Iranian history covers more than 3,000 years, from the Elamite kingdom and the first Iranian states to the modern Islamic Republic. Here it is told era by era, with a separate page for each ruler, war, event and idea, in reading order.
Start with any era below; each page links to the next one, so you can read the whole story in sequence.
Eras
Early Iran and Elam (c. 3200–700 BCE)Iran before the Medes: early farming villages and towns on the plateau, the kingdom of Elam with its capital at Susa, and the first Iranian-…The Median Empire (c. 728–550 BCE)The Medes were the first Iranian people to build a state.The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE)Founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 BCE, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Egypt and the Aegean to the Indus.Alexander and the Seleucid Empire (330–141 BCE)Alexander of Macedon conquered the Achaemenid Empire between 334 and 330 BCE.The Parthian Empire (247 BCE–224 CE)The Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty rose in northeast Iran around 247 BCE and became Rome’s great rival in the East.The Sasanian Empire (224–651 CE)The Sasanians ruled Iran from 224 to 651 CE.The Arab Conquest and Early Islamic Iran (633–820 CE)Arab armies defeated the Sasanians in the 630s and 640s, and Iran became part of the Islamic caliphate.The Iranian Intermezzo (821–1055)Between Arab and Turkic rule, a series of Iranian dynasties governed parts of the country: the Tahirids, Saffarids, Samanids, Ziyarids and B…Ghaznavids, Seljuks and Khwarazmshahs (977–1231)From the late tenth century Turkic dynasties ruled Iran: the Ghaznavids, the Great Seljuks and the Khwarazmshahs.The Mongol Invasion and the Ilkhanate (1219–1357)Genghis Khan’s armies devastated eastern Iran from 1219.Post-Mongol Dynasties, Timurids and Turkmens (1335–1501)After the Ilkhanate fell, local dynasties divided Iran until Timur (Tamerlane) conquered it from the 1380s.The Safavid Empire (1501–1736)Shah Ismail I founded the Safavid state in 1501 and made Twelver Shi’ism its religion.The Afsharids and Zands (1736–1796)Nader Shah Afshar drove out the Afghans, crowned himself in 1736 and sacked Delhi in 1739.The Qajar Dynasty (1789–1925)The Qajars ruled Iran from Tehran from 1789 to 1925.The Pahlavi Era (1925–1979)Reza Khan took power in 1921 and became Reza Shah in 1925.The Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic (1979–present)The 1979 revolution ended the monarchy and created the Islamic Republic.Themes Across Iranian History (3000 BCE–today)Themes that run through every era of Iranian history: languages and scripts, religion, the Silk Road, cities, gardens, women’s lives and sci…
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