Iranball/History

==Ancient Persiaball==
Ancient Iran was inhabited by ancient western 4balls and 2balls, the latter of which contributed Eurasian steppe ancestry and Indo-Iranian language and culture to the local population. Iranball grew up as Medesball which conquered Urartuball but failed to attack Lydiaball. 
===Rule of Cyrus===
When its child Achaemenidball. Achaemenidball could into very strong, conquering places like Anatolia, Assyria, Egypt, and much more. Achaemenidball was known for respecting the Jewcubes and for being a stronk dynasty. Eventually, Macedonball took it down.
===Greek settlement===
Between 334 and 330 BC Alexander completed the conquest of the whole Achaemenid Empireball. Alexander's burning of the royal palace at Persepolis in 330 symbolized the passing of the old order and the introduction of Greek civilization into western Asia. Greek and Macedonian soldiers settled in large numbers in Mesopotamia and Iran. Alexander encouraged intermarriage and fostered Greek culture, but he also retained a large part of the Achaemenian administrative structure and introduced Oriental elements and Greek political institutions.
Alexander left no heir. His death in 323 BC signaled the beginning of a period of prolonged internecine warfare among the Macedonian generals for control of his enormous empire. By the end of the 4th century BC, Seleucus I Nicator had consolidated his control over that part of Alexander's territory that had corresponded to the Achaemenian Empire. Seleucus—who, with his son Antiochus I Soter, assumed supreme power—established a government with two capitals: Antioch on the Orontes River in Syria and Seleucia on the Tigris River in Babylonia. The greatest part of western Asia—from the Aegean to the Punjab—belonged to this vast Seleucid kingdomball, and to its diverse and varied populace must be added several allied Greek cities, both in Greece and in Asia Minor.
===Parthia and Sassanids===
Although the two new kingdoms, that of Arsaces I's Parthians and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom of Diodotus I, sprang up almost simultaneously and very near each other, there were notable differences between them. The motivating force behind the rebellion in Bactria was an association—or perhaps even a collaboration—between the local nobility (large landholders who dominated the whole indigenous population) and the local Greek community. Both groups were opposed to the Macedonian domination represented by the Seleucid dynasty.
The makeup of the Parthian Kingdomball seems to have been different. It was essentially built on the relationship of the inhabitants of Parthia to the neighbouring tribes outside the static frontiers—an ethnic mass, half nomadic and half settled, that inhabited the north of Iran. The success of Arsaces and his men was based on their strength, their spirit, and the weakness of their enemies.
The Greek element present in Parthiaball does not seem to have played a role similar to that played by its counterpart in Bactria. In fact, the Parthians, at least initially, may have been hostile to the local Greek populations. During their war with Antiochus III, they massacred all the Greek inhabitants of the city of Syrinx in Hyrcania.
Thus ensued four decades of peace with The Romans. The status quo it maintained with its western neighbour seems even to have been a necessity for Parthia, the expansion of the Kushān kingdom on the eastern frontiers having reached the peak of its power under King Kaniṣka (Kanishka). Accurate information about the relations between the Kushān and the Parthians is not available, but this long peace sought with Rome suggests that certain precautions were necessary for the kingdom of Iran.
In 224 CE, the Persian vassal king Ardašir revolted. Two years later, he took Ctesiphon, and this time, it meant the end of Parthia. It also meant the beginning of the second Persian Empire, ruled by the Sassanid kings.
After Parthia's vassal, Persis became the ruler of Persia, Persis changed its name to Sassanid, which was named after the House of Sasan.
It continued what its parent Parthia did, fighting SPQRball, taking on the Roman Empire and beating them in numerous battles, and shaming the Romans as they also managed to capture Emperor Valerian, who became the first Roman Emperor to be captured in the battlefield.
It even made Persian territory larger. It did conquests Central Asia, Oman, Syria, Yemen and Egypt. It wanted to be how its parent, Achaemenid did. It loves rivaling Byzantine. Its best friend was the Ancient Quraish tribes in Mecca.
In 309, the first golden era of the Sassanid Empire came as Shapur II ascended to the throne. His reign was the longest in Iranian history and also saw the military resurgence of his empire, pursuing a harsh religious policy (persecuting the Christians). In the east around 325, Shapur II regained the upper hand against the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom and took control of large territories in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He defeated nearby Arab tribes at first, using a small but effective military force. He then defeated the Romans in a series of battles but were unable to gain territory as their sieges failed. During his Roman campaign, nomadic tribes from Central Asia attacked Transoxiana which is important for the control of Silk Road. He quickly left the Roman frontier and met the nomads, who were quickly crushed and Shapur annexed this territory and carved out a new province.
Cultural expansion followed this victory, and Sasanian art penetrated Transoxiana, reaching as far as China. Shapur, along with the nomad King Grumbates, started his second campaign against the Romans in 359 and soon succeeded in retaking Singara and Amida. In response, the Roman emperor Julian struck deep into Persian territory and defeated Shapur's forces at Ctesiphon.
He failed to take the capital, however, and was killed while trying to retreat to Roman territory. His successor Jovian, trapped on the east bank of the Tigris, had to hand over all the provinces the Persians had ceded to Rome in 298, as well as Nisibis and Singara, to secure safe passage for his army out of Persia.
==The Rise of Islam==
In 632, a Caliphate named Rashidun was established in the Arabian Peninsula. Although the Sassanian Government didn't consider them a threat, a string of victories for the Arabs led by renowned general Khalid ibn al-Walid finally forced the Sassanids to be serious.
The shah, Yazdegerd III, recruited a large army of 50,000 troops headed by military general Rostam Farrokhzad to fight the Arabs. However, that army was beaten and Rostam himself didn't survive.
The Battle of Nahavand sealed the fate of the empire completely and the Sassanian government fled to Tang Dynastyball, ending years of Zoroastrian domination within Persia and starting a new age in Iranian culture.
Islam was brought to Iranball from Arab conquests in 650 AD and is very important to Iranians. Iranballs, unlike many of their neighbors, hold on very strongly to their pre-Islamic roots and achievements; sentiments of nationalism are apparent throughout Iranian history and in the everyday conversations of Iran.
===Invasion by the Mongol Empire and the Timurid, and shortly after===
The Mongol invasion took place between 1219 and 1221, as troops of the Mongol Empireball invaded Central Asia. The campaign, which followed the annexation of the Qara Khitai khanate, saw widespread devastation, including numerous war crimes, and marked the completion of the Mongol conquest of Central Asia.
==Conversion to Shia Islam: from the Safavids to the Qajars==
But something unprecedented started in the northwest (present-day Republic of Azerbaijanball): A Shia religious group called Safaviyya was expanding from there. Eventually, it became the countryball that is called Safavidball. It was a Shia countryball, but unlike previous Shia countryballs in Persia, it started to enforce the conversion to Shia Islam, which means that Iranball became a Shia countryball starting from this period. It was an event that changed the Muslim world forever.
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==The Secular Iranball==
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==The Islamic Revolution and Present-Day Iranball==
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