Tehran, the modern heart of Iran, is a large metropolis with more than 10 million residents; however, less than two centuries ago it was a small village. For well over two millennia Tehran, which means the bottom of the mountain in Persian lies surrounded by the Alborz mountains on two sides and a fertile plain fed by streams and rivers Karaj and Jajrud on the other. For much of history it was overshadowed by its neighbour, the Shahr-e-Ray (City of Ray) or Raghes which was the capital of the kingdom of Media during the first millennium BCE. Besides Ray the present Tehran region encompasses other ancient sites such as the picturesque Cheshm-e-Ali, a spring which has been a favourite of locals to wash and dry their gorgeous carpets. Based on the dating of ceramicware found at Cheshmeh Ali and around, the site has been dated to around 5000 BCE. Other key sites in Tehran and near Ray are Bibi-Shahr Banu’s shrine, likely dating to the Safavid period (1501-1736 CE) and the Sasanian era (224-651 CE) Fire temple of Behram.
Tehran, the modern heart of Iran, is a large metropolis with more than 10 million residents; however, less than two centuries ago it was a small village. For well over two millennia Tehran, which means the bottom of the mountain in Persian lies surrounded by the (Britannica website)
Ray or the old Median capital founded by Deicoes in 7th century BCE remained the preeminent city of Persia till at least the late 18th century. It was largely because of the natural advantage of being situated in the fertile region between desert and the mountains, and also on a strategic route that connected different parts of Persia. Tehran too benefitted from but remained a minor settlement.
Today Ray has become a part of Tehran and is one of the two dozen municipalities that comprise the capital region, but for nearly two millennia this ancient capital was the coveted gem of Iran. In fact, the history of Ray and the general region around Tehran encapsulates the evolution of the entire region that was called Persia. The Persian empire that once ruled large parts of West Asia, Asia Minor and Arabia and even parts of Europe has an umbilical link with this city. One of the earliest mentions of ‘Al-Ray’ is found in Zoroastrian texts. In the Avesta, it is called the 12th sacred place created by Ahura-Mazda. One of the first inscriptions referred to as that city in which the false king Frawartish sought refuge in 521 BCE.
An early personality that is shared by both the Indian subcontinent and Persia is Seleucus Nikator, the general of Alexander who brokered a peace deal with emperor Chandragupta Marurya in 303 BCE and acquired 500 Indian elephants- the deadly and often unpredictable war machines of the pre-modern era. According to the Greek geographer Strabo, Nikator revived Al-Ray and named it Europos, a tribute to his hometown back in Macedonia.
In 639 CE, the Arabs exploited internal differences between Persian nobles and took control of the region from the Sasanians, however it took a few decades to fully pacify local rebellions. More than a century later the transfer of power between the Umayyads and the Abbasids reportedly took place at Ray. A string of rulers came and faded for the next three centuries but the population remained overwhelmingly Persian. Arab accounts such as those by Al Mukaddasi described Ray, Tehran’s predecessor, as a very rich commercial centre known for silk, lustrous dishes (ceramics) that were sold in its large bazaar; it also had a library.
A succession of dynasties followed, Buyids, Samanids, and finally the Ghaznavids whose brief rule left a trail of obscurantism (such as burning books) and destruction in equal measure. The 11th century marked the advent of the Turkic Seljuk rule (1037-1194 CE) that had Isfahan, Ray and Nishapur as its capital and was replete with Persianate culture.
When the Mongol juggernaut reached Persia in the early 13th century it exceeded preceding occupiers in brutality and according to contemporary chronicler Ib al-Athir, the Mongol army obliterated the population of Ray in 1220 and 1224 CE. However, Ray couldn’t have been completely annihilated as is depicted by the painted bowl discovered here that was dated 1243 CE.
Creation of Iran and Twelver Shiaism
After the demise of the house of Timur, the Safavid empire (1501-1736) which emerged from a Sufi order, restored indigenous rule after the Buyids in the 10th-11th century. During the Safavid era Iran’s territorial, religious and cultural consolidation took place. Ray diminished in importance as the Ardabil became their capital, but, the idea of an Iranian nationhood was revived since its loss after the fall of the Sassanian dynasty in the 7th century, the Shia Safavids coined the name Mamalek-e Mahruse-ye Iran or the Guarded Domains of Iran. During the reign of Tahamasp I the second Safavid king, Humayun who was chased out of India in a sibling power struggle, sought and got refuge but was made to convert to Shiasm as a condition. He returned to India with a Safavid army and consolidated the fledgling Mughal dynasty. The Safavid king Abbas too is credited with laying the foundation of Tehran’s first recorded citadel in early 1600s.
Inevitably, the Safavids empire crumbled under its own weight and that of its neighbours, the Russians and the Ottomans. Two new kings followed, first, the infamous Nadir Shah who pillaged and massacred Delhi in 1739 and with the wealth looted from Mughal India, gave a tax break of three years back in Iran. His rule was grand but short-lived and he was assassinated by his own nobles less than a decade later in 1746. Tehran was not yet a capital, in the early 17th century two traveller accounts show it remained a small and unwalled settlement with around 3,000 houses.
Tehran’s transition into a city began with the construction of a palace and other buildings by Karim Zand who rose from obscure origins during the civil war that followed the end of the Safavid rule he likely renovated and expanded the Safavid citadel, now known as the Golestan Palace. But, Karim Khan too ruled from Shiraz till his death in 1779.
It was only in 1786 that Tehran was made the capital of Iran, this status came to it likely because the old capitals like Isfahan, Shiraz, Nishapor and other cities were riven with feuds and a troubled legacy, in fact the lack of urban infrastructure likely suited the new king Aghha Mohammad Khan Qajar. Tehran was strategically located to the passes between the north and the south and was close to Azerbaijan. Agha Mohammad Khan, the founder of the Turkoman Qajar dynasty, was declared king in 1789. Although he was killed a few years later in 1797, he succeeded in ending the civil war and relocating the capital of Iran to Tehran and nearby Ray, the original seat of power of old Persia.
The Qajar dynasty which also had a Russian branch lasted till 1925 when it was overthrown by the Majlis, an elected national constituent assembly which appointed a Cossack brigadier Reza Shah Pahlavi as the new king. Tehran had remained a relatively smaller capital with around 80,000 residents and just a few bazaars and buildings, notably the renovated Golestan Palace. It was during the Pahlavi era that Tehran was transformed into a grand capital with large roundabouts and wide roads laid in a cruciform design.
(HistoriCity is a column by author Valay Singh that narrates the story of a city that is in the news, by going back to its documented history, mythology and archaeological digs. The views expressed are personal.)
