Tehran, the modern heart of Iran, is a large city with more than 10 million people; However, less than two centuries ago it was a small village. For more than two thousand years, Tehran, which means bottom of the mountain in Persian, has been located surrounded by the Alborz Mountains on two sides and a fertile plain fed by the creeks and rivers of Karaj and Jagrud on the other. For most of history, it was overshadowed by its neighbor Shahr-rai (city of irrigation) or Rags, which was the capital of the kingdom of Media during the first millennium BC. Besides Rey, the area of present-day Tehran includes other ancient sites such as the picturesque Chesham Ali, a spring that was a favorite among the locals for washing and drying their exquisite carpets. Based on the dating of ceramic vessels found in and around Cheshmeh Ali, the site dates back to around 5000 BC. Other major sites in Tehran and near Rayy are the Mausoleum of Bibi Shahrbanu, which probably dates from the Safavid period (1501-1736 AD) and the Sasanian era (224-651 AD) and the Fire Temple at Bahram.
Ray, or the ancient Mediterranean capital, founded by Deku in the 7th century BC remained the pre-eminent city of Persia until at least the late 18th century. This was largely due to the natural advantage of being located in a fertile area between desert and mountains, and also on a strategic road connecting different parts of Persia. Tehran also benefited from the settlement, but it remained small.
Today Ray is part of Tehran and is one of twenty municipalities that make up the metropolitan area, but for nearly two thousand years this ancient capital was a sought-after jewel of Iran. In fact, the history of irrigation and the general area surrounding Tehran sums up the development of the entire region that was called Persia. The Persian Empire that once ruled large parts of Western Asia, Asia Minor, Arabia and even parts of Europe has a secret link with this city. One of the earliest references to “irrigation” is in Zoroastrian texts. In the Avesta, it is called the twelfth holy place created by Ahura Mazda. One of the first inscriptions refers to the city where the false king Frawartes took refuge in 521 BC.
One early figure shared by both the Indian subcontinent and Persia is Seleucus Nicator, Alexander’s general who brokered a peace agreement with Emperor Chandragupta Maraurea in 303 BC and captured 500 Indian elephants – the deadly and often unpredictable war machines of the pre-modern era. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Nicator revived the beam and named it Europos, in honor of his birthplace in Macedonia.
In 639 AD, the Arabs took advantage of internal disputes among the Persian nobility and took control of the region from the Sassanids, but it took a few decades for the local rebellions to be completely quelled. More than a century later, a transfer of power between the Umayyads and Abbasids reportedly occurred in Rayy. A succession of rulers came and went over the next three centuries, but the population remained overwhelmingly Persian. Arabic accounts, such as those by al-Maqdisi, described the city of Rayy, the predecessor of Tehran, as a very rich trading center known for the silks and lustrous dishes (ceramics) that were sold in its large market. It also had a library.
A succession of dynasties followed, the Buyids, the Samanids, and finally the Ghaznavids, whose short rule left a trail of obscurantism (such as book burning) and destruction in equal measure. The eleventh century witnessed the emergence of Seljuk Turkish rule (1037-1194 AD), whose capital was Isfahan, Ray and Nishapur and was filled with Persian culture.
When the Mongol juggernaut arrived in Persia in the early 13th century, it surpassed its previous occupiers in brutality, and according to contemporary historian Ibn al-Athir, the Mongol army wiped out the inhabitants of Rayy in 1220 and 1224 AD. However, Ray could not have been completely annihilated as shown in the painted bowl discovered here dating from 1243 AD.
Creation of Iran and Twelver Shiites
After the demise of the Timurs, the Safavid Empire (1501-1736), which emerged from the Sufi order, restored indigenous rule after the Buyids in the 10th and 11th centuries. During the Safavid era, the regional, religious and cultural unification of Iran occurred. Ray’s importance diminished when Ardabil became their capital, but the idea of an Iranian nation has been revived since its loss. After the fall of the Sasanian dynasty in the 7th century, the Shiite Safavids coined the name Mamluk Mahrusa Iran or the Guarded Regions of Iran. During the reign of Tahmasp I, the second Safavid king, Humayun, who had been expelled from India in a fratricidal power struggle, sought refuge but was forced to convert to Shiism as a condition. He returned to India with the Safavid army and strengthened the nascent Mughal dynasty. The Safavid king Abbas is also credited with laying the foundation of the first recorded citadel in Tehran in the early 17th century.
Inevitably, the Safavid Empire collapsed under its own weight and the weight of its neighbours, the Russians and the Ottomans. Two new kings followed, the first, the notorious Nader Shah who sacked and massacred Delhi in 1739 and, with the wealth plundered from Mughal India, granted a three-year tax exemption in Iran. His rule was great but short-lived, and he was assassinated by his own nobles less than a decade later in 1746. Tehran was not yet a capital, and in the early 17th century traveler accounts show that it remained a small, unwalled settlement of about 3,000 houses.
Tehran’s transformation into a city began with the construction of a palace and other buildings by Karim Zand, who arose from obscure origins during the civil war that followed the end of Safavid rule, and he likely renovated and expanded the Safavid citadel, now known as Golestan Palace. But Karim Khan also ruled from Shiraz until his death in 1779.
Only in 1786 did Tehran become the capital of Iran. This status likely came about because ancient capitals such as Isfahan, Shiraz, Nishapur and other cities were torn by conflicts and a turbulent legacy. In fact, the lack of urban infrastructure likely suited the new king, Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar. Tehran had a strategic location on the north-south corridors and was close to Azerbaijan. Agha Muhammad Khan, founder of the Turkmen Qajar dynasty, was proclaimed king in 1789. Although he was killed a few years later in 1797, he succeeded in ending the civil war and moving Iran’s capital to Tehran and the nearby city of Rey, the original seat of power in ancient Persia.
The Qajar dynasty, which also had a Russian branch, lasted until 1925 when it was overthrown by the Majlis, an elected national constituent assembly that appointed Cossack Brigadier General Reza Shah Pahlavi as the new king. Tehran remained a relatively smaller capital with a population of about 80,000 people and a few bazaars and buildings, notably the restored Golestan Palace. During the Pahlavi era, Tehran turned into a major metropolis with large roundabouts and wide roads designed in a cruciform shape.
(HistoriCity is a column by Valai Singh that tells the story of a city featured in the news, by going back to its documented history, legends and archaeological excavations. The opinions expressed are personal.)
