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Conquered by the Arabs, Persia remakes Islam: Baghdad, Ferdowsi and Avicenna.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Islamic Iran & the Caliphates · 651-1040 AD
The Persian Revival

Islamic Iran & the Caliphates

From the Arab conquest and the Abbasid revolution born in Khurasan through the Persianate court of Baghdad, the House of Wisdom, and the native dynasties of the Iranian Intermezzo, to the New Persian revival of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the science of Avicenna. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of Iran's rebirth within Islam.

651 AD
Rashidun & Umayyad
1 / 9

Iran becomes part of the Caliphate

With the fall of the Sasanians, the Iranian plateau is absorbed into the rapidly expanding Islamic Caliphate.

651 AD

Rashidun & Umayyad
  • Political

    Iran becomes part of the Caliphate

    With the fall of the Sasanians, the Iranian plateau is absorbed into the rapidly expanding Islamic Caliphate.

9 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 651 AD

Full Chronicle

Islamic Iran & the Caliphates

From the Arab conquest and the Abbasid revolution born in Khurasan through the Persianate court of Baghdad, the House of Wisdom, and the native dynasties of the Iranian Intermezzo, to the New Persian revival of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the science of Avicenna. Slide across the centuries to read the major events of Iran's rebirth within Islam.

  1. Rashidun & Umayyad

    • Iran becomes part of the Caliphate

      With the fall of the Sasanians, the Iranian plateau is absorbed into the rapidly expanding Islamic Caliphate.

  2. The Abbasid Revolution

    • Khurasan and the Abbasid Revolution

      A revolt born in the Iranian province of Khurasan topples the Umayyads and brings the Abbasid caliphs to power.

  3. Abbasid Golden Age

    • Baghdad and the Persianate court

      The Abbasids found Baghdad and adopt Sasanian court ceremony, administration, and the powerful Barmakid viziers of Iranian descent.

  4. The Iranian Intermezzo

    • The Tahirids and Saffarids rise in the east

      Semi-independent Iranian dynasties emerge in Khurasan and Sistan as Abbasid central power weakens.

  5. Abbasid Golden Age

    • Persian scholars and the House of Wisdom

      Iranian scholars like al-Khwarizmi help lead the translation movement and the scientific flowering of Baghdad.

  6. The Iranian Intermezzo

    • The Samanids and the New Persian revival

      The Samanid dynasty rules Khurasan and Transoxiana from Bukhara, patronizing a golden age of Persian letters.

  7. The Buyid Age

    • The Buyids take Baghdad

      The Shia Buyid dynasty from northern Iran seizes control of Baghdad, reducing the Abbasid caliph to a figurehead.

  8. The Persian Renaissance

    • Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh

      The poet Ferdowsi finishes the Shahnameh, the 'Book of Kings,' the national epic that preserved Persian identity.

  9. The Persian Renaissance

    • The death of Avicenna

      Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the greatest philosopher-physician of the age, dies, leaving works that shaped both Islamic and European thought.