Persians

http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson_images/EvalGraphics/PersianEmpire03.jpg

__How the culture was created__
Until the 6th century B.C. the Persian peoples had been shrouded in mystery.But it is said that around 1500 B.C. a tribe of Iranian speaking people moved into present day Iran. Some settled but some continued to be nomadic. They slowly united and lived peacefully for awhile. Unbothered by the epic powers just west. They worshiped similar gods as the peoples in India.



**__Decline of Persians__**
A re-occurring problem was court intrigue and ill-defined rules for succession. Disputes in the provinces were usually over taxes and were often settled brutally. Which further increased dissatisfaction. The death of a king normally triggered a scramble for the throne which loosened the governmental hold on the provinces. Wasteful spending led to inflation and unpopular tax increases. There were six kings following the death of Xerxes in 464 BC. Five of those six kings were weak leaders only held the empire by increasingly harsh measures. The Greeks and Persians had been on a collision course for many years. Conflict began between the cultures in 499 BC. The Persians failed to defeat the Greeks in 50 years of war on land and sea, despite the what appeared to be overwhelming strength and economic resources. The Greek, were victorious but were not capable immediately of carrying the war into Persia. Following the wars between the two cultures, the weak Persian kings concentrated on maintaining their ever more tenuous hold on the empire. There were re-occurring revolts in outlying provinces especially Parthia, Lydia, and Egypt which weakened the economy and military. The empire was dispatched by Alexander the Great in an amazingly short period of time before it could dissolve within. Alexander invaded in 334 BC, captured Lydia by 333 BC, took Egypt in 332 BC, and became king of Persia in 331BC.

__**Important Leaders of Persia**__

 * [|Samanid], Muslim Persian dynasty that ruled (819–1005) in Khorasan and Transoxiana [[image:http://patentpending.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/darius_xerxes_1.jpg width="238" height="259" caption="external image"]]
 * [|Ismail], shah of Persia (1502–24), founder of the Safavid dynasty
 * [|Tahmasp], shah of Persia (1524–76)
 * [|Abbas I], shah of Persia (1587–1628), of the Safavid dynasty
 * [|Sultan Husayn], Safavid shah of Persia (1694–1722)
 * [|Nadir Shah], shah of Iran (1736–47)
 * [|Karim Khan], ruler of Persia (1750–79), founder of the Zand dynasty
 * [|Aga Muhammad Khan], shah of Persia, founder of the Qajar dynasty (1796–97)
 * [|Fath Ali Shah], shah of Persia (1797–1834)
 * [|Nasir ad-Din], shah of Persia (1848–96)
 * [|Muzaffar ad-Din], shah of Persia (1896–1907)
 * [|Muhammad Ali], shah of Persia (1906–09)
 * [|Ahmad Mirza], shah of Persia (1909–25)
 * [|Reza Shah Pahlevi], shah of Iran (1925–41)
 * [|Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi], shah of Iran (1941–79)
 * [|Muhammad Mussadegh], Iranian political leader, prime minister of Iran (1951–53)
 * [|Amir Abbas Hoveida], Iranian political leader, prime minister of Iran (1965–77)
 * [|Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini], Iranian [|Shiite] religious leader (1979–89)
 * Mohammad Khatami, president of Iran (1997–)


 * __Persian Alaphabet__**


 * ر || ذ || د || خ || ح || چ || ج || ث || ت || پ || ب || ا ||
 * /ɾ/ ||  /z/  ||  /d/  ||  /χ/  ||  /h/  ||  /ʧ/  ||  /ʤ/  ||  /s/  ||  /t/  ||  /p/  ||  /b/  ||  /o/  ||
 * ق || ف || غ || ع || ظ || ط || ض || ص || ش || س || ژ || ز ||
 * /q/ ||  /f/  ||  /ʁ/  ||  /ʔ/  ||  /z/  ||  /t/  ||  /z/  ||  /s/  ||  /ʃ/  ||  /s/  ||  /ʒ/  ||  /z/  ||
 * ی || ه || و || ن || م || ل || گ || ک ||
 * /j/ ||  /h/  ||  /v/  ||  /n/  ||  /m/  ||  /l/  ||  /ɡ/  ||  /k/  ||