Sasanian EmpireThe Sasanian Empire (səˈsɑːniən,_səˈseɪniən), officially known as Eranshahr ("Land/Empire of the Iranians"), was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries AD. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651 AD, making it the longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty. The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire (after 395 the Byzantine Empire).
FerdowsiAbul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (; 940 – 1019/1025), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persian poet and the author of Shahnameh ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poems created by a single poet, and the greatest epic of Persian-speaking countries. Ferdowsi is celebrated as one of the most influential figures of Persian literature and one of the greatest in the history of literature. Except for his kunya ( – Abo'l-Qâsem) and his laqab ( – Ferdowsī, meaning 'paradisic'), nothing is known with any certainty about his full name.
HeratHerāt (hɛˈrɑːt; Pashto ; هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (Selseleh-ye Safēd Kōh) in the fertile valley of the Hari River in the western part of the country. An ancient civilization on the Silk Road between West, Central and South Asia, it serves as a regional hub in the country's west. Herat dates back to Avestan times and was traditionally known for its wine.
TehranTehran (tɛəˈræn,_-ˈrɑːn,_ˌteɪ-; Tehrân tehˈɾɒːn) is the capital and most populous city of Iran, capital of Tehran province and Tehran county. Tehran city had a population of 9,039,000 in the estimate of 2022 and according to the 2018 estimate of the United Nations, it is the 34th most populous city in the world and the most populous city in West Asia, Tehran metropolis is also the second most populated metropolis in the Middle East.
ZoroasterZoroaster, also known as Zarathustra, is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is said to have been an Iranian prophet who founded a religious movement that challenged the existing traditions of ancient Iranian religion, and inaugurated a movement that eventually became a staple religion in ancient Iran. He was a native speaker of Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian plateau, but his exact birthplace is uncertain.
TuranTuran (Tūiriiānəm, Tūrān; Turân, thuːˈɾɒːn, "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of the Avestan age. In ancient Iranian mythology, Tūr or Turaj (Tuzh in Middle Persian) is the son of the emperor Fereydun. According to the account in the Shahnameh, the nomadic tribes who inhabited these lands were ruled by Tūr.
ShirazShiraz (ʃɪəˈrɑːz; Širâz ʃiːˈɾɒːz) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars (پارس) and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 people, and its built-up area with Sadra was home to almost 1,800,000 inhabitants. A census in 2021 showed an increase in the city's population to 1,995,500 people. Shiraz is located in southwestern Iran on the rudkhaneye khoshk (dry river) seasonal river.
Persian literaturePersian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and Turkey, regions of Central Asia (such as Tajikistan), South Asia and the Balkans where the Persian language has historically been either the native or official language.
History of IranThe 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 Indus river and the Syr Darya in the east, and from the Caucasus and the Eurasian Steppe in the north to the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south. Central to this area is Iran, commonly known until the mid-20th century as Persia in the Western world. Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC.
Samanid EmpireThe Samanid Empire (Sāmāniyān), also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids, was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan origin. The empire was centred in Khorasan and Transoxiana; at its greatest extent encompassing Persia and Central Asia, from 819 to 999. Four brothers—Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya, and Ilyas—founded the Samanid state. Each of them ruled territories under Abbasid suzerainty.
