Iran has a unique culture that is shaped by its long history that dates back to 4000BCE. From that time to the present, Persians have conquered and have been conquered by many different cultures from the Middle East, Central Asia, and Europe. The Iranian peoples had a strong indigenous culture but their culture was never rigid allowing the culture to absorb what it felt to be useful.
Pre-Islamic Iranian culture was heavily shaped by the teachings of Zoroastrianism and the interaction between the great empires of Persia, Greece, and Rome. In the Pre-Islamic period, Persian culture was the rival of the Greek model of civilization. Iran, as one of the oldest civilizations developed its own model of civilization and religions. King Cyrus the Great whose reign lasted from 600 to 576 BCE is remembered by historians to be one of the first models of a tolerant multi-ethnic civilization. Cyrus the Great was the first king to provide equal legal protections to all of his subjects. Pre-Islamic Persian culture died out during the height of the Roman Empire as part of the Iranian empire became part of the Roman empire, this Roman Province was known as Parthia. Pre-Islamic Iranian culture needed a strong change.
That strong cultural change marked a new period in Iranian history, the adoption of Islam in Iran. The Islamic conquest of Iran happened in the 8th century of the Common Era and it shaped Iranian culture to the present. Not only did Islam change Iran; Iran changed Islam. Pre-Islamic Iran had always been a center of cultural exchange known for scholarship, music, and a heavily developed urban culture. Iran in the Middle Ages became a center of Islamic Cultural exchange. Persian culture influenced the development of Islam as many Iranian intellectuals became leaders within the Islamic empire. Arab and Turkic conquerors of Iran became patrons of Persian Art, literature, and architecture.
The next wave of conquerors to shape Iranian culture and history were the Turkic Mongols who further shaped Iranian culture. The political concerns of the successive Mongol invasions prompted the Iranians to break away from the rest of the Islamic world with the creation of the Shi’ite sect of Islam. This move was made due to the political rivalries that characterized the political structure of the Islamic conquerors. This Sunni-Shi’ite split in Islam would have many different consequences in the course of Iranian history and the history of Islam. In the short term, Iranian culture thrived as a new Iranian empire emerged, the Safavid empire. The empire ranged from the Caucasus mountains to northern India.
The Afghans and Turks then tried to conquer the Safavid empire. The result, as always, resulted in the conqueror’s adoption of Iranian culture. This is the pattern throughout Iranian history. The interim period between the 14th century and the early 20th century were not culturally formative years in Iranian history. The period was marked by conquests from the industrialized European powers and Russia. In this period Iran was weak to the industrialized world and it desperately tried to modernize. Iran struggled to modernize Iranian culture and technology. This period was marked by imperial conquests and in spite of cultural resiliency, Iran was not successful in asserting its historical cultural strength.
It was not until 1979 that modern Iranian culture emerged out of the pit of imperialism. The 1979 Islamic Revolution marked a shift in Iranian culture that prompted Iranian culture to go back in its history. The most important cultural message it took from Iranian history was its religion. The modern Iranian government is strongly rooted in Islamic background. However, Iranian culture is also flexible enough to accommodate the few religious minorities of Christians, Jews, and Zoroasters in their constitution. Iranian culture is a culture that is strong and respects its history.