A Summary of Iranian History
 
 
Also the cities of Susa, Babylonia and Ekbatan (today's Hamadan) each inturn served as the nation's capital.
During the rule of Ardeshir, the founder of the Sassanide dynasty, a very powerful centralized government developed and for the first time in Iran the religion of Zoroaster (the Iranian prophet) was declared as the official religion. A faith whose essential pillars are laid upon virtuous thoughts, virtuous words, and virtuous deeds.
The Prophet of Islam, Mohammad (BABUHHP) was born in the city of Mecca during the rule of Anushirvan Sassani, and was chosen as the completion of all prophecy and the last prophet during the reign of Khosrow Parviz (610 A.D.). Weakness of the Sassanide government, oppressions of the Kings, and at the same time Islam's human-rights oriented ideology and it's message of equality and brotherhood of mankind were the imperative factors which led to the victory of Islam's army over the Iranian military might in the course of numerous battles. The Prophet Mohammad migrated to Medina from Mecca (622 A.D).
Thus, this particular year was chosen as the base of the Muslims' calendar owing to the indisputable effect of this migration.

 

  

At that time, Islam spread mainly in the Arabian peninsula, and after the prophet in the Southern parts of Iran, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and all of Egypt as well as northern part of Syria embaraced Islam. In the course of all these victories, call to God's religion with the slogan "the unique Allah is Great" became the infrastructure of the Muslims' new, powerful and popular ideology.
Iran's mighty army was defeated in the "Ghadessieh" (15 A.H.) and "Nahavand" (21 A.H.) battles, and the country gradually came under the influence of Islam.
The expedition of the devastating mogul tribe to Iran began (616 A.H) and the last Persian King of the dynasty, Sultan Jalal-e-din Kharazmshah was overthrown by Gengiz's army and later put to death (628 A.H.). The period of Mogul chieftain's rule in Iran was the most oppressed era the nation had ever seen and the conditions did not change until the founding of the Iranian dynasty, the Safavides, and the rule of Shah Ismeal.
The Mogul were removed from Iran's political scene after about 300 years by the Safavides, and Shah Ismeal was crowned in Tabriz (907 A.H). During the reign of Safavie Dynasty relations between Iran and European and other countries expanded and Iran's powerful centralized government, during Shah Abbas's rule, established political and economic ties with great leaders such as Queen Elizabeth, Philip II the king of Spain, India's Akbar shah and also put an end to the domination of Portuguese in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian culture and art once again flourished during the Safavie rule and architechture, carpet-weaving, miniature painting, gilding and handicraft(s) underwent special development.
 
After the Safavide, alternately weak and strong governments came to power among which the government of Nader Shah Afshar, Karim Khan Zand, Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, Naser-e-din Shah and Mozafar-e-din Shah are noteworthy. During the rule of Nader Shah, The Russians were expelled from Iran, the booties which the Ottomans had taken from the country were recovered, Kandhar and Delhi became parts of Iran and once again the Iranian territory was expanded and included a vast area of southeast Asia. Oppression and tyranny became prevelant in the course of the Qajar dynasty's rule due to  treason of courtiers and the Kings' powerlessness and inattention to the state of affairs. The unprecedented and historical measures of Mirza Taghi Khan Amir Kabir, Naser-e-din Shah's prime minister, such as dispatching students abroad for higher education, printing of newspaper, compilation of laws, etc. made him an immortal historical personage.
 
The new era began with the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. Reza Khan Mir-Panj, commander of a Kazak battalion, occupied Tehran on 22 Feb. 1920, and five years later crowned himself the King with the support of England. Gradually, he began opposing the Islamic culture and tranditions and his despotic rule lasted for 16 years. In 1941 under pressure by England, he abdicated the throne in favor of his son Mohammad-Reza and was exiled into St.Moritz island and then to Johannesburg in South Africa where he later died.