The ENTIRE History of The Persian Empire | Documentary

[Music] Persia now called Iran is a fascinating country [Music] it has been a major power since before the foundation of Rome and even since the dawn of civilization and it still shaves today the politics of the Middle East and Eurasia right in the middle between Europe and Asia it's been a major Center of Trade learning and cultural exchanges it is also a remarkably durable Center of power always re-emerging no matter how many times it got invaded or conquered this documentary will delve deep into where Persia comes from and what made it so successful and unique

among the world's great civilizations [Music] thank you [Music] the area of modern-day Iran and historical Persia has been inhabited since early pre-history it also saw some of the earliest agricultural villages in 7200 BC notably choco Golan and choga bonat in the Zagros Mountain in the west of the region and forming the Western border of modern-day Iran we know from these sites that wild barley lentils and various legumes were cultivated we also found a 7 000 year old jar of wine now on display at the University of Pennsylvania the culture of the region has been deeply

intertwined with one of Mesopotamia or current day Iraq one of the first cities the Sumerian city of Uruk is considered to have extended Eastward creating the city of Souza and 4395 BC or maybe even earlier the city of Souza would become the capital of Elan the very first defined nation and what would become Persia it would stay an important economic and Trade Center until its destruction by the Mongols some 5500 years after its foundation instead of a modern nation-state Alam was most likely a coalition of different people and tribes living in the mountain Alam was

the name given to them by the Mesopotamian civilization and they most likely called themselves something like Paul Tommy or those of the High Country this defined characteristic of the Persian people the people of the mountain would stay and it would contrast the people of the plain to the West in modern day Iraq the two would often fight and at times dominate each other the rough terrain was not suitable for the irrigation heavy type of Agriculture practice in the plain so life was most likely structured around semi-nomadic pastoralism with small-scale agriculture in a limited area along

the bottom of the valleys this Made For Less numerous but also rougher heartier people than the more sophisticated farming culture of the plane so in many ways the Iraq Iran conflict in the 80s was just the last episode in a 6 000 year long conflict between the plain people and the mountain people and who would dominate the area little is known about alam's everyday life because we're still not able to translate their writing which started from around 3200 BC the elamide language now extinct seems to have been a completely different language from any other from

the region however progress has been made recently to decipher elamide writing so we might soon learn a lot more about them a unique feature of elam's culture was a focus on animals in their art especially dogs and Bulls this was very different from the Sumerians acadians or Egyptians who favored human or animal human hybrid figures elamide art indicates a polytheist religion with a strong focus on nature and a mother goddess with rituals done in sacred Groves or mountains this was also a very tolerant religion that tolerated the gods of its neighbors and even progressively Incorporated

them into the elamide pantheon some aspect of their religion was passed upon the later religion in Persia notably zoroastrism for example using Elevated Places for worship or the personification of deities of natural powers another interesting aspect of elamide culture was a great respect for women they are represented as equal in art and queens are shown as equal to the king this cultural trade would be preserved later in the position of women in Persian Societies in an earlier era elim was frequently invaded by its more powerful Neighbors From The Plains which was more populous thanks to

highly advanced irrigation systems in fact Elam is the loser in the first ever recorded War With The Invasion and looting by the Sumerians of Elam and 2700 BC Souza would also be under Sumerian control under the rule of the legendary Sargon of akkad but nothing lasts forever and by 1100 BC Elam was the rising power in the region King shoot troop nahunty went on a series of conquests rolling over most of the cities around Babylon later Alam would stay powerful but would fail to rule the region due to infighting between The Heirs of King Shu

drug the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar would in turn conquer Alam in 1120 BC illustrating the difficulty in obtaining a lasting victory in the region we know Alam was trading with the whole Known World and not just its neighbors we found in Souza plenty of artifacts from the Hindus valley civilization in modern-day Pakistan we also found objects from Eastern Iran and Afghanistan showing the existence of an active Trade Network both by boat and by land Afghanistan was also one of the major sources of tin an essential medal to make bronze the most advanced metal of the

period no doubt Alam must have been involved in that trade and maybe resold tin from the East to the Mesopotamians or even the Egyptians they were also selling Stone metal and wood that was lacking in the more desertic Plains crossed by the Tigris Euphrates river system this trading Road would keep getting more and more important and slowly involved in the Silk Road connecting Europe to Asia with Persia as the Connecting Point between the two progressively alam's power faded with the entry of the Iranian or Aryan people into the region they were Nomads who originated from

the steps of Eurasia living a life similar to proto-slaves Turks and Mongols over time Elan and Iranian started to mix especially in the south of the country this was a gradual process that stretched over more than a millennium starting in 2000 BC elamite culture would persist long after the Iranian people became dominant in the region for example the ilamai language was for a long time used as the main administrative language this would indicate that if the Iranians ruled and colonized the area the legal and administrative system was still manned by native elamites one of these

Iranian groups the medes started to Federate the region under the banner of the first real Iranian Emperor diocese who were refined from 727 to 675 BC according to Herodotus to give you an idea the highly embellished tales of the 300 Spartans fighting Persia were from Herodotus so while important diocese might not have actually been the ruler of the whole of Iran in any case the Mead's unification was in large part a reaction to the brutal conquest and oppression by the Assyrian Empire dse's grandson Zaya zarez would Ally with the Babylonian and destroy the capital of

the Assyrians Nineveh in 612 BC by 700 BC the area was mostly populated by Iranian people like the medes Persians and parthians the medes might have been the founder of the first Iranian Empire and the downfall of the Assyrians but it would be another group that would take the lead of the region the Persians under Cyrus the Great would form the first Persian Empire also called the akaemenid Empire Cyrus the Great was a vassal of the medes that rebelled in 553 BC and then went on to conquer the world by 539 BC he had conquered

Babylon in 533 BC he would enter in India and conquer the western part of it [Music] we don't know much about him before he went on overthrowing the medes and taking over the whole Middle East it seems he started his Rebellion when amides General harpagus was sent to attack Cyrus but instead Cyrus and herpagus teamed up on the Mead's Empire how did that happen what did Cyrus promise harpagus no one really knows as the stories of the time including from Herodotus are too full of Mythology and inventions to be relied on but we know that

later harpogus would become one of Cyrus's top generals who knows maybe Harper saw early in Cyrus the Great ruler he would become so what made Cyrus the Great first he unified the Iranian people into a structured and stable Empire he created a central Administration with Governors called sat traps most of the Contemporary sources agree that they manage their domain efficiently to the benefit of the Common People it also helped that satrips were regularly checked by the king's eyes a network of spies reporting directly to Cyrus the Empire also had four capitals reflecting a large level

of autonomy for each region still the center of the administration was at Susa the old elamites Center of power it relied on an advanced post system where couriers would always find fresh food water a bed and horses at a maximum of two days of travel the system Cyrus created would be kept almost identical by successive Empires and Invaders until the Muslim conquests a millennium and a half later his influence on legal work has reached so far in time that Thomas Jefferson read Cyrus's biography by xenophen the cyropedia as one of the sources of inspiration for

the United States Declaration of Independence secondly he's the king that conquered Babylon in 539 BC and allowed the Israelites to leave Babylon where they were enslaved for the Hebrew Bible this was a task Cyrus had been appointed to by God himself this made Cyrus the only non-jewish figure in the Bible praised as a messiah third Cyrus was known to respect the culture and religion of the people he conquered he is considered by Iranians as the father he was considered by Babylonians as the Liberator which says a lot of about his style of ruling compared to

the old Babylonian Elite fourth he was the founder of the famous military division of the ten thousand men called The Immortals which would stay the Elite Force of the Persian Empire to the end overall as far as conquerors go Cyrus was indeed a pretty good one he created what at the time was the largest ever Empire and did it with a relatively limited amount of Bloodshed and sparing civilian and local temples his son would continue the tradition and Conquer phenicia and Cyprus in 525 BC followed the same year by the conquest of Egypt Nubia and

part of modern day Syria this day the Empire founded by Cyrus is the largest of all the successive Iranian Empires the tomb of Cyrus the Great Is Still Standing in Iran and is a UNESCO world heritage site Cyrus's greatest city persepolis is to this day one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world following Cyrus's son came Darius the first the other great Persian Emperor darius's reach would ultimately extend as far as an invasion of the Hindus Valley today Pakistan but he is more remembered for the first Persian invasion of Greece and 492 BC bad

luck would strike with the lack of troops coming partly from a fleet sunk by a storm and by the fact that the invasion of Greece was a really small campaign by Persian standards so The Invasion would fail at Marathon and 490 BC due to a mix of bad luck and insufficient troops angered by the Greeks resistance and surprise Victory Darius had planned a second invasion but he died in 486 BC before he could execute it leaving the task to his son Xerxes Xerxes management of Persian troops in the Greek campaign was average at best and

by now the repeated Persian invasions had forced the often divided Greek city-states to unite still he managed to burn Athens in 480 BC which had been evacuated by its population the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC would see the Greeks destroy the Persian Fleet fearing being stuck in Europe Xerxes retreated he also had to put down a rebellion in Babylon at the same time the remaining Persian troops on the continent were finally defeated at the Battle of platea in 479 BC Xerxes would end up assassinated in 465 BC by the commander of the royal bodyguards

the Greeks and the Persians would keep fighting for influence over Anatolia and the Greeks islands for the centuries to come with none really taking over the other after Xerxes Persia would stay one of the largest world powers for almost centuries one of the impressive features of the Persian Empire would be its effort to improve the conditions of the semi-arid region after all it receives only 124 millimeters of water per year notably Darius the great would create the shashtar hydraulic system a system of canals that would divert water from a river to the city of shushtar

power multiple Mills creating a man-made Cascade and irrigating almost a hundred thousand acres of farmland and Orchards another remarkable system predating the Persians but greatly expanded by them were was the continents they would take water from underground and carry it to fertile farmlands these canals were mostly Subterranean in order to limit evaporation because they tapped into the water tables it would provide a small but steady water flow independent of the rain the con it would also be immune from damage from war or flood providing an extremely durable infrastructure to the inhabitant of the Persian Empire

building a connet was a difficult task as you needed the canal sloped downward to let the water flow but not too steep or water would start eroding the canal and collapse it they also made a unique footprint on the landscape as vertical tunnels were dug at regular intervals to give access to the workers during the construction and for maintenance another Innovation was the yakchal a dome of clay where Persians would pile up ice in Winter to keep food cold the rest of the year [Music] there are also claims that it is the Persians we have

to think for the invention of the cartar the ancestor of the modern guitar another entertainment popular to this day is backgammon the oldest surviving board game the Persians also claim to have also invented chess even if this is contested by India the Persian culture and day-to-day life Incorporated a wide array of regions and cultures for example slavery was relatively common in the areas of Babylon and Egypt with a long history of slavery predating Persian rule but overall it seems slaves were just a minor portion of the society and slavery was not a key component of

it less than in Greece or later in Rome Persian women benefited from a remarkable amount of Freedom by Antiquity standards they could own by themselves land businesses and money they could also travel freely we also know that aristocratic women would ride horses and practice archery activities that would have been kept only for men in other cultures like the Greeks the only field apparently excluding women was ruling the country one last Innovation to be credited to the Persians is one of the first monotheist religions Zoroastrianism the religion was founded by zoroast the exact figure of zoroaster

is lost to history with religious tradition putting him in the 6th Century BC but some historians believe him to be more of a 10th Century BC figure turned into a myth Zoroastrianism explains the world as a place of a battle between a supreme god of good versus a supreme god of evil it also contained belief in Free Will life after death and Theology of Angels and Demons Heaven and Hell historians of religion consider that Zoroastrianism had a major influence on other abrahamic religions Buddhism and Greek philosophy one example is the three Magi bringing gifts for

Christ's birth in the Bible also known as the three wise men the term Magi refers to zoroastrian priests in Zoroastrianism the god of good is omniscient knows everything but not omnipotent cannot do everything Zoroastrianism also encouraged the protection and to some extent the veneration of nature probably drawing from the older animist and polytheist beliefs of the Iranian people and the elamites fire was playing a major role in the religion with prayers usually done in the presence of a fire and sometimes flowing water the zoroastrian idea of the law of Asha or truth and righteousness was

also claimed as an inspiration for Cyrus the Great style of ruling and law making even if he didn't impose oroastrianism on the people conquered by Persia Zoroastrianism is still practiced today as a minor religion in India and Iran overall the Persian Empire seems to have been a relatively tolerant and good one as far as Empires go it would punish rebellions harshly but then respect the local culture customs and religions of the conquered people its governing principles were autocratic but with a goal of improving the common man's life and developing a just and productive system run

by an efficient Administration with many safeguards against corruption and abuse of power saying [Music] Persia was a brilliant civilization that contributed to the progress of mankind as seen in more enlightened laws women's rights irrigation systems and new religions what Cyrus the Great and Darius the great built would be brought down by an equally great conqueror thank you the Macedonian Alexander the Great Alexander was a great admirer of Cyrus reading from an early age Zenith in cyropedia one key aspect Alexander took from Cyrus's biography was his heroism in battle Alexander was the king of Macedonia a

kingdom at the northern fringes of the Greek world he was born in 356 BC and tutored personally by Aristotle yes the Aristotle the father of Western philosophy Alexander was already commanding an army and ruling in his father's absence at 16 years old and then he became king at only 20 years old his father Philip of Macedon had United under one Banner the Greek cities Illyria the modern day Balkans and Thrace modern day Bulgaria and Eastern Greece Philip was assassinated in 336 BC by the captain of his bodyguard similar of the fate of exers more than

a cent earlier the beginning of Alexander's rule showed he could be ruthless he had one of his cousins and two Macedonian princes executed whether they were responsible for the assassination of Philip or not he is unsure what is sure is that it made his position in the throne very secure Alexander would also brutally put down any Rebellion tentatively following the death of his father it culminated when he made an example of Thieves destroying the 1 000 year old city in 335 BC and selling all of its citizens into slavery sparing only pro-macedonians and Priests may

be out of genuine guilt or to appease his critics Alexander would later on always show great generosity and favor to any surviving thebin he would meet in person in any case it worked at crushing any rebellious ideas in other Greek cities including Athens Alexander would follow by imitating Philip and taking the title of hegemon or Supreme Commander in these early moments of his Reign Alexander would display a real military genius he would stay undefeated in battle all his life making him one of the greatest Generals in history Alexander invaded the Persian Empire in 334 BC

with around 50 000 men six thousand Calvary and a fleet of 38 000 men he would conquer the western part of Anatolia modern-day turkey which was populated by Greeks but living under Persian Rule and then move on to Syria and the Levant the Greco Macedonian army met the much more numerous Persian army at least twice bigger at the Battle of Isis the Persians were led by Darius III and he had cut the Greeks from the conquered territories a big part of the legend of Alexander has been enhanced by the sheer ineptitude in cowardice of Darius

III at the Battle of Isis in 333 BC the Persians attacked the Greeks in a narrow space between the sea and Mountain blocking them from making use of their larger number when the Persian army started to break under a Greek assault led by Alexander Darius is said to have been the first one to flee the view of the Persian Emperor running for his life instead of rallying his troops led to the Persian army collapsing this was the first time ever that a Persian army under the command of a Persian Emperor would be defeated one can

imagine the shock it must have been to everybody even Alexander himself Darius left behind his wife his two daughters and even his mother as well as symbols of his authority like his bow Chariot and Royal mantle the female relative of Darius would be treated well but Alexander would refuse to give up on his hostages except for Darius recognizing him as the Emperor of Persia later on Alexander would marry one of darius's daughters in order to reinforce his claims on the throne Alexander would go on to put Siege to The Phoenician Tire now modern day Lebanon

to punish it for its resistance he would destroy the city in 332 BC kill the men and sell the women and children into slavery Gazo would then resist as well and even seriously wound Alexander in the shoulder the city would then suffer the same fate as Tire after that the whole of Egypt surrendered quickly many cities named Alexandria would be founded in the wake of the conquest but the Egyptian Alexandria would go on from its foundation in 331 BC and become a major Trade Center in place of learning harboring the Lighthouse of Alexandria as well

as the Great Library years after the battle of Isis Darius would flee again at the Battle of gagamela in 331 BC this was despite once again commanding a larger army fighting on a favorable terrain this time and having competent and experienced soldiers and commanders he apparently again fled first way before any clear winner of the battle could be decided from there the Persian Empire would never recover the rest of Persia fell right after with Darius unable to successfully raise a full third Army the fate of the previous two must have made volunteers quite rare in

addition the benevolence of Alexander to places that surrendered made it an attractive option at this point and his brutality against tire and Gaza made it a Bad Bet to resist too hard as well Alexander's military genius should not be dismissed as he showed real prowess in his campaigns to keep control all over his vassals since he was 16 years old his ability to wield both diplomacy and horrific brutality also contributed to his lightning quick conquest of the largest Empire in the world but a part of his astonishing success also stems from darius's cowardice not once

but twice did he single-handedly cause the route of a Persian army twice the size of the Greeks by leading the way to safety quite the contrast with Alexander which would constantly refuse the advice of his generals and lead the battle from the front line this extreme level of risk taken by Alexander also had a huge impact both the Greek and Persian armies were an assembly of soldiers from very diverse and not always very loyal vassal States when the Greek soldiers fought with Alexander they didn't fight for the glory of Macedon a state in culture many

of them actively disliked they fought for Alexander himself who they had come to admire at a personal level for his courage and in Reverse when the soldiers from Egypt or Babylon saw Darius fleeing they hadn't much interest in fighting and risking their lives for a cowardly Emperor many historians have tried to justify the fall of the Persian Empire as something almost inevitable they described the Persian Empire as divided tired and declining but this can be contested the Persian Empire managed not once but twice to gather an army twice the size of the Greek army it

was not weakened by the previous rebellions or Civil Wars there was very little defection by local rulers to Alexander overall the Persian Empire seems to have been still a very functional well-administered rated Empire the Persian Empire might have fallen solely because of the extraordinarily unlucky combination resulting from the clash between two very different men Darius III a poor excuse of an emperor and Alexander a once in a millennium military genius by Conquering the Persian Empire and uniting it with Greece and Macedon Alexander had created the largest empire ever seen the end of the campaign would

see the Greek pillaging persepolis for several days in 330 BC a fire intentional or not started in the palace and burned down most of the imperial capital it could have been revenge for the burning of acropolis by exers or just an accident apparently Alexander regretted it but it was already too late to stop the fire the relationship of the Greeks with the Persians was a strange one a bitter rivalry and centuries of War but also mutual respect each recognizing the other as civilized in a way something the Greeks did not extend to many other people

Plutarch tells us that Alexander paused by looking at a statue of exers and asked the statue shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the Expeditions you let against Greece or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects Alexander would end up hunting Pretenders to the succession of Darius III all over Central Asia in modern day Turkmenistan Afghanistan and Tajikistan seemingly always Restless Alexander would decide to try and invade India next in 326 BC the first battles were successful but this would be one step

too far the men were at this point tired of war and wanted to go home and profit from The Spoils of Victory ultimately the soldiers faithful to Alexander were an open Revolt they would still obey him and defend him but conquer no more Alexander would be back in the old elamite city of Susa in 324 BC during the campaign Alexander started to try to build his legitimacy as a Persian emperor in the eyes of his new subjects this led to tensions between his Greek troops and him one remarkable example is when Alexander drunk would end

up killing a friend that had saved his life previously the deadly fight started over accusations that Alexander had become corrupted by an oriental lifestyle another issue was how to integrate the Greek and Macedonian veteran with the Persian officers the initial mixing of command helped giving Persian troops to Greek officers and the other way around he also notably tried a wave of mass marriages between his officers and Noble women of Susa the now Persian old elamite capital this would not have durable effects when finally settling back he started to put in order to the administration including

executing several sat traps that had proven themselves corrupt or disloyal shortly after he came back to Persia Alexander died suddenly in 323 BC the likely cause was a fever caught in a nearby swamp but of course previous attempts and his position led to speculation about poisoning there are dozens of theories about his death none conclusive some would find it somewhat poetic that a man able to bring down an Empire and survive countless battles and injuries would not fall from Intrigue but an ordinary and unglorious cause like a disease he would be buried in Alexandria but

what happens to his remains is unclear past the second Century A.D conquest of Persia by Alexander would have a lasting consequences when Alexander was on his deathbed his generals pushed him to name who the throne should be granted he would have responded to the strongest this led to the fracture of the empire in four Macedon and Greece Thrace in the west of Anatolia Persia proper with Central Asia Iran Iraq Syria and Lebanon and Egypt which also ruled over part of the Levant Cyprus and South Anatolia the fragments of Alexander's Empire would stay under Greek control

or influence for most of the next three centuries this period is referred to as the Hellenistic period the local population would actually not see their life Changed by much it was mostly the aristocracy that changed into fully Greek or a mix of Greek and Persian or local culture a good example is the Ptolemy Dynasty started by General Ptolemy they would rule all uninterrupted until Roman times facing their power and Military recruitment on Greek colonists but also adopting local Customs the last member of this dynasty would be Cleopatra the lover of Julius Caesar ending the ptolem

rule with her death in 30 BC this hellenization would later see the rise of a Greek Empire in Central Asia the greco-bactrian kingdom which ironically would be the last surviving Kingdom directly and culturally related to Alexander's Conquest so far from Greece the Persian Empire soon turned into the seleucid Empire named after Alexander's General seleucus the seleucid would be in a bitter rivalry with ptolemaic Egypt it would fail to hold on to the territory west of the Indus River and settle it as a natural border with the Indian Moria people the seleucid would try to expand

Westward into Greece but would be defeated by the Greeks in the Roman allies this would weaken the empire and open it later to conquest by the parthians the seleucid would turn out unable to hold on to their empire with their most lasting Legacy being the hellenization of the region that same process pushed by a stream of an immigrant from Greece would ultimately weaken the empire with notably the Jewish population successfully rebelling by the time of Christ the Greek language would be used for language of learning trade and culture the first Bible would be written in

Greek as well [Music] in the near East in Iran the Greek influence would slowly fade away with a progressive return towards Iranian and zoroastrian ideas the bactrians in Central Asia would turn out to be the last standing Hellenic Kingdom with a culture mixing Greek Heritage and Buddhism also called greco-budism it is from this region that Buddhism spread toward China the parthians were an aaronic nomadic people living in modern-day Turkmenistan not unlike the medes in Persian before them they were ruled by the seleucid through Greek satrips until they rebelled and took over the Empire the one

to accomplish that was mithridates first the great he started wars in the East to control the greco-bacterians in 155 BC and then occupied the Indus Valley and wars in the west to try to expand into Greco-Roman territory this follows a now familiar pattern in Persian history first there are some natural geographic features a center of power always based around Modern Day Iran and trying to expand East towards Central and India and West towards the Levant and Anatolia competent Emperors managed to expand bad ones see the Empire Contracting when a dynasty really weakens it gets replaced

by nomadic Invaders first the medes then the Persians and then the for each Nomad Invasion the pre-existing bureaucracy and lifestyle mostly stay unchanged except maybe for the elite the parthian empire was no exception it is during this period that a full synthesis of Greek and Iranian culture would occur and one good example of it is the cult of Mithra later on Mithra would be a strong inspiration for the cult of mithras by Roman legionaries this cult would be competing with Christianity as a possible successor to the traditional Roman pagan gods it was inspired by Mithra

but also Incorporated a lot of other influences including beliefs in astrology and divination it was also a sort of secret society inside the Roman army with multiple levels of initiation and secret hierarchy a sort of Martial free masonry going back to the parthians a unique feature of the parthians was a ruling system that was a lot less autocratic it was aristocratic in the sense that only the elite had a say in the ruling of the country but the nobility could decide to oppose an unfit King by a vote without the Empire devolving into a civil

war alternatively even powerful Nobles could be demoted or arrested by the king without troubles as long as the decision was deemed fair enough this gave Parthia a high level of political stability something of an advantage against the always divided Greeks and the Romans experiencing regular and devastating Civil Wars Parthia would be a bitter rival to Rome constantly blocking its expansion Eastward parthian mounted archers would be a new core for the Persian Empire Army keeping alive the steps tradition more than the previous nomadic Invaders their most memorable tactic was the parthian shot a backward Arrow fired

at the pursuing enemy cavalry in one especially remarkable military campaign the parthians would be responsible for the defeat and killing of Crassus the third member of the triumvirate with Caesar and Pompeii they killed him in 53 BC by making him swallow melted gold and punishment for his legendary greed the sasanian Empire would be the last Pagan as in not Muslim iteration of the Persian Empire the best way to look at the sasanian replacing the parthian is by looking at the origin of the founders of the Dynasty and their ideology they were from an old Persian

Noble family from the same region that Cyrus the Great came from the Empire they built from 224 A.D would put back Iranian culture at the center of Persia with Zoroastrianism turned into a state religion pelonization would partially stay but be much weaker in Iran than in the fringes of the Empire like in the near East neighbors such as Lebanon and Israel other religions would be tolerated but this characteristic would be essential in distinguishing this new Persian Empire from the Roman Empire now turning into a Christian Empire later on the sasanian would be the most dangerous

and threatening rival to the Eastern Roman Empire also called the Byzantine Empire it is during the sasanian Empire that the Jewish Babylonian talmud would be composed as the Empire harbored several Jewish centers of learning the sasanian saw the rise of manichaeism created by the prophet Manny it was a religion claiming to be the final Revelation synthesizing the teaching of zoroaster Jesus and Buddha as a result it angered the hierarchies of all the main religions of the time manichaeism would spread quickly even if repressed by the sasanian Empire's leadership but would be ultimately crushed by the

various governments in the west China and the caliphates and Disappear Completely by the 14th century it would nevertheless be very influential on many Gnostic branches of Christianity like the cathars the sassanian Empire would also be a lot more centralized and urbanized compared to the parthian culture more influenced by nomadic Lifestyles the sasanian Empire would develop relations with the East further than the previous Persian Empire since the Bronze Age trade with India and China had created a prosperous Trade Network the Silk Road it took its name from The Invention of silk by the Chinese in the

fourth millennium BC and the beginning of its trade out of China from the time of the Persian Empire the sasanian and Chinese would also exchange artists like musicians and dancers and they cooperated in defending the Silk Road from the ever-present threat of nomadic pillagers from the center of Eurasia they would also take over the trade with the Indian Ocean kicking out the Romans from it the sasanian Empire is often described as the height of classical Persian culture and a lot of their philosophy architecture style literature and Engineering would later be considered Muslim by foreigners as

the sasanian style would be exported to the whole Muslim World they might have even invented the very first electric battery the so-called Baghdad battery it was a pod with a metal component inside able to generate electricity similar to AAA battery and we have no idea what it was used for just when Muhammad was preaching Islam and federating the Arab tribes the sasanian and Byzantine Empires had been fighting a multi-decade war of attrition against one another a plague known as the plague of chiro also caused a lot of damage in 627 BC invasions by Turkish tribes

reduced the military capacity of the sasanian Empire as well the weakening of the state for the wars had an especially dramatic effect on the sasanian Empire when the society and King cozra II was killed by his rival a civil war erupted with up to 10 people claiming the throne the Civil War lasted four to five years from 628 to 632 A.D just when the Civil War had ended the Arab Muslims attacked and invaded Mesopotamia it was repelled but then a second attack in 636 A.D took from the sasanian control of all of the land west

of modern-day Iran in 642 A.D another attack started and the Empire would fall less than 10 years later the versions would Revel and attack Arab Governors and garrisons But ultimately their resistance would be crushed by reinforcements from the Arabic peninsula the Conqueror would burn zoroastrian's sacred text and force conversion on the local population many would flee and form the ancestors of the current day zoroastrian communities in India and elsewhere in Asia non-muslims would have to pay a heavy tax called the jesia and could be enslaved nevertheless it would take until the elite middle age for

Islam to become the dominant religion in Iran this conquest of Persia by Arab Muslims was almost replicated against the Byzantine Empire at the same time the resulting Rashid in caliphate would control all of the Middle East including Iran Egypt Libya Syria and Mesopotamia as well as parts of Central Asia the relationship between Persia and Islam is complex on one hand Islam has been an imposed religion on the Persians who resisted Mass conversion for centuries on the other hand Persian culture has heavily influenced Islam itself this is especially true for the branch of Islam that spread

in Asia including the Turks that would go on to form the mighty Ottoman Empire it's fair to say that Islam has changed Persia but also has not destroyed the uniqueness of the Persian civilization no more than the invasion by Iranian people destroyed elamite influence or the Greek and parthian Conquest did eradicate the Persian culture the caliphate that would take over the rashidan caliphate was the umayyad caliphate while it was an Arab Empire first it also contained multiple elements of Persian culture as well and Drew a lot of its wealth in Manpower from Persia and Mesopotamia

it also adopted did the Persian Administration and Court protocol the umayyad caliphate stretched at its peak in 750 A.D from Central Asia to the Pyrenees Mountains in the north of modern day Spain the enormously overstretched umayat caliphate soon started to fragment into more manageable smaller Empires this was also in part due to a split about who should succeed Muhammad due to the religious nature of Muhammad's Empire this split evolved into a religious split as well Shia Muslims believe Muhammad appointed Ali Muhammad's cousin as his successor Sunni Muslims believed he did not as that Abu Bakr

appointed by a council of senior Muslims was the rightful successor this resulted in a bitter rivalry that is still alive to this day over time this difference about political succession evolved into differences in Theology and culture as well Shia Islam would initially be most preeminent in Egypt and North Africa nowadays Iran is considered the leader of the Shia world it is often opposing the rest of the Muslim World in majority Sunni the umayyad caliphate would be replaced by the abbaside caliphate it was formed with the help of an Iranian General and overall would progressively integrate

better the old Persian culture and administration to the Arab rulers and their religion the abbaside would build Baghdad in 762 A.D near the site of ancient Babylon the city would see the building of the world's first paper mill using Chinese inspired technology and become an important center of learning for the Muslim world it would study preserve and copy Persian Roman and Greek texts the abbasids would also trade in exchange with the rest of the world and contribute to the spread in the west of Asian inventions like the Sextant the number zero or Gunpowder the Abbasid

Empire which struggled to maintain a grasp on a very large empire and progressively lose control over the most distant Parts Morocco in the 830s Egypt in the 870s and North Africa in the 920s from 9 45 to the 13th century the area would become controlled by the seljuk Turks coming from the Eurasian steps like the multitude of Iranian tribes before them once again the pattern of Nomads replacing a declining Dynasty still hold true even if seldrix ruled the abbasides stay nominally in control of the empire in practice the seldrix would control the state and the

Army but the Iranian would control the administration [Music] the abbaside Empire is generally considered as having been the engine behind the Islamic Golden Age it was a period of scientific Development building on previous Knowledge from the Egyptian Persian Greek and Roman and on the exchange of ideas with all the cultures of Eurasia from Western Europe to India and China this led to considerable progress in various Fields like medicine philosophy astronomy chemistry geometry physics especially Optics and calculus with the invention of algebra a lot of the progress done in that time was also due to the

work of minorities like zoroastrians Christians and Jews excluded from political power they could still use their talents as doctors scientists and Engineers the avocids were also responsible for the production of some of the more well-known Muslim Literature Like The 1001 Knight's Tales likely at first a translation in Arabic of Persian texts with origin in Indian literature additional folklore from Arabic Persian Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources would be added to it this is where iconic characters like Aladdin Sinbad or Alibaba come from as said before the seldrick rule in practice did not disrupt the daily functioning of

the Abbasid caliphate the regular occurrence of Nomads invading and replacing the previous Dynasty ruling over Persia would be interrupted by the Mongol invasions they differed from previous Nomads invasions by their scale and brutality the Mongols would pillage and Destroy most of the lands they conquered culminating with the destruction of Baghdad in 1258 many more cities than Baghdad were burned to the ground and their civilians slaughtered the burning of Baghdad the intellectual center of the Muslim caliphate is considered the end of the Islamic Golden Age a considerable amount of libraries and other intellectual work as well

as mosques were burned another difference between the Mongol invasion and previous Nomads invasions was the widespread destruction of canots without these hard to build irrigation systems many Urban centers and agricultural lands would become uninhabitable Persia recovered a little under the Mongol ilknate that restored trade and repaired some of the irrigation infrastructures during the occupation the majority of the Mongols would convert to Islam they would have a preference for Sufism a sect of Islam with a pre-dilection for esoterism and mysticism in many ways it Blended well with the pre-existing Mongols animist or Buddhist beliefs just when

Persia was starting to recover two events would wreck the region the first reaching Iran in 1349 which would kill ultimately 30 percent of the population the second was the invasion by Timur the Lame or Tamerlane in 1381. to more would be the last great nomadic conqueror and also one of the most brutal conquerors in history he got his nickname due to injuries to his leg and two missing fingers from Arrow wounds suffered in his youth his tactic was simple he would ask for unconditional surrender and nothing else if refused he would kill or enslave everyone

on his path including the elderly women and children his campaign might have killed as many as 17 million people a colossal amount equivalent to five percent of the world population at the time at the time many believed him to be a forerunner of the apocalypse and maybe the horsemen of war in a paradox when considering his genocidal policies Timur was also a great patron of the Arts especially architecture and poetry built on murder and violence the tamurid Empire would fail less than a century after timur's conquests Persia would be partially ruled successfully by other nomadic

tribes onwards from 1452 A.D the black sheep turkmen or karakoyanlu would be followed by the white sheep turkmen or akkoyanlu in 1467 A.D the destruction and Chaos brought by the success of Mongols invasions had maybe for the first time in millenniums durably shattered the unity of Persia including its Iranian Heartland the political disorder gave space for religious movements to grow in popularity and restore odor the most influential of them were of Shia inspiration and the dominance of Shia Islam in Iran dates to this period Ismail was a religious leader and Noble of mixed descent with

his ancestors turkomon Kurdish Greek and Georgian in a way this made him a perfect ruler for a land that had been conquered and assimilated so many diverse cultures into its own unique template similarly the nascent iranian-style Shia Islam would quickly integrate many Sufi orders into Shia Islam this would increase permanently the theological difference between Iranian shiism and Arabic soonism between 1501 and 1511 Shah Ismail would have reconstituted a Persian Empire with familiar borders including Iran the Caucasus Turkmenistan part of Afghanistan and some control over Mesopotamia the main struggle for the safavid Empire would be their

powerful Western neighbor the Ottoman Empire while Iran was overrun by Timur and other nomadic tribes the Turks had created a powerful Empire in Anatolia that would succeed in the century-old goal of the Muslims Empire to conquer Constantinople the Ottomans also controlled the Balkans Greece the Levant and Egypt at its peak it would extend into North Africa and Ukraine and put Vienna Under Siege twice together the Ottomans the safavids and the Mughal empires would form the so-called Islamic gunpowder Empires their expansion and armies were heavily based on the early Mastery of gunpowder they would form stable

Rich Innovative and expansionist Empires the the safavid empire was a meritocratic society where people might inherit the position of their father but only if they prove worthy the safavids would have a relatively friendly relations with the mughals as they were separated by the harsh mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan on the opposite the safavid and Ottomans would regularly Clash over the control of Mesopotamia the Caucasus and East Anatolia this rivalry with the Ottomans contributed to Friendly relations with European powers the safavids under Shah Abbas first the great would treat with the Dutch East India Company and

even establish an alliance with the Austrian habsburgs a boss took back from the Ottomans Baghdad Eastern Anatolia and Georgia by 1618. this military success had been made possible due to the modernization of the army following the model of the British Army and under the instructions of Sir Robert Shirley the relay relationship with England was well established and it was with help from the British royal Navy that Shaw would kick out the Portuguese from Bahrain and Hormuz Europe would also import from Persia the famous Persian carpets silk and other textiles in general living standards were equivalent

to Europeans at least for the commoners however Western visitors would notice fertile lands not being cultivated blaming it on poor governance and a lack of interest in agriculture from the ruling Elite many monuments in Iran standing to this date traced back to the safavid period including the several Monumental and richly decorated mosques in Isfahan Isfahan would be a center of learning but by the mid 17th century Islamic culture had started to stagnate the emphasis on respecting older knowledge had turned into a reluctance to innovate or challenge previous assumptions this in turn put the country at

a disadvantage to Europe which had started to adopt the scientific method successors of a boss the first would prove a lot less competent and are remembered in history as more interested in wine and women than ruling their empire [Music] this gave the neighboring Powers increased Ambitions including Russia which had now been a growing power for two centuries and actively expanding to the east and south the Russian Empire under Peter the Great would conquer Iran's Caucasian territories in 1723. the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan would also rebel against their Persian Masters meanwhile the Ottomans would also

carve out a part of the Iranian territory the Treaty of Constantinople in 1724 would briefly split Iranian Territory between the Russians and the Ottomans by 1735 most of these territories would be returned to Iran after a rebellion and a new Iran ottoman War The Man Behind the restoration of an independent Iran in 1735 Nader Shah would then attack India and pillage Delhi using the stolen riches to finance the re-conquest of land long lost to the Ottomans over time he would turn into a paranoid and cruel ruler when he was assassinated in 1747 Persia controlled again

the Caucasus Mesopotamia and parts of Anatolia What followed was a long period of Anarchy in Civil War the winner of the Civil War who would found the kajar Dynasty in 1796 was AGA Muhammad Khan his Reign would be marked by the goal to re-establish Iranian control over the Caucasus like many other countries in that period Iran would struggle to be independent when faced with increasingly powerful industrialized and aggressive European colonial empires after AGA Muhammad Khan Iran would permanently lose control over the region to Russia in the two russo-persian Wars of 1804 to 1813 and 1826-1828

and this was was despite Russia fighting a very destructive war against Napoleon at the same time many Caucasian Muslims would refuse to live under Orthodox Russian Rule and migrate to Iran later on the ruling Elite would essentially sell the country to foreign power influence especially bidding Russia and England against each other England the colonial ruler of India was increasingly on a collision course with Russia over the division of Central Asia and Persia several revolutions from 1905 to 1911 would weaken the rule of the Shah and increased demands for democratization this would turn the old aristocratic

Persia into the Iranian modern state but also leave open to foreign domination in 1907 the anglo-russia convention would divide Iran into two zones of influence the blatant disregard for the locals opinion on the matter illustrates the loss of autonomy of Persia by that period foreign powers controlled the various factions fighting for control of the country the discovery of oil in 1908 contributed to increasing corruption and did little to help modernize and develop the country in 1921 the UK would be struggling against the Soviet Union for control over Iran and its strategically important oil reserve for

the Soviets access to the Indian Ocean and the ability to threaten English colonies in the Middle East and India was equally strategically important with support from the British Riza Khan would take power and establish the palavi dynasty which would rule until the 1979 Revolution thank you Reza Khan would establish an authoritarian Nationalist and militaristic government with a doctrine of secularism and anti-communism still the company modernizes quickly the authoritarian nature of the regime also made it prone to corruption and oppression the secularism of the Shah's regime was resented by a devout population in majority Muslim the

tentative to westernized was also poorly accepted including changes in clothing style women's Liberation and many socioeconomic reforms during World War II the Iranian government was initially tempted to decide with the Germans in response the Soviet and English forces invaded the country it would be a major Transportation road for supplying the Soviet Union with American-made military equipment under the lend lease agreement the post-war period would be marked by instability with the unresolved question of the relationship ship with Western Powers the new Shah Mohammed Reza initially ruled in a way that could have pre-figured the Country turning

it into a constitutional monarchy akin to the UK or modern Spain the relationship between the Shah and the democratically elected prime minister Muhammad masadiq would turn sour when the Prime Minister nationalized the british-controlled oil industry masadiq was removed from power in 1952 before being restored under popular pressure he would be permanently removed from power in 1953 due to a USA and uk-sponsored coup from 1953 to 1973 Iran's oil resources would be managed by Western companies in 1973 in the midst of the 70s oil shock the Shah would take back control of Iranian oil and use

the money to modernize and build a more powerful Army in 1979 the country would be taken over by the Islamic revolution transforming the country into the Islamic Republic it is today communist activists that contributed to the success of the Revolution would be quickly purged resulting in poor relations between Islamic Iran and atheist communist Soviets Iran would cut all relations with the West with the Iran hostage crisis a focal point one year later Saddam Hussein hoped to profit from the disorder in Iran to expand Iraq's territories especially in oil-rich areas Iraq was supported by the USA

the USSR France the UK Egypt and the Arab countries currently Iran is under sanctions from the West for its nuclear program regionally its exerting influence over traditional Persian space like Iraq Syria and Lebanon but also Yemen it's also improving its rate nations with China and Russia and is joining china-led International organizations like the brics and the Shanghai cooperation organization the Persian Empire Today is known for being one of the most dominant and Powerful Empires throughout the course of history over thousands of years the Persians have made numerous integral contributions to the world from industry to

culture [Music]