The land and people in southwestern Asia from the ancient Sassanian empire to the modern nation state of Iran, prior to 1935
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0answers
31 views
Were there rules about the number of retainers for the Achaemenid Empire?
In Rome, magistrates (and later the emperors too) each had a fixed number of lictors, according to the rank of the office they held. Is a similar regulation of the number of retainers according to ...
19
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6answers
308 views
Why didn't the silk road run north of the Black Sea?
I have read many times that the only way for Europeans to get to China, or vice versa, was through Anatolia and Persia. This gave Istanbul an advantage in throttling trade, as well as Mesopotamia and ...
5
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1answer
157 views
Did the Safavid rulers require all subjects to convert to Shi'a Islam?
On one hand I've read that Shi'a Islam was the only religion allowed in the Safavid empire. On the other hand, the empire contained parts of Armenia and Georgia, but Armenians and Georgians are ...
5
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2answers
135 views
What was the response of the general Iranian public to the modernization policies of Reza Shah?
I have been reading the fascinating study on Iran by Nikki R. Keddie, "Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution", Yale University Press, 2006. In it she outlines the dramatic modernizing policy ...
12
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5answers
336 views
What was the significance of changing the name of “Persia” to “Iran”?
As best as I understand it, the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 was when Persia became Iran. What was the motivation for changing the name?
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1answer
131 views
Are there any independent historical records of ancient Persia allowing freedom of worship for the Jews?
Starting from this claim that the king of Persia respected the Jewish' God.
http://niv.scripturetext.com/daniel/6.htm
The only surviving text is the Jewish text.
Are there independent sources of ...
