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?