Tehran: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Human settlement of the region dates from Neolithic times, but the development of Tehran was very slow and its rise to prominence largely accidental. In AD 1197, after Mongols sacked and destroyed nearby Rey - the major urban centre in Persia at the time - Tehran began to develop in its place. From the mid-16th century, Tehran's attractive natural setting and good hunting brought it into the favour of the Safavid king, Tahmasb I. It developed from a moderately prosperous trading village into an elegant, if dusty, city. European visitors wrote of its many enchanting vineyards and gardens. In 1789, Agha Mohammad Khan declared Tehran his capital, and six years later had himself crowned as shah of all Persia. The town continued to grow slowly under later Qajar rulers.

Modern History

From the early 1920s, the city was extensively modernised on a grid system, and this period marked the start of phenomenal population growth and uncontrolled urban development. An educated and cosmopolitan middle-class elite, with an open attitude towards Western influence, flourished under the Shah, but the growth of the city started to attract a slow trickle of poor, rural migrants that soon turned into a flood.

Recent History

The depopulation of the surrounding regions continues to this day as the rural poor continue to stream into Tehran in ever greater numbers. This migration has put the city's infrastructure under enormous pressure. In 1930 the population was 300,000; in 2001 it was estimated to be 12 million. Such pressures can translate into popular revolt and Tehran was the hub of activity during the Islamic Revolution of 1979. More recently, protests against the clerical monopolisation of political power have begun in Tehran before spreading to other Iranian cities.

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