The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great. By the 7th century BC, the Persianshad settled in the southwestern portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis, which came to be their heartland.The historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. The Empire would also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran.
The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid dynasty, which existed from 312 BC to 63 BC; it was founded by Seleucus I Nicator following the division of the Macedonian empire vastly expanded by Alexander the Great.Seleucid expansion into Anatolia and Greece was abruptly halted after decisive defeats at the hands of the Roman army. Their attempts to defeat their old enemy Ptolemaic Egypt were frustrated by Roman demands. Much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by the Parthians under Mithridates I of Parthia in the mid-2nd century BC, yet the Seleucid kings continued to rule a rump state from Syria until the invasion by Armenian king Tigranes the Great and their ultimate overthrow by the Roman general Pompey
The Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran and Iraq. Its latter name comes from Arsaces I of Parthia who, as leader of the Parni tribe, founded it in the mid-3rd century BC when he conquered the region of Parthia in Iran's northeast, then a satrapy (province) in rebellion against the Seleucid Empire. Mithridates I of Parthia (r. c. 171–138 BC) greatly expanded the empire by seizing Media and Mesopotamia from the Seleucids. At its height, the Parthian Empire stretched from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to eastern Iran. The empire, located on the Silk Road trade route between the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean Basin and the Han Empire of China, became a center of trade and commerce.
The Sasanian Empire also known as known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr in Middle Persian language,was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam, ruled by and named after the Sasanian dynasty from 224 to 651. The Sasanian Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring arch-rival the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years.
The Banu Umayya clan took its name from Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf's son Umayya ibn Abd Shams.Bani Umayyah became enemies of the Bani Hashim when Hashim banished his brother, 'Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, from Mecca. The enmity and opposition between Bani Umayya and Bani Hashim began before the struggle for rulership and authority had occurred between them and before Islam had gained predominance in the 7th century CE. The reasons for this included tribal party spirit, superiority complex, old grudges, desire for vengeance of the murder of kinsmen, political views, personal sentiments, and differences in ways of life and manner of thinking. Bani Umayya and Bani Hashim were the chiefs of Mecca and held high offices even during the Age of ignorance. The chieftainship of Bani Hashim was spiritual, whereas that enjoyed by Bani Umayya was political and they were also tradesmen and possessed enormous wealth
Islamiccaliphates to succeed the Islamic prophetMuhammad. The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammad's youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs, for most of their period from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after assuming authority over the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE (132 AH).
TheJustanids were the rulers of a part of Daylam (the mountainous district of Gilan) from 791 to the late 11th-century. They appear as "Kings of Daylam" at the end of the 8th century. Their centre was in the Rudbar of Alamut, running into the valley of the Shahrood. Two centuries later, this had become the main centre of the historical Nizari Ismailis or Assassins (Hashshashin) as they are known in the west. They appear in Islamic history as part of what Vladimir Minorsky has called "the Iranian intermezzo".
The Tahirid dynasty was a dynasty, of Persiandihqan origin, that governed the Abbasid province of Khorasan from 821 to 873, and the city of Baghdad from 820 until 891. The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun. Their capital in Khorasan was initially located at Merv, but later moved to Nishapur. The Tahirids enjoyed a high degree of autonomy in their governance of Khorasan, although they remained subject to the Abbasid caliphate and were not independent rulers.
In the 9th–14th centuries, the northern Iranian regions of Tabaristan, Daylam and Gilan, sandwiched between the Caspian Sea and the Alborz range, came under the rule of a number of Alid dynasties, espousing the Zaydi branch of Shi'ism. The first and most powerful Zaydi emirate was established in Tabaristan in 864 and lasted until 928. It was interrupted by Samanid occupation in 900, but restored in 914 by another Alid branch. The second period of the Alid emirate was plagued by internal dissensions and power struggles between the two branches, and ended in the second conquest of the region by the Samanids in 928. Subsequently, some of the soldiers and generals of the Alavids joined the Samanids, among them the founder of the Ziyarid dynasty, Mardavij, and Ali, Hassan and Ahmad, the sons of Buya and founders of the Buyid dynasty. Local Zaydi rulers survived in Daylam and Gilan until the 16th century.
The Samanid, was a SunniIranian empire, ruling from 819 to 999. The empire was mostly centered in Khorasan and Transoxiana during its existence, but at its greatest extent, the empire encompassed all of today's Afghanistan, and large parts of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.
The Samanid state was founded by four brothers; Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya, and Ilyas—each of them ruled their own territory under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Isma'il ibn Ahmad (892–907) united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority.
The Buyids, was an IranianShia dynasty of Daylamite origin and was founded by 'Ali ibn Buya, who in 934 conquered Fars and made Shiraz his capital, while his younger brother Hasan ibn Buya conquered parts of Jibal in the late 930s, and by 943 managed to capture Ray, which he made his capital. In 945, the youngest brother, Ahmad ibn Buya, conquered Iraq and made Baghdad his capital, receiving the honorific title of "Mu'izz al-Dawla" ("Fortifier of the State"), while 'Ali was given the title of "'Imad al-Dawla" ("Support of the State"), and Hasan was given the title of "Rukn al-Dawla" ("Pillar of the State").
Hasanawayhid was a Kurdishprincipality from 961 to 1015, centered at Dinawar (northeast of present-day Kermanshah). The principality ruled western Iran and upper Mesopotamia. The founder of the dynasty was Hasanwayh from the Kurdish tribe of Barzikani. He managed to successfully resist Sahlan ibn Musafir, the Buyid governor of Hamadan, and the Buyid vizier, Ibn al-Amid. In 970 he reached a compromise with Amid's successor which guaranteed his autonomy. Hasanwayh died in 979 at Sarmaj, located in south of Bisitun.
Rawwadid (955–1071), was a Kurdish principality ruling Iranian Azerbaijan from the 10th to the early 11th centuries, centered on Tabriz and Maragheh. According to Kasravi, Rawwadids conquered the lands of the Musafirid ruler Ibrahim I ibn Marzuban I, in Azarbaijan in 979. Wahsudan bin Mamlan is the best known Rawwadid ruler, and he is mentioned by Ibn Athir. The regions of Tabriz, Maragheh and the strongholds of Sahand mountain were in his possession. In 1029, he helped the Hadhbani Kurds in Maragheh to defeat the invading Oghuz Turkic tribes.
The dynasty was a PersianateMuslim dynasty of Turkicmamluk origin at their greatest extent ruling large parts of Iran, Afghanistan, much of Transoxiana, and northwest Indian subcontinent from 977–1186. The dynasty was founded by Sabuktigin, upon his succession to rule of Ghazna after the death of his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, who was a breakaway ex-general of the Samanid Empire from Balkh, north of the Hindu Kush in Greater Khorasan. Although the dynasty was of Central Asian Turkic origin, it was thoroughly Persianized in terms of language, culture, literature, and habits, and hence is regarded by some as a "Persian dynasty" rather than Turkic
Kakuyidswere a Daylamite dynasty that held power in western Persia, Jibal and Kurdistan (c. 1008–c. 1051). They later became atabegs (governors) of Yazd, Isfahan and Abarkuh from c. 1051 to 1141. They were related to the Buyids. The Kakuyids were given control of Isfahan in or before 1008 by Sayyida Shirin, who held the regencies of her young Buyid sons Majd al-Dawla of Ray and Shams al-Dawla of Hamadan. The man who was given the administration of the city was Muhammad ibn Rustam Dushmanziyar. Over time, he effectively became independent of Buyid control
TheSeljuq dynastywas an Oghuz TurkSunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became a Persianate society and contributed to the Turko-Persian tradition in the medieval West and Central Asia. The Seljuqs established both the Seljuk Empire and Sultanate of Rum, which at their heights stretched from Anatolia through Iran and were targets of the First Crusade. The Seljuqs originated from the Qynyk branch of the Oghuz Turks, who in the 9th century lived on the periphery of the Muslim world, north of the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea in their YabghuKhaganate of the Oghuz confederacy, in the Kazakh Steppe of Turkestan. During the 10th century, due to various events, the Oghuz had come into close contact with Muslim cities
The Kakuyids were a Daylamite dynasty that held power in western Persia, Jibal and Kurdistan (c. 1008–c. 1051). They later became atabegs (governors) of Yazd, Isfahan and Abarkuh from c. 1051 to 1141. They were related to the Buyids. Although the historian Margaretha states that the Kakuyids were of Kurdish origin, however, many other scholars consider them relatives of Sayyida Shirin, who was from the DailamiteBavand dynasty. Encyclopædia Iranica also states that; “it should be remembered that “Kurd” in the sources of the 10th-11th centuries refers to all the transhumants of the Zagros region including the Lors.” According to historian James Boris, the word “Kurd” first became an ethnic identity in the 12th and 13th century. However, he further states that the term was even then also being used as a communal sense.
he Nizari Ismaili state, also called the Alamut state, was a ShiaNizariIsmaili state founded by Hasan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD. The state consisted of a nexus of strategic strongholds throughout Persia (Iran) and Syria, surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territoryThe Nizari Ismaili state managed a unified power structure that proved more effective than the Ismaili Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, or the Sunni Seljuq Empire, both of which suffered political instability.The state collapsed when Rukn-ud-Din Khurshah surrendered Alamut Castle to the invading Mongols.
The dynasty Khwarazmian was a PersianateSunni Muslim dynasty of Turkicmamluk origin. The dynasty ruled large parts of Central Asia and Iran during the High Middle Ages, in the approximate period of 1077 to 1231, first as vassals of the Seljuqs and Qara-Khitan, and later as independent rulers, up until the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia in the 13th century.
The dynasty was founded by commander Anush Tigin Gharchai, a former Turkish slave of the Seljuq sultans, who was appointed as governor of Khwarezm. His son, Qutb ad-Din Muhammad I, became the first hereditary Shah of Khwarezm.
The Ghorids were a dynasty of Eastern Iranian descent from the Ghor region of present-day central Afghanistan. The dynasty converted to SunniIslam from Buddhism, after the conquest of Ghor by the Ghaznavid emperor Mahmud of Ghazni in 1011. The dynasty overthrew the Ghaznavid Empire in 1186, when Sultan Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad of Ghor conquered the last Ghaznavid capital of Lahore. At their zenith, the Ghurid empire encompassed Khorasan in the west and reached northern India as far as Bengal in the east. Their first capital was Firozkoh in Mandesh, Ghor, which was later replaced by Herat, while Ghazni and Lahore were used as additional capitals, especially during winters. The Ghurids were patrons of Persian culture and heritage. The Ghurids were succeeded in Khorasan and Persia by the Khwarezmian dynasty, and in northern India by the Mamluk dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.
The Salghurids of Fars were a dynasty of Turkmen origin that ruled Fars, first as vassals of the Seljuqs then for the Khwarazm Shahs in the 13th century. The Salghurids were established by Sunqur in 1148, who had profited from the rebellions during the reign of Seljuq sultan Mas'ud b. Muhammad. Later the Salghurids were able to solidify their position in southern Persia to the point of campaigning against Kurds and involving themselves in the succession of the Kirman Seljuqs, holding Seljuq sultan Malik-Shah III's son Mahmud as a possible claimant to the Seljuq throne. They captured Isfahan in 1203-4, and later occupied Bahrain taken from the Uyunid dynasty in 1235. During the 13th century, the Salghurids patronized a cultural and intellectual atmosphere which included, Kadi al-Baydawi, Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi, Saadi Shirazi and the historian Wassaf.
The Hazaraspids (1155–1424), was a Kurdish dynasty that ruled the Zagros Mountains region of southwestern Iran, essentially in Lorestan and the adjacent parts of Fars which flourished in the later Saljuq, Ilkhanid, Muzaffarid, and Timurid periods.
Qarakhatayids Kerman (the years of 703-619), one of the feudal dynasties of the nearly 83 year Kerman ruled. On the occasion of founder as sleek contrast to theseries called Qtlgh Khani.
The Kurt dynasty was a Sunni Muslim dynasty of Tajik origin, that ruled over a large part of Khorasan during the 13th and 14th centuries. Ruling from their capital at Herat and central Khorasan in the Bamyan, they were at first subordinates of Sultan Abul-Fateh Ghiyāṣ-ud-din Muhammad bin Sām, Sultan of the Ghurid Empire, of whom they were related, and then as vassal princes within the Mongol Empire. Upon the fragmentation of the Ilkhanate in 1335, Mu'izz-uddin Husayn ibn Ghiyath-uddin worked to expand his principality. The death of Husayn b. Ghiyath-uddin in 1370 and the invasion of Timur in 1381, ended the Kurt dynasty's ambitions.
The Ilkhanate was established as a khanate that formed the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire, ruled by the Mongol House of Hulagu. It was founded in the 13th century and was based primarily in Iran as well as neighboring territories, such as present-day Azerbaijan and the central and eastern parts of present-day Turkey. The Ilkhanate was originally based on the campaigns of Genghis Khan in the Khwarazmian Empire in 1219–24 and was founded by Hulagu Khan, a grandson of Genghis Khan. With the fragmentation of the Mongol Empire after 1259 it became a functionally separate khanate. Later Ilkhanate rulers, beginning with Ghazan in 1295, would convert to Islam.
The Muzaffarid dynasty was a Persian dynasty of Arab descent which came to power in Iran following the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 14th century. At their zenith, they ruled a kingdom comprising Iranian Azerbaijan, Central Persia, and Persian Iraq.
The Muzaffarids were originally from Arabia[and had settled in Khorasan from the beginning of Caliphal rule there. They stayed in Khorasan up until the Mongol invasion of that province, at which point they fled to Yazd. Serving under the Il-Khans, they gained prominence when Sharaf al-Din Muzaffar was made governor of Maibud. He was tasked with crushing the robber-bands that were roaming around the country.
The Injuids gained control of parts of Persia, mostly Fars, in 1304 at the beginning of the reign of the IlkhanÖljeitü. The Ilkhan had given Sharaf al-Din Mahmud Shah control of the injü . Sharaf al-Din was reportedly descended from 'Abd-Allah Ansari, an 11th-century mystic of Herat. His son, Amir Ghiyas al-Din Kai-Khusrau, assisted another family, the Muzaffarids, in their takeover of Yazd. By 1325 Sharaf al-Din had gained nearly an absolute grip on the region. His power displeased Öljeitü's successor Abu Sa'id, who ordered Sharaf al-Din removed and sent a Sheikh Hussein ibn Juban to replace him. Kai-Khusrau, who ruled Shiraz for his father, resisted; and Sheikh Hussein was forced to return with an Ilkhan army. Also during Abu Sa'id's lifetime, Sharaf al-Din was imprisoned in Tabriz for a failed attempt to murder his successor.
The Sarbadars were a mixture of religious dervishes and secular rulers that came to rule over part of western Khurasan in the midst of the disintegration of the MongolIlkhanate in the mid-14th century (established in 1337). Centered in their capital of Sabzavar, they continued their reign until Khwaja 'Ali-yi Mu'ayyad submitted to Timur in 1381, and were one of the few groups that managed to mostly avoid Timur's famous brutality. Sheikh Khalifa Mazandarani one of the leaders of this movement was indeed a great scholar. In modern Iranian history the term "Sarbedars" was used by the Union of Iranian Communists (Sarbedaran) during their armed uprising in January 1982 in Amol against the Iranian regime.
Togha Temür (died late 1353) was a claimant to the throne of the Ilkhanate in the mid-14th century. Of the many individuals who attempted to become Ilkhan after the death of Abu Sa'id, Togha Temür was the only one who hailed from eastern Iran, and was the last major candidate who was of the house of Genghis Khan. His base of power was Gurgan and western Khurasan.
Togha Temür descended from Hasar, Chingghis Khan's brother. Eventually, his family became the rulers of a nomadic tribe, the Chete. This region's principal cities were Astarabad and Jurjan. When Togha Temür became the leader of the Chete, they were still in this area.
The Chobanids were descendants of a Mongol family of the Suldus clan that came to prominence in 14th century Persia. At first serving under the Ilkhans, they took de facto control of the territory after the fall of the Ilkhanate. The Chobanids ruled over Azerbaijan (where they were based), Arrān, parts of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and west central Persia, while the Jalayirids took control in Baghdad.
The Jalayirids were a MongolJalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s. The Jalayirid sultanate lasted about fifty years, until disrupted by Tamerlane's conquests and the revolts of the "Black Sheep Turks" or Kara QoyunluTurkmen. After Tamerlane's death in 1405, there was a brief attempt to re-establish the sultanate in southern Iraq and Khuzistan. The Jalayirids were finally eliminated by Kara Koyunlu in 1432.
The empire was founded by Timur , a warlord of Turco-Mongol lineage who established the empire between 1370 and his death in 1405. He envisioned himself as the great restorer of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan, and, while not descended from him, regarded himself as his heir and associated much with the Borjigin.The ruling Timurid dynasty lost most of Persia to the Ag Qoyunlu confederation in 1467, but members of the dynasty continued to rule smaller states, sometimes known as Timurid emirates, in Central Asia and parts of India. In the 16th century, Babur, a Timurid prince from Ferghana (modern Uzbekistan), invaded Kabulistan (modern Afghanistan) and established a small kingdom there, and from there 20 years later he invaded India to establish the Mughal Empire.
The Kara Koyunlu were a Shi'aOghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia (1406), northwestern Iran, eastern Turkey, and northeastern Iraq from about 1375 to 1468. They rebelled against the Jalayirids, and secured their independence from the dynasty with the conquest of Tabriz by Qara Yusuf. In 1400, the armies of Timur defeated the Kara Koyunlu, and Qara Yusuf fled to Egypt seeking refuge with the Mamluk Sultanate. He gathered an army and by 1406 had taken back Tabriz.
In 1410, the Kara Koyunlu captured Baghdad. The installation of a subsidiary Black Sheep line there hastened the downfall of the Jalayirids they had once served. Despite internal fighting amongst Kara Yusuf's descendants after his death in 1420, and the increasing threat of the Timurid dynasty, the Qar Qoyunlu maintained a strong grip over the areas they controlled.
The Ağ Qoyunlu was a SunniOghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia, Eastern Turkey, part of Iran, and northern Iraq from 1378 to 1501.
the Ag Qoyunlu are first attested in the district of Bayburt south of the Pontic mountains from at least the 1340s, and most of their leaders, including the dynasty's founder, Qara Osman, married Byzantine princesses.
The Ağ Qoyunlu Turkomans first acquired land in 1402, when Timur granted them all of Diyar Bakr in present-day Turkey. For a long time, the Ağ Qoyunlu were unable to expand their territory, as the rival Kara Koyunlu or "Black Sheep Turkomans" kept them at bay. However, this changed with the rule of Uzun Hassan, who defeated the Black Sheep Turkoman leader Jahān Shāh in 1467.
The Safavid was one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. The Safavid shahs ruled one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Iran, and established the Twelver school of Shia Islam as the official religion of the empire.The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the SafaviyyaSufi order, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Azerbaijan region. It was of mixed ancestry. They established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a unified Iranian state.
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.
The Afsharids were members of an Iranian dynasty which originated from the TurkicAfshar tribe in Iran's north-eastern province of Khorasan, ruling Persia in the mid-eighteenth century. They was founded in 1736 by the brilliant military commander Nader Shah, who deposed the last member of the Safavid dynasty and proclaimed himself Shah of Iran. During Nader's reign, Iran reached its greatest extent since the Sassanid Empire.
After his death, most of his empire was divided between the Zands, Durranis, Georgians, and the Caucasian khanates, while Afsharid rule was confined to a small local state in Khorasan. Finally, the Afsharid dynasty was overthrown by Mohammad Khan Qajar in 1796, who would establish a new native Iranian empire and restore Iranian suzerainty over several of the aforementioned regions.
The Zandiyeh was an Iranian dynasty of Lakorigin founded by Karim Khan Zand that initially ruled southern and central Iran in the 18th century. It later quickly came to expand to include much of the rest of contemporary Iran, as well as Azerbaijan, and parts of Iraq and Armenia.
The Qajar was an Iranian royal dynasty of Turkic origin, specifically from the Qajar tribe, which ruled Persia (Iran) from 1785 to 1925. The state ruled by the dynasty was officially known as the Sublime State of. The Qajar family took full control of Iran in 1794, deposing Lotf 'Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty, and re-asserted Iranian sovereignty over large parts of the Caucasus. In 1796, Mohammad Khan Qajar seized Mashhad with ease, putting an end to the Afsharid dynasty, and Mohammad Khan was formally crowned as shah after his punitive campaign against Iran's Georgian subjects. In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost many of Iran's integral areas to the Russians over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
The Pahlavi dynasty was the ruling house of Iran from 1925 until 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and abolished as a result of the Iranian Revolution. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1925, a former Brigadier-General of the Persian Cossack Brigade, whose reign lasted until 1941 when he was forced to abdicate by the Allies after the Anglo-Soviet invasion. He was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran.The Pahlavis came to power after Ahmad Shah Qajar, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty, proved unable to stop British and Soviet encroachment on Iranian sovereignty, had his position extremely weakened by a military coup, and was removed from power by the parliament while in France. Faced with growing public discontent and popular rebellion throughout 1978, Mohammad Reza Shah i went into exile with his family in January 1979, sparking a series of events that quickly led to the dissolution of the state on 11 February 1979, officially ending the 2,500-year-old tradition of monarchy in Iran. At the death of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi on 27 July 1980, his son Reza Pahlavi became the head of the Pahlavi royal family.
