Iran Timeline

Iran 22

1200 BC – 550 BC Zoroaster and the rise of Zoroastrianism One of the world's earliest monotheistic faiths The prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) taught a dualist vision of a single supreme god, Ahura Mazda, locked in cosmic struggle with evil. Zoroastrianism became the dominant religion of the Persian empires for over a thousand years and influenced ideas of heaven, hell and judgement in later faiths.
678 BC – 550 BC Median Empire The Medes unify the Iranian peoples The Medes were the first to unify the Iranian tribes into a single state, overthrowing Assyrian dominance and forging an empire across the plateau. Their kingdom was absorbed by Cyrus the Great when he founded the Achaemenid empire, but it laid the groundwork for a unified Iran.
559 BC – 530 BC Cyrus the Great Founder of the Persian Empire Cyrus the Great united the Persians and Medes and conquered Lydia and Babylon to build the first Persian empire. Famed for his tolerance, he freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity, and the Cyrus Cylinder recording his policies is often called the first charter of human rights.
550 BC – 330 BC Achaemenid Empire — First Persian Empire The largest empire the ancient world had yet seen Founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from the Balkans and Egypt to the Indus Valley — the largest empire the world had yet seen. It was renowned for its tolerance of subject peoples, its network of royal roads and the administrative system of satrapies.
522 BC – 486 BC Darius the Great Empire at its zenith; Persepolis built Darius I brought the Achaemenid Empire to its greatest extent and organised it into provinces governed by satraps, with a common coinage, road network and postal system. He began the great ceremonial capital at Persepolis. His invasions of Greece, however, met defeat at Marathon in 490 BC.
330 BC Alexander conquers Persia The Achaemenid Empire falls to Macedon In 330 BC Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, burned Persepolis and ended the Achaemenid Empire after a three-year campaign. His conquest brought Greek rule and the Hellenistic age to Iran, though Persian culture endured and would later reassert itself.
312 BC – 63 BC Seleucid Empire Greek successor state rules Persia After Alexander's death his general Seleucus seized the eastern territories, founding the Seleucid Empire that ruled Persia for some two and a half centuries. It spread Hellenistic culture across the region before fragmenting and giving way to the resurgent Parthians.
247 BC – 224 Parthian Empire Persian revival; rival of Rome The Parthian (Arsacid) Empire restored native Iranian rule and became Rome's great rival in the east for nearly five centuries, its famed horse-archers and cataphracts repeatedly checking Roman expansion — most notably annihilating Crassus's legions at Carrhae in 53 BC.
224 – 651 Sasanian Empire — last pre-Islamic empire The longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty Founded by Ardashir I, the Sasanian Empire revived Persian power, made Zoroastrianism the state religion, and ruled as a superpower rivalling Rome and Byzantium for over four centuries. It was a golden age of Persian art, architecture and administration before falling to the Arab Muslim conquest.
633 – 651 Muslim conquest of Persia Islam replaces Zoroastrianism as the dominant faith The Arab Muslim armies overthrew the Sasanian Empire between 633 and 651, ending over a thousand years of Persian imperial religion. Islam gradually replaced Zoroastrianism, but Persian language and culture survived and would deeply shape Islamic civilisation.
651 – 1501 Islamic Persia — caliphates, Seljuks and Mongols Centuries of Islamic rule and a Persian cultural flowering After the conquest, Persia was ruled successively by the Arab caliphates, Persian and Turkic dynasties, the Seljuk Turks, and — devastatingly — the Mongols under Genghis Khan and Hulagu in the 13th century. Yet this era produced a brilliant Persian cultural renaissance: the poetry of Ferdowsi, Rumi, Hafez and Omar Khayyam, and advances in science and mathematics.
1010 Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh The Persian national epic preserves the language Around 1010 the poet Ferdowsi completed the Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), a 50,000-couplet epic recounting the myths and history of Persia from creation to the Arab conquest. Written in nearly pure Persian, it is credited with preserving the Persian language and identity through centuries of foreign rule.
1219 – 1221 Mongol invasion of Persia Genghis Khan razes the great Persian cities The Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan from 1219 was one of the most destructive episodes in Persian history, with major cities razed and populations massacred. Iran later became the centre of the Ilkhanate, a Mongol successor state whose rulers eventually adopted Islam and Persian culture.
1501 – 1736 Safavid Empire Iran reunified; Shia Islam made the state religion The Safavid dynasty, founded by Shah Ismail I in 1501, reunified Iran as an independent power after centuries of fragmentation and established Twelver Shia Islam as the state religion — a defining feature of Iranian identity to this day. The empire reached its height under Shah Abbas I and rivalled the Ottomans.
1587 – 1629 Shah Abbas the Great The Safavid empire at its zenith; Isfahan rebuilt Shah Abbas I brought the Safavid Empire to its peak, reforming the army, driving back the Ottomans and Uzbeks, and making his capital Isfahan one of the most beautiful cities in the world — "Isfahan, half the world" — with its great square, mosques and bridges.
1789 – 1925 Qajar dynasty Decline, territorial losses and foreign pressure The Qajar dynasty ruled Iran for over a century but presided over territorial losses to Russia and Britain and growing foreign interference. The 1906 Constitutional Revolution forced the creation of a parliament (Majlis), a landmark in Iran's political modernisation, before the dynasty fell to Reza Khan's coup.
1906 Constitutional Revolution Iran's first parliament and constitution The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 compelled the Qajar shah to grant a constitution and establish the Majlis (parliament) — the first in the Middle East. It marked the beginning of modern, participatory politics in Iran, though the gains were repeatedly contested in the decades that followed.
1925 – 1979 Pahlavi dynasty The last shahs; rapid modernisation The Pahlavi dynasty, founded by Reza Shah after a 1921 coup, was Iran's last monarchy. Reza Shah and his son Mohammad Reza drove rapid, top-down modernisation and Westernisation, and in 1935 the country's international name was formally changed from Persia to Iran. Autocratic rule and inequality fuelled the discontent that led to revolution.
1953 1953 coup overthrows Mossadegh CIA- and MI6-backed coup restores the Shah's power In 1953 the popular, nationalist prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh — who had nationalised Iran's oil — was overthrown in a coup backed by the American CIA and British MI6, restoring the Shah to full power. The episode left a lasting legacy of resentment toward Western intervention.
1979 – present Islamic Republic of Iran A Shia theocratic republic Since 1979 Iran has been an Islamic Republic combining elected institutions with a Supreme Leader holding ultimate authority. It has been a major regional power and a focus of international tension over its nuclear programme, sanctions, and domestic movements for reform.
1979 Islamic Revolution The monarchy falls; an Islamic republic is founded In 1979 mass protests forced the Shah to flee, and Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile to lead the establishment of an Islamic Republic — ending some 2,500 years of Persian monarchy. The revolution reshaped Iran's politics and society and transformed the geopolitics of the Middle East.
1980 – 1988 Iran–Iraq War Eight years of devastating war with Iraq Iraq's invasion in 1980 began an eight-year war of attrition that cost hundreds of thousands of lives on both sides, featuring trench warfare, missile attacks on cities and the use of chemical weapons. It ended in 1988 in a bloody stalemate, profoundly shaping the young Islamic Republic.