From Achaemenids to Ayatollahs: A Beginner’s Guide to the History of Persia

This lecture series explores the staggering 7,000-year legacy of Persia—a region Hegel famously called the home of the "first Historical People." It tracks the evolution of the world’s oldest continuous major civilization, from its urban beginnings in the 5th millennium BC to the modern Islamic Republic.

We begin with the Iron Age and the dawn of the Achaemenid Empire. Under Cyrus the Great, Persia became a global superpower, presiding over the largest empire the world had yet seen. The series will navigate the dramatic shifts of power that followed: the conquests of Alexander the Great, the resilient Parthian era, and the thousand-year rivalry between the Sassanids and the Roman-Byzantine world.

A central theme of these lectures is the "Persian Miracle"—the remarkable ability of Iranian culture to survive and absorb its invaders. We will examine how the 7th-century Muslim conquest led to the Islamisation of the region while simultaneously fueling the Islamic Golden Age through Persian intellectual achievements. Even under the yoke of Mongol and Turkic rule, the Iranian national identity remained unyielding.

The latter half of the series focuses on the Safavid Dynasty, the first local rulers in 850 years to reunify the nation. Their decision to convert Iran to Shia Islam in 1501 remains one of the most momentous religious shifts in history. Finally, we move into the 20th century, analyzing the 1953 coup, the autocratic rule of the Pahlavi Shahs, and the 1979 Revolution. The establishment of an Islamic republic led to a major reshaping of the country's government. Iran's overseas relations have been shaped by regional conflicts, beginning with the Iran–Iraq War and persisting through many Arab nations; continuous tension with Israel, the United States, and the Western world; and the Iranian nuclear program, which has been a flashpoint in international relations. Despite sanctions and internal challenges, Iran remains a major player in regional and global geopolitics.

The timetable is:

I. Greeks and Persians

II. Xenophon and the Anabasis

III. Alexander and the Conquest of Persia

IV. Romans and Parthians

V. Sassanid Persia and the Arab Conquest
4th June: Half Term

VI. The Caliphate and the Mongol Invasion

VII. Ilkhanids and Timurids

VIII. Persia in the Age of Shah Abbas

IX. World Wars and Invasions

X. The Shah and the Iranian Revolution

The registration fee is £30 per head for the course of 10 sessions. The lectures will commence at 2.00pm on Thursday 30th April and continue weekly, with a break on 4th June, ending on 9th July. Make yourselves comfortable on Thursday afternoons.

Please make your payments by bank transfer to:

Account name: Sutton Coldfield U3A

Bank sort code: 30-98-37

Account number: 00997760

Important: Again the Treasurer has requested that payments should include the name of the payer and a short description of the subject, for example LITTLE/844/FOR HIST. This is just in case there are any queries; but, in any case, it is most important that you include the reference 844 with your payment so that it is allocated to the correct subject.

For any queries, please use either the contact form below, or contact the organisers directly from within the Members' Only section of the website.