The History of Iran: A Primer

I summarize all the major dynasties of Persian history from Antiquity to the present day. Watch this video if you want to get an introduction to Iranian history, or if you've already done some reading but want to get an overview to see the whole picture.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:58 Elam
3:50 Achaemenids
6:14 Alexander the Great
7:12 Seleucids
8:37 Arsacids (Parthians)
10:04 Sasanians
12:24 Arab conquest
13:07 Umayyads
14:52 Abbasids
17:56 Ghaznavids
18:54 Seljuks
20:09 Mongols
23:09 Ilkhanate
24:07 Timur
25:28 Safavids
28:45 Nader Shah
29:22 Qajars
33:57 Pahlavis
35:57 Islamic Republic

[Patrick-cjes]

I would love a Mike Duncan “History of Rome” style history of Iran podcast from you. You have a great voice, your writing is approachable but your rigor and research is obviously quality.

[FPoP]

Hi, greetings from Iran. Love the video. Very hard to find good historical video that isn't seem like a retrospective with modern sociopolitical veneer on top of it. Also some of the moments in our history you pointed to cleared up certain vagueness of some periods of time for me.

[Salisbury]

Wow, i loved this. Everytime you said "I'm glossing over this period because it's too complicated and this is meant to be a short overview" i would LOVE it if you made a video about that skipped topic. There's so much more I'd love to learn, and you have a gift from bringing history alive.

[josephniehaus]

Hard to find a channel that combines rigorous history with a great communication style. You are certainly one of the best; easy sub

[alexandrakaragiwrgi]

He's doing a better job than all the history teachers I've had.

[egecant]

I am so happy that I found your channel, your content is amazing.

[LionZebra]

I think you definitely did a great job in trying to cover 2500 years of Iranian/Persian history in a 30 min overview exposition. And you qualified that more than enough. Much of even this summary is novel for most viewers in todays Western World especially America.

[CanBabaluma]

One small detail I really appreciate about your videos is that you have pictures or statues of the various people you talk about. Its good to be reminded that these were real people and not just names.

[anthonysocci]

I remember being a history major up at the University of Pitt taking a class dedicated to the history of Iran. I always loved learning about the history of the Achaemenid and Parthian empires.

[hartleyabdekalimi]

Your bit on Esfahan (where my mom's family is from) reminded me of the old saying (which I think comes from the Safavid era): "Esfahan nesf-e jahan" or "Esfahan is half the world."

Also, I remember in my "world history" class in high school, Persian history was basically relegated to a brief mention in party of one day's class--except for some quick mentions when they fought with Romans or Greeks. Obviously there's a lot to cover in the world but it's a shame this history is overlooked so much by some in the west.

[TheDanrach]

This was extraordinarily helpful in putting the pieces together of a vast stretch of history as well as how it coalesced or impacted other histories. As a person who is aware of some of the pieces but not necessarily how they lock together both time and geography-wise, I will definitely be following your videos.

[AnAlienInThisWorld]

Just found your channel yesterday through the Genghis Khan video and I am loving it! History has always been a frequent dinner-table topic for my family (yes, I know we are nerds) and I love that there is always more to learn. I especially appreciate your acknowledgement of the biases that we project onto historical events, Eurocentrism in particular, as this seems to be absent in so many takes on history. You present with passion, logical flow, expertise, and approachability. Please know that what you are doing is very, very valuable in promoting knowledge and dispelling biases - and making one amateur history lover very happy!

[andreaaveni]

This video is simply wonderful! Thank you
I think everyone would love a more detailed series

[Bluebirdiran]

Iranian culture is like "aqua regia" . It dissolves the invading cultures such that after a century or less the invaders become more Persian than the local Persians.

[melissamybubbles]

I'd love a video on modern Iranian history from the 20th century. This was definitely a good first step for me. Thank you.

[kevinfarhangi]

My Origins lay in Persia/Iran so i wanted to learn about the History of Iran/the Persians and your video gave me much interresting information about the subject. Thank you for the effort and detailed and simple explantion in this video 🙏

[babaxanqacar]

Thank you very much, you are the one of the significant youtube channels dont lie about the origins of seljuks, safavids, afsharids and qajars. All of these dynasties are turkic not persian/farsi

[saeedsobhani]

Wow was born and raised in Iran, Fars. I didn’t know my own country history as detailed as he explained it. From Pahlavi up to present Iranian didn’t have normal lifestyle due to Dictatorship being imposed to them from current and previous regime and western sanctions specifically USA regime. Iranians deserve their sovereignty and their rich culture and art free from East and West and Arab influences

[fesenboga]

I’ve found out about your channel very recently and I AM LOVING IT! As a former student and teacher of Western Colonization, your videos and your style reminds me of my classes. Anyway, because you are open to suggestions for new topics, here are my suggestions of new topics:
1-Westernization of Ottomans (Turks, Egypt and Iran. A comparative video would be awesome.
2-A primer of history of India, one like this one on Iran.
3-History of colonization of Americas, with emphasis on North America.
Last but not least, you are an amazing history teacher. God bless you!

[jaynichols]

You mention how we know very little about the Parthians compared to the other empires. I would be very interested in a more in depth video collating what is known about them.

On the opposite end of the sectrum, a similar broad primer video about the history of the Mongol empire would be great. I'd love to know more about what happened to each section of the empire after it was divded up. Might be harder to make a video trying to follow multiple threads about multiple smaller empires at the same time, though.