Persian Empire

The Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia (modern–day Iran). The first of these was established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC with the conquest of Media, Lydia and Babylonia. It covered much of the Ancient world when it was conquered by Alexander the Great, after his death divide in diadoch realms. Several later dynasties "claimed to be heirs of the Achaemenids".

Persian dynastic history was interrupted by the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD and later by the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia.

The main religion of ancient Persia was the native dualistic paganism Zoroastrianism, but after the seventh century, it was replaced by Islam.

In the modern era, a series of Islamic -notably Shiite- dynasties ruled Persia independently of the Arab/Turkic Sunni caliphates, who became Persia's classical rival, like the pagan Romans and Christian Byzantines had been before.

Since 1979 Iran (formerly Persia) is a Shiah theocratic Islamic Republic.

List of dynasties described as a Persian Empire

• Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC)
• Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD), also called the "Arsacid Empire"
• Sasanian Empire (224–651), also called the "Sassanid Empire" or the "Empire of Empires"

Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654) - part of the Arab first caliphate

• Samanid Empire (819-999)
• Saffarid Empire (861-1000)

Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia (1218–1221) - pagan

• Safavid dynasty (1501–1736)
• Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796)
• Zand dynasty (1750–1794)
• Qajar dynasty (1785–1925)
• Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)

See also

• list of monarchs of Persia
• Iranian monarchy
• List of Iranian dynasties and countries
• Persia
• Iranian peoples
• Persian people
• List of tombs of Iranian people

External links

• Media related to Persian Empire at Wikimedia Commons
• Persian Empire travel guide from Wikivoyage