661-750 | Ummayyad Caliphate |
750-1258 | Abbasid Caliphate. Capital moves from Damascus to Baghdad. Persian influence grows. al-Tabari 838-923; Ibn Sina (Avicenna) 980-1037 |
751 | Battle of Talas. Abbasids defeat Tang dynasty on borders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, halting Chinese westward expansion, easing spread of Islamic influence into central Asia. Papermaking technology reached Baghdad by AD 794. |
928-1043 | Ziyarid dynasty (Tabarestan) - Dailamite |
934-1055 | Buyid dynasty (Mesopotamia) - Shi'a. Capital Shiraz |
821 - 873 | Taherid dynasty (Khorasan) - Iranian |
867 - 1002 | Saffarid dynasty (Sistan) - Iranian |
875-999 | Samanid dynasty (Transoxiana) - Iranian: claim descent from Bahram Chubin. Firdowsi begins the Shahnameh. |
963-1186 | Ghaznavid empire - Turkic |
1038 - 1220 | Seljuk empire - Turkic. Omar Khayyam 1048-1124; Rumi b. 1207; Sa'di b c.1213. Capitals at Merv, Nishapur and Isfahan. |
1071 | Battle of Manzikert. Seljuk Turks crush Byzantine forces of Romanus IV |
1096 | First Crusade begins |
1099 | Fall of Jerusalem to Crusaders |
1204 | Second Crusade. Sack of Constantinople. | 1220 - 1340 | The Mongols. Capitals at Marageh, Sultanieh and Tabriz |
1258 | Mongols desvastate Baghdad |
1262 - 1335 | Ilkhanate - Mongol. Hafez b c.1315 |
1314 - 1393 | Muzzaffirid dynasty (Central Iran) - Mongol |
1345 | Black Death begins to spread across Asia and Europe |
1375 - 1501 | Struggles between Aq Qoyonlu and Qara Qoyonlu (White Sheep and Black Sheep Turkoman) |
1370 - 1500 | Timurid dynasty - Turkic (until c1415 in western Iran) Ibn Khaldun d 1406. Capitals at Samarkand and Herat. |
1501 - 1736 | Safavid dynasty - Turkic Shi'a. Capitals at Tabriz, Qazvin and Isfahan. |
1736 - 1750 | Afsharid dynasty - Afghan Sunni. Capital at Mashhad |
1750 - 1794 | Zand family - reintroduce Shi'ism. Capital at Shiraz. |
1757 - 1925 | Qajar dynasty - Turkoman Shi'a. Capital at Tehran. |
1901 | Mozaffar al-Din signs agreement with Knox D'arcy giving rights to exploit oil reserves in Persia. Origin of multi-billion dollar industry, and Iranian mistrust of the west. |
1908 | Burmah Oil Company strike oil. |
1926 - 1979 | Pahlavi dynasty |
1979 - | Islamic Republic |