Concept

History of Iran

Overview

The history of Iran (also known as Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, a region encompassing all areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence by the Iranian peoples and Iranian languages — chiefly the Persians and the Persian language. Central to this region is the Iranian plateau, now covered by modern Iran. The most pronounced impact of Iranian history can be seen stretching from Anatolia in the west to the Indus Valley in the east, including the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, and majority of Central Asia. It also stands in connection with the histories of other major civilizations, such as India, China, Greece, Rome, and Egypt.

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to the 5th millennium BC. The Iranian plateau's western regions were home to the Elamites, Kassites, Gutians, Urartians, and the Mannaeans in Kurdistan. The Iranian empire began with the rise of the Medes during the Iron Age, when Iran was unified as a nation under the Median kingdom in the 7th century BC. By 550 BC, the Medes were sidelined by the conquests of Cyrus the Great, who brought the Persians to power with the establishment of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus' ensuing campaigns enabled the Persia's expansion across most of West Asia and much of Central Asia, and his successors would conquer parts of Southeast Europe and North Africa to preside over the largest empire yet seen. In the 4th century BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered by the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, whose death led to the establishment of the Seleucid Empire over the bulk of former Achaemenid territory. In the following century, Greek rule of the Iranian plateau came to an end with the rise of the Parthian Empire, which conquered large parts of the Seleucids' Anatolian, Mesopotamian, and Central Asian holdings. While the Parthians were succeeded by the Sasanian Empire in the 2nd century, Iran remained a leading power for the next millennium, although most of this period was marked by the Roman–Persian Wars.

In the 7th century, the Muslim conquest of Persia resulted in the Sasanian Empire's annexation by the Rashidun Caliphate and the beginning of the Islamization of Iran. In spite of invasions by foreign powers, such as the Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and Mongols, Iranian national identity was preserved, allowing it to develop as a distinct political and cultural entity, influencing its invaders. While the early Muslim conquests had caused the decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been Iran's majority religion, the achievements of Iranian civilizations were absorbed into the nascent Islamic empires and expanded upon during the Islamic Golden Age. Nomadic Turkic tribes overran parts of the Iranian plateau during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period, negatively impacting the region. By 1501, however, the nation was reunified by the Safavid dynasty, which initiated Iranian history's most momentous religious change since the original Muslim conquest, by converting Iran to Shia Islam. Iran again emerged as a world power, especially in rivalry with the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, Iran came into conflict with the Russian Empire, which annexed the South Caucasus by the end of the Russo-Persian Wars.

In the 1940s, there were hopes Iran could become a constitutional monarchy, but a 1953 coup aided by the US and UK removed the elected prime minister, and Iran was ruled as an autocracy under the Shah with American support. The monarchy lasted until the Iranian Revolution in 1979, when the country was declared an Islamic republic. Since then, it has experienced significant political, social, and economic changes. The establishment of an Islamic republic led to a restructuring of the country's political system. Iran's foreign relations have been shaped by regional conflicts, beginning with the Iran–Iraq War and persisting through many Arab countries; ongoing tensions with Israel, the US, and the Western world; and the Iranian nuclear program, which has been contentious in international diplomacy. Despite international sanctions and internal challenges, Iran remains a key player in regional and global geopolitics.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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Again, what reaches unto its Perfector and attaches itself to Him is safe against corruption, all the more so if even during disconnection from Him it has not undergone corruption. Wherefore the soul after death shall ever remain and continue unwavering [and undying] and attached to this noble essence, which is called generic universal mind, and in the language of the lawgivers the Divine Knowledge. As to the other…
Avicenna, A Compendium on the Soul
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Having done so they continued to follow on further in the tracks of the enemy, until they had passed through the whole of this land and had arrived at the desert. This desert region is occupied by no men, and it lies above the land of the Budinoi, extending for a seven days' journey; and above this desert dwell the Thyssagetai, and four large rivers flow from them through the land of the Maiotians and run into that…
Herodotus, The History of Herodotus — Volume 1
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After this Darius subdued the Indians, and frequented this sea. Thus the other parts of Asia, except toward the rising sun, are found to exhibit things similar to Libya. Whether Europe is surrounded by water either toward the east or toward the north, has not been fully discovered by any man; but in length it is known to extend beyond both the other continents. Nor can I conjecture for what reason three different…
Herodotus, The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus
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Philosophers who discussed History of Iran

Will Durant

Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of Henotheism.

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