Simplified Timeline of Iranian History

Highlighting places visited on this trip

Tim has had a lifelong interest in history, so creating the timeline below comes naturally to him. Because of the difficulty in finding accurate dates for some places, the location of a number of the sites in the timeline is open to question.

Links in the Historical Era column go to the appropriate articles in Wikiwand. Links in the Sites Visited column go to the page of this blog about each place. A question mark (?) means the date is very approximate.

Dates Historical Era
 Sites Visited
2nd millennium BCE Prehistory Life of Zarathustra/Zoroaster (ca. 1500-1000 BC).  In Taft we met Ramtin & Tina (practicing Zoroastrians)

Abyaneh: (said to be at least 2,000 years old)

Meybod: Narin Castle (said to be thousands of years old)
ca. 550 – 330 BCE Achaemenid Empire Takht-e Jamshid (Persepolis): Palaces (ca. 515-480 BC; destroyed by Alexander in 330 BC)

Naqsh-e Rostam: tombs of 5th century BC kings
330 – 248 BCE Greek conquest/Seleucid Empire
248 BCE – 224 CE Parthian empire
224 – 651 CE Sasanian empire Sar Yazd: Sar Yazd Fortress/Treasury (3rd-7th centuries)
651 – ca. end of 9th century CE Muslim conquest/Early Islamic period Qom: Shrine of Fatima Masumeh (died 816 AD; shrine built over many centuries)
10th-15th centuries  CE Many kingdoms; various Turkish and Mongol rulers Kashan: Kashan Bazaar (ca. 10th century; renovated in Safavid dynasty)

Yazd: Jameh Mosque (12th century)

Shiraz: Tomb of Hafez (1315-1390 AD); tomb monument built in 20th century
1502 – 1736 CE Safavid dynasty Yazd: Towers of Silence (?); in use until 20th century

Tehran: Golestan Palace (16th century)

Zeinodin Caravanserai (16th century?)

Kashan: Fin Garden (1590 AD)

Esfahan: Ali Qapu Palace (completed 1597 AD)

Esfahan: Naqsh-e Jahan Square/Imam Square (1598-1629)

Esfahan: Mardavij Pigeon Tower (late 16th century AD)

Esfahan: Sheikh Lotfallah Mosque (1603-1619)

Esfahan: Imam Mosque (1611-1629)

Esfahan: Khaju Bridge (ca. 1650 AD)

Kashan: Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (16th century; renovated in Qajar period_

Tehran: Grand Bazaar (begun ca. 17th century)

Meybod: Shan Abbasi Caravanserai

Meybod: Icehouse
1736 – 1796 CE Afsharid and Zand dynasties Shiraz: Vakil Bazaar (18th century)
1796 – 1925 CE Qajar dynasty Tehran: Imamzadeh Saleh shrine(?)

Tehran: Tajrish Bazaar

Kashan: Tabatabaei Historical House (1880)

Shiraz: Nasir ol-Molk Mosque (completed 1888)
1925 – 1979 CE Pahlavi dynasty Tehran: US Embassy built (1951); hostage situation (1979-81)

Tehran: Azadi Tower (1972)
1979 CE – present Islamic Republic of Iran Tehran: Tabiat Bridge (2015)