PART TWO

THE IRANIAN ART FROM THE ADVENT OF ISLAM
TO THE VICTORY OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION

BRIEF HISTORY OF IRAN IN THE ISLAMIC PERIOD

Iran sasanide reached the peak of its greatness during the reign of Khosrow II, the first ruler who restored, after more than eleven centuries, the borders of the country reached at the time of the Achaemenid Darius the Great. This fact had two serious consequences: the first, that the king became so selfish and proud that he considered himself equal to God! He even tore off the epistle sent to him by the Prophet of Islam. The second, that the population was so tired and hungry, because of the numerous wars, that even the best army commander, namely Bahram Chubin, proclaimed his opposition. The repeated wars, the excessive taxes, imposed to face the expenses of the army, together with the revolutions of the proud king, induced the population, aware of having been betrayed, to implore God for his own salvation and seek liberation in Islam. Islam had a great affinity with the Mazdean religion, regarding beliefs, traditions and ethics, but appeared to be superior to the Zoroastrian in many ways. This pushed the Iranians to welcome Islam with enthusiasm to free themselves from the oppressions and miseries of the last years of the Sassanid kingdom.
Khosrow Parviz was assassinated by his son Shiruyeh, who ruled with the nickname of Artaxerxes III for just under a year before suffering his own fate. Artaxerxes III was killed by Khosrow III, who in turn was assassinated by Cheranshah; after him, Purandokht and Azarmidokht, first and second daughter of Khosrow III, ascended the throne. Over a period of five years, other kings reigned, Hormozd fifth, Khosrow fourth, Firuz second, Khosrow V, and finally Yazdgerd III reigned about nineteen years. He could not resist the army of Islam and fled to Khorasan, the region north-east of Iran to gather fighters, but at night he was killed by a poor miller who wanted to steal his jewels. After his death, his son Firuz, heir to the throne, took refuge in China and his daughters, called Shahrbanu, were taken hostage by Islam's exile; one of them married Mohammad ibn Abu Bakr and the other the Imam Hossein ibn Ali (the peace of God be upon him).
Until the year 821 the Arabs ruled in Iran, that is the representatives and governors appointed by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs. In that year Taher ibn Hossein, the commander of the Abbasid Caliph's army, al-Mamun - after the martyrdom of Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Reza (peace be upon him) and the return of Al-Mamun to Baghdad in Iraq - became governor of Khorasan; in 828 he claimed and declared independence and founded the dynasty of the Tahirids. In 832, the Caliph al-Mutasim moved the capital from Baghdad to the city of Samarra and to prevent the plots of the Iranians he hired Turkish mercenaries as his bodyguards and as guardians of the new capital. But they killed him in 863 by installing al-Mustain in his place and taking al-Mutazz to power four years later. These changes weakened the caliphate and so the Iranians gradually reconquered the eastern part of the country. In 838 Yaqub Laith occupied the city of Herat and in 873 he obtained the kingdom of Tokharestan (a region located between the famous cities of Balkh and Badakhshan). Two years later, he overthrew the Tahirid government by settling in the city of Nishapur. Yaqub was defeated in 877 during an attack on Baghdad. In 880 he was replaced by Amr Laith who in 899 extended his reign to all regions beyond the Jeyhun River and the eastern part of Iran. In 901 he also conquered the regions of Kerman and Fars.
In the 875 the Samanids, first in the service of the Tahirids, after the fall of the latter, settled by order of the caliph in the city of Marv. Their influence gradually expanded and they conquered regions beyond the river like Khorasan, Sistan, Kerman, Gorgan, Ray and Tabarestan. In the 901, they dismissed Amr Laith and occupied the territory under her dominion. The Samanids, who considered themselves the descendants of the Sassanids, reigned until the year 1000; they were tolerant of the population, supported science and art, and encouraged the wise.
Some small local governments, often followers of the Shiite religion, also formed in some areas of central and western Iran. Among these we remember the Ziyarids who reigned from 829 to 1078 on a part of the Iranian plateau establishing the center of their government in the city of Gorgan, in Tabaristan. Almost concomitantly, the Buyidi dynasty (943 - 1056), descendants of Abu Shoja Buyeh, took to the field in politics and government activities. They, originally from the Deylam region, embraced the Shiite religion. The Buyides were first in the service of Mardavij ibn Ziyar, but in the 936 they declared themselves independent by conquering, one after the other, the regions of Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman and the western part of Iraq. In the 946 Ahmad Buyeh also conquered Baghdad. The caliph appointed him Amir ol-Omara giving him the nickname "Moezz to-Dowleh" ( 'Glorifier Dynasty') and his brothers Ali and Hasan were nicknamed respectively Emad ad-Dowleh ( 'Support Dynasty') and Rokn to-Dowleh ('Pillar of the dynasty'). The most prosperous period of the Buyides was the reign of Azad ad-Dowleh, son of Rokn ad-Dowleh, who conquered Baghdad in the 979, reigning up to 984. His son Baha ad-Dowleh reigned over Iraq until 1056. In that year, with the conquest of Baghdad by the Seljuk Toghrol, the dynasty of the Buyides became extinct.
Around the middle of the tenth century, Iran appeared to be divided in this way: in the north-east of the country the Samanids ruled; in the regions of Gorgan and Mazandaran, power was in the hands of the Ziyarids. Most of the Iranian plateau, namely the Fars, Kerman and central parts of Iran, was under the rule of the Buyides, which also dominated the city of Baghdad. The Persian language became the language of literature and the official language of the country and the Buyidi court and other cultural centers became gathering places and gathering places for poets and scholars. In this same period Shi'ism began to spread in Iran, particularly in the western parts of the country, while the eastern ones and Mesopotamia maintained the influence of the Sunni confession. The Buyids tried to keep the peace and made great efforts, especially during the reign of Azad ad-Dowleh, in the reconstruction of the country. Azad ad-Dowleh did much in this sense, supporting science and culture, building mosques, hospitals and public service institutes, restoring the channels of the aqueducts and generously helping the poor and the sick. He, after the conquest of Shiraz, had a citadel built in the south of the city for his army, the members of the court and the government officials in order to prevent any possible abuse of the population by the soldiers.
In the meantime, the influence of the Turks in Iran grew, which were simply soldiers or at most commanders of the army divisions of the governors of the various regions of the country. They managed to occupy high administrative and military positions. One of them, named Alebtakin, was appointed by the Samanid governor of the city of Ghazni (today in the Afghan territory), but his son Saboktakin claimed independence and in the 977 added the Khorasan to its territory. In 991 Toghra khan, the head of the Turks Karluk, occupied part of the territories under the Samanid rule in Mesopotamia. Meanwhile in the 998 Mahmud, the son of Saboktakin, took the place of his father. He elected the city of Balkh as his capital, changing it shortly thereafter with the city of Ghazni. Mahmoud after conquering the region of Sistan and the western part of Iraq, annexed to its territory also India and Mesopotamia occupying them militarily, while the Buyides reigned in the south and west of Iran. Mahmud, like the Buyids and the Samanids, made its court a meeting place for poets and writers and a center for culture and literature. Most of the great poets of the Khorasan school attended his court. The Shahnameh, a masterpiece of the poet Ferdowsi, which narrates the Iranian national epic, was composed during the reign of Mahmud. Mahmud, despite the enormous wealth collected with the spoils of war, did not keep his promise to reward Ferdowsi, and this caused great displeasure to the poet. It is said that this was due to two factors: the first that Mahmud was very mean and the second because Ferdowsi was Shiite while Mahmud belonged to the Sunni confession
Ferdowsi himself writes in this regard:

They offended me because those beautiful words are composed
with the love of the Prophet and his successor
(Imam Ali, peace on him).

The seizure of power by Mahmud and then by his son Masudi favored vast migrations of Turks into Iran, although in some cases this took the form of attacks and invasions. Among these, the invasion of the Seljuk Turks who settled independently both in Iran and beyond the borders of the country. Toghrol Beg, the leader of the Seljuks in a short time conquered vast territories dominated by the Ghaznavids and the Sassanids, took control of the northern parts of the country and headed for Baghdad. He put an end to the Buyidi dynasty in the 1056, bringing Iran back to political unity under his own reign. Toghrol Beg chose the cities of Marv and Baghdad as their capitals, and for this reason the Caliph gave him the nickname "Sultan of the East and the West". Toghrol Beg after conquering Baghdad settled in the city of Ray. His son Alp Arslan took hostage the Byzantine emperor Diogene Romano, but was very generous with him, saved his life by settling the payment of an annual tribute. After Alp Arslan, his son Malek Shah ascended the throne in the 1073. During his reign, Iran reached, for the second time in its imperial history, the boundaries of the time of Darius the Great, extending from China to Syria and from Mesopotamia to Arabia. But all this happened thanks to the help of the wise minister of Alp Arslan and Malek Shah or Khajeh Nezam ol-Molk. He was an intelligent politician, an intellectual and a very skilled writer. He founded several scientific schools, called Nezamiyeh, in Baghdad and other Iranian cities. In this era the Iranian architectural style of the iwan spread beyond the borders of the country. Only the Siyasatnameh 'The book of politics' has come to us from the literary works of Khajeh.
The last Seljuk ruler, Sanjar, was unable to maintain the vast territory of Malek Shah and his kingdom was limited to the region of Khorasan alone. It is said that the weakening of his government was caused by the assignment of large and important jobs to men of low value and incapable and vice versa! The Seljuks believed in the Sunni confession, and it is reported in the history books that Malek Shah converted to Shiism in the last years of his life. The Seljuks formed a type of government similar to that of the Achaemenids, ie a system of hereditary military governorates. But this fact favored the decomposition of Iran. Each region was under the domino of a local Turkish governor called atabak. The most famous were the Atabakans of Azerbaijan and Fars, to which were added those of Lorestan and Kerman.
In the 1150 the Turkish Turks occupied the city of Ghazni, dropping the Ghaznavids and reigning as far as 1210. In the 1173 Ala ad-Din Tekish Khwarezmshah occupied the Khorasan region and quickly conquered the region of Isfahan. He and his son Sultan Mohammad founded a vast empire that aroused the amazement of neighboring countries. Ala ad-Din Tekish was the son of a Turk who was a cup-bearer at the Seljuk court. Malek Shah, in reward for his services, appointed him governor of the Khwarezm region, located near the Jeyhun River. The power of the Khwarezmshah grew so much that the Ghurids were forced to cede most of their territories including the eastern part of Iran. After Sultan Mohammad, in the 1210, Ala ad-Din Mohammad came to power. He reconquered Afghanistan from the Ghurids. But he became strong and proud, gave orders to kill some Mongolian merchants who had come to Iran. This led the Mongols to attack Iran. Driven by Chengiz, they occupied the 1219, the Transoxiana, the Khorasan regions and northern Iran. In 1224 Sultan Jalal ad-Din, son of Sultan Mohammad, freed Iran from the Mongols. Chengiz died in the 1228, but after the death of Sultan Jalal ad-Din, which took place in 1232, the Mongols invaded Iran again, making a total genocide, destroying mosques, schools and everything that happened to them.
In 1257 Hulegu, nephew of Chengiz, founded the Mongolian dynasty of Iran. He chose the city of Maraqeh as his capital. Its stabilization in the Azerbaijan region favored Christians and Buddhists, as Hulegu had converted to Buddhism and his wife Dogghuz khan was born into a Christian family. Nestorian Christians took advantage of the protection of the court and dedicated themselves to building churches and spreading their religion. It is said that Hulegu, in the last years of his life, wanted to convert to Islam but there is no historical document to prove it. His son Abaqa Khan reigned after him. He treated the Christians well and during his reign the newly converted Jews to Islam gained important positions at the court.
Arghun, the nephew of Hulegu, in the 1289 decided to join the eastern countries to attack the ruling Turks in Egypt. In the 1293 his son Ahmad Tekudad came to power and after him Ghazan Khan who in 1296 converted to Shiite Islam. After his death, ascended the throne his brother Mohammad Oljaitu, nicknamed Khodabandeh ( 'servant of God'), Shiite, which sent its representative to all Islamic countries declaring their intention to create an alliance with them. He also signed agreements with the courts of France and England, establishing a correspondence with the Pope of Rome and with the rulers of Egypt. Oljaitu built a majestic mausoleum - noteworthy from the architectural point of view - in the city of Soltaniyeh in order to transfer the remains of the Imam Hossein (peace on him) from the city of Karbala, but the Ulema and religious leaders They opposed. In that monument he was then buried himself, when he died at a young age. His son Abu Said succeeded him, still a child. During his reign the Shaykh Safi ad-Din Ardabili, the great mystic-gnostic ancestor of the Safavids settled in the city of Ardabil. At that time it was composed the famous work Jami at-Tawarikh historian Rashidi, while the poet Hamdollah Mostowfi Ghazvini (born in 1282) wrote the book Zafarnameh poems, considered the continuation of the Shahnameh ( 'Book of Kings') famous work of Ferdowsi . At the same time the Iranian painting school freed itself from the Arab and Chinese influence by adopting its own style which was perfected during the Safavid era.
Abu Said you worked hard for the unity of Iran, but after his death in 1335, in every region, the local rulers claimed their independence: Mozaffaridi in the regions of Fars, Kerman, central Iran, the Al -and Jalayer in the territory between Baghdad and Azerbaijan, Sarbedaran in Khorasan and the Kart dynasty in Herat. Among all, the Mozaffaridi were those able to reign longer than the others, from the 1341 to the 1393, when their government fell by the Mongolian Tamerlane. They succeeded in bringing together much of western and central Iran (Fars, Kerman, central Iran, Azerbaijan).
Towards the end of the fourteenth century, Iran began to be the subject of violent attacks by the troops of Tamerlane. The latter considered himself the descendant of Chengiz Khan and held his own right to govern over Iran. In 1371 he occupied the city of Baku and ten years later, in 1381 he conquered Khorasan, Sistan and Mazandaran and finally in 1384 Azerbaijan, Iraq ajamita (not Arabic) and Fars. During the attack on Isfahan, he fiercely decapitated around 70.000 people and exterminated the entire Mozaffaridae family. Tamerlano did not stay in Iran for a long time and after retiring to Mongolia divided the territories conquered among his sons, assigning to Shahrokh, in 1398, the regions of Khorasan and Sistan. The latter, after the death of his father in 1446, he managed to restore the political unity of Iran, and is committed to rebuild what the father had destroyed trying to compensate for the damage that the country had suffered. Western Iran had instead been assigned to Miranshah, but in a short time the whole territory of Iran was unified under the rule of Shahrokh. The kingdom of the Timurids is a period of great flowering. Shahrokh was of Shia religion and always supported science and art. After his death, despite Iran again experiencing a period of political disorder, scientific, literary and artistic renewal did not stop. This period is remembered as the golden age of literature, science and art, especially during the reign of Sultan Hossein Baqara, since he himself was a painter, an excellent calligrapher and transcribed the Holy Quran found in the museum of mausoleum of the Imam Reza (peace on him) in Mashad.
Some works of this period have remained immune from the ravages of time, including a manuscript of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh written in the 1370-71, now housed in the Cairo museum in Egypt; the manuscript of Kalilah goes Dimnah kept in the National Library of Paris; some copies of Khaju Kermani's works, including the collection of poems handwritten by Mir Ali Tabrizi in the 1395 currently housed in the London museum. The paintings in this book were performed in Shiraz by Joneyid, a student of Shams ad-Din Mozaffar. Despite this, these paintings seem to be closer to the works performed during the Al-e Jalayer period in Baghdad than at the school in Shiraz. The main merit of these paintings consists in the combination and in the adequate and pleasant proportion of the protagonists of the scenes with respect to the frames in which they are moving and the precision in showing the details.
The second period of reign of the Timurids could be briefly described as follows.
In the 1409, the nomadic tribe of Qara Qoynlu separated Azerbaijan from the territories of the Timurids, founding their own kingdom and annexing the city of Baghdad into 1411. The rulers of this dynasty extended their influence over almost all of Iran. In 1468, Uzun Hasan, the leader of the opposing tribe Aq Qoyunlu freed the western part of the country from the Qara Qoynlu domino. In the 1470, the Sultan Hossein Baiqara reigned on Herat and in the 1492 the safavide Ismail resumed Azerbaijan from the Aq Qoynlu conquering the city of Baku in the 1501. Ismail officially crowned itself in 1503 in the city of Tabriz thus giving birth to the Safavid dynasty.
The incidents that occurred in Azerbaijan after Tamelano's death favored the rise of the Safavids to power. The founder of the Safavid brotherhood, the Shaykh Safi ad-Din was a descendant of the Prophet of Islam by the Imam Musa al-Kazem (peace be upon him). He was a mystical revered and endowed with noble virtues who lived during the reign of Sultan Mohammad Khodabandeh and Sultan Abu Said of the Ilkhanid dynasty. After his death in 1335, his son Shaykh Sadr ad-Din took his father's place in the leadership of the disciples and followers of his own brotherhood. The shaykh Sadr ad-Din died in the 1395 and gave the guide to his son. The latter married Uzun Hasan's sister to his son, the Shaykh Jonaid who put together an army of his father's followers and fought against Shirvanshah to prevent his continued attacks on Azerbaijan. He died in battle and his son, Shaykh Heidar, assumed the guidance of the Safavids and married his uncle Uzun Hasan's daughter. The Shaykh Heidar had three children, the oldest of whom had just 13 years at the time of his death during the war against Shirvanshah. Sultan Yaqub, son of Uzun Hasan decided to kill Heydar Shaykh offspring, but because of the relationship he had with them and for fear of riots by the many followers of their father, gave it up and locked them in jail on an 'island of the lake Van. From here, after a while, they fled to the city of Lahijan where many of their father's followers lived.
The thirteen year old Ismail, accompanied by eleven companions of his father, left for Ardabil. Along the way the number of followers of his cause increased considerably and he succeeded in forming a small army with which he undertook a difficult and hard war against Shirvanshah who had murdered his father and grandfather. In the end he succeeded in winning and exterminated the whole family of Shirvanshah. From that moment Ismail became the head of the Safavide confraternity, eliminated in one year all his enemies and opponents and in the 1503 officially crowned Tabriz shah of Iran. In the space of fifteen years he defeated all the local emirs and Turkish sovereigns and won the favor of the population. After the coronation, Shah Esmail declared the Shi'ism official religion of the country and sent missionaries in all parts to spread it. He also created a regular army whose soldiers wore a red headpiece and were therefore called Qizilbash ('redheads').
At a time when sciiism became an official religion, the problems with the Ottoman Turks began. Sultan Selim I, who had assumed power after his father's murder, in 1515 attacked Azerbaijan with an army of one hundred thousand soldiers. Shah Ismail, despite having fought with unprecedented courage, personally attacking the front line of the Turkish artillery, was defeated in the town of Chaldiran near the city of Khoy. However, the Ottoman army failed to overcome the resistance of the Azerbaijan population, and was forced to withdraw empty-handed.
Ismail, founder of the Safavid dynasty, was a great ruler, courageous and loyal, he re-established Iran's political and religious unity and freed Shiism from its isolation. In the fighting he was always on the front lines and he worked to eradicate foreign influence throughout the country, to form a government independent of other Islamic governments and to end the attacks of the Turkish sultans on the borders of the country. His reign, however, did not last long. Despite this, he managed to extend the country's borders from the east to the city of Herat, from the west to Baghdad, annexing Armenia and northern Georgia. He had excellent relations with the Sultan Hosein Baiqara who reigned in Herat and was a wise king, an artist and a scholar. Shah Ismail also had many powerful enemies, ready to seize the smallest opportunity to wage war against Iran. Repeated attacks by the Uzbeks and the Turks are excellent examples. He fought the first in the city of Marv, killing Uzbek chief Sheyban Khan but was defeated by the Turks in the war, thus losing the cities of Tabriz and Mosul and the regions of Mesopotamia and western Armenia.
Shah Ismail died in the 1525 near Ardabil and was buried next to his great-grandfather's grave. He was a very believer, he loved art, respected the ulema, the wise and the artists. He had four sons, of whom the eldest, Tahmasb Mirza, ascended the throne after his father's death. Like his father, Shah Tahmasb respected and honored artists and he himself practiced art. He reigned for 52 years (1525-1577) and in that period the art of Shiite Iran reached the peak of its splendor. Kamal ad-Din Behzad, the famous painter of Herat school of art, which had been before the court of Sultan Hosein Baiqara and later to the service of Shah Ismail, directed the workshops of painting, calligraphy and bookbinding Shah Tahmasb until 1538, forming and educating many valuable artists, including Qassem Ali, Mozaffar Ali, Aqa Mirak, later founders of the Tabriz school of painting. Homayun, ruler of India, became acquainted with Iranian art during his stay at the court of Shah Tahmasb and founded a new school of Indian painting inspired by Iranian art.
The most flourishing period of the Safavid kingdom is the kingdom of Shah Abbas I, the nephew of Shah Tahmasb. He came to power after Mohammad Khodabandeh. In a short time he reconquered the city of Baghdad which was in the hands of the Turks, hardly defeated the Ottomans in a battle near Tabriz and forced them to pay a fee corresponding to 100 loaded with silk.
He also re-conquered the city of Mosul and the region of Georgia, hardly defeated the Uzbeks by chasing them to Mashad and pushing them over the Jeyhun River. Reconquered the island of Hormoz from the Portuguese and later transferred the capital from Qazvin to Isfahan, which remained capital for the duration of the Safavid kingdom.
After the capital was transferred to Isfahan, Shah Abbas built several gardens, palaces, mosques and beautiful squares. He held artists and artisans in high esteem and had the inhabitants of the city of Julfa moved to Isfahan, located near the banks of the Aras river in the north-west of Iran, since they were skilled technicians and artisans. For them he built a new Julfa near the capital, now an Isfahan district. He also built roads, caravanserais, bridges, palaces, mosques and schools throughout the territory of his kingdom. He restored the safety of the streets, persecuting and inflicting harsh sentences on the robbers; he encouraged and encouraged the investment and activities of foreign institutions - both religious and commercial - in Iran and established good relations with European countries. After Darius, Shah Abbas was the first king to receive from the people the name of "Great". He died in the 1629 at the Farahabad resort in Mazandaran.
After him, no other Safavid ruler showed the same value. In the 1630, Shah Safi ascended the throne. During his reign, the Turks again occupied Baghdad (in 1639) and he was forced to enter into a peace agreement with them in the 1640. In the 1643, Shah Abbas II ascended the throne, distinguished by his cruelty. In 1668 Shah Soleiman, ascended the throne after Abbas II, strengthened relations between Iran and European countries. In the 1695, the last Safavid ruler came to power, Shah Sultan Hossein, who proved to be rather weak and incapable. In the 1710, in the city of Qandahar, the Afghan tribes of Sunni confession revolted against the central state, without the shah succeeding in quelling the revolt. The Afghans, led by a certain Mahmoud in the 1733, invaded Iran by occupying Isfahan and killing the entire Safavid family.
Peter the Great, the tsar of Russia and the Ottoman government, having learned of the Iranian situation, joined forces to divide the Iranian regions of the north and north-east of the country: the Ottomans occupied Erivan and Hamadan while the Russians took possession of Dabran and Baku. In 1737, Nader, head of one of the Khorasan tribes, who had sheltered the only survivor of the Safavid family, Tahamasb Mirza II, declared himself sovereign of Iran. He managed to resume the territories occupied by foreigners, extending the country's borders from the east to the city of Delhi, from the north-east to Bukhara and from the west to Baghdad. Nader was very proud and violent towards the tribal and superior leaders. He was murdered in the 1748 and his nephew Shahrokh Khan ruled over Khorasan. At that time Karim Khan Zand took over the reins of the country managing to quell the riots that had broken out in different areas. Karim Khan was named vakil 'regent' and reigned to the 1780. He was peaceful and generous, condoned the taxes to the people for a period of 20 years, re-established the political unity of the country and pledged to restore security and peace. He chose Shiraz as its capital and built watchtowers on all roads and on top of the mountains, many of which still exist today. After him Lotf Ali Khan came to power, but the Qajar tribe, led by Aqa Mohammad Khan, who grew up at the court of the Zand, turned against him. After some battles, due to the betrayal of Qavam, governor of the city, Shiraz fell into the hands of the Qajar. Lotf Ali Khan was captured in Kerman and delivered to Aqa Mohammad Khan. He crowned Tehran in 1787 and founded the Qajari dynasty. The great cruelty of which he showed shows, however, soon begotten the death of him being killed in the 1798. Fath Ali Shah, his brother's son, came to power after him.
In the 1830 following a war between Iran and Russia, the so-called Turkmanchai pact was signed, granting Russia the regions of Armenia, Erivan and Nakhjavan. In the 1835 he became king Mohammad Shah during whose reign took place the sedition of Mohammad Ali Bab in Shiraz (1844-45). Four years later, on the death of Mohammad Shah, he ascended his eldest son, Nasser ad-Din Shah, who ordered the execution of Mohammad Ali Bab. Nasser ad-Din Shah also killed his Prime Minister Mirza Mohammad Taqi Khan Amir Kabir, who was very active in reforming Iran and freeing it from the yoke of British colonialism. After the killing of Nasser ad-Din Shah, which took place in 1897, his son Mozaffar ad-Din took power. At that time took place the famous constitutional revolution that forced the Shah to issue a Constitution. In 1908, however, after the ascent to the throne of his son Mohammad Ali Shah, the Constitution was revoked and a despotic government was re-established. In the 1919, one year after the start of the First World War, Iran was occupied by England. In 1921 Mohammad Ali Shah was dismissed and his son Ahmad Shah became king; however, the management of the affairs of the country was entrusted to Reza Khan Mir Panj who, in the 1925, after shaking Ahmad Shah, was crowned Shah of Iran. In the 1941 the armies of Russia and England occupied Iran, respectively from the north and south of the country. Reza Khan was forced to resign and surrender power to his son Mohammad Reza. The latter at the beginning of his reign adopted a moderate style of government submitting to the policy imposed by England. Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq nationalized the Iranian oil industry in the 1950. The Shah, supported by the United States of America, moved against Mosaddeq and imprisoned him. From that moment on he began a policy of repression, with the capture, torture and execution of supporters of Mossaddeq, of the nationalists, of religious opponents, who intensified more and more. In the 1978 the Iranian people, led by Ayatollah Imam Khomeini, gave life to a mass revolution. In January of the 1979, the Shah fled abroad and the revolution of the Iranian people triumphed victorious. In March of that year the people in a plebiscite referendum chose the Islamic Republic as their own form of government.