| 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. |
| 874 |
Occultation of 12th Imam of Shi'a Islam, who will return at the end of the world. |
| 928-1043 |
Ziyarid dynasty (Tabarestan) - Dailamite |
| 934-1055 |
Buyid dynasty (Mesopotamia) - Shi'a. Capital Shiraz |
| 821 - 873 |
Tahirid dynasty (Khorasan) - Iranian |
| 867 - 1002 |
Saffarid dynasty (Sistan) - Iranian |
| 875-999 |
Samanid dynasty (Transoxiana) - Iranian: claim descent from Bahram Chubin. Firdowsi begins the Shahnameh. |
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| 963-1186 |
Ghaznavid empire - Turkic |
| 1038 - 1220 |
Seljuq empire - Turkic. Omar Khayyam 1048-1124; Rumi b. 1207; Sa'di b c.1213. Capitals at Merv, Nishapur and Isfahan. |
| 1071 |
Battle of Manzikert. Seljuq 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 devastate Baghdad |
| 1262 - 1335 |
Ilkhanate - Mongol. Hafez b c.1315 |
| 1314 - 1393 |
Muzzaffarid dynasty (Central Iran) - Arab |
| 1345 |
Black Death begins to spread across Asia and Europe |
| 1370 - 1405 |
Timur (Tamerlane) - Mongol |
| 1375 - 1501 |
Struggles between Aq Qoyunlu and Qara Qoyunlu (White Sheep and Black Sheep Turkmen) |
| 1409 - 1506 |
Timurid dynasty - Turco-Mongol (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. |
| 1722 - 1730 |
Afghan rule. Capital at Isfahan |
| 1736 - 1750 |
Afsharid dynasty - Turkmen Sunni. Nader Shah. Capital at Mashhad |
| 1750 - 1794 |
Zand family - Persian. Reintroduce Shi'ism. Capital at Shiraz. |
| 1757 - 1925 |
Qajar dynasty - Turkmen 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. |
| 1951 |
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company nationalised under Mossadeq |
| 1953 |
Overthrow of Mossadeq in US-backed coup |
| 1979 - |
Islamic Republic |
