History of Iran |
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The Gate of All Nations in Fars |
Timeline Iranportal |
This article lists the heads of state of Iran since the establishment of the modern Iranian nation-state [1] in 1501 AD.
The Expansive Realm of Iran (1501–1736)Safavid dynasty | |||||||
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No. | Name | Birth–Death | Reign start | Reign end | Dynasty | ||
Shah of Persia | |||||||
1 | Shah Ismail I | 1487–1524 | July 1501 [a] | 23 May 1524 | Safavid | ||
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2 | Shah Tahmasp I | 1514–1576 | 23 May 1524 | 14 May 1576 | Safavid | ||
Regency:
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3 | Shah Ismail II | 1537–1577 | 23 May 1576 | 24 November 1577 | Safavid | ||
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4 | Shah Mohammad Khodabanda | 1532–1595/96 | 11 February 1578 | 1 October 1588 | Safavid | ||
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5 | Shah Abbas I | 1571–1629 | 1 October 1588 | 19 January 1629 | Safavid | ||
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6 | Shah Safi | 1611–1642 | 28 January 1629 | 12 May 1642 | Safavid | ||
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7 | Shah Abbas II | 1632–1666 | 12 May 1642 | 25 September 1666 | Safavid | ||
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8 | Shah Suleiman I | 1648–1694 | 1 November 1666 | 29 July 1694 | Safavid | ||
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9 | Shah Sultan Husayn | 1668–1726 | 6 August 1694 | 23 October 1722 | Safavid | ||
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Ghilji rebellion | |||||||
10 | Mahmud Shah | 1699–1725 | 23 October 1722 | 25 April 1725 | Hotak | ||
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11 | Ashraf Shah | 1700–1730 | 26 April 1725 | 13 November 1729 | Hotak | ||
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Safavid restoration | |||||||
12 | Shah Tahmasp II | 1704–1740 | 10 November 1722 | 2 September 1732 | Safavid | ||
He was crowned on 9 December 1729 after liberation of the Safavid Capital. Reigned at exile:
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13 | Shah Abbas III | 1732–1740 | 2 September 1732 | 8 March 1736 | Safavid | ||
Realm of Iran (1736–1796)Afsharid dynasty | |||||||
14 | Nader Shah | 1688–1747 | 8 March 1736 | 20 June 1747 | Afsharid | ||
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15 | Adil Shah | 1719–1749 | 6 July 1747 | 29 September 1748 | Afsharid | ||
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16 | Ebrahim Shah | 1724–1749 | 29 September 1748 | May 1749 | Afsharid | ||
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17 | Shahrokh Shah | 1734–1796 | May 1749 | 30 December 1749 | Afsharid | ||
Proclaimed as Shah at 30 September 1748 and one day later crowned at Mashhad. | |||||||
Second Safavid restoration | |||||||
18 | Suleiman II | 1714–1763 | 13 January 1750 | 20 March 1750 | Safavid | ||
Proclaimed after deposing and blinding of Shahrokh Shah and crowned at 14 January 1750. | |||||||
19 | Ismail III | 1733–1773 | 29 June 1750 | 1773 | Safavid | ||
He was a Puppet ruler who raised to the throne by Ali Mardan Khan Bakhtiari and Karim Khan Zand as a front to legitimize their rule. [7] Regency:
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Afsharid restoration | |||||||
(17) | Shahrokh Shah | 1734–1796 | 9 May 1755 | 14 May 1796 | Afsharid | ||
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Zand dynasty | |||||||
Wakil-al Raʿāyā | |||||||
20 | Karim Khan | 1705–1779 | 1773 | 1 March 1779 | Zand | ||
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21 | Abol-Fath Khan | 1755–1787 | 6 March 1779 | May/June 1779 | Zand | ||
He and his younger brother Mohammad Ali Khan were Co-rulers. | |||||||
22 | Mohammad Ali Khan | 1760–1779 | 6 March 1779 | 19 June 1779 | Zand | ||
He and his elder brother Abol-Fath Khan were Co-rulers until May/June 1779. | |||||||
(21) | Abol-Fath Khan | 1755–1787 | 19 June 1779 | 22 August 1779 | Zand | ||
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23 | Sadeq Khan | ?–1781 | 22 August 1779 | 14 March 1781 | Zand | ||
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24 | Ali-Morad Khan | c. 1720–1785 | 15 March 1781 | 11 February 1785 | Zand | ||
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– | Bagher Shah | ?–1786 | 12 February 1785 | 17 February 1785 | — | ||
After the death of Ali-Morad Khan, Bagher Khan Khorasgani Governor of Isfahan proclaimed himself as Shah and mentioned himself in the Khutbah and on coins. He was defeated from the corps of Jafar Khan. [9] | |||||||
25 | Jafar Khan | ?–1789 | 18 February 1785 | 23 January 1789 | Zand | ||
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26 | Seyd Morad Khan | ?–1789 | 23 January 1789 | 10 May 1789 | Zand | ||
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27 | Lotf Ali Khan | c. 1769–1794 | 10 May 1789 | 20 March 1794 | Zand | ||
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Shah of Iran | |||||||
(27) | Lotf Ali Shah | c. 1769–1794 | 21 March 1794 | 30 October 1794 | Zand | ||
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Sublime State of Persia (1796–1925) | |||||||
28 | Agha Mohammad Shah | 1742–1797 | 14 May 1796 | 17 June 1797 | Qajar | ||
Agha Mohammad decided to move his capital to the small town of Tehran on 1786. [10] He was formally crowned as Shah during spring 1796 at the Mugan plain, on his return after the conquest of Tbilisi. [11] [12] | |||||||
29 | Fath-Ali Shah | 1772–1834 | 17 June 1797 | 23 October 1834 | Qajar | ||
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30 | Mohammad Shah | 1808–1848 | 9 November 1834 | 5 September 1848 | Qajar | ||
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31 | Naser al-Din Shah | 1831–1896 | 13 September 1848 | 1 May 1896 | Qajar | ||
Queen-mother Mahd-e Olia: 5 September 1848 – 1 October 1848. | |||||||
32 | Mozaffar ad-Din Shah | 1853–1907 | 2 May 1896 | 8 January 1907 | Qajar | ||
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33 | Mohammad Ali Shah | 1872–1925 | 8 January 1907 | 16 July 1909 | Qajar | ||
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34 | Ahmad Shah | 1898–1930 | 16 July 1909 | 31 October 1925 | Qajar | ||
Reigned in exile: from 2 December 1923 Regency:
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Imperial State of Iran (1925–1979) | |||||||
No. | Name | Birth–Death | Took office | Left office | Political Affiliation | ||
Provisional Head of State | |||||||
35 | Reza Khan | 1878–1944 | 31 October 1925 | 15 December 1925 | Military | ||
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No. | Name | Birth–Death | Took office | Left office | Dynasty | ||
Shah of Iran | |||||||
(35) | Reza Shah | 1878–1944 | 15 December 1925 | 16 September 1941 | Pahlavi | ||
. | |||||||
36 | Mohammad Reza Shah | 1919–1980 | 16 September 1941 | 11 February 1979 | Pahlavi | ||
No. | Name | Birth–Death | Took office | Left office | Political Affiliation | ||
Islamic Republic of Iran (1979–present) | |||||||
Leader of the Revolution | |||||||
37 | Ruhollah Khomeini | 1900-1989 | 5 February 1979 | 3 December 1979 | Independent | ||
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Supreme Leader of Iran | |||||||
(37) | Ruhollah Khomeini | 1900-1989 | 3 December 1979 | 3 June 1989 | Independent | ||
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38 | Ali Khamenei | 1939–present | 4 June 1989 | Incumbent | Independent [b] | ||
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The Safavid dynasty was one of Iran's most significant ruling dynasties reigning from 1501 to 1736. Their rule is often considered the beginning of modern Iranian history, as well as one of the gunpowder empires. The Safavid Shāh Ismā'īl I established the Twelver denomination of Shīʿa Islam as the official religion of the Persian Empire, marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam. The Safavid dynasty had its origin in the Safavid order of Sufism, which was established in the city of Ardabil in the Iranian Azerbaijan region. It was an Iranian dynasty of Kurdish origin, but during their rule they intermarried with Turkoman, Georgian, Circassian, and Pontic Greek dignitaries, nevertheless, for practical purposes, they were Turkish-speaking and Turkified. From their base in Ardabil, the Safavids established control over parts of Greater Iran and reasserted the Iranian identity of the region, thus becoming the first native dynasty since the Sasanian Empire to establish a national state officially known as Iran.
Abbas I, commonly known as Abbas the Great, was the fifth Safavid shah of Iran from 1588 to 1629. The third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda, he is generally considered one of the most important rulers in Iranian history and the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty.
Tahmasp I was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum.
Ehsan Yarshater was an Iranian historian and linguist who specialized in Iranology. He was the founder and director of the Center for Iranian Studies, and Hagop Kevorkian Professor Emeritus of Iranian Studies at Columbia University.
Qizilbash or Kizilbash were a diverse array of mainly Turkoman Shia militant groups that flourished in Azerbaijan, Anatolia, the Armenian highlands, the Caucasus from the late 15th century onwards, and contributed to the foundation of the Safavid dynasty in early modern Iran.
Organization of Communist Revolutionaries (Marxist–Leninist) (Persian: (سازمان انقلابیون کمونیست was an Iranian Maoist organization. It was formed in opposition to the Shah regime in Iran.
The Social Democratic Party was a political party formed by Persian emigrants in Transcaucasia with the help of local revolutionaries, maintaining close ties to the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and Hemmat Party.
The Revolutionary Republican Party of Iran was a moderate left-wing political party in Persia with socialist reformist tendencies. It was founded in late 1925 by Iranian diaspora in Germany and published its platform in 1927.
Roger Mervyn Savory was a British-born Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto who was an Iranologist and specialist on the Safavids. His numerous writings on Safavid political, military history, administration, bureaucracy, and diplomacy-translated into several languages have had a great impact in understanding this period.
Moderate Socialists or simply Moderates Party, was a political party in Qajari Persia and one of the two major parties of the constitutional period alongside its parliamentary rival Social Democratic Party–Democrat Party. It was Iran's first right-wing political party.
Union and Progress Party or Unity and Progress Party was a political party in constitutional period of Qajar Persia.
Reformers' Party of Reformists Party was a political party in Iran, established in the final years of Qajar Iran. It was one of the four major parliamentary parties in early 1920s, along with the Communist Party, Socialist Party and Revival Party.
Abu’l-Qāsem Khān Qarāgozlu, known by the title Nāṣer-al-molk, was an Iranian politician who served as Regent, Prime and Finance Minister of Iran during the Qajar dynasty.
Nur-Ali Khalifa, also known as Nur-Ali Khalifa Rumlu, was an early 16th-century Iranian military leader and official from the Turkoman Rumlu tribe. He served as the governor of Erzincan from c. 1511 to 1515 during the reign of Safavid Shah Ismail I.
Peykar Party was a small nationalist organization in Iran during 1940s. The party denounced the reign of Reza Shah and it condemned the presence of the Allies on Iranian soil.
Socialism in Iran or Iranian socialism is a political ideology that traces its beginnings to the 20th century and encompasses various political parties in the country. Iran experienced a short Third World Socialism period at the zenith of the Tudeh Party after the abdication of Reza Shah and his replacement by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. After failing to reach power, this form of third world socialism was replaced by Mosaddegh's populist, non-aligned Iranian nationalism of the National Front party as the main anti-monarchy force in Iran, reaching power (1949–1953), and it remained with that strength even in opposition until the rise of Islamism and the Iranian Revolution. The Tudehs have moved towards basic socialist communism since then.
Hasan Beg Rumlu was a 16th-century Safavid historian and military officer. A cavalryman of the qurchi corps, he is principally known for his chronicle of Safavid history; the Aḥsān al-tavārikh.
Bahram Mirza Safavi was a Safavid prince, governor and military commander in 16th-century Iran. He was the youngest son of Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid dynasty.
Mohammad-Hossein Mirza was a Qajar prince, who governed Kermanshah twice, between 1821–1826 and 1829–1835. He was the eldest son of Mohammad-Ali Mirza Dowlatshah and grandson of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar.
Soltan Hosayn Mirza Safavi was a prince of the Safavid dynasty of Iran who ruled as the governor of Kandahar from 1558 until his death in 1577. He was a son of Bahram Mirza and a grandson of Ismail I. His descendants formed a cadet branch of the Safavid dynasty in the Mughal India that survived there for two centuries and became one of the most prominent families in the Mughal court.