History of Iran

This book consists of three sections. The first section, written by Hassan Pirnia, covers the history of Iran before Islam. This section begins with the geographical formation of the Iranian plateau and continues with topics about the arrival of the Aryans to the Iranian plateau, their religion, ethics, family, social classes, and system of government. It includes a brief history of Elam, the history of Iranian Aryans, the Median period and civilization, the early Persian period, Alexander’s invasion of Iran and the fall of the Achaemenid dynasty, the Macedonian and Greek period (Alexander and the Seleucids), the Parthian era, the Parthian civilization, the Sassanid period, the Arab movement toward Iran, and religions during the Sassanid era. These form the chapters of the first section on the “History of Iran”, focusing on the pre-Islamic period. The second section, written by Abbas Iqbal Ashtiani, addresses the history of Iran after Islam. The post-Islamic period extends from the emergence of Islam to the fall of the Qajar dynasty. In the first part, covering the period from the rise of Islam to the Mongols, it includes chapters on the rise of Islam, the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyad Caliphate, and the Abbasid Caliphate. The second part of the “History of Iran after Islam” includes chapters on the Tahirids, the Alavids of Tabaristan, the Ziyarid Dynasty, the Buyid Dynasty, the Saffarids, the Samanids, the Ghaznavids, the Ghurid Kingdom, the Seljuk Sultans, the Atabegs, and the Khwarazmian dynasty. The subsequent section was written by Parviz Babayi, which begins with the part of “Iran after Islam” focusing on Iran’s history prior to the Safavid dynasty. It continues with chapters on the Mongol invasion, Mongol politics and customs, Hulagu Khan’s campaign in Iran and the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Mongol sultans of Iran, and the rule of the Ilkhanates. The origins and genealogy of the Safavid dynasty, the reign of Shah Abbas the Great, the Afsharid dynasty, the Zand dynasty, the Qajar dynasty, and the Constitutional Revolution of Iran are among the other topics discussed in this section.