Editing Tehran (section)

== History ==
{{For timeline}}

Archaeological remains from the ancient city of Ray suggest that settlement in Tehran dates back over 6,000 years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Tehran/History |title=Tehrān - History |access-date=1 September 2021 |archive-date=20 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020124806/https://www.britannica.com/place/Tehran/History |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Classical era ===
Tehran is in the historical [[Media (region)|Media]] region of ({{langx|peo|𐎶𐎠𐎭}} {{transliteration|peo|Māda}}) in northwestern Iran. By the time of the [[Medes|Median Empire]], part of present-day Tehran was a suburb of the prominent Median city of Rhages ({{langx|peo|𐎼𐎥𐎠}} {{transliteration|peo|Ragā}}). In the [[Avesta]]'s ''[[Vendidad|Videvdat]]'' (i, 15), Rhages is mentioned as the 12th sacred place created by [[Ahura Mazda|Ohrmazd]].<ref name="Minorsky">{{Cite encyclopedia |author1=Minorsky, Vladimir |author2=Bosworth, Clifford Edmund |title=Al-Rayy |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam: New Edition |volume=8 |pages=471–473 }}</ref> In [[Achaemenid Empire|Old Persian]] inscriptions, Rhages appears as a province ([[Behistun Inscription|Bistun]] 2, 10–18). From Rhages, [[Darius I]] sent reinforcements to his father [[Hystaspes (father of Darius I)|Hystaspes]], who was putting down a rebellion in [[Parthia]] (Bistun 3, 1–10).<ref name="Minorsky" /> Some [[Middle Persian]] texts give Rhages as the birthplace of [[Zoroaster]],<ref>{{Citation |author1=Sarkhosh Curtis, Vesta |author2=Stewart, Sarah |title=Birth of the Persian Empire |publisher=I.B. Tauris |date=2005 |page=37 }}</ref> although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in [[Khorasan province]].

[[Mount Damavand]], the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in [[Ferdowsi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh|Šāhnāme]]'',<ref name="Tafazolli">A. Tafazolli, "In Iranian Mythology" in Encyclopædia Iranica</ref> an Iranian [[epic poem]] based on the [[Persian mythology|ancient legends of Iran]]. It appears in the epics as the homeland of the [[Protoplast (religion)|protoplast]] [[Keyumars]], the birthplace of King [[Manuchehr]], the place where King [[Fereydun]] bound the dragon fiend [[Zahhak|Aždahāk]] (Bivarasp), and the place where [[Arash]] shot his arrow.<ref name="Tafazolli" />

=== Medieval period ===
In 641, during the reign of the [[Sasanian Empire]], [[Yazdegerd III|Yazdgerd III]] issued his last appeal to the nation from Rhages, before fleeing to Khorasan.<ref name="Minorsky" /> Rhages was dominated by the [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] [[House of Mihran]], and [[Siyavakhsh]]—the son of [[Mihran Bahram-i Chubin|Mehran]], the son of [[Bahram Chobin]]—who resisted the seventh-century [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Muslim invasion of Iran]].<ref name="Minorsky" /> Because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rhages, they ordered the town destroyed and rebuilt anew by traitor aristocrat [[Farrukhzad]].<ref name="Minorsky" />

In the ninth century, Tehran was a well-known village, but less so than the city of Rhages, flourishing nearby. Rhages was described in detail by tenth-century Muslim geographers.<ref name="Minorsky" /> Despite the interest that Arabian [[Baghdad]] displayed in Rhages, the number of Arabs in the city remained insignificant and the population mainly consisted of Iranians of all classes.<ref name="Minorsky" /><ref>(Bulddan, Yackubl, 276)</ref>

The [[Oghuz Turks]] invaded Rhages in 1035, and again in 1042, but the city was recovered under the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuks]] and the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarezmians]].<ref name="Minorsky" /> Medieval writer [[Najm al-Din Razi|Najm od Din Razi]] declared the population of Rhages about 500,000 before the [[Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia|Mongol invasion]]. In the 13th century, the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] invaded Rhages, laid the city to ruins, and massacred many of its inhabitants.<ref name="Minorsky" /> Others escaped to Tehran.

In July 1404, [[Crown of Castile|Castilian]] ambassador [[Ruy González de Clavijo]] visited Tehran on a journey to [[Samarkand]], the capital of Turco-Mongol conqueror [[Timur]], the ruler of Iran at the time. He described it in his diary as an unwalled region.

=== Early modern era ===
Italian traveler [[Pietro della Valle]] passed through Tehran overnight in 1618, and in his memoirs called the city ''Taheran''. English traveler [[Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet|Thomas Herbert]] entered Tehran in 1627, and mentioned it as ''Tyroan''. Herbert stated that the city had about 3,000 houses.<ref name="britannica1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Teheran (city) |volume= 26 |pages = 506&ndash;507: final para |last1= Houtum-Schindler |first1= Albert |author-link= Albert Houtum-Schindler }}</ref>
[[File:Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar, painting, ca. 1840.jpg|thumb|upright|left|A portrait of the Shah of Iran [[Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar|Agha Mohammad Khan]], at London's [[Victoria and Albert Museum|V&A Museum]]]]

In the early 18th century, [[Karim Khan Zand|Karim Khan]] of the [[Zand dynasty]] ordered a palace and a government office built in Tehran, possibly to declare the city his capital; but he later moved his government to [[Shiraz]]. Eventually, Qajar king [[Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar|Agha Mohammad Khan]] chose Tehran as the capital of Iran in 1786.<ref name="books.google.nl">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdFu7X2UtpAC&pg=PA12 |title=Pivot of the Universe: Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar and the Iranian Monarchy, 1831–1896 |access-date=26 December 2014 |first=Abbas |last=Amanat |date=1997 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=9780520083219 |archive-date=1 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101191554/https://books.google.com/books?id=xdFu7X2UtpAC&pg=PA12 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Agha Mohammad Khan's choice of his capital was based on a similar concern for the control of both northern and southern Iran.<ref name="books.google.nl" /> He was aware of the loyalties of the inhabitants of former capitals [[Isfahan]] and Shiraz to the [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]] and Zand dynasties respectively, and was wary of the power of the local notables in these cities.<ref name="books.google.nl" /> Thus, he probably viewed Tehran's lack of a substantial urban structure as a blessing, because it minimized the chances of resistance to his rule by the notables and by the general public.<ref name="books.google.nl" /> Moreover, he had to remain within close reach of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]] and Iran's integral [[North Caucasus|northern]] and [[South Caucasus|southern]] [[Caucasus|Caucasian territories]]<ref name="books.google.nl" />—at that time not yet irrevocably lost per the treaties of [[Treaty of Gulistan|Golestan]] and [[Treaty of Turkmenchay|Turkmenchay]] to the neighboring [[Russian Empire]]—which would follow in the course of the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Dowling, Timothy C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ |title=Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond |pages=728–730 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |date=2 December 2014 |isbn=978-1-59884-948-6 |access-date=18 March 2016 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012040129/https://books.google.com/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Golestan Palace Album No. 132-31.jpg|thumb|A modern street in Tehran at the end of the 19th-century. (Golestan Palace Collection)]]
After 50 years of Qajar rule, the city still barely had more than 80,000 inhabitants.<ref name="books.google.nl" /> Up until the 1870s, Tehran consisted of a walled citadel, a roofed [[bazaar]], and the three main neighborhoods of [[Oudlajan|Udlajan]], Chale-Meydan, and Sangelaj, where the majority resided.

During the long reign of [[Naser al-Din Shah Qajar|Naser al-Din Shah]] (1848-1896), Tehran witnessed Iran's first [[Dar ul-Funun (Persia)|institute of higher learning]], [[Imperial Bank of Persia|bank]], [[Tehran–Rey Railway|railway line]] and museum.<ref>{{Citation |title=Chisholm, Hugh, (22 Feb. 1866–29 Sept. 1924), Editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica (10th, 11th and 12th editions) |date=1 December 2007 |work=Who Was Who |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u194658 |access-date=26 September 2024 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u194658 |archive-date=10 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810090706/https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540891.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-194658 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230270510 |title=The Statesman's Year-Book |date=25 August 1922 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-27051-0 |editor-last=Scott-Keltie |editor-first=John |location=Basingstoke |doi=10.1057/9780230270510 |doi-broken-date=11 December 2024 |editor-last2=Epstein |editor-first2=Mortimer }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=IV. KARL BAEDEKER UND SEINE ERBEN – REISE-INFORMATION |work=Baedeker & Cook – Tourismus am Mittelrhein 1756 bis ca. 1914 |date=2010 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3726/978-3-653-00471-7/6 |access-date=26 September 2024 |publisher=Peter Lang |doi=10.3726/978-3-653-00471-7/6 |isbn=978-3-631-59581-7 }}</ref> The city expanded rapidly through multiple development plans<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chisholm |first=Hugh |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.18648 |title=Britannica year-book, 1913 - a survey of the world's progress since the completion in 1910 of the Encyclopaedia Britannica |date=1913 |publisher=Encyclopaedia Britannica |location=London |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.18648 }}</ref> The first development plan of Tehran in 1855 emphasized traditional spatial structure. The second, under the supervision of [[Dar ul-Funun (Persia)|Dar ol Fonun]] in 1878, included new city walls, in the form of a perfect octagon with an area of 19 square kilometers, mimicking the [[Renaissance]] cities of Europe.<ref name="Vahdat Za-2011">{{cite web |url=http://jph.sagepub.com/content/12/1/49 |author=Vahdat Za, Vahid. |title=Spatial Discrimination in Tehran's Modern Urban Planning 1906–1979 |year=2011 |work=Journal of Planning History vol. 12 no. 1 49–62 |access-date=11 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016094735/http://jph.sagepub.com/content/12/1/49 |archive-date=16 October 2015 }}</ref> Tehran was 19.79 square kilometers, and had expanded more than fourfold.<ref>Shirazian, Reza, Atlas-i Tehran-i Qadim, Dastan Publishing House: Tehran, 2015, P. 11</ref>

=== Late modern era ===
[[File:Poster of Conquest of Tehran in July 1909 by Bakhtiaris.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Triumph of Tehran]]: [[Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari|Sardar Asad II]] and [[Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni|Sepahsalar e Tonekaboni]] conquering Tehran in July 1909]]
Growing awareness of civil rights resulted in the [[Persian Constitutional Revolution|Constitutional Revolution]] and the [[Persian Constitution of 1906|first constitution of Iran]] in 1906. On 2 June 1907, the parliament passed a law on local governance known as the ''Baladie'' ([[municipal law]]), providing a detailed outline of issues such as the role of councils within the city, the members' qualifications, the election process, and the requirements to be entitled to vote. The then-Qajar monarch [[Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar|Mohammad Ali Shah]] abolished the constitution and [[1908 bombardment of the Majlis|bombarded]] the parliament with the help of the Russian-controlled [[Persian Cossack Brigade|Cossack Brigade]] on 23 June 1908. That was followed by the capture of the city by the revolutionary forces of [[Ali-Qoli Khan Bakhtiari|Ali-Qoli Khan]] (Sardar Asad II) and [[Mohammad Vali Khan Tonekaboni|Mohammad Vali Khan]] (Sepahsalar e Tonekaboni) on 13 July 1909. As a result, the monarch was exiled and replaced by his son [[Ahmad Shah Qajar|Ahmad]], and the parliament was re-established.

==== World War I ====
During the [[Persian campaign (World War I)|Persian campaign]], Russian forces that were occupying the northwest of Iran marched around [[Qazvin]] and approached Tehran, caused a crisis and the dissolution of [[National Consultative Assembly|parliament]]. [[Ahmad Shah Qajar]] and his entourage decided to leave Tehran and move the capital to another place, sparking fears of rebellion in other cities.<ref name="Bahar-1992">[[Mohammad-Taqi Bahar|Bahar, Mohammad Taghi]] (1992). A brief history of political parties in Iran: the extinction of the Qajar dynasty. J. First. Amir Kabir Publications. {{ISBN|9789640005965 }}</ref>

During the [[Battle of Robat Karim]], Iranian forces led by Heydar Latifiyan prevented the Russians from taking Tehran, despite the latter winning the battle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=جنگ‌های جهانی |url=https://movarekhpod.com/world-wars/ |access-date=5 May 2024 |website=مورخ |language=fa-IR |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505181756/https://movarekhpod.com/world-wars/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This also allowed government functions to be moved to Qom and then to Isfahan, while the monarchy remained in Tehran.<ref name="Bahar-1992" />

==== Pahlavi rule ====
[[File:ETH-BIB-Teheran aus 400 m Höhe-Persienflug 1924-1925-LBS MH02-02-0085-AL-FL.tif|250px|thumb|Aerial view of Tehran in 1925]]
After [[World War I]], the [[constituent assembly]] elected [[Reza Shah]] of the [[Pahlavi dynasty]] as the new monarch, who immediately suspended the Baladie law of 1907, replacing the decentralized and autonomous city councils with centralist approaches to [[governance]] and planning.<ref name="Vahdat Za-2011" />

From the 1920s to the 1930s, under the rule of Reza Shah, the city was essentially rebuilt from scratch. Several old buildings, including parts of the [[Golestan Palace]], [[Tekyeh Dowlat|Tekye Dowlat]], and [[Toopkhaneh|Tupkhane Square]], were replaced with modern buildings influenced by classical Iranian architecture, particularly the buildings of the [[Bank Melli Iran|National Bank]], the police headquarters, the telegraph office, and the military academy.

Changes to the urban fabric began with the street-widening act of 1933, which served as a framework for changes in all other cities. The [[Grand Bazaar, Tehran|Grand Bazaar]] was divided in half and many historic buildings were demolished and replaced by wide straight avenues,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chaichian |first1=Mohammad |url=https://archive.org/details/towncountryinmid0000chai/page/95/mode/2up |title=Town and Country in the Middle East: Iran and Egypt in the Transition to Globalization |date=2009 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-2677-6 |location=New York |pages=95–116 |url-access=registration }}</ref> and the traditional texture of the city was replaced with intersecting cruciform streets that created large roundabouts in major public spaces such as the bazaar.

As an attempt to create a network for easy transportation within the city, the old citadel and city walls were demolished in 1937, replaced by wide streets cutting through the urban fabric. The new city map of Tehran in 1937 was heavily influenced by modernist planning patterns of zoning and gridiron networks.<ref name="Vahdat Za-2011" />

During [[World War II]], Soviet and British troops entered the city. In 1943, Tehran was the site of the [[Tehran Conference]], attended by U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Soviet Premier [[Joseph Stalin]], and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]].

The establishment of the planning organization of Iran in 1948 resulted in the first socioeconomic development plan to cover from 1949 to 1955. These plans not only failed to slow the unbalanced growth of Tehran but with the 1962 land reforms that Reza Shah's son and successor [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Mohammad Reza Shah]] named the ''[[White Revolution]]'', Tehran's chaotic growth was further accentuated.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Tehran developed rapidly under Mohammad Reza Shah. Modern buildings altered the face of Tehran and ambitious projects were planned for the following decades. To resolve the problem of [[social exclusion]], the first comprehensive plan was approved in 1968. The consortium of Iranian architect [[Abdol-Aziz Mirza Farmanfarmaian|Abd-ol-Aziz Farmanfarmaian]] and the American firm of [[Victor Gruen|Victor Gruen Associates]] identified the main problems blighting the city as high-density suburbs, air and water pollution, inefficient infrastructure, unemployment, and rural-urban migration. Eventually, the whole plan was marginalized by the [[1979 Revolution]] and the subsequent [[Iran–Iraq War]].<ref name="Vahdat Za-2011" />
[[File:Tehran_IMG_20191219_122637099_(49550671088).jpg|thumb|The [[Azadi Tower]] was built in 1971]]

Tehran's most famous landmark, the Azadi Tower, was built by the order of the Shah in 1971. It was designed by [[Hossein Amanat]], an architect whose design won a competition, combining elements of classical [[Sasanian architecture|Sassanian architecture]] with post-classical Iranian architecture. Formerly known as the ''Shahyad Tower'', it was built to commemorate the [[2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire|2,500th anniversary of the Imperial State of Iran]].

===Islamic Republic===
During the [[Iran–Iraq War]] in 1980 to 1988, Tehran was repeatedly targeted by airstrikes and [[Scud]] missile attacks.

The 435-meter-high Milad Tower, one of the proposed development projects of pre-revolutionary Iran,<ref name="SadCity">{{cite web |last=Vanstiphout |first=Wouter |title=The Saddest City in the World |url=http://www.thenewtown.nl/article.php?id_article=71 |work=The New Town |access-date=1 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219102023/http://www.thenewtown.nl/article.php?id_article=71 |archive-date=19 December 2013 }}</ref> was completed in 2007, and has become a famous landmark of Tehran. [[Tabiat Bridge]], a 270-meter [[footbridge|pedestrian overpass]]<ref name="archdaily" /> that was designed by award-winning architect [[Leila Araghian]], was completed in 2014.
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