azadpour |first=M |title=HEGEL, GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=2015-04-11 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hegel-georg-wilhelm-friedrich |archive-date=2015-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411142730/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hegel-georg-wilhelm-friedrich |url-status=live }}</ref> The Iranian empire began in the [[Iron Age]] with the rise of the [[Medes]], who unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Article: Media">https://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9371723 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080429175334/https://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9371723 |date=2008-04-29 }} Encyclopædia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Article: Media</ref> The [[Achaemenid Empire]] (550–330 BC), founded by [[Cyrus the Great]], was the largest empire the world had seen, spanning from the [[Balkans]] to [[North Africa]] and [[Central Asia]]. They were succeeded by the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]], [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]], and [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] empires, who governed Iran for almost 1,000 years, making Iran a leading power once again. Persia's arch-rival during this time was the [[Roman Empire]] and its successor, the [[Byzantine Empire]].

Iran endured invasions by the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]], [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arabs]], [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], and [[Mongols]]. Despite these invasions, Iran continually reasserted its [[national identity]] and developed as a distinct political and cultural entity. The [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] (632–654) ended the Sasanian Empire and marked a turning point in Iranian history, leading to the [[Islamization of Iran]] from the eighth to tenth centuries and the decline of [[Zoroastrianism]]. However, the achievements of prior Persian civilizations were absorbed into the new [[Islamic Golden Age|Islamic]] polity. Iran suffered invasions by nomadic tribes during the [[Late Middle Ages]] and [[early modern period]], negatively impacting the region.<ref>{{cite book|last=Baten |first=Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present.|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=214|isbn=978-1-107-50718-0}}</ref> Iran was reunified as an independent state in 1501 by the [[Safavid dynasty]], which established [[Shia Islam]] as the empire's official religion,<ref name="savoryeiref">R. M. Savory, "Safavids", ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]]'', 2nd edition</ref> marking a significant turning point in the [[history of Islam]].<ref name="islamic1600">[https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/safavid/abbas.html "The Islamic World to 1600"], Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary, 1998 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612134542/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/empires/safavid/abbas.html |date=2008-06-12 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref> Iran functioned again as a leading world power, especially in rivalry with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In the 19th century, Iran lost significant territories in the [[Caucasus]] to the [[Russian Empire]] following the [[Russo-Persian Wars]].<ref name="books.google.nl1">{{Cite book|last=Dowling|first=Timothy C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728|title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond |year=2014|pages = 728–729
| series= 2 volumes|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-948-6|language=en}}</ref>

Iran remained a monarchy until the 1979 [[Iranian Revolution]], when it officially became an [[Islamic republic]] on 1 April 1979.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 "Iran Islamic Republic"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316040030/https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 |date=2006-03-16 }}, ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', retrieved 23 January 2008</ref><ref name="Britannica">[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32981 Encyclopædia Britannica] 23 January 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215140348/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32981 |date=15 December 2007 }}</ref> Since then, Iran has experienced significant political, social, and economic changes. The establishment of the ''Islamic Republic of Iran'' led to the restructuring of its political system, with [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] as the Supreme Leader. Iran's foreign relations have been shaped by the [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988), ongoing tensions with the United States, and its nuclear program, which has been a point of contention in international diplomacy. Despite economic sanctions and internal challenges, Iran remains a key player in Middle Eastern and global geopolitics.

==Prehistory==
{{Further|List of archaeological sites in Iran|Prehistory of Iran}}
{{Further|Tepe Sialk|Jiroft culture|Shahr-e Sukhteh}}

===Paleolithic===
The earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran were found in the [[Kashafrud]] and [[Ganj Par]] sites that are thought to date back to 10,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic.<ref>Ancient Iran, ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', www.britannica.com</ref> [[Mousterian]] stone tools made by [[Neanderthal]]s have also been found.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Biglari|first1=Fereidoun|last2=Shidrang|first2=Sonia|date=2019|title=Rescuing the Paleolithic Heritage of Hawraman, Kurdistan, Iranian Zagros|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/706536|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=82|issue=4|pages=226–235|doi=10.1086/706536|s2cid=212851965 |issn=1094-2076}}</ref> There are more cultural remains of Neanderthals dating back to the [[Middle Paleolithic]] period, which mainly have been found in the Zagros region and fewer in central Iran at sites such as Kobeh, Kunji, [[Bisitun Cave]], Tamtama, [[Warwasi]], and [[Yafteh]] Cave.<ref>J.D. Vigne, J. Peters and D. Helmer, ''First Steps of Animal Domestication'', Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the International Council of Archaeozoology, Durham, August 2002, {{ISBN|1-84217-121-6}}</ref> In 1949, a Neanderthal [[Radius (bone)|radius]] was discovered by [[Carleton S. Coon]] in Bisitun Cave.<ref>{{cite web|last1=TRINKAUS|first1=E.|last2=BIGLARI|first2=F.|title=Middle Paleolithic Human Remains from Bisitun Cave, Iran|url=http://www.academia.edu|access-date=2021-11-06|archive-date=2016-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727234409/http://kau.academia.edu/DaniyalAlGhazzawi|url-status=live}}</ref> Evidence for [[Upper Paleolithic]] and [[Epipaleolithic]] periods are known mainly from the [[Zagros Mountains]] in the caves of [[Kermanshah]] and [[Khorramabad]] and a few number of sites in [[Piranshahr]], [[Alborz]] and [[Central Iran]]. During this time, people began creating [[rock art in Iran|rock art]].<ref>https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/503588/UNESCO-assessor-visits-prehistoric-caves-in-Khorramabad-s-valley</ref><ref>https://newspaper.irandaily.ir/7490/3/7192</ref>

===Neolithic to Chalcolithic===
Early agricultural communities such as [[Chogha Golan]] in 10,000 BC<ref>{{cite web|title=Early humans in Iran were growing wheat 12,000 years ago|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/early-humans-iran-were-growing-wheat-12-000-years-ago-f6C10536898|date=5 July 2013|work=NBC.news|access-date=10 September 2014|archive-date=2 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102183951/https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/early-humans-iran-were-growing-wheat-12-000-years-ago-f6C10536898|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Riehl|first1=Simone|title=Emergence of Agriculture in the Foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran (Supplement)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259041065|website=www.researchgate.net|access-date=1 March 2015|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503134900/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259041065_Emergence_of_Agriculture_in_the_Foothills_of_the_Zagros_Mountains_of_Iran_Supplement|url-status=live}}</ref> along with settlements such as [[Chogha Bonut]] (the earliest village in Elam) in 8000 BC,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/nn/spr97_alizadeh.html |title=Excavations at Chogha Bonut: The earliest village in Susiana |publisher=University of Chicago
|access-date=21 June 2013 |archive-date=25 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725195537/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/nn/spr97_alizadeh.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last =Hole|first =Frank|title =Neolithic Age in Iran|encyclopedia =Encyclopedia Iranica|publisher =Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation|date =20 July 2004|url =http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/neolithic-age-in-iran|access-date =9 August 2012|archive-date =23 October 2012|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20121023055952/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/neolithic-age-in-iran|url-status =live}}</ref> began to flourish in and around the Zagros Mountains region in western Iran.<ref name=MMA>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/wai/ht02wai.htm |title=Iran, 8000–2000 BC |access-date=2008-08-09 |work=The Timeline of Art History |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=October 2000 |archive-date=2001-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010305194154/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/02/wai/ht02wai.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Around about the same time, the earliest-known clay vessels and modelled human and animal terracotta figurines were produced at Ganj Dareh, also in western Iran.<ref name=MMA/> There are also 10,000-year-old human and animal figurines from Tepe Sarab in Kermanshah Province among many other ancient artefacts.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/tehran_museum |url-status= live
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726032154/http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/tehran_museum |archive-date=2013-07-26
|others= Ali Majdfar, photography
| access-date= 27 March 2008
| title= Ancient Iran Museum
}}</ref>

The south-western part of Iran was part of the [[Fertile Crescent]] where most of humanity's first major crops were grown, in villages such as [[Susa]] (where a settlement was first founded possibly as early as 4395 cal BC)<ref name="Elam">{{cite book
|title=The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State
|first= D. T. | last=Potts
| publisher=Cambridge University Press
| year= 1999
| isbn =0-521-56358-5}}</ref>{{rp|46–47}} and settlements such as [[Chogha Mish]], dating back to 6800 BC;<ref name="xinhuaciv">[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm Xinhua, "New evidence: modern civilization began in Iran", 10 Aug 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123142419/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/10/content_6508609.htm |date=23 November 2016 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Chogha Mish (Iran)|author=K. Kris Hirst|url=http://archaeology.about.com/od/cterms/g/choghamish.htm|access-date=2010-06-11|archive-date=2013-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106002737/http://archaeology.about.com/od/cterms/g/choghamish.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> there are 7,000-year-old jars of wine [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavated]] in the Zagros Mountains<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/NearEast/wine.shtml |title=Penn Museum – University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216011240/http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/research/Exp_Rese_Disc/NearEast/wine.shtml |archive-date=2008-12-16 }}</ref> (now on display at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]) and ruins of 7000-year-old settlements such as [[Tepe Sialk]] are further testament to that. The two main Neolithic Iranian settlements were [[Ganj Dareh]] and the hypothetical [[Zayandeh River Culture]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Philip E. L. |date=1990 |title=Architectural Innovation and Experimentation at Ganj Dareh, Iran |journal=World Archaeology |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=323–335 |doi=10.1080/00438243.1990.9980111 |jstor=124833 |issn=0043-8243}}</ref>

===Bronze Age===
{{further|Tepe Sialk|Jiroft culture|Elam|Kura–Araxes culture|Akkadian Empire|Kassites|Mannaea}}
[[File:Cylinder with a ritual scene ,early 2nd millennium B.C. Geoy Tepe Iran.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Cylinder with a ritual scene, early 2nd millennium BC, [[Geoy Tepe]], Iran]]
[[File:Choqa Zanbil Darafsh 1 (36).JPG|thumb|[[Chogha Zanbil]] is one of the few extant [[ziggurat]]s outside of [[Mesopotamia]] and is considered to be the best preserved example in the world.]]
Parts of what is modern-day northwestern Iran was part of the [[Kura–Araxes culture]] (circa 3400 BC—ca. 2000 BC), that stretched up into the neighbouring regions of the [[Caucasus]] and [[Anatolia]].<ref name="books.google.nl2">{{cite book|last=Kushnareva|first=K. Kh.|title=The Southern Caucasus in Prehistory: Stages of Cultural and Socioeconomic Development from the Eighth to the Second Millennium B.C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e1PNO7urjHQC&pg=PA44|year=1997|publisher=UPenn Museum of Archaeology|isbn=978-0-924171-50-5|access-date=2016-05-08|archive-date=2020-09-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913110041/https://books.google.com/books?id=e1PNO7urjHQC&pg=PA44|url-status=live}}, page 44</ref><ref name="Ancient Turkey">{{cite book|last1=Sagona|first1=Antonio|last2=Zimansky|first2=Paul|title=Ancient Turkey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SsLKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163|date=24 February 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-44027-6|access-date=8 May 2016|archive-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906034914/https://books.google.com/books?id=SsLKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163|url-status=live}}, page 163</ref>

[[Susa]] is one of the oldest-known settlements of Iran and the world. Based on C14 dating, the time of the foundation of the city is as early as 4395 BC,<ref name="Elam" />{{rp|45–46}} a time right after the establishment of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk in 4500 BC. The general perception among archaeologists is that Susa was an extension of the [[Sumer]]ian city-state of [[Uruk]], hence incorporating many aspects of Mesopotamian culture.<ref>Algaze, Guillermo. 2005. The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization</ref><ref>{{Cite book
| title= Beyond the Ubaid: transformation and integration in the late prehistoric societies of the Middle East
| editor1 = Robert A. Carter
| editor2 = Graham Philip
| series= Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization
| volume= 63
| orig-date= 2006
| year=2010
| isbn =  978-1-885923-66-0
| place = Ann Arbor
| publisher= University of Chicago Press 
 |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc63.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321143949/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc63.pdf |url-status=live 
}}</ref> In its later history, Susa became the capital of Elam, which emerged as a state founded 4000 BC.<ref name="Elam" />{{rp|45–46}} There are also dozens of [[prehistory|prehistoric]] sites across the Iranian plateau pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC.<ref name="xinhuaciv" /> One of the earliest civilizations on the Iranian plateau was the [[Jiroft culture]] in southeastern Iran in the province of [[Kerman]].

It is one of the most artefact-rich archaeological sites in the Middle East. Archaeological excavations in Jiroft led to the discovery of several objects belonging to the 4th millennium BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6864 |title=5000-Y-Old Inscribed Tablets Discovered in Jiroft  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511111851/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6864 |archive-date=2011-05-11 }}</ref> There is a large quantity of objects decorated with highly distinctive engravings of animals, mythological figures, and architectural motifs. The objects and their iconography are considered unique. Many are made from [[chlorite group|chlorite]], a grey-green soft stone; others are in [[copper]], [[bronze]], [[terracotta]], and even [[lapis lazuli]]. Recent excavations at the sites have produced the world's earliest inscription which pre-dates Mesopotamian inscriptions.<ref>{{Cite news|title=New Discoveries in Jiroft May Change History of Civilization
| publisher= Cultural Heritage News Agency
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080411035252/http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6126
| date = 26 January 2006
| archive-date= 11 April 2008
|url=https://www.chnpress.com/news|access-date=2023-03-16}}</ref><ref name="IRANIAN HISTORY">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Yarshater |first=Yarshater |title=Iranian history |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=2008-06-23 |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii1-pre-islamic-times |archive-date=2021-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203041803/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii1-pre-islamic-times |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are records of numerous other ancient civilizations on the [[Iranian plateau]] before the emergence of [[Iranian peoples]] during the [[Early Iron Age]]. The [[Early Bronze Age]] saw the rise of urbanization into organized city-states and the invention of writing (the [[Uruk period]]) in the Near East. While Bronze Age [[Elam]] made use of writing from an early time, the [[Proto-Elamite#Proto-Elamite script|Proto-Elamite script]] remains undeciphered, and records from [[Sumer]] pertaining to Elam are scarce.

Russian historian [[Igor M. Diakonoff]] stated that the modern inhabitants of Iran are descendants of mainly non-Indo-European groups, more specifically of pre-Iranic inhabitants of the Iranian Plateau: "It is the autochthones of the Iranian plateau, and not the Proto-Indo-European tribes of Europe, which are, in the main, the ancestors, in the physical sense of the word, of the present-day Iranians."<ref>Diakonoff, I., M., "Media", Cambridge History of Iran, II, Cambridge, 1985, p.43 [within the pp.36–148]. [http://www.federatio.org/joes/EurasianStudies_0309.pdf This paper is cited in the Journal of Eurasian Studies on page 51.]</ref>

===Early Iron Age===
{{see also|Neo-Assyrian Empire|Urartu}}
[[File:Marlik cup iran.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|A gold cup at the [[National Museum of Iran]], from the first half of the 1st millennium BC]]
Records become more tangible with the rise of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] and its records of incursions from the Iranian plateau.
As early as the 20th century BC, tribes came to the Iranian plateau from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]]. The arrival of Iranians on the Iranian plateau forced the [[Elam]]ites to relinquish one area of their empire after another and to take refuge in Elam, [[History of Khuzestan Province|Khuzestan]] and the nearby area, which only then became coterminous with Elam.<ref name="EI-Elam">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Lackenbacher|first=Sylvie|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|title=Elam|access-date=2008-06-23|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/elam-vii|archive-date=2020-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118145532/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/elam-vii|url-status=live}}</ref> Bahman Firuzmandi say that the southern Iranians might be intermixed with the Elamite peoples living in the plateau.<ref>^ Bahman Firuzmandi "Mad, Hakhamanishi, Ashkani, Sasani" pp. 20</ref>
By the mid-first millennium BC, [[Medes]], [[Persian people|Persians]], and [[Parthia]]ns populated the Iranian plateau. Until the rise of the Medes, they all remained under [[Assyria]]n domination, like the rest of the [[Near East]]. In the first half of the first millennium BC, parts of what is now [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian Azerbaijan]] were incorporated into [[Urartu]].

==Classical antiquity==
===Median and Achaemenid Empire (678–330 BC)===
{{Main|Medes|Achaemenid Empire}}
{{see also|Greco-Persian Wars}}
<gallery mode="packed">
Pasargad Tomb Cyrus3.jpg|The tomb of [[Cyrus the Great]]
Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg|Ruins of the [[Gate of All Nations]], Persepolis
Persepolis001.jpg|Ruins of the [[Apadana]], Persepolis
Medes and Persians at eastern stairs of the Apadana, Persepolis.JPG|Depiction of united [[Medes]] and [[Persian people|Persians]] at the [[Apadana]], Persepolis
Persepolis - Tachara 01.jpg|Ruins of the [[Tachara]], Persepolis
</gallery>

In 646 BC, [[Assyria]]n king [[Ashurbanipal]] sacked [[Susa]], which ended Elamite supremacy in the region.<ref name=MMA3>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wai/ht04wai.htm |title=Iran, 1000 BC–1 AD |access-date=2008-08-09 |work=The Timeline of Art History |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=October 2000 |archive-date=2021-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125012421/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wai/ht04wai.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> For over 150 years Assyrian kings of nearby Northern [[Mesopotamia]] had been wanting to conquer [[Medes|Median tribes]] of Western Iran.<ref name=bnet>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SBL/is_16/ai_n13810181 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328003303/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SBL/is_16/ai_n13810181  |archive-date=2008-03-28 |title=The Rise and Fall of Media |access-date=2008-08-10 |work=International Journal of Kurdish Studies |publisher=BNET |date=January 2002 |first=I.N. |last=Medvedskaya }}</ref> Under pressure from Assyria, the small kingdoms of the western Iranian plateau coalesced into increasingly larger and more centralized states.<ref name=MMA3/>
[[File:Median Empire.png|thumb|left|The Medes at the time of their maximum expansion]]
In the second half of the seventh century BC, the Medes gained their independence and were united by [[Deioces]]. In 612 BC, [[Cyaxares]], [[Deioces]]' grandson, and the [[Babylonia|Babylon]]ian king [[Nabopolassar]] invaded Assyria and laid siege to and eventually destroyed [[Nineveh]], the Assyrian capital, which led to the fall of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]].<ref name=Nineveh>{{cite book |title=The pre-Islamic Middle East |last=Sicker |first=Martin |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-96890-8 |pages=68/69 }}</ref> [[Urartu]] was later on conquered and dissolved as well by the Medes.<ref>[http://www.starspring.com/ascender/urartu/urartu.html Urartu – Lost Kingdom of Van] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702205257/http://www.starspring.com/ascender/urartu/urartu.html |date=2015-07-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutturkey.com/urartu.htm|title=Urartu Civilization – All About Turkey|access-date=2015-06-18|archive-date=2015-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701005402/http://www.allaboutturkey.com/urartu.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Medes are credited with founding Iran as a nation and empire, and established the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until [[Cyrus the Great]] established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians, leading to the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (c.550–330 BC).

[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent]]

[[Cyrus the Great]] overthrew, in turn, the [[Medes|Median]], [[Lydia]]n, and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian]] empires, creating an empire far larger than Assyria. He was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; the longevity of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the [[Assyria]]n, was also "[[King of Kings]]", ''xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām'' (''shāhanshāh'' in modern Persian) – "great king", [[Basileus|Megas Basileus]], as known by the [[Greeks]].

Cyrus's son, [[Cambyses II]], conquered the last major power of the region, [[ancient Egypt]], causing the collapse of the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]]. Since he became ill and died before, or while, leaving [[Egypt]], stories developed, as related by [[Herodotus]], that he was struck down for impiety against the [[ancient Egyptian deities]]. After the death of Cambyses II, Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the legitimate Achaemenid monarch [[Bardiya]], and then quelling rebellions throughout his kingdom. As the winner, [[Darius I]], based his claim on membership in a collateral line of the Achaemenid Empire.

Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building program at [[Persepolis]]. He rebuilt a canal between the [[Nile]] and the [[Red Sea]], a forerunner of the modern [[Suez Canal]]. He improved the extensive road system, and it is during his reign that mentions are first made of the [[Royal Road]] (shown on map), a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to [[Sardis]] with posting stations at regular intervals. Major reforms took place under Darius. [[Coin]]age, in the form of the ''daric'' (gold coin) and the [[shekel]] (silver coin) was standardized (coinage had already been invented over a century before in Lydia c. 660 BC but not standardized),<ref>{{Cite web
| url = http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/persia/darius.html 
| title= Forgotten Empire— the world of Ancient Persia
 
| publisher= The British Museum 
| year = 2005
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423012310/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/persia/darius.html |archive-date=2007-04-23 
|access-date=2023-03-16}}</ref> and administrative efficiency increased.

The [[Old Persian]] language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of the [[cuneiform script]]. Under Cyrus the Great and [[Darius I]], the Persian Empire eventually became the largest empire in human history up until that point, ruling and administrating over most of the then known world,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/PERSIANS.HTM |title=The Persians |year=1996 |first=Richard |last=Hooker |access-date=2006-08-20  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829110727/http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/PERSIANS.HTM |archive-date=2006-08-29 }}</ref> as well as spanning the continents of [[Europe]], Asia, and Africa. The greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first [[superpower]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://anthropology.net/user/kambiz_kamrani/blog/2006/12/05/engineering_an_empire_the_persians |title=Engineering an Empire: The Persians &#124; Anthropology.net |access-date=2007-03-13  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110020201/http://anthropology.net/user/kambiz_kamrani/blog/2006/12/05/engineering_an_empire_the_persians |archive-date=2007-01-10 }}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-155920057.html|title=Greek-Persian Wars (490 bce–479 bce) - Gale Encyclopedia of World History: War - Encyclopedia.com|access-date=2007-03-13|archive-date=2009-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904162341/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-155920057.html|url-status=live}}</ref> that was based on a model of tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions.<ref>[http://web.utk.edu/~persian/benevolent.htm Benevolent Persian Empire<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907204041/http://web.utk.edu/~persian/benevolent.htm |date=2005-09-07 }}</ref>

[[File:Map Greco-Persian Wars-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|Map showing key sites during the Persian invasions of Greece.|alt=]]
In the late sixth century BC, Darius launched his European campaign, in which he defeated the [[Paeonia (kingdom)|Paeonians]], conquered [[Thrace]], and subdued all coastal Greek cities, [[European Scythian campaign of Darius I|as well as defeating]] the European [[Scythians]] around the [[Danube]] river.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|p=345}} In 512/511 BC, [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]] became a [[vassal]] kingdom of Persia.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|p=345}}

In 499 BC, [[Classical Athens|Athens]] lent support to a revolt in [[Miletus]], which resulted in the sacking of [[Sardis]]. This led to an Achaemenid campaign against mainland Greece known as the [[Greco-Persian Wars]], which lasted the first half of the 5th century BC, and is known as one of the most important wars in [[European history]]. In the [[First Persian invasion of Greece]], the Persian general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedon a full part of Persia.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|p=345}} The war eventually turned out in defeat, however. Darius' successor [[Xerxes I]] launched the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]]. At a crucial moment in the war, about half of mainland Greece was overrun by the Persians, including all territories to the north of the Isthmus of [[Corinth]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Carey|first1=Brian Todd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OSfBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|title=Warfare in the Ancient World|last2=Allfree|first2=Joshua B.|last3=Cairns|first3=John|date=2006-01-19|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-84884-630-2|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Aeschylus, Burian2009">{{cite book|author1=Aeschylus|author2=Peter Burian|author3=Alan Shapiro|title=The Complete Aeschylus: Volume II: Persians and Other Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kTiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|date=17 February 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045183-7|page=18|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923003450/https://books.google.com/books?id=0kTiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|url-status=live}}</ref> however, this was also turned out in a Greek victory, following the battles of [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]] and [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], by which Persia lost its footholds in Europe, and eventually withdrew from it.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|pp=135–138, 342–345}} During the Greco-Persian wars, the Persians gained major territorial advantages. They [[Achaemenid destruction of Athens|captured and razed Athens twice]], once in 480 BC and again in 479 BC. However, after a string of Greek victories the Persians were forced to withdraw, thus losing control of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]], [[Thrace]] and [[Ionia]]. Fighting continued for several decades after the successful Greek repelling of the Second Invasion with numerous Greek city-states under the Athens' newly formed [[Delian League]], which eventually ended with the peace of Callias in 449 BC, ending the Greco-Persian Wars. In 404 BC, following the death of [[Darius II]], Egypt rebelled under [[Amyrtaeus]]. Later [[pharaoh]]s successfully resisted Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt until 343 BC, when Egypt was reconquered by [[Artaxerxes III]].

[[File:Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 64-68 PAN.jpg|thumb|800px|center|{{center|A panoramic view of [[Persepolis]]}}]]

===Greek conquest and Seleucid Empire (312 BC–248 BC)===
{{Main|Seleucid Empire}}
[[File:Seleucid-Empire 200bc.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Seleucid Empire]] in 200 BC, before Antiochus was defeated by the Romans]]

From 334 BC to 331 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] defeated [[Darius III]] in the battles of [[Battle of the Granicus|Granicus]], [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] and [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]], swiftly conquering the Persian Empire by 331 BC. Alexander's empire broke up shortly after his death, and Alexander's general, [[Seleucus I Nicator]], tried to take control of Iran, [[Mesopotamia]], and later [[Syria]] and [[Anatolia]]. His empire was the [[Seleucid Empire]]. He was killed in 281 BC by [[Ptolemy Keraunos]].

===Parthian Empire (248 BC–224 AD)===
{{Main|Parthian Empire}}
{{See also|Roman–Parthian Wars}}
[[File:BagdatesI290-280BCEPersia.jpg|thumb|[[Bagadates I]], first native Persian ruler after Greek rule]]

The [[Parthian Empire]]{{Emdash}}ruled by the Parthians, a group of northwestern Iranian people{{Emdash}}was the realm of the Arsacid dynasty. This latter reunited and governed the Iranian plateau after the [[Parni conquest of Parthia]] and defeating the Seleucid Empire in the late third century BC. It intermittently controlled Mesopotamia between {{Circa|150 BC and 224 AD}} and  absorbed [[Eastern Arabia]].

Parthia was the eastern arch-enemy of the [[Roman Empire]] and it limited Rome's expansion beyond [[Cappadocia]] (central Anatolia). The Parthian armies included two types of [[cavalry]]: the heavily armed and armored [[cataphract]]s and the lightly armed but highly-mobile [[mounted archery|mounted archers]].

For the Romans, who relied on heavy [[infantry]], the Parthians were too hard to defeat, as both types of cavalry were much faster and more mobile than foot soldiers. The [[Parthian shot]] used by the Parthian cavalry was most notably feared by the Roman soldiers, which proved pivotal in the crushing Roman defeat at the [[Battle of Carrhae]]. On the other hand, the Parthians found it difficult to occupy conquered areas as they were unskilled in [[siege]] warfare. Because of these weaknesses, neither the Romans nor the Parthians were able completely to [[annexation|annex]] each other's territory.

The Parthian empire subsisted for five centuries, longer than most Eastern Empires. The end of this empire came at last in 224 AD, when the empire's organization had loosened and the last king was defeated by one of the empire's vassal peoples, the Persians under the Sasanians. However, the Arsacid dynasty continued to exist for centuries onwards in [[Arsacid dynasty of Armenia|Armenia]], the [[Arsacid dynasty of Iberia|Iberia]], and the [[Arsacid Dynasty of Caucasian Albania|Caucasian Albania]], which were all eponymous branches of the dynasty.

===Sasanian Empire (224–651 AD)===
{{Main|Sasanian Empire}}
{{see also|Roman–Iranian relations|Byzantine–Sasanian wars|Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628}}
[[File:Naqsh i Rustam. Shapour.jpg|thumb|Rock-face relief at [[Naqsh-e Rustam]] of Iranian emperor [[Shapur I]] (on horseback) capturing Roman emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] (kneeing) and [[Philip the Arab]] (standing).]]
[[File:ChosroesHuntingScene.JPG|thumb|Hunting scene on a [[gilded silver]] bowl showing king [[Khosrau I]].]]
The first shah of the Sasanian Empire, [[Ardashir I]], started reforming the country economically and militarily. For a period of more than 400 years, Iran was once again one of the leading powers in the world, alongside its neighbouring rival, the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and then [[Byzantine Empire]]s.<ref>Norman A. Stillman ''The Jews of Arab Lands'' pp 22 Jewish Publication Society, 1979 {{ISBN|0827611552}}</ref><ref>International Congress of Byzantine Studies ''Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August 2006, Volumes 1–3'' pp 29. Ashgate Pub Co, 30 September 2006 {{ISBN|075465740X}}</ref> The empire's territory, at its height, encompassed all of today's Iran, [[Iraq]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Abkhazia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Lebanon]], [[Jordan]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], [[Israel]], parts of [[Afghanistan]], [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], parts of [[Pakistan]], [[Central Asia]], [[Eastern Arabia]], and parts of [[Egypt]].

Most of the Sasanian Empire's lifespan was overshadowed by the frequent [[Byzantine–Sasanian wars]], a continuation of the [[Roman–Parthian Wars]] and the all-comprising [[Roman–Persian Wars]]; the last was the longest-lasting conflict in human history. Started in the first century BC by their predecessors, the Parthians, and Romans, the last Roman–Persian War was fought in the seventh century. The Persians defeated the Romans at the [[Battle of Edessa]] in 260 and took emperor [[Valerian (emperor)|Valerian]] prisoner for the remainder of his life.

Eastern Arabia was conquered early on. During [[Khosrow II]]'s rule in 590–628, [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Lebanon]] were also annexed to the Empire. The Sassanians called their empire ''Erânshahr'' ("Dominion of the Aryans", i.e., of [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]]).<ref>Garthwaite, Gene R., ''The Persians'', p. 2</ref>

A chapter of Iran's history followed after roughly six hundred years of conflict with the Roman Empire. During this time, the Sassanian and Romano-Byzantine armies clashed for influence in Anatolia, the western Caucasus (mainly [[Lazica]] and the [[Principality of Iberia|Kingdom of Iberia]]; modern-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Abkhazia]]), [[Mesopotamia]], Armenia and the Levant. Under Justinian I, the war came to an uneasy peace with payment of tribute to the Sassanians.

However, the Sasanians used the deposition of the Byzantine emperor [[Maurice (emperor)|Maurice]] as a ''casus belli'' to attack the Empire. After many gains, the Sassanians were defeated at Issus, Constantinople, and finally Nineveh, resulting in peace. With the conclusion of the over 700 years lasting Roman–Persian Wars through the climactic [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628]], which included the very [[Siege of Constantinople (626)|siege of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople]], the war-exhausted Persians lost the [[Battle of al-Qādisiyyah]] (632) in [[Hilla]] (present-day [[Iraq]]) to the invading Muslim forces.

The Sasanian era, encompassing the length of [[Late Antiquity]], is considered to be one of the most important and influential historical periods in Iran, and had a major impact on the world. In many ways, the Sassanian period witnessed the highest achievement of Persian civilization and constitutes the last great Iranian Empire before the adoption of Islam. Persia influenced Roman civilization considerably during Sassanian times,<ref>J. B. Bury, p.109.</ref> their cultural influence extending far beyond the empire's territorial borders, reaching as far as Western Europe,<ref name="autogenerated2">Durant.</ref> Africa,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.transoxiana.com.ar/0104/sasanians.html|title=Compareti – Sasanians in Africa – Transoxiana 4|access-date=2007-03-05|archive-date=2008-05-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528203821/http://www.transoxiana.com.ar/0104/sasanians.html|url-status=live}}</ref> China and India<ref>Sarfaraz, pp. 329–330.</ref> and also playing a prominent role in the formation of both European and Asiatic medieval art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artarena.force9.co.uk/sass2.htm|title=Iransaga – Persian Art, The Sassanians|access-date=2007-03-05|archive-date=2019-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123010249/http://www.artarena.force9.co.uk/sass2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

This influence carried forward to the [[Muslim world]]. The dynasty's unique and aristocratic culture transformed the Islamic conquest and destruction of Iran into a Persian Renaissance.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Much of what later became known as Islamic culture, architecture, writing, and other contributions to civilization, were taken from the Sassanian Persians into the broader Muslim world.<ref>Zarinkoob, p.305.</ref>
[[File:Piero della Francesca 021.jpg|thumb|700px|center|{{center|Battle between [[Heraclius]]' army and Persians under [[Khosrow II]]. Fresco by [[Piero della Francesca]], c. 1452.}}]]

==Medieval period==
===Early Islamic period===
====Islamic conquest of Persia (633–651)====
{{Main|Muslim conquest of Persia}}
[[File:Map of expansion of Caliphate.svg|400px|thumb|Phases of the Islamic conquest {{legend|#a1584e|Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632}} {{legend|#ef9070|Expansion during the Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661}} {{legend|#fad07d|Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750}}]]

In 633, when the Sasanian king [[Yazdegerd III]] was ruling over Iran, the Muslims under [[Umar]] invaded the country right after it had been in a bloody civil war. Several Iranian nobles and families such as king Dinar of the [[House of Karen]], and later [[Kanarang]]iyans of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], mutinied against their Sasanian overlords. Although the [[House of Mihran]] had claimed the Sasanian throne under the two prominent generals [[Bahrām Chōbin]] and [[Shahrbaraz]], it remained loyal to the Sasanians during their struggle against the Arabs, but the Mihrans were eventually betrayed and defeated by their own kinsmen, the [[House of Ispahbudhan]], under their leader [[Farrukhzad]], who had mutinied against Yazdegerd III.

Yazdegerd III fled from one district to another until a local miller killed him for his purse at [[Merv]] in 651.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 | title=Iran | encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] | access-date=2007-06-21 | archive-date=2013-08-13 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813184232/http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 | url-status=live }}</ref> By 674, Muslims had conquered [[Greater Khorasan]] (which included modern Iranian Khorasan province and modern Afghanistan and parts of [[Transoxiana]]).

The [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] ended the Sasanian Empire and led to the eventual decline of the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] religion in Persia. Over time, the majority of Iranians converted to Islam. Most of the aspects of the previous Persian civilizations were not discarded but were absorbed by the new [[Islam]]ic polity. As [[Bernard Lewis]] has commented:
{{blockquote|"These events have been variously seen in Iran: by some as a blessing, the advent of the true faith, the end of the age of ignorance and heathenism; by others as a humiliating national defeat, the conquest and subjugation of the country by foreign invaders. Both perceptions are of course valid, depending on one's angle of vision."<ref name="lewis">{{cite web|url=http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |title=Iran in history |first=Bernard |last=Lewis |publisher=[[Tel Aviv University]] |access-date=2007-04-03  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429144545/http://www.tau.ac.il/dayancenter/mel/lewis.html |archive-date=2007-04-29 }}</ref>}}

====Umayyad era and Muslim incursions into the Caspian coast====
{{Main|Umayyad Caliphate}}
After the fall of the Sasanian Empire in 651, the [[Arabs]] of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] adopted many Persian customs, especially the administrative and the court mannerisms. Arab provincial governors were undoubtedly either Persianized [[Arameans]] or ethnic Persians; certainly Persian remained the language of official business of the caliphate until the adoption of Arabic toward the end of the seventh century,<ref>Hawting G., ''The First Dynasty of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate AD 661–750'', (London) 1986, pp. 63–64</ref> when in 692 minting began at the capital, [[Damascus]]. The new Islamic coins evolved from imitations of Sasanian coins (as well as [[Byzantine]]), and the [[Pahlavi script]] on the coinage was replaced with [[Arabic alphabet]].

During the Umayyad Caliphate, the Arab conquerors imposed [[Arabic]] as the primary language of the subject peoples throughout their empire. [[Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf]], who was not happy with the prevalence of the Persian language in the [[divan]], ordered the official language of the conquered lands to be replaced by Arabic, sometimes by force.<ref>''[[Cambridge History of Iran]]'', by [[Richard Nelson Frye]], [[Abdolhosein Zarrinkoub]], et al. Section on The Arab Conquest of Iran and. Vol 4, 1975. London. p.46</ref> In [[al-Biruni]]'s ''From The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries'' for example it is written:
{{blockquote|"When [[Qutayba ibn Muslim|Qutaibah bin Muslim]] under the command of Al-Hajjaj bin Yousef was sent to [[Khwarezm|Khwarazmia]] with a military expedition and conquered it for the second time, he swiftly killed whoever wrote the Khwarazmian native language that knew of the Khwarazmian heritage, history, and culture. He then killed all their Zoroastrian priests and burned and wasted their books, until gradually the illiterate only remained, who knew nothing of writing, and hence their history was mostly forgotten."<ref>[[Al-Biruni]]. الآثار الباقية عن القرون الخالية, p.35,36,48 وقتی قتبیه بن مسلم سردار حجاج، بار دوم بخوارزم رفت و آن را باز گشود هرکس را که خط خوارزمی می نوشت و از تاریخ و علوم و اخبار گذشته آگاهی داشت از دم تیغ بی دریغ درگذاشت و موبدان و هیربدان قوم را یکسر هلاک نمود و کتابهاشان همه بسوزانید و تباه کرد تا آنکه رفته رفته مردم امی ماندند و از خط و کتابت بی بهره گشتند و اخبار آنها اکثر فراموش شد و از میان رفت</ref>}}

There are a number of historians who see the rule of the Umayyads as setting up the "dhimmah" to increase taxes from the ''[[dhimmi]]s'' to benefit the Muslim Arab community financially and by discouraging conversion.<ref name="Astren">Fred Astren pg.33–35</ref> Governors lodged complaints with the caliph when he enacted laws that made conversion easier, depriving the provinces of revenues.

In the 7th century, when many non-Arabs such as [[Persians]] entered Islam, they were recognized as [[mawla|mawali]] ("clients") and treated as second-class citizens by the ruling Arab elite until the end of the Umayyad Caliphate. During this era, Islam was initially associated with the ethnic identity of the Arab and required formal association with an [[Tribes of Arabia|Arab tribe]] and the adoption of the client status of ''mawali''.<ref name="Astren"/> The half-hearted policies of the late Umayyads to tolerate non-Arab Muslims and Shias had failed to quell unrest among these minorities.

However, all of Iran was still not under Arab control, and the region of [[Daylam]] was under the control of the [[Daylamites]], while [[Tabaristan]] was under [[Dabuyid dynasty|Dabuyid]] and [[Paduspanids|Paduspanid]] control, and the [[Mount Damavand]] region under [[Masmughans of Damavand]]. The Arabs had invaded these regions several times but achieved no decisive result because of the inaccessible terrain of the regions. The most prominent ruler of the Dabuyids, known as [[Farrukhan the Great]] (r. 712–728), managed to hold his domains during his long struggle against the Arab general [[Yazid ibn al-Muhallab]], who was defeated by a combined Dailamite-Dabuyid army, and was forced to retreat from Tabaristan.<ref>Pourshariati (2008), pp. 312–313</ref>

With the death of the Umayyad Caliph [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik]] in 743, the Islamic world was launched into civil war. [[Abu Muslim]] was sent to Khorasan by the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] initially as a propagandist and then to revolt on their behalf. He took [[Merv]] defeating the Umayyad governor there [[Nasr ibn Sayyar]]. He became the [[de facto]] Abbasid governor of Khurasan. During the same period, the Dabuyid ruler [[Khurshid of Tabaristan|Khurshid]] declared independence from the Umayyads but was shortly forced to recognize Abbasid authority. In 750, Abu Muslim became the leader of the Abbasid army and defeated the Umayyads at the [[Battle of the Zab]]. Abu Muslim stormed [[Damascus]], the capital of the Umayyad caliphate, later that year.

==== Abbasid period and autonomous Iranian dynasties ====
{{Main|Abbasid Caliphate||Iranian Intermezzo|Tahirid dynasty|Saffarid dynasty|Ziyarid dynasty|Samanids|Sajid dynasty|Sallarid dynasty|Ilyasids|Buyid dynasty|Kakuyids}}
[[File:Saffarids 900ad.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Saffarid dynasty]] in 900 AD.]]
[[File:Iran circa 1000AD.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the Iranian dynasties in the mid 10th-century.]]

The Abbasid army consisted primarily of Khorasanians and was led by an Iranian general, [[Abu Muslim Khorasani]]. It contained both Iranian and Arab elements, and the Abbasids enjoyed both Iranian and Arab support. The Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads in 750.<ref name="Islamic Conquest">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_conquest/islamic_conquest.php|title=History of Iran: Islamic Conquest|access-date=2007-06-21|archive-date=2019-10-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005023220/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_conquest/islamic_conquest.php|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Amir Arjomand, the [[Abbasid Revolution]] essentially marked the end of the Arab empire and the beginning of a more inclusive, multi-ethnic state in the Middle East.<ref name=said>[[Saïd Amir Arjomand]], Abd Allah Ibn al-Muqaffa and the Abbasid Revolution. [[Iranian Studies (journal)|Iranian Studies]], vol. 27, #1–4. [[London]]: [[Routledge]], 1994. {{JSTOR|i401381}}</ref>

One of the first changes the Abbasids made after taking power from the Umayyads was to move the empire's capital from [[Damascus]], in the [[Levant]], to [[Iraq]]. The latter region was influenced by Persian history and culture, and moving the capital was part of the Persian mawali demand for Arab influence in the empire. The city of [[Baghdad]] was constructed on the [[Tigris River]], in 762, to serve as the new Abbasid capital.<ref name="AHGC">{{cite web|work=Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary |url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/fractured/ |title=The Islamic World to 1600 |access-date=26 August 2006  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005003551/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/fractured/ |archive-date=5 October 2008 }}</ref>

The Abbasids established the position of [[vizier]] like [[Barmakids]] in their administration, which was the equivalent of a "vice-caliph", or second-in-command. Eventually, this change meant that many caliphs under the Abbasids ended up in a much more ceremonial role than ever before, with the vizier in real power. A new Persian bureaucracy began to replace the old Arab aristocracy, and the entire administration reflected these changes, demonstrating that the new dynasty was different in many ways from the Umayyads.<ref name="AHGC"/>

By the 9th century, Abbasid control began to wane as regional leaders sprang up in the far corners of the empire to challenge the central authority of the Abbasid caliphate.<ref name="AHGC"/> The Abbasid caliphs began enlisting ''mamluks'', Turkic-speaking warriors, who had been moving out of Central Asia into [[Transoxiana]] as slave warriors as early as the 9th century. Shortly thereafter the real power of the Abbasid caliphs began to wane; eventually, they became religious figureheads while the warrior slaves ruled.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

[[File:Papak Xorramdin.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|[[Babak Khorramdin]] was the leader of ''[[Khurramites|the Khurramīyah movement]]''. A devout [[Zoroaster|Zoroastrian]], he led the Persian freedom movement against oppressive Arab rule.|alt=]]
The 9th century also saw the revolt by native Zoroastrians, known as the [[Khurramites]], against oppressive Arab rule. The movement was led by a Persian freedom fighter [[Babak Khorramdin]]. Babak's Iranianizing<ref>Bernard Lewis (1991), "The Political Language of Islam", University of Chicago Press, pp 482: "Babak's Iranianizing rebellion in Azerbaijan gave occasion for sentiments at the capital to harden against men who were sympathetic to the more explicitly Iranian tradition"</ref> rebellion, from its base in [[Iranian Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] in [[Iran|northwestern Iran]],<ref>F. Daftary (1999) Sectarian and National Movements in Iran, Khurasan and Transoxania During Umayyad and Early 'Abbasid Times In History of Civilizations of Central Asia, vol. IV, part One, ed. M. S. Asimov, and C. E. Bosworth. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp. 41–60. excerpt from pg 50: "The activities of the Khurammiya reached their peak in the movement of Babak al-Khurrami, whose protracted rebellion based in north-western Iran seriously threatened the stability of the Abbassid caliphate... This revolt lasting for more than twenty years soon spread from Azerbaijan (North/West Iran) to western and central parts of Iran."</ref> called for a return of the political glories of the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]<ref>Kathryn Babayan, "Mystics, monarchs, and messiahs", Harvard CMES, 2002. pg 138: "Babak revolted in Azerbaijan (816–838), evoking Abu Muslim as a heroic symbol..and called for a return to the Iranian past"</ref> past. The Khorramdin rebellion of Babak spread to the Western and Central parts of Iran and lasted more than twenty years before it was defeated when Babak was betrayed by [[Afshin (Caliphate General)|Afshin]], a senior general of the Abbasid Caliphate.

As the power of the Abbasid caliphs diminished, a series of dynasties rose in various parts of Iran, some with considerable influence and power. Among the most important of these overlapping dynasties were the [[Tahirids]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (821–873); the [[Saffarids]] in [[Sistan]] (861–1003, their rule lasted as maliks of Sistan until 1537); and the [[Samanids]] (819–1005), originally at [[Bukhara]]. The Samanids eventually ruled an area from central Iran to Pakistan.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

By the early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost control to the growing Persian faction known as the [[Buyid dynasty]] (934–1062). Since much of the Abbasid administration had been Persian anyway, the Buyids were quietly able to assume real power in Baghdad. The Buyids were defeated in the mid-11th century by the [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuq]] [[Oghuz Turks|Turks]], who continued to exert influence over the Abbasids, while publicly pledging allegiance to them. The balance of power in Baghdad remained as such – with the Abbasids in power in name only – until the Mongol invasion of 1258 sacked the city and definitively ended the Abbasid dynasty.<ref name="AHGC"/>

During the [[Abbasid]] period an enfranchisement was experienced by the ''mawali'' and a shift was made in political conception from that of a primarily Arab empire to one of a Muslim empire<ref name="Tobin">Tobin 113–115</ref> and c. 930 a requirement was enacted that required all bureaucrats of the empire be Muslim.<ref name="Astren" />

====Islamic golden age, Shu'ubiyya movement and Persianization process====
{{See also|Islamization of Iran|Islamic Golden Age|Shu'ubiyya}}
[[File:Ghotb2.jpg|thumb|upright|Extract from a medieval manuscript by [[Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi|Qotbeddin Shirazi]] (1236–1311), a Persian astronomer, depicting an epicyclic planetary model|alt=]]

[[Islamization]] was a long process by which [[Islam]] was gradually adopted by the majority population of Iran. [[Richard Bulliet]]'s "conversion curve" indicates that only about 10% of Iran converted to Islam during the relatively Arab-centric [[Umayyad]] period. Beginning in the [[Abbasid]] period, with its mix of Persian as well as Arab rulers, the Muslim percentage of the population rose. As Persian Muslims consolidated their rule of the country, the Muslim population rose from approximately 40% in the mid-9th century to close to 90% by the end of the 11th century.<ref name="Tobin"/> [[Seyyed Hossein Nasr]] suggests that the rapid increase in conversion was aided by the Persian nationality of the rulers.<ref>Nasr, Hoseyn; Islam and the pliqht of modern man</ref>

Although Persians adopted the religion of their conquerors, over the centuries they worked to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as [[Persianization]]. Arabs and Turks participated in this attempt.<ref name="britannica2">''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Seljuq", Online Edition, ([https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 LINK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219231803/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 |date=2007-12-19 }})</ref><ref>Richard Frye, The Heritage of Persia, p. 243.</ref><ref>Rayhanat al- adab, (3rd ed.), vol. 1, p. 181.</ref>

In the 9th and 10th centuries, non-Arab subjects of the [[Ummah]] created a movement called [[Shu'ubiyyah]] in response to the privileged status of Arabs. Most of those behind the movement were Persian, but references to [[Egyptians]], [[Berber people|Berbers]] and [[Aramaeans]] are attested.<ref>Enderwitz, S. "Shu'ubiyya". ''Encyclopedia of Islam''. Vol. IX (1997), pp. 513–14.</ref> Citing as its basis Islamic notions of equality of races and nations, the movement was primarily concerned with preserving Persian culture and protecting Persian identity, though within a Muslim context.

The [[Samanid dynasty]] led the revival of Persian culture and the first important Persian poet after the arrival of Islam, [[Rudaki]], was born during this era and was praised by Samanid kings. The Samanids also revived many ancient Persian festivals. Their successor, the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznawids]], who were of non-Iranian Turkic origin, also became instrumental in the revival of Persian culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/samanids/samanids.php|title=History of Iran: Samanid Dynasty|access-date=2007-06-21|archive-date=2019-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401010449/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/samanids/samanids.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:A treatise on chess 2.jpg|thumb|upright|Persian manuscript describing how an ambassador from India, probably sent by the [[Maukhari]] King [[Śarvavarman]] of [[Kannauj]], brought [[Shatranj|chess]] to the Persian court of [[Khosrow I]].<ref name="ME">{{cite book |last1=Eder |first1=Manfred A. J. |title=South Asian Archaeology 2007 Proceedings of the 19th Meeting of the European Association of South Asian Archaeology in Ravenna, Italy, July 2007, Volume II |date=2010 |publisher=Archaeopress Archaeology |isbn=978-1-4073-0674-2 |page=69 |url=http://history.chess.free.fr/papers/Eder%202007-2.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bakker |first1=Hans T. |author-link=Hans T. Bakker|title=The Huns in Central and South Asia. How Two Centuries of War against Nomadic Invaders from the Steps are Concluded by a Game of Chess between the Kings of India and Iran |date=2017 |url=https://www.academia.edu/34156496}}</ref>]]

The culmination of the [[Persianization]] movement was the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', the national epic of Iran, written almost entirely in Persian. This voluminous work, reflects Iran's ancient history, its unique cultural values, its pre-Islamic [[Zoroastrian]] religion, and its sense of nationhood. According to [[Bernard Lewis]]:<ref name="lewis"/>

<blockquote>"Iran was indeed Islamized, but it was not Arabized. Persians remained Persians. And after an interval of silence, Iran re-emerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam, eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself. Culturally, politically, and most remarkable of all even religiously, the Iranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance. The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavour, including Arabic poetry, to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in Arabic made a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second advent of Islam itself, a new Islam sometimes referred to as Islam-i Ajam. It was this Persian Islam, rather than the original Arab Islam, that was brought to new areas and new peoples: to the Turks, first in Central Asia and then in the Middle East in the country which came to be called Turkey, and of course to India. The Ottoman Turks brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of Vienna..."</blockquote>

The [[Islamization of Iran]] was to yield deep transformations within the cultural, scientific, and political structure of Iran's society: The blossoming of [[Persian literature]], [[Iranian philosophy|philosophy]], [[Science and technology in Iran|medicine]] and [[Persian art|art]] became major elements of the newly forming Muslim civilization. Inheriting a heritage of thousands of years of civilization, and being at the "crossroads of the major cultural highways",<ref>Caheb C., Cambridge History of Iran, ''Tribes, Cities and Social Organization'', vol. 4, p305–328</ref> contributed to Persia emerging as what culminated into the "[[Islamic Golden Age]]". During this period, [[List of Iranian scientists and scholars|hundreds of scholars and scientists]] vastly contributed to technology, science and medicine, later influencing the rise of European science during [[the Renaissance]].<ref>Kühnel E., in ''Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesell'', Vol. CVI (1956)</ref>

The most important scholars of almost all of the Islamic sects and schools of thought were Persian or lived in Iran, including the most notable and reliable [[Hadith]] collectors of [[Shia]] and [[Sunni]] like [[Shaikh Saduq]], [[Mohammad Ya'qub Kulainy|Shaikh Kulainy]], [[Hakim al-Nishaburi]], [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Imam Muslim]] and Imam Bukhari, the greatest [[Kalam|theologians]] of Shia and Sunni like [[Shaykh Tusi]], [[Al-Ghazali|Imam Ghazali]], [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|Imam Fakhr al-Razi]] and [[Al-Zamakhshari]], the greatest [[physicians]], [[Islamic astronomy|astronomers]], [[Logic in Islamic philosophy|logicians]], [[Islamic mathematics|mathematicians]], [[Metaphysics|metaphysicians]], [[Early Islamic philosophy|philosophers]] and [[Islamic science|scientists]] like [[Avicenna]] and [[Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī]], and the greatest [[Sheikh (Sufism)|shaykhs of Sufism]] like [[Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi|Rumi]] and [[Abdul Qadir Gilani|Abdul-Qadir Gilani]].

===={{anchor|Persianate states and dynasties (977-1219)}}Persianate states and dynasties (977–1219)====
{{Main|Persianate|Ghaznavids|Great Seljuq|Khwarazmian dynasty}}
[[File:Kharaghan.jpg|thumb|The [[Kharraqan towers|Kharaghan twin towers]], built in 1067, Persia, contain tombs of Seljuq princes.]]

In 977, a Turkic governor of the Samanids, [[Sabuktigin]], conquered [[Ghazna]] (in present-day Afghanistan) and established a dynasty, the [[Ghaznavids]], that lasted to 1186.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/> The Ghaznavid empire grew by taking all of the Samanid territories south of the [[Amu Darya]] in the last decade of the 10th century, and eventually occupied parts of Eastern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-west India.<ref name="AHGC"/>

The Ghaznavids are generally credited with launching Islam into a mainly [[Hindu]] India. The invasion of India was undertaken in 1000 by the Ghaznavid ruler, [[Mahmud of Ghazna|Mahmud]], and continued for several years. They were unable to hold power for long, however, particularly after the death of Mahmud in 1030. By 1040 the Seljuqs had taken over the Ghaznavid lands in Iran.<ref name="AHGC"/>

The [[Seljuqs]], who like the Ghaznavids were Persianate in nature and of Turkic origin, slowly conquered Iran over the course of the 11th century.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/> The dynasty had its origins in the [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turcoman]] tribal confederations of Central Asia and marked the beginning of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] power in the Middle East. They established a [[Sunni Muslim]] rule over parts of [[Central Asia]] and the Middle East from the 11th to 14th centuries. They set up an empire known as Great Seljuq Empire that stretched from Anatolia in the west to western Afghanistan in the east and the western borders of (modern-day) [[China]] in the north-east; and was the target of the [[First Crusade]]. Today they are regarded as the cultural ancestors of the Western [[Turkish people|Turks]], the present-day inhabitants of [[Turkey]], [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Turkmenistan]], and they are remembered as great patrons of [[Persian culture]], [[Persian art|art]], [[Persian literature|literature]], and [[Persian language|language]].<ref name="britannica3">''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', "Seljuq", Online Edition, ([https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 LINK] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219231803/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9066688 |date=2007-12-19 }}): ''"... Because the Turkish Seljuqs had no Islamic tradition or strong literary heritage of their own, they adopted the cultural language of their Persian instructors in Islam. Literary Persian thus spread to the whole of Iran, and the Arabic language disappeared in that country except in works of religious scholarship ..."''</ref><ref name="iranica">{{citation
|first= Osman G. | last =Özgüdenli
| date = 20 July 2005
| url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/persian-manuscripts-1-ottoman
| title= Persian Manuscripts I. in Ottoman and modern Turkish libraries 
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201205211832/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/persian-manuscripts-1-ottoman
| url-status=live 
| archive-date= 5 December 2020
}}</ref><ref name="Ravandi">{{ cite journal
| year=2005
| title= Ravandi, the Seljuq court at Konya and the Persianisation of Anatolian Cities
| journal= Mesogeios (Mediterranean Studies)
| publisher= Editions Herodotos
| volume= 25/26 | pages= 157–169
| last = Hillenbrand | first = Carole
}}</ref>

[[File:Seljuk Empire locator map.svg|thumb|300px|Seljuq empire at the time of its greatest extent, at the death of Malik Shah I{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}|alt=]]

The founder of the dynasty, [[Tughril Beg]], turned his army against the Ghaznavids in Khorasan. He moved south and then west, conquering but not wasting the cities in his path. In 1055 the caliph in Baghdad gave Tughril Beg robes, gifts, and the title King of the East. Under Tughril Beg's successor, [[Malik Shah I|Malik Shah]] (1072–1092), Iran enjoyed a cultural and scientific renaissance, largely attributed to his brilliant Iranian vizier, [[Nizam al Mulk]]. These leaders established the observatory where [[Omar Khayyám]] did much of his experimentation for a new calendar, and they built [[Nizamiyya|religious schools]] in all the major towns. They brought [[Al-Ghazali|Abu Hamid Ghazali]], one of the greatest Islamic theologians, and other eminent scholars to the Seljuq capital at Baghdad and encouraged and supported their work.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>

When Malik Shah I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarreled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. In Anatolia, Malik Shah I was succeeded by [[Kilij Arslan I]] who founded the [[Sultanate of Rûm]] and in Syria by his brother [[Tutush I]]. In Persia he was succeeded by his son [[Mahmud I of Great Seljuq|Mahmud I]] whose reign was contested by his other three brothers [[Barkiyaruq]] in [[Iraq]], [[Muhammad I (Seljuq sultan)|Muhammad I]] in [[Baghdad]] and [[Ahmed Sanjar|Ahmad Sanjar]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]]. As Seljuq power in Iran weakened, other dynasties began to step up in its place, including a resurgent Abbasid caliphate and the [[Khwarezmid Empire|Khwarezmshahs]]. The Khwarezmid Empire was a Sunni Muslim Persianate dynasty, of East Turkic origin, that ruled in Central Asia. Originally vassals of the Seljuqs, they took advantage of the decline of the Seljuqs to expand into Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9045365|title=Academic Home|access-date=2007-06-23|archive-date=2021-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304083325/http://academic.eb.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1194 the Khwarezmshah [[Ala ad-Din Tekish]] defeated the Seljuq sultan [[Toghrul III of Seljuq|Toghrul III]] in battle and the Seljuq empire in Iran collapsed. Of the former Seljuq Empire, only the [[Sultanate of Rum]] in Anatolia remained.

A serious internal threat to the Seljuqs during their reign came from the [[Nizari Ismaili state|Nizari Ismailis]], a secret sect with headquarters at [[Alamut Castle]] between [[Rasht]] and [[Tehran]]. They controlled the immediate area for more than 150 years and sporadically sent out adherents to strengthen their rule by murdering important officials. Several of the various theories on the etymology of the word ''[[assassination|assassin]]'' derive from these killers.<ref name="Islamic Conquest"/>{{clear}}

Parts of northwestern Iran were conquered in the early 13th century AD by the [[Kingdom of Georgia]], led by [[Tamar the Great]].<ref name="Lordkipanidze-154">Lordkipanidze, Mariam (1987), ''Georgia in the XI-XII Centuries''. Tbilisi: Ganatleba, p. 154.</ref>

===Mongol conquest and rule (1219–1370)===
===={{anchor|Mongol invasion (1219-1221)}}Mongol invasion (1219–1221)====
{{Main|Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol invasion of Persia|Mongol Empire}}

[[File:East-Hem 1200ad.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Eurasia]] on the eve of the Mongol invasions, ''c.'' 1200]]

[[File:Mongol Empire map.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|The Mongol Empire's expansion]]

The [[Khwarazmian dynasty]] only lasted for a few decades, until the arrival of the [[Mongols]]. [[Genghis Khan]] had unified the Mongols, and under him the [[Mongol Empire]] quickly expanded in several directions. In 1218, it bordered Khwarezm. At that time, the Khwarazmian Empire was ruled by [[Muhammad II of Khwarezm|Ala ad-Din Muhammad]] (1200–1220). Muhammad, like Genghis, was intent on expanding his lands and had gained the submission of most of Iran. He declared himself shah and demanded formal recognition from the Abbasid caliph [[Al-Nasir]]. When the caliph rejected his claim, Ala ad-Din Muhammad proclaimed one of his nobles caliph and unsuccessfully tried to depose an-Nasir.

The [[Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran|Mongol invasion of Iran]] began in 1219, after two diplomatic missions to Khwarezm sent by Genghis Khan had been massacred. During 1220–21 [[Bukhara]], [[Samarkand]], [[Herat]], [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] and [[Nishapur]] were razed, and the whole populations were slaughtered. The Khwarezm-Shah fled, to die on an island off the Caspian coast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32173/Iran|title=Iran – history – geography|access-date=2007-06-25|archive-date=2008-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625022733/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32173/Iran|url-status=live}}</ref>
During the invasion of [[Transoxiana]] in 1219, along with the main Mongol force, Genghis Khan used a Chinese specialist catapult unit in battle, they were used again in 1220 in Transoxania. The Chinese may have used the catapults to hurl gunpowder bombs, since they already had them by this time.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&q=transoxania+chinese+gunpowder+catapult&pg=PA58 |title=Firearms: a global history to 1700 |author=Kenneth Warren Chase |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-82274-2 |page=58 |quote=Chinggis Khan organized a unit of Chinese catapult specialists in 1214, and these men formed part of the first Mongol army to invade Transoxania in 1219. This was not too early for true firearms, and it was nearly two centuries after catapult-thrown gunpowder bombs had been added to the Chinese arsenal. Chinese siege equipment saw action in Transoxania in 1220 and in the north Caucasus in 1239–40. |archive-date=2021-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104153953/https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&q=transoxania+chinese+gunpowder+catapult&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref>

While Genghis Khan was conquering Transoxania and Persia, several Chinese who were familiar with gunpowder were serving in Genghis's army.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgQXAQAAIAAJ&q=Though+he+was+himself+a+Chinese,+he+learned+his+trade+from+his+father,+who+had+accompanied+Genghis+Khan+on+his+invasion+of+Muslim+Transoxania+and+Iran.+Perhaps+the+use+of+gunpowder+as+a+propellant,+in+other+words+the+invention+of+true |title=The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane |author=David Nicolle |author2=Richard Hook |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |year=1998 |publisher=Brockhampton Press |isbn=1-86019-407-9 |page=86 |quote=Though he was himself a Chinese, he learned his trade from his father, who had accompanied Genghis Khan on his invasion of Muslim Transoxania and Iran. Perhaps the use of gunpowder as a propellant, in other words the invention of true guns, appeared first in the Muslim Middle East, whereas the invention of gunpowder itself was a Chinese achievement |archive-date=2016-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412094659/https://books.google.com/books?id=OgQXAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> "Whole regiments" entirely made out of Chinese were used by the Mongols to command bomb hurling trebuchets during the invasion of Iran.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=Chinese+engineers+operating+trebuchets+%28catapults%29+throwing+gunpowder+bombs.+Their+progress+was+rapid+and+devastating+until%2C+after+the+sack+of+Baghdad+in+1258%2C+they+entered+Syria.+There+they+met+an+Islamic+army+similarly+equipped+and&pg=PA46 |title=Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history |author=Arnold Pacey |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=reprint, illustrated |year=1991 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-66072-5 |page=46 |quote=During the 1250s, the Mongols invaded Iran with 'whole regiments' of Chinese engineers operating trebuchets (catapults) throwing gunpowder bombs. Their progress was rapid and devastating until, after the sack of Baghdad in 1258, they entered Syria. There they met an Islamic army similarly equipped and experienced their first defeat. In 1291, the same sort of weapon was used during the siege of Acre, when the European Crusaders were expelled form Palestine. |archive-date=2020-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820015938/https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C |url-status=live }}</ref> Historians have suggested that the Mongol invasion had brought Chinese gunpowder weapons to Central Asia. One of these was the [[huochong]], a Chinese mortar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC&q=Indeed%2C+it+is+possible+that+gunpowder+devices%2C+including+Chinese+mortar+%28+huochong%29%2C+had+reached+Central+Asia+through+the+Mongols+as+early+as+the+thirteenth+century.71+Yet+the+potential+remained+unexploited%3B&pg=PA474 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |author=Chahryar Adle |author2=Irfan Habib |editor1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor2=Chahryar Adle |editor3=Irfan Habib |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |volume=5 of History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=2003 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=92-3-103876-1 |page=474 |quote=Indeed, it is possible that gunpowder devices, including Chinese mortar (huochong), had reached Central Asia through the Mongols as early as the thirteenth century.71 Yet the potential remained unexploited; even Sultan Husayn's use of cannon may have had Ottoman inspiration. |archive-date=2020-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723141803/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC |url-status=live }}</ref> Books written around the area afterward depicted gunpowder weapons which resembled those of China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=The+presence+of+these+individuals+in+China+in+the+1270s%2C+and+the+deployment+of+Chinese+engineers+in+Iran%2C+mean+that+there+were+several+routes+by+which+information+about+gunpowder+weapons+could+pass+from+the+Islamic+world+to+China%2C+or+vice+versa.+Thus+when+two+authors+from+the+eastern+Mediterranean+region+wrote+books+about+gunpowder+weapons+around+the+year+1280%2C+it+is+not+suprising+that+they+described+bombs%2C+rockets+and+fire-lances+very+similar+to+some+types+of+Chinese+weaponry.&pg=PA46 |title=Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history |author=Arnold Pacey |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=reprint, illustrated |year=1991 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-66072-5 |page=46 |quote=The presence of these individuals in China in the 1270s, and the deployment of Chinese engineers in Iran, mean that there were several routes by which information about gunpowder weapons could pass from the Islamic world to China, or vice versa. Thus when two authors from the eastern Mediterranean region wrote books about gunpowder weapons around the year 1280, it is not surprising that they described bombs, rockets and fire-lances very similar to some types of Chinese weaponry. |archive-date=2021-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104155102/https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=The+presence+of+these+individuals+in+China+in+the+1270s,+and+the+deployment+of+Chinese+engineers+in+Iran,+mean+that+there+were+several+routes+by+which+information+about+gunpowder+weapons+could+pass+from+the+Islamic+world+to+China,+or+vice+versa.+Thus+when+two+authors+from+the+eastern+Mediterranean+region+wrote+books+about+gunpowder+weapons+around+the+year+1280,+it+is+not+suprising+that+they+described+bombs,+rockets+and+fire-lances+very+similar+to+some+types+of+Chinese+weaponry.&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Destruction under the Mongols ====
Before his death in 1227, Genghis had reached western Azerbaijan, pillaging and burning many cities along the way after entering into Iran from its north east.

The Mongol invasion was by and large disastrous to the Iranians. Although the Mongol invaders eventually converted to Islam and accepted the culture of Iran, the Mongol destruction in Iran and other regions of the Islamic heartland (particularly the historical Khorasan region, mainly in Central Asia) marked a major change of direction for the region. Much of the six centuries of Islamic scholarship, culture, and infrastructure was destroyed as the invaders leveled cities, burned libraries, and in some cases replaced mosques with [[Buddhist temple]]s.{{sfn|May|2012|p=185}}<ref>[https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/ The Il-khanate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610151205/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/ |date=2007-06-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-3 |title=IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period p – Encyclopaedia Iranica<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2021-10-27 |archive-date=2021-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027011625/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Mongols killed many Iranian civilians. Destruction of [[qanat]] irrigation systems in the north east of Iran destroyed the pattern of relatively continuous settlements, producing many abandoned towns which were relatively quite good with irrigation and agriculture.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/cambridge-history-of-iran-vol-v-the-saljuq-and-mongol-periods-edited-by-j-a-boyle-pp-xiii-762-16-pl-cambridge-university-press-1968-375/500FB3BC61352E3DF36AE63FD5D4CA16|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=V: The Saljuq and Mongol periods|editor=J. A. Boyle|pages=Xiii, 762, 16|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1968|issue=1|doi=10.1017/S0035869X0012965X|s2cid=161828080|access-date=27 October 2021|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027155602/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/cambridge-history-of-iran-vol-v-the-saljuq-and-mongol-periods-edited-by-j-a-boyle-pp-xiii-762-16-pl-cambridge-university-press-1968-375/500FB3BC61352E3DF36AE63FD5D4CA16|url-status=bot: unknown | issn = 0035-869X}}</ref>

==== Ilkhanate (1256–1335)====
{{Main|Ilkhanate}}

[[File:MongolMap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Mongol successor khanates]]

After Genghis's death, Iran was ruled by several Mongol commanders. Genghis' grandson, [[Hulagu Khan]], was tasked with the westward expansion of Mongol dominion. However, by the time he ascended to power, the Mongol Empire had already dissolved, dividing into different factions. Arriving with an army, he established himself in the region and founded the [[Ilkhanate]], a breakaway state of the Mongol Empire, which would rule Iran for the next eighty years and become Persian in the process.

Hulagu Khan seized Baghdad in 1258 and put the last Abbasid caliph to death. The westward advance of his forces was stopped by the [[Bahri dynasty|Mamelukes]], however, at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in 1260. Hulagu's campaigns against the Muslims also enraged [[Berke]], khan of the [[Golden Horde]] and a convert to Islam. Hulagu and Berke fought against each other, demonstrating the weakening unity of the Mongol empire.

The rule of Hulagu's great-grandson, [[Ghazan]] (1295–1304) saw the establishment of Islam as the state religion of the Ilkhanate. Ghazan and his famous Iranian vizier, [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]], brought Iran a partial and brief economic revival. The Mongols lowered taxes for artisans, encouraged agriculture, rebuilt and extended irrigation works, and improved the safety of the trade routes. As a result, commerce increased dramatically.

Items from India, China, and Iran passed easily across the Asian steppes, and these contacts culturally enriched Iran. For example, Iranians developed a new style of painting based on a unique fusion of solid, two-dimensional Mesopotamian painting with the feathery, light brush strokes and other motifs characteristic of China. After Ghazan's nephew [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Said]] died in 1335, however, the Ilkhanate lapsed into civil war and was divided between several petty dynasties – most prominently the [[Jalayirids]], [[Muzaffarids (Iran)|Muzaffarids]], [[Sarbadars]] and [[Kartids]].

The mid-14th-century [[Black Death]] killed about 30% of the country's population.<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/kelly200509140843.asp Q&A with John Kelly on The Great Mortality on National Review Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109165503/http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/kelly200509140843.asp |date=2009-01-09 }}.</ref>

==== Sunnism and Shiism in pre-Safavid Iran ====
{{Main|Islam in Iran}}
[[File:Imam reza shrine in Mashhad.jpg|thumb|[[Imam Reza shrine]], the tomb of the eighth Imam of the twelver Shiites]]
Prior to the rise of the Safavid Empire, Sunni Islam was the dominant religion, accounting for around 90% of the population at the time. According to [[Mortaza Motahhari]] the majority of Iranian scholars and masses remained Sunni until the time of the Safavids.<ref name="Motahhari">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/iran/mutual.htm|title=Islam and Iran: A Historical Study of Mutual Services|work=Al islam|date=2013-03-13|access-date=2007-07-09|archive-date=2013-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730231845/http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/iran/mutual.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The domination of Sunnis did not mean Shia were rootless in Iran. The writers of [[The Four Books]] of Shia were Iranian, as well as many other great Shia scholars.

The domination of the Sunni creed during the first nine Islamic centuries characterized the religious history of Iran during this period. There were however some exceptions to this general domination which emerged in the form of the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydīs]] of [[Tabaristan]] (see [[Alid dynasties of northern Iran]]), the [[Buyids]], the [[Kakuyids]], the rule of [[Öljeitü|Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah]] (r. Shawwal 703-Shawwal 716/1304–1316) and the [[Sarbedaran]].<ref name="al-islam.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/mot/iraqishiism/|title=Four Centuries of Influence of Iraqi Shiism on Pre-Safavid Iran|work=Al islam|date=2013-02-27|access-date=2007-07-09|archive-date=2013-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904232915/http://www.al-islam.org/mot/iraqishiism/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Apart from this domination there existed, firstly, throughout these nine centuries, Shia inclinations among many Sunnis of this land and, secondly, original [[Twelvers|Imami Shiism]] as well as [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī Shiism]] had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from [[Kufa]]h, [[Baghdad]] and later from [[Najaf]] and [[Hillah]].<ref name="al-islam.org"/> Shiism was the dominant sect in [[Tabaristan]], [[Qom]], [[Kashan]], [[Avaj]] and [[Sabzevar]]. In many other areas merged population of Shia and Sunni lived together.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

During the 10th and 11th centuries, [[Fatimids]] sent [[Ismailis]] [[Dawah|Da'i (missioners)]] to Iran as well as other Muslim lands. When Ismailis divided into two sects, [[Nizari]]s established their base in Iran. [[Hassan-i Sabbah]] conquered fortresses and captured [[Alamut]] in 1090 AD. Nizaris used this fortress until a Mongol raid in 1256.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

After the Mongol raid and fall of the Abbasids, Sunni hierarchies faltered. Not only did they lose the caliphate but also the status of official [[madhhab]]. Their loss was the gain of Shia, whose centre wasn't in Iran at that time. Several local Shia dynasties like [[Sarbadars]] were established during this time.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

The main change occurred in the beginning of the 16th century, when [[Ismail I]] founded the [[Safavid dynasty]] and initiated a religious policy to [[Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism|recognize Shi'a Islam as the official religion]] of the [[Safavid Empire]], and the fact that modern Iran remains an officially Shi'ite state is a direct result of Ismail's actions.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

=== Timurid Empire (1370–1507) ===
{{Main|Timurid Empire}}
[[File:Tamerla 1402-1403.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Detailed map of the Timurid Empire with its [[tributary state]]s and sphere of influence in [[Western Asia|Western]]-[[Central Asia]] (1402–1403)]]
[[File:Timur reconstruction03.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Forensic facial reconstruction of [[Turco-Mongol]] conqueror [[Timur]] from skull, performed by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[archaeologist]] and [[anthropologist]] [[Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov]] (1941)]]

Iran remained divided until the arrival of [[Timur]], a [[Turco-Mongol tradition|Turco-Mongol]]<ref>Peter B. Golden ''Central Asia in World History (New Oxford World History)'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), page 94: "He was born some 100 km (62 miles) south of Samarkand into a clan of the Barlas, a Turkicized tribe of Mongol descent."</ref> belonging to the [[Timurid dynasty]]. Like its predecessors, the [[Timurid Empire]] was also part of the Persianate world. After establishing a power base in Transoxiana, Timur invaded Iran in 1381 and eventually conquered most of it. Timur's campaigns were known for their brutality; many people were slaughtered and several cities were destroyed.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov">This section incorporates text from the public domain [[Library of Congress Country Studies]].<br />{{Citation
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080917085548/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ir0018)
| title= Iran: a country study
| chapter =Invasions of the Mongols and Tamerlane 
| series= Library of Congress Country Studies 
|archive-date=17 September 2008
| year = 1989
| first = Helen | last = Chapin Metz
| url = https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/frd/frdcstdy/ir/irancountrystudy00curt_0/irancountrystudy00curt_0_djvu.txt
| url-status= unfit 
}}</ref>

His regime was characterized by tyranny and bloodshed, but also by its inclusion of Iranians in administrative roles and its promotion of architecture and poetry. His successors, the Timurids, maintained a hold on most of Iran until 1452, when they lost the bulk of it to [[Black Sheep Turkmen]]. The Black Sheep Turkmen were conquered by the [[White Sheep Turkmen]] under [[Uzun Hasan]] in 1468; Uzun Hasan and his successors were the masters of Iran until the rise of the Safavids.<ref name="lcweb2.loc.gov"/>

[[Sufi]] poet [[Hafez]]'s popularity became firmly established in the Timurid era that saw the compilation and widespread copying of his ''[[divan]]''. Sufis were often persecuted by orthodox Muslims who considered their teachings [[blasphemous]]. Sufism developed a symbolic language rich with metaphors to obscure poetic references to provocative philosophical teachings. Hafez concealed his own Sufi faith, even as he employed the secret language of Sufism (developed over hundreds of years) in his own work, and he is sometimes credited with having "brought it to perfection".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ladinsky |first1=Daniel James |title=The Gift: Poems by the Great Sufi Master |year=1999 |publisher=Arkana |isbn=978-0-14-019581-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_cdWZkYE_ZQC&dq=women+executed+in+medieval+persia&pg=PA18 |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304144255/https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Gift/_cdWZkYE_ZQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=women+executed+in+medieval+persia&pg=PA18&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> His work was imitated by [[Jami]], whose own popularity grew to spread across the full breadth of the Persianate world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brookshaw |first1=Dominic Parviz |title=Hafiz and His Contemporaries:Poetry, Performance and Patronage in Fourteenth Century Iran |date=28 February 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78672-588-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7qKDwAAQBAJ |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-date=4 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304144130/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hafiz_and_His_Contemporaries/v7qKDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Kara Koyunlu===
{{Main|Kara Koyunlu}}
The Kara Koyunlu were a [[Turkoman (ethnonym)|Turkmen]]<ref>{{citation
| author1= W. B. Fisher | author2= C. E. Bosworth
| year = 2011 | orig-date=1986
| url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/araxes-river#pt2
| title= Araxes River 
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210104154026/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/araxes-river#pt2
| url-status=live 
| archive-date= 4 January 2021
}}<br />"Subsequently, it came under the control of Turkmen dynasties like the Āq Qoyunlū and Qara Qoyunlū and then of local khanates like those of Qara Bāḡ and Naḵǰavān which formed a buffer region between the Ottomans and Safavids."{{pb}}{{cite book |last1=Philippe |first1=Beaujard |title=The Worlds of the Indian Ocean |date=2019 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |chapter=Western Asia: Revival of the Persian Gulf |isbn=978-1-108-34121-9 |pages=515–521}}<br />"In a state of demographic stagnation or downturn, the region was an easy prey for nomadic Turkmen. The Turkmen, however, never managed to build strong states, owing to a lack of sedentary populations (Martinez-Gros 2009: 643). When Tamerlane died in 1405, the Jalāyerid sultan Ahmad, who had fled Iraq, came back to Baghdad. Five years later, he died in Tabriz (1410) in a battle led against the Turkmen Kara Koyunlu ("[Those of the] Black Sheep"), who took Baghdad in 1412."{{pb}}{{cite web |title=Kara Koyunlu |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kara-Koyunlu |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2020-07-16 |archive-date=2019-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322033432/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kara-Koyunlu |url-status=live }}<br />"Kara Koyunlu, also spelled Qara Qoyunlu, Turkish Karakoyunlular, English Black Sheep, Turkmen tribal federation that ruled Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468."{{pb}}{{cite book |title=The Book of Dede Korkut |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofdedekorkut0000unse |url-access=registration |date=1972 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-70787-8 |at=Introduction |edition=F.Sumer, A.Uysal, W.Walker}}</ref> tribal federation that ruled over northwestern Iran and surrounding areas from 1374 to 1468 CE. The Kara Koyunlu expanded their conquest to Baghdad, however, internal fighting, defeats by the [[Timurids]], rebellions by the [[Armenians]] in response to their persecution,<ref>Kouymjian. "Armenia", pp. 6–7.</ref> and failed struggles with the [[Ag Qoyunlu]] led to their eventual demise.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopedia of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea|url-access=limited|last=Stearns|first=Peter N.|author2=Leonard, William|year=2001|publisher=Houghton Muffin Books|isbn=0-395-65237-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00stea/page/n2448 122]}}</ref>

=== Ak Koyunlu ===
{{Main|Ak Koyunlu}}
[[File:Map Aq Qoyunlu 1478-en.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The [[Aq Qoyunlu]] confederation at its greatest extent.]]
Aq Qoyunlu were Turkmen<ref>{{cite web |title=Ak Koyunlu |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ak-Koyunlu |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=2020-07-16 |archive-date=2020-04-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426102626/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ak-Koyunlu |url-status=live }} "AK Koyunlu, also spelled Aq Qoyunlu ("White Sheep"), '''Turkmen''' tribal federation that ruled northern Iraq, Azerbaijan, and eastern Anatolia from 1378 to 1508..."</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Türkmen Ak koyunlu İmparatorluğu: Türkmen Ak koyunlu İmparatorluğu makaleler antolojisi (in Turkish) |date=2003 |publisher=Grafiker |isbn=975-92721-7-2 |page=418}}</ref> under the leadership of the [[Bayandur]] tribe,<ref>C.E.Bosworth and R.Bulliet, ''The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual '', Columbia University Press, 1996, {{ISBN|0-231-10714-5}}, p. 275.</ref> tribal federation of Sunni Muslims who ruled over most of Iran and large parts of surrounding areas from 1378 to 1501 CE. Aq Qoyunlu emerged when [[Timur]] granted them all of [[Diyar Bakr]] in present-day Turkey. Afterward, they struggled with their rival Oghuz Turks, the [[Qara Qoyunlu]]. While the Aq Qoyunlu were successful in defeating Kara Koyunlu, their struggle with the emerging [[Safavid dynasty]] led to their downfall.<ref>Woods, John E. (1998) ''The Ak kuyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire,'' University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, p. 128, {{ISBN|0-87480-565-1}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Early modern era (1502-1925)}}Early modern period==
Persia underwent a revival under the [[Safavids|Safavid dynasty]] (1502–1736), the most prominent figure of which was [[Abbas I of Safavid|Shah Abbas I]]. Some historians credit the Safavid dynasty for founding the modern nation-state of Iran. Iran's contemporary Shia character, and significant segments of Iran's current borders take their origin from this era (''e.g. [[Treaty of Zuhab]]'').

===Safavid Empire (1501–1736)===
{{Main|Safavid Empire}}
{{See also|Ottoman–Persian wars|Safavid conversion of Iran to Shia Islam}}
[[File:Safavid Empire 1501 1722 AD.png|thumb|350px|The [[Safavid Empire]] (1501–1736) at its greatest extent]]

The Safavid dynasty was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran, and "is often considered the beginning of modern Persian history".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | first = Rudi
| last= Mathee
| year = 2008
| title= Safavid Dynasty
 | encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Iranica | url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids | access-date= 2014-06-02 | archive-date= 2019-05-24 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190524085947/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/safavids | url-status= live }}</ref> They ruled one of the greatest Persian empires after the [[Muslim conquest of Persia]]<ref>{{ cite book
| editor-link= Helen Chapin Metz
|editor-last= Chapin Metz| editor-first = Helen
| title=Iran, a Country study | year=1989
| publisher= University of Michigan | page = 313}}{{pb}}{{ cite book 
| first = Emory C. | last =Bogle
| title=Islam: Origin and Belief
| publisher=University of Texas Press
| year=1989 | page =145}}{{pb}}{{cite book
| first = Stanford Jay | last=Shaw
| title=History of the Ottoman Empire
| publisher=Cambridge University Press
| year=1977 | page= 77}}{{pb}}Andrew J. Newman, Safavid Iran: ''Rebirth of a Persian Empire'', I.B. Tauris (30 March 2006).</ref> and established the [[Twelver]] school of [[Imamate (Twelver doctrine)|Shi'a Islam]]<ref name="savoryeiref"/> as the [[official religion]] of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in [[Muslim history]]. The Safavids ruled from 1501 to 1722 (experiencing a brief restoration from 1729 to 1736) and at their height, they controlled all of modern Iran, [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Armenia]], most of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], the [[North Caucasus]], [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]] and [[Afghanistan]], as well as parts of [[Turkey]], [[Syria]], [[Pakistan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]]. Safavid Iran was one of the Islamic "[[Gunpowder Empires|gunpowder empires]]", along with its neighbours, its archrival and principal enemy the [[Ottoman Empire]], as well as the [[Mughal Empire]].

The Safavid ruling dynasty was founded by Ismāil, who styled himself [[Ismail I|Shāh Ismāil I]].<ref name="ismailsafaviiranica">
{{citation
| first1= Roger M. | last1=Savory
| first2= Ahmet T. | last2=Karamustafa
| year = 2012 | orig-date=1998
| url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/esmail-i-safawi
| title= Esmāʿīl I Ṣafawī
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190725111610/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/esmail-i-safawi
| url-status=live 
| archive-date= 25 July 2019
| volume=VIII/6
| pages = 628–636
}}

</ref> Practically worshipped by his [[Qizilbash|Qizilbāsh]] followers, Ismāil invaded [[Shirvan]] to avenge the death of his father, [[Shaykh Haydar]], who had been killed during his siege of [[Derbent]], in Dagestan. Afterwards he went on a campaign of conquest, and following the capture of [[Tabriz]] in July 1501, he enthroned himself as the Shāh of Iran,<ref>{{ cite journal
| first = Richard | last = Tapper
| title= Shāhsevan in Ṣafavid Persia
| journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
| volume=37 | number=3 | year =1974
| jstor= 612582
| publisher =Cambridge University Press 
| pages = 321–354
| doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00136286
| s2cid = 177504456
}}</ref>{{rp|324}}<ref>Lawrence Davidson, Arthur Goldschmid, ''A Concise History of the Middle East'', Westview Press, 2006, p. 153</ref><ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377424/Safavid-dynasty "Safavid dynasty"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120194533/http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377424/Safavid-dynasty |date=2008-01-20 }}, Britannica Concise. Online Edition 2007</ref> minted coins in this name, and proclaimed Shi'ism the official religion of his domain.<ref name="savoryeiref" />

Although initially the masters of Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan only, the Safavids had, in fact, won the struggle for power in Persia which had been going on for nearly a century between various dynasties and political forces following the fragmentation of the [[Kara Koyunlu]] and the [[Aq Qoyunlu]]. A year after his victory in Tabriz, Ismāil proclaimed most of Persia as his domain, and<ref name="savoryeiref" /> quickly conquered and unified Iran under his rule. Soon afterwards, the new Safavid Empire rapidly conquered regions, nations, and peoples in all directions, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, parts of Georgia, [[Mesopotamia]] (Iraq), Kuwait, Syria, [[Dagestan]], large parts of what is now Afghanistan, parts of Turkmenistan, and large chunks of Anatolia, laying the foundation of its multi-ethnic character which would heavily influence the empire itself (most notably the Caucasus and [[Peoples of the Caucasus|its peoples]]).

[[File:ShahAbbasPortraitFromItalianPainter.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Portrait of Shah Abbas I]]

[[Tahmasp I]], the son and successor of [[Ismail I]], carried out multiple invasions in the Caucasus which had been incorporated in the [[Safavid empire]] since Shah Ismail I and for many centuries afterwards, and started with the trend of deporting and moving hundreds of thousands of [[Circassians]], [[Georgians]], and [[Armenians]] to Iran's heartlands. Initially only solely put in the royal harems, royal guards, and minor other sections of the Empire, Tahmasp believed he could eventually reduce the power of the [[Qizilbash]], by creating and fully integrating a new layer in Iranian society. As ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' states, for Tahmasp, the problem circled around the military tribal elite of the empire, the Qizilbash, who believed that physical proximity to and control of a member of the immediate Safavid family guaranteed spiritual advantages, political fortune, and material advancement.<ref>{{citation 
| last = Mitchell| first=Colin P.
| year = 2009
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tahmasp-i|title=Ṭahmāsp I
|access-date=12 May 2015|archive-date=17 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517061306/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tahmasp-i|url-status=live}}</ref> With this new Caucasian layer in Iranian society, the undisputed might of the Qizilbash (who functioned much like the ''[[Ghazi (warrior)|ghazis]]'' of the neighbouring [[Ottoman Empire]]) would be questioned and fully diminished as society would become fully [[Meritocracy|meritocratic]].

Shah [[Abbas I of Persia|Abbas I]] and his successors would significantly expand this policy and plan initiated by Tahmasp, deporting during his reign alone around some 200,000 [[Georgians]], 300,000 [[Armenians]] and 100,000–150,000 [[Circassians]] to Iran, completing the foundation of a new layer in Iranian society. With this, and the complete systematic disorganisation of the Qizilbash by his personal orders, he eventually fully succeeded in replacing the power of the Qizilbash, with that of the [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]] ghulams. These new Caucasian elements (the so-called ''[[ghilman]]'' / غِلْمَان / ''"servants"''), almost always after conversion to [[Shia Islam|Shi'ism]] depending on given function would be, unlike the Qizilbash, fully loyal only to the Shah. The other masses of Caucasians were deployed in all other possible functions and positions available in the empire, as well as in the [[harem]], regular military, craftsmen, farmers, etc. This system of mass usage of Caucasian subjects remained to exist until the fall of the [[Qajar dynasty]].

[[File:როსტომ ხანი.gif|thumb|upright|[[Rostom of Kartli|Rostom]] (also known as ''Rustam Khan''), viceroy of [[Kingdom of Kartli|Kartli]], eastern Georgia, from 1633 to 1658|alt=]]

The greatest of the Safavid monarchs, [[Shah Abbas I the Great]] (1587–1629) came to power in 1587 aged 16. Abbas I first fought the Uzbeks, recapturing [[Herat]] and Mashhad in 1598, which had been lost by his predecessor [[Mohammad Khodabanda]] by the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590)]]. Then he turned against the Ottomans, the archrivals of the Safavids, recapturing Baghdad, eastern Iraq, the Caucasian provinces, and beyond [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–1618)|by 1618]]. Between 1616 and 1618, following the disobedience of his most loyal Georgian subjects [[Teimuraz I of Kakheti|Teimuraz I]] and [[Luarsab II of Kartli|Luarsab II]], Abbas carried out a punitive campaign in his territories of Georgia, devastating [[Kakheti]] and [[Tbilisi]] and carrying away 130,000<ref>Eskandar Beg, pp. 900–901, tr. Savory, II, p. 1116</ref> – 200,000{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|pages=291, 536}}<ref>{{citation
 |last1=Matthee |first1=Rudi |title=GEORGIA vii. Georgians in the Safavid Administration |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/georgia-vii- 
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| volume=X/5 | pages= 493–496
|orig-date= 2001 |year =2012 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519082609/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/georgia-vii- |url-status=live }}</ref> Georgian captives towards mainland Iran. His new army, which had dramatically been improved with the advent of [[Robert Shirley]] and his brothers following the [[Persian embassy to Europe (1599–1602)|first diplomatic mission to Europe]], pitted the first crushing victory over the Safavids' archrivals, the Ottomans in the above-mentioned 1603–1618 war and would surpass the Ottomans in military strength. He also used his new force to dislodge the Portuguese from [[Bahrain]] (1602) and [[Hormuz Island|Hormuz]] (1622) with aid of the English navy, in the Persian Gulf.

He expanded commercial links with the [[Dutch East India Company]] and established firm links with the European royal houses, which had been initiated by Ismail I earlier on by the [[Habsburg–Persian alliance]]. Thus Abbas I was able to break the dependence on the Qizilbash for military might and therefore was able to centralize control.
The Safavid dynasty had already established itself during Shah Ismail I, but under Abbas I it really became a major power in the world along with its archrival the Ottoman Empire, against whom it became able to compete with on equal foot. It also started the promotion of tourism in Iran. Under their rule Persian Architecture flourished again and saw many new monuments in various Iranian cities, of which [[Isfahan]] is the most notable example.

Except for Shah [[Abbas the Great]], Shah [[Ismail I]], Shah [[Tahmasp I]], and Shah [[Abbas II of Persia|Abbas II]], many of the Safavid rulers were ineffectual, often being more interested in their women, alcohol and other leisure activities. The end of Abbas II's reign in 1666, marked the beginning of the end of the Safavid dynasty. Despite falling revenues and military threats, many of the later shahs had lavish lifestyles. Shah Soltan Hosain (1694–1722) in particular was known for his love of wine and disinterest in governance.<ref>Mottahedeh, Roy, ''The Mantle of the Prophet : Religion and Politics in Iran'', One World, Oxford, 1985, 2000, p.204</ref>

The declining country was repeatedly raided on its frontiers. Finally, [[Ghilzai]] [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] chieftain named [[Mirwais Hotak|Mir Wais Khan]] began a rebellion in [[Kandahar]] and defeated the Safavid army under the Iranian Georgian governor over the region, [[Gurgin Khan]]. In 1722, [[Peter the Great]] of neighbouring [[Imperial Russia]] launched the [[Russo-Persian War (1722–1723)]], capturing many of Iran's Caucasian territories, including [[Derbent]], [[Shaki, Azerbaijan|Shaki]], [[Baku]], but also [[Gilan]], [[Mazandaran]] and [[Astrabad]]. In the midst of chaos, in the same year of 1722, an Afghan army led by Mir Wais' son [[Mahmud Hotak|Mahmud]] marched across eastern Iran, [[Siege of Isfahan|besieged and took Isfahan]]. Mahmud proclaimed himself 'Shah' of Persia. Meanwhile, Persia's imperial rivals, the Ottomans and the Russians, took advantage of the chaos in the country to seize more territory for themselves.<ref>[[Michael Axworthy]], biography of Nader, ''The Sword of Persia'' (I.B. Tauris, 2006) pp. 17–56</ref> By these events, the Safavid dynasty had effectively ended. In 1724, conform the [[Treaty of Constantinople (1724)|Treaty of Constantinople]], the Ottomans and the Russians agreed to divide the newly conquered territories of Iran amongst themselves.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=1024}}

===Nader Shah and his successors===
{{Main|Afsharid dynasty|Zand dynasty}}
[[File:NaderShahPainting.png|thumb|[[Nader Shah]]]]
[[File:Afsharid Iran 1741.png|thumb|left|The Afsharid Empire at its greatest extent in 1741–1745 under [[Nader Shah]]]]
Iran's territorial integrity was restored by a native Iranian [[Turkic people|Turkic]] [[Afsharid|Afshar]] warlord from Khorasan, [[Nader Shah]]. He defeated and banished the Afghans, [[Ottoman–Persian War (1730–35)|defeated the Ottomans]], [[Restoration of Tahmasp II to the Safavid throne|reinstalled the Safavids on the throne]], and negotiated Russian withdrawal from Iran's Caucasian territories, with the [[Treaty of Resht]] and [[Treaty of Ganja]]. By 1736, Nader had become so powerful he was able to depose the Safavids and have himself crowned shah. To financially support his wars against Persia's arch-rival, the [[Ottoman Empire]], he fixed his sights on the weak but rich [[Mughal Empire]] to the east. In 1739, accompanied by his loyal Caucasian subjects including [[Erekle II]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITnRAAAAMAAJ|title=The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, 1658–1832
| page=142
|isbn=978-0-231-93710-8 |last1=Lang |first1=David Marshall |year=1957 |publisher=Columbia University Press
}}</ref><ref name="The Making of the Georgian Nation">{{Cite book|last=Suny|first=Ronald Grigor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riW0kKzat2sC&dq=erekle+appointed+king+of+kakheti+by+nader+shah&pg=PA55|title=The Making of the Georgian Nation, Second Edition|date=1994-10-22|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-20915-3|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|55}} he [[Nader Shah's invasion of India|invaded Mughal India]], defeated a numerically superior Mughal army in [[Battle of Karnal|less than three hours]], and [[Sack of Delhi|completely sacked and looted Delhi]], bringing back immense wealth to Persia. On his way back, he also conquered all the Uzbek khanates – except for [[Kokand]] – and made the Uzbeks his vassals. He also firmly re-established Persian rule over the entire Caucasus, Bahrain, as well as large parts of Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Undefeated for years, his defeat in [[Nader's Dagestan campaign|Dagestan]], following guerrilla rebellions by the [[Lezgins]] and the assassination attempt on him near [[Mazandaran province|Mazandaran]] is often considered the turning point in Nader's impressive career. To his frustration, the Dagestanis resorted to guerrilla warfare, and Nader with his conventional army could make little headway against them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tucker|first=Spencer C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5_tSnygvbIC&pg=PA739|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East
| page=739
| series= 6 volumes |date=2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-672-5|language=en}}</ref> At the [[Battle of Andalal]] and the Battle of Avaria, Nader's army was crushingly defeated and he lost half of his entire force, as well forcing him to flee for the mountains.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAYhAQAAMAAJ
|year=2000 |isbn=978-0-7734-3194-2
| first = Ramazan Gadzhimuradovich | last= Abdulatipov 
 | title = Russia and the Caucasus: On the Arduous Path to Unity 
| publisher= Edwin Mellen Press
| page=15
 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2023|reason=self-published source}} Though Nader managed to take most of [[Dagestan]] during his campaign, the effective guerrilla warfare as deployed by the Lezgins, but also the [[Avar people (Caucasus)|Avars]] and [[Gazikumukh Khanate|Laks]] made the Iranian re-conquest of the particular [[North Caucasus|North Caucasian]] region this time a short lived one; several years later, Nader [[Nader's Dagestan campaign|was forced to withdraw]]. Around the same time, the assassination attempt was made on him near Mazandaran which accelerated the course of history; he slowly grew ill and megalomaniac, blinding his sons whom he suspected of the assassination attempts, and showing increasing cruelty against his subjects and officers. In his later years this eventually provoked multiple revolts and, ultimately, Nader's assassination in 1747.<ref>Axworthy ''Iran: Empire of the Mind'' (Penguin, 2008) pp. 152–167</ref>

Nader's death was followed by a [[Division of the Afsharid Empire|period of anarchy in Iran as rival army commanders fought for power]]. Nader's own family, the Afsharids, were soon reduced to holding on to a small domain in Khorasan. Many of the Caucasian territories broke away in various [[Khanates of the Caucasus|Caucasian khanates]]. Ottomans regained lost territories in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. [[Oman]] and the Uzbek khanates of [[Bukhara]] and [[Khiva]] regained independence. [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], one of Nader's officers, founded an independent state which eventually became modern Afghanistan. [[Erekle II]] and [[Teimuraz II of Kakheti|Teimuraz II]], who, in 1744, had been made the kings of [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]] and [[Kingdom of Kartli|Kartli]] respectively by Nader himself for their loyal service,<ref name="The Making of the Georgian Nation" />{{rp|55}} capitalized on the eruption of instability, and declared ''de facto'' independence. Erekle II assumed control over Kartli after Teimuraz II's death, thus unifying the two as the [[Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti]], becoming the first Georgian ruler in three centuries to preside over a politically unified eastern Georgia,<ref>{{citation
| first = Keith | last = Hitchins
| year = 2012 | orig-date=1998
| url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/erekle-ii
| title= Erekle II
| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Iranica
| volume=VIII/5
| pages = 541–542
| editor-last= Yarshater | editor-first= Ehsan
|isbn=978-0-7100-9090-4
}}</ref> and due to the frantic turn of events in mainland Iran he would be able to remain ''de facto'' autonomous through the [[Zand dynasty|Zand]] period.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} From his capital [[Shiraz]], [[Karim Khan Zand|Karim Khan]] of the [[Zand dynasty]] ruled "an island of relative calm and peace in an otherwise bloody and destructive period,"<ref>Axworthy p.168</ref> however the extent of Zand power was confined to contemporary Iran and parts of the Caucasus. Karim Khan's death in 1779 led to yet another civil war in which the [[Qajar dynasty]] eventually triumphed and became kings of Iran. During the civil war, Iran permanently lost [[Basra]] in 1779 to the Ottomans, which had been captured during the [[Ottoman–Persian War (1775–76)]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMkUAAAAIAAJ|title=British Interests in the Persian Gulf|first=ʻAbd al-Amīr Muḥammad|last=Amīn|date=1 January 1967|publisher=Brill Archive|access-date=10 August 2016|archive-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219023233/https://books.google.com/books?id=lMkUAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Bahrain]] to [[Al Khalifa family]] after [[1782–83 unrest in Bahrain|Bani Utbah invasion]] in 1783.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

==Late modern period==

===Qajar dynasty (1796–1925)===
{{Main|Qajar dynasty|Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)}}
{{See also|Battle of Krtsanisi|Treaty of Gulistan|Treaty of Turkmenchay|Iranian Constitutional Revolution}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Mihr 'Ali (Iranian, active ca. 1800-1830). Portrait of Fath 'Ali Shah Qajar, 1815.jpg|[[Mihr 'Ali]] (Iranian, active ca. 1800–1830). Portrait of [[Fath-Ali Shah Qajar]]. [[Brooklyn Museum]].
File:Yek toman qajar.jpg|Qajar era currency bill with depiction of [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar]].
File:Map Iran 1900-en.png|A map of Iran under the [[Qajar dynasty]] in the 19th century.
File:Gulistan-Treaty.jpg|A map showing the 19th-century northwestern borders of Iran, comprising modern-day eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Armenia]], and the [[Azerbaijan|Republic of Azerbaijan]], before being ceded to the neighboring [[Russian Empire]] by the [[Russo-Persian Wars|Russo-Iranian wars]].
</gallery>
[[Agha Mohammad Khan]] emerged victorious out of the civil war that commenced with the death of the last Zand king. His reign is noted for the reemergence of a centrally led and united Iran. After the death of Nader Shah and the last of the Zands, most of Iran's Caucasian territories had broken away into various [[Khanates of the Caucasus|Caucasian khanates]]. Agha Mohammad Khan, like the Safavid kings and Nader Shah before him, viewed the region as no different from the territories in mainland Iran. Therefore, his first objective after having secured mainland Iran, was to reincorpate the Caucasus region into Iran.{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=409}} Georgia was seen as one of the most integral territories.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} For Agha Mohammad Khan, the resubjugation and reintegration of Georgia into the Iranian Empire was part of the same process that had brought [[Shiraz]], [[Isfahan]], and [[Tabriz]] under his rule.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} As the ''[[Cambridge History of Iran]]'' states, its permanent secession was inconceivable and had to be resisted in the same way as one would resist an attempt at the separation of [[Fars province|Fars]] or [[Gilan Province|Gilan]].{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}} It was therefore natural for Agha Mohammad Khan to perform whatever necessary means in the Caucasus in order to subdue and reincorporate the recently lost regions following Nader Shah's death and the demise of the Zands, including putting down what in Iranian eyes was seen as treason on the part of the ''[[Wali (administrative title)|wali]]'' (viceroy) of Georgia, namely the Georgian king [[Erekle II]] (Heraclius II) who was appointed viceroy of Georgia by Nader Shah himself.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=328}}

Agha Mohammad Khan subsequently demanded that Heraclius II renounce [[Treaty of Georgievsk|its 1783 treaty with Russia]], and to submit again to Persian suzerainty,{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2011|p=409}} in return for peace and the security of his kingdom. The Ottomans, Iran's neighboring rival, recognized the latter's rights over [[Kartli]] and [[Kakheti]] for the first time in four centuries.<ref name="Donald Rayfield p 255">{{Cite book|last=Rayfield|first=Donald|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxQpmg_JIpwC&pg=PA255|title=Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia|date=2013
|page=255|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-070-2|language=en}}</ref> Heraclius appealed then to his theoretical protector, Empress [[Catherine II of Russia]], pleading for at least 3,000 Russian troops,<ref name="Donald Rayfield p 255"/> but he was ignored, leaving Georgia to fend off the Persian threat alone.<ref name="Lang">{{ cite book
| author-link=David Marshall Lang
| last= Lang | first=David Marshall
| year=1962
| title=A Modern History of Georgia
| page = 38
| place=London
| publisher= Weidenfeld and Nicolson}}
<!-- every 1962 edition of this book I've found on gbooks is published by Grove Press, and entitled "A Modern History of Soviet Georgia". The edition with the title present in the citation is a 2001 edition published by Curzon. I'm sure we can source this claim elsewhere if nobody has a copy of this book with a page 38 and frontispiece -->
</ref> Nevertheless, Heraclius II still rejected the Khan's [[ultimatum]].<ref name="Suny">[[Ronald Grigor Suny|Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation'', p. 59. [[Indiana University Press]], {{ISBN|0-253-20915-3}}</ref> As a response, Agha Mohammad Khan invaded the Caucasus region after crossing the [[Aras river]], and, while on his way to Georgia, he re-subjugated Iran's territories of the [[Erivan Khanate]], [[Shirvan]], [[Nakhchivan Khanate]], [[Ganja khanate]], [[Derbent Khanate]], [[Baku khanate]], [[Talysh Khanate]], [[Shaki Khanate]], [[Karabakh Khanate]], which comprise modern-day [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Dagestan]], and [[Iğdır Province|Igdir]]. Having reached Georgia with his large army, he prevailed in the [[Battle of Krtsanisi]], which resulted in the capture and sack of [[Tbilisi]], as well as the effective resubjugation of Georgia.<ref name="books.google.nl3">{{Cite book|last=Axworthy|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9HyyYrPIGgC&pg=PT192|title=Iran: Empire of the Mind: A History from Zoroaster to the Present Day|date=2008-11-06|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-0-14-190341-5|language=en}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=Agha Muhammad Khan remained nine days in the vicinity of Tiflis. His victory proclaimed the restoration of Iranian military power in the region formerly under Safavid domination.|title=The Cambridge History of Iran |first=William Bayne |last=Fisher |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=7 |year=1991 |pages=128–129 }}</ref> Upon his return from his successful campaign in Tbilisi and in effective control over Georgia, together with some 15,000 Georgian captives that were moved back to mainland Iran,<ref name="Lang"/> Agha Mohammad was formally crowned [[Shah]] in 1796 in the [[Mughan plain]], just as his predecessor Nader Shah was about sixty years earlier.

Agha Mohammad Shah was later assassinated while preparing a second expedition against Georgia in 1797 in [[Shusha]]{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=329}} (now part of the [[Republic of Azerbaijan]]) and the seasoned king Heraclius died early in 1798. The reassertion of Iranian hegemony over Georgia did not last long; in 1799 the Russians marched into Tbilisi.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Aleksei 
| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_8niIYSTqToC&pg=PA204|title=Imperial Rule|last2=Rieber|first2=Alfred J.|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Central European University Press
| page = 204 n. 48
| series = Pasts Incorporated. CEU Studies in the Humanities
| volume= 1
|isbn=978-963-9241-98-5|language=en}}</ref> The Russians were already actively occupied with an expansionist policy towards its neighboring empires to its south, namely the Ottoman Empire and the successive Iranian kingdoms since the late 17th/early 18th century. The next two years following Russia's entrance into Tbilisi were a time of confusion, and the weakened and devastated Georgian kingdom, with its capital half in ruins, was easily [[Georgia within the Russian Empire|absorbed by Russia]] in 1801.<ref name="Lang"/><ref name="Suny"/> As Iran could not permit or allow the cession of [[Transcaucasia]] and Dagestan, which had been an integral part of Iran for centuries,{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|pp=329–330}} this would lead directly to the wars of several years later, namely the [[Russo-Persian Wars]] of [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)|1804-1813]] and [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|1826–1828]]. The outcome of these two wars (in the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] and the [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]], respectively) proved for the irrevocable forced cession and loss of what is now eastern [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Dagestan]], [[Armenia]], and [[Azerbaijan]] to Imperial Russia.{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=329-330}}<ref name="books.google.nl3"/>

The area to the north of the river [[Aras (river)|Aras]], among which the territory of the contemporary republic of Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia in the course of the 19th century.<ref name="Swietochowski Borderland">{{cite book|last=Swietochowski|first=Tadeusz|author-link=Tadeusz Swietochowski|year=1995|title=Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition|pages=69, 133|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|isbn=978-0-231-07068-3|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174716/https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=L. Batalden|first=Sandra|year=1997|title=The newly independent states of Eurasia: handbook of former Soviet republics|page=98|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WFjPAxhBEaEC
|isbn=978-0-89774-940-4|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174717/https://books.google.com/books?id=WFjPAxhBEaEC
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{Cite book|last=Dowling|first=Timothy C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728|title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond | series =2 volumes|date=2014-12-02|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-948-6|language=en
|pages = 728–729}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=E. Ebel, Robert|first=Menon, Rajan|year=2000|title=Energy and conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus|page=181|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-sCpf26vBZ0C
|isbn=978-0-7425-0063-1|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174720/https://books.google.com/books?id=-sCpf26vBZ0C
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Andreeva|first=Elena|year=2010|title=Russia and Iran in the great game: travelogues and orientalism|page=6|edition=reprint|publisher=Taylor & Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|isbn=978-0-415-78153-4|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174721/https://books.google.com/books?id=FfRYRwAACAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Çiçek, Kemal|first=Kuran, Ercüment|year=2000|title=The Great Ottoman-Turkish Civilisation|publisher=University of Michigan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5VpAAAAMAAJ
|isbn=978-975-6782-18-7|access-date=2015-06-20|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174723/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5VpAAAAMAAJ
|url-status=live}}{{pb}}{{cite book|last=Ernest Meyer, Karl|first=Blair Brysac, Shareen|year=2006|title=Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia|page=66|publisher=Basic Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssv-GONnxTsC
|isbn=978-0-465-04576-1|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2015-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713174725/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ssv-GONnxTsC
|url-status=live}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
File:Battle Between Persians and Russians - State Hermitage Museum.jpg|Painting showing the [[Battle of Sultanabad]], 13 February 1812. [[State Hermitage Museum]].
File:Russian troops storming Lankaran fortress, January 13th, 1813..jpg|[[Storming of Lankaran]], 1812. Painted by [[Franz Roubaud]].
File:%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4_%D0%95%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BC.jpeg|Battle of [[Elisabethpol]] ([[Ganja, Azerbaijan|Ganja]]), 1828. Franz Roubaud. Part of the collection of the Museum for History, [[Baku]].
</gallery>

===Migration of Caucasian Muslims===
{{See also|Ayrums|Qarapapaqs|Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians}}
[[File:Persian Cossack Brigade.jpg|right|thumb|Persian Cossack Brigade in [[Tabriz]] in 1909]]
Following the official loss of vast territories in the Caucasus, major demographic shifts were bound to take place. Following the 1804–1814 war, but also per the 1826–1828 war which ceded the last territories, large migrations, so-called [[Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians|Caucasian Muhajirs]], set off to migrate to mainland Iran. Some of these groups included the [[Ayrums]], [[Qarapapaqs]], [[Circassians]], Shia [[Lezgins]], and other [[Transcaucasus|Transcaucasian]] Muslims.<ref name="Caucasus Survey">{{cite web|url=http://www.caucasus-survey.org/vol1-no2/yemelianova-islam-nationalism-state-muslim-caucasus.php|title=Caucasus Survey|access-date=23 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415070826/http://www.caucasus-survey.org/vol1-no2/yemelianova-islam-nationalism-state-muslim-caucasus.php|archive-date=15 April 2015}}</ref>

After the [[Battle of Ganja (1804)|Battle of Ganja of 1804]] during the [[Russo-Persian War (1804–1813)]], many thousands of Ayrums and Qarapapaqs were settled in Tabriz. During the remaining part of the 1804–1813 war, as well as through the [[Russo-Persian War (1826–1828)|1826–1828 war]], a large number of the Ayrums and Qarapapaqs that were still remaining in newly conquered Russian territories were settled in and migrated to [[Solduz]] (in modern-day Iran's [[West Azerbaijan province]]).<ref name="Mansoori">{{cite book|last=Mansoori|first=Firooz|title=Studies in History, Language and Culture of Azerbaijan|year=2008|publisher=Hazar-e Kerman|location=Tehran|isbn=978-600-90271-1-8|page=245|chapter=17|language=fa}}</ref> As the ''[[Cambridge History of Iran]]'' states; "The steady encroachment of Russian troops along the frontier in the Caucasus, General [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|Yermolov]]'s brutal punitive expeditions and misgovernment, drove large numbers of Muslims, and even some Georgian Christians, into exile in Iran."{{sfn|Fisher|Avery|Hambly|Melville|1991|p=336}}

From 1864 until the early 20th century, [[Ethnic cleansing of Circassians|another mass expulsion took place]] of Caucasian Muslims as a result of the Russian victory in the [[Caucasian War]]. Others simply voluntarily refused to live under Christian Russian rule, and thus departed for Turkey or Iran. These migrations once again, towards Iran, included masses of Caucasian [[Azerbaijanis]], other Transcaucasian Muslims, as well as many North Caucasian Muslims, such as Circassians, Shia Lezgins and [[Lak people (Dagestan)|Laks]].<ref name="Caucasus Survey"/><ref>А. Г. Булатова. Лакцы (XIX — нач. XX вв.). Историко-этнографические очерки. — Махачкала, 2000.</ref>
Many of these migrants would prove to play a pivotal role in further Iranian history, as they formed most of the ranks of the [[Persian Cossack Brigade]], which was established in the late 19th century.<ref name="mepc.org">{{cite web|url=http://mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/iranian-armed-forces-politics-revolution-and-war-part-one?print|title=The Iranian Armed Forces in Politics, Revolution and War: Part One|access-date=23 May 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165712/http://mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/iranian-armed-forces-politics-revolution-and-war-part-one?print|url-status=live}}</ref> The initial ranks of the brigade would be entirely composed of [[Circassians]] and other Caucasian Muhajirs.<ref name="mepc.org"/> This brigade would prove decisive in the following decades in Qajar history.

Furthermore, the 1828 [[Treaty of Turkmenchay]] included the official rights for the Russian Empire to encourage settling of [[Armenians]] from Iran in the newly conquered Russian territories.<ref>"Griboedov not only extended protection to those Caucasian captives who sought to go home but actively promoted the return of even those who did not volunteer. Large numbers of Georgian and Armenian captives had lived in Iran since 1804 or as far back as 1795."
Fisher, William Bayne;Avery, Peter; Gershevitch, Ilya; Hambly, Gavin; Melville, Charles. ''The Cambridge History of Iran'' Cambridge University Press, 1991. p. 339.</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://feb-web.ru/feb/griboed/texts/piks3/3_4_v3.htm A. S. Griboyedov. "Записка о переселеніи армянъ изъ Персіи въ наши области"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113142046/http://feb-web.ru/feb/griboed/texts/piks3/3_4_v3.htm |date=13 January 2016 }}, Фундаментальная Электронная Библиотека</ref> Until the mid-fourteenth century, Armenians had constituted a majority in [[Eastern Armenia]].{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=11, 13–14}} 
At the close of the fourteenth century, after [[Timur]]'s campaigns, the [[Timurid Renaissance]] flourished, and Islam had become the dominant faith, and Armenians became a minority in Eastern Armenia. {{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=11, 13–14}} After centuries of constant warfare on the [[Armenian plateau]], many Armenians chose to emigrate and settle elsewhere. Following [[Shah Abbas I]]'s massive relocation of Armenians and Muslims in 1604–05,<ref>[[Arakel of Tabriz]]. ''The Books of Histories''; chapter 4. Quote: "[The Shah] deep inside understood that he would be unable to resist Sinan Pasha, i.e. the Sardar of Jalaloghlu, in a[n open] battle. Therefore he ordered to relocate the whole population of Armenia - Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, to Persia, so that the Ottomans find the country depopulated."</ref> their numbers dwindled even further.

At the time of the Russian invasion of Iran, some 80% of the population of [[Iranian Armenia (1502–1828)|Iranian Armenia]] were Muslims ([[Persian people|Persians]], [[Turkic peoples|Turkics]], and [[Kurds]]) whereas Christian [[Armenians]] constituted a minority of about 20%.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=12–13}} As a result of the [[Treaty of Gulistan]] (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), Iran was forced to cede Iranian Armenia (which also constituted the present-day [[Armenia]]), to the Russians.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=1–2}}{{sfn|Mikaberidze|2015|page=141}} After the Russian administration took hold of Iranian Armenia, the ethnic make-up shifted, and thus for the first time in more than four centuries, ethnic Armenians started to form a majority once again in one part of historic Armenia.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=14}} The new Russian administration encouraged the settling of ethnic Armenians from Iran proper and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turkey]]. As a result, by 1832, the number of ethnic Armenians had matched that of the Muslims.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|pages=12–13}} It would be only after the [[Crimean War]] and the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878]], which brought another influx of Turkish Armenians, that ethnic Armenians once again established a solid majority in [[Eastern Armenia]].{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=13}} Nevertheless, the city of Erivan retained a Muslim majority up to the twentieth century.{{sfn|Bournoutian|1980|page=13}} According to the traveller [[H. F. B. Lynch]], the city of Erivan was about 50% Armenian and 50% Muslim (Tatars{{efn|The term "Tatars", employed by the Russians, referred to [[Turkic languages|Turkish-speaking]] Muslims (Shia and [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]]) of [[Transcaucasia]].<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim">{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900-1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=35 (note 25)}}</ref> Unlike Armenians and [[Georgians]], the Tatars did not have their own alphabet and used the [[Persian alphabet|Perso-Arabic script]].<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim"/> After 1918 with the establishment of the [[Azerbaijan Democratic Republic]], and "especially during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] era", the Tatar group identified itself as "[[Azerbaijanis|Azerbaijani]]".<ref name="BournoutianTatarMuslim"/> Prior to 1918 the word "[[Azerbaijan (toponym)|Azerbaijan]]" exclusively referred to the [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Iranian province of Azarbayjan]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bournoutian |first1=George |author1-link=George Bournoutian |title=Armenia and Imperial Decline: The Yerevan Province, 1900-1914 |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |page=xiv}}</ref>}} i.e. Azeris and Persians) in the early 1890s.{{sfn|Kettenhofen|Bournoutian|Hewsen|1998|pages=542–551}}

Fath Ali Shah's reign saw increased diplomatic contacts with the West and the beginning of intense European diplomatic rivalries over Iran. His grandson [[Mohammad Shah Qajar|Mohammad Shah]], who succeeded him in 1834, fell under the Russian influence and made two unsuccessful attempts to capture [[Herat]]. When Mohammad Shah died in 1848 the succession passed to his son [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar]], who proved to be the ablest and most successful of the Qajar sovereigns. He founded the first modern hospital in Iran.<ref>Azizi, Mohammad-Hossein. "The historical backgrounds of the Ministry of Health foundation in Iran." Arch Iran Med 10.1 (2007): 119-23.</ref>

===Constitutional Revolution and deposition===
{{main|1921 Persian coup d'état}}

The [[Persian famine of 1870–1872|Great Persian Famine of 1870–1871]] is believed to have caused the death of two million people.<ref>{{cite journal|jstor=617680|title=The Great Persian Famine of 1870–71|first=Shoko|last=Okazaki|date=1 January 1986|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=49|issue=1|pages=183–192|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00042609|s2cid=155516933 }}</ref>

A new era in the history of Persia dawned with the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution]] against the Shah in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Shah managed to remain in power, granting a limited constitution in 1906 (making the country a [[constitutional monarchy]]). The first [[Majlis]] (parliament) was convened on 7 October 1906.

The discovery of [[petroleum]] in 1908 by the British in [[Khūzestān Province|Khuzestan]] spawned intense renewed interest in Persia by the [[British Empire]] (see [[William Knox D'Arcy]] and [[Anglo-Iranian Oil Company]], now [[BP]]). Control of Persia remained contested between the United Kingdom and Russia, in what became known as [[The Great Game]], and codified in the [[Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907]], which divided Persia into spheres of influence, regardless of her national sovereignty.

During World War I, the country was occupied by British, Ottoman and Russian forces but was essentially neutral (see [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian Campaign]]). In 1919, after the [[Russian Revolution]] and their withdrawal, Britain attempted to establish a [[protectorate]] in Persia, which was unsuccessful.

Finally, the [[Constitutionalist movement of Gilan]] and the central power vacuum caused by the instability of the Qajar government resulted in the rise of Reza Khan, who was later to become [[Reza Shah Pahlavi]], and the subsequent establishment of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] in 1925. In 1921, a military [[1921 Persian coup d'état|coup]] established Reza Khan, an officer of the [[Persian Cossack Brigade]], as the dominant figure for the next 20 years. [[Seyyed Zia'eddin Tabatabai]] was also a leader and important figure in the perpetration of the coup. The coup was not actually directed at the Qajar monarchy; according to ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'', it was targeted at officials who were in power and actually had a role in controlling the government — the cabinet and others who had a role in governing Persia.<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
| first = Niloofar | last = Shambayati
 | volume=VI/4 | pages = 351–354
| year = 2015 | orig-date= 1993
| title= Coup D'Etat of 1299/1921
 | encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Iranica | url= https://iranicaonline.org/articles/coup-detat-of-1299-1921 }}</ref> In 1925, after being prime minister for two years, Reza Khan became the first shah of the Pahlavi dynasty.

===Pahlavi era (1925–1979)===
{{Main|Pahlavi Iran}}

==== {{anchor|Reza Shah (1925-1941)}}Reza Shah (1925–1941) ====
{{main|Persian Cossack Brigade}}
[[Reza Shah]] ruled for almost 16 years until 16 September 1941, when he was forced to [[Abdication|abdicate]] by the [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran]]. He established an [[authoritarianism|authoritarian government]] that valued [[Iranian nationalism|nationalism]], [[militarism]], [[secularism in Iran|secularism]] and [[anti-communism]] combined with strict [[censorship]] and [[state propaganda]].<ref>Michael P. Zirinsky; "Imperial Power and Dictatorship: Britain and the Rise of Reza Shah, 1921–1926", International Journal of Middle East Studies 24 (1992), 639–663, Cambridge University Press</ref> Reza Shah introduced many socio-economic reforms, reorganizing the army, government administration, and finances.<ref name="Columbia_Encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090201151652/http://www.bartleby.com/65/re/RezaShah.html
| url = http://www.bartleby.com/65/re/RezaShah.html
| url-status= usurped
| archive-date= 1 February 2009
| encyclopedia= The Columbia Encyclopedia
| edition= Sixth
| orig-date= 2001 | year = 2007
| title= Reza Shah Pahlevi
}}</ref>

To his supporters, his reign brought "law and order, discipline, central authority, and modern amenities – schools, trains, buses, radios, cinemas, and telephones".<ref name="Ervand, 2008 p.91">Ervand, ''History of Modern Iran'', (2008), p.91</ref> However, his attempts of modernisation have been criticised for being "too fast"<ref>The Origins of the Iranian Revolution by Roger Homan. International Affairs, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Autumn, 1980), pp. 673–677.{{JSTOR|2618173}}</ref> and "superficial",<ref>Richard W. Cottam, Nationalism in Iran, University of Pittsburgh Press, ISBN o-8229-3396-7</ref> and his reign a time of "oppression, corruption, taxation, lack of authenticity" with "security typical of [[police state]]s."<ref name="Ervand, 2008 p.91"/>

Many of the new laws and regulations created resentment among devout Muslims and the clergy. For example, mosques were required to use chairs; most men were required to wear western clothing, including a hat with a brim; women were encouraged to discard the [[hijab]]—hijab was eventually [[kashf-e hijab|banned in 1936]]; men and women were allowed to congregate freely, violating Islamic [[Sex segregation and Islam|mixing of the sexes]]. Tensions boiled over in 1935, when bazaaris and villagers rose up [[Goharshad Mosque rebellion|in rebellion]] at the [[Imam Reza shrine]] in [[Mashhad]] to protest against plans for the hijab ban, chanting slogans such as 'The Shah is a new [[Yazid I|Yezid]].' Dozens were killed and hundreds were injured when troops finally quelled the unrest.<ref>Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs : Iran and the Islamic Revolution'' by Shaul, Bakhash, Basic Books, c1984, p.22</ref>

====World War II====
{{See also|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Polish civilian camps in World War II|Persian Corridor}}
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] with FDR at the [[Tehran Conference]], 1943.
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| caption2 = [[Evacuation of Polish civilians from the USSR in World War II#Iran and the Middle East|Polish refugee camp on the outskirts of Tehran]], c. 1943.
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While [[Operation Barbarossa|German armies were highly successful]] against the [[Soviet Union in World War II|Soviet Union]], the Iranian government expected Germany to win the war and establish a powerful force on its borders. It rejected British and Soviet demands to expel German residents from Iran. In response, the two [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invaded in August 1941]] and easily overwhelmed the weak Iranian army in ''[[Operation Countenance]]''. Iran became the major conduit of Allied [[Lend-Lease]] aid to the Soviet Union. The purpose was to secure Iranian [[oil field]]s and ensure Allied [[supply line]]s (see ''[[Persian Corridor]]''). Iran remained officially neutral. Its monarch [[Rezā Shāh]] was deposed during the subsequent occupation and replaced with his young son [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]].<ref>Richard Stewart, ''Sunrise at Abadan: the British and Soviet invasion of Iran, 1941'' (1988).</ref>

At the [[Tehran Conference of 1943]], the Allies issued the [[Tehran Declaration]] which guaranteed the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, when the war actually ended, Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran not only refused to withdraw but backed revolts that established short-lived, pro-Soviet separatist national states in the northern regions of Azerbaijan and [[Iranian Kurdistan]], the [[Azerbaijan People's Government]] and the [[Republic of Kurdistan]] respectively, in late 1945. Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May 1946 after receiving a promise of oil concessions. The Soviet republics in the north were soon [[Iran crisis of 1946|overthrown]] and the oil concessions were revoked.<ref>Louise Fawcett, "Revisiting the Iranian Crisis of 1946: How Much More Do We Know?." ''Iranian Studies'' 47#3 (2014): 379–399.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Iranian Crisis of 1945–46 and the Cold War |last=Hess |first=Gary R. |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=89 |number=1 |date=March 1974 |pages=117–145|doi=10.2307/2148118 |jstor=2148118 |url=http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf|access-date=2023-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215211023/http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2016 }}</ref>

===={{anchor|Mohammad-Reza Shah (1941-1979)}}Mohammad-Reza Shah (1941–1979)====
[[File:Operationajax.jpg|thumb|Tehran men celebrating the [[1953 Iranian coup d'état]]]]
Initially there were hopes that post-occupation Iran could become a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The new, young Shah [[Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi]] initially took a very hands-off role in government, and allowed [[parliament]] to hold a lot of power. Some elections were held in the first shaky years, although they remained mired in corruption. Parliament became chronically unstable, and from the 1947 to 1951 period Iran saw the rise and fall of six different prime ministers. Pahlavi increased his political power by convening the [[Iran Constituent Assembly, 1949]], which finally formed the [[Senate of Iran]]—a legislative [[upper house]] allowed for in the 1906 constitution but never brought into being. The new senators were largely supportive of Pahlavi, as he had intended.

In 1951 Prime Minister [[Mohammed Mosaddeq]] received the vote required from the parliament to [[nationalize]] the British-owned oil industry, in a situation known as the [[Abadan Crisis]]. Despite British pressure, including an economic blockade, the nationalization continued. Mosaddeq was briefly removed from power in 1952 but was quickly re-appointed by the Shah, due to a popular uprising in support of the premier, and he, in turn, forced the Shah into a brief exile in August 1953 after a failed military coup by [[Imperial Guard (Iran)|Imperial Guard]] Colonel [[Nematollah Nassiri]].

=====1953: U.S. aided coup removes Mosaddeq=====
{{main|1953 Iranian coup d'état}}
Shortly thereafter on 19 August a successful [[Coup d'état|coup]] was headed by retired army general [[Fazlollah Zahedi]], aided by the United States ([[CIA]])<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=CIA documents acknowledge its role in Iran's 1953 coup|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23762970|work=BBC News|access-date=20 August 2013|archive-date=9 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309131918/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23762970|url-status=live}}</ref> with the active support of the British ([[MI6]]) (known as [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|Operation Ajax and Operation Boot]] to the respective agencies).<ref>{{cite book|last=Kinzer|first=Stephen|title=The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War|publisher=Times Books|location=New York|year=2013}}</ref> The coup—with a [[black propaganda]] campaign designed to turn the population against Mosaddeq <ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gölz|first=Olmo|date=2019-01-01|title=Gölz "The Dangerous Classes and the 1953 Coup in Iran: On the Decline of 'lutigari' Masculinities." In Crime, Poverty and Survival in the Middle East and North Africa: The 'Dangerous Classes' since 1800. Edited by Stephanie Cronin, 177–90. London: I.B. Tauris, 2019.|url=https://www.academia.edu/40997855|journal=Crime, Poverty and Survival in the Middle East and North Africa}}</ref> — forced Mosaddeq from office. Mosaddeq was arrested and tried for treason. Found guilty, his sentence was reduced to house arrest on his family estate while his foreign minister, [[Hossein Fatemi]], was executed. [[Fazlollah Zahedi|Zahedi]] succeeded him as prime minister, and suppressed opposition to the Shah, specifically the [[National Front (Iran)|National Front]] and Communist [[Tudeh Party]].

[[File:Newsreel - Echo News Reel Number 88 about the Rule of Shah in 1971.ogv|thumb|1971 film about Iran under the Shah]]
Iran was ruled as an autocracy under the Shah with American support from that time until the revolution. The Iranian government entered into agreement with an international consortium of foreign companies which ran the Iranian oil facilities for the next 25 years, splitting profits fifty-fifty with Iran but not allowing Iran to audit their accounts or have members on their board of directors. In 1957 martial law was ended after 16 years and Iran became closer to the West, joining the [[Baghdad Pact]] and receiving military and economic aid from the US. In 1961, Iran initiated a series of economic, social, agrarian and administrative reforms to modernize the country that became known as the Shah's [[White Revolution]].

The core of this program was land reform. Modernization and economic growth proceeded at an unprecedented rate, fueled by Iran's vast petroleum reserves, the third-largest in the world. However, the reforms, including the White Revolution, did not greatly improve economic conditions and the liberal pro-Western policies alienated certain [[Islam]]ic religious and political groups. In early June 1963 [[Movement of 15 Khordad|several days of massive rioting]] occurred in support of [[Ayatollah]] [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] following the cleric's arrest for a speech attacking the Shah.

Two years later, premier [[Hassan Ali Mansur]] was assassinated and the internal security service, [[SAVAK]], became more violently active. In the 1970s, leftist [[Guerrilla groups of Iran|guerilla groups]] such as [[Mujaheddin-e-Khalq]] (MEK), emerged and contributed to overthrowing the Shah during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Nearly a hundred Iran political prisoners were killed by the SAVAK during the decade before the revolution and many more were arrested and tortured.<ref>Abrahamian, ''Tortured Confessions'' (1999), pp. 135–6, 167, 169</ref> The Islamic clergy, headed by the Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] (who had been exiled in 1964), were becoming increasingly vociferous.

Iran greatly increased its defense budget and by the early 1970s was the region's strongest military power. Bilateral relations with Iraq were not good, mainly due to a dispute over the [[Shatt al-Arab]] waterway. In November 1971, Iranian forces seized control of three islands at the mouth of the Persian Gulf; in response, Iraq expelled thousands of Iranian nationals. Following a number of clashes in April 1969, Iran abrogated the 1937 accord and demanded a renegotiation.

In mid-1973, the Shah returned the oil industry to national control. Following the [[Yom Kippur War|Arab-Israeli War of October 1973]], Iran did not join the Arab oil embargo against the West and [[Israel]]. Instead, it used the situation to raise oil prices, using the money gained for modernization and to increase defense spending.

A border dispute between Iraq and Iran was resolved with the signing of the [[Algiers Agreement (1975)|Algiers Accord]] on 6 March 1975.

== Contemporary period ==
=== Revolution and the Islamic Republic (1979 to present) ===
{{Main|Iranian Revolution|History of the Islamic Republic of Iran}}
[[File:Imam Khomeini in Mehrabad.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Ayatollah [[Khomeini]] returns to Iran after 14 years exile in France on 1 February 1979.]]

The Iranian Revolution, also known as the Islamic Revolution,<ref name = "Chamber">{{Cite web|title=History of Iran: Islamic Revolution of 1979|url=https://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic_revolution/islamic_revolution.php|access-date=2023-03-16|website=www.iranchamber.com}}</ref> was the [[revolution]] that transformed Iran from an absolute [[Pahlavi dynasty|monarchy]] under [[Shah]] [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] to an [[Islamic republic]] under Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]], one of the leaders of the revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic.<ref name = "Britannica"/> Its time span can be said to have begun in January 1978 with the first major demonstrations,<ref>{{Cite web
|year=2018|orig-date=1998|title=The Iranian Revolution|url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html|access-date=2023-03-16|last = Smitha | first = Frank E.
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010233759/http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch29ir.html |archive-date=2016-10-10
}}</ref> and concluded with the approval of the new [[theocratic]] Constitution—whereby Ayatollah Khomeini became [[Supreme Leader of Iran|Supreme Leader]] of the country—in December 1979.<ref name="Britannica Khomeini">{{Cite encyclopaedia
| url = https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ruhollah-Khomeini
| title= Ruhollah Khomeini
| encyclopedia= Britannica
| last = Afari | first = Janet
| date= 19 May 2023
| access-date= 2023-05-21
}}</ref>

In between, [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] left the country for exile in January 1979 after strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country, and on 1 February 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Tehran.<ref name="Britannica Khomeini"/> The final collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty occurred shortly after 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, [[1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum|after Iranians overwhelmingly approved a national referendum to make it so a day before]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 Iran Islamic Republic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316040030/https://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-202892 |date=2006-03-16 }}, Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref>

==== Ideology of the 1979 Iranian Revolution ====
{{Further|Ideology of the Iranian Revolution}}

The ideology of the revolutionary government was populist, nationalist and most of all [[Shia Islam|Shi'a Islamic]]. Its unique constitution is based on the concept of ''[[Islamic Government|velayat-e faqih]]'' the idea advanced by Khomeini that Muslims – in fact everyone – requires "guardianship", in the form of rule or supervision by the leading [[Faqih|Islamic jurist]] or jurists.<ref>Dabashi, ''Theology of Discontent'' (1993), p.419, 443</ref> Khomeini served as this ruling jurist, or [[Supreme Leader of Iran|supreme leader]], until his death in 1989.

Iran's rapidly modernising, capitalist economy was replaced by populist and Islamic economic and cultural policies. Much industry was [[nationalized]], laws and schools Islamicized, and Western influences banned.

The Islamic revolution also created great impact around the world. In the non-Muslim world it has changed the image of Islam, generating much interest in the politics and spirituality of Islam,<ref>Shawcross, William, ''The Shah's Last Ride'' (1988), p. 110.</ref> along with "fear and distrust towards Islam" and particularly the Islamic Republic and its founder.<ref name=nasr>{{cite book
| last = Nasr
| first = Vali
| title=The Shia Revival
| publisher= W.W. Norton | year=2007
| isbn =  978-0-393-06640-1
| page =138}}</ref>

=== {{anchor|Khomeini (1979-1989)}}Khomeini (1979–1989) ===
Khomeini served as leader of the revolution or as [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] from 1979 to his death on 3 June 1989. This era was dominated by the consolidation of the revolution into a [[theocracy|theocratic]] republic under Khomeini, and by the costly and bloody [[Iran–Iraq War|war with Iraq]].

The consolidation lasted until 1982–3,<ref>''Encyclopedia of Islam and Muslim World'', Thomson Gale, 2004, p.357 (article by Stockdale, Nancy, L.)</ref><ref>Keddie, ''Modern Iran'', (2006), p.241</ref> as Iran coped with the damage to its economy, military, and apparatus of government, and protests and uprisings by secularists, leftists, and more traditional Muslims—formerly ally revolutionaries but now rivals—were effectively suppressed. Many political opponents were executed by the new regimes. Following the events of the revolution, Marxist guerrillas and federalist parties revolted in regions comprising [[1979 Khuzestan uprising|Khuzistan]], [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|Kurdistan]] and [[Gonbad-e Qabus (city)|Gonbad-e Qabus]], resulting in severe fighting between rebels and revolutionary forces. These revolts began in April 1979 and lasted between several months to over a year, depending on the region. The [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|Kurdish uprising]], led by the KDPI, was the most violent, lasting until 1983 and resulting in 10,000 casualties.

In the summer of 1979 a new constitution giving Khomeini a powerful post as guardian jurist Supreme Leader<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html |title=Iranian Government Constitution, English Text  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123063337/http://www.iranonline.com/iran/iran-info/Government/constitution-8.html |archive-date=2010-11-23 }}</ref> and a clerical [[Council of Guardians]] power over legislation and elections, was drawn up by an [[Assembly of Experts for Constitution]]. The new constitution was approved by referendum in December 1979.

==== {{anchor|Iran hostage crisis (1979-1981)}}Iran hostage crisis (1979–1981) ====
{{Main|Iran hostage crisis}}
An early event in the history of the Islamic republic that had a long-term impact was the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. Following the admitting of the former Shah of Iran into the United States for cancer treatment, on 4 November 1979, Iranian students [[Iran hostage crisis|seized US embassy personnel]], labeling the embassy a "den of spies."<ref name="carterpbs">[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/sfeature/sf_hostage.html PBS, American Experience, Jimmy Carter, "444 Days: America Reacts"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119224031/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/carter/sfeature/sf_hostage.html |date=2011-01-19 }}, retrieved 1 October 2007</ref> Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days until January 1981.<ref>Guests of the Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam, Mark Bowden, p. 127, 200</ref> An American [[Operation Eagle Claw|military attempt to rescue the hostages]] failed.<ref name="Atlantic">{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/the-desert-one-debacle/4803/2/|title=The Desert One Debacle|first=Mark|last=Bowden|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=May 2006|access-date=2017-03-07|archive-date=2012-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730081638/http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/the-desert-one-debacle/4803/2|url-status=live}}</ref>

The takeover was enormously popular in Iran, where thousands gathered in support of the hostage takers, and it is thought to have strengthened the prestige of the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] and consolidated the hold of anti-Americanism. It was at this time that Khomeini began referring to America as the "[[Great Satan]]." In America, where it was considered a violation of the long-standing principle of international law that [[diplomatic immunity|diplomats]] may be expelled but not held captive, it created a powerful anti-Iranian backlash. Relations between the two countries have remained deeply antagonistic and American [[international sanctions]] have hurt Iran's economy.<ref>{{Cite journal 
|title=A Review Of US Unilateral Sanctions Against Iran|url=http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/108E16.htm|access-date=2023-03-16
| journal= Middle East Economic Survey
| year = 2002
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010024317/http://www.mafhoum.com/press3/108E16.htm |archive-date=2017-10-10
| volume= 45 | number= 34
| first1 = Herman | last1=Franssen
| first2= Elaine | last2=Morton
}}</ref>

==== Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988) ====
{{Main|Iran–Iraq War}}
[[File:Chemical weapon1.jpg|thumb|An Iranian soldier with gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War]]

During this political and social crisis, Iraqi leader [[Saddam Hussein]] attempted to take advantage of the disorder of the Revolution, the weakness of the Iranian military and the revolution's antagonism with Western governments. The once-strong Iranian military had been disbanded during the revolution, and with the Shah ousted, Hussein had ambitions to position himself as the new strong man of the Middle East. He sought to expand Iraq's access to the Persian Gulf by acquiring territories that Iraq had claimed earlier from Iran during the Shah's rule.

Of chief importance to Iraq was [[Khuzestan Province|Khuzestan]] which not only boasted a substantial Arab population, but rich oil fields as well. On the unilateral behalf of the [[United Arab Emirates]], the islands of [[Abu Musa]] and the [[Greater and Lesser Tunbs]] became objectives as well. With these ambitions in mind, Hussein planned a full-scale assault on Iran, boasting that his forces could reach the capital within three days. On 22 September 1980, the Iraqi army invaded Iran at Khuzestan, precipitating the [[Iran–Iraq War]]. The attack took revolutionary Iran completely by surprise.

Although Saddam Hussein's forces made several early advances, Iranian forces had pushed the Iraqi army back into Iraq by 1982. Khomeini sought to [[export of revolution|export his Islamic revolution]] westward into Iraq, especially on the majority Shi'a Arabs living in the country. The war then continued for six more years until 1988, when Khomeini, in his words, "drank the cup of poison" and accepted a truce mediated by the United Nations.

Tens of thousands of Iranian civilians and military personnel were killed when Iraq used [[chemical weapons]] in its warfare. [[International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War|Iraq was financially backed]] by [[Egypt]], the Arab countries of the [[Persian Gulf]], the Soviet Union and the [[Warsaw Pact]] states, the United States (beginning in 1983), France, the United Kingdom, Germany, [[Brazil]], and the [[People's Republic of China]] (which also sold weapons to Iran).

There were more than 182,000 Kurdish victims<ref name="r1">Centre for Documents of The Imposed War, Tehran. (مرکز مطالعات و تحقیقات جنگ)</ref> of Iraq's chemical weapons during the eight-year war. The total Iranian casualties of the war were estimated to be between 500,000 and 1,000,000. Almost all relevant international agencies have confirmed that Saddam engaged in chemical warfare to blunt Iranian [[human wave attack]]s; these agencies unanimously confirmed that Iran never used chemical weapons during the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/news/iran/1997/970205-480132.htm|title=Iran, 'Public Enemy Number One'|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620160352/https://fas.org/news/iran/1997/970205-480132.htm|archive-date=2015-06-20}}</ref><!--
--><ref>{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/cw/intro.htm|title=Chemical Weapons Information – Federation of American Scientists|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620160905/https://fas.org/cw/intro.htm|archive-date=2015-06-20}}</ref><!--
--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=2804|title=Winter Soldier: Domingo Rosas – Antiwar.com Original|date=8 November 2008|access-date=29 October 2007|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606082652/http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=2804|url-status=live}}</ref><!--
--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Iran/Chemical/2340_2965.html|title=Iran – Countries – NTI|access-date=2007-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408212924/http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Iran/Chemical/2340_2965.html|archive-date=2010-04-08}}</ref>

Starting on 19 July 1988 and lasting for about five months the [[Islamic Republic of Iran|government]] systematically executed thousands of political prisoners across Iran. This is commonly referred to as the [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners]] or the 1988 Iranian Massacre. The main target was the membership of the [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]] (PMOI), although a lesser number of political prisoners from other leftist groups were also included such as the [[Tudeh Party of Iran]] (Communist Party).<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/view/5754/1/231/ Iranian party demands end to repression] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050924060950/http://www.pww.org/article/view/5754/1/231/ |date=2005-09-24 }}</ref><ref>Abrahamian, Ervand, ''Tortured Confessions'', University of California Press, 1999, 209–228</ref> Estimates of the number executed vary from 1,400<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.holycrime.com/Images/Listof1367Massacre.pdf |title=Massacre 1988 (Pdf) |access-date=2008-07-30 |archive-date=2021-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225140452/http://www.holycrime.com/Images/Listof1367Massacre.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> to 30,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=160|title=Iran Focus|date=5 September 2004 |access-date=2008-07-30|archive-date=2008-02-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220155725/http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=160|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/02/04/wiran04.xml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210125211/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F02%2F04%2Fwiran04.xml|archive-date=2006-02-10|title=News|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=2016-03-15|access-date=2021-08-04}}</ref>

=== Khamenei (1989–present) ===
On his deathbed in 1989, [[Khomeini]] appointed a 25-man Constitutional Reform Council which named then president [[Ali Khamenei]] as the next Supreme Leader, and made a number of changes to Iran's constitution.<ref>Abrahamian, ''History of Modern Iran'', (2008), p.182</ref> A smooth transition followed Khomeini's death on 3 June 1989. While Khamenei lacked Khomeini's "charisma and clerical standing", he developed a network of supporters within Iran's armed forces and its economically powerful [[Bonyad|religious foundations]].<ref name="ReferenceA">"Who's in Charge?" by Ervand Abrahamian ''London Review of Books'', 6 November 2008</ref> Under his reign Iran's regime is said – by at least one observer – to resemble more "a clerical oligarchy ... than an autocracy."<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==== Rafsanjani: pragmatic conservativism (1989–1997) ====
Ali-[[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]] succeeded Khamenei as president on 3 August 1989, as a pragmatic conservative who served two four-year terms and focused his efforts on rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure damaged by war, though hampered by low oil prices. Rafsanjani sought to restore confidence in the government among the general population by privatizing the companies that had been nationalized in the first few years of the Islamic Republic, as well as by bringing in qualified technocrats to manage the economy. The state of their economy also influenced the government to move towards ending their diplomatic isolation. This was achieved through the reestablishment of normalized relations with neighbors such as [[Saudi Arabia]] and an attempt to improve its reputation in the region with assertions that its revolution was not exportable to other states.<ref>''Treacherous Alliance : the secret dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States'' by Trita Pasri, Yale University Press, 2007, p.145</ref> During the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]] in 1991 the country remained [[neutral country|neutral]], restricting its action to the condemnation of the U.S. and allowing fleeing Iraqi aircraft and refugees into the country.{{fact|date=September 2024}}

Iran in the 1990s had a greater secular behavior and admiration for Western popular culture than in the previous decades. This admiration had become a way in which the urban population expressed their resentment at the invasive Islamic policies of the government.<ref name="Westview Press">{{cite book|last1=Cleveland|first1=William L.|title=A History of the Modern Middle East|date=2016|publisher=Westview Press|location=Boulder, CO|isbn=978-0-8133-4980-0}}</ref> The pressures from the population placed on the new Supreme Leader Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]] led to an uneasy alliance between him and President [[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]]. Through this alliance they attempted to hinder the [[ulama]]'s ability to gain further control of the state. In 1989, they created a sequence of constitutional amendments that removed the office of prime minister and increased the scope of presidential power. However, these new amendments did not curtail the powers of the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] in any way; this position still contained the ultimate authority over the armed forces, the making of war and peace, the final say in foreign policy, and the right to intervene in the legislative process whenever he deemed it necessary.<ref name="Westview Press"/>

==== Khatami: reformers and conservatives struggle (1997–2005) ====
[[File:Mohammad Khatami.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mohammad Khatami]], [[Mohammad Khatami's reforms|reformist]] President of Iran from 1997 to 2005]]

President Rafsanjani's economic policies led to stronger relations with the outside world. But his government's relaxation of the enforcement of certain regulations on social behavior were met with some responses of widespread disenchantment among the general population with the ulama as rulers of the country.<ref name="Westview Press"/> This led to the defeat of the government's candidate for president in 1997, who had the backing of the supreme Islamic jurist. He was beaten by an independent candidate from the [[Iranian Reformists|Reformists]], [[Mohammad Khatami]]. He received 69% of the vote and enjoyed particular support from two groups of the population that had felt ostracized by the practices of the state: women and youth. The younger generations in the country had been too young to experience the shah's regime or the revolution that ended it, and now they resented the restrictions placed on their daily lives under the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Khatami's presidency was soon marked by tensions between the [[Mohammad Khatami's reforms|reform-minded government]] and an increasingly conservative and vocal clergy. This rift reached a climax in July 1999 when massive anti-government protests erupted in the streets of [[Tehran]]. The disturbances lasted over a week before police and pro-government vigilantes dispersed the crowds.

Khatami was re-elected in June 2001 but his efforts were repeatedly blocked by the conservatives in the parliament. Conservative elements within Iran's government moved to undermine the reformist movement, banning liberal newspapers and disqualifying candidates for parliamentary elections. This clampdown on dissent, combined with the failure of Khatami to reform the government, led to growing political apathy among Iran's youth.

In June 2003, anti-government protests by several thousand students took place in Tehran.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2980102.stm|title=Iranians protest against clerics|date=11 June 2003|via=bbc.co.uk|access-date=17 April 2006|archive-date=13 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213220325/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2980102.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Uprising in Iran
|url=https://iranvajahan.net/|access-date=2023-03-16
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060503222730/http://iranvajahan.net/german/uprising.html
| date = 1 July 2007
| url-status =usurped 
|archive-date= 3 May 2006}}</ref> Several [[human right]]s protests also occurred in 2006.

==== Ahmadinejad: hardline conservatism (2005–2009) ====
[[File:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 2019 02.jpg|right|thumb|upright=.7|[[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] 6th President of Iran from 2005 to 2013]]
In the [[2005 Iranian presidential election]], [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]], mayor of Tehran, became the sixth president of Iran, after winning 62 percent of the vote in the [[runoff election|run-off poll]], against former president Ali-[[Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani]].<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4740441.stm
| title = Iran hardliner becomes president
| access-date = 2006-12-06
| date = 3 August 2005
| publisher = [[BBC]]
| archive-date = 2019-05-14
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190514040842/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4740441.stm
| url-status = live
}}</ref> During the authorization ceremony he kissed Khamenei's hand in demonstration of his loyalty to him.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2006&m=09&d=09&a=1
 |title=Behind Ahmadinejad, a Powerful Cleric 
 |access-date=2006-12-06 
 |date=9 September 2006 
 |work=[[The New York Times]] 
  
 |url-status=usurped
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102205142/http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2006&m=09&d=09&a=1 
 |archive-date=2 November 2006 
}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tofoiran.packdeal.com/clips/DrIman/20060906-DrIman-CNN-225.asx |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-06-18  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715032350/http://tofoiran.packdeal.com/clips/DrIman/20060906-DrIman-CNN-225.asx |archive-date=2011-07-15 }}</ref>

During this time, the American invasion of Iraq, the overthrow of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime and empowerment of its [[Shia Islam|Shi'a]] majority, all strengthened Iran's position in the region particularly in the mainly Shi'a south of Iraq, where a top Shia leader in the week of 3 September 2006 renewed demands for an autonomous Shi'a region.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D890900D-A483-4C19-86C8-41F35135090D.htm |archive-url=http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20100418234826/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D890900D-A483-4C19-86C8-41F35135090D.htm  |archive-date=18 April 2010 |title=Iraq prime minister to visit Iran |work=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |date=9 September 2006 }}</ref> At least one commentator (former U.S. Defense Secretary [[William S. Cohen]]) has stated that as of 2009 Iran's growing power has eclipsed [[anti-Zionism]] as the major foreign policy issue in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/29/cohen-says-fear-of-iran-now-tops-wrath-against-isr/|title=Cohen: Middle East fearful of Iran|work=The Washington Times|access-date=2009-07-30|archive-date=2021-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125213616/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/29/cohen-says-fear-of-iran-now-tops-wrath-against-isr/|url-status=live}}</ref>

During 2005 and 2006, there were claims that [[Iran–United States relations#Claims of threats of a military attack on Iran by the US|the United States]] and [[Iran–Israel relations#Iran responding to Israeli threats|Israel]] were planning to attack Iran, with the most cited reason being [[nuclear program of Iran|Iran's civilian nuclear energy program]] which the United States and some other states fear could lead to [[Iran and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons|a nuclear weapons program]]. China and Russia opposed military action of any sort and opposed [[economic sanctions]]. Khamenei issued a [[fatwa]] forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of [[nuclear weapon]]s. The fatwa was cited in an official statement by the Iranian government at an August 2005 meeting of the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] (IAEA) in [[Vienna]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-issues-anti-nuke-fatwa/|title=Iran issues anti-nuke fatwa|date=12 August 2005|last=Weinberg|first=Bill|publisher=Counter Vortex|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126045509/https://countervortex.org/blog/iran-issues-anti-nuke-fatwa/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=302258 Iran, holder of peaceful nuclear fuel cycle technology] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810154009/http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=302258 |date=2013-08-10 }}</ref>

In 2009, [[Iranian presidential election, 2009|Ahmadinejad's reelection]] was hotly disputed and marred by large [[2009 Iranian presidential election protests|protests]] that formed the "greatest domestic challenge" to the leadership of the Islamic Republic "in 30 years". The resulting social unrest is widely known as the [[Iranian Green Movement]].<ref name="mostaghim">{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/?view=page8&feed:a=latimes_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=47678542|title=California, national and world news|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2016-08-10|archive-date=2019-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502000537/https://www.latimes.com/?view=page8&feed:a=latimes_1min&feed:c=topstories&feed:i=47678542|url-status=live}}</ref> Reformist opponent [[Mir-Hossein Mousavi]] and his supporters alleged voting irregularities and by 1 July 2009, 1000 people had been arrested and 20 killed in street demonstrations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/01/mousavi-iran-government-declared-illegitimate|title=Mousavi says new Ahmadinejad government 'illegitimate'|first=Ian |last=Black |date=1 July 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 December 2016|archive-date=3 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203110725/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/01/mousavi-iran-government-declared-illegitimate|url-status=live}}</ref> Supreme Leader [[Ali Khamenei]] and other Islamic officials blamed foreign powers for fomenting the protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/16/iran.elections.timeline/|title=Timeline: 2009 Iran presidential elections - CNN.com|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=2009-07-25|archive-date=2016-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428202952/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/16/iran.elections.timeline/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Rouhani: pragmatism (2013–2021) ====
[[File:Hassan Rouani 2017 portrait.jpg|right|thumb|upright=.8|Hassan Rouhani 2017]]
[[File:Raisi in 2021-02 (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|upright=.8|Ebrahim Raisi in 2021]]

On 15 June 2013, [[Hassan Rouhani]] won the presidential election in Iran, with a total number of 36,704,156 ballots cast; Rouhani won 18,613,329 votes. In his press conference one day after election day, Rouhani reiterated his promise to recalibrate Iran's relations with the world.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rouhani wins big |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/6/15/rouhani-wins-irans-presidential-election-2 |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

On 2 April 2015, following eight days of tortuous discussions in Switzerland, which lasted through the night, Iran and six world powers (United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia plus Germany) [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32166814 agreed] on the outlines of an understanding to limit Iran's nuclear programs, negotiators indicated, as both sides prepared for announcements. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad [[Javad Zarif]] tweeted: "Found solutions. Ready to start drafting immediately." European Union foreign policy chief [[Federica Mogherini]] tweeted that she would meet the press with Zarif after a final meeting of the seven nations in the nuclear talks. She wrote: "Good news."

Reading out a joint statement, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini hailed what she called a "decisive step" after more than a decade of work. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif followed with the same statement in [[Persian language|Persian]]. [[John Kerry|U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry]] and the top diplomats of Britain, France and Germany also briefly took the stage behind them. The deal is intended to be a provisional framework for a comprehensive agreement and was signed in 2015, and marked a significant breakthrough in the 12-year history of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.<ref>{{cite news |title=What is the Iran nuclear deal? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/smart-facts/what-iran-nuclear-deal-n868346 |work=NBC News |date=10 May 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

When [[Donald Trump]] was campaigning to become [[President of the US]], he repeatedly said he would abandon the [[Iran nuclear deal]]. After he was elected president, the USA announced its withdrawal from the agreement on 8 May 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump declares US withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/5/8/donald-trump-declares-us-withdrawal-from-iran-nuclear-deal |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

The Iranian-backed group known as Kataib Hezbollah attacked the United States embassy in Baghdad on 31 December 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Protesters storm US embassy compound in Baghdad |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/31/protesters-storm-us-embassy-compound-in-baghdad |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

On 3 January 2020, the United States military executed a drone strike at [[Baghdad Airport]], killing [[Qasem Soleimani]], the leader of the [[Quds Force]], an elite branch of the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran vows 'harsh' response after US kills commander |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/3/iran-condemns-us-killing-of-quds-force-head-qassem-soleimani |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

On 3 August 2021 [[Ebrahim Raisi]] was elected 8th President of Iran.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Motamedi |first1=Maziar |title=At inauguration, Raisi promises Iran's 'engagement with world' |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/5/irans-raisi-sends-message-of-strength-in-inauguration |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

==== Ebrahim Raisi (2021–2024) ====

Beginning on 16 September 2022 [[Mahsa Amini protests|protests]] started against the [[Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran|government of Iran]] following the death of [[Mahsa Amini]].<ref>{{Cite news |work=Reuters |date=20 September 2022 |title=Protests flare across Iran in violent unrest over woman's death |language=en |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/tehran-governor-accuses-protesters-attacks-least-22-arrested-2022-09-20/ |access-date=23 September 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927195508/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/tehran-governor-accuses-protesters-attacks-least-22-arrested-2022-09-20/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Strzyżyńska |first1=Weronika |title=Iranian woman dies 'after being beaten by morality police' over hijab law |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/16/iranian-woman-dies-after-being-beaten-by-morality-police-over-hijab-law |access-date=22 September 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=16 September 2022 |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920020636/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/sep/16/iranian-woman-dies-after-being-beaten-by-morality-police-over-hijab-law |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Leonhardt |first1=David |title=Iran's Ferocious Dissent |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/briefing/iran-protests-mahsa-amini.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=27 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927061245/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/26/briefing/iran-protests-mahsa-amini.html |archive-date=27 September 2022 |date=26 September 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 1 April 2024, Israel's air [[Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus|strike]] on an Iranian consulate building in the Syrian capital Damascus killed an important senior commander of  the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps]] (IRGC), Brig Gen [[Mohammad Reza Zahedi]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Several killed in Israeli strike on Iranian consulate in Damascus |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/1/several-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-iranian-consulate-in-damascus-reports |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> In retaliation for the Israeli strike, Iran [[April 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel|attacked]] Israel with over 300 drones and missiles on 13 April. However, the Iranian attack was mainly intercepted either outside Israeli airspace or over the country itself. It was the biggest missile attack in Iranian history, and its first ever direct attack on Israel.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why have Israel and Iran attacked each other? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68811276 |date=14 April 2024}}</ref> It was followed by a retaliatory [[April 2024 Israeli strikes on Iran|missile strike]] by Israel on Isfahan, Iran on 19 April.<ref>{{cite news |title=Israel Iran attack: Damage seen at air base in Isfahan |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68866548 |date=21 April 2024}}</ref>

On 19 May 2024, Ebrahim Raisi died in a [[2024 Varzaqan helicopter crash|helicopter crash]] in the country’s East Azerbaijan province.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ebrahim Raisi, Iran's president, dies in helicopter crash aged 63 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/20/ebrahim-raisi-irans-president-dies-in-helicopter-crash-aged-63 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>  First Vice President [[Mohammad Mokhber]] was appointed acting president after the death of President Raisi.<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran's new acting president Mohammad Mokhber, a veteran of the regime |url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240520-iran-s-new-acting-president-mohammad-mokhber-a-veteran-of-the-regime |work=France 24 |date=20 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Masoud Pezeshkian (2024–present) ==== 

On 28 July 2024, [[Masoud Pezeshkian]] was formally endorsed as Iran's new president by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pezeshkian, a reformist, won  in a presidential [[2024 Iranian presidential election|election]] runoff on 5 July.<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran's supreme leader endorses reformist Pezeshkian as new president. He takes oath Tuesday |url=https://apnews.com/article/iran-supreme-leader-endorsement-new-president-khamenei-pezeshkian-a9ecb0eb8e20ed8b92602e5d507fe616 |work=AP News |date=28 July 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

On 31 July 2024, [[Ismail Haniyeh]], political chief of Palestinian political and military organisation [[Hamas]], was [[Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh|assassinated]] in Iran’s capital, Tehran, where he was to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/31/hamass-political-chief-ismail-haniyeh-assassinated-in-iran-state-media |work=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Iran}}
*[[History of the Caucasus]]
*[[History of the Middle East]]
*[[Iranian religions]]
*[[List of monarchs of Persia]]
*[[Outline of Iran]]
*[[Politics of Iran]]
*[[Tarikh-i Abu al-Khayr Khani]]
*[[Tazkera-ye Taher-e Nasrabadi]]
*[[Timeline of Iranian history]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
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==Sources==
* {{cite conference |last1=Bournoutian|first1=George A.|author-link=George Bournoutian|title=The Population of Persian Armenia Prior to and Immediately Following its Annexation to the Russian Empire: 1826–1832|date=1980|publisher=The Wilson Center, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies |series=Kennan Institute Occasional Paper Series |article-number=91 |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/the-population-persian-armenia-prior-to-and-immediately-following-its-annexation-to-the |conference=Nationalism and social change in Transcaucasia }}
* {{cite book|last1=Bournoutian|first1=George A.|title=A Concise History of the Armenian People: (from Ancient Times to the Present)|date=2002|publisher=Mazda Publishers|isbn=978-1-56859-141-4|edition=2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00geor}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Fisher | first1 = William Bayne | last2 = Avery | first2= P. | last3 = Hambly | first3 = G. R. G | last4 = Melville | first4 = C. | title = The Cambridge History of Iran | volume = 7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H20Xt157iYUC&q=agha+muhammad+khan+invade+georgia | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | location = Cambridge | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-521-20095-4 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = EREVAN | last1 = Kettenhofen | first1 = Erich | last2 = Bournoutian | first2 = George A. | last3 = Hewsen | first3 = Robert H. | author-link3 = Robert H. Hewsen | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. VIII, Fasc. 5 | pages = 542–551 | year = 1998 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Mongol Conquests in World History |first=Timothy |last=May |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2012 }}
* {{cite book | last = Mikaberidze | first = Alexander | title = Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia | volume = 1 | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2011 | isbn = 978-1-59884-336-1 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Mikaberidze|first1=Alexander|author-link1=Alexander Mikaberidze|title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6|edition=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JNNQCgAAQBAJ&q=sakhltukhutsesi}}
*{{cite book|last1=Roisman|first1=Joseph|last2=Worthington|first2=Ian|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=2011|isbn=978-1-44-435163-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&pg=PA345}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |title=A History of Modern Iran |author-link=Ervand Abrahamian |year=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82139-1 }}
* Brew, Gregory. ''Petroleum and Progress in Iran: Oil, Development, and the Cold War'' (Cambridge University Press, 2022) [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=59095 online review]
*{{cite book |last=Cambridge University Press |title=Cambridge History of Iran |year=1968–1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-45148-5 |series=(8 vols.)}}
*{{cite book |last=Daniel |first=Elton L. |title=The History of Iran |author-link=Elton L. Daniel |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Westport, Connecticut |isbn=0-313-36100-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofiran0000dani }}
*{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Foltz |author-link=Richard Foltz |title=Iran in World History |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-19-933549-7}}
*Rudi Matthee, Willem Floor. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-mABAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 "The Monetary History of Iran: From the Safavids to the Qajars"] I.B.Tauris, 25 April 2013 
*{{cite journal |last=Del Guidice |first=Marguerite |title=Persia – Ancient soul of Iran
|date= August 2008| journal= [[National Geographic Magazine]]
}}
*Joseph Roisman, Ian Worthington. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QsJ183uUDkMC&pg=PA342 "A companion to Ancient Macedonia"] pp 342–346, pp 135–138. ([[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] rule in the [[Balkans]] and Eastern Europe). John Wiley & Sons, 7 July 2011. {{ISBN|144435163X}}.
*{{cite book |last=Olmstead |first=Albert T. E. |title=The History of the Persian Empire: Achaemenid Period |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.532747 |year=1948 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago }}
*Van Gorde, A. Christian. ''Christianity in Persia and the Status of Non-Muslims in Iran'' (Lexington Books; 2010) 329 pages. Traces the role of Persians in Persia and later Iran since ancient times, with additional discussion of other non-Muslim groups.
*Sabri Ateş. "Ottoman-Iranian Borderlands: Making a Boundary, 1843–1914" Cambridge University Press, 21 okt. 2013. {{ISBN|1107245087}}.
*[[Askold Ivanchik|Askolʹd Igorevich Ivanchik]], Vaxtang Ličʻeli. "Achaemenid Culture and Local Traditions in Anatolia, Southern Caucasus and Iran". BRILL, 2007.
*[[Benjamin Walker (author)|Benjamin Walker]], ''Persian Pageant: A Cultural History of Iran,'' Arya Press, Calcutta, 1950.
* {{cite book | last=Nasr | first=Hossein | title=Sufi Essays | publisher=Suny press | year=1972 | isbn=978-0-87395-389-4}}
* Rezvani, Babak., "Ethno-territorial conflict and coexistence in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Fereydan" Amsterdam University Press, 15 mrt. 2014.
* Stephanie Cronin., "Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions Since 1800" Routledge, 2013. {{ISBN|0415624339}}.
* Chopra, R.M., article on "A Brief Review of Pre-Islamic Splendour of Iran", INDO-IRANICA, Vol.56 (1–4), 2003.
* [[Vladimir Minorsky]]. "The Turks, Iran and the Caucasus in the Middle Ages" Variorum Reprints, 1978.

==External links==
*[http://www.persiansarenotarabs.com/persian-history Persian History] Persian History
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran Iran] an article by ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''
*[http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 Iran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813184232/http://p2.www.britannica.com/oscar/print?articleId=106324&fullArticle=true&tocId=9106324 |date=13 August 2013 }} an article by ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online by Janet Afary
*[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9106325/ancient-Iran Ancient Iran] an article by Encyclopædia Britannica online by Adrian David Hugh Bivar and Mark J. Dresden
*[http://www.parstimes.com/history/ Iran History]
*[http://www.iranchamber.com/history/historic_periods.php Iran chamber] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110131804/http://www.iranchamber.com/history/historic_periods.php |date=10 November 2006 }}
*[http://www.parstimes.com/history/VL/middle_east/iran.html WWW-VL History Index: Iran]
*[http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2399 The History of Persia] from 1715
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/russia-i-relations] RUSSIA i. Russo-Iranian Relations up to the Bolshevik Revolution

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