Middle East Kingdoms

Persia

The Persians (or Parsu) were a grouping of Indo-Europeans who settled to the east of ancient Elam during the period of instability and migration which occurred throughout the Middle East between 1200-900 BC, when other tribal groups such as the Aramaeans and the Sea Peoples were causing chaos further west. The Persians drifted in from the east, probably via Sogdiana and Transoxiana, not long after similar groups had entered India, and the mythical early kings seem to rule either in these areas or in parts of eastern Iran.

The Persian capital until 559 BC was Pasargadae in Fars, the modern region which was the heartland of ancient Persia. Increasing dominance saw them move that capital to the former Elamite capital at Susa. In effect, they were Elam's successors, inheriting their language and culture, especially during the Achaemenid period.

c.1000 - 559 BC

The Persians are under the overlordship of Elam, although in the later stages Assyria and Media also claim some control over the region. As Elam's influence weakens, the Achaemenid Persians begin to assert their own authority in the region.

Later myth ascribes a dynasty of rulers to this period, as described in the Shahnameh ('the Book of Kings'), a poetic opus which is written in about AD 1000 but which accesses older works and perhaps elements of an oral tradition. The Kayanian dynasty of kings are also the heroes of the Avesta, which forms the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism.

Fereydun / Faridun

Ruled a 'world empire'.

Manuchehr

Great-grandson. First of the legendary kings or shahs of Iran.

Nowzar

Son and early king. Killed by Afrasiab of Turan.

Kai Kobad / Kei Qobád

Kayanian dynasty founder who united the Aryan tribes.

Kai Kobad lives in the Alborz Mountains, a range which stretches from the borders of modern Armenia, across northern Iran to the border between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. This seems to support the evidence of a Persian migration from further north and east, and may be used to show that they have not yet fully settled in Persia itself.

7th cent BC

Kai Kavoos / Kay Kāvus

Mythical early Persian king.

The wife of Kai Kavoos, Sudabeh, attempts to persuade his son, Sijavus, to betray the king in return for sex, but Sijavus refuses and goes into voluntary exile in Sogdiana. His son, Kai Khosrow, is chosen by Kai Kavoos as his successor in Persia.

Kai Khosrow

Son of Sijavus. Later king of Persia. Reigned for about 60 years.

Kai Lohrasb / Luarsab

Chosen successor of Kai Khosrow.

Kai Garshasp / Goshtasp

Kai Bahman / Wahman

Son of Esfandiyar and grandson of Garshasp.

The Bahamani sultanate of the fourteenth century AD, located on the Deccan plateau in central India, claims descent from Kai Bahman.

Kai Darab / Dara

Son.

675 BC

At a time which may fit in with the end of the Kayanian kings, the Persians begin to unite under the (legendary) founder of their new dynasty.

675 - 640 BC

Achaemenes Teispes

Vassal of the Medes.

644 BC

Assyria devastates Elam and only a fragmented kingdom survives.

640 - 600 BC

Cyrus I

Vassal of the Medes.

c.620 BC

Media gains a level of control in the region as Assyria is destroyed.

600 - 559 BC

Cambyses

Last Median-controlled Persian king.

559 BC

Cambyses' successor, Cyrus, ends the vassalage of the Persians and swiftly creates an empire.

Achaemenid Persia (Persian Empire)
559 - 330 BC

While Cyrus the Great built the Persian empire from its small beginnings in south-western Iran, Darius I is thought to have been a usurper of the Persian throne. Many scholars of Achaemenid history now believe that Achaemenes was a fictional common ancestor used to legitimise Darius' rule. Darius went so far as to install inscriptions on the unfinished palace of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae that read 'I am Cyrus, the king, the Achaemenid.' No record of Achaemenes can be dated earlier than the reign of Darius I. Nonetheless, the name 'Achaemenid' has been commonly accepted for the line of Persian kings beginning with Darius I. Some sources use the term Achaemenid to refer to the entire line of early Persian rulers, including both Cyrus and Cambyses.

559 - 530 BC

Cyrus (Kurush) II the Great

Created the Achaemenid empire.

559 - 530 BC

Cyrus moves the capital to the former Elamite capital, Susa (559 BC), throws off and conquers the Medes (550 BC), captures Anatolian Cilicia (549 BC), and then Cappadocia, Caria, Lycia, Lydia, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, and Tabal (547-546 BC), eastern Iran (c.546-540 BC), and Macedonia (542 BC), and is virtually invited into Babylon (539 BC), which also gains him the remainder of Elam's territory, plus Phoenicia and the Mediterranean coast (although Arabia and Cilicia are lost). At some point it seems that he also adds the eastern regions of Arachosia, Bactria, Drangiana, Gandhara, Khwarazm, and Margiana to the empire, although records for these campaigns are characteristically sparse. Typically the end of Cyrus' reign is spent in military activity in Central Asia where, according to Herodotus, he dies in battle in 530 BC fighting the Massagetae.

530 - 523 BC

Cambyses (Kambujiya) II

Son.

525 BC

The Persians conquer Egypt, creating the 27th Dynasty. They add Cyprus to the empire in the same year.

522 - 521 BC

Smerdis / Bardia

Usurper called Gaumata using a royal name. Murdered by Darius.

521 - 485 BC

Darius (Darayavahush) I the Great

First 27th Egyptian Dynasty ruler.

521 BC

Darius kills the usurper Gaumata and takes control of the empire, taking great pains to legitimise his rule by installing an inscription at Pasargadae to record his 'descent' from the legendary founder of the Persian dynasty. He also regulates the system of control within the empire. Instead of a number of polities with different systems of rule, he creates a uniform structure of about twenty provinces. These are often called satrapies, after the Greek interpretation of the original Persian word for 'protecting the kingdom'.

513 - 512 BC

The Persians enter northern Greece, conquering Thrace south of the Danube.

500 BC

Darius oversees the completion of a canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea.

490 BC

In revenge for a rebellion by the Greek cities on the Aegean coast and on Cyprus that had taken between 499-494 to subdue, Darius decides to invade Greece. He is decisively defeated at the Battle of Marathon by a force of Greeks under Miltiades.

485 - 465 BC

Xerxes (Xshayarsha) I

Son. Murdered (by Artabanus?).

Darius

Son and heir. Murdered (by Artabanus?).

480 - 479 BC

Invading Greece in 480 BC, Xerxes is swiftly engaged by Athens and Sparta in the Vale of Tempe, and then stymied by a mixed force of Greeks led by Sparta at Thermopylae. Athens then defeats the Persian navy at Salamis, and after Xerxes returns home, his army is decisively defeated at the battle of Plataea and kicked out of Greece.

Xerxes is later murdered, as is his son and heir, Darius. Whether he is responsible or not, Xerxes' chief officer, Artabanus, takes control of the empire until he, too, is killed, this time by Artaxerxes I.

465 - 464 BC

Artabanus the Hyrcanian

Regent or usurper. Former chief officer under Xerxes I.

464 - 424 BC

Artaxerxes (Artaxshassa) I Longimanus

Son of Xerxes I.

446 BC

Artaxerxes appoints Nehemiah, his Jewish cup-bearer, as the governor of Judea.

424 - 423 BC

Xerxes II

Claimant.

424 - 423 BC

Sogdianus

Claimant.

423 - 404 BC

Darius II

Last 27th Egyptian Dynasty ruler.

411 - 409 BC

The Cypriot city state of Salamis breaks away from Persian control. Two years later a Median rebellion against Darius II is less successful, being very short-lived.

404 BC

Egypt breaks away from Persian control.

404 - 359 BC

Artaxerxes II Mnemon

Son.

401 - 395 BC

Cyrus, satrap of Asia Minor, attempts to revolt, mobilising an army and ten thousand Greek mercenaries to attack his brother. Defeat leads to his death in October 401 BC. In 395 BC, Artaxerxes initially backs the Greek city states of Thebes, Athens, Corinth, and Argos against Sparta in the Corinthian War.

391 - 381 BC

Persia recovers Salamis in 381 BC following the short-lived Ionian revolt.

387 BC

Persia recaptures Lycia from Athens.

359 - 338 BC

Artaxerxes III Ochus

Son.

358 BC

The Phoenician subject city of Sidon on the Mediterranean coast rebels, but the rebellion is crushed in the same year.

350 BC

An attempt in Assyria to assert independence ends in failure and retribution by the Persians.

343 BC

Artaxerxes re-conquers Egypt, but this second Persian occupation of the country is short-lived.

338 - 336 BC

Artaxerxes IV Arses (Arsha)

Son.

336 - 330 BC

Darius III Codomannus

 Nephew. Murdered by the satrap of Bactria.

334 - 330 BC

Persia is conquered by the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. The eastern province of Bactria is used as the base for resistance, and it takes Alexander two more years to fully conquer it.

Argead Dynasty

The Argead were the ruling family and founders of Macedonia who reached their greatest extent under Alexander the Great and his two successors before the kingdom broke up into several Hellenic sections. Following Alexander's conquest of central and eastern Persia, the Greek Empire ruled the region until Alexander's death in 323 BC and the subsequent regency period which ended in 310 BC. Alexander's successors held no real power, being mere figureheads for the generals who really held control of Alexander's empire. Following that latter period and several wars, the region was left in the hands of the Seleucid Empire from 305 BC.

330 - 323 BC

Alexander III the Great

King of Macedonia. Conquered Persia.

323 - 317 BC

Philip III Arrhidaeus

Feeble-minded half-brother of Alexander the Great.

317 - 310 BC

Alexander IV of Macedonia

Infant son of Alexander the Great and Roxana.

323 - 320? BC

The former Persian empire is divided into separate satrapies. The Parthian section of conquered Persia is governed by the Greek general, Phrataphernes, Babylonia and northern Mesopotamia by Arcesilas and Archon, and Susiana by Antigenes, while the other provinces each receive their own satraps.

323 - 320 BC

Peucestas

Greek satrap of Persis.

323 - 320 BC

Tlepolemus

Greek satrap of Carmania.

323 - 320 BC

Atropates

Greek satrap of northern Media.

320 - 305 BC

Alexander's general, Seleucus, governs Persia during the period of the Diadochi Wars, although the Empire of Antigonus captures areas of his rule between 315-312 BC.

320 - 305 BC

Seleucus

Greek satrap of Babylonia.

320 - 315 BC

Peithon

Greek satrap of Media.

305 - 256 BC

The Fourth War of the Diadochi sees Persia ruled by the Hellenic Seleucid Empire from Babylon and then Antioch, in Syria. In 256 BC, the Greek satrap of Parthia declares independence.

Arsacid (Parthian) Persia
248 BC - AD 224

Following a declaration of independence by the resident Greek satrap of Parthia, the region was slowly liberated from Seleucid Greek rule by Parthian tribesmen who emerged out of obscurity on the Iranian Plateau and took over north-eastern and central Persia while the Seleucids weakened in the west. By 130 BC they conquered all of Persia, and in 126 BC they took Babylonia. The rise of the Arsacids also saw the eastern Greek satrapy of Bactria cut off from the Seleucids, and an independent Greco-Bactrian kingdom was declared there. The Bactrian king, Diodotus II, concluded a peace treaty with Arsaces to forestall a Seleucid re-conquest of both Persia and Bactria.

The dating of the Arsacids is uncertain, as is the sequence in some cases, and is largely known from coins. Not all pretenders and temporary rulers are mentioned in this list, though a fair number of overlapping reigns do seem to be mentioned.

323 - 320? BC

Phrataphernes

Greek satrap of Parthia & Hyrcania.

fl 256 - c.238 BC

Andragora

Greek satrap of Parthia. Killed by the Parni.

c.256 BC

Andragora declares independence from Seleucid Greek rule at the same time as Bactria.

c.250 - 248 BC

Areas of Persia are slowly liberated from Greek rule by tribesmen from the Iranian Plateau.

c.250 - 211? BC

Arsaces I of the Parni People

248 - c.238 BC

Parthia secures independence from Seleucid Persia, and fully establish themselves with the death of the Greek satrap and king of Parthia.

? - 211 BC

Tiridates

c.211 - 191 BC

Artabanus I (?)

c.200 BC

The Persian 'ancient batteries', basic electric cells, are dated to this point in time, although their function and origin remain unclear to this day.

c.211 - 191 BC

Arsaces II (?)

c.191 - 176 BC

Phriapitius

c.191 - 176 BC

Priapatius

185 BC

The Parthians expand into eastern Iran.

c.176 - 171 BC

Phraates I

171 - 139 BC

Mithridates I

(Not the same as the king of Pontus.)

141 - 139 BC

Mithridates takes Media (141 BC) and Iran (139 BC).

c.139 - 129 BC

Phraates II

c.128 - 124 BC

Artabanus II (I)

138 - 128 BC

Phraates II

Son of Mithradates.

129 - 126 BC

The Parthians invade and conquer Mesopotamia and Babylonia, dethroning and killing the Seleucid king.

124 - 87 BC

Mithridates II the Great

Cousin of Phraates II.

92 - 90 BC

A treaty is formed with Rome. Within two years the Parthians take control of eastern Iran.

c.90 - 80 BC

Gotarzes I

c.80 - 78 BC

Orodes I

c.80 BC

The Parthians divert their Indo-Scythian cousins, the Sakas, from Persia into Indo-Greek Gandhara.

c.77 - 70 BC

Sinatruces

c.70 - 58 BC

Phraates III

c.70 BC

Indo-Scythians expel the Indo-Greeks from Arachosia but subsequently lose it to the Parthians. Parthian rule seems to be limited and perhaps doesn't include the entire region.

66 BC

The Parthians take control of Harran.

c.58 - 39 BC

Orodes II

53 BC

The Battle of Carrhae (Harran). Triumvir Crassus is killed and 34,000 legionnaires are captured or killed. Some captured Romans may later be used to fight against China, while others are sold as slaves by the thousand in China and India, as well as closer to home.

c.57 - 55 BC

Mithridates III

Pacorus I

(d.38 BC)

c.40 - 3 BC

Phraates IV

Son of Orodes.

40 - 37 BC

Parthians attack and occupy areas of Roman Syria, including the city of Bashan.

c.30 - 25 BC

Tiridates

3 BC - AD 3

Phraates V

2 - 4

Queen Musa

c.4

The empire gradually breaks into smaller kingdoms that remain loosely united for 200 years.

4 - 7

Orodes III

c.7 - 12

Vonones I

Became king of Armenia 15-16.

c.10 - 38

Artabanus III (II)

His son became king of Armenia 34-35.

c.20

The Parthian vassal in the east of Persia, Gondophares, ventures furthers east and establishes an independent Indo-Parthian kingdom in Afghanistan and northern India.

c.39 - 45

Vardanes I

c.43 - 50

Gotarzes II

c.50 - 76

Vologeses I

Vologeses I is brother to Pacorus of Media, and Tiridates II of Armenia. He is also the father of Tiridates I of Armenia.

77 - 78

Vologeses II

77 - 86

Pacorus II

79 - 80

Artabanus IV (III)

89 - 90

Vologeses II

89 - 90

Oroses

92 - 95

Pacorus II

c.100

The Kushans capture former Bactrian Arachosia from the Indo-Parthians and expend their borders right up to the edge of Persia.

108 - 127

Oroses

Restored?

111 - 146

Vologeses III

114 - 117

The Romans under Trajan occupy Mesopotamia right up to the former Elamite capital at Susa (now the Parthian capital), but the conquests are given up following the emperor's death.

113 - 114

Pacorus II

c.130 - 147

Mithridates IV

148 - 190

Vologeses IV

190 - 206

Vologeses V

207 - 221

Vologeses VI

c.213 - 227

Artbanus V (IV)

224

Weakened by decades of war with Rome, the Parthians are overthrown by a nobleman called Sassa, from the Iranian Highlands.

c.226 - 227

Artavasdes

Sassanid Persia
AD 224 - 642

A nobleman from the Iranian Highlands overthrew the regional control of his masters in AD 224 and became shah of Persia.

?

Sassa

? - 208

Papak

King of Persis.

208 - 241

Ardashir I

Shah from 224. Kushanshah (c.230-c.245).

c.230 - c.250

The Kushans of the north and west of India are toppled by the Sassanids, who gain Tokharistan (former Bactria) and Arachosia as a result. In the latter region, centered on the south-east of modern Afghanistan, the Sassanids create a buffer state which is governed by the Kushanshahs.

232 - 242

The Sassanids briefly take control of Harran.

238 - 252

Ardashir conquers Armenia and persecutes the Christians there.

241 - 272

Shapur I

Defeated and captured Roman Emperor Valerian in 260.

c.241

A high priest known as Kartir Hangirpe, or Karder, who serves to at least three of the early Sassanid rulers starting with Shapur, begins the process of persecuting non-Zoroastrians throughout the Persian domains. This persecution of religious minorities is ended under the accession of Narses.

c.245

In around this year, Shapur devolves direct rule in Afghanistan by creating a buffer state which is governed by the Kushanshahs.

272 - 273

Hormizd I

Son. Kushanshah (from c.270, and perhaps after 273).

272 - 276

Bahram / Varahran I

Brother.

276 - 293

Bahram II

Son.

293

Bahram III

Son.

294 - 302

Narses / Nerseh / Narseh

Uncle. Defeated by Rome in 298.

296

The Sassanids regain Harran and make it a permanent possession.

302 - 309

Hormizd II

Son. Kushanshah (c.295-c.300).

309 - 379

Shapur II

Son.

325

To prevent Afghanistan from drifting entirely towards separatism, Shapur assumes direct control of the southern areas while the Kushanshahs continue to rule in the north.

c.350

The Sassanids end the Kushanshah drift towards independence by reasserting their control. Kushanshah rulers remain on the throne as vassals.

379 - 383

Ardashir II

383 - 388

Shapur III

387

Persia and Rome partition Armenia between them, with Persia gaining the eastern half.

388 - 399

Bahram IV

399 - 421

Yazdagird I

c.410

Sassanid control of Tokharistan and Arachosia is ended by the Hephthalites, or White Huns, who establish a kingdom of their own.

421 - 439

Bahram V

439 - 457

Yazdagird II

457 - 459

Hormizd III

459 - 484

Peroz

Son of Yazdagird II. Killed by White Huns.

484

The Persian Empire is temporarily overrun by White Huns who maintain puppet rulers on the throne.

484 - 488

Valash

488 - 496

Kavad I

496 - 498

Zamasp

498 - 531

Kavad I

Restored.

c.520

Some Turk tribes arrive from Asia and aid in the overthrow of the White Huns.

531 - 579

Khusro I (Chrosroes / Khosrau)

Son of Kavad(h).

c.550s

Shortly after the end of the Guptas as a political power in India, the Sassanids make some conquests there.

565

The White Huns are defeated in Kushanshah Afghanistan by an alliance of the Western Kaghans and the Sassanids, and a level of Indo-Sassanid authority is re-established in the region. The Western Kaghans set up rival states in Bamiyan, Kabul, and Kapisa.

579 - 590

Hormizd IV

591 - 628

Khusro II

607 - 616

The Sassanids invade and conquer Byzantine Syria, Egypt & Asia Minor.

623 - 628

Khusro is defeated by Byzantine emperor Heraclius, and overthrown by the nobles. Persia loses Armenia in the process.

628

Kavad II

628 - 629

Ardashir III

629 - 630

Boran

630 - 632

Hormizd V

630 - 632

Khusro III

632 - 651

Yazdagird III

637 - 651

Mesopotamia is lost to the Arabs in 637. The Sassanids are defeated by Caliph Umar in 642. Persia is overrun by Islam by 651. Yazdagird is killed, but his family flee to Turkistan, where they intermarry with the locals and eventually produce a Yamanid dynasty in the Afghan city of Ghazni. They may also form an ancestral base for the later Shansabani clan in Afghanistan.

651 - 945

Persia is conquered by the Islamic empire and remains under its control until the Buwayid amirs seize power.

c.900 - 1000

A large area of eastern Persia falls under the control of the Samanid emirate.

The Buwayid (Buyid) Amirs of Iraq
AD 945 - 1055

Although they failed to gain control of much of eastern Persia from the Samanid emirate, based in the Transoxiana region, the Buwayids took over in the west and in Mesopotamia. They were Shiite princes of a Deylamite Persian tribal confederation from the shores of the Caspian Sea who dominated the Abbasid Caliphs for a century in Mesopotamia and south-western Persia, reducing the caliph to little more than a figurehead. They also eventually contributed to a weakening of the Samanids. Although they fostered a flourishing of Shiite scholarship and theology, they never tried to suppress the Orthodox caliphs altogether, so the Abbasids continued to exercise their minimal religious authority under the regime. Nevertheless, the caliphs and the Orthodox were not too happy about this and so, at least initially, they welcomed the coming of the Orthodox Seljuqs who overthrew the Buwayids.

945 - 967

Ahmad ibn Buya

967 - 978

Bakhtiyar

978 - 983

Fana Khusraw

983 - 987

Marzuban

987 - 989

Shirzil I

989 - 1012

Firuz

995

Khwarazm achieves independence from Persia.

999 - 1000

Thanks to pressure from the Buwayids and their allies, the Karakhanids, the Samanids decline in eastern Persia, and a revolt by the Afghan Ghaznavids sees them conquered and their territory captured.

1012 - 1021

Abu Shuja

1021 - 1025

Hasan

1025 - 1044

Shirzil II

1044 - 1048

Marzuban

1048 - 1055

Khusraw Firuz

1055

The Buwayid amirs are defeated by and fall to the Seljuq Turks.

Seljuq Dynasty / Great Sultans
AD 1055 - 1194

Originating from Mongolia, the Seljuq Turks were part of a larger wave of Turkic tribes which erupted from the Asian Steppes above the Volga, north of the Caspian Sea, invading Persia and Mesopotamia from 1021 onwards.

c.990

Seljuk

Dynasty Founder.

c.1020 - 1037

Arslan ('Lion')

Son. Led Transoxianian invasion.

1037 - c.1060

Chagri-Beg

Ruled Khorasan. Nephew of Arslan.

1037 - 1063

Tughril-Beg

Nephew of Arslan.

1040 - 1046

Tughril-Beg defeats the Afghan Ghaznavids and takes control of Afghanistan and eastern Persia in 1040. Between 1041-1046 he establishes his rule over Isfahan. From 1044-1055 he invades Armenia and takes Baghdad. He restores the Abbasid Caliph and is created sultan of Persia.

1059

The Ghaznavid ruler re-establishes a truncated empire after the unstable two decades preceding his rule by agreeing peace terms with the Seljuqs.

1063 - 1072

Alp Arslan ('Heroic Lion')

Son of Chagri. Won the power struggle.

1071

By 1071 a splinter group of Seljuqs has defeated the Byzantines to create a ruling dynasty in Anatolia which is initially subservient to the Persian Seljuqs. Jerusalem is also conquered. The leader of this group, Kutulmush, vies for power with Alp Arslan.

1072 - 1092

Malik Shah I

Son. Died of unknown causes. Rum became independent.

1092 - 1094

Mahmud I

1094 - 1105

Berk Yaruq (Barkiyaruq)

1098 - 1099

The First Crusade finds a divided Islamic empire governed by the Seljuq Turks, and quickly and forcefully carves a large swathe of territory out of it, with loses including Edessa (on the Euphrates), and Jerusalem.

1105

Malik Shah II

1105 - 1118

Muhammad I Tapar

1118 - 1157

Ahmad Sanjar

Ruled Khorasan (1097-1157).

1118

The death of the Ghaznavid ruler, Masud, in 1115 had triggered a period of instability in his empire to the east. In 1118 Bahram Shah wins the internecine fight with his brothers, but only as a vassal of the Seljuqs.

1127

The sultan appoints the Zangid Atabegs to govern recaptured eastern Edessa as part of Syria.

1157

Upon the death of Sanjar the Seljuq territories break up into several smaller states. The rump of Seljuq territory is Iraq, where they remained in power as the Khwarazm shahs conquer the rest of Persia.

1118 - 1131

Mahmud II

Ruled Iraq.

1131 - 1132

Dawud

Ruled Iraq.

1132 - 1134

Tughril II

Ruled Iraq.

1134 - 1152

Masud

Ruled Iraq.

1152 - 1153

Malik Shah III

Ruled Iraq.

1153 - 1160

Muhammad II

Ruled Iraq.

1157

The Great Sultanate breaks up.

1160 - 1161

Sulayman Shah

Ruled Iraq.

1161 - 1176

Arslan Shah

Ruled Iraq.

1176 - 1194

Tughril III

Ruled Iraq. Last Seljuq sultan. Died on the battlefield.

1194 - 1219

Persia is conquered by the Khwarazm shahs.

1219 - 1256

Following two attacks by the Mongols in 1219 and 1221 which secures eastern Persia for them, the Khwarazm shahs are finally conquered in 1231 and Persia is controlled directly by the Golden Horde until 1256, when the descendents of Chingiz Khan divide up the Mongol Empire. The Il-Khans control Persia.

Il-Khan Dynasty
AD 1256 - 1336

In Transoxiana in 1219-1221, the Mongols attacked the Khwarazm emirate which controlled Persia, and finally overran it in 1231. When the descendents of Chingiz Khan divided up Mongol empire in 1256, the Il-Khans inherited Persia and eastern Anatolia, ruling from Baghdad. While they did so,  the Ottoman Turks focused on conquering and securing western Anatolia and Byzantine Greece.

1231 - 1256

Tolui

Son of Chingiz Khan. Took control of Khwarazm.

1256 - 1265

Hulegu

Son.

1255 - 1260

The Il-Khans invade and conquer Mesopotamia. In 1258 Khan Hulegu kills the Abbasid caliph in Iraq. A puppet Abbasid caliphate is set up in Mameluke Egypt as a replacement.

1265 - 1282

Abaqa

1282 - 1284

Ahmad Teguder

1284 - 1291

Arghun

1291 - 1295

Gaykhatu

1295

Baydu

1295 - 1304

Mahmud Ghazan

1304 - 1316

Muhammad Khudabanda Öljeytu

1316 - 1335

Abu Said Ala ad Dunya wa dDin

1335 - 1336

Arpa Keun

Married Sati Beg, sister of Abu Said. Captured and killed.

1335 - 1353

Almost immediately in 1335, Arpa Keun faces an invasion by the Golden Horde under Ozbeg Khan. This is defeated, but the following year he is attacked by Oirat 'Ali Padsah, the governor of Baghdad. Padsah defeats him on 10 April 1336 near Maraga and soon afterwards he is captured and killed. Oirat 'Ali Padsah immediately places an Il-Khan Puppet on the throne which he rules from Baghdad. This triggers a period in which several rival Mongol successor states, such as the Chobanids and the Jalayirids, jostle for control. The latter seize Baghdad and rule south-western Persia from there. The entire region undergoes a period of anarchy and civil war.

Il-Khan Post-Dynasty Puppets
AD 1336 - 1357

The Il-Khan (or Ilkhan) dynasty was of Mongol origin. They had been based in Uruk in Mesopotamia since 1231, apparently giving the region a new name based on their capital - Iraq. In 1336 Oirat 'Ali Padsah, the governor of Baghdad, attacked and killed Arpa Keun, the last Il-Khan. Padsah immediately placed a puppet on the throne which he ruled from Iraq, but the khanate broke up almost immediately, with a period of anarchy and misrule hitting Persia as several Mongol successor states jostled for control, the main ones being the Jalayirids in south-western Persia and the Chobanids in north-western Persia. The Il-Khans found themselves contained in Iraq, under the domination of their successors. Few of them remained long on the throne and their claim appears to have died out after the little-known Ghazan II in 1357.

1336

Musa

Puppet of 'Ali Padsah of Baghdad.

1336

Musa is the great-great grandson of Hulegu, the second Il-Khan, but his right to the throne is challenged by the Jalayirid, Hasan Buzurg. Padsah is killed and Musa flees after being defeated at the Battle of Qara Darra on 24 July 1336. Hasan Buzurg maintains his own puppet, the child Muhammad Khan, on the Il-Kahn throne after that.

1337 - 1338

Muhammad Khan

Jalayirid puppet (south-western Persia). A child.

1338 - 1339

The Chobanid, Hasan Kucek, fights Hasan Buzurg and Muhammad at the Battle of Alataq on 16 July 1338, defeating them. Buzurg flees but Muhammad is captured and executed. Sati Beg, the widow of the final ruling Il-Khan, Arpa Keun, had initially been a supporter of Hasan Buzurg, but when he is defeated by Kucek, Sati Beg's own step-grandson, she defects. She is raised to the throne as a figurehead, although her authority does not extend beyond the Chobanid borders. Kucek grows suspicious of her by 1339 so he deposes her and marries her to his next candidate for the throne, Suleiman Khan.

1338 - 1339

Sati Beg

Chobanid figurehead (north-western Persia). Died after 1345.

1339

Togha Temur

Jalayirid puppet.

1339 - 1343

Suleiman Khan / Sulayman

Chobanid puppet. m Sati Beg. Claimed title until 1345.

1339 - 1340

Following the withdrawal of Jalayirid support from Togha Temur, the next candidate put forward by Hasan Buzurg is Jahan Temur. He and Buzurg meet the Chobanids in battle on the Jaghatu in 1340 and are defeated. Buzurg gives up on the idea of puppet claimants to the throne and now establishes his own Jalayirid Sultanate in Baghdad.

1339 - 1340

Jahan Temur

Jalayirid puppet.

1341 - 1343

Suleiman Khan is also recognised by the Sarbadars in western Khorasan as they attempt to begin an alliance with the Chobanids. However, when Hasan Kucek is murdered in 1343, Suleiman appeals to Hasan Buzurg to intervene in the ensuing Chobanid succession struggle, but both claimants, together with Suleiman, are forced to flee to Diyarbakr, where Suleiman maintains his claim until 1345. The Chobanids renew their control of the Il-Khans.

1343 - 1356

Anushirwan

Chobanid puppet.

1356 - 1357

Ghazan II

Known only through numismatic evidence.

1357 - 1401

Southern and eastern Persia and Iraq are controlled directly by the Jalayirids until 1401, when Iraq becomes a province of the Timurids after their founder, Timur, conquers Baghdad - the last of a series of conquests which gives him all of Persia.

Timurid Dynasty
AD 1384 - 1500

Persia was the location for a long period of unrest between about 1336-1387, while the surviving Il-Khans were used as puppets by the Chobanids and the Jalayirids for the right to claim control of all of Persia. Instead, southern and western Persia was taken by Chaghatayid Mongols under Timur, and were controlled through his increasingly Persian and Turkic-influenced Timurid descendants.

At its height, Timurid Persia governed all the territory between the eastern edge of the Black Sea, down through Mesopotamia and Iran, and eastwards to the Aral Sea, Samarkand, and halfway into modern Pakistan. However, so many people were killed by his wars (estimated by some to have reached seventeen million), that the seat of Persian culture and influence moved further east, to Samarkand.

1363 - 1380

From 1363 onwards, Timur conquers large areas of Transoxiana and Khorasan from Khwarazm, supposedly in the name of the Chaghatayid khans of Mughulistan. Samarkand falls in 1366, Balikh in 1369, and Timur is recognised as the region's ruler in 1370, by which time he is placing figurehead khans on the Chaghatayid throne. By 1380 Timur begins to campaign to the west, entering Persia proper by 1382 and removing the Muzaffarids from Shiraz in 1393.

1370 - 1405

Tîmûr-i Lang / Tamerlane

Mongol conqueror from Mughulistan.

1386 - 1394

Timur conquers Greater Armenia and massacres a large part of the population.

1395

The Golden Horde is beaten, allowing Timur to claim complete control of the Caucuses.

1398

Timur subjugates Multan (in modern Pakistan) through the efforts of Pir Muhammad, his grandson through his son, Jahangir. Subsequently, Dipalpur (in India) falls, causing destruction in Delhi.

1400 - 1402

Jalayirid Iraq becomes a province of Timur's Persia when he conquers Baghdad and defeats the Black Sheep emirate in eastern Anatolia. The following year Timur also defeats, captures and imprisons the Ottoman ruler Bayezid  I at the Battle of Ankara, making Anatolia another province. Now fully secure in Persia, the figurehead Chaghatayid khans become completely unimportant.

1405 - 1407

Pîr Muhammad

Grandson. In Kandahar (modern Afghanistan).

1405

On his deathbed, Timur names Pir Muhammad as his successor. None of his own sons are suitable for the position. Miran Shah suffers from mental problems, and Shah Rukh seems to be more interested in his religion, while the other two, Jahangir and Umar Shaikh have already died.

After Timur's death, none of the Timurid royalty accept his decision and Pir Muhammad is unable to enforce his rule in Transoxiana, splitting the empire in two. The western portion is ruled by Shah Rukh from Herat in Khorasan, and his wife, Goharshad moves the capital there from Samarkand. The eastern portion of Transoxiana is ruled from Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan). The confusion also acts as a prompt for the Ottomans to re-invade Greater Armenia and annexe it to their own empire.

1407

Pir Muhammad is murdered by his vizier and from Khorasan, in about 1409, Shah Rukh is able to secure the role of overall ruler of the empire when he recaptures Transoxiana.

1409 - 1447

Shah Rukh / Shahrukh

In Khorasan (1405-1409). In Transoxiana (1409-1447).

1410

The Black Sheep emirate captures Baghdad, reducing the Timurids to Persia proper in the west, and Khorasan and Transoxiana in the east.

1447

Upon Shah Rukh's death, his wife, Goharshad, becomes the de facto ruler of the Timurid empire. She elevates her favourite grandson to the throne and is the power behind that throne.

1447 - 1449

Ulugh Beg / Mīrza Mohammad Taregh

Son. Viceroy in Transoxiana (1409-1447).

1447 - 1457

Goharshad

Mother. In Persia and Khorasan. Executed in Transoxiana.

1448 - 1449

Ulugh Beg, unpopular and unsuccessful in battle, is beheaded by his own son after he massacres the people of Herat, which is then conquered by another Timurid rival, Babur Ibn-Baysunkur. Sultan Muhammad, a grandson of Shah Rukh, claims control of Central Persia, while Ulugh Beg's son, Abd al Latîf, is left with Transoxiana.

1449 - 1451

Sultan Muhammad

Grandson of Shah Rukh. In Central Persia.

1450 - 1451

Sultan Muhammad invades Khorasan, defeating Babur at the Battle of Mashad in March 1450. After initially ceding territory, Babur recovers in 1451 and turns the tables, taking his rival prisoner and executing him. Central Persia becomes his, reuniting two portions of the empire.

1451 - 1453

Jahan Shah ends the loyalty of the Black Sheep emirate with the fracturing Timurids. He besieges Qum and Sava with overwhelming forces which the main Timurid ruler, Babur Ibn-Baysunkur of Khorasan, is unable to face. Most of Persia is taken by 1452, including Ray, with the last section, Abarquh, falling in 1453. Khorasan and the Timurids are never able to recapture Persia.

1461 - 1469

Abu Sa'id of Transoxiana completes his conquest of much of Khorasan and eastern Iran, agreeing with the Black Sheep emir, Jahan Shah, to divide Iran (Central Persia) between the two of them. The Timurids lose Iran permanently following Abu Sa'id's death in 1469.

1501 - 1507

The Shaibanid Turks conquer Transoxiana and Khorasan. The former region includes a small Timurid principality at Farghana which is ruled by Babur, the Timurid son of Umar Sheikh Mirza. The Uzbek conquest forces him into exile where he captures Kabul in 1504.

1501

The Safavid shah conquers Persia, and establishes a nationalist Persian monarchy on the basis of Shiite (Twelver) ideology.

Safavid Shahs of Iran
AD 1501 - 1736

The Safavids were a Turkic-speaking Iranian dynasty which was descended from Sheykh Safi ad Din (1253-1334) of Ardabil, head of the Sufi order of Safaviyeh (Safawiyah), but in about 1399 they exchanged their Sunnite affiliation for Shi'ism. The Safavids established Shi'ite Islam as the state religion of Persia, which became a major factor in the emergence of a unified national consciousness among the various ethnic and linguistic elements of the country.

The founder of the dynasty, Ismail I, as head of the Sufis of Ardabil, won enough support from the local Turkmen and other disaffected heterodox tribes to enable him to capture Tabriz from the White Sheep emirate. In July 1501, Ismail was enthroned as shah of Azerbaijan. By May the following year he was shah of Iran.

(Additional information by Anar R Guliyev.)

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1501 - 1524

Esmail / Ismail I

Grandson of Uzun Hasan of the White Sheep Emirate.

1501 - 1511

Esmail spends a decade subjugating much of greater Iran. He also annexes Baghdad and Mosul, and aids Babur of Kabul  in temporarily recapturing Samarkand in 1511.

1520

A Persian occupying force in Georgia is wiped out by the Georgian King of Kartli.

1524 - 1576

Tahmasp I / Tahmash

Son. Weak ruler.

1543 - 1545

The exile Moghul emperor of northern India, Humayun, seeks refuge with the sympathetic Tahmasp, until he is able to strike out and recapture his empire, firstly by retaking Kabul.

1576 - 1578

Esmail II

1576

The Safavid shahs begin to encroach on Afghan territory, putting pressure on Kabul to defend itself.

1578 - 1587

Mohammad Khodabanda

1587 - 1629

Abbas I, the Great

Established Safavids as a major power.

1615

Abbas deposes the king of Kartli for attempting to unify Georgia.

1623

Taking advantage of a revolt by Shah Jahan, son of the Moghul emperor, the Persians capture Kandahar.

1629 - 1642

Safi I

1642 - 1666

Abbas II

1648

Ten years after it is temporarily retaken by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan, Ghazni is again captured by the Persians, and this time they hold onto it.

1666 - 1694

Safi II / Solayman I

1694 - 1722

Hosayn I

1709

Governor of the Kandahar province of Afghanistan since 1704, The Georgian King Giorgi XI of Kartli is killed by rebel Ghilzai Afghan tribes under Mirwais Khan Hotak, when the latter creates a kingdom of his own. As governor, Giorgi leads a Persian force against the Ghilzais but is defeated and killed.

1722 - 1729

Shah Hosayn surrenders the Persian capital of Isfahan to Afghan rebels after a seven month siege. The Hotaki Afghans from Kandahar occupy much of Iran, including the capital at Estfahan. However, they are seen as usurpers by much of the population, and hold effective power only in the east. In 1725, they order the massacre of all captured Safavid princes except for Hosayn himself, although Hosayn manages to have the lives of his two sons spared as well.

1729 - 1730

The general, Nadir Kuli, liberates the country from the Afghans at the Battle of Damghan, and restores the Safavids. He himself occupies the position of regent over the remaining Safavid shahs.

1722 - 1732

Tahmasp II / Tahmash

Killed 1740.

1732 - 1736

Abbas III

Killed 1740.

1736

Abbas leaves no heir to the throne so Nadir Kuli claims the title and founds the short-lived Afsharid dynasty. Two minor Safavid claimants almost outlast the Afsharids by ruling small pockets of eastern territory.

1750

Solayman II

In Mashhad.

1750 - 1765

Esmail III

In Esfahan. Died 1773.

Afsharid Shahs of Iran
AD 1736 - 1750

Nadir shah's assassination led to the weakening of the Afsharids amid speculation about his death. The Afghans claimed he was killed by Iranian Shias because he was Sunni, and was from Khorasan (northern and western Afghanistan), and had close ties with the Afghan tribes. In return, Iranians were of the mind that he was killed because the Afghans had a plan to gain independence, and they pointed the finger at Ahmad Shah Abdali, who was very close to Nadir Shah.

(Additional information by Abhijit Rajadhyaksha.)

1736 - 1747

Nadir Shah

Former general, and regent (1732-1736). Assassinated.

1738 - 1739

Nadir Shah marches his army through Afghanistan, destroying the ruling Hotaki dynasty. The following year he loots Delhi, heart of the Moghul empire, humiliating the emperor, looting his treasures and causing the empire to fragment into a loose association of states.

1747

Nadir Shah is assassinated. In the east, his former general, Ahmad Shah Abdali, is appointed king by loya Jirga and establishes the Durrani empire in Afghanistan.

1747

Adel Shah

1748

Ebrahim

1748 - 1750

Shah Rukh

In Khorasan 1750 & 1755-1796.

1750 - 1803

As the Zands take political control of Persia, the Afsharids become increasingly marginalised and end their rule in eastern Khorasan, which is now disputed territory with the Afghan Durranis.

1750

Mir Sayyed Mohammed

In Khorasan.

1750 - 1773

Esmail / Ismail III

In Khorasan.

1795

Qajar shah, Agha Mohammad, invades the Durrani Afghan province of Khorasan and annexes it to Iran.

1796 - 1803

Nader Mirza

In Mashhad.

Zand Shahs of Iran
AD 1750 - 1794

1751 - 1779

Karim Khan

Regent for Esmail III (1751-1769).

1779

Abul Fath

In Shiraz (City of Roses, in Persia).

1779

Mohammad Ali

In Shiraz.

1779 - 1781

Mohammad Sadiq

In Shiraz.

1781 - 1785

Ali Morad

In Esfahan.

1785 - 1789

Jafar

In Esfahan, then Shiraz.

1789 - 1794

Lutf Ali

In Shiraz.

Qajar Shahs of Iran
AD 1794 - 1925

1779 - 1797

Agha Mohammad

Southern Persia 1794.

1795

Agha Mohammad invades the Durrani Afghan province of Khorasan and annexes it to Iran.

1797 - 1834

Fath Ali

1805

A Persian attack on Herat in Afghanistan fails, while internal fighting continues within the state.

1828

Russia acquires eastern Armenia from Iran and makes it a province.

1832 - 1833

The Qajar shahs move into the province of Khorasan, and then threaten Herat. The Afghans are forced to defend the city but manage to repel the invaders.

1834 - 1848

Mohammad

1848 - 1896

Naser od Din

1896 - 1907

Muzaffar od Din

1905 - 1908

The Persian revolution sweeps the country.

1907 - 1909

Mohammad Ali

1909 - 1925

Ahmad

A coup d'etat replaces the Qajars with the Pahlevis.

1913 - 1970

Upon the independence of Bahrain from the Ottoman empire, Persia claims sovereignty through its previous links to the Islamic empire.

Pahlevi Shahs of Iran
AD 1925 - 1979

1925 - 1941

Reza (Rida) Pahlevi

Persia is officially renamed as Iran, previously a regional title.

1941 - 1979

Mohammed Reza

Celebrated 2500th anniversary of Persian Empire (d.1980).

1963

In January the shah announces the 'White Revolution', a programme of social and political reform and privatisation. He is vociferously opposed by the leading cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini, but following several brushes with authority, Khomeini is exiled to Iraq the following year.

1979

Ayatollah Khomeini steers the course of the Iranian Revolution from his base, which is now in France for a short period. The shah is forced to leave the country and Khomeini returns to Iran. Shah Mohammed Reza is the last emperor in Europe, the Mediterranean, or the Middle East. An Islamic Republic is declared in place of the shahdom and Khomeini rules over an oppressive hard-line regime.

Modern Iran
AD 1979 - Present Day

Following the revolution, the 'Grand Ayatollah' became the supreme leader in the new Islamic Republic of Iran, with the position being embodied by the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini. Beneath him was a twelve-man 'Guardian Council' which was created with the power to veto any laws passed by the Majlis (the parliament), and the power to reject any candidate who presented himself for election (only Islamists qualified). In the first years of the twenty-first century, the council persistently sided with extremists and hard-liners, using its veto powers very aggressively to block any moderates.

1979 - 1989

Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini / Khumayni

Leader of the Iranian Revolution.

1980 - 1988

Saddam Hussein of Iraq claims the new revolutionary government of Iran is attempting to topple him from power. He declares war and the border between the two countries is a permanent battlefield for nearly a decade. Hussein occasionally employs chemical weapons on his enemy, but the two sides are evenly matched and the war ends in stalemate.

Ayatollah Khomeini addresses the crowd in Tehran in 1979

1989 - Present

Ali Khamenei

Previously president of Iran.

2009

Disputed election results on 12 June, which see the return to office of the hard line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, brings tens of thousands of ordinary Iranians onto the streets in protest. Khamenei allows the Guardian Council to deal with the election dispute, but instead of fully backing the result, the council announces that it might recount ten per cent of the votes amid admissions that there might be some basis for the claims of voting irregularities. Mass protests continue, despite bans being issued, and a public speech by Khamenei on 19 June in which he fully backs the results simply inflames his growing opposition. When a young female student named Neda Agha-Soltani is shot dead by a sniper while taking part in a peaceful demonstration, the opposition have a martyr behind which to rally, and the future of the regime begins to look shaky.