Iranian History

Iranians have a long history of which they could be proud. As one scholar said, “the glory of Iran is its culture,” and its culture is shaped by its rich history. Iranian history is a story of triumphant conquest and cultural stability in the face of conquest. Iranian history is recorded as a far back as 4000 BCE, there are many surviving documents and artifacts from that time period. Iran is home to the great ancient city of Persopolis, over which the most famous of all ancient Persian kings reigned, Cyrus the Great. Cyrus the Great is credited in all of world history to be the first king to grant all of his citizens equal protection under the law. This is a trait of Persian culture that would shape the rest of Iranian history.
The second major chapter in Iranian history marks the beginning of the Islamic period. The Arabs invaded Iran in the 7th century and brought Islam. Iran ran was converted to Islam. Iran, known to have a well established cultural infrastructure, had a great many of its citizens become Islamic scholars, philologists, and philosophers during this time period. The Iranians refined Islamic culture, in fact, they Persianized the formerly nomadic Arabs. During this time period to the late 15th century marks the greatest chapter in Iranian history. This part of Iranian history marks the point at which Iran was the culturally dominant country in that region. The Turks, Afghans, Kurds, and Turkmen all invaded the country but Iran had a strange way of changing the culture of the invader, never the reverse.

Iranian culture was very pragmatic throughout its history, it always took what it found to be useful of another culture. The invasions, however, lead to a great political shift in the Islamic world, the Sunni-Shi’ite split. Iran was the place where Shi’ite Islam was born. It was a political decision that came as a result of the political ambitions of rival leaders throughout the Islamic world. The central issue in the Sunni-Shi’ite split concerns the succession of the Prophet Mohammed. In the 13th century, Iran needed a more centralized authority because the many invading foreign tribes posed a threat to the empire’s existence. From the Sunni-Shi’ite split came a political dynasty called the Safavid Empire. This was the most glorious empire in Iranian history.

The modern period of Iran was marked by imperial conquests at the hands of the Industrial powers. Parts of the Greater Iran region were carved out by Russia and Great Britain. The age of oil was well underway and Iran was very rich in it. Unfortunately, at this time, Iran was politically and militarily too weak to fight the mechanized armies of Great Britain and Russia. Russia and Great Britain divided the nation into spheres of influence and had many interests in Iran. Not long after World War II, Iran attempted to modernize with a new secular republican government. They elected President Mohammed Mosaddegh in the early 1950′s. Mosaddegh was a charismatic leader that tried to assert Iran in rightful place in the world; as a free and independent nation. He wished to deport British oil interests in the country. The Central Intelligence Agency and the British Ministry of Intelligence launched a coup d’etat against Mosaddegh to prevent Britain from losing its oil interests. The nation was replaced with the reinstatement of the Shah, the historical monarch Iran. The Shah was named Reza Pahlavi and he ruled with an iron fist until 1979.

Iranian history met a turning point in 1979 with an Islamic revolution. The revolution was partly based on Iranian history, partly based on modern governments. The new Islamic Republic of Iran would impose Islamic law on the country. Iran went back to its history and choose its more religiously oriented government of the past with elements of modern representative democracy. Iran was again a theocratic country as it was in the Middle Ages.

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.