formerly called Persia

Alternative descriptions

Former Persia

In medieval Persia

State in Asia

A historically interesting turquoise deposit is located on the territory of this country

Home of the best carpets in the world

The country in which the main action of the film "Tehran-43" took place

The country where the world's best sky-blue turquoise has been mined for 3000 years

The place where the Kurds live

Which country has the "ir" domain?

With which country did Russia conclude the Turkmenchay peace treaty in 1828?

In which country is the mirzai dance performed?

Country whose two main exports are oil and carpets

Which country speaks Farsi?

What country do Persians and Kurds live in?

With which state do we share the Caspian Sea?

Islamic republic

Which Asian country has Tehran as its capital?

Persia today

Persian state

Persia now

Gas rich country

Whose capital is Tehran?

Persians and Kurds live there

Country in the "Axis of Evil"

In this country they pay in rials

In which country do mirzai dance?

Where do Kurds live?

Country around Tehran

Birthplace of the religion of Zoroastrianism

Country exporting carpets

Which country has the "ir" domain?

What country is Abadan in?

Country whose capital is Tehran

Country whose capital is Tehran

Country of Persian carpets

Tehran

Close to Turkmenistan

Tehran (country)

South of Turkmenistan

Borders with Turkey

Close to Pakistan

Bl.-East. the country

Afghanistan's neighbor

Borders with Iraq

Formerly called Persia

Country with the city of Tehran at the head

Territory surrounding Tehran

Present Persia

Close to Turkey

Current name of Persia

Oslo is Norway, but Tehran?

Homeland of Persian cats

Asian power

. "country of the Aryans"

Persia in our time

Country of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Persia at present

Close to Iraq and Turkey

Borders with Pakistan

Borders with Turkey and Turkmenistan

Persia today

Power in Asia

Asian country

Its capital is Tehran

Persia in the current version

Country in Asia

Islamic State

Country of Ayatollah Khomeini

Persian country

Islamic country

Left of Afghanistan

Oil country in Asia

Formerly called Persia

Asian state

Oil power in Asia

Country with Tehran

Pakistan's neighbor

Muslim state

Persia at present

What country is Isfahan in?

Power of Persian carpets

State in Western Asia

The country in which the main action of the film "Tehran-43" took place

State in Asia

Persia has existed for more than two and a half thousand years. Once it was a great and powerful state with rich cultural achievements. But today, not everyone knows what happened to it and where it is located today.

Today, the modern country of Persia, as in former times, is a fairly developed state economically and culturally. But let's look into the past...

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History of Persia

In the VI century BC in the territory Middle East Persian tribes appeared. In a short period, under the leadership of King Cyrus II, they managed to achieve significant military successes. The power of the Persian army became so great that Babylon surrendered to the Persians without a fight.

Cyrus II personally participated in the battles and died in one of them in 530 BC. His successor Cambyses II led the Persian army and it successfully conquered ancient Egypt. The territories of Persia began to stretch from India to the Aegean Sea. Persia held a huge amount of land under its influence for more than two hundred years until the 4th century BC. The history of this ancient country is well described by Wikipedia.

Dark times for Persia came with campaigns Alexander the Great. The desire to avenge the sack of Athens led to large-scale battles in which Persia suffered many defeats. The entire royal family of the Achaemenids ceased to exist, and Persia was subjected to humiliating oppression by the Greeks for two long centuries.

Parthians succeeded in overthrowing the Greeks, after which Artaxerxes became the ruler. He tried to return the former greatness to the lands of ancient Persia and revived the empire.

In fact, this is the beginning of the era of the second Persian empire. In this format, Persia existed until the seventh century AD, after which its influence greatly weakened and it was absorbed Arab Caliphate.

After the advent of the Islamic period, Persia was divided into several separate lands with their rulers coming to power by force and at enmity with each other. Fragmentation allowed the Mongol invasion to easily raid and plunder Persian cities.

Officially, the country began to be called in 1935. For many, the name has become completely unknown and not everyone always understands what kind of state it is. But not for the Persians themselves. Such a decision was made in rather difficult times in order to get rid of the past trace of the Persian empire. The word Aryān itself appeared around the 6th century AD. So the Persians themselves called themselves, because they were Aryans or Aria. Over time, the language changed and the name also changed to its current form.

Where is Persia

It is rather difficult to answer exactly where Persia is located on a modern map. After all, countries are constantly undergoing territorial changes. During the heyday of its influence, Persia controlled large areas of such modern countries:

This is an incomplete list of countries in which Persia once existed. But nowadays, when talking about Persia, most often there is a reference to Iran. That's what it's called now. It was on the land of this country that the key events of the existence of the Persian state took place.

Here remains the greatest cultural influence of the once great empire. A more detailed map of the location of ancient Persian possessions can be found on Wikipedia.

Country today

Modern is not a terrible revolutionary country with nuclear developments as it is described in many media. Here, the interweaving of several cultures at once is concentrated: Western, Islamic and Persian proper.

Residents of Iran are very courteous and friendly to guests. Thousands of years of occupation by different peoples have taught the native Iranians to get along with almost everyone. But behind the outward friendliness lies the intention to find out in detail for what purpose the interlocutor arrived.

This manner of behavior allowed the Iranian people to preserve their rich cultural heritage. traditions, while taking the best of each of the cultures of the alien peoples.

Being under the control of the Arab Caliphate for centuries, the Iranians managed to preserve their language. In our time, although Islamic culture dominates in the country, the Persians continue to keep knowledge of their ancient culture. originality.

Today Persia is an original country with a large number of ancient sights and cultural monuments.

Why Iran did not want to be called Persia. More on this in our review.

An Iranian stamp from the Pahlavi period with the laconic name "Iran".

The stamp was issued on the occasion of the coronation of the third wife of the last Shah of Iran as shahbanu (empress) in 1967.

The stamp depicts the Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and his wife, Empress Farah.

In 1935, the first Iranian ruler from the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza, sent a letter to the League of Nations with a request to use the word "Iran" (Erān) for the name of his country, instead of the term "Persia". He substantiated this by the fact that inside his country to refer to what is known in the world as Persia, the word "irani" is used (the term comes from the "country of the Aryans", which goes back to the self-name of the Aryan tribe).

Shah Reza Pahlavi noted that, “Persians are just one of several Indo-Iranian ethnic groups in Iran. Their home region of Pars (Fars) was the center of political power in ancient times - during the period of the Achaemenid Empire, and in the Sassanid Empire. However, during the period of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the name of the region Pars (Fars) was spread by the Greeks to designate the name of the whole country.

The state of the Achaemenids (existed from 550 BC to 330 BC) was officially called Aryanam Xsaoram (from the ancient Persian “the power of the Aryans”, given the modern name of the country, it can also be translated as “the power of Iran”).

Immediately before the Arab and Islamic conquest of Persia, in the era of the rulers of the Sassanid dynasty (224-652 AD), who were fire-worshipping Zoroastrians, Persia was officially called Eranshahr, i.e. Iranian empire.

During the period of the Turkic Qajar dynasty, which ruled the country from 1795 to 1925 od and preceded the last monarchical dynasty in Persian history - Pahlavi, the country known to the world as Persia, however, was also officially called Iran. Namely, "The Highest State of Iran" (Dowlat-e Eliyye-ye I ran). But in the outside world, the name of the country was translated as Persia.

Under the Pahlavi dynasty (ruled from 1925 to 1979), Iran was officially called the Shahanshah State of Iran (Doulat Shohanshohi-ye Iron (Persian دولت شاهنشاهی ایرا), where the name uses the ancient title of the Persian rulers "shahinshah" ("king of kings").

Since 1979, after the fall of the monarchy, the country is officially called the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ - Jomhuri-ye Eslomi-ye Iron).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the Persians themselves began to use the term "Persia" for the name of their country in a number of publications and books in the new and recent historical period, under the influence of the West, as if borrowing this term back from the ancient Greeks.

Additionally:

Around the name of Iran

“When compiling a historical overview of Iran, it is necessary to take into account the fact that Iran, as a geographical concept, does not coincide either with the area of ​​Iranian settlement, as an ethnographic unit, or with the area of ​​influence of Iranian culture, or with the area of ​​distribution of Persian, i.e. Iranian literary language . In ancient times, India and Iran were equally occupied by a people who called themselves Arians (Aryans) - arua in India, ariya or airya in ancient Iranian dialects.

In the inscriptions of King Darius, the word "Aryans" apparently refers exclusively to the population of Iran.;

India and the Indians were named after the border river Sindh (Sindhu), in the Iranian pronunciation Hindu(Indian c generally corresponds in Iranian h) on modern maps of the Indus; from the Persians this name passed to the Greeks and, like most of the Greek names, came into use in modern geographical science.

In the Iranian scripture (Avesta) the term Hindu is used as the name of a river and refers to the "seven Indus" (harta hindu), which is consistent with the Indian term sapta sindhavah. The Indian "Seven Rivers" got its name from the Indus, Kabul and five rivers "Punjab" (i.e. "Five Rivers"), Chinab with its tributaries Jelam and Ravi and Setledzh with its tributary Beas.

Arias are opposed to tours(tura, adjective tuirya) and sarima (sairima); if the latter, as is believed, should be understood as the Sarmatians or Savromats of Greek writers, then the Central Asian people are meant, according to most scholars, related to the Iranians; it is very likely that the Turs were of the same origin and also lived in Central Asia.

In other words, the population of Iran isolated itself equally from the Indian, "Aryans" and from related Central Asian peoples. The word "Iran", originally Eran, appears later and is the genitive plural of the word airya (airyanara), in the sense: (country) of the Aryans. For the first time we meet him in the Greek form Ariane at Eratosthenes (3rd century BC) from whom Strabo borrowed this information.

The borders of this "Ariana" or Iran were considered: the Indus in the east, the Hindu Kush and the mountain ranges to the west of it - in the north, the Indian Ocean in the south; the western border ran from the Caspian Gates, i.e., a mountain pass east of Tehran, along a line separating Parthia from Media and Karamania (Kerman) from Persis (Fars). Obviously, the term "country of the Aryans" was understood not in an ethnographic, but exclusively in a political sense; this was the name of the country, united under the rule of the Arsacid dynasty, which revolted against the Greek conquerors; the areas that remained under the rule of the Greeks, both in the west (the state of the Seleucids) and in the northeast (Greek-Bactrian kingdom) were not included in Iran.

Subsequently, under the Sassanids, the region with the Semitic population, Babylonia, where the capital of the "king of kings" was located, was not only ranked as Iran, but was even considered the "heart of the Iranian region." And at present, in Persia itself, Iran is understood as the state of the Shahinshah.

The origin of the word Iran and the ethnographic term "Aryans" from which it derives were already forgotten in the Middle Ages; from the word "Iran" to refer to the population of this country, the term "Iranians" (Persian, Irani) was formed. Iran was most often opposed to "Turan", a word derived from "tour" in the same way as Iran from "aria"; only later "Turan" was identified with "Turkestan", the country of the Turks.

The words "Iran" and "Turan" in geographical science received a completely different meaning; Iran was understood as a plateau representing an internal basin and bordering in the north with the basin of the Caspian and Aral Seas, in the south, west and east - with the basin of the Indian Ocean, between the Tigris and the Indus; near Turan - the Aral Sea basin. The words “Turan” and “Turanians” were sometimes used in a broader sense, uniting under these terms the entire Central Asian world from the southern Russian steppes to China, and contrasting “Turanians” not only with “Iranians”, but in general with “Aryans”.

The name "Aryans" again became known to Europeans in the 18th century. (not from living speech, but from the oldest written monuments of India and Iran). After establishing the proximity of the languages ​​​​of India and Iran with European ones, the Aryans (Arier, Ariens, Aryans) began to call all representatives of the linguistic group, embracing the peoples "from India to Iceland".

Subsequently, instead of this term, others were proposed: Indo-Europeans, Indo-Germans (especially in German science), Ario-Europeans, with the preservation of the name "Aryans" only for Asian Indo-Europeans, whose ancestors actually called themselves by this name; nevertheless, the word "Aryans" is still sometimes used in science in its former sense, even in Germany.

The Aryans, in the sense of "Asiatic Indo-Europeans", were divided into two branches, Indians and Iranians. Iranians in the linguistic sense began to be called, regardless of political boundaries, peoples united into one whole in linguistic terms. When at the end of the 19th century the idea arose to compile a set of scientific material relating to the field of "Iranian philology" (languages, literature and history of the Iranians), then the linguistic department of this set included dialects from the easternmost of the Pamirs, Sarykol, to the western Kurds, in the eastern parts of the Asia Minor peninsula, i.e., approximately from 75 to 38 degrees east. debt, from Greenwich. In addition, the dialect of the so-called Ossetians (who call themselves Iron), who live separately from the others, “Iranians” in the Caucasus, to the west of the former Georgian military road, is considered.

Even more extensive was the area of ​​distribution of Iranian dialects in antiquity, although in many cases the question of which peoples spoke Iranian remains controversial.

An even greater space was embraced by the region of distribution of the main literary language of Iran, the so-called "New Persian", formed already under Islam; it was written far beyond the borders of linguistic Iran, from Constantinople (Turkish sultan Selim II, 1566-1574 belonged to the number of Persian poets) to Calcutta and the cities of Chinese Turkestan. The historian of Iranian culture must reckon with this fact, and with even more numerous translations from Persian and imitations of Persian models. (From the collection "History of the Middle East", released in Russia in 2002).

Persia (which country is now, you can find out from the article) existed more than two thousand years ago. It is known for its conquests and culture. Many peoples ruled over the territory of the ancient state. But they could not eradicate the culture and traditions of the Aryans.

From the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persians appeared on the arena of world history. Until that time, the inhabitants of the Middle East had heard very little about this mysterious tribe. It became known about them only after they began to seize lands.

Cyrus II, the king of the Persians from the Achaemenid dynasty, was able to capture Media and other states in a short time. His well-armed army began preparations to march against Babylon.

At this time, Babylon and Egypt were at enmity with each other, but when a strong enemy appeared, they decided to forget about the conflict. Babylon's preparation for war did not save her from defeat. The Persians captured the cities of Opis and Sippar, and then took possession of Babylon without a fight. Cyrus the Second decided to move further to the East. In a war with nomadic tribes, he died in 530 BC.

The successors of the deceased king, Cambyses II and Darius I, managed to capture Egypt. Darius was able not only to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the state, but also to expand them from the Aegean to India, as well as from the lands of Central Asia to the banks of the Nile. Persia absorbed the famous world civilizations of the ancient world and owned them until the fourth century BC. The empire was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Second Persian Empire

The Macedonian soldiers took revenge on the Persians for the ruin of Athens by incinerating Persepolis. On this, the Achaemenid dynasty ceased to exist. Ancient Persia fell under the humiliating power of the Greeks.

It was only in the second century BC that the Greeks were driven out. The Parthians did it. But they were not allowed to rule for a long time, they were overthrown by Artaxerxes. The history of the second Persian state began with him. In another way, it is commonly called the power of the Sassanid dynasty. Under their rule, the Achaemenid Empire is revived, albeit in a different form. Greek culture is being replaced by Iranian.

In the seventh century, Persia lost its power and was included in the Arab Caliphate.

Life in Ancient Persia through the eyes of other nations

The life of the Persians is known from the works that have survived to this day. Mostly Greek writings. It is known that Persia (which country is now, you can find out below) very quickly conquered the territories of ancient civilizations. What were the Persians like?

They were tall and physically strong. Life in the mountains and steppes made them hardened and hardy. They were famous for their courage and unity. In everyday life, the Persians ate moderately, did not drink wine, and were indifferent to precious metals. They wore clothes sewn from animal skins, their heads were covered with felt caps (tiaras).

During the coronation, the ruler had to put on the clothes that he wore before becoming king. He was also supposed to eat dried figs and drink sour milk.

The Persians had the right to live with several wives, not counting concubines. Closely related ties were allowed, for example, between an uncle and a niece. Women were not to be seen by strangers. This also applied to wives and concubines. Proof of this are the preserved reliefs of Persepolis, on which there are no images of the fair sex.

Persian achievements:

• good roads;
• minting own coins;
• creation of gardens (paradises);
• cylinder of Cyrus the Great - a prototype of the first charter of human rights.

Before Persia, but now?

It is not always possible to say exactly which state is located on the site of an ancient civilization. The world map has changed hundreds of times. Changes are taking place even today. How to understand where was Persia? What is the current country in its place?

Modern states on whose territory there was an empire:

• Egypt.
• Lebanon.
• Iraq.
• Pakistan.
• Georgia.
• Bulgaria.
• Turkey.
• Parts of Greece and Romania.

These are not all countries that are related to Persia. However, Iran is most often associated with the ancient empire. What is this country and its people?

The mysterious past of Iran

The name of the country is a modern form of the word "Ariana", which translates as "country of the Aryans". Indeed, from the first millennium BC, the Aryan tribes inhabited almost all the lands of modern Iran. Part of this tribe moved to Northern India, and part went to the northern steppes, calling themselves Scythians, Sarmatians.

Later strong kingdoms were formed in Western Iran. Media became one of such Iranian formations. She was subsequently captured by the army of Cyrus the Second. It was he who united the Iranians in his empire and led them to conquer the world.

How does modern Persia live (what country is now, it became clear)?

Life in modern Iran through the eyes of foreigners

For many people, Iran is associated with the revolution and the nuclear program. However, the history of this country covers more than two thousand years. She absorbed different cultures: Persian, Islamic, Western.

The Iranians have elevated pretense to a real art of communication. They are very courteous and sincere, but this is only the outer side. In fact, behind their obsequiousness lies the intention to find out all the intentions of the interlocutor.

Former Persia (now Iran) was captured by the Greeks, Turks, Mongols. At the same time, the Persians were able to preserve their traditions. They know how to get along with strangers, their culture is characterized by a certain flexibility - to take the best from the traditions of strangers, without abandoning their own.

Iran (Persia) was ruled by the Arabs for centuries. At the same time, its inhabitants were able to preserve their language. Poetry helped them in this. Most of all they honor the poet Ferdowsi, and the Europeans remember Omar Khayyam. The teaching of Zarathustra, which appeared long before the invasion of the Arabs, contributed to the preservation of culture.

Although Islam plays the leading role in the country now, the Iranians have not lost their national identity. They remember well their centuries-old history.

From the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persians appeared on the arena of world history. Until that time, the inhabitants of the Middle East had heard very little about this mysterious tribe. It became known about them only after they began to seize lands.

Cyrus II, the king of the Persians from the Achaemenid dynasty, was able to capture Media and other states in a short time. His well-armed army began preparations to march against Babylon.

At this time, Babylon and Egypt were at enmity with each other, but when a strong enemy appeared, they decided to forget about the conflict. Babylon's preparation for war did not save her from defeat. The Persians captured the cities of Opis and Sippar, and then took possession of Babylon without a fight. Cyrus the Second decided to move further to the East. In a war with nomadic tribes, he died in 530 BC.

The successors of the deceased king, Cambyses II and Darius I, managed to capture Egypt. Darius was able not only to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the state, but also to expand them from the Aegean to India, as well as from the lands of Central Asia to the banks of the Nile. Persia absorbed the famous world civilizations of the ancient world and owned them until the fourth century BC. The empire was conquered by Alexander the Great.

Second Persian Empire

The Macedonian soldiers took revenge on the Persians for the ruin of Athens by incinerating Persepolis. On this, the Achaemenid dynasty ceased to exist. Ancient Persia fell under the humiliating power of the Greeks.

It was only in the second century BC that the Greeks were driven out. The Parthians did it. But they were not allowed to rule for a long time, they were overthrown by Artaxerxes. The history of the second Persian state began with him. In another way, it is commonly called the power of the Sassanid dynasty. Under their rule, the Achaemenid Empire is revived, albeit in a different form. Greek culture is being replaced by Iranian.

In the seventh century, Persia lost its power and was included in the Arab Caliphate.

Life in Ancient Persia through the eyes of other nations

The life of the Persians is known from the works that have survived to this day. Mostly Greek writings. It is known that Persia (which country is now, you can find out below) very quickly conquered the territories of ancient civilizations. What were the Persians like?

They were tall and physically strong. Life in the mountains and steppes made them hardened and hardy. They were famous for their courage and unity. In everyday life, the Persians ate moderately, did not drink wine, and were indifferent to precious metals. They wore clothes sewn from animal skins, their heads were covered with felt caps (tiaras).

During the coronation, the ruler had to put on the clothes that he wore before becoming king. He was also supposed to eat dried figs and drink sour milk.

The Persians had the right to live with several wives, not counting concubines. Closely related ties were allowed, for example, between an uncle and a niece. Women were not to be seen by strangers. This also applied to wives and concubines. Proof of this are the preserved reliefs of Persepolis, on which there are no images of the fair sex.

Persian achievements:

• good roads;
• minting own coins;
• creation of gardens (paradises);
• cylinder of Cyrus the Great - a prototype of the first charter of human rights.

Before Persia, but now?

It is not always possible to say exactly which state is located on the site of an ancient civilization. The world map has changed hundreds of times. Changes are taking place even today. How to understand where was Persia? What is the current country in its place?

Modern states on whose territory there was an empire:

• Egypt.
• Lebanon.
• Iraq.
• Pakistan.
• Georgia.
• Bulgaria.
• Turkey.
• Parts of Greece and Romania.

These are not all countries that are related to Persia. However, Iran is most often associated with the ancient empire. What is this country and its people?

The mysterious past of Iran

The name of the country is a modern form of the word "Ariana", which translates as "country of the Aryans". Indeed, from the first millennium BC, the Aryan tribes inhabited almost all the lands of modern Iran. Part of this tribe moved to Northern India, and part went to the northern steppes, calling themselves Scythians, Sarmatians.

Later strong kingdoms were formed in Western Iran. Media became one of such Iranian formations. She was subsequently captured by the army of Cyrus the Second. It was he who united the Iranians in his empire and led them to conquer the world.

How does modern Persia live (what country is now, it became clear)?

Life in modern Iran through the eyes of foreigners

For many people, Iran is associated with the revolution and the nuclear program. However, the history of this country covers more than two thousand years. She absorbed different cultures: Persian, Islamic, Western.

The Iranians have elevated pretense to a real art of communication. They are very courteous and sincere, but this is only the outer side. In fact, behind their obsequiousness lies the intention to find out all the intentions of the interlocutor.

Former Persia (now Iran) was captured by the Greeks, Turks, Mongols. At the same time, the Persians were able to preserve their traditions. They know how to get along with strangers, their culture is characterized by a certain flexibility - to take the best from the traditions of strangers, without abandoning their own.

Iran (Persia) was ruled by the Arabs for centuries. At the same time, its inhabitants were able to preserve their language. Poetry helped them in this. Most of all they honor the poet Ferdowsi, and the Europeans remember Omar Khayyam. The teaching of Zarathustra, which appeared long before the invasion of the Arabs, contributed to the preservation of culture.

Although Islam plays the leading role in the country now, the Iranians have not lost their national identity. They remember well their centuries-old history.

History of ancient Persia

The Persian king Cyrus II from the Achaemenid clan conquered Media and many other countries in a short time and had a huge and well-armed army, which began to prepare for a campaign against Babylonia. A new force appeared in Western Asia, which managed in a short time - in just a few decades- completely change the political map of the Middle East.

Babylonia and Egypt abandoned their long-standing hostile policy towards each other, because the rulers of both countries were well aware of the need to prepare for war with the Persian Empire. The start of the war was only a matter of time.

The Persian campaign against Babylon began in 539 BC. e. decisive battle between the Persians and the Babylonians took place near the city of Opis on the Tigris River. Cyrus won a complete victory here, soon his troops took the well-fortified city of Sippar, and the Persians captured Babylon without a fight.

After that, the eyes of the Persian ruler turned to the East, where for several years he waged a grueling war with the nomadic tribes of Central Asia and where he eventually died in 530 BC. e.

The successors of Cyrus - Cambyses and Darius completed the work begun by him. in 524-523 BC e. Cambyses marched on Egypt, as a result of which established the power of the Achaemenids on the banks of the Nile. Ancient Egypt became one of the satrapies of the new empire. Darius continued to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the empire. By the end of the reign of Darius, who died in 485 BC. e., the Persian state dominated over a vast area from the Aegean in the west to India in the east, and from the deserts of Central Asia in the north to the rapids of the Nile in the south. The Achaemenids (Persians) united almost the entire civilized world known to them and owned it until the 4th century BC. BC e., when their power was broken and subjugated by the military genius of Alexander the Great.

• Achaemenes, 600s BC.
• Teispes, 600 BC
• Cyrus I, 640 - 580 BC.
• Cambyses I, 580 - 559 BC.
• Cyrus II the Great, 559 - 530 BC.


• Cambyses II, 530 - 522 BC
• Bardia, 522 BC
• Darius I, 522 - 486 BC
• Xerxes I, 485 - 465 BC
• Artaxerxes I, 465 - 424 BC
• Xerxes II, 424 BC
• Secudian, 424 - 423 BC
• Darius II, 423 - 404 BC
• Artaxerxes II, 404 - 358 BC
• Artaxerxes III, 358 - 338 BC
• Artaxerxes IV Arces, 338 - 336 BC
• Darius III, 336 - 330 BC
• Artaxerxes V Bessus, 330 - 329 BC

Map of the Persian Empire

The tribes of the Aryans - the eastern branch of the Indo-Europeans - by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. inhabited almost the entire territory of present-day Iran. Samo the word "Iran" is the modern form of the name "Ariana", i.e. land of the Aryans. Initially, these were warlike tribes of semi-nomadic pastoralists who fought on war chariots. Some of the Aryans moved to Northern India even earlier and captured it, giving rise to the Indo-Aryan culture. Other Aryan tribes, closer to the Iranians, remained nomadic in Central Asia and the northern steppes - the Scythians, Saks, Sarmatians, etc. The Iranians themselves, having settled on the fertile lands of the Iranian Highlands, gradually abandoned their nomadic life, took up agriculture, adopting the skills of the Mesopotamian civilization. It reached a high level already in the XI-VIII centuries. BC e. Iranian craft. His monument is the famous "Luristan bronzes" - skillfully made weapons and household items with images of mythical and really existing animals.

"Luristan bronzes"- cultural monument of Western Iran. It was here, in the immediate vicinity and confrontation with Assyria, that the most powerful Iranian kingdoms were formed. The first of them Mussel intensified(Northwest Iran). The Median kings participated in the crushing of Assyria. The history of their state is well known from written monuments. But the Median monuments of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. very poorly studied. Even the capital of the country, the city of Ecbatany, has not been found yet. It is only known that it was located in the vicinity of the modern city of Hamadan. Nevertheless, two Median fortresses already explored by archaeologists from the time of the struggle with Assyria speak of a rather high culture of the Medes.

In 553 BC. e. Cyrus (Kurush) II, the king of the subject Persian tribe from the Achaemenid clan, rebelled against the Medes. In 550 BC. e. Cyrus united the Iranians under his rule and led them to conquer the world. In 546 BC. e. he conquered Asia Minor, and in 538 BC. e. Babylon fell. The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, conquered Egypt, and under King Darius I at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. before. n. e. Persian power reached its greatest expansion and prosperity.

The monuments of its greatness are the royal capitals excavated by archaeologists - the most famous and best studied monuments of Persian culture. The oldest of them is Pasargada, the capital of Cyrus.

Sassanid Revival - Sassanid Empire

In 331-330 years. BC e. the famous conqueror Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire. In retaliation for Athens once ravaged by the Persians, Greek Macedonian soldiers brutally looted and burned Persepolis. The Achaemenid dynasty ended. The period of Greek-Macedonian dominion over the East began, which is usually referred to as the era of Hellenism.

For the Iranians, the conquest was a disaster. The power over all neighbors was replaced by humiliated submission to old enemies - the Greeks. The traditions of Iranian culture, already shaken by the desire of kings and nobles to imitate the vanquished in luxury, were now completely trampled. Little changed after the liberation of the country by the nomadic Iranian tribe of the Parthians.

The Russians expelled the Greeks from Iran in the 2nd century BC. BC e., but they themselves borrowed a lot from Greek culture. The Greek language is still used on the coins and inscriptions of their kings. Temples are still built with numerous statues, according to Greek models, which seemed to many Iranians blasphemy. Zarathushtra in ancient times forbade the worship of idols, commanding to honor the inextinguishable flame as a symbol of the deity and to make sacrifices to it. It was religious humiliation that was the greatest, and it was not for nothing that the cities built by the Greek conquerors were later called “Dragon buildings” in Iran.

In 226 AD e. the rebellious ruler of Pars, who bore the ancient royal name Ardashir (Artaxerxes), overthrew the Parthian dynasty. The second story begins Persian Empire - Sassanid Powers, the dynasty to which the winner belonged.

The Sassanids sought to revive the culture of ancient Iran. The very history of the Achaemenid state by that time had become a vague legend. So, as an ideal, the society that was described in the legends of the Zoroastrian priests-mobeds was put forward. The Sassanids built, in fact, a culture that had never existed in the past, thoroughly imbued with a religious idea. This had little in common with the era of the Achaemenids, who willingly adopted the customs of the conquered tribes.

Under the Sassanids, the Iranian decisively triumphed over the Hellenic. Greek temples completely disappear, the Greek language goes out of official use. The broken statues of Zeus (who was identified with Ahura Mazda under the Parthians) are being replaced by faceless altars of fire. Naksh-i-Rustem is decorated with new reliefs and inscriptions. In the III century. The second Sasanian king Shapur I ordered his victory over the Roman emperor Valerian to be carved on the rocks. On the reliefs, the kings are overshadowed by a bird-like farn - a sign of divine patronage.

Capital of Persia became the city of Ctesiphon, built by the Parthians next to the empty Babylon. Under the Sassanids, new palace complexes were built in Ctesiphon and huge (up to 120 hectares) royal parks were laid out. The most famous of the Sasanian palaces is Taq-i-Kisra, the palace of King Khosrov I, who ruled in the 6th century. Along with monumental reliefs, palaces were now decorated with fine carved ornaments made from lime mixture.

Under the Sassanids, the irrigation system of Iranian and Mesopotamian lands was improved. In the VI century. the country was covered by a network of kariz (underground water pipes with clay pipes), stretching up to 40 km. Cleaning of karizs was carried out through special wells dug every 10 m. Karizs served for a long time and ensured the rapid development of agriculture in Iran in the Sasanian era. It was then that Iran began to grow cotton and sugar cane, and horticulture and winemaking developed. At the same time, Iran became one of the suppliers of its own fabrics - both woolen and linen and silk.

Sasanian power was much less Achaemenid, covered only Iran itself, part of the lands of Central Asia, the territory of present-day Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan. She had to fight for a long time, first with Rome, then with the Byzantine Empire. Despite all this, the Sassanids lasted longer than the Achaemenids - over four centuries. Ultimately, exhausted by continuous wars in the west, the state was engulfed in a struggle for power. The Arabs took advantage of this, carrying by force of arms a new faith - Islam. In 633-651. after a fierce war, they conquered Persia. So it was over with the ancient Persian state and ancient Iranian culture.

Persia is the ancient name of a country in Southwest Asia, officially called Iran since 1935.

In ancient times, Persia became the center of one of the greatest empires in history, which stretched from Egypt to the Indus River. It included all previous empires - Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Hittites.

Persia emerged in the 6th century BC. Until the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, it occupied a dominant position in the ancient world. Greek domination lasted about 100 years, and after its fall, the Persian state was revived under two local dynasties: the Arshakids (Parthian kingdom) and the Sassanids (New Persian kingdom). For more than 7 centuries, they kept Rome in fear, and then Byzantium.

It is known that the most ancient inhabitants of Iran had a different origin than the Persians and their kindred peoples. During excavations in caves near the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, skeletons of people dated to the 8th millennium BC were found. In the northwest of Iran, the skulls of people who lived in the III millennium BC were discovered. Scientists have suggested calling the indigenous population the Caspians. The finds during the excavations indicate that the tribes that inhabited this region were mainly engaged in hunting, then switched to cattle breeding, which was replaced by agriculture. The main settlements were Sialk, Goy-Tepe, Gissar, the largest were Susa, which soon became the capital of the Persian state.

The historical era begins on the Iranian plateau at the end of the 4th millennium BC. The largest of the peoples who lived on the eastern borders of Mesopotamia were the Elamites, who captured the ancient city of Susa. They founded the powerful and prosperous state of Elam there. Further north lived the Kassites, a barbarian tribe of horsemen. By the middle of the II millennium BC, they conquered Babylonia.

From the II millennium BC, invasions of tribes from Central Asia began on the Iranian Highlands. These were the Aryans, the Indo-Iranian tribes who gave Iran its name ("homeland of the Aryans"). One group of Aryans settled in the west of the Iranian Highlands, where they founded the state of Mitanni, the other group - in the south among the Kassites.

At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, a second wave of aliens flooded the Iranian plateau. These were actually Iranian tribes - Sogdians, Scythians, Saks, Parthians, Bactrians, Medes and Persians. Many of them left the highlands, and only the Medes and Persians settled in the valleys of the Zagros range. The Medes settled in the vicinity of Ecbatana (modern Hamadan). The Persians settled somewhat to the south.

The Median kingdom gradually gained strength. In 612 BC, the Median king Cyaxares entered into an alliance with Babylonia, captured Nineveh and crushed the Assyrian power. However, the power of Media did not last longer than the life of two generations.

Even under the Medes, the Achaemenid dynasty began to dominate Pars. In 553 BC, Cyrus II the Great, the Achaemenid ruler of Parsa, rebelled against the Median king Astyages, who was the son of Cyaxares. As a result of the uprising, a powerful alliance of the Medes and Persians was created. The new power was a thunderstorm for the entire Middle East. In 546 BC, the king of Lydia Croesus decided to defeat the power of Cyrus. In this he volunteered to help the Babylonians, Egyptians and Spartans.

Cyrus won, who later occupied Babylonia, and by the end of his reign expanded the borders of the state from the Mediterranean Sea to the east of the Iranian Highlands. The capital was the city of Pasargad. The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, captured Egypt and proclaimed himself pharaoh.

The greatest of the Persian kings was Darius. During his reign, the northwestern part of India, up to the Indus River, and Armenia to the Caucasus Mountains, passed under the rule of Persia. Darius also organized a campaign in Thrace, but the Scythians repelled his attack. During the reign of Darius, the Greeks in western Asia Minor rebelled. This uprising was the beginning of the struggle against the Persian kingdom. It ended only after a century and a half due to the fall of the Persian kingdom under the blows of Alexander the Great.