One of the world's longest-lasting monarchies, the Iranian monarchy went through many transformations over the centuries, from the days of Persia to the creation of what is now modern day Iran.
The hereditary ruler of the Iranian monarchy was the Shah, who according to royal order of precedence, was equal in status to an Emperor. For most of its existence the Iranian monarchy had been an absolute monarchy, although there were attempts to reform it into a constitutional monarchy in the early twentieth century and following World War II.
The modern Iranian monarchy was established in 1502 after the Safavid Dynasty came to power under Shah Ismail I, and ended the so-called "fourth era" of political fragmentation. The monarchy was abolished in 1979 when a revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini forced Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (one of two people who held the title Shah of Iran, and the one most often referred to as such) into exile, and established an Islamic Republic in its place.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in the Middle East, in the southwest of Asia.
Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures.
Iran's population size increased dramatically in the latter part of the 20th century.
Nadir Shah or Nader Shah[both: nA´dEr shA] Pronunciation Key, 16881747, shah of Iran (173647), sometimes considered the last of the great Asian conquerors.
He then entered the service of Tahmasp, the son of Shah Sultan Husayn, who was asserting his claims against the Afghans under Mahmud, who had usurped the Persian throne.
Bukhara was subdued, and the limits of Iran were extended to the greatest that they had been since the days of the Sassanids.