Formation of the Iranian Government. Before Islam Iran’s history goes back more than 2,500 years...
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Transcript of Formation of the Iranian Government. Before Islam Iran’s history goes back more than 2,500 years...
Formation of the Iranian Government
Before Islam
• Iran’s history goes back more than 2,500 years
• There has been an independent state called Persia or Iran in the region since that time
• Foundations of current politics and religion stretch back as far
Ancient Rule
• Ancient rulers, such as Cyrus the Great, Darius, and Xerxes, depended on Zoroastrian philosophies as part of their rule
• This philosophy stated rulers could not rule by force alone
Foreign Control
• Alexander the Great occupies Persepolis in 332 BCE
• The Parthians, an Aryan tribe (where the term Iran derives), settled the region and established rule for 400 years
• In 208, the Parthians gave way to the Sassanians
VISITOR
The Arrival of Islam
• After receiving a crippling blow by the Byzantines, the Arabs delivered the knockout punch to the Sassanian dynasty
• The Arabs brought Islam with them and diminished the rule of kings
• In 1219, the Mongols invaded and destroyed intellectual centers
• They returned 40 years later and made Persia an independent Mongol kingdom
• Timerlane, who didn’t consider himself a Mongol, invaded in 1394
• These invasions established a fear of outside forces that exists today.
The return of Persia
• In 1501, the Safavid took control of the city of Tabriz and declared their leader shah
• They fought off repeated invasions of the Ottoman Turks
• They turned to Shi’ite Islam to distinguish themselves from the Turks and Arabs
• The Safavid Dynasty, followed by the Qajar Dynasty, would rule for the next 400 years
• Their kings would emphasize the authoritarianism of their rule combined with Shi’ite beliefs in “faith and obedience to the country”
• Unlike previous Persian kings, however, their rule did not produce growth
• Since the kings could not live up to the Shi’ite expectation of just rule coupled with charismatic leadership, by the start of the 20th Century, the people had had enough.
• The weakness of the dynasty was further shown by the growing influence of Russia and Britain within the country
The Constitutional Revolution
• In 1896, the aging shah assassinated
• This started a series of protests which called for higher legal status for Islam, economic reform, codified law, and a stronger state
• The protests reached a climax in 1906 when the new shah agreed to a constitutional monarchy
• The new parliament, the majlis, would last until 1911 before being dissolved by the shah
• Persia would fall into tribal warfare and Russian and British control until 1921
How does Iran become a theocracy?