List of Iranian Dynasties and Rulers

This is a reference list of the dynasties that ruled Iran, or large parts of it, from Elam to the end of the monarchy in 1979, with their dates, capitals and links to the pages on each. Iran’s best-known dynasties are the Achaemenids (550–330 BCE), the Parthians (c. 247 BCE–224 CE), the Sasanians (224–651), the Safavids (1501–1736), the Qajars (1789–1925) and the Pahlavis (1925–1979), but between them dozens of Arab, Iranian, Turkic and Mongol houses held power, often at the same time in different regions.

Dates are those most often given in modern reference works; many are approximate, and a dynasty’s “start” can mean its founder’s first conquest or his formal coronation. Capitals moved often, especially among the nomadic and Turkic dynasties, whose courts travelled with the seasons. For the same history as a sequence of events, see the timeline of Iranian history; for the cities themselves, the capitals of Iran.

Ancient Iran: Elam to the Sasanians

From the Arab conquest to the Mongols

After 651 Iran was part of the caliphate, but from the 9th century real power passed to regional dynasties, first Iranian (the “Iranian intermezzo”), then Turkic. Several of these overlapped: in the 10th century the Samanids held the north-east while the Buyids ruled the west and Baghdad itself.

From the Ilkhans to the Islamic Republic

After the Mongol Ilkhanate broke up in 1335, Iran was divided again until the Safavids reunited it in the early 1500s. The 18th century brought another interval of rival houses, ended by the Qajars, whose capital, Tehran, has remained the capital ever since.

Rulers of the main dynasties

The lists below give the kings of the dynasties that ruled all of Iran for long periods. Short-lived claimants and rulers of disputed reigns are left out; full lists appear in the Cambridge History of Iran and in C. E. Bosworth’s The New Islamic Dynasties.

Achaemenid kings

Parthian kings

The Arsacids had more than thirty kings, often with rivals reigning at the same time, and their order is reconstructed mainly from coins (see Parthian coins). Major reigns include Arsaces I (c. 247–217 BCE), Mithridates I (c. 171–132 BCE), Mithridates II (c. 124–88 BCE), Orodes II (c. 57–37 BCE), Phraates IV (c. 37–2 BCE), Artabanus II (c. 10–38 CE), Vologases I (c. 51–78 CE) and the last king, Artabanus IV (c. 213–224 CE).

Sasanian kings (selected)

Safavid shahs

Qajar and Pahlavi shahs, and the Supreme Leaders

Between the Safavids and the Qajars, Nader Shah ruled 1736–1747 and Karim Khan Zand 1751–1779; Lotf Ali Khan, the last Zand, was defeated by Agha Mohammad Khan in 1794.

Patterns across the list

• Many dynasties were not Persian. Arabs, Turks, Mongols, Turkmens and Afghans ruled Iran for long periods, and almost all adopted Persian as a language of government and culture. See the history of the Persian language.
• Titles changed. Ancient kings were shâhanshâh, “king of kings”; early Islamic rulers called themselves amir or sultan under the caliph; the Mongols used khan; the Safavids revived shah, and the Qajars and Pahlavis used shâhanshâh again.
• Legitimacy was borrowed. New dynasties often claimed descent from older ones: the Samanids from Bahram Chobin, the Buyids from the Sasanians, the Safavids from the Imams. The legendary kings of the Shahnameh served the same purpose.