List of monarchs of Iran

The monarchs of Iran^[a] were the rulers of the various states and civilizations in Iran (Persia) from antiquity until the abolition of the Iranian monarchy in the Iranian Revolution (1979).

The earliest Iranian empire is generally considered to have been either the Median (c. 727–550 BC) or succeeding Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC) After Alexander the Great's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire (beginning in 334 BC and mostly complete by 330 BC), much of Iran was under Hellenistic rule for two centuries, primarily under the Seleucid Empire (305–129 BC). Native Iranian rule was revived with the establishment of the Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD). The Parthians were succeeded by the Sasanian Empire (224 AD –651 AD), which ruled Iran until the Muslim conquest.

Medieval Iran was alternated between being ruled by large foreign empires and being divided into several smaller kingdoms. Most of the Sasanian lands were initially incorporated in the Rashidun Caliphate (633–661), as well as the succeeding Umayyad (661–750) and Abbasid (750–1258) caliphates. Diminishing authority of the caliphs led to the Iranian Intermezzo, when various Iranian warlords established their own dynasties and kingdoms, some of which revived Sasanian royal iconography and ideology. In the eleventh century, Iran was conquered by the Turkic (though culturally Persianate) Seljuk Empire (1038–1194), which was followed by succeeding conquests by various Persianate Turkic and Mongolian conquerors, most notably the Khwarazmian (1077–1220), Mongol (1220–1259), and Timurid (1370–1458) empires.

Native Iranian political unity was restored in 1501 through the Safavid Empire (1501–1722). The collapse of the Safavid Empire led to an intermediate period of turmoil, with rule contested between Safavid dynasts as well as the Hotak dynasty (1722–1729). Nader Shah replaced these with the Afsharid Empire (1736–1796), but after his assassination in 1747 the Afsharids competed with the Zand (1751–1794) dynasty under Karim Khan Zand and his successors for supremacy. Iran was reunified by the Qajar dynasty (1789–1925), which was followed by the Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979), the last imperial dynasty of Iran. Since the revolution in 1979, Iran has been ruled by theocratic supreme leaders.

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