Transcript The History of Iran

THE HISTORY OF IRAN
By: Nicole Lambert and Olivia Kuziel
GRABBER
THESIS
Throughout history, Iran has played a monumental role in how
history has been shaped. Whether acting as the “middleman” on
the Silk Road to helping to spread Islam throughout the Middle
East, it’s history is both rich and extensive. In the beginning, man
settled around the Fertile Crescent which soon led to agriculture
and the beginnings of several large, influential empires. During
this time, Iran was at the height of its power. However,
maintaining that power would prove to be much more difficult.
IRAN
PREHISTORY
 8th millennium B.C.
- agricultural communities emerged mainly in the southwestern part (a.k.a.
the Fertile Crescent).
 4th millennium B.C.
- ancient civilizations such as the Jiroft.
 By 1st millennium B.C.
- Persians, Medes, and Parthians kicked natives out and populated the
Iranian Plateau.
CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
PART 1
 Small empires emerged such as the Median empire which was the first.
CLASSIC ANTIQUITY
 Cyrus the Great conquered the Median Empire and founded the
Achaemenian Empire (648 – 330 B.C.). This would later become the
Persian Empire.
CLASSIC ANTIQUITY
• Government
- composed of many states.
- some regional autonomy.
• Economy
- Darius the Great greatly influenced the economy.
- first to introduce gold and silver currency in the area.
- had a tax system.
• Culture
- Religion was Zoroastrianism.
- Very artistic.
CLASSIC ANTIQUITY
PART 2
• In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered Persia.
CLASSIC ANTIQUITY
•Sassanid Empire (224 – 651 A.D.)
- Centralized Monarchy
- Roman-Persian Wars
CLASSIC ANTIQUITY
• Economy
- traded with other empires by land.
- skilled silk weavers.
• Society
- rigid class system.
• Culture
- was spread through overland trade.
MEDIEVAL IRAN
• Islamic Conquest (600‘s)
- Caliphate Government
- Umayyad Arabs greatly assimilated into Persian culture while introducing
Islam to the Persians.
•Abbasids (750 – 1258 A.D.)
- Were dominant among smaller independent governments.
MEDIEVAL IRAN
• 1040 – 1194 A.D.
- Seljuk Turks came into power.
- Monarchy
- Established a Sunni Muslim dynasty
MEDIEVAL IRAN
• Mongol Occupation (1219 – 1368)
- Elective Monarchy.
- Mongols reeked havoc on Iran, but later adopted Persian culture.
MEDIEVAL IRAN
• Economy
- Silk Road
• Culture
- Islam
- Persian architecture
- cloth weaving
- Arabic
• Society
- separation of genders.
- classes
EARLY MODERN ERA
• Safavid Empire- (1502 – 1722)
- Shāh Ismāil I – founder of Safavid ruling dynasty.
- established greatest Iranian empire since the Islamic conquest of Persia.
- Declared Shi'ism official religion.
- Shah Abbas I the Great
- greatest Safavid monarch.
- great military leader.
EARLY MODERN ERA
• Qajar Dynasty (1796 – 1925)
- Europeans began to take over Iranian land.
- ( late 19th to early 20th century ) Constitutional Revolution of Iran
- (1908) – oil was discovered by the British.
- Persia divided by “spheres of
influence.
PAHLAVI ERA
• Reza Shah became king of Persia from 1925 – 1941.
- authoritarian government.
- made attempts to modernize Persia.
• World War II
- Acted as an oil supplier to the Allies.
- Occupied by Soviet Russia after the war.
• Had a difficult time self-governing.
IRANIAN REVOLUTION AND THE
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC
• Iranian Revolution
- caused by people who didn’t want Iran to become westernized.
• 1979- Islamic Republic
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
- brought back Islamic principles.
- anti-American
- defended Iran against Iraqi attack.
NOW
• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the current President of Iran.
- the economy has greatly improved.
- oil remains a huge part of the economy.
- human rights remains an issue.
CONCLUSION
In closing, although Iran still has many things that it can improve
on, it is doing much better than it did before and is one of the
more successful countries in the Middle East. This can be largely
attributed to its oil and petroleum industry which helps Iran to do
well despite its inefficient food production. All in all, Iran’s future
looks bright.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.religionfacts.com/zoroastrianism/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/islam/economy/
QUIZ
1) Who founded the Persian Empire and was known for his
great mercy?
2) How did Alexander the Great die?
3) How did Iran trade with other empires?
4) What caused the Iranian Revolution?
5) Who is the current president of Iran?
FINISHER