page_title: History of the Jews in Iran
section_title: Safavid and Qajar dynasties (1502 to 1925)
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Jews in Iran / The Second Temple period / Safavid and Qajar dynasties (1502 to 1925)
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo is from early 1900s, Iranian media.
context_page_description: The beginnings of Jewish history in Iran date back to late biblical times. The biblical books of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, contain references to the life and experiences of Jews in Persia. In the book of Ezra, the Persian kings are credited with permitting and enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple; its reconstruction was carried out "according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia". This great event in Jewish history took place in the late 6th century BC, by which time there was a well-established and influential Jewish community in Persia.
  Persian Jews have lived in the territories of today's Iran for over 2,700 years, since the first Jewish diaspora when the Assyrian king Shalmaneser V conquered the Kingdom of Israel and sent the Israelites into captivity at Khorasan. In 586 BC, the Babylonians expelled large populations of Jews from Judea to the Babylonian captivity.
  Jews who migrated to ancient Persia mostly lived in their own communities. The Persian Jewish communities include the ancient communities not only of Iran, but also the Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian, Iraqi, Bukharan, and Mountain Jewish communities.
context_section_description: Further deterioration in the treatment of Persian Jews occurred during the reign of the Safavids who proclaimed Shi'a Islam the state religion.  Shi'ism assigns great importance to the issues of ritual purity ― tahara, and non-Muslims, including Jews, were deemed to be ritually unclean ― najis ― so that physical contact with them would require Shi'as to undertake ritual purification before doing regular prayers. Thus, Persian rulers, and to an even larger extent, the populace, sought to limit physical contact between Muslims and Jews. Jews were not allowed to attend public baths with Muslims or even to go outside in rain or snow, ostensibly because some impurity could be washed from them upon a Muslim. Jews were often only permitted to pursue trades that were undesirable to the general Muslim population. They were expected to "undertake dirty work of every kind." Examples of such professions included dyeing (which contained strong unpleasant odors), scavenger work, cleaning excrement pits, singers, musicians, dancers and so on. By 1905, many Jews of Isfahan were trading opium. This commerce which was very profitable, involved trade with India and China. The head of Isfahan Jewry was known to have contacts with house of David Sassoon.
  The reign of Shah Abbas I (1588–1629) was initially benign. Jews prospered throughout Persia and were even encouraged to settle in Isfahan, which was made a new capital. However, toward the end of his rule, the treatment of Jews became harsher; upon advice from a Jewish convert and Shi'a clergy, the Shah forced Jews to wear a distinctive badge on clothing and headgear. In 1656, all Jews were expelled from Isfahan because of the common belief of their impurity and forced to convert to Islam. However, as it became known that the converts continued to practice Judaism in secret and because the treasury suffered from the loss of jizya collected from the Jews, they were allowed to revert to Judaism in 1661. However, they were still required to wear a distinctive patch upon their clothings.
  
  Under Nadir Shah (1736–1747), an ostensibly Sunni leader, Jews experienced a period of relative tolerance when they were allowed to settle in the Shi'ite holy city of Mashhad. Nader even employed many Jews in sensitive positions and he brought Jewish administrators as protectors of his treasures from India. Nader also ordered Jewish holy books to be translated into Persian. 
  Upon the completion of the translation, Nadir Shah presented the sages of Israel with robes of honor and gifts and thereafter he dismissed them. At nights in the royal assembly, the chief Mulla (Rabbi) of the kingdom [Mulla-Bashi] would read and interpret for the king, sometimes from the Torah and sometimes from the Psalms and king enjoyed this greatly. He had sworn saying "I will take Russia, I will rebuiled Jerusalem and I will gather all the Children of Israel together" However death overtook him and did not allow him to do so
  The Jews became prominent in trade in Mashhad, and established commercial relationships with the British, who favored dealing with them. After the assassination of Nader in 1747, Jews turned to the British traders and Sunni Turkomens for political support. At the time Jews formed close ties with the British and provided banking support and intelligence for them. The Zand dynasty had a more complex relationship with the Jewish community. They enjoyed the Shah's protection in Shiraz, but when the forces of Karim Khan took Basra in 1773, many Jews were killed, their properties looted and their women were raped. A document named "The Scroll of Persia" by Rabbi Ya'cov Elyashar compares the protected status of Jews in Ottoman Empire, with the weak condition of Jews in Iran. A Dutch traveller to Shiraz at the time of Karim Khan states:"Like most of the cities of the east, the Jews of Shiraz dwell in a separate quarter of their own, and they live, at least outwardly, in great poverty." The British officer William Francklin who visited Shiraz after Karim Khan's death wrote :"The Jews of Shiraz have a quarter of the city al
caption: Iranian Jews actively took part in the Persian Constitutional Revolution. Seen here is a Jewish gathering celebrating the second anniversary of the Constitutional Revolution in Tehran.
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