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224
Battle at the Plain of Hormizdagan
Artabanus V, the last ruler of the Parthian Empire, was killed at the hands of Ardashir I, the first ruler of the Sasanian Empire. Ardashir I, whose coin is pictured, came to prominence during the final decades of the Parthian Empire after defeating several states controlled by the Parthians in ancient Iran. His onslaught reached its peak at Hormizadagn, where he emerged victorious. The Sasanian Empire was the last Persian dynasty before the arrival of Islam. -
Jan 1, 610
Laylat al-Qadr
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) receives the first revelation of the Qur'an from the Angel Gabriel at the Cave of Hira, near Mecca, which is pictured. -
Jan 1, 632
Rise of Yazdegerd III
Yazdegerd III becomes the king of the Sasanian Empire in the same year that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) dies. He is the final king in a line of 32 kings that ruled the Sasanian Empire since 224 C.E. Pivotal events occurred during the reign of Yazdegerd III that enabled Islam to spread in Iran. The coin of Yazdegerd III is pictured here. -
Period: Jan 1, 632 to Jan 1, 661
Rashidun Caliphate
Spans the reigns of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 632 C.E. The Rashidun Caliphate began the expansion of the Islamic State beyond Arabia to Iran and other Middle Eastern lands. The Rashidun Caliphate ended when the Umayyads became caliphs after Ali's assassination in 661 C.E. -
Jan 1, 636
Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah
On the shores of the Euphrates River, near the city of Al-Hirah in present day Iraq, a battle was fought between an army of the Sasanian Empire and an invading Arab Muslim army. The Arabs were successful in killing Rostam, the commander of the Sasanian army. This battle caused Yazdegerd III to begin to flee from Ctesiphon to various provinces throughout the empire in order to evade the Arabs. This photo is of an excerpt from the Persian epic Shahnameh that portrays the Battle of Al-Qadisiyyah. -
Jan 1, 642
Battle of Nahavand
The Battle of Nahavand was a decisive battle fought between the forces of the Sasanian Empire, led by Firuzan, and the Arab army, led by Nu'man. Nu'man's forces feigned defeat after a skirmish and retreated. Firuzan led his troops into unfamiliar territory in pursuance of the Arabs and was promptly defeated. This fatal error by the Sasanians allowed for a crushing Arab victory, and thus brought forth the Islamization of Iran. Pictured is Nahavand Castle, which fell to the Arabs in this battle. -
Jan 1, 651
Assassination of Yazdegerd III
After fleeing to Merv, a city on the outskirts of the Sasanian Empire in response to the advancing Arab army, Yazdegerd III was killed by a miller who wanted his purse. This cemented the Rashidun Caliphate's control of Iran and the end of the Sasanian Empire. Pictured are ruins from the ancient city of Merv. -
Jan 1, 750
Battle of the Great Zab River
Forces tied to the revolution led by Abu Muslim, who was an agent for the Abbasid family, killed the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II, on the banks of the Great Zab River. This victory marks the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate and the development of a distinct Islamic culture in Iran. For example, a resurgence of respect for Iranian literature and poetry was intermingled with the desire to authenticate the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Pictured is the Great Zab River. -
Jan 1, 875
Iranian Renaissance
During the peak reign of the Samanids, who came to power in 819 C.E., Iran entered a renaissance which was characterized by the influx of the Arabic vocabulary into Persian literature. This enabled the Persian written language, which came to fruition centuries later, to have an Arabic alphabet. Pictured is the second letter in the Arabic alphabet. -
Jan 1, 1501
Rise of the Safavid Dynasty
The Safavid dynasty was native to Iran and came to power under Isma'il I. Isma'il I declared Shia Islam as the official religion of Iran, which united various ethnic groups in respect for Iran as a state. Due to the fact that many in Iran held Isma'il as special due to his supposed connection to an imam, they converted from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam with a greater peace of mind. Pictured is a portrait of Isma'il I. -
Constitutional Breakthroughs in Iran
Anger at the Qajar dynasty among landowners, merchants, and Shia clerics for giving protections to European merchants and infiltrating sectors of society that the clerics typically had control over, like education and the court system, led to protests that caused Shah Mozaffar od-Din Shah to develop the Persian Constitution of 1906. This constitution established a legislature, known as the Majles, which was authorized to pass secular legislation. Pictured are the members of the 1st Majlis. -
Rise of Reza Khan
Reza Khan was an officer of the Persian Cossack Brigade, an Iranian military unit. Khan staged a coup with Sayyid Ziya al-Din Tabataba'i. Khan took control of all of Iran's armed forces and he first became the War Minister and later the Prime Minister under Ahmad Shah, the last ruler of the Qajar dynasty. -
Rise of the Pahlavi Dynasty
Reza Khan expelled Ahmad Shah and crowned himself Reza Shah Pahlavi. He ushered in judicial and educational reforms that diminished the strict hold that Shia Islam had on Iranian institutions. Some of the reforms included replacing religious courts with secular courts, repealing the law that women had to wear headscarves, raising the minimum age for marriage, establishing secular schools for boys and girls, and founding the University of Tehran. A logo for the University of Tehran is pictured. -
Rise of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi
Following an invasion of Iran by Soviet and British forces, who were concerned with Reza Shah's ties to Nazi Germany, Reza Shah's son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, was given the crown. During the occupation, political parties took hold in Iran for the first time and the freedom of the press was expanded. Under Reza Shah's son, the Shia clerics who had seen their roles diminished under the secularization programs of his father were strengthened. Pictured is Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. -
The White Revolution
Lands were redistributed, pictured here, from landlords to some 2.5 million cultivating families. Landlords were given shares in Iranian state-owned industries as compensation. Also, health and literacy programs were dispatched to benefit rural areas in Iran. Women gained more rights through reforms pushed by the shah, which angered some Shia clerics who believed the reforms were against Islamic law. A vocal Shia critic of the White Revolution, Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini, was exiled. -
The Iranian Revolution
Groups on the intellectual left and the religious right united under Shia Islam with the belief that they could overthrow the shah having been inspired by the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, who is pictured here. Youth protests ensued, and the death of protestors at the hands of the government encouraged more to protest. Shocked by the opposition against him, the shah thought that an international conspiracy was behind the protests. The shah and his family vacated Iran in January of 1979. -
The Establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced that Iran would be an Islamic republic after that form of government was approved in a national referendum overwhelmingly. A ballot is pictured. The Shia clerics, who were restored to power, distanced themselves from their allies on the left and pushed for a return to conservative social values. Most of the Pahlavi dynasty's reforms were voided, and religious militias formed by Khomeini enforced Islamic dress codes in the streets and suppressed Western influences.
