Chronology of Iranian History Part 1

B.C.E.

c. 100,000 Cave deposits in the Zagros mountains of western Iran show evidence of human habitation dated to the Middle Paleolithic times.

c. 8000 Evidence of the development of settled village agricultural life based on the domestication of animals and plants in Zagros region and sites such as Sarāb, Gurān, and Ali Koš.

c. 5500 The oldest settlements in Sialk (near Kashan, Central lran).

c. 4500 Hāji Firuz Tepe Wine Jar, purported to be the oldest archeological find of a wine-making device in existence.

c. 4200 Susa is founded in southwestern Persia.

c. 3500 In Susa, Elamite painted pottery shows an advanced stage of geometric design and stylized human and animal forms.

c. 3200-2700 Proto-Elamite period.

3rd mill. Jiroft culture in Kerman exhibiting vases and objects made of chlorite, a soft greenish stone that is easy to carve, with original and interesting reliefs.

c. 2700 The Chinese begin weaving silk.

c. 2700 Elamite Kingdom created with Susa as its capital.

c. 2700-1600 Old Elamite period.

c. 2680-2180 The age of the pyramids.

c. 2094-2047 Conquest of Elam by Šulgi of the 3rd dynasty of Ur.

2,004 Elam finally brings down the Ur empire.

2nd mill. Rig-Veda, the oldest Sanskrit hymns, are composed.

c. 1900 Cotton is woven into fabric for the first time by the Harappan culture, natives to South Asia.

c. 1595 The Hittites overrun Babylonia, defeat its army and plunder its wealth.

c. 1500 The Harappan civilization is overrun by northern invaders known as Aryans.

c. 1500 Glass bottles are first used in Egypt.

c. 1500-1100 Middle Elamite period.

c. 1400 First evidence of the production of iron in Hittite controlled Armenia.

c. 1350 An inscription found in Boḡazköy in Anatolia records a marriage treaty between the Hittite king and the Mitanni ruler in which the Indo-Iranian deities Mitra-Varuṇa, Indra, and Nasatyas are invoked, apparently showing that a wave of Indo-Iranians had reached northwestern Iran. 

c. 1350 Migration of waves of Iranian tribes begin from the Bactriana-Margiana complex westwards to the Iranian plateau and western Iran.

c. 1244-1208 Increasing conflict between Elam and the rising power of Assyria; Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria invades the mountains north of Elam; Elamites counter with a raid on Babylonia under King Kidin-Ḵutran.

c. 1100-770 Anshan still in part Elamite. Alliances form between Elam and Babylonia aganist the Assyrians.

c. 1100-539 Neo-Elamite period.

c. 1000 Some estimates put the birth of Zoroaster, Iranian prophet and founder of the Zoroastrian religion, about this time. (Date of Zoroaster is controversial with estimates ranging from c. 1200 to c. 600 B.C.).

835 The name of the Medes appears for the first time on an inscription of the Assyrian Šalmaneser III.

c. 770-646 Persian tribes push the Elamites of Anšān towards Susa.

753 Rome founded.

c. 708 Deioces founds Median Kingdom with its capital in Ecbatana.

c. 705 Birth of Achaemenes (d. circa 675), the eponymous forbear of the Achaemenid dynasty.

c. 675 Accession of Median king Phraortes, according to Herodotus.

639 King Ashurbanipal of Assyria defeats Elam and sacks Susa. Elam is never to rise again as an independent power.

633 Scythian Invasion of Media.

625 Death of Ashurbanipal, the powerful Assyrian king and the destroyer of Elam.

624 Medians defeat and oust the Scythians.

624 Accession of Median king Cyaxares.

612 In an alliance with the Babylonians, Cyaxares attacks the Assyrian capital, Nineveh; the alliance succeeds in bringing down the Assyrian Empire.

584 Death of Cyaxares. His son Astyages succeeds him to the Median throne.

561 Croesus becomes king of Lydia.

558 Accession of Cyrus the Great to the throne of Anšān in Fars and Khuzestan; he moves the Achaemenid capital to Susa.

550 Cyrus defeats Astyages, king of the Medes, and captures Ecbatana, succeeding the Median king and uniting Media and Persia.

549-548 Cyrus takes Parthia, Hyrcania, and possibly Armenia.

546 Cyrus invades Lydia, defeats the Lydian king Croesus, and captures his capital, Sardis.

539 Cyrus captures Babylon, the richest city of western Asia, without much resistance after defeating the Babylonian army at the shores of the Tigris.

539 Cyrus allows the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem; he assists the liberated Jews to build the Temple in Jerusalem.

529 Cyrus invades Saka (Scythian) tribes in the northeast and is killed in battle against the Massagetae, a Scythian tribe of Central Asia. He is buried in Pasargadae and is succeeded by his son, Cambyses.

525 Persian troops under Cambyses conquer, or complete the conquest, of Egypt.

521 Death of Cambyses on his way back from Egypt; usurpation of the throne by Gaumata, a magus who claims to be Smerdis (Bardia), son of Cyrus.

521 Darius, a relative of Cyrus, with help from some Persian nobles, stages a palace attack on Gaumata, kills him, and ascends the throne.

519 Darius suppresses the widespread rebellions that flare up upon his accession in a large number of satrapies.

518 Darius establishes a new capital of Persia in Persepolis.

514 Darius invades Scythia, north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea.

494 Revolt of Ionian cities in Asia Minor against Persia; they burn Sardis.

494 Invasion of Greece by Darius, after Darius’ naval fleet defeat the Greeks off the island of Lade.

490 Defeat of Persians at the Battle of Marathon, marking the first time the Greeks had defeated the Persians on land.

486 Darius dies at the age of 63 and is succeeded by his son, Xerxes I.

485 Xerxes suppresses the revolt in Egypt and appoints his brother Achaemenes as its satrap.

484 Xerxes suppresses the revolt in Babylon, destroying its fortifications and the statue of the god Marduk.

480 Persian forces invade Greece and march on Athens, but the Persian fleet is defeated at the Battle of Salamis, putting an end to the invasion’s progress.

479 Battle of Plataea results in the Greek defeat of the Persians.

465 Xerxes is murdered by his counselor, Artabanus, and is succeeded by Artaxerxes I.

c. 465-424 Building of temples to Mithra and Anahita.

424 Death of Artaxerxes I; Xerxes II ascends the throne.

423 Xerxes II is assassinated; Darius II ascends the throne.

405 The Persian Empire loses Egypt.

404 Accession of Artaxerxes II to the throne.

387 Peace of Antalcidas; Greeks recognize the Persian claim to Asia Minor.

359 Accession of Artaxerxes III.

342 Egypt is re-conquered after a number of failed attempts in the previous decade.

338 Artaxerxes III is poisoned on the orders of Baogas; accession of Arses to the throne.

336 Arses is murdered; Darius III, the last Achaemenid king, ascends to the throne.

336 Philip, King of Macedonia is assassinated, and is succeeded by his son, Alexander.

334 Alexander (the Great) invades Asia and defeats the Persian army at the Dardanelles.

334 Persians are defeated by Alexander at the Battle of Granicus (in present day Turkey).

333 Alexander’s troops defeat Persian forces led by Darius III at the Battle of Issus (in present day Turkey).

331 The Battle of Gaugamela (east of present day Mosul) results in the decisive defeat of the Persians by Alexander’s forces.

330 Assassination of Darius III. Alexander captures Ecbatana and destroys Persepolis; end of Achaemenid dynasty.

330-328 Alexander conquers eastern and northeastern Iran, founding or naming a number of Alexandrias. He appoints a number of Persians as satraps, and Persians are also appointed generals of his army.

327-326 Alexander invades India.

323 Alexander returns to Babylon, falls ill, and dies at the age of 33.

c. 320 Seleucus I (Nicator) founds the Seleucid Empire.

305 Seleucus I ascends the throne.

281 Seleucus I is assassinated and succeeded by Antiochus I.

261 Accession of Antiochus II.

261 Diodotus declares Bactriana independent from the Seleucid empire; he becomes the first Greco-Bactrian king.

247 Arsaces I (Arshak) founds the Arsacid (Parthian) dynasty.

223 Accession of the Seleucid Antiochus III.

217 Accession of Arsaces II.

192-188 Rome wars against Antiochus III.

c. 191 Accession of the Arsacid Phriapatius.

187 Death of Antiochus III.

175 Accession of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

171 Accession of the Arsacid Mithridates I.

168 Antiochus IV evacuates Egypt.

164 Death of Antiochus IV.

162 Accession of Demetrius I Soter. Decline of the Seleucids.

155 Mithridates I captures Media.

141 Mithridates I enters Mesopotamia and captures Seleucia.

140 The Seleucid Demetrius II (Nicator) attacks the forces of Mithridates I of Parthia, but is defeated and taken captive.

138 Death of Mithridates I. Accession of Phraates II.

129 Defeat of Antiochus Sidetes by Phraates II.

124 Accession of Arsacid Mithridates II.

120 Rise of the empire of Mithridates VI of Pontus.

120-90 Alliance of Mithridates VI of Pontus with Rome.

100-91 Mithridates VI of Pontus raids Roman provinces in Asia Minor.

90-88 Cappadocia is conquered by Mithridates VI of Pontus.

87-86 First Mithridatic War; Mithridates VI of Pontus is driven out of Greece and the rest of Europe by the Romans.

85-74 Provinces of Rome in Asia are re-conquered by Sulla.

75-72 Mithridates VI of Pontus is defeated by the Romans and flees to his ally, Tigranes the Great of Armenia.

70 Accession of the Arsacid Phraates III.

67-63 The Roman general Pompey conquers Armenia and Syria and deposes the last of the Seleucids; the Roman Empire neighbors the Parthian kingdom.

63 Death of Mithridates VI of Pontus.

53 Crassus invades Parthia but is defeated by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae; some reports indicate that Crassus’s severed head was sent to the Arsacid King Orodes II.

51 Parthian invasion of Syria.

38 Accession of the Arsacid Phraates IV.

36 Mark Antony’s Parthian expedition ends in defeat.

33 Revolt of Tiridates against Phraates IV, King of Parthia; Phraates is defeated and leaves for Rome.

30 Phraates IV returns; Tiridates flees to Octavian.

20 Restoration of Roman Standards; Parthia surrenders Anatolia and Syria to Rome.

2 Murder of Phraates IV.

C.E.

1 Treaty of Phraates V with Rome; Parthia withdraws from Armenia.

18 Germanicus proclaims Artaxias III King of Armenia.

34 Artabanus II of Parthia appoints Arsaces to Armenian throne.

35 Arsaces is assassinated.

37 Artabanus II yields Armenia and makes peace with Tiberius.

38 Death of Artabanus II of Parthia.

47 Indo-Parthian king Gondophares displaces northern Sakas in Gandhara.

51 Arsacid Vologeses I invades Armenia.

66 Nero invests Tiridates as King of Armenia; Arsacid dynasty of Armenia is formally established under Roman supremacy.

77 Death of Vologeses I and the accession of his son, Vologeses II.

79 Pliny the Elder (b. 23), outstanding Roman author and Natural philosopher, author of Naturalis Historia, dies.

80 Accession of the Arsacid Pacorus II.

105 Accession of Vologeses III who reigned in the eastern part of the Parthian kingdom.

c. 105 Accession of the Arsacid Osroes, Pacorus II’s legitimate successor, whose entire reign coincided with Vologeses III’s reign in the eastern part of the kingdom.

105-250 Kushan dynasty is at the height of its powers.

114 Trajan’s eastern conquests begin; Rome declares war on Parthia and annexes Armenia.

115 Trajan occupies Assyria and Mesopotamia and captures Ctesiphon.

117 Death of Trajan. Hadrian withdraws from Armenia and Mesopotamia.

122 Peace declared between Parthia and Rome.

129 Accession of the Arsacid Mithridates IV, brother of Osroes I, to the throne and the continuation of conflict with Vologeses III, the rival king who rules in the eastern part of the kingdom.

133 East Iranian Alan (Alani) tribes campaign in Trans-caucasus and Media; Alani raids against Armenia, Media, Albania, and Cappadocia are repelled by Flavius Arrianus.

147 Accession of the Arsacid Vologeses IV, reuniting the Parthian kingdom that had been divided since the reigns of Vologeses III and Osroes I in the eastern and western parts of the kingdom, respectively.

163 Avidius Cassius defeats the Parthians.

191 Death of Vologeses IV; accession of Vologeses V.

195 The Roman Emperor Septimius Severus attacks the forces of Vologeses V.

197 Septimius Severus sacks the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon.

208 Accession of Vologeses VI.

c. 214-17 Birth of the prophet Mani.

216 Accession of Artabanus IV.

217 Death of the Roman Emperor Caracalla; peace established between Parthia and Rome.

224 Artabanus IV is defeated and killed by Ardašir I (Artaxerxes), local ruler of Fars, at the Battle of Hormozdagān, marking the end of the Arsacid dynasty.

224 Ardašir I assumes the title of Šāhanšāh (king of kings); the Sasanian dynasty is established.

c. 224-40 Zoroastrianism undergoes a period of revitalization under Ardašir I.

230 Sasanian troops invade the Roman-ruled part of Upper Mesopotamia and lay siege to Nisibis, but are unable to capture it.

237-38 Ardašir I launches new attacks on the Eastern Roman Provinces and captures Carrhae and Nisibis.

241 Accession of Šāpur I.

c. 242-73 Mani travels in Persia.

252-56 Šāpur campaigns in the Eastern Roman Provinces.

c. 259 Defeat and captivity of Emperor Valerianus by Šāpur I.

c. 260 Šāpur I’s second invasion of the Eastern Roman Provinces.

c. 261 Odenathus, the King of Palmyra, intercepts the victorious Persians heading home after the sack of Antioch, scores a resounding victory against Šāpur I and forces the Persians back across the Euphrates.

271 Accession of Hormozd I.

273 Accession of Bahrām I.

274 or 277 Execution of Mani by the connivance of the powerful and dogmatic Zoroastrian high priest Kerdīr/Kartir.

276 Accession of Bahram II.

276 The mobad Kerdīr is appointed as highest authority of the Zoroastrian church and persecutes the followers of other religions; his inscriptions at Kaʿba-ye zardošt, Naqš-e rajab, and Sar Mashad purport to confirm his creed.

283 Roman Emperor Carus conquers Mesopotamia and captures Ctesiphon, but his army withdraws upon his sudden death.

286 Tiridates seizes the Armenian throne and the Persians are expelled from Armenia.

293 Narseh defeats his rivals and succeeds to the Persian throne.

c. 294 Narseh’s Paikuli inscription in Iraq near the Persian border.

296 Narseh invades Armenia, drives out Tiridates, and defeats the Romans.

297 Roman Emperor Galerius defeats Narseh. The Treaty of Nisibis forces Narseh to relinquish Mesopotamia and Armenia.

c. 301 Kingdom of Armenia is the first nation to adopt Christianity as the State religion.

302 Abdication of Narseh; Accession of Hormozd II.

309 Accession of Šāpur II.

325 Šāpur II begins a campaign to pacify Arab tribes and secure the empire’s borders.

338 Šāpur II reclaims the five provinces surrendered by Narseh to Rome.

348 Šāpur II invades Mesopotamia.

c. 360 Establishment of the Kidarite kingdom.

363 Campaign of Julian against Persia results in his retreat and death; the ceded provinces and Nisibis are restored to Persia.

376 Peace established between Rome and Persia.

379 Death of Šāpur II and the accession of Ardašir II.

383 Accession of Šāpur III.

399 Accession of Yazdegerd I, called “the Sinner” on account of his attempts to curb the power of Zoroastrian clergy and his leniency towards minority religions.

420 Accession of Bahrām V (Bahrām Gōr/Gur).

421 Peace is concluded with Rome.

422 Bahrām V succeeds in repelling an invasion by the Hephtalites.

c. 425 Bahrām V imports gypsies from India to entertain people according to the Šāh-nāma.

428 Armenia’s Arsacid (Aršakuni) monarchy ends.

438 Accession of Yazdegerd II.

457 Accession of Hormozd III.

459 Accession of Pērōz/Firuz.

484 The Hephtalites defeat Pērōz.

484 Accession of Balāš.

488 Accession of Kawād I; campaign against the Ḵazars.

c. 490 Mazdak preaches his populist, egalitarian creed; he enjoys Kawād’s support.

c. 490 Initiation of agrarian and tax reforms.

496 Kawād is deposed by his brother Jāmasp.

499 Restoration of Kawād with assistance from the Hephtalites.

524 War with Byzantium.

526 Romans invade Persia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia, but are defeated.

531 Accession of Ḵosrow I (Anoširavān).

c. 531 Massacre and suppression of the Mazdakites.

c. 531 Radical agrarian, administrative, military, and social reforms.

c. 531 Translations from Sanskrit including Panchatantra (Kalila o Demna).

533 Peace with Byzantium.

c. 554 Procopius of Caesarea, Byzantine scholar and eyewitness to the wars between Ḵosrow I and Justinian, which he describes in his De bello Persico (Latin tr., 1833), dies.

c. 570 Conquest of Yemen.

c. 570 Birth of the Prophet Moḥammad.

579 Death of Ḵosrow I and the accession of Hormozd IV.

588 War with Turkish tribes and their defeat at the hands of the Persian General Bahrām Čōbin/Čubin.

590 Hormozd IV is assassinated; accession of Ḵosrow II.

590 Revolt of Bahrām Čōbin and his seizure of the Persian throne.

591 Defeat of Bahrām Čōbin; he flees to the Turks in Central Asia but is assassinated after a year. Ḵosrow II regains the throne.

596 Moḥammad marries Ḵadija.

603 Ḵosrow II’s invasion of Byzantium in revenge for the murder of Emperor Maurice and his relatives by the tyrant Phocas.

611-16 Ḵosrow II’s conquest of Syria and Egypt.

622 Moḥammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina, accompanied by Abu Bakr; Moḥammad marries Abu Bakr’s young daughter, ʿĀʾeša.

627 Emperor Heraclius defeats the Persian army near Nineveh.

628 Deposition, trial, and execution of Ḵosrow Parviz by his son and successor Kawād II (Široe); peace concluded with Rome.

628 Killing of a large number of Sasanian princes by Kawād II.

628 Death of Kawād II.

628-35 Weakening of the Sasanian dynasty due to a succession of ineffectual kings and queens including the queens Bōrāndoḵt and Āzarmidoḵt; chaotic situation prevails.

632 Shiʿites, but not Sunnis, believe that the Prophet Moḥammad designates ʿAli b. Abi Ṭāleb, his cousin and son-in-law, to be his successor as he was returning from his Farewell Pilgrimage (Ḥajjat al-wadāʿ) at a public sermon delivered in Ḡadir-e Ḵomm, a site along the caravan route between Mecca and Medina.

632 The Prophet Moḥammad dies; there ensues a dispute over his succession.

632-34 Abu Bakr’s caliphate.

633 Yazdegerd III succeeds to the Persian throne.

634 Omar elected caliph; he organizes a successful invasion of Byzantine and Persian territories.

635 Arabs capture Damascus.

635-41 Arab armies capture Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli, and Egypt.

636 Persians are defeated by Arab Muslims at Qādesiya.

637 Arab Muslims capture Ctesiphon, the Sasanian capital; Yazdegerd flees to Ray.

637 Arab Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia.

642 Final defeat of Persians by Arab Muslims at Nehāvand.

644 Caliph Omar is assassinated by Hormozān, a Persian captive.

644-56 Othman’s caliphate.

651 Murder of Yazdegerd III; end of the Sasanian dynasty; Persia is annexed to the Islamic Empire.

656 Murder of Othman; ʿAli is chosen as caliph.

657 Dispute over the punishment for the murderers of Othman; Talḥa, Zobayr, Moʿāwiʾa (governor of Syria) demand punishment, but after receiving no satisfaction from ʿAli, they wage war against him.

657 Imam ʿAli establishes Kufa in Iraq as his capital.

657 Battle of Ṣeffin between ʿAli and Moʿāwiʾa, with inconclusive results.

658 Imam ʿAli’s battle against the Kharejites, a radical faction of Islam, at Nahrawān.

661 Imam ʿAli is killed at the hands of a Kharejite in Kufa.

661 Moʿāwiʾa assumes the caliphate, establishes the Omayyad dynasty, and persuades Ḥasan, the elder son of ʿAli, to give up all claims to the caliphate.

661-80 Moʿāwiʾa’s caliphate.

680 Yazid I is elected caliph.

680 Revolt of Ḥosayn b. ʿAli, the third Shiʿite Imam, against caliph Yazid.

680 Imam Ḥosayn’s defeat and death at the battle of Karbalā.

693 Appointment of Ḥajjāj b. Yusof as governor of Iraq with jurisdiction over Persia.

696 Adoption of Arabic coinage.

747 Shiʿite and, later, Abbasid propaganda in Khorasan and some other Persian provinces against the Omayyads as usurpers of the caliphate.

747 Mounting dissatisfaction on the part of the Persians with Omayyad rule. Abu Moslem, having assumed the leadership of Abbasid propaganda, raises the banner of revolt in Marv.

749 Abu Moslem’s army attacks the Omayyad forces.

750 Total defeat of the Omayyads at the hands of Abu Moslem’s army.

750 Marwān II, the last Omayyad caliph, is captured and slain.

750 Establishment of the Abbasid dynasty.

750 Accession of Saffāḥ as the first Abbasid caliph.

754 Accession of Manṣur as the second Abbasid caliph; consolidation of the Abbasid Empire.

755 Treacherous murder of Abu Moslem by caliph Manṣur; beginning of a series of religio-political revolts in Persia against Arab governors.

756 Revolt of Sonbād in Ray.

762 The founding of Baghdad by caliph Manṣur and its establishment as the capital of the Abbasid State.

777-80 Revolt of Moqannaʿ, “the veiled prophet,” against Arab rule in Transoxiana.

786 Hārun al-Rašid is elected caliph and appoints Yaḥyā the Barmakid as his grand vizier; the apogee of Abbasid power.

809 Amin succeeds his father, Hārun al-Rašid, but is challenged by his brother Maʾmun, the governor of Khorasan, who appoints the Persian Fażl b. Sahl as his advisor and vizier.

813 Ṭāher b. Ḥosayn, Maʾmun’s general, defeats Amin’s forces at Ray and marches on Baghdad; Amin is slain.

813 The pro-Persian Maʾmun is elected caliph.

813-33 Maʾmun supports the Moʿtazelite theology and encourages philosophical and religious debate; a brilliant period of literary and scientific achievements ensue.

820 Ṭāher is appointed governor of Khorasan; he establishes the Taherid dynasty.

833 Death of Maʾmun.

840 Persian scholar Sibawayh writes the first Arabic grammar.

850 Persian mathematician Moḥammad Ḵʷārazmi, from whose name the word “algorithm” is derived, dies.

872 Taherids are overthrown by Yaʿqub b. Layṯ, founder of the Saffarid dynasty, who conquers Khorasan, Kerman, and Fars.

c. 872 According to the anonymous author of Tāriḵ-e Sistān (History of Sistan), the first Persian qaṣida is written by Moḥammad b. Waṣif in praise of Yaʿqub.

878 According to Twelver Shiʿite sources, Moḥammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth and last Imam of twelver Shiʿism disappears, beginning his occultation.

879 The Saffarid Yaʿqub challenges the caliph al-Moʿtamed, but is defeated and retires to Fars where he dies; he is succeeded by his brother ʿAmr b. Layṯ.

880 The oldest existing Islamic structure in Iran, the Tārik-ḵāna mosque in Dāmqān, is constructed.

903 The Samanid Esmāʿil b. Aḥmad captures Khorasan from the Saffarids; rise of the Samanid dynasty.

911 Samanid troops occupy Sistan.

914 Accession of the Samanid Naṣr II b. Aḥmad.

923 Abu Jaʿfar Moḥammad b. Jarir al-Ṭabari (b. 839), historian and Qorʾān commentator whose monumental work Tāʾriḵ al-rosul waʾl-moluk (History of Prophets and Kings), is widely regarded as the most important universal history produced in the Islamic world, dies.

925 Abu Bakr Moḥammad Rāzi (b. 865), scientist and philosopher, dies.

927 The Daylamite Mardāvij b. Ziyar rises to power and founds the Ziyarid dynasty (927-c. 1090) of Ṭabarestān and Gorgān.

935 Mardāvij b. Ziār, founder of the Ziārid dynasty, is murdered by his Turkish slaves, signalling the collapse of the Ziyarid Empire, save for the Caspian provinces where the dynasty survives until the end of the 11th century.

935 The Daylamite brothers, ʿAli, Ḥasan, and Aḥmad found the Buyid dynasty (935-1062) in central, western, and southern Iran, upon Mardāvij’s murder.

940 Rudaki (b. 859), considered the “father of Persian poetry,” dies.

945 The Buyid Aḥmad enters Baghdad, the start of the Buyid rule of Iraq and manipulation of the caliphate for 110 years.

949 The Buyid ʿEmād al-Dawla ʿAli, dies.

949 Accession of ʿAżod al-Dawla Fanā Ḵosrow (d. 983).

950 Abu Naṣr Fārābi (b. 878), renowned Muslim philosopher, dies.

956 ʿAbd al-Ḥasan ʿAli Masʿudi, Arab historian, geographer, and traveler, whose Moruj al-ḏahab wa maāden al-jawhar and Ketāb al-tanbih wa’l-ešrāf, contain much information on Persian history, dies.

967 The Buyid Moʿezz-al-Dawla Aḥmad, dies.

976 Accession of the Ziyarid Qābus Vošmgir.

977 The Buyid Rokn-al-Dawla Ḥasan, dies.

977 Ghaznavid dynasty is founded by Sebüktigin, a former slave.

980 The Persian poet Daqiqi Ṭusi (b. 942), best known for his 1,000 verses on the advent of Zoroaster that was incorporated by Ferdowsi into his Šāh-nāma, dies. 999 Maḥmud of Ghazna defeats the Samanids.

999 Ferdowsi completes the first draft of the Šāh-nāma.

1001 Maḥmud of Ghazna begins his campaign in India; he conquers the Punjab and despoils the Somnat temple.

1007 Establishment of the Kakuyid dynasty of Hamadan and Isfahan.

1019 or 1025 The Persian poet Ferdowsi (b. 940), author of the Šāh-nāma, the national epic of Persia, dies.

1030 Maḥmud of Ghazna dies and is succeeded by his son, Moḥammad.

1030 Maḥmud’s elder son Masʿud challenges Moḥammad, captures Ghazna with the help of supporters, and imprisons Moḥammad.

1036 Abu Naṣr Manṣur (b. 970), a Persian mathematician known for his discovery of the sine law and a teacher of Abu Rayḥān Biruni, dies.

1037 Rise of the Saljuqids, a clan of the Turkic Ḡozz tribe, under Toḡrel.

1037 Avicenna/Ebn Sinā (b. 980), Persian philosopher, physician, and scientist, author of al-Šefāʾ, al-Najāt, and al-Išārāt wa’l tanbihāt, dies.

1038 The Persian poet Farroḵi, Ghaznavid court panegyrist, dies.

c. 1041 The Persian poet Manučehri, Ghaznavid court panegyrist, dies.

1048 The verse romance, Vis o Rāmin, is composed by Faḵr-al-Din Asʿad Gorgāni.

1050 Abu Rayḥān Biruni (b. 973), Iranian (Ḵʷārazmian) polymath, author of al-Āṯār al-bāqiya, al-Qānun al-Masʿudi, and Kitab fi tahqiq ma liʾl-hind, dies.

c. 1050 The Persian poet ʿOnṣori, Ghaznavid court panegyrist, dies.

1051 Ṭoḡrel defeats the Kakuyids.

1055 Ṭoḡrel enters Baghdad and ends Buyid rule.

1063 Ṭoḡrel dies and is succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslān.

1073 Accession of Malekšah to the Saljuqid throne; the apogee of Saljuqid power.

1077 Abu’l-Fażl Bayhaqi (b. 995), Persian historian and author of Tāriḵ-e masʿudi, dies.

1078-87 Ḥasan Ṣabbāḥ, an agent of the Ismāʿili Fatimid caliphs of Egypt organizes an anti-Sunnite and anti-Saljuqid faction and trains fedāʾis.

1092 Assassination of Neẓām-al-Molk, the capable grand vizier of Alp Arslān and Malekšah, by Ismāiʿli fedāʾis.

1092 Malekšah dies.

1111 Moḥammad Ḡazāli (b. 1058), theologian, jurisprudent, mystic, author of Eḥyāʾ ʿolum al-din and Kimiā-ye saʿādat, dies.

1117 Accession of the Saljuqid Sanjar, the last of the Great Saljuqs, a patron of poets.

1131 The poet Sanāʿi (born in Ghazna in the late 11th century), dies.

1132 Omar Khayyam (b. 1050), Persian astronomer, mathematician, and the author of famous quatrains, dies.

c. 1136 Founding of the Atābegs of Azerbaijan.

c. 1148 Ghurids capture Ghazna and establish the Ghurid dynasty (c. 1148-1215).

1153 Sanjar is defeated by the Ḡozz tribes, who invade and sack Khorasan and take Sanjar prisoner.

1157 Death of Sanjar.

1157 End of Saljuqid rule in eastern Persia; rise of the Ḵʷārazmšāhs.

1177 Rašid-al-Din Waṭwāṭ, Persian poet and satirical writer, author of Hadāʾeq al-seḥr fi daqāʾeq al-šeʿr, dies.

1195 Death of the poet Ḵāqāni.

1199 Accession of ʿAlāʾ-al-Din Moḥammad as Ḵʷārazmšāh.

1209 Neẓāmi Ganjavi (b. 1141), prominent poet, author of the famous five mathnawis (Ḵamsa) which include Ḵosrow o Širin, Haft peykar, and Leily o Majnun, dies.

1220 First appearance of the Mongols in Persia; Genghis Khan overthrows the Ḵʷārazmšāhs.

1221 Farid-al-Din ʿAṭṭār (b. 1145), mystic poet, author of Taḏkerat al-awliāʾ and Manṭeq al-ṭayr (English tr. as The Conference of the Birds, 1961), dies.

1225 The Mongols overthrow the Atābegs of Azerbaijan.

1227 Genghis Khan dies.

c. 1230 ʿAwfi, Persian anthologist and biographer, author of Jawāmi al-hekāyāt and Lobāb al-albāb, dies.

1256 Hülegu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, is appointed Ilkhan of Persia.

1258 Hülegu sacks Baghdad and kills the caliph Mostaʿṣam; end of the Abbasid caliphate.

1265 Hülegu dies and is succeeded by his son Abaqa as Ilkhan.

1271 Marco Polo journeys through Persia.

1273 Jalāl-al-Din Rumi (b. 1207), poet, mystic, author of the Mathnawi, a long poem explaining Sufi doctrine, and the collection of his lyrics Divān-e Šams-e Tabriz, dies.

1274 Naṣir-al-Din Ṭusi (b. 1201), astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, and man of letters, dies.

1283 Saʿdi (b. 1194), Persian poet and author of the Bustān (1257), Golestān (1258), and a divan of ḡazals, dies.

1283 ʿAtā Malek Jovayni (b. 1226), Persian historian and author of Tāriḵ-e jahān gošā (English tr. as A History of the World Conqueror, 2 vols., 1958), dies.

1289 Faḵr-al-Din ʿErāqi (b. 1213), lyric poet and mystic, dies.

1290-1320 The Ḵalji Sultanate of Delhi.

1295 Accession of Ḡāzān to the Ilkhanid throne.

1313-93 Mozaffarid dynasty in Yazd and Fars.

1316 Accession of Abu Said the Ilkhan.

1318 Rašid-al-Din (b. 1247), Persian historian, scholar, and vizier of the Ilkhanid Ḡāzān and Uljāytu, is executed on suspicion of having poisoned Uljāytu. His Jāmeʿ al-tawāriḵ is a universal history particularly important for the Mongol period.

1320 Kamāl-al-Din Fārsi, prominent Persian mathematician and physicist (b. 1260), who made major contributions to the field of optics and numbers theory, dies.

1320-1414 Toḡloqid Sultanate of Delhi.

1336 Establishment of the Jalāyerid dynasty under Shaikh Ḥasan Bozorg.

1337 Establishment of the Sarbadārid dynasty of Khorasan.

c. 1344 Ḥamd-Allāh Mostawfi (b. circa 1281), historian and geographer of the Ilkhanid period, author of Tāriḵ-e gozida and Nozhat al-qolub, dies.

1346-1589 The Sultanate of Kashmir.

1347-1527 The Bahmanid Sultans of India.

1368 Ebn Baṭṭuṭa (b. 1304), the famous Muslim traveler whose travel accounts were published in an English translation entitled The Travels of Ibn Batuta (1824 and 1829), dies.

1370 ʿObayd Zākāni (b. 1300), celebrated Persian satirist and humorist, author of Aḵlāq al-Ašrāf, dies.

1378 Establishment of the Āq Qoyunlu line of Turkmen rulers.

1389 Qara Yusof of the Qara Qoyunlu Turkmens establishes his rule in Azerbaijan and the eastern fringes of Anatolia.

c. 1390 Ḥāfeẓ (b. circa 1315), the celebrated Persian lyric poet, dies.

1391-1583 The Sultans of Gujarat.

1393 Timur defeats the Mozaffarids and expels the Jalāyerids from Baghdad.

1397 Timur invades India.

1405 Death of Timur. Accession of his son Šāhroḵ, a peace-loving prince, to the reduced Timurid Empire.

1412 Ruy González de Clavijo, ambassador from King Henry III of Castile to Timur and author of a travel account translated by C. Markham as Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand, A.D. 1403-06 (1859), dies.

1429 Jamšid Kāšāni (b. 1380), Persian astronomer and mathematician, many of whose equations and algorithms remained unknown in Europe and were only later studied by historians in the 19th century, dies.

1430 Ḥāfeẓ-e Abru, Timurid historian and author of many historical and historico-geographical works in Persian, commissioned by Šāhroḵ, the Timurid ruler of Herat, dies.

1438-67 Jahānšāh expands the territories ruled by Qara Qoyunlu.

1450 Invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg.

1451-1526 Lōdi Sultans of Delhi.

1453-78 Uzun Ḥasan, the most powerful of the Āq Qoyunlu rulers, expands his realm.

1469 Uzun Ḥasan extinguishes the Qara Qoyunlu Turkmens.

1492 Jāmi (b. 1414), noted Persian poet, mystic, and author of Yusof o Zolayḵā and Behāristān, dies.

1498 Mirḵʷānd (b. 1433), historian and author of Rawżat-alá-ṣafā (tr. by E. Rehatsek as Garden of Purity, 5 vols., 1891-94), dies.

1500-06 Overthrow of the Timurids by the Šaybānids, rulers of Transoxiana.

1501 Esmāʿil I establishes the Safavid dynasty.

1502-24 Esmāʿil I establishes Shiʿite Islam as the official religion of the State.

1507 A Portuguese fleet commanded by Alfonso de Albuquerque arrives off the island of Hormuz and occupies it.

1508 Safavid forces capture Iraq and it’s Shiʿite shrines, marking their final victory over the Āq Qoyunlu.

1508 The Portuguese strengthen their position by occupying and fortifying the coastal strip of the Persian Gulf.

1510 Esmāʿil defeats Moḥammad Šaybāni Khan and conquers Khorasan from the Uzbeks.

1512 Uzbeks defeat the Safavids at the battle of Ḡojdovān, near Bukhara.

1514 The Battle of Čālderān; Esmāʿil is defeated by the Ottoman Selim I.

1514-20 Ottoman economic boycott of Persia.

1515 Portuguese return to Hormuz and definitively occupy the island.

1521 Shah Esmāʿil sends an envoy to Tsar Vasilli III of Moscow.

1522 The Safavids lose Qandahar to the Mughals.

1524 Esmāʿil dies and is succeeded by his son Ṭahmāsb I.

1526-30 Ẓahir-al-Din Bābor founds the line of Mughal Emperors (1526-1858).

1528 The Safavids defeat the Uzbeks at the battle of Jām.

1530 Homāyun succeedes Bābor.

1533 Ṭahmāsb makes his “sincere repentance,” renouncing all forbidden worldly pleasures as well as repenting for past sins.

1534 Solaymān the Magnificent invades Persia.

1534 Death of ʿAli al-Karaki.

1544 Defeated and rebuffed by a variety of opponents, Homāyun seeks assistance from the Safavid Shah Ṭahmāsb, who agrees to help him provided he converts to Shiʿism, a condition that he accepts but does not follow.

1545 Shah Ṭahmāsb seizes Qandahar in a joint expedition with Mughal Crown Prince Homāyun.

1548 Ṭahmāsb transfers his capital to Qazvin.

1555 Peace treaty of Amasiya between Persians and Ottomans.

1555 Homāyun’s second reign.

1556 Accession of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605).

1558 Emperor Akbar issues a decree proclaiming Persian as the administrative language of the Empire.

1558 Ṭahmāsb retakes Qandahar from Emperor Akbar.

c. 1560 Akbar, a thinker interested in religious ideas, devises a syncretistic religion, din-e elāhi (Divine Religion), in which elements of Islam and Hinduism are combined in a broad, tolerant spirit.

1561 Ṭahmāsb transfers his capital to Qazvin.

c. 1561 Ṭahmāsb, imbued by a newly acquired religious fervor, concentrates on the consolidation of Shiʿism in Iran and the strengthening of the Safavid kingdom.

c. 1561 The famous illustrated Šāh-nāma, sometimes called the Houghton Šāh-nāma, is made in Ṭahmāsb’s royal workshops.

1561-63 Anthony Jenkinson, a representative of the English Muscovy Company, establishes commercial relations with Persia.

1576 Death of Ṭahmāsb.

1576-77 Rule of Esmāʿil II.

1576-87 Important role in statecraft for Pari Khan Ḵānom, Ṭahmāsb’s daughter, and Mahd-e ʿOlyā, Moḥammad Ḵodābanda’s wife.

1578-87 Rule of Moḥammad Ḵodābanda.

1585 The Ottomans invade Persia and occupy Tabriz.

1586 First full Safavid mission to Russia, led by Hādi Beg.

1588 Accession of ʿAbbās I (the Great).

1590 Shah ʿAbbās makes peace with the Ottomans; he abandons Šarvān, Georgia, Tabriz, and Lorestān.

1595 The Safavids lose Qandahar to the Mughals.

1598 Shah ʿAbbās’ victory over the Uzbeks.

1598 Brothers Sir Anthony and Sir Robert Sherley arrive in Qazvin, where Shah ʿAbbās accepts them into his service, utilizing them mostly in diplomatic missions.

1598 Farhād Khan, who controls most of northern Persia, is executed on the orders of Shah ʿAbbās.

1598-1603 Construction of a new governmental and commercial center in Isfahan.

1600 Shah ʿAbbās transfers his capital to Isfahan.

1601-03 Shah ʿAbbās extends his control to the Persian Gulf by defeating the local ruler of Lar and by occupying Bahrain.

1603 Further conflict with the Ottomans; Shah ʿAbbās retakes Tabriz.

1603-04 War in the Caucasus leads to the deportation of Armenians from Julfa to the newly built suburb of Isfahan, New Julfa.

1604 Don Juan da Persia (b. 1560), a Catholic who traveled in Persia and adopted Islam, author of Don Juan of Persia, a Shiʿah Catholic 1560-1604 (tr. by G. Le Strange, 1926), dies.

1605 Accession of Akbar’s son Jahāngir in India.

1612 Temporary treaty signed with the Ottomans.

1616-17 The English enter the Persian Gulf and sign their first commercial treaty with Shah ʿAbbās.

1618 Further treaty with the Ottomans, who cede Azerbaijan and Georgia.

1619 Shah ʿAbbās issues royal export monopoly on silk.

1622 Persians forces oust the Portuguese from Hormuz with help from the English.

1622 Shah ʿAbbās reconquers Qandahar from the Mughals.

1623 Shah ʿAbbās retakes Baghdad and Irāq-e Arab from the Ottomans.

1623 The Dutch East India Company enters into a commercial agreement with Shah ʿAbbās.

1624 García de Silva Figueroa (b. 1550), Spanish diplomat and traveler who authored a memoir of his time in Persia entitled L’ambassade de d. Garcias de Silva Figueroa en Perse (French tr., 1667), dies.

1628 Accession of Shah Jahān in India.

1629 Death of Shah ʿAbbās I and accession of Shah Ṣafi I.

1630 The Ottomans capture Hamadan.

1630-34 Shah Ṣafi engages in a series of bloody purges, killing and blinding all actual and potential rivals, including Emām Qoli Khan of Fars.

1634 Fars is turned into ḵassa land, belonging to the Crown.

1635 Sir Anthony Sherley (b. 1565), British traveler who joined the court of Shah ʿAbbās I, together with his brother Robert Sherely, and was utilized chiefly in the diplomatic service by the shah, author of Sir Anthony Sherley: His relation of his travels into Persia (1613), dies.

1638 The Ottomans capture Erevān and Tabriz.

1638 The Ottomans retake Baghdad.

1639 Treaty of Zohāb, acknowledging Ottoman control of Irāq-e Arab and ending the state of hostility between the Safavids and Ottomans.

1642 Accession of Shah ʿAbbās II.

1645 Execution of Moḥammad Saru Taqi, grand vizier, followed by the execution of Jāni Khan Qurchibāši.

1645 Conflict between Persia and the Dutch East India Company; the Dutch blockade Bandar ʿAbbās and attack Qešm.

1645-54 A series of restrictive measures are taken against non-Shiʿite religious groups.

1649 Shah ʿAbbās II regains Qandahar from Shah Jahān, the Mughal emperor.

1650 The Portuguese suffer a final defeat and are ousted from the Persian Gulf with help from the British East India Company’s naval fleet.

1650 The Ḵāju bridge in Isfahan is completed.

1652 Pietro della Valle (b. 1586), noted Italian traveler, author of Voyages de P. della Vella dans la Turquie, L’Egypt, La Palestine, la Perse, les Indes Orientales et autres lieux (French tr., 7 vols., 1745), an important source on Safavid history, dies.

1658 Accession of Awrangzēb in India.

1659 The murder of Dārāšokuh, son of Shah Jahān, a thinker interested in spiritual and esoteric aspects of both Hinduism and Islam, and author of a number of works including Majmaʿ al-baḥrayn (1655).

1659 Mollā Moḥammad Taqi Majlesi (b. 1594), the prominent Shiʿa mojtahed and author, dies.

1664 First Russian mission sent to Isfahan.

1664 A French trade mission is sent to Persia.

1664 The French East India Company is established.

1666 Accession of Shah Ṣafi II.

1667 Recoronation of Shah Ṣafi II as Shah Solaymān I.

1669 Shaikh ʿAli Khan is chosen as grand vizier.

1671 Adam Olearius (b. 1603), German scholar, geographer, librarian, Secretary to the Holstein embassy, author of The Voyages and Travels of the Ambassadors from the Duke of Holstein to the Great Duke of Muscovy and the King of Persia (English tr., 1662), dies.

1677 Ṣāʾeb Tabrizi (b. 1603), noted Persian poet, the most prominent poet of the Indian style (sabk-e hendi), and author of Qandahār-nāma, dies.

1682 Sir Thomas Herbert (b. 1606), author of the first English account of Persia, A Description of the Persian Monarchy (1634), dies.

1689 Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (b. 1605), French traveler, author of Six Voyages en Turquie, en Perse at aux Indes (1676-77), an important source on Safavid history, dies.

1689 Shaikh ʿAli Khan dies.

1694 Accession of Shah Solṭān Ḥosayn.

1696 Father Raphael du Mans (b. 1613), French author whose memoirs, L’estat de la Perse en 1660 (1890), shed light on the history of Safavid Persia, dies.

1697-1701 The Safavids control Basra.

1698 Mollā Moḥammad Bāqer Majlesi (b. 1627), leading jurist, collector of Shiʿite hadiths, and prolific author, dies.

1699 The Baluchis raid the Kerman area; the Kurds, led by Solaymān Bābā, rebel in Kurdistan.

1703 Thomas Hyde (b. 1636), English Orientalist and author of Historia religionis veterum Persarum (1700), dies.

1708 Peter the Great of Russia sends an embassy to Isfahan.

1711 Mir Ways, the Pashtun governor of Qandahar, declares independence.

1713 John Chardin (b. 1643), a Huguenot jeweler who traveled extensively in Asia and wrote the most detailed account of Persia of his time, published as Voyages en Perse et autres lieux de l’Orient (1711), dies.

1715 Second Embassy of Peter the Great sent to Persia, led by Volynskii, in an attempt to establish a foothold towards the Persian Gulf and Indian ocean.

1716 Engelbert Kaempfer (b. 1651), German physician, traveler, and author of the posthumously published Journey in Persia and other Oriental countries (1736), dies.

1717 Omani Arabs take Bahrain.

1718 Abdali Afghans revolt in Khorasan, taking Herat and Mashad.

1720 Grand vizier Fatḥ-ʿAli Khan Dāḡestāni is deposed and blinded.

1721 The Lezghis take and plunder Šamāḵi.

1721 The Baluchis plunder Bandar ʿAbbās; the Afghans seize Kerman.

1722 The Afghans under Maḥmud invade and seize Isfahan; Shah Soltān Ḥosayn is deposed.

1722 Accession of Ṭahmāsb II in Qazvin.

1722-30 The Afghans occupy much of Persia.

1723 The Russians occupy Rasht and Baku.

1723 The Ottomans occupy Georgia, Kermanshah, and Hamadan.

1723 Tsar Peter concludes a treaty of alliance with Ṭahmāsb, receiving Caspian provinces, Darband and Baku, in exchange for providing assistance to Ṭahmāsb.

1724 Maḥmud captures Shiraz and massacres a number of Safavid princes.

1724 The Russo-Ottoman accord divides northwestern Persia between the Russians and Ottomans.

1725 Maḥmud is killed by his cousin.

1725 The Ottomans occupy Ganja and Tabriz.

1725 Accession of Ašraf the Afghan.

1726 Ašraf recognizes the Ottoman Sultan as the legitimate caliph.

1727 Nāderqoli, a Turkish tribal leader, joins the court of Ṭahmāsb II.

1729 Nāder defeats the Afghans and occupies Isfahan.

1730 Nāder drives out the Ottomans from Azerbaijan and western Persia and invades the Caucasus as far as Daḡestān.

1730 Nāder pursues Ašraf, who is killed in Baluchistan; end of Afghan occupation.

1732 Nāder dethrones Ṭahmāsb II.

1732 In accordance with the Treaty of Rasht, the Russians abandon all rights to Mazandaran, Astarabad, and Gilan.

1732 The infant ʿAbbās III nominally succeeds to the throne.

1733 Nāder ends the Ottoman occupation of Persian territories.

1734 Nāder invades the Caucasus, taking Darband, Baku, and Erevan.

1736 In a grand gathering at Moḡān plain, north of Azerbaijan, Nāder is proclaimed Shah; end of the Safavid dynasty.

c. 1736 Nāder Shah’s proposal that the Ottomans accept a milder Shiʿism as a fifth school of Islamic jurisprudence and doctrine, with mutual respect guaranteed to both sides, fails on account of Ottoman insistence on the caliphate of the Sultān, among other reservations.

1738 Nāder Shah occupies Qandahar while his son Reżāqoli campaigns in northern Afghanistan, capturing Balḵ and Badaḵšān.

1738-39 Nāder Shah invades India, defeats Moḥammad Shah, takes Lahore, and sacks Delhi after a great massacre. He returns with a huge booty which includes the Kohinoor/Kuh-e Nur diamond and the jewel-studded Peacock Throne.

1740 Nāder Shah conquers Bukhara and Ḵiva.

1741 Growing suspicious that his son and heir, Reżāqoli, is involved in a plot against him, Nāder Shah orders the blinding of his son.

1742-47 Nāder Shah grows abrasive, harsh, and punitive, partly out of remorse for having blinded his son.

1747 Assassination of Nāder Shah by a group of Afšār and Qajar chiefs; his nephew ʿĀdelšāh succeeds him.

1748 Šahroḵ the Afsharid succeeds ʿĀdelšāh; his rule is confined to Khorasan.

1750 Karim Khan Zand, leader of a Lor tribe based near Malāyer, occupies southern Persia and becomes sole ruler of the region.

1754 James Fraser (b. 1713), British Orientalist and author of The History of Nadir Shah (1742), dies.

1756 Judas Thadeus Krusinski (b. 1675), Polish Jesuit missionary and traveler who lived in Persia for twenty years, author of The History of the Revolutions of Persia (2 vols., 1728) and The Chronicles of a Traveller (translated from Latin by G. N. Mitford, 1840), dies.

1758 Karim Khan becomes undisputed ruler of Persia, but he refuses the title of Shah, which is held by Shah Esmāʿil, the puppet Safavid ruler.

1763 The East India Company establishes a factory in Bushehr by agreement with Karim Khan.

1773 Karim Khan adorns his capital, Shiraz, with a congregational mosque and a bazaar (bāzār-e vakil).

1776 Karim Khan occupies Basra, defeating the Turks.

1779 Karim Khan dies at the age of 80; accession of ʿAli Morād.

1783 Georgia severs all ties with Persia and signs a treaty with Russia.

1783 The Persians are driven from Bahrain.

1784 The British government introduces legislation to bring East India Company under its political control.

1785 Jaʿfar succeeds ʿAli Morād.

1785 Āqā Moḥammad Khan organizes a fighting force and sets out on a war of conquest.

1785 Āqā Moḥammad Khan is made a eunuch and held hostage at the Zand court, before escaping back to his tribe.

1786 Jonas Hanway (b. 1712), British merchant who traveled in Persia, author of An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea (4 vols,, 1750), which provides an eyewitness account of northern Iran during Nāder Shah’s last years, dies.

1789 Jaʿfar is assassinated; accession of Loṭf-ʿAli Khan to the Zand throne.

1794 Āqā Moḥammad Khan overthrows and kills Loṭf ʿAli Khan in Kerman; end of the Zand dynasty; Qajar dynasty is established.

1795 Āqā Moḥammad Khan invades Georgia and suppresses a revolt; capture of Tiflis and Erevān.

1796 Coronation of Āqā Moḥammad Khan.

1797 Assassination of Āqā Moḥammad Khan and the accession of his nephew Bābā Khan as Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah. 1800 Sir John Malcolm, a representative of the East India Company, concludes a commercial and political treaty with Persia according to which Persia is not to make peace with the Afghans unless they renounce all designs on India.

1804 Russian expansionist policy leads to the breakout of hostilities between Russian and Persian forces.

1810 First Persian students are sent to Europe by Crown Prince ʿAbbās Mirzā.

1810 Second Sir John Malcolm mission to Persia firmly establishes British influence.

1812 Treaty of permanent friendship signed between Persia and Britain.

1812 Establishment of the first lithographic press in Tabriz by Qāʾemmaqām Farāhāni.

1813 First war with Russia; ʿAbbās Mirzā leads Persian forces in the second phase of the war; Persian forces are defeated.

1813 Treaty of Golestān; Persia cedes extensive territories in the Caucasus to Russia, including Georgia, and abandons the right to maintain a navy in the Caspian sea.

1826 Second war with Russia; Persian forces are defeated.

1826 Turkmenchay treaty with Russia; Persia cedes more territory to Russia and concedes extraterritoriality to Russian subjects (capitulation).

1829 Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah honors the leader of the Ismaʿili community with the title of Āqā Khan.

1832 Johann Wolfgang Goethe (b. 1749), pre-eminent German writer and poet who was fascinated by the poems of Ḥāfez, dies.

1833 ʿAbbās Mirzā, eldest son and heir apparent of Fatḥ-ʿAli Shah, a brave and patriotic prince who headed Persian forces in the Irano-Russian wars, dies at 41.

1833 Sir John Malcolm (b. 1769), British soldier, statesman, historian, envoy of the East India Company, Governor of Bombay, and author of The History of Persia from the Most Early Period to the Present Time (2 vols., 1815), the first comprehensive history of Persia which served as a basis for a number of subsequent histories, dies.

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