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History of Iran
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History of Iran
see also Kings of Persia · Timeline of Iran
Prehistory
Proto-Elamite period 3200–2800
Elamite dynasty 2800–550
Kassites 16th–12th cent.
Mannaeans 10th–7th cent.
Median Empire 728–550
Achaemenid Empire 550–330
Seleucid Empire 330–150
Parthian Empire 248–CE 226
CE
Sassanid Empire 226–651
Islamic conquest 637–651
Umayyad Caliphate 661–750
Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258
Tahirid dynasty 821–873
Alavid dynasty 864–928
Sajid dynasty 889/890–929
Saffarid dynasty 861–1003
Samanid dynasty 875–999
Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043
Buyid dynasty 934–1062
Sallarid 942–979
Ma'munids 995-1017
Ghaznavid Empire 963–1187
Ghori dynasty 1149–1212
Seljuq dynasty 1037–1194
Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231
Ilkhanate 1256–1353
Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393
Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357
Sarbadars 1337–1376
Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432
Timurid dynasty 1370–1506
Qara Qoyunlu 1407–1468
Aq Qoyunlu 1378–1508
Safavid dynasty 1501–1722/36
Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729
Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750
Zand dynasty 1750–1794
Qajar dynasty 1781–1925
Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979
Interim Government 1979–1980
Islamic Republic since 1980
History of Iran has been intertwined to the history of a larger historical region, Greater Iran, which consists of the area from the Euphrates in the west to the Indus River and Jaxartes in the east and from the Caucasus, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south.
The southwestern part of the Iranian plateau participated in the wider Ancient Near East with Elam, from the Early Bronze Age. The Persian Empire proper begins in the Iron Age, following the influx of Iranian peoples which gave rise to the Median, Achaemenid, the Parthian, the Sassanid dynasties during classical antiquity.
Once a major empire of superpower proportions,[1][2] Persia as it had long been called, has been overrun frequently and has had its territory altered throughout the centuries. Invaded and occupied by Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and others—and often caught up in the affairs of larger powers—Persia has always reasserted its national identity and has developed as a distinct political and cultural entity.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.[3] The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC.[4][4] The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC) was the first of the Iranian empires to rule in Middle east and central Asia. They were succeeded by the Seleucid Empire, Parthians and Sassanids which governed Iran for almost 1,000 years.
The Islamic conquest of Persia (633–656) and the end of the Sassanid Empire was a turning point in Iranian history. Islamicization in Iran took place during 8th to 10th century and led to the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia. However, the achievements of the previous Persian civilizations were not lost, but were to a great extent absorbed by the new Islamic polity and civilization.
After centuries of foreign occupation and short-lived native dynasties, Iran was once again reunified as an independent state in 1501 by the Safavid dynasty who established Shi'a Islam[5] as the official religion of their empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.[6] Iran had been a monarchy ruled by a shah, or emperor, almost without interruption from 1501 until the 1979 Iranian revolution, when Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979.[7][8]
Pre-Historic era
The earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran were found in the Kashafrud and Ganj Par sites that date back to Lower Paleolithic. Mousterian Stone tools made by Neanderthal man have also been found.[9] There are also 9,000 year old human and animal figurines from Teppe Sarab in Kermanshah Province among the many other ancient artifacts.[9] There are more cultural remains of Neanderthal man 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 Shanidar, Kobeh, Kunji, Bisetun, Tamtama, Warwasi, Palegawra, and Yafteh Cave.[10] Evidence for Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods are known mainly from the Zagros region in the caves of Kermanshah and Khoramabad.
In the eighth millennium BC, agricultural communities started to form in western Iran, either as a result of indigenous development or of outside influences.[11] Around about the same time the earliest known clay vessels and modeled human and animal terracotta figurines were produced at Ganj Dareh, also in western Iran.[11] The south-western part of Iran was part of the Fertile Crescent where most of humanity's first major crops were grown. 7,000 year old jars of wine excavated in the Zagros Mountains[12] (now on display at The University of Pennsylvania) and ruins of 7,000 year old settlements such as Sialk are further testament to this. Two main Neolithic Iranian settlements were the Zayandeh Rud River Civilization, Ganj Dareh.
Dozens of pre-historic sites across the Iranian plateau point to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC,[3] One of the earliest civilizations in Iranian plateau was the Jiroft Civilization in southeastern Iran, in the province of Kerman. It is one of the most artifact-rich archaeological sites in the Middle East. Archaeological excavations in Jiroft led to the discovery of several objects belonging to the fourth millennium BC, a time that goes beyond the age of civilization in Mesopotamia. 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 unlike anything ever seen before by archeologists. Many are made from chlorite, a gray-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.[13][14]
Pre-Islamic history
Early history (3200 BC–625 BC)
There are records of numerous ancient civilizations on the Iranian plateau before the arrival of Iranian tribes from Central Asia during the Early Iron Age. One of the main civilizations of Iran was the Elam to the east of Mesopotamia, which started from around 3000 BC.[15] The recently discovered Jiroft Civilization occupied southeastern Iran and is claimed to have existed as far back as 3000 BC[16] According to available written records, it is known to have existed beginning from around 3200 BC — making it among the world's oldest historical civilizations — and to have endured up until 539 BC. 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.