Medes

Median Empire or Median Confederation Mādai
← c. 678 BCE[3]–549 BCE →
A map of Median Empire; based on Herodotus
Capital		Ecbatana, modern Hamadan
Languages		Median language
Religion		Old Iranian religion (related to Mithraism, early Mazdaism or Zoroastrianism)
Government		Monarchy
King
-	678–665 BC	Deioces or Kashtariti[5]
-	665–633 BC	Phraortes
-	625–585 BC	Cyaxares the Great
-	589–549 BC	Astyages
Historical era		Golden Age
-	Deioces united Median tribes[3][6]	c. 678 BCE[3]
-	Conquered by Cyrus the Great	549 BCE

History of Iran
ANCIENT PERIOD
Proto-Elamite 3200–2700 BCE
Elam 2700–539 BCE
Mannaeans 850–616 BCE
IMPERIAL PERIOD
Median Empire 678–550 BCE
(Scythian Kingdom 652–625 BCE)
Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BCE
Atropatene 320s BC – 3rd century AD
Seleucid Empire 312–63 BCE
Parthian Empire 247 BCE – 224 CE
Sasanian Empire 224–651
MEDIEVAL (EARLY ISLAMIC) PERIOD
Umayyad Caliphate 661–750
Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258
Minor dynasties of northern Iran
Dabuyids 642–760	Bavandids 651–1349
Masmughans of Damavand 651–760	Paduspanids 665–1598
Justanids 791–974
Alids of northern Iran 864–14th century
Iranian Intermezzo 821–1062
Tahirid dynasty 821–873	Samanid dynasty 819–999
Saffarid dynasty 861–1002	Ziyarid dynasty 930–1090
Sallarid dynasty 919–1062	Sajid dynasty 889/890–929
Buyid dynasty 934–1062	Ilyasids 932–968
Ghaznavid Empire 977–1186
Kakuyids 1008–1141
Ghurid dynasty 1011–1215
Nasrids 1029–1236
Great Seljuq Empire 1037–1194
Khwarazmian Empire 1077–1231
Atabegs of Yazd 1141–1319
Mihrabanids 1236–1537
Kurt dynasty 1244–1396
Ilkhanate Empire 1256–1335
Chobanid dynasty 1335–1357	Muzaffarid dynasty 1335–1393
Jalayirid dynasty 1336–1432	Sarbadars 1337–1376
Afrasiyab dynasty 1349–1504
Timurid Empire 1370–1405
Qara Qoyunlu 1406–1468	Timurid dynasty 1405–1507
Agh Qoyunlu 1468–1508	Kia'i dynasty 1389–1592
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
Safavid Empire 1501–1736
(Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729)
Afsharid Empire 1736–1747
Zand dynasty 1760–1794	Afsharid dynasty 1747–1796
Qajar Empire 1796–1925
MODERN PERIOD
Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979
Interim Government 1979–1980
Islamic Republic 1980–present
Related articles  Timeline of Iranian history Economic history Education history Military history Naval history
This box: view talk edit

The Medes /midz/^{[N 1]} (from Old Persian Māda-) were an ancient Iranian people^{[N 2]} who lived in an area known as Media (northern Iran) and who spoke a northwestern Iranian language referred to as the Median language. Their arrival to the region is associated with the first wave of Iranian tribes in the late 2nd millennium BCE (the Bronze Age collapse) through the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE.

From the 10th to late 7th centuries BCE, the Iranian Medes and Persians fell under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire based in Mesopotamia.^[7]

After the fall of the Assyrian Empire, between 616 BCE and 605 BCE, a unified Median state was formed, which, together with Babylonia, Lydia, and Egypt became one of the four major powers of the ancient Near East. An alliance with the Babylonians and the Scythians helped the Medes to capture Nineveh in 612 BCE which resulted in the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Medes were subsequently able to establish their Median kingdom (with Ecbatana as their royal centre) beyond their original homeland (central-western Iran) and had eventually a territory stretching roughly from northeastern Iran to the Halys River in Anatolia. The Median kingdom was conquered in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great, who established the next Iranian dynasty—the Persian Achaemenid Empire.

A few archaeological sites (discovered in the "Median triangle" in western Iran) and textual sources (from contemporary Assyrians and also Greeks in later centuries) provide a brief documentation of the history and culture of the Median state. These architectural sources, religious temples, and literary references show the importance of Median lasting contributions (such as the Safavid-Achaemenid-Median link of the tradition of "columned audience halls") to the Iranian culture. A number of words from the Median language are still in use, and there are languages being geographically and comparatively traced to the northwestern Iranian language of Median. The Medes had an Ancient Iranian Religion (a form of pre-Zoroastrian Mazdaism or Mithra worshipping) with a priesthood named as "Magi". Later and during the reigns of the last Median kings, the reforms of Zarathustra spread in western Iran.

Besides Ecbatana (modern Hamedan), the other cities existing in Media were Laodicea (modern Nahavand)^[8] and the mound that was the largest city of the Medes, Rhages (also called Rey), on the outskirts of Shahr Rey, south of Tehran. The fourth city of Media was Apamea, near Ecbatana, whose precise location is unknown. In later periods, Medes and especially Mede soldiers are identified and portrayed prominently in ancient Persian archaeological sites such as Persepolis, where they are shown to have a major role and presence in the military of the Persian Empire's Achaemenid dynasty.

According to the Histories of Herodotus, there were six Median tribes:^[9]

Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, and ruled over them alone. Now these are the tribes of which they consist: the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi.

The six Median tribes resided in Media proper, the triangle between Ecbatana, Rhagae and Aspadana,^[6] in today's central Iran,^[10][11] the area between Tehran, Isfahan and Hamadan. Of the Median tribes, the Magi resided in Rhaga,^[12] modern Tehran.^[13] It was a sort of sacred caste, which ministered to the spiritual needs of the Medes.^[14] The Paretaceni tribe resided in and around Aspadana, modern Isfahan,^[6][15][16] the Arizanti lived in and around Kashan^[6] and the Busae tribe lived in and around the future Median capital of Ecbatana, modern Hamadan.^[6] The Struchates and the Budii lived in villages in the Median triangle.^[17]

Name

The original source for different words used to call the Median people, their language and homeland is a directly transmitted Old Iranian geographical name which is attested as the Old Persian "Māda-" (sing. masc.).^[18] The meaning of this word is not precisely established.^[18][19] The linguist W. Skalmowski proposes a relation with the proto-Indoeuropean word "med(h)-" meaning "central, suited in the middle" by referring to Old Indic "madhya-" and Old Iranian "maidiia-" both carrying the same meaning^[18] and having descendants including Latin medium, Greek méso, and German mittel.

The Median people are mentioned by that name in many ancient texts. According to the Histories of Herodotus;^[20]

The Medes were called anciently by all people Aryans; but when Medea, the Colchian, came to them from Athens, they changed their name. Such is the account which they themselves give.

Historical geography of Media

The original population area of the Median people was western Iran and named after them as "Media". At the end of the 2nd millennium BCE the Median tribes emerged in the region (one of several Iranian tribes to do so) which they later called Media. These tribes expanded their control over larger areas subsequently, and, over a period of several hundred years, the boundaries of Media moved.^[21]

Ancient textual sources

An early description of the territory of Media by the Assyrians dates from the end of the 9th century BCE until the beginning of the 7th century BCE. The southern border of Media, in that period, is named as the Elamite region of Simaški in present day Lorestan. From the west and northwest it was bounded by the Zagros mountains and from the east by Dasht-e Kavir. The region of Media was ruled by the Assyrians and for them the region "extended along the Great Khorasan Road from just east of Harhar to Alwand, and probably beyond. It was limited on the north by the non Iranian state of Mannea, on the south by Ellipi."^[22] The location of Harhar is suggested to be "the central or eastern" Mahidasht in Kermanshah province.^[23]

On the east and southeast of Media, as described by the Assyrians, another land with the name of "Patušarra" appears. This land was located near a mountain range which the Assyrians call "Bikni" and describe as "Lapis Lazuli Mountain". There are various opinion on the location of this mountain. Damavand of Tehran and Alvand of Hamadan are two proposed identifications of that location. This location is the most remote eastern area that the Assyrians knew or reached during their expansion until the beginning of the 7th century BCE.^[24]

In the sources from Achaemenid Iran and specifically from the Behistun Inscription (2.76, 77-78) the capital of Media is named as "Hamgmatāna-" in Old Persian (and as Elamite "Agmadana-", Babylonian "Agamtanu-", etc.). The classical authors transmitted this as Ecbatana. This site is the modern Hamadan province.^[25]

Archaeological evidence

The Median archaeological sources are rare. The discoveries of Median sites happened only after the 1960s.^[26] For sometime after 1960 the search for Median archeological sources has been for most parts focused in an area known as the “Median triangle,” defined roughly as the region bounded by Hamadān, Malāyer (in Hamdan province) and Kangāvar (in Kermanshah province).^[26] Three major sites from central western Iran in the Iron Age III period (i.e. 850-500 BCE) are^[27]

• Tepe Nush-i Jan (a primarily religious site of Median period),

The site is located 14 km west of Malāyer in Hamadan province.^[26] The excavations started in 1967 with D. Stronach as the director.^[28] The remains of four main buildings in the site have "the central temple, the western temple, the fort, and the columned hall" which according to Stronach were likely to have been built in the order named and predate the latter occupation of the first half of the 6th century BCE.^[29] According to Stronach, the central temple, with its stark design, "provides a notable, if mute, expression of religious belief and practice".^[29] A number of ceramics from the Median levels at Tepe Nush-i Jan have been found which are associated with the time (the second half of the 7th century BCE) of the Median consolidation of their power in the Hamadān areas. These findings show four different wares known as “Common ware” (buff, cream, or light red in color and with gold or silver mica temper) including jars in various size the largest of which is a form of ribbed pithoi. Smaller and more elaborate vessels were in “grey ware”, (these display smoothed and burnished surface). The “Cooking ware” and “Crumbly ware” are also recognized each in single handmade products.^[29]

• Godin Tepe (its period II: a fortified palace of a Median king or tribal chief),

The site is located 13 km east of Kangāvar city on the left bank of the river Gamas Āb". The excavations, started in 1965, were led by T. C. Young, Jr. which, according to D. Stronach, evidently shows an important Bronze Age construction that was reoccupied sometime before the beginning of the Iron III period. The excavations of Young indicate the remains of a part of a single residence of a local ruler which later became quite substantial.^[26] This is similar to those mentioned often in Assyrian sources.^[27]

• Baba Jan (probably the seat of a lesser tribal ruler of Media).

The site is located in northeastern Luristan with a distance of roughly 10 km from Nūrābād in Lurestan province. The excavations were conducted by C. Goff in 1966-69. The level II of this site probably dates to 7th century BCE.^[30]

These sources have both similarities (in cultural characteristics) and differences (due to functional differences and diversity among the Median tribes).^[27] The architecture of this archaeological findings that can probably be dated to the Median period show a link between the tradition of columned audience halls seen often in Achaemenid Iran (for example in Persepolis) and also in the Safavid Iran (for example in "the hall of forty columns" from the 17th century CE) and the Median architecture.^[27]

The materials found at Tepe Nush-i Jan, Godin Tepe, and other sites located in Media together with the Assyrian reliefs show the existence of urban settlements in Media in the first half of the 1st millennium BCE which had functioned as centres for production of handicraft and also of an agricultural and cattle-breeding economy of a secondary type.^[31] For other historical documentation, the archaeological evidence, though rare, together with cuneiform records by Assyrian make it possible, regardless of Herodotus accounts, to establish some of the early history of Medians.^[32]

Rise to power

Pre-dynastic history

Iranian tribes were present in western and northwestern Iran at least from 12th or 11th century BCE. The significance of Iranian elements in these regions were established from beginning of the second half of the 8th century BCE.^[33] By this time the Iranian tribes were the majority in what later become the territory of Median kingdom and also the west of Media proper.^[33] A study of textual sources from the region show that in Neo-Assyrian period, the regions of Media and further west and northwest had a population with Iranian speaking people as majority.^[34]

In western and northwestern Iran and in areas west to these and prior to the Median rule there were previously political activities of powerful societies of Elam, Mannaea, Assyria and Urartu (Armenia).^[33] There are various and up-dated opinions on the positions and activities of Iranian tribes in these societies and prior to the "major Iranian state formations" in the late 7th century BCE.^[33] One opinion (of Herzfeld, et al.) is that the ruling class were "Iranian migrants" but the society was "autochthonous" while another opinion (of Grantovsky, et al.) holds that both the ruling class and basic elements of the population were Iranian.^[35]

During the period of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911-612 BC) the Medes, Persians and other Iranian peoples of northern and western Iran were subject to Assyria. This changed during the reign of Cyaxares, who in alliance with Nabopolassar of Babylon and the Scythians attacked and destroyed the strife riven empire between 616 and 605 BC.^[36]

Median dynasty

The list of Median rulers and their dates compiled according to A: Herodotus who calls them "kings" and associates them with the same family, and B: Babylonian Chronicle which in "Gadd's Chronicle on the Fall of Nineveh" gives its own list, is:

Deioces (reign 700-647 BCE)

Phraortes (reign 647-625 BCE)

Scythian (reign 624-597 BCE)

Cyaxares (reign 624-585 BCE) and

Astyages (reign 585-549 BCE),

a total of 150 years.^[37] Not all of these dates and personalities given by Herodotus match the other near eastern sources^[37]

In Herodotus (book 1, chapters 95-130), Deioces is introduced as the founder of a centralized Median state. He had been known to Median people as "a just and incorruptible man" and when asked by Median people to solve their possible disputes he agreed and put the condition that they make him "king" and build a great city at Ecbatana as the capital of Median state.^[38] Judging from the contemporary sources of the region and disregarding^[39] the account of Herodotus puts the formation of a unified Median state during the reign of Cyaxares or later.^[40]

Culture and society

Greek references to "Median" people make no clear distinction between the "Persians" and the "Medians"; in fact for a Greek to become "too closely associated with Iranian culture" was "to become medianized, not persianized".^[27] The Median kingdom was a short-lived Iranian state and the textual and archaeological sources of that period are rare and little could be known from the Median culture which nevertheless made a "profound, and lasting, contribu­tion to the greater world of Iranian culture".^[41]

Language

Median people spoke the Median language, which was an Old Iranian language. Strabo in his Geography (finished in the early 1st century AD) mentions the affinity of Median with other Iranian languages: "The name of Ariana is further extended to a part of Persia and of Media, as also to the Bactrians and Sogdians on the north; for these speak approximately the same language, but with slight variations".^[42]

No original deciphered text is proved to have been written in Median language. It is suggested that similar to later Iranian practice of keeping archives of written documents in Achaemenid Iran, there was also a maintenance of archives by Median government in their capital Ecbatana. There are examples of "Median literature" found in later records. One is according to Herdotus that the Median king Deioces, appearing as a judge, made judgement on causes submitted in writing. There is also a report by Dinon on existence of "Median court poets".^[43] Median literature is a part of the "Old Iranian literature" (including also Saka, Old Persian, Avestan) as this Iranian affiliation of them is explicit also in ancient texts, such as Herodotus's account^[20] that many peoples including Medes were "universally called Iranian".^[44]

Words of Median origin appear in various other Iranian dialects, including Old Persian. A feature of Old Persian inscriptions is the large number of words and names from other languages and the Median language takes in this regard a special place for historical reasons.^[45] The Median words in Old Persian texts, whose Median origin can be established by "phonetic criteria",^[45] appear "more frequently among royal titles and among terms of the chancellery, military, and judicial affairs".^[45] Words of Median origin include:

• *čiθra-: "origin".^[46] The word appears in *čiθrabṛzana- (med.) "exalting his linage", *čiθramiθra- (med.) "having mithraic origin", *čiθraspāta- (med.) "having a brilliant army", etc.^[47]
• Farnah: Divine glory; (Avestan: khvarənah)
• Paridaiza: Paradise, (as in Pardis پردیس)
• Spaka- : The word is Median and means "dog".^[48] Herodotus identifies "Spaka-" (Gk. "σπάχα" - female dog) as Median rather than Persian.^[49] The word is still used in modern Iranian languages including Talyshi.
• vazṛka-: "great" (as Modern Persian bozorg)^[45]
• vispa-: "all".^[50] (as in Avestan). The component appears in such words as vispafryā (Med. fem.) "dear to all", vispatarva- (med.) "vanquishing all", vispavada- (med. -op.) "leader of all", etc.^[51]
• Xshayathiya (royal, royalty): This Median word (∗xšaθra-pā-) is an example of words whose Greek form (known as romanized "satrap" from Gk. "satrápēs - σατράπης") mirrors, as opposed to the tradition^{[N 3]}, a Median rather than an Old Persian form of an Old Iranian word.^[4]
• zūra-: "evil" and zūrakara-: "evil-doer".^[45]

Religion

There are very limited sources concerning the religion of Median people. Primary sources pointing to religious affiliations of Medes and found so far include the archaeological discoveries in Tepe Nush-e Jan, personal names of Median individuals, and the Histories of Herodotus. The archaeological source gives the earliest of the temple structures in Iran and the "stepped fire altar" discovered there is linked to the common Iranian legacy of the "cult of fire". Herodotus mentions Median Magi as a Median tribe providing priests for both the Medes and the Persians. They had a "priestly caste" which passed their functions from father to son. They played a significant role in the court of the Median king Astyages who had in his court certain Medians as "advisers, dream interpreters, and soothsayers". Classical historians "unanimously" regarded the Magi as priests of the Zoroastrian faith. From the personal names of Medes as recorded by Assyrians (in 8th and 9th centuries BCE) there are examples of use of the Indo-Iranian word arta- (lit. "truth") which is familiar from both Avestan and Old Persian and also examples of theophoric names containing Maždakku and also the name "Ahura Mazdā".^[52] Scholars disagree whether these are indications of Zoroastrian religion of Medes. Diakonoff believes that "Astyages and perhaps even Cyaxares had already embraced a religion derived from the teachings of Zoroaster" which was not identical with doctrine of Zarathustra and Mary Boyce believes that "the existence of the Magi in Media with their own traditions and forms of worship was an obstacle to Zoroastrian proselytizing there".^[52] Boyce wrote that the Zoroastrian traditions in the Median city of Ray probably goes back to the 8th century BCE.^[53] It is suggested that from the 8th century BCE, a form of "Mazdaism with common Iranian traditions" existed in Media and the strict reforms of Zarathustra began to spread in western Iran during the reign of the last Median kings in 6th century BCE.^[52]

It is also suggested that "Mithra" has a Median name and Medes may have practised Mithraism and had Mithra as their supreme deity.^[54]

Fall

In 553 BC, Cyrus the Great, King of Persia, rebelled against his grandfather, the Mede King, Astyages son of Cyaxares; he finally won a decisive victory in 550 BC resulting in Astyages' capture by his own dissatisfied nobles, who promptly turned him over to the triumphant Cyrus.^[55]

After Cyrus's victory against Astyages, the Medes were subjected to their close kin, the Persians.^[56] In the new empire they retained a prominent position; in honor and war, they stood next to the Persians; their court ceremony was adopted by the new sovereigns, who in the summer months resided in Ecbatana; and many noble Medes were employed as officials, satraps and generals.

Kurds and Medes

The Russian historian and linguist Vladimir Minorsky suggested that the Medes, who widely inhabited the land where currently the Kurds form the majority, might have been forefathers of the modern Kurds. He also claims that the Medes who invaded the region in the eighth century B.C.E., linguistically resembled the Kurds. This view was accepted by many Kurdish nationalists in the twentieth century. However, Martin van Bruinessen, a prominent Dutch scholar, argues against the attempt to take the Medes as ancestors of the Kurds. ^[57]

Contemporary linguistic evidence has challenged the previously suggested view that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes.^[58][59] Gernot Windfuhr (professor of Iranian Studies) identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum.^[60] David Neil MacKenzie, an authority on the Kurdish language, thought that the Medes spoke a northwestern Iranian language, while the Kurdish people speak a southwestern Iranian language.^[61] The Kurdologist Martin van Bruinessen argues against the attempt to treat Medes as ancestors of the Kurds.^[57] Modern scholars consider central Iranian dialects, mainly those of Kashan area, and Tati of Tehran area as the only direct offshoots of the Median language.^[62]

The recently academically accepted ancestors of the Kurds, the Carduchi of Corduene (also known as Gorduene, Cordyene, Cardyene, Carduene, Gordyene, Gordyaea, Korduene, Korchayk, Gordian, Hebrew:^[63]קרטיגיני ), existed at the same time as the Medes.

See also

• Achaemenid Empire
• Madai
• Persian Empire
• Greater Persia
• List of rulers of Pre-Achaemenid kingdoms of Iran
• List of kings of Persia
• Qanat water management system

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medes.

• Article Median Empire from Iran Chamber Society.

v t e Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Jezirah Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hatti Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre- / Protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Zarzian Natufian Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Hassuna/Samarra Halaf Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr History Early Dynastic Akkadian Ur III Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sasanian Muslim conquest Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Luwian Middle Persian Old Persian Parthian Proto-Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture / Society Architecture Art Cuneiform Akkadian literature Sumerian literature Music Religion Archaeology Iraq Museum Looting Tell Portal

v t e Median topics Language Median language, Iranian language Median Empire and its neighbors, ca. 600 BC Cities Ecbatana (Hamadan) Rhagae (Shahre Rey, Tehran) Laodicea (Nahavand) Battles involving Lydia Battle of Halys Battles involving Persia Persian Revolt Battle of Hyrba Battle of the Persian Border Siege of Pasargadae Hill Battle of Pasargadae Fall of Ecbatana Kings/Satraps Deioces Phraortes Madius Cyaxares Astyages Cyaxares II Other Medians Amytis of Media Artembares Datis Gubaru Mazares Aryenis Mandane

v t e Median and Achaemenid kings Family tree Median Empire (728 – 550 BC) Deioces Phraortes Madius Cyaxares the Great Astyages Achaemenid Empire (550 – 330 BC) Achaemenes† Ariaramnes† Arsames† Teispes Cyrus I Cambyses I Cyrus II, the Great Cambyses II Smerdis Gaumata Darius I, the Great Xerxes I, the Great Artaxerxes I Xerxes II Sogdianus Darius II Nothus Artaxerxes II Mnemon Artaxerxes III Ochus Artaxerxes IV Arses Darius III Codomannus Artaxerxes V Bessus † Not directly attested, possibly legendary.

v t e A history of empires Ancient empires Akkadian Egyptian Kushite Assyrian Babylonian Aksumite Hittite Iranian Median Achaemenid Parthian Kushan Sasanian Tuoba Hellenistic Macedon Ptolemaic Seleucid Indian Maurya Gupta Chinese Qin Han Jin Roman Western Eastern Teotihuacan Xianbei Xiongnu Medieval empires Byzantine Nicaea Trebizond Hunnic Arab Rashidun Umayyad Abbasid Fatimid Córdoba Ayyubid Moroccan Idrisid Almoravid Almohad Marinid Iranian Tahirid Samanid Buyid Sallarid Ziyarid Persianate Ghaznavid Great Seljuq Khwarezmian Timurid Somali Ajuuraan Ifatite Adalite Mogadishan Warsangali Bulgarian First Second Aragonese Benin Latin Oyo Bornu Indian Chola Gurjara-Pratihara Pala Eastern Ganga dynasty Delhi Mongol Yuan Golden Horde Chagatai Khanate Ilkhanate Kanem Serbian Songhai Khmer Carolingian Holy Roman North Sea Angevin Mali Chinese Sui Tang Song Yuan Wagadou Aztec Inca Srivijaya Majapahit Ethiopian Zagwe Solomonic Modern empires Tongan Ashanti Indian Maratha Sikh Mughal Indian (colonial) Chinese Ming Qing China Turkish Ottoman Iranian Safavid Afsharid Zand Qajar Pahlavi Moroccan Saadi Alaouite Ethiopian Somali Gobroon Majeerteen Hobyo Dervish French First Second Austrian Austro-Hungarian German German Empire German Reich Russian Swedish Mexican First Second Brazilian Korean Japanese Haitian First Second Central African Colonial empires Belgian British English Danish Dutch French German Italian Japanese Portuguese Spanish Swedish United States Related List of empires List of largest empires

v t e Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire (Behistun, Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rustam, Susa, Daiva inscriptions) Across the sea Akaufaka Arabia Arachosia Aria Armenia Assyria Babylonia Bactria Cappadocia Caria Chorasmia Dahae Drangiana 1st Egyptian Satrapy / 2nd Egyptian Satrapy Eber-Nari Elam Gandhara Gedrosia Hyrcania Ionia Hindush Libya Maka Media Parthia Persia Quadia Saka Sardis Sattagydia Skudra Sogdia Yehud See also Districts of the Achaemenid Empire according to Herodotus

v t e Iran topics   History Pre-Islamic Prehistory 3200–550 BCE Proto-Elamite civilization (3200–2800 BCE) Elamite dynasties (2800–550 BCE) Bactria-Margiana Complex (2200–1700 BCE) Kingdom of Mannai (10th–7th century BCE) Median Empire (728–550 BCE) 550 BCE– 224 CE Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE) Seleucid Empire (330–150 BCE) Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BCE) Parthian Empire (248 BCE –  224 CE) 224–557 CE Kushan Empire (30–275 CE) Sassanid Empire (224–651 CE) Hephthalite Empire (425–557 CE) Islamic 637 – 1055 Patriarchal Caliphate (637–651) Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) Tahirid dynasty (821–873) Alavid dynasty (864–928) Saffarid dynasty (861–1003) Samanid dynasty (819–999) Ziyarid dynasty (928–1043) Buyid dynasty (934–1055) 975 – 1432 Ghaznavid Empire (975–1187) Ghurid dynasty (1011–1215) Seljuk Empire (1037–1194) Khwarezmid dynasty (1077–1231) Ilkhanate (1256–1335) Kartids dynasty (1231–1389) Muzaffarid dynasty (1314–1393) Chupanid dynasty (1337–1357) Jalayerid dynasty (1339–1432) 1370 – 1925 Timurid Empire (1370–1506) Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans (1375–1468) Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans (1378–1508) Safavid Empire (1501 – 1722 / 1736) Hotaki dynasty (1722–1729) Afsharid dynasty (1736–1750) Zand Dynasty (1750–1794) Durrani Empire (1794–1826) Qajar Dynasty (1794–1925) Modern 1925 – 1979 Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979) Iran Constituent Assembly, 1949 1953 coup d'état Iranian Revolution (1979) Interim Government Islamic Republic History (1979–) Khuzestan conflict Embassy siege (1980) Iran-Iraq war (1980–1988) Iranian pilgrim massacre (1987) Iran Air Flight 655 shootdown (1988) PJAK insurgency Balochistan conflict Syrian conflict See also Ancient Iran Iranian Cultural Continent Indo-Iranians languages Jiroft civilization Aryans Persian peoples Iranian peoples Kings of Persia Military history Years in Iran   Geography Cities list Earthquakes Iranian Azerbaijan Iranian Balochistan Iranian Kurdistan Iranian plateau Islands Mountains Provinces Wildlife   Politics General Censorship Constitution Persian Constitutional Revolution Elections 2009 presidential Green Revolution Foreign relations Human rights LGBT Judicial system Military Army Air Force Navy Ministry of Intelligence Nuclear program UN Security Council Resolution 1747 Political parties Principlists Propaganda Reformists Terrorism Allegations of state terrorism White Revolution (1963) Women's movement Councils Assembly (or Council) of Experts Expediency Discernment Council City and Village Councils Guardian Council Islamic Consultative Assembly (parliament) Supreme National Security Council Officials Ambassadors President Provincial governors Supreme Leader   Economy General Bonyad (charitable trust) Brain drain Companies automobile manufacturers Corruption Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Economic history Economic Reform Plan Energy Environmental issues Foreign direct investment Intellectual property International oil bourse International rankings Iran and the WTO Labor and tax laws Main economic laws Middle East economy Milad Tower and complex Military equipment manufactured Military exports Nuclear program UN Security Council Resolution 1747 Privatization Rial (currency) Space Agency Supreme Audit Court Tehran Stock Exchange Sectors Agriculture fruit Banking and insurance Banks Central Bank Electronic banking Construction Industry Mining Petroleum Anglo-Persian Oil Company Telecommunications Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) Transport airlines metro railways shipping Tourism State-owned companies Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Places Asalouyeh industrial corridor Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone Kish Island Free Trade Zone Research centers   Society Demographics Languages Persian (Farsi) Armenian Azerbaijani Indo-Iranian Iranian languages Peoples Iranian citizens abroad Ethnic minorities Armenians Chinese people Iranian Azerbaijanis Koreans Persian Jews Religion Islam Bahá'í persecution Christianity Zoroastrians persecution minorities Other Education higher science scientists and scholars universities Brain drain Health care International rankings Nationality Water supply and sanitation Women Culture Architecture Achaemenid architects Art modern and contemporary Blogs Calendar Persian New Year (Nowruz) Chador Chicago Persian antiquities crisis Cinema Crown jewels Cuisine Folklore Intellectual movements Iranians Iranology Islam Islamization Literature Media news agencies student newspapers Mythology National symbols Imperial anthem Opium consumption Persian gardens Persian names Philosophy Public holidays Scouting Sport football Music Folk Heavy metal Pop Rap and hip-hop Rock and alternative Traditional Ey Iran Other Anti-Iranianism Tehrangeles Category Commons Portal WikiProject