The page details the timeline of History of Iran. Millennia: 1st BC1st–2nd3rd

Centuries: 7th BC6th BC5th BC4th BC3rd BC2nd BC1st BCSee alsoReferencesBibliographyExternal links

44th century BC Year Date Event4395 BC Construction of the city of Susa in southwestern Iran.

33rd century BC Year Date Event 3200 BC The Elamite civilisation, one of the four oldest civilisations (along with Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and Egypt), begins in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran.

21st century BC Year Date Event 2000 BC Earliest date for the arrival of Aryans into Iran from Central Asia. The migrations into Iran may have been completed as late as 1000 BC.

16th century BC Year Date Event 1500 BC Start of the Avestan period, which according to some scholars continued until the sixth century BC. The prophet Zoroaster lived at some point during this era, with any time between 1500 BC and 1000 BC being the most favoured date for his life by modern scholars.

13th century BC

Year Date Event 1250 BC Untash-Napirisha, king of Elam, builds the Chogha Zanbil ziggurat complex in present-day Khuzestan province. 1210 BC Elamite Empire reaches the height of its power.

8th century BC Year Date Event 770 BC The Persians start driving the Elamites of Anshan towards Susa. 727 BC Deioces founds the Median government. 705 BC Birth of Achaemenes (died ), the eponymous ancestor of the Achaemenid dynasty.

7th century BC

Year Date Event 678 BC Phraortes founds the Median Empire.655–638 BC The Assyrian conquest of Elam occurs. The Neo-Assyrian Empire under Assurbanipal is victorious at the Battle of Susa in 647 BC, resulting in the looting and sack of Susa. 633 BC The Scythians invade Media. 625 BC Cyaxares the Great becomes the king of the Medes after Phraortes dies fighting the Assyrians. 624 BC The Medes under Cyaxares repel the Scythians. 612 BC Together with the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Cyaxares the Great sacks the Assyrian capital Nineveh and destroys the Neo-Assyrian Empire. 600 BC Cyrus I becomes king of Persia.

6th century BC

Year Date Event 585 BC Cyaxares dies and is succeeded by his son Astyages. 580 BC Cyrus I dies and is succeeded by his son Cambyses I. 559 BC Cambyses I dies and is succeeded by Cyrus the Great as king of Persia. 550 BC The Achaemenid Empire is founded by Cyrus the Great after he overthrows and conquers the Median Empire. 547 BC Cyrus conquers the Lydian Empire in western Asia Minor.545–540 BC Cyrus conquers Bactria, Arachosia, Sogdia, Sakastan, Chorasmia, and Margiana during his eastern campaign. 539 BC Cyrus conquers the Neo-Babylonian Empire, frees thousands of slaves in Babylon and issues a declaration of human rights. This would later be inscribed into the Cyrus Cylinder. 535 BC Cyrus commences the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley. 530 BC Cyrus dies, and is succeeded by his son Cambyses II. 525 BC Cambyses II conquers Egypt after the Battle of Pelusium. Cyprus is also conquered by Cambyses. 522 BC Cambyses dies and is succeeded by either his brother Bardiya or an impostor, Gaumata, pretending to be Bardiya. This individual dies months after becoming the King of Kings, and is succeeded by Darius the Great. Civil war breaks out as a result of the mysterious circumstances surrounding Darius' ascension, with Persis, Elam, Media, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, Parthia, Armenia, Margiana, Sattagydia, Sagartia, Hyrcania, and Scythia all revolting. Darius suppresses all the uprisings by 520 and restores order to the Achaemenid Empire. 518 BC Darius completes the conquest of the Indus Valley. 513 BC Darius expands the Achaemenid Empire into Europe, conquering European Scythia, Thrace, Paeonia, and the coastal Greek cities. 512 BC Macedon submits to Persia.

5th century BC

Year Date Event 490 BC August/September Battle of Marathon, Persian Empire is defeated by Greek states. 486 BC Darius the Great dies; Xerxes I the Great succeeds him as King of Kings. 484 BC The Babylonian Revolt, led by two pretenders to the Babylonian throne, is crushed by Xerxes. 480 BC The Achaemenid Empire under Xerxes invades mainland Greece, reaching its greatest extent. 480 BC–479 BC Persians capture and destroy Athens. The Acropolis, the Old Temple of Athena and the Older Parthenon are destroyed. 465 BC Assassination of Xerxes I. Artaxerxes I becomes the King of Kings. 404 BC Egypt breaks away from Persian rule.

4th century BC Year Date Event 343 BC Egypt is reconquered after the defeat of the Thirtieth Dynasty by Artaxerxes III. 334 BC Alexander III of Macedon crosses the Hellespont into Asia. 334 BC May Alexander III of Macedon defeats the armies of the Achaemenid Empire in the Battle of the Granicus river 333 BC 5 November Alexander III of Macedon defeats the armies of the Achaemenid Empire in the Battle of Issus 330 BC 20 January Alexander III of Macedon defeats the armies of the Achaemenid Empire in the Battle of the Persian Gate 330 BC July Darius III, the last Achaemenid emperor is killed, bringing an end to the Achaemenid Empire. 330 BC Persepolis, the capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire is destroyed by Alexander III of Macedon. 323 BC 10/11 June Alexander III dies in Babylon, triggering a division of his empire among his generals in a treaty known as the Partition of Triparadisus. 312 BC Seleucus I Nicator, establishes the Seleucid Empire in the Persian territories of the erstwhile Macedonian Empire.

3rd century BC Year Date Event 247 BC Arsaces I establishes the Parthian Empire (also known as the Arsacid Empire) in present-day north-eastern Iran.

2nd century BC

Year Date Event 238 BC–129 BC Seleucid-Parthian Wars – the Arsacids expel the Seleucids from Iran and Mesopotamia, and those lands pass into their hands.

1st century BC

Year Date Event 94 BC The Parthian Empire reaches its peak, stretching from the northern reaches of the Euphrates, in what is now central-eastern Turkey, to present-day Afghanistan and western Pakistan. 54 BC Beginning of the Roman–Parthian Wars, lasting till 217 CE.

Centuries: 1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th13th14th15th16th17th18th19th20th

1st century

2nd century

3rd century Year Date Event 208 Vologases V dies and is succeeded by his son Vologases VI. 211 Ardashir I establishes the Sasanian Empire in Istakhr in present-day Fars province. 224 Ardashir I defeats the last Parthian Shahanshah Artabanus IV, ending the Parthian Empire. 260 Persians defeated the Romans at the Battle of Edessa and take emperor Valerian prisoner for the remainder of his life.

4th century Year Date Event 360 Sasanian Empire captures the town of Singara, in the Siege of Singara (360) 363 Battle of Samarra (363) between the Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire, in which Roman emperor Julian is wounded, and subsequently dies of his wounds. 371 Roman Empire and Kingdom of Armenia defeat the Sasanian Empire and Caucasian Albania in the Battle of Bagavan

5th century Year Date Event 421 Roman–Sasanian War of 421–422 after which Persian Empire agreed to tolerate Christianity and Roman Empire agreed to tolerate Zoroastrianism

6th century Year Date Event 570–578 Aksumite–Persian wars, Yemen is annexed by the Sasanian Empire. 590 Khosrow II becomes ruler of the Sasanian Empire. During his rule till 628, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon are annexed into the Sasanian Empire

7th century

Year Date Event 620 Sasanian Empire reaches its greatest height, encompassing all of present-day Iran and Iraq and stretching from the eastern Mediterranean (including Anatolia and Egypt) to Pakistan, and from parts of southern Arabia to the Caucasus and Central Asia. 626 June – July Sasanian Empire lays siege to Constantinople, however is unable to capture it. 628 25 February Khosrow II is deposed and killed by his son Kavad II. 628 6 September Ardashir III becomes ruler of the Sasanian Empire. 632 16 June Yazdegerd III becomes ruler of the Sasanian Empire. 633 May Battle of Ullais in which the Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire resulting in the massacre of 70,000 Persians by Arabs. 634 October Sasanian Empire led by Bahman Jaduya defeats the Rashidun Caliphate in the Battle of the Bridge. 636 Arab invasion brings end of Sassanid dynasty and start of Islamic rule. 636 16–19 November Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, takes control of present-day Iraq. 637 Destruction of the Ctesiphon library by Arabs of the Rashidun Caliphate. 642 Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire in the Battle of Nahavand, resulting in the near collapse of the Sasanian Empire. 644 3 November The second Rashidun caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab () is assassinated by the Persian slave Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz. 644 6 November Uthman ibn Affan becomes the third Rashidun Caliph. During his reign, almost the whole of the former Sassanid empire's territories rebel from time to time, with major rebellions in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Fars, Sistan (in 649), Khorasan (651), and Makran (650). 651 Rashidun Caliphate defeats the Sasanian Empire and the Göktürk Empire in the Battle of Oxus River. 651 Yazdegerd III, the last Sassanid emperor, is killed near Merv putting an end to both his dynasty and to organized Persian resistance to Arab conquest.

8th century Year Date Event 716–717 Farrukhan the Great, ruler of Tabaristan in present-day Mazandaran province defeats the Muslim invasion under Yazid ibn al-Muhallab. 761 Tabaristan falls to Muslim invasion and becomes a province of the Abbasid Caliphate. 767 Ustadh Sis, Persian Zoroastrian revolutionary leader launches a rebellion, occupies Herat and Sistan before marching towards Merv. He initially defeats an Abbasid army under the command of al-Ajtham of Merv, but is himself defeated in a bloody battle against an army led by Muhammad ibn Abdallah.

9th century Year Date Event 816–835 Babak Khorramdin a Persian Zoroastrian revolutionary leader of the Khorram-Dīnân movement defeats successive Arab generals of the Abbasid Caliphate. 821 Tahir ibn Husayn, an Iranian general under the Abbasid Caliphate, declared the establishment of the independent Tahirid dynasty. 867 Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari founded the Saffarid dynasty. 867 One of the earliest works in Early New Persian is composed by Muhammad ibn Wasif (died 909), a poet and secretary of the Saffarids.

10th century Year Date Event 934 Sistan is conquered by the Samanid Empire. 930 Zoroastrian commander Mardavij establishes the Ziyarid dynasty and briefly conquers much of northern Persia before being betrayed and killed in 935 CE. The Ziyarid dynasty continued to rule over much of Tabaristan until its demise in 1090 CE. 934 The Buyid dynasty was founded.

11th century Year Date Event 1010 The poet Ferdowsi finished writing the epic poem Shahnameh, a touchstone of the modern Persian language.

12th century Year Date Event 1131 Death of the Persian poet Sanai. 1136 The Eldiguzid dynasty (also known as the Atabegs of Azerbaijan) is founded by Eldiguz. 1157 Death of the Seljuk sultan Ahmad Sanjar. 1182/3 Death of Rashid al-Din Vatvat, a secretary, poet, philologist in the Khwarazmian Empire. 1189 Third Crusade: Teutonic Knights destroyed several cities of the Middle East. As a result of the conflict, the safety of both Christian and Muslim unarmed pilgrims is guaranteed throughout the Levant. 1195 Death of the Persian poet Khaqani.

13th century Year Date Event 1219 The Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia begins after two diplomatic missions to Khwarezm sent by Genghis Khan are massacred. In 1220 and 1221, Bukhara, Samarkand, Herat, Tus and Nishapur were razed, and the whole populations were slaughtered. 1220 Pursued by Mongol forces, Shah Muhammad II of Khwarezm dies on an island off the Caspian coast.

14th century

15th century

16th century