This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the
Iranic peoples
The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities.
The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate ...
, in present-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
), which are known by the royal title
Shah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
or
Shahanshah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
. This list starts from the establishment of the
Medes
The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, th ...
around 671 BCE until the deposition of the
Pahlavi dynasty
The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...
in 1979 CE.
Median Dynasty (671–549 BC)
Teispid kingdom (705–559 BC)
Achaemenid Empire (559–334/327 BC)
''Note: Ancient Persia is generally agreed to have ended with the collapse of the Achaemenid dynasty as a result of the
Wars of Alexander the Great.''
Macedonian Empire (336–306 BC)
Seleucid Empire (311–129 BC)
Fratarakas
The
Fratarakas appear to have been Governors of the
Seleucid Empire.
Kings of Persis
Parthian Empire (247 BC – 228 AD)
The Seleucid dynasty gradually lost control of Persia. In 253, the Arsacid dynasty established itself in
Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Mede ...
. The Parthians gradually expanded their control, until by the mid-2nd century BC, the Seleucids had completely lost control of Persia. Control of eastern territories was permanently lost by Antiochus VII in 129 BC.
For more comprehensive lists of kings, queens, sub-kings and sub-queens of this Era see:
*
List of rulers of Parthian sub-kingdoms
Sasanian Empire (224–651)
''Note: Classical Persia is generally agreed to have ended with the collapse of the Sasanian Empire as a result of the
Muslim conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion.
The ...
.''
Dabuyid Kingdom (642–760)
A Zoroastrian Persian dynasty that held power in the north for over a century before finally falling to the Abbasid Caliphate.
Rashidun Caliphate (642–661)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Islamic dynasties of Iran
Notable Governors
Abbasid Caliphate (750–946)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Notable Governors
Samanid Empire (819–999)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Saffarid Kingdom (861–1003)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Ghurid Kingdom (879–1215)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Ziyarid Kingdom (928–1043)
Buyid Kingdom (934–1062)
The Buyid Kingdom was divided into a number of separate emirates, of which the most important were
Fars,
Ray
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (g ...
, and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. Generally, one of the emirs held a sort of
primus inter pares
''Primus inter pares'' is a Latin phrase meaning first among equals. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their se ...
supremacy over the rest, which would be marked by titles like
Amir al-umara and
Shahanshah
Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
.
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Ghaznavids Empire (977–1186)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Seljuk Empire (1029–1194)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Khwarazmian Empire (1153–1220)
An empire built from
Khwarezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
, covering part of Iran and neighbouring Central Asia.
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Islamic dynasties of Iran
Mongol Empire (1220–1256)
For more comprehensive lists of kings and sub-kings of this Era see:
*
Muslim dynasties of Iran
Ilkhanate (1256–1357)
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
(1256–1335)
Sarbadars (1332–1386)
Chobanids (1335–1357)
Jalayirids
The Jalayirid Sultanate was a culturally Persianate, Mongol Jalayir dynasty which ruled over Iraq and western Persia after the breakup of the Ilkhanate, Mongol khanate of Persia in the 1330s.Bayne Fisher, William. ''The Cambridge History of Ira ...
(1335–1432)
Injuids (1335–1357)
Muzaffarids (1314–1393)
Timurid Empire (1370–1467)
Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Quyunlu (1375–1497)
Qara Qoyunlu
Aq Quyunlu
Sources:
[H.R. Roemer, "The Safavid Period", in ''Cambridge History of Iran'', Vol. VI, Cambridge University Press 1986, p. 339: "Further evidence of a desire to follow in the line of Turkmen rulers is Ismail's assumption of the title 'Padishah-i-Iran', previously held by Uzun Hasan."]
''Note: Medieval Persia is generally agreed to have ended with the rise of the Safavid Empire''
Safavid Empire (1501–1736)
Afsharid Empire (1736–1796)
Zand Kingdom (1751–1794)
Qajar Empire (1794–1925)
Pahlavi Empire (1925–1979)
See also
*
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...
*
Great Civilization
*
History of Iran
The history of Iran is intertwined with the history of a larger region known as Greater Iran, comprising the area from Anatolia in the west to the borders of Ancient India and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian S ...
*
List of ancient Persians
*
Shahbanu
**
List of Shahbanus of Persia
*
Monarchism in Iran
*
2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire
*
List of rulers of the pre-Achaemenid kingdoms of Iran
Elam, c. 2700 – 519 BCE
The Elamites settlement was in southwestern Iran, where is modern Khuzestan, Ilam, Fars, Bushehr, Lorestan, Bakhtiari and Kohgiluyeh provinces. Their language was neither Semitic nor Indo-European, and they were th ...
*
List of rulers of Parthian sub-kingdoms
*
Islamic dynasties of Iran
Notes and references
Bibliography
* Assar, G.R.F., "Genealogy & Coinage of the Early Parthian Rulers. I", Parthica, 6, 2004, pp. 69–93.
Assar, G.R.F., "Genealogy & Coinage of the Early Parthian Rulers, II a revised stemma", Parthica, 7, 2005, pp. 29–63.Assar, G.R.F., "Moses of Choren & the Early Parthian Chronology", Electrum, vol. 11, 2006, pp. 61–86.Assar, G.R.F., "A Revised Parthian Chronology of the Period 165–91 B.C.", Electrum, vol. 11, 2006, pp. 87–158.* Assar, G.R.F., "A Revised Parthian Chronology of the Period 91–55 B.C.", Parthica, 8, 2006, pp. 55–104.
* Briant, Pierre, "From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire", 2002.
* Cameron, George, "History of Early Iran", Chicago, 1936 (repr., Chicago, 1969; tr. E.-J. Levin, L’histoire de l’Iran antique, Paris, 1937; tr. H. Anusheh, ایران در سپیده دم تاریخ, Tehran, 1993)
* D’yakonov, I. M., "Istoriya Midii ot drevenĭshikh vremen do kontsa IV beka de e.E" (The history of Media from ancient times to the end of the 4th century BC), Moscow and Leningrad, 1956; tr. Karim Kešāvarz as Tāriḵ-e Mād, Tehran, 1966.
* Dandamaev, Muhammad A., "Persien unter den ersten Achämeniden (6. Jahrhundert v. Chr.)", tr. Heinz-Dieter Pohl, Wiesbaden, 1976.
Qashqai, H., "The successors of Mithridates II", Bulletin of Ancient Iranian History (UCLA), vol. 5, March 2009.(in Persian)Henkelman, wouter. Defining Neo-Elamite History. ARTA, 2003.* Hinz, W., "The Lost World of Elam", London, 1972 (tr. F. Firuznia, دنیای گمشده ایلام, Tehran, 1992)
Josephus Flavius, Antiquities of the Jews.* Justi, Ferdinand, "Iranisches Namenbuch", Tehran, Asatir, 2003.
Legrain, Leon, "Historical Fragments", Philadelphia, The University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications of the Babylonian Section, vol. XIII, 1922.* Majidzadeh, Yusef, "History and civilization of Elam", Tehran, Iran University Press, 1991.
* Majidzadeh, Yusef, "History and civilization of Mesopotamia", Tehran, Iran University Press, 1997, vol.1.
* Miroschedji, P. de, 'La fin du royaume de l’Ansˇan et de Suse et la naissance de l’empire perse', 1985, ZA 75, pp. 265–306.
* Nöldeke, Theodor, "Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden. Aus der arabischen Chronik des Tabari übersetzt" (1879)
* Olmstead, A. T., "History of the Persian Empire", Chicago, 1948
* Plutarch, Lives.
* Polybius, The Histories.
* Potts, D. T., The Archaeology of Elam, Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Reade, Julian E. Elam after the Assyrian Sack of Susa in 647 B.C. NABU, 2000.Tavernier, Jan. Some Thoughts on Neo-Elamite Chronology. ARTA, 2004.*
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Vallat, Francois. Elam: The History of Elam. ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', vol. VIII pp. 301–313. London/New York, 1998.Vallat, Francois. Shutruk-Nahunte, Shutur-Nahunte et l'imbroglio neo-elamite. NABU, 1995.Vallat, Francois. Le royaume elamite de SAMATI. NABU, 1996.Vallat, Francois. Les pretendus fonctionnaires Unsak des texts neo-elamites et achemenides. ARTA, 2002.* Vallat, Francois. Le royaume elamite de Zamin et les 'Letters de Nineveh'. Iranica Antique, 33, 1998. pp. 95–106.
{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Kings of Persia
Iran history-related lists
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
*