Timeline of Iranian history

This is a timeline of Iranian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Iran and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Iran. See also the list of kings of Persia and Supreme Leaders of Iran and the list of years in Iran.

7th century BC

Year	Date	Event
625 BC		Cyaxares the Great declared himself King of the Medes.

6th century BC

Year	Date	Event
550 BC		The Achaemenid Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great.
539 BC		Cyrus captured Babylon, freed thousands of slaves and issued a declaration of human rights which would later be inscribed into the Cyrus Cylinder.

9th century

Year	Date	Event
819		The Samanid empire was founded by Saman Khuda.
821		Tahir ibn Husayn, an Iranian general under the Abbasid Caliphate, declared the establishment of the independent Tahirid Dynasty .
867		Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari founded the Saffarid dynasty.

10th century

Year	Date	Event
928		Mardavij founded the Ziyarid dynasty.
934		The Shi'ite Buyid dynasty was founded.

11th century

Year	Date	Event
1010		The poet Ferdowsi finished writing the epic poem Shahnameh, a touchstone of the modern Persian language.

12th century

Year	Date	Event
1189		Third Crusade: Teutonic Knights destroyed several cities of the Middle East.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1501		Ismail I established himself in Tabriz and declared himself the missiar of India.
1514	23 August	Battle of Chaldiran: The Ottoman Empire inflicted a severe defeat on a numerically superior Persian force, opening the northwestern Iranian Plateau to their occupation.
	7 September	The Ottoman sultan entered Tabriz.
		A mutiny in the Ottoman army forced the sultan to withdraw.
1524	23 May	Ismail died. He was succeeded by his son Tahmasp I.
1590	21 May	The Treaty of Istanbul (1590) was signed between Iran and the Ottoman Empire, under which Iran ceded the Caucasus and western Iranian territories.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1609	November	Battle of DimDim: The Persian army laid siege to a Kurdish fortress on the banks of Lake Urmia.
1610		Battle of DimDim: The fortress was taken, and its occupants were massacred.
1629	19 January	Abbas I of Persia died. His grandson Safi of Persia succeeded him.
1639		The Treaty of Zuhab was signed between Persia and the Ottoman Empire, establishing what remains the border between Iran and Iraq.
1642		Safi died. He was succeeded by Abbas II of Persia.
1666		Abbas died. He was succeeded by Suleiman I of Persia.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1709	21 April	Mirwais Khan Hotak, the leader of the Ghilzai clan and mayor of Kandahar, killed the Persian-appointed governor George XI of Kartli and declared himself King of Persia.
1722	July	Russo-Persian War (1722-1723): A Russian military expedition sailed in support of the independence of two Christian kingdoms, Kartli and Armenia.
1723	12 September	Russo-Persian War (1722-1723): The shah signed a peace treaty ceding the cities of Derbent and Baku and the provinces of Shirvan, Guilan, Mazandaran and Astrabad to the Russian Empire.
1746	4 September	The Treaty of Kerden was signed between the Ottoman Empire and Iran, reaffirming the border drawn in the Treaty of Zuhab and allowing Iranian pilgrims to visit Mecca.
1795	11 September	Battle of Krtsanisi: The Persian army demolished the armed forces of Kartl-Kakheti.
1796	April	Persian Expedition of 1796: The tsarina of Russia launched a military expedition to punish Persia for its incursion into the Russian protectorate of Kartl-Kakheti.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1804		Russo-Persian War (1804-1813): Russian forces attacked the Persian settlement of Echmiadzin.
1813	24 October	Russo-Persian War (1804-1813): According to the Treaty of Gulistan, the Persian Empire ceded its Transcaucasian territories to Russia.
1826	16 July	Russo-Persian War (1826-1828): The Persian army invaded the Russian-owned Talysh Khanate.
1828	21 February	Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) Facing the possibility of a Russian conquest of Tehran, Persia signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay.
1881	21 September	Persia officially recognized Russia's annexation of Khwarazm in the Treaty of Akhal.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1941	21 August	Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: Three Soviet armies invaded Iran from the north.
	17 September	Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: The Soviet and British armed forces met in Tehran.
1945	November	The Soviet Union established the Azerbaijan People's Government in Iranian Azerbaijan.
1946	22 January	The Soviet-backed Kurdish Republic of Mahabad declared its independence from Iran.
	2 March	Iran crisis: British troops withdrew from Iran. The Soviet Union violated its prior agreement and remained.
	9 May	Iran crisis: The Soviet Union withdrew from Iran.
	11 December	Iran regained control over the territory of the Azerbaijan People's Government.
	15 December	Iran conquered Mahabad.
1979	11 February	Iranian Revolution: The Iranian collapsed in a popular revolution.
	1 April	A referendum passed which made Iran an Islamic republic.

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2001	8 June	Iranian presidential election, 2001: President Mohammad Khatami was reelected by a vast majority.
2005	24 June	Iranian presidential election, 2005: Ahmadinejad defeated the more liberal Rafsanjani.