Iran in World History

participating in the long-distance commerce controlled by Buddhists, 
Christians, or Manichaeans. The development of these religiously 
affiliated trade networks was tied to the establishment of monasteries, 
which would give shelter and support to traveling merchants while 
receiving substantial donations from them in return.

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Sogdian art has left some of the most significant artifacts of the 
Sasanian era, including metalwork, textiles, and particularly painting. 
Indoor murals from the homes of wealthy Sogdian merchants in 
Panjikent (just across the border of Tajikistan from Samarkand) are 
some of the oldest and most vivid examples of the Iranian painting 
tradition and shed much light on the culture of the period. The themes 
illustrated are often recognizably Iranian, including scenes related 
to stories in the 
Book of Kings
and Iranian mythology, but they also 
show a range of influences from East and West. Chinese motifs can be 
detected, and one Panjikent painting shows the mythological founders 
of Rome, Romulus and Remus, suckling at the belly of a she-wolf.
This sixth-century painting of a Sogdian goddess, probably Anahita or 
Nanai, decorates part of a wall at Panjikent, Tajikistan. Sogdian traders were 
the principal actors along the Silk Road; many became quite wealthy and 
commissioned magnificent murals to decorate the walls inside their mansions. 
The head of the goddess is ringed by a halo, symbolizing divine blessing 
(kvaraneh)
—an artistic element that was borrowed into Christian, Buddhist, 
and Muslim art. The Sogdian murals from Panjikent and nearby Afrasiab in 
Uzbekistan are some of the earliest examples of the Iranian painting tradition; 
most, however, are in poor condition. 
Photo by author

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C h a p t e r 4
The Iranization of Islam 
(651–1027)
A
bo’l-Qasem Ferdowsi, author of the Persian national epic known 
as the 
Book of Kings
, perfectly epitomizes the conundrum of 
Iranian identity. A Muslim born and raised, this tenth-century 
poet considered the Arab conquest to be the tragic ending to Iran’s long 
and glorious history:
But for the Persians I will weep, and for
The House of Sasan ruined by this war:
Alas for their great crown and throne, for all
The royal splendor destined now to fall,
To be fragmented by the Arabs’ might;
The stars decree for us defeat and flight.
1
The sudden emergence of the Arabs as a major geopolitical force 
beginning in the mid-seventh century is one of the great surprises of 
world history and continues to be a subject for discussion and debate 
among historians. This phenomenon is usually associated with the rise 
of Islam as a new world religion, but the standard view owes something 
to back-projection. The earliest documented information about Islam 
dates to decades after its foundation, and the narrative of Islam’s first 
century is based on that constructed by Muslim historians—who were 
hardly impartial observers—two centuries or more after the fact.
Islamic civilization did not appear all at once; it took shape over 
several centuries. Many peoples contributed to its development, and 
among these the Iranians were foremost. Their role is not surprising 
considering the criteria on which the notion of “civilization” is typically 
defined: urbanization, political institutions, scientific achievements, lit-
erature, and the arts. The Arabs had little of this of their own to build 
on, whereas Iranians had some twelve centuries or more to draw from.
Islam (which means “submission” in Arabic) is usually thought of 
as an Arab innovation, and in some respects it was. But the Qur’anic 

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text on which it is based incorporates many pre-existing ideas, Iranian 
as well as Semitic. Iranians had long lived and traded along the coasts 
of the Arabian peninsula, so Iranian culture was not unfamiliar to the 
Arabs. A Persian companion of the Prophet Muhammad, Salman, intro-
duced trench warfare, which was a turning point in the early Muslim 
community’s struggle against their enemies from Mecca—in later 
Sufi tradition “Salman Farsi” is even said to have been Muhammad’s 
spiritual guide. A story describing a miraculous night journey (
mi’raj
) 
during which the Prophet visits heaven and hell became widely accepted 
by Muslims, even though it does not appear in the Qur’an. Its original 
source would seem to be the Zoroastrian 
Book of Righteous Viraz
; the 
Muslim version would later inspire Dante’s 
Divine Comedy
.
During the first decades of the Arab conquests, Islam was con-
sidered to be merely an aspect of Arab identity, “the Arabs’ religion” 
(
al-din al-‘arab
). In order to become a “Muslim” (literally, “one who 
submits”), a non-Arab had to have an Arab patron who would pro-
vide him with membership in an Arab clan. The Arabs often resisted 
this patronage, since increasing a clan’s membership meant distributing 
booty and other benefits more widely. At the same time, these very ben-
efits motivated many non-Arabs to seek entrance into the Arab-Islamic 
community, the 
umma
.
Muhammad died in 632, the same year the eight-year-old 
Yazdegerd III acceded to the Sasanian throne in Iran. Muhammad’s 
military career was limited to Arabia, but by 636 his followers began 
their conquest of the Sasanian Empire, which they absorbed entirely 
within a decade. This remarkable feat continues to amaze students of 
history, just as it still baffles and saddens many Iranians themselves. 
How could a people living on the very margins of civilization, who 
had never been more than raiders harassing the borders of the great 
empires, make such short work of the age-old Iranian state?