Tehran History, Iran

On the foot of the Alborz mountain range, lays the bustling city and the capital of Iran, Tehran. It’s a relatively newer city but sprawling its premises are large museums, mosques, synagogues and Zoroastrianism fire temples that depict the long history of the whole country of Iran. It is also the busiest city owing to the fact that most businesses are based there.

The famed Iranian industry is based on manufacturing of automobiles, electronics and electrical equipment, military weaponry, textiles, sugar, cement, chemical products, and of course, one of its leading products carpets and rugs. South of the city, a large oil refinery installation also runs providing gas for the city and some is left to export. Currently, due to the influx of population from its peace and order challenged neighbors, the city is now a unique mix of ethnic backgrounds, yet it is very open to Westerners as visitors. 

Although excavations in Tehran provide proofs of settlement as early as 600 BCE, the most significant record of its existence was in the 9th century. Back then, Tehran was a well-known village under the shadows of a flourishing nearby city of Rhages. With the invasion and subsequent destruction of Rhages by the Mongols, most of its populace fled to the nearby Tehran. The city was mentioned in a book written in 1344 known as Hamdollah Mostowfi's Nuz'hat al-Qulub. In 1404, the then Castilian ambassador, Don Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo, visited the city on his way to Samarkand now known as Uzbekistan, the then Mongol capital.  

In the 17th century, the city was under the of the Safavid rulers. This saw some developments in the city including the building of the bazaar by Thamasp I. Tehran finally became the capital of Persia in 1795 following the crowning of the Qajar king Agha Mohammad Khan in the city. During the second World War, it played as a vital host to the Tehran conference attended by U.S. President Franklin  Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain, and USSR  Premier Joseph Stalin.

In the 1060’s, there was a systematic destruction of some old buildings as planned by the ruling Shah on the way to building the new Tehran. This idea was somewhat supported by the Iran-Iraq war in the late 1980’s where the city was hit by several scud missiles and air strikes. Ravages of the war can still be seen in certain parts of Tehran. However, the most prominent city sights now are the historical museums and mosques, the new skyscrapers and the beauty that was brought by the city’s progress. 

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