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Further reading: Muhammad Iqbal, The Reconstruc-
tion of Religious Thought in Islam (Lahore: Institute of
Islamic Culture, 1986); ———, Tulip in the Desert: A
Selection of the Poetry of Muhammad Iqbal (Montreal:
McGill-Queens University Press, 1999); Annemarie
Schimmel, Gabriel’s Wing: A Study into the Religious
Ideas of Sir Muhammad Iqbal (Pakistan: Muhammad
Suheyl Umar, 2000); Dieter Taillieu, Francis Laleman,
and Winand M. Callewaert, Descriptive Bibliography
of Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938) (Brussels:
Peeters, 2000).
Iran
(Official Name: Islamic Republic of
Iran, formerly Persia)
Located in southwest Asia (the Middle East), Iran,
comparable in size to the state of Alaska, covers an
area of 628,000 square miles. Deserts constitute a
large portion of this area, and two major mountain
ranges, Alburz and Zagros, cover about 50 percent
of the entire land. The Caspian Sea in the north,
Persian Gulf in the south, and more than a dozen
major rivers throughout the country are its main
water resources. Iran shares borders in the north
with the Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Turkmenistan; in the east with a
Fghanistan
and
p
akistan
; and in the west with i
raq
and t
Urkey
.
Its capital city is Tehran, near the Caspian Sea in
the north.
Iran’s population is estimated at 65.8 million
(2008 est.), with an equal divide between men
and women. Persians make up 51 percent of
the population. Azeris, a Turkic people, are the
largest non-Persian minority and constitute 24
percent of the population. They are followed by
the Gilaki and Mazandaranis (8 percent), Kurds
(7 percent), Arabs (3 percent), Lurs (2 percent),
Baluchis (2 percent), and Turkmen (2 percent).
Iran is a multiethnic and multireligious country
with an 89 percent Shii Muslim majority. Sunni
Muslims make up 9 percent of the population,
mostly Baluchis and Kurds. The remaining 2 per-
cent are Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Bahai.
The major language spoken is Persian (Farsi), an
Indo-European language.
Iran is an ancient country with more than
2,500 years of recorded history. The Greeks called
it Persia after the southwestern region Fars, which
was the home of the founders of the Achaeme-
nian dynasty (559–330
b
.
c
.
e
.). The Achaemenians
established a powerful and sophisticated Persian
empire in the ancient world. The Sassanian dynasty
(224–651
c
.
e
.) was the last Persian empire before
the Muslim Arab conquest that began in 637 and
was finalized by 651. Within two centuries of the
conquest, Islam had largely replaced Zoroastrian-
ism, which had been the ancient religion of Persia
and the official religion of the Sassanian Empire.
Iran remained mostly Sunni until the coming of
the s
aFavid
dynasty
(1501–1722), which patron-
ized t
Welve
-i
mam
s
hiism
and made it the official
religion of the state. In the 19th century, Britain
K 362
Iran
and Russia competed for influence in Iran, thus
exposing it to increased Western influence.
The c
onstitUtional
r
evolUtion
of 1905–11
declared the advent of modernity by challenging
the absolute rule of the monarch. At the same
time, William Knox D’Arcy, a wealthy English
investor, discovered
oil
in southwestern Iran in
1908, and in 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Com-
pany was founded. This company was renamed
the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935, and it
became British Petroleum in 1954. Oil revenues
helped finance Iran’s modernization during the
20th and 21st centuries.
The Pahlavi monarchy (1925–78) emerged
as a result of the social and political turmoil of
the constitutional era. The first Pahlavi monarch,
r
eza
s
hah
p
ahlavi
(1878–1944) established a
despotic, centralized modern state. Emulating
what m
UstaFa
k
emal
a
tatUrk
(d. 1938) was
doing in Turkey in the 1920s, he sought to intro-
duce modern industry and implement economic
and social reforms. It was during his reign, also,
when the country’s ancient name Persia officially
became Iran, a name based on Aryan, the name of
an ancient Indo-European people. In time, due in
part to the impact of oil wealth, the Pahlavis pro-
duced drastic economic and cultural discrepan-
cies among the people. In 1941, Reza Pahlavi was
deposed by British and Soviet forces who occupied
the country fearing he would become an ally of
Nazi Germany. They replaced him with his young
son, m
ohammad
r
eza
s
hah
p
ahlavi
(r. 1941–78),
who allowed Iran to become a close ally of the
United States after World War II. In 1951, nation-
alist democratic elements were strengthened by
the election of Muhammad Mossadegh (d. 1967)
as prime minister. When he moved to national-
ize Iranian oil production, British and American
covert operatives arranged for him to be removed
from office in 1953, thereby strengthening the
Shah’s hold on the country. During the 1960s,
with U.S. support, he introduced the White Revo-
lution, a large-scale modernization program that
surpassed anything his father had done. This pro-
gram angered elements of the Iranian populace,
especially the Shii religious authorities, the tradi-
tional merchant class (the bazaaris), and leftists.
Pahlavi rule was brought to an end in 1979
as a result of massive public demonstrations and
national strikes that were held for more than a
year. The demonstrators were ordinary people
from all walks of life and varied political and
religious affiliations. Their undisputed demand
was democratic rights and an end to the Pahlavi
monarchy. This notwithstanding, the religious
faction of the revolutionary movement under
the leadership of Ayatollah r
Uhollah
k
homeini
(1901?–89) established itself as the state author-
ity by eliminating opposition groups and intel-
lectuals who posed a challenge to them and by
holding a national referendum that imposed
a choice between monarchy and an Islamic
Iranian youth reads Quran at home. Framed pic-
tures on mantle (left to right): Ayatollah Muhammad
Beheshti, the Shahada, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
(National Geographic Magazine)
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