Timeline Persia
Return to home
Early Persia: http://haynese.winthrop.edu/syll/notes/331/PERSIA.html
Farsinet: http://www.farsinet.com/iranbibl/chronolg.html
History: http://members.nbci.com/mahdi/index4.html
History: http://www.greekciv.pdx.edu/others/persia/persweb.html
History: http://www.sayyarehtourist.com/history.html
Links: http://westside.anderson5.net/Teachers/Usry/ancient%20civilizations.htm
See also Assyria
c1500BC-1200BC The Persian prophet
Zoroaster (Zarathustra) founded the religion known as Zoroastrianism.
The principal beliefs included the existence of a supreme deity called
Ahura Mazda and a cosmic struggle between the spirit of good, Spenta
Mainyu, and the spirit of evil, Angra Mainyu. Later adherents to
Zoroastrianism are represented by the Parsees of India and the Gabars
of Iran.
(Econ, 12/18/04,
p.35)(www.livius.org/za-zn/zarathustra/zarathustra.htm)
747BC Feb 26, Origin of Era of
Nabonassar.
(SC, 2/26/02)
605BC-562BC Nebuchadnezzar ruled
over his empire centered at Babylon.
(SFC, 12/25/98, p.B5)
600BC Cyrus I, king of Persia, was
succeeded by his son Cambyses I who reigned until 559 BC.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambyses_I)
600BC The first polo game was recorded in north
Persia about this time.
(Hem., 7/95, p.87)
c600 BC Zoroaster introduced a new religion in
Bactria (Balkh), also known as ancient Afghanistan. Zoroastrianism is a
Monotheistic religion. [see 1500-1200BCE]
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
586BC Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, ruler of
Mesopotamia, destroyed Jerusalem and recorded his deeds at the Nahr al
Kalb (Dog River) cliff face between Beirut and Byblos. He destroyed the
first Temple, built by Solomon and took the Jewish people into
captivity.
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.157)(SFC, 12/31/96, p.A11)(Econ,
12/20/03, p.26)
586BC Ezekial, in exile at Babylon, described Tyre as
it was before Nebuchadnezzar's attack in the Bible: (Ezekial 27:1-25).
This time is known as the "Babylonian Captivity."
(NG, Aug., 1974, p.162)(eawc, p.8)
560-546BC The rule of Croesus. The first coins were
produced in Lydia under the rule of Croesus. It was a kingdom in
western Turkey. Croesus made a treaty with the Spartans and attacked
Persia and was defeated.
(SFEC, 1/19/96, Par p.5)(WUD, 1994, p.345)(WSJ,
11/11/99, p.A24)
559BC Cyrus the Great (d.530BC),
the son of Cambyses I, began his rule Persia. Cyrus II established his
capital at Pasargadae.
(Arch, 5/05,
p.12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great)
546BC The Persians destroyed
Egypt’s alliance with the Chaldeans, Lydia and Sparta by first
capturing Lydia then the Chaldaeans.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty26.html)
c539BC Cyrus the Great founded Persia’s Achaemenian
Empire which he expanded into India, Libya and Egypt. Pasargadae was
his first capital.
(SFEC, 7/5/98, p.T4)
539BC Babylon, under Chaldean rule since 612BCE, fell
to the Persians. Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon after the New
Babylonian leader, Belshazaar, failed to read “the handwriting on the
wall.” The Persian Empire under Cyrus lasted to 331BCE, when it was
conquered by Alexander the Great. Cyrus returned some of the exiled
Jews to Palestine, while other Jews preferred to stay and establish a
2nd Jewish center, the first being in Jerusalem.
(NG, Aug., 1974, S.W. Matthews, p.174)(eawc.edu,
p.8,9)
537BC Cyrus the Persian campaigned west of the Indus
River.
(eawc.edu, p.9)
530BC Dec, Cyrus the Great, ruler
of Persia, died in battle, fighting the Scythians along the Syr Darya.
He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the
empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.
{Persia}
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great)
525BC Cambyses, king of Persia,
met and defeated the Egyptians in front of their city at Pelusium just
a few weeks after the death of Pharaoh Amasis. This marked the
beginning of Egypt’s 27th Dynasty. Psammetichus III tried to revolt
against Cambyses and was killed.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
525BC-522BC Cambyses II, son of
Cyrus and ruler of Persia, served as the 1st ruler of Egypt’s 27th
Dynasty. Cambyses added to his Persian empire by conquering Egypt.
During his rule an army sent to Siwa Oasis was overcome by sandstorm
and buried. Herodotus said the army numbered 50,000 men. A Jewish
document from 407 BC known as 'The Demotic Chronicle' speaks of the
Cambyses destroying all the temples of the Egyptian gods. Herodotus
informs us that Cambyses II was a monster of cruelty and impiety.
(eawc.edu, p.9)(Arch, 9/00,
p.18)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
522 Mar, Bardiya (Smerdis),
another son of Cyrus and pretender to the throne, seized power in
Persia as Cambyses was returning home.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
522BC Aug, Cambyses II, son of
Cyrus of Persia and the 1st ruler of Egypt’s 27th Dynasty, died from a
dagger wound in Syrian Ecbatana.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
522BC Sep, Darius hastened to
Media, Persia, and with the help of six Persian nobles, killed Bardiya
(Smerdis), another son of Cyrus, who had usurped the throne. Darius
defended this deed and his own assumption of kingship on the grounds
that the usurper was actually Gaumata, a Magian, who had impersonated
Bardiya after Bardiya had been murdered secretly by Cambyses.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
522BC A revolt broke out in Egypt
following the death of Cambyses, but it was put down by a Persian
general named Darius, who succeeded Cambyses.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
522BC Darius the Great (558-486), son of Hystaspes,
succeeded Cambyses as emperor of Persia. He engaged in many large
building programs including a system of roads and instituted the first
postal system.
(WUD, 1994, p.367)(eawc.edu, p.9)(ON, 4/04, p.9)
c522BC Zoroaster died during a nomadic invasion near
Balkh [ancient Afghanistan].
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
522BC-486BC Darius the Great expanded the Achaemenid
(Persian) empire to its peak, when it took most of Afghanistan,
including Aria (Herat), Bactriana (Balk, and present-day
Mazar-i-Shariff), Margiana (Merv), Gandhara (Kabul, Jalalabad and
Peshawar), Sattagydia (Ghazni to the Indus river), Arachosia (Kandahar,
and Quetta), and Drangiana (Sistan). The Persian empire was plagued by
constant bitter and bloody tribal revolts from Afghans living in
Arachosia (Kandahar, and Quetta).
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
521BC Darius of Persia made Susa his administrative
capital. He restored the fortifications and built an audience hall
(apadana) and a residential palace.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
521BC The name Armenian was
mentioned for the first time in the Behistan (Behistun) inscription of
the Mede (Persian) Emperor Darius from this year: "I defeated the
Armenians."
(http://www.atmg.org/ArmenianFAQ.html#q6)(ON, 4/04,
p.7)
520BC-519BC Darius of Persia authorized the Jews to
rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, in accordance with an earlier decree
of Cyrus. The Hebrew’s began to rebuild Solomon’s Temple destroyed in
the sack of 586BCE. The Second Temple in Jerusalem was begun. It was
remodeled many times and destroyed in 70CE.
(SFC, 5/23/95, p.A-10)(eawc,
p.10)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
520BC-486BC Darius, ruler of
Persia, occupied Egypt and is considered the 2nd ruler of the 27th
Dynasty. During his rule a canal from the Nile River to the Red Sea,
probably begun by Necho I in the 7th century BC, was repaired and
completed.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
519BC Darius put down a third
rising in Susiana, Persia, and established his authority in the east.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
519BC Darius of Persia authorized the Jews to
rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem, in accordance with an earlier decree
of Cyrus.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
519BC Darius of Persia attacked the Scythians east
of the Caspian Sea and a few years later conquered the Indus Valley.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
518BC Darius visited Egypt and put
to death its satrap, Aryandes.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
518BC Persian leader Darius the
Great founded Persepolis as his ceremonial capital.
(SSFC, 11/27/05, p.A26)
517BC-509BC Darius the Persian
conquered the Indus Valley region.
(eawc.edu, p.10)
513BC Darius, after subduing
eastern Thrace and the Getae, crossed the Danube River into European
Scythia, but the Scythian nomads devastated the country as they
retreated from him, and he was forced, for lack of supplies, to abandon
the campaign.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
512BC Darius the Great began
constructing the Persian city of Persepolis. Construction lasted nearly
150 years. In 330BC the army of Alexander the Great burned it to the
ground.
(SSFC, 1/14/07, p.G5)
c500BC-400BC Mordechai, a Jew, became the prime
minister of Persia.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.C1)
499BC Athens and Eretria supported
an Ionian revolt against Persian rule.
(AP, 7/9/05)
492BC Darius put his son-in-law,
Mardonius, in charge of a Persian expedition against Athens and
Eretria, but the loss of the fleet in a storm off Mount Athos forced
him to abandon the operation.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
490BC Sep 9, First Persian attack
on Greece. Greeks led by Miltiades defeated the Persians at the Battle
of Marathon. Pheidipiddes, a hemerodromi or long-distance foot
messenger, was dispatched to run 26 miles from marathon to Athens to
announce the victory. He reached Athens and proclaimed: “Rejoice! We
conquer!” The he dropped dead. In the Battle of Marathon Darius the
Great of Persia was defeated by the Greeks. The Greeks initiated the
war when Persia, the strongest power in western Asia, established rule
over Greek-speaking cities in Asia Minor. [see Sep 12]
(HFA, '96, p.38)(V.D.-H.K.p.49)(SFC, 7/14/96,
p.T7)(eawc.edu, p.10)
490BC Sep 12, Athenian and
Plataean Hoplites commanded by General Miltiades drove back a Persian
invasion force under General Datis at Marathon. [see Sep 9]
(HN, 9/12/98)
490BC A Persian force under Datis, a Mede, destroyed
Eretria and enslaved its inhabitants but was defeated by the Athenians
at Marathon.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
490-479BC The Greco-Persian War is commonly regarded
as one of the most significant wars in all of history. The Greeks
emerged victorious and put an end to the possibility of Persian
despotism.
(eawc.edu, p.10)
486BC Darius, ruler of Persia,
died. His preparations for a 3rd expedition against Greece were delayed
by an insurrection in Egypt. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27.html)
486BC-465BC Xerxes the Great, king
of Persia, ruled Egypt as the 3rd king of the 27th Dynasty. His rule
extended from India to the lands below the Caspian and Black seas, to
the east coast of the Mediterranean including Egypt and Thrace.
Persia’s great cities Sardis, Ninevah, Babylon, and Susa were joined by
the Royal Road. East of Susa was Persopolis, a vast religious monument.
To the north of Persia were the Scythians.
(V.D.-H.K.p.49)(eawc,
p.11)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
484-420BC Herodotus mentioned gold-digging ants and
that some were kept at the palace of the Persian king. It was later
learned that the Persian word for marmot is equivalent to mountain ant,
and that marmots in the Dansar plain of northern Pakistan bring up gold
dust from their burrows.
(SFC, 11/25/96, p.A10)
480BC Aug 9, The Persian army
defeated Leonidas and his Spartan army at the battle Thermopylae,
Persia. In 1998 Steven Pressfield authored: "Gates of Fire, An Epic
Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae." In 2006 Paul Cartledge authored
“Thermopylae: The Battle That Changed the World.”
(HN, 8/9/98)(SFEC, 11/29/98, BR p.3)(WSJ, 11/11/06,
p.P11)
480 BC Sep 20, Themistocles and his Greek fleet won
one of history's first decisive naval victories over Xerxes' Persian
force off Salamis. Persia under Xerxes attacked Greece. Athens got
burned but the Athenian fleet under Themistocles trapped and destroyed
the Persian navy at Salamis. Phoenician squadrons were at the heart of
Xerxes’ fleet; the king of Sidon was among his admirals.
(V.D.-H.K.p.49), (NG, Aug., 1974, S.W. Matthews,
p.174)(HN, 9/20/98)
480BC Oct 20, Greeks defeated the Persians in a naval
battle at Salamis. [see Sep 20]
(HN, 10/20/98)
480BC Xerxes performed a sacrifice at the site of
Troy on his way to battle the Greeks.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.50)
479BC Aug 27, A combined Greek army stopped the
Persians at the battle at Plataea.
(V.D.-H.K.p.49), (NG, Aug., 1974, S.W. Matthews,
p.174)
465BC Xerxes the Great, king of
Persia, was assassinated.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
465BC-424BC Artaxerxes, son of
Xerxes I, ruled Persia in the Achaemenis dynasty and Egypt as the 4th
king of the 27th Dynasty. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah remember him
warmly because he authorized their revival of Judaism. Esther, a
Jewish woman living in Babylon, was chosen for her beauty to be his new
queen. She later discovered a plot by the king’s vizier to slaughter
all Jews. She informed the king and saved her people. This is
remembered in the Jewish holiday of Purim.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)(WSJ, 4/10/09,
p.W13)(http://tinyurl.com/d2gayf)
455BC Artaxerxes, ruler of Persia,
put down a revolt in Egypt.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
424BC-404BC Darius II, son of
Artaxerxes, ruled Persia and Egypt.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
413BC Darius II, ruler of Persia,
quelled a revolt in Lydia.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
410BC Darius II, ruler of Persia,
quelled a revolt in Media but lost control of Egypt. He secured much
influence in Greece in the Peloponnesian War through the diplomacy of
Pharnabazus, Tissaphernes, and Cyrus the Younger.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
404BC Artaxerxes II succeeded
Darius II over Persia but was challenged Cyrus the Younger.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
404BC-399BC Amyrtaios, believed to
be a Libyan, ruled Egypt following the death of Darius II from Sais as
the 1st and only ruler of the 28th Dynasty.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty27a.html)
401BC In the Battle of Cunaxa
Cyrus attempted to oust his brother Artaxerxes from rule over Babylon.
Greek forces, hired to help Cyrus, were left stranded when Cyrus died.
The Greek army elected Xenophon to lead them back home. Xenophon later
authored his “Anabasis” (expedition up country), which told the story
of return home. In 2005 Tim Rood authored “The Sea, The Sea,” an
analysis of Xenophon’s life story following his death.
(WSJ, 5/4/05, p.D10)
400-300BC The Greek writer Ephorus referred to the
Celts, Scythians, Persians and Libyans as the four great barbarian
peoples in the known world.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.11)
399BC-393BC Nepherites served as
the 1st ruler of Egypt’s 29th Dynasty. During his rule he entered into
an alliance with Sparta against the Persians. A gift ship to Sparta was
lost at Rhodes, which had defected to the Persians.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
393BC-380BC Hakoris served as the
2nd or 3rd ruler of Egypt’s 29th Dynasty. There is some confusion
because a king named Psammuthis ruled in 393BC. During Hakoris’ reign
there was a 3 year war with Persia.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
373BC The Persian army moved to
attack Egypt. They abandoned the effort when the Nile flooded over the
Delta.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
365BC-360BC Teos, son of
Nectanebo, served as the 2nd ruler of Egypt’s 30th Dynasty. He failed
in an attempted attack on Persia and was deserted by the Egyptians and
Greek mercenaries. He fled to Persia where Artaxerxes II gave him
refuge.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
363BC Artaxerxes III (Ochus), son
of Artaxerxes II, became king of Persia.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
356BC Alexander the Great
(d.323BCE) was born in Macedonia.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)
343BC Artaxerxes III of Persia led
a successful campaign against Egypt and Nectanebo II fled to Ethiopia.
Artaxerxes appointed Pherendares as satrap of Egypt and returned to
Babylon laden with treasures.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
343BC-338BC Artaxerxes III
(Ochus), king of Persia, served as 1st ruler of Egypt’s 31st Dynasty.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
343-332BC In Egypt the Persians ruled for a 2nd time.
(eawc.edu, p.13)
338BC Artaxerxes III (Ochus), king
of Persia, was murdered by his own commander Bagoas.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
338BC Arses, the youngest son of
Ochus, succeeded his father as king of Persia. He served as the 2nd
ruler of Egypt’s 31st Dynasty.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
336BC Arses, king of Persia and
ruler of Egypt’s 31st Dynasty, was murdered by his commander Bagoas.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
335BC-332BC Darius III was raised
to the throne of Persia by the eunuch Bagoas, who had killed the 2
previous rulers. Darius in turn had Bagoas murdered.
(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
333BC Alexander first confronted
Darius, king of Persia, and defeated him at the battlefield of Issus.
During the Renaissance German painter Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538)
painted a depiction of the battle.
(NG, Jan, 1968 , p.18)(WSJ, 5/15/98, p.W11)
333BC Alexander the Great
(353BC-323BC), married a barbarian (Sogdian) princess, Roxana, the
daughter of the Bactrian chief Oxyartes. Alexander also married the
daughter of Darius, whom he defeated in 333, while staying firmly
attached to his comrade, Hephaistion.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)(Hem., 2/97, p.116)(WSJ, 5/15/98,
p.W11)
331BC Oct 1, Alexander the Great
decisively shattered King Darius III's Persian army at Gaugamela
(Arbela), in a tactical masterstroke that left him master of the
Persian Empire.
(HN, 10/1/98)
331BC Alexander conquered the
Persian Empire and then made his way to India and conquered part of it.
(eawc.edu, p.13)
331BC The Achaemenid King of
Persia, Darius III, died in Bactria. Bessus, the satrap of Bactria had
him murdered.
(AHD, 1971, p.10)(www.crystalinks.com/dynasty29.html)
330BC The army of Alexander the
Great reached Persopolis, the capital of Persia, and looted the city.
After a 4-month stay there he ordered his army to burn the palace of
Persopolis.
(http://preview.tinyurl.com/yg6euh)(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9059334/Persepolis)
323BC Jun 10, Alexander died in
Persia at Babylon at the age of 32. His general, Ptolemy, took
possession of Egypt. Apelles was a painter in Alexander's court. He had
been commissioned by Alexander to paint a portrait of Campaspe,
Alexander's concubine. Apelles fell in love with Campaspe and Alexander
granted her to him in marriage. In 1984 Curtius Quintas Rufus authored
"the History of Alexander." In 1991 Peter Green authored "Alexander of
Macedon, A Historical Biography." “Alexander the Great” by Norman F.
Cantor (d.2004) was published in 2005.
(BS, 5/3/98, p.12E)(WSJ, 2/11/00, p.W6) (ON, 1/01,
p.11)(SSFC, 12/25/05, p.M3)
250BC In Persia about this time
two brothers, Arashk (Arash Pers. Arsaces, Lat.) and Tirdat
(Tiridates), with their forces under the command of five other chiefs,
occupied the district of upper Tejen. Arashk (Arsaces) was to become
the first king of the Ashkanian (Arsacid or Parthian) dynasty. In 2005
the Ashkali community in Kosovo claimed roots to this period.
(www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/ashkanian/parthian.htm)
238BC-227CE The Parthians (238 B.C.-A.D. 227) ruled
the Persian Empire despite attempts by the Roman Republic (133-27
B.C.), the Roman Empire (27 B.C.-A.D. 476) to conquer it. During the
centuries-long struggle, border towns and provinces in the Near East
passed back and forth like Alsace-Lorraine or the Polish Corridor would
in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Europe. Rarely in the history of
human conflict has a feud such as the one between the empires of Rome
and Persia lasted so long and accomplished so little.
(HNQ, 12/22/00)
c200BC Drawings in stone of this time showed women
milking elk in what later became northern Iran.
(SFEC, 7/19/98, Z1 p.8)
53BC The Persians defeated the
Romans in the Battle of Carrhae. Some 20,000 Romans under Crassus were
killed by the Parthian army and 10,000 were captured. The Parthians
then used the Romans as guards on their eastern frontier in what later
became Turkmenistan.
(ATC, p.33)(HC, 9/3/04)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.59)
3CE Feb 19, Sadiq Hidajat, Persian
writer (Blind Person Owl), was born.
(MC, 2/19/02)
c216-276 Manes, aka Manicheus or Mani, Persian profit
and founder of the dualistic religious system called
Manicheanism. It was a combination of Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism
and Zoroastrianism and other elements. The basic doctrine was based on
a conflict between light and dark, with matter being regarded as dark
and evil.
(WUD, 1994, p.871)
226CE The Iranians [Persians]
conquered the Parthians.
(WUD, 1994, p.1051)
c226 In Iran Zoroastrianism was
revitalized as a state religion under the Sassanians.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
227-261CE The Sassanids (A.D. 227-651), ruled the
Persian Empire despite attempts by the Roman Empire (27 B.C.-A.D. 476)
and later the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire to conquer it. Bam
was founded during the Sassanian Period along one of the East-West
trade routes collectively known as the Silk Road.
(HNQ, 12/22/00)(SFC, 12/27/03, p.A12)
256 The Anatolian city of Zeugma
on the Euphrates was sacked by Persian King Shapur I. This was soon
followed by a devastating fire and an earthquake and Zeugma was
abandoned. In 2000 the area was submerged as part of the Southeast
Anatolia Project of dams for power.
(SFEC, 5/7/00, p.A23)(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
258 A red agate cup with gold
handles, the Santo Caliz, was sent to Spain by Pope Sixtus II and St.
Laurence as Rome went under siege by the Persians. In 1437 the church
moved it to the Cathedral of Valencia.
(SSFC, 5/27/06, p.G3)
258-260 Persia and Rome engaged in a 2-year war.
(WUD, 1994 ed., p.1667)
260 Persia’s King Shapur I
captured Roman Emp. Valerian.
(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
363CE Jun 27, The death of Roman
Emperor Julian brought an end to the Pagan Revival. Julian received a
mortal wound in battle with the Sassanian Persians, whom he tried to
conquer.
(HN, 6/27/98)(WSJ, 3/24/99, p.A27)
387CE The Parthians and Romans
agreed to settle the Armenian question by the drastic expedient of
partition. The Sassanid kings of Persia (who had superseded the
Parthians in the Empire of Iran) secured the lion's share of the
spoils, while the Romans only received a strip of country on the
western border which gave them Erzeroum and Diyarbekir for their
frontier fortresses.
(http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/docs/bryce2.htm)
421-438CE King Bahram V ruled Persia.
(MH, 12/96)
428CE The Arsacid (Arshakuni)
monarchy of Armenia ended and control fell to the rule of the Persian
Sassanids.
(MH, 12/96)
438-457 The Persian King Yazdegird II ruled. He
pressured the Armenians to accept Zoroastrianism and worship the
supreme god Ahura Mazda. Mihr-Nerseh, the Persian grand vizier,
promulgated an edict that enjoined the Armenians to convert.
(MH, 12/96)
449CE The Armenians held a General
Assembly to ponder the Persian edict that demanded conversion to
Zoroastrianism. They chose to remain Christian and their leaders were
summoned to Persia to answer to the king. The leaders opted to yield
under heavy pressure but were renounced on their return home.
(MH, 12/96)
451CE Apr 13, A Persian Army of
300,000 men under Mushkan Nusalavurd arrived at a place between Her and
Zarevand (now Khoy and Salmast in Iran) to face the Armenian forces.
(MH, 12/96)
451CE May 26, The Battle of
Avarair. Vardan Mamikonian, son of Sparapet (general) Hamazasp
Mamikonian and Sahakanush, daughter of the Catholicos Sahak Bartev, led
a force of 66,000 Armenians to face the Persians. Prior to battle
Vardan read aloud the story of the Jewish Maccabees. Persian losses
tripled the Armenian dead, but Mushkan won and Vardan was killed.
(MH, 12/96)
451-484 Vahan Mamikonian led the Armenians in a
33-year guerrilla war. The Persian Sassanids underwent 3 rulers and
pressure from the Ephthalites, White Huns, and when King Peroz was
killed by the White Huns, his successor, Balash, sued for peace. Vahan
demanded and was granted religious freedom.
(MH, 12/96)
484CE The Armenians signed a
treaty in the village of Nuwarsak with the Persians and Vahan
Mamikonian was appointed marzban of Armenia.
(MH, 12/96)
614 Christian Palestine was
invaded by the Persians. The 5th century monastery of St. Theodosius
east of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem was destroyed by the Persians. The
Jews of Jerusalem allied with the Persians during the invasion and
entered into the cave beneath the tomb of Christ in the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, p.T3)(WSJ, 4/5/02, p.W12)(SFC,
10/23/06, p.A15)
626 Aug 7, Battle at
Constantinople: Slavs, Persians and Avars were defeated. Emp. Heraclius
repelled the attacks. The attacks began in 625.
(PCh, 1992, p.60)(MC, 8/7/02)
628 Apr 3, In Persia Kavadh sued
for peace with the Byzantines. He handed back Armenia, Byzantine
Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
(HN, 4/3/99)
628 Apr 3, Chosroes II, emperor of
Persia (579-628), was murdered by his son.
(MC, 4/3/02)
630 Mar 21, Heraclius restored the
True Cross, which he had recaptured from the Persians.
(HN, 3/21/99)
632 Jun 16, Origin of Persian
[Yazdegird] Era.
(MC, 6/16/02)
651 Yazdegird III, the last
Sassanian king, was murdered.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
750-1258AD Muslim power in Persia was held by the
Abbassid family headed by al Abbas. One Abbasid general, Abdullah,
invited 80 Umayyad leaders to a banquet where they were killed by
Abdullah’s men. Only one Umayyad, Abd al Rahman, was able to escape. He
fled all the way to Spain where he united the warring Muslin groups
there and built a new Umayyad government. So now the Muslims were split
in two groups. The Abbassid dynasty of the Moslem Empire ruled Arabia
and the eastern empire. All of the caliphs of this era claim descended
from Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed.
(AHD, 1971, p.2)(ATC, p.84)
776 Al-Jahiz (d.868), Muslim
theologian and scholar, was born in Basra about this time. He is
credited with writing nearly two hundred works, although fewer than one
hundred survive today. His most famous work is Al-Hayawan” (The Book of
animals), which merges discussions of zoology with philosophy.
(Econ, 2/7/09,
p.72)(www.enotes.com/classical-medieval-criticism/al-jahiz)
809 Mar 24, Harun al-Rashid
(Arabic for The Rightly Guided), caliph of the Abbasid empire
(786-809), died at age 44. His reign is immortalized in The Book of One
Thousand and One Nights. His work included the construction of a House
of Wisdom in Baghdad.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harun_al-Rashid)(WSJ,
2/8/06, p.D12)
815 Abu Nawas, Arab poet, died.
His odes included verses on Baghdad liquor that was "as hot between the
ribs as a firebrand."
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
818 Imam Reza, a descendant of the
Prophet Muhammad, died. Shiites later believed that he was fed
poisonous grapes by a Sunni leader of the Muslim world. Reza was buried
in Sanabad, which later became known as Mashad, “place of martyrdom.” A
major shrine grew at the site and by 2007 the Imam Reza Shrine
Foundation was the largest (bonyad) in Iran and accounted for 7.1% of
the country’s GDP.
(WSJ, 6/2/07, p.A12)
836 Caliph al-Mutasim built a new
capital at Samarra to replace Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid
Caliphate. It was abandoned by Caliph al-Mutamid in 892.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.A15)
838 Jan 4, Babak, Persian social
and religious reformer, was martyred.
(MC, 1/4/02)
868 The 10th imam, Ali al-Hadi,
died. His remains were placed in the Askariya shrine in Samarra
(Persia-Iraq).
(AP, 2/22/06)
889 Ibn Qutayba (b.828), a
renowned Islamic scholar from Kufa, Iraq, died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Qutaybah)
874 The 11th imam, Hassan
al-Askari, son of Ali al-Hadi, died. His remains were also placed in
the Askariya shrine in Samarra (Persia-Iraq). Hassan al-Askari was the
father of Al-Mahdi, the hidden imam.
(AP, 2/22/06)
892 Caliph al-Mutamid abandoned
Samarra, established in 836, as the capital of the Abassid Caliphate.
(SFC, 2/23/06, p.A15)
922 Mar 27, Al-Hallaj
al-Mughith-al-Hsayn Mansur (64), Persian mystic, was beheaded.
(MC, 3/27/02)
945 The Buyids (Buwayhids) came to
power in Baghdad. They were ousted by the Seljuks in 1055 under Tughril
Beg.
(www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/iraq/HISTORY.html)
c996 The Astan Ghods Ravazi
religious foundation was started.
(WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A4)
1010 Abolqasem Firdawsi
(Ferdowsi), a Persian poet, completed the “Shanameh,” or “Book of
Kings.” It is an epic of more than 50,000 rhyming couplets weaving the
history of ancient shahs with myth and legend. One might call it the
Iliad of Persia. Over the centuries shahs have had the poem copied and
illustrated by the best artists of the day. In 2006 Dick Harris made an
abridged translation to English in prose.
(WSJ, p. A-18, 10/13/94)(WSJ, 3/7/06, p.D8)
1019-20 BabaTaher, Persian poet, died.
(WSJ, 1/25/00, p.A18)
1055 The Seljuks under Tughril Beg
ousted the Buyids (Buwayhids) in Baghdad. The nomadic Turks from
Central Asia, descended from a warrior named Seljuk, took control of
the government and continued governing the empire in the tradition of
Islamic law.
(www.mongabay.com/reference/country_studies/iraq/HISTORY.html)
1100-1200 Era of the 12 century Persian poet Nizami
of Ganja.
(SFC, 5/19/96, p.C-13)
1123 Omar Khayyam, Persian poet
and mathematician, died.
(WUD, 1994, p.1005)
1200s Persia introduced polo to
Arabia, China and India.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1207 Sep 30, Jalal ud-din Rumi
(Jelaluddin Rumi, d.1273), Persian poet and mystic was born in the area
of Balkh, Afghanistan. He later fled the Mongol invasions with his
family to Konya (Iconium), Anatolia. His work “Mathwani” (Spiritual
Couplets) filled 6 volumes and had a great impact on Islamic
civilization. He founded the Mevlevi order of Sufis, later known as the
“whirling dervishes.” In 1998 a film was made about the Sufi poet’s
influence on the 20th century. In 1998 Kabir Helminski edited “The Rumi
Collection” with translation by Robert Bly and others. His work also
included the “Shams I-Tabriz” in which he dismissed the terminology of
Jew, Christian and Muslim as “false distinctions.” The poet Rumi was
also known as Mowlana.
(SFC, 7/9/96, p.B5)(SFEC, 9/20/98, DB p.50)(SFEC,
10/25/98, BR p.6)(WSJ, 9/7/01, p.A14)(SSFC, 10/28/01, p.B7)(SSFC,
4/1/07, p.E3)
1258 Feb 10, Huegu (Hulega Khan),
a Mongol leader and grandson of Genghis Khan, seized Baghdad following
a 4-day assault. Mongol invaders from Central Asia took over Baghdad
and ended the Abbasid-Seljuk Empire. They included Uzbeks, Kazaks,
Georgians and other groups. Some 200 to 800 thousand people were killed
and looting lasted 17 days. Their destruction included the razing of
Baghdad’s House of Wisdom.
(ATC, p.91)(AP, 2/10/99)(SFC, 4/12/03, p.A1)(WSJ,
2/8/06, p.D12)
1291 Mar 5, Sa'ad al'Da'ulah,
Jewish grand vizier of Persia, was assassinated.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1371 Ubaid Zakani, Persian writer,
died. His work included “Mush va Gorbeh” (Mouse and Cat), a match for
Rebelais when it comes to mocking religion.
(WSJ, 2/8/06,
p.A16)(www.britannica.com/eb/article-13737)
1379-1390 Khwaja Shams ud-Din Hafiz (b.c1310-1326),
Persian poet, died.
(SSFC, 10/23/05, p.E3)(www.thesongsofhafiz.com/)
1418 The Gawhar Shad Mosque in
Meshed, Iran was completed by the wife of Shah Rukh.
(NG, Sept. 1939, Baroness Ravensdale, p.353)
1512 Shi’ism became the state
religion of Persia.
(TL-MB, p.10)
1514 Selim I, Sultan of Turkey,
declared war on Persia.
(TL-MB, p.10)
1515 Afonso d’Albuquerque, Viceroy
of the Portuguese Indies, captured Hormuz (Ormuz) and forced all other
traders to round the Cape of Good Hope. This established Portugal’s
supremacy in trade with the Far East. Hormuz is the strait between Iran
and Trucial Oman.
(TL-MB, p.11)(WUD, 1994, p.684)
1520-1530 The “Shahnameh” (Persian Book of Kings) by
Firdawsi was commissioned to be illustrated for Shah Tahmasp by more
than a dozen artists. 258 miniatures were made with 750 folios of Farsi
text. In 1568 it was given to the Ottoman Sultan.
(WSJ, Amy Gamerman, p. A-18, 10-13-94)
1524 Shah Ismail, ruler of Persia,
died.
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-230075)
1534 Jul 13, Ottoman armies
captured Tabriz in northwestern Persia.
(HN, 7/13/98)
1571 Jan 27, Shah Abbas, King of
the Safavid dynasty in Persia, was born. He established a monopoly on
the production and sale of silk and used the wealth to develop the city
of Isfahan. Fearful of assassination he turned on his own family,
executed one son, and blinded 2 sons, his father and his brothers.
(WSJ, 1/11/99,
p.R8)(http://4dw.net/royalark/Persia/safawi3.htm)
1587 Abbas I (16) became Shah of
Persia following the forced abdication of his father, Shah Muhammad
Khodabandeh. A revolt by Qizilbash leaders finally removed Khodabandeh
from power and installed his son Abbas as shah.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavid_Dynasty)(www.bartleby.com/67/813.html)
1587 Mohammad Khodabandeh, Shah of
Persia, died.
(PC, 1992 ed, p.203)
1612 The square of Esfahan,
Persia, was built.
(SSFC, 1/14/07, p.G5)
1622 Safavid Persia ruled Kandahar
[aka Afghanistan].
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1629 Jan 21, Abbas I (b.1571),
Shah of Persia (1588-1629), died.
(http://4dw.net/royalark/Persia/safawi3.htm)
1638 Dec 24, The Ottomans under
Murad IV recaptured Baghdad from Safavid Persia.
(HN, 12/24/98)
1650 The Khaju bridge in Esfahan,
Persia (Iran), was built over the Zayandeh Rood river.
(SSFC, 1/14/07, p.G5)
1722 Mar 8, Afghan monarch Mir
Mahmud occupied Persia.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1722 Sep 12, The Treaty of St.
Petersburg put an end to the Russo-Persian War.
(HN, 9/12/98)
1722 Oct 12, Shah Sultan Husayn
surrendered the Persian capital of Isfahan to Afghan rebels after a
seven month siege. Mir Wais' son, Mir Mahmud of Afghanistan, had
invaded Persia and occupied Isfahan. At the same time, the Durranis
revolted, and terminated the Persian occupation of Herat.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(HN, 10/12/98)
1725 Apr 25, Mir Mahmud of
Afghanistan was mysteriously killed after going mad. Afghans started to
lose control of Persia.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1736 Nadir Shah (head of Persia)
occupied southwest Afghanistan, and southeast Persia.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1738 Nadir Shah (head of
Persia) took Kandahar [Afghanistan].
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1739 Mar 20, In India, Nadir Shah
of Persia occupied Delhi and took possession of the Peacock thrown.
King Nadir Shah later took the golden Peacock Throne back to Persia.
(HN, 3/20/99)(SFEC, 5/21/00, p.T8)
1747 Jul 10, Persian ruler Nadir
Shah was assassinated at Fathabad in Persia. The Afghans rise rose
again in revolt under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali and retook
Kandahar to establish modern Afghanistan.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)(HN, 7/10/98)
1747-1773 Rule of Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani). Ahmad
Shah consolidated and enlarged Afghanistan. He defeated the Moghuls in
the west of the Indus, and he takes Herat away from the Persians. Ahmad
Shah Durrani's empire extended from Central Asia to Delhi, from Kashmir
to the Arabian sea. It became the greatest Muslim empire in the second
half of the 18th century.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1785-1925 The Qajar Epoch.
(WSJ, 10/29/98, p.A20)
1795 Persians invaded Khurasan
(province) in Afghanistan.
(www.afghan, 5/25/98)
1797 Jun 17, Aga Mohammed Khan,
cruel ruler of Persia, was castrated and killed.
(MC, 6/17/02)
1809 Mar 12, Great Britain signed
a treaty with Persia forcing the French out of the country.
(HN, 3/12/99)
1814 Mir Ali created a full-length
portrait of Persia’s Fath-Ali Shah (1771) shortly after Shah’s loss of
a major battle against the Russians.
(WSJ, 8/1/06,
p.D6)(www.jsenterprises.com/john/thesis/chapter2.htm)
1820s The last jihad started by
mullahs alone forced the Persian Empire to war against Christian
Russia. Persia lost the Caucasus.
(WSJ, 10/10/01, p.A10)
1824 James Morier authored “The
Adventures of Haji Bab of Ispahan,” the tale of a barber’s son who
seeks his fortunes in Persia.
(WSJ, 10/6/07, p.W8)
1826 Sep 26, The Persian cavalry
was routed by the Russians at the Battle of Ganja in the Russian
Caucasus.
(HN, 9/26/99)
1828 Russia conquered the Armenian
provinces of Persia, and this brought within her frontier the Monastery
of Etchmiadzin, in the Khanate of Erivan, which was the seat of the
Katholikos of All the Armenians.
(http://raven.cc.ukans.edu/~kansite/ww_one/docs/bryce2.htm)
1829 Feb 11, Alexander Griboyedov
(b.1795), Russian diplomat, playwright and composer, was beheaded by a
mob attack on the Russian embassy in Tehran. Griboyedov was protecting
an Armenian eunuch, who had escaped from the harem of the Persian shah
along with 2 Armenian girls. The Russians let the incident pass after
an Iranian apology. They were already at war with the Turks and in
regional competition with the British.
(WSJ, 2/10/96,
p.A18)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandr_Griboyedov)
1833 Sir Henry C. Rawlinson was
sent to Persia as one of a group of British officers charged with
reorganizing the Shah’s army.
(RFH-MDHP, p.193)
1835 Lt. Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
(25) began examining the ancient inscriptions on the rock of Behistun
in the Kurdish foothills of the Zagros mountain range. He soon found
that they had been made to honor Darius the Great, Persian ruler in the
5th century BCE.
(ON, 4/04, p.7)
1863 In Iran the Bahai faith was
founded by Hussain Ali. It reflected the attitudes of the Shiah sect
with an emphasis on tolerance. Among its principles are full equality
between the sexes, universal education and the establishment of a world
of a world federal system.
(WUD, 1994, p.111)(SFC, 10/30/98, p.A20)
1892 May 29, Baha'u'llah [Mirza HA
Noeri], Persian founder of Baha’i faith, died at 74.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1896 May 1, Nasr-ed-Din (65), shah
of Persia, was murdered.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1902 Mar 22, Great Britain and
Persia agreed to link Europe and India by telegraph.
(HN, 3/22/97)
1907 Britain and Russia carved
Iran into spheres of influence.
(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)
1908 May 26, The first major oil
strike in the Middle East took place as engineers working for British
entrepreneur William Knox D'Arcy and led by George B. Reynolds hit a
gusher more than 1,100 feet below ground in Masjid-i-Suleiman, Persia
(Iran). The Anglo-Persian Oil Co. Struck oil in Iran.
(WSJ, 9/13/99, p.R4)(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)(AP, 5/26/08)
1908 Jun 26, Shah Muhammad Ali’s
forces squelched the reform elements of Parliament in Persia.
(HN, 6/26/98)
1909 Mar 26, Russian troops
invaded Persia to support Muhammad Ali as the Shah in place of the
constitutional government.
(HN, 3/25/98)
1910 Jan 21, A British-Russian
military intervention took place in Persia.
(MC, 1/21/02)
1910 A portrait was painted of
Princess Taj al-Saltaneh, a memoirist and founder of the Society for
the Emancipation of Women.
(WSJ, 10/29/98, p.A20)
1912 Morgan Shuster, American
financial expert, authored “The Strangling of Persia.” He describes his
failed efforts to introduce virtuous financial practices in Iran in the
face of British and Russian barriers.
(WSJ, 10/6/07, p.W8)
1916 Feb 26, Russian troops
conquered Kermansjah, Persia.
(SC, 2/26/02)
1916 Aug 7, Persia formed an
alliance with Britain and Russia.
(HN, 8/7/98)
1921 Feb 20, Riza Khan Pahlevi
seized control of Iran. Pahlevi marched into Tehran with 2,500 soldiers
and took over the government. Britain helped topple the Qajar dynasty
and replaced it with Reza Shah Pahlavi, a former military officer. Five
years later he was crowned Shah and placed the crown upon his head with
his own hands, as did Napoleon.
(NG, Sept. 1939, p.330)(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)
1926 Apr 25, In Iran (Persia),
Reza Kahn was crowned Shah and chose the name "Pehlevi".
(HN, 4/25/98)
1926 Aug 20, There was an uprising
against Reza Shah Pahlavi in Persia.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1932 Reza Shah revoked the
Anglo-Persian Co. oil monopoly.
(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)
1935 Mar 22, Persia was renamed
Iran.
(SFC,11/19/97, Z1 p.7)(HN, 3/22/97)
1941 Aug 27, The Shah of Iran
abdicated the throne to his son Reza Pahlavi. Britain forced Reza Shah
to abdicate and installed his son Mohammed.
(www.indiana.edu/~league/1941.htm)(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)
1953 Aug 19, Gen'l. Zahedi ousted
PM Mossadegh and became the Premier of Iran in a bloody coup that left
300 dead. Britain and the US CIA under Allen Dulles planned a secret
mission to overthrow the government. PM Mossadeq had sought to
nationalize the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. The US government made a formal
apology for the coup in 2000. A 1954 CIA description of the coup was
made public in 2000. In 1979 Kermit Roosevelt (d.2000) published
“Countercoup: The Struggle for the Control of Iran,” an account of his
role in the coup.
(SFC, 11/20/53, p.A1)(SFC, 11/15/99, p.E6)(SFC,
5/29/97, p.A4)(WSJ, 3/20/00, p.A1)(SFEC, 4/16/00, p.A18)(SFEC, 6/11/00,
p.D6)(WSJ, 4/2/07, p.A6)
1953 Aug 22, Shah of Persia
returned to Teheran.
(MC, 8/22/02)
Go to http://www.timelinesdb.com
See Iran
End of file.