1.
Tehran
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Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area, in the Classical era, part of the present-day city of Tehran was occupied by a Median city that in the Avesta occurs as Rhaga. It was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century, the capital has been moved several times throughout the history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran. The city was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last imperial dynasties of Iran. It is home to historical collections, such as the royal complexes of Golestan, Sadabad. Large scale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920s, and Tehran has been a destination for the migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century. Tabiat Bridge, which was completed in 2014, is considered the third symbol of the city. There have been plans to relocate Irans capital from Tehran to another area, due mainly to air pollution, to date, no definitive plans have been approved. A2016 survey of 230 cities by consultant Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality of living, according to the Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran is among the top ten fastest growing destinations. The origin of the name Tehran is uncertain, the settlement of Tehran dates back over 7,000 years. The present-day city of Tehran was a suburb of an important Median city that was known as Rhaga in Old Persian, in the Avestas Videvdat, Rhaga is mentioned as the twelfth sacred place created by the Ohrmazd. In Old Persian inscriptions, Rhaga appears as a province and it was a major area for the Iranian tribes of Medes and Achaemenids. From Rhaga, Darius the Great sent reinforcements to his father Hystaspes, in some Middle Persian texts, Rhaga is given as the birthplace of Zoroaster, although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in Khorasan. Derived into Modern Persian as Rey, it now as a city located towards the southern end of the modern-day city of Tehran. Mount Damavand, the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in Ferdowsis Shahname, the long Iranian epic poem that is based on the ancient epics of Iran. It appears in the epics as the birthplace of Manuchehr, the residence of Keyumars, the place where Freydun binds the dragon fiend Aži Dahāka, during the Sassanid era, in 641, Yazdgerd III issued his last appeal to the nation from Rey, before fleeing to Khorasan. Rey was dominated by the Parthian Mihran family, and Siyavakhsh—the son of Mihran the son of Bahram Chobin—who resisted the Muslim Invasion, because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rey, they ordered the town to be destroyed and ordered Farrukhzad to rebuild the town anew. In the 9th century, Tehran was a well known village, but less known than the city of Rey, the medieval writer Najm od Din Razi declared the population of Rey about 500,000 before the Mongol Invasion
2.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
3.
Andhra Pradesh
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Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162,968 km2, as per 2011 Census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana. In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of not exceeding 10 years. The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA, the Gross State Domestic Product of the state in the 2016–2017 financial year at current prices stood at ₹6,800.3 billion. The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters, the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat. It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west, Chhattisgarh in the north, Odisha in the north-east, Karnataka in the west, Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east. A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam, a district of Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions, Coastal Andhra, located along the Bay of Bengal, and Rayalaseema, in the inland southwestern part of the state. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema, Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015, a 30% growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year. The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the worlds most visited religious sites, a tribe named Andhra has been mentioned in the Sanskrit texts such as Aitareya Brahmana. According to Aitareya Brahmana of the Rig Veda, the Andhras left north India, archaeological evidence from places such as Amaravati, Dharanikota and Vaddamanu suggests that the Andhra region was part of the Mauryan Empire. Amaravati might have been a centre for the Mauryan rule. After the death of emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan rule weakened around 200 BCE, the Satavahana dynasty dominated the Deccan region from the 1st century BCE to the 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas have been mentioned by the names Andhra, Andhrara-jatiya and Andhra-bhrtya in the Puranic literature, Dharanikota along with Amaravathi was the capital of the later Satavahanas. Amaravathi became a trade and pilgrimage centre during the Satavahana rule. According to the Buddhist tradition, Nagarjuna lived here, possibly in second, Andhra Ikshvakus were one of the earliest recorded ruling dynasties of the Guntur-Krishna regions of Andhra Pradesh. They ruled the eastern Andhra country along the Krishna river during the half of the second century CE. Puranas called Andhra Ikshvakus Shri Parvatiya Andhras, archaeological evidence has suggested that the Andhra Ikshvakus immediately succeeded the Satavahanas in the Krishna river valley
4.
Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
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The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the central bank of Iran. The Central bank is in charge of laying and implementing monetary, the importation of goods, issuance of documentary credits and registration of orders for documentary bills of exchange for imports are also done in accordance with the policies of the Central Bank. It is a central bank of the Asian Clearing Union. During the Achaemenid era, trade boomed and subsequently banking operation expanded to an extent that Iranians managed to learn the method from the people of Babylon. The first attempt at introducing paper currency in Iran occurred during the Mongol Ilkhanate of the 13th century CE, the innovation, developed in Song Dynasty China, did not take hold in Iran, and paper currency did not return to Iran in any significant manner for several centuries. In modern banking, the British first opened the Imperial Bank of Persia in 1889 and it was established in 1885 with a concession from the government of Persia to Baron Julius De Reuter, under a Royal charter from Queen Victoria. To compete with the British bank, Imperial Russia also opened the Russian Loan, the first state owned Iranian bank, Bank Melli Iran was established in 1927 by the government of Iran. The banks primary objective was to facilitate governments financial transactions and to print, for more than 33 years, Bank Melli Iran was acting as the central bank of Iran with the responsibility to maintain the value of Iranian rial. In August 1960, the Iranian government established the Central Bank of Iran and separated all central banking responsibilities from Bank Melli Iran and assigned it to the newly formed central bank. The Central Bank of Iran was renamed to the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran immediately after the Islamic revolution in 1979, scope and responsibilities of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been defined in the Monetary and Banking Law of Iran. Iran’s banking system adhered to the new Islamic rules that prohibit earning or paying interest, CBI maintains a museum of historic and ancient jewelry owned and used by the ex-kings of Persia. This museum houses the Imperial Crown Jewels and is one of the most appealing tourist attractions in Iran, the Money and Credit Council is the highest banking policy-making body of Bank Markazi. Its permanent members include the CBI Governor, the Finance and Economy Minister, two Ministers chosen by the Cabinet, The Head of the Chamber of Commerce, the General Prosecutor and two lawmakers. Each year, after approval of the annual budget, the CBI presents a detailed monetary. Thereafter, major elements of these policies are incorporated in the economic development plan. In practice, the ability of the system to create money is not much constrained by the amount of scriptural money through fractional reserve banking. Indeed most banks first extend credit and look for reserves later, the Iranian Central Bank needs more independence from the government in order to combat inflation, according to the country’s Parliament Research Center. As of 2010, Iran’s Central Bank, is not able to conduct a “proactive” monetary policy and has no control over the fiscal policy
5.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
6.
Diamond
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Diamond is a metastable allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at standard conditions. Diamond is renowned as a material with superlative physical qualities, most of which originate from the covalent bonding between its atoms. In particular, diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any bulk material and those properties determine the major industrial application of diamond in cutting and polishing tools and the scientific applications in diamond knives and diamond anvil cells. Because of its extremely rigid lattice, it can be contaminated by very few types of impurities, such as boron, small amounts of defects or impurities color diamond blue, yellow, brown, green, purple, pink, orange or red. Diamond also has relatively high optical dispersion, most natural diamonds are formed at high temperature and pressure at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers in the Earths mantle. Carbon-containing minerals provide the source, and the growth occurs over periods from 1 billion to 3.3 billion years. Diamonds are brought close to the Earths surface through deep volcanic eruptions by magma, Diamonds can also be produced synthetically in a HPHT method which approximately simulates the conditions in the Earths mantle. An alternative, and completely different growth technique is chemical vapor deposition, several non-diamond materials, which include cubic zirconia and silicon carbide and are often called diamond simulants, resemble diamond in appearance and many properties. Special gemological techniques have developed to distinguish natural diamonds, synthetic diamonds. The word is from the ancient Greek ἀδάμας – adámas unbreakable, the name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek αδάμας, proper, unalterable, unbreakable, untamed, from ἀ-, un- + δαμάω, I overpower, I tame. Diamonds have been known in India for at least 3,000 years, Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history, later in 1797, the English chemist Smithson Tennant repeated and expanded that experiment. By demonstrating that burning diamond and graphite releases the same amount of gas, the most familiar uses of diamonds today are as gemstones used for adornment, a use which dates back into antiquity, and as industrial abrasives for cutting hard materials. The dispersion of light into spectral colors is the primary gemological characteristic of gem diamonds. In the 20th century, experts in gemology developed methods of grading diamonds, four characteristics, known informally as the four Cs, are now commonly used as the basic descriptors of diamonds, these are carat, cut, color, and clarity. A large, flawless diamond is known as a paragon and these conditions are met in two places on Earth, in the lithospheric mantle below relatively stable continental plates, and at the site of a meteorite strike. The conditions for diamond formation to happen in the mantle occur at considerable depth corresponding to the requirements of temperature and pressure
7.
Koh-i-Noor
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The Koh-i-Noor is a large, colourless diamond that was found near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, India, possibly in the 13th century. According to legend, it first weighed 793 carats uncut, although the earliest well-attested weight is 186 carats, in 1852, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, unhappy with its dull and irregular appearance, ordered it cut down from 186 carats. It emerged 42 percent lighter as a dazzling oval-cut brilliant weighing 105.6 carats, as the diamonds history involves a great deal of fighting between men, the Koh-i-Noor acquired a reputation within the British royal family for bringing bad luck to any man who wears it. Since arriving in the country, it has ever been worn by female members of the family. Today, the diamond is set in the front of the Queen Mothers Crown, part of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, and is seen by millions of visitors to the Tower of London each year. The governments of India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have all tried to claim ownership of the Koh-i-Noor and demanded its return at various points in recent decades. However, the early history is lost in the mists of time. It is however impossible to know where it was found, in the early 14th century, Alauddin Khalji, second ruler of the Turkic Khalji dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate, and his army began looting the kingdoms of southern India. Malik Kafur, Khiljis general, made a raid on Warangal in 1310. He called the stone the Diamond of Babur at the time, both Babur and his son and successor, Humayun, mentioned the origins of this diamond in their memoirs, thought by many historians to be the earliest reliable reference to the Koh-i-Noor. Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal emperor, had the stone placed into his ornate Peacock Throne, in 1658, his son and successor, Aurangazeb, confined the ailing emperor at nearby Agra Fort. While in the possession of Aurangazeb, it was cut by Hortenso Borgia. For this carelessness, Borgia was reprimanded and fined 10,000 rupees, according to recent research the story of Borgia cutting the diamond is not correct, and most probably mixed up with the Orlov, part of Catherine the Greats imperial Russian sceptre in the Kremlin. Along with a host of items, including the Daria-i-Noor, as well as the Peacock Throne. When he finally managed to obtain the stone, and that is how the stone got its name. It is estimated that the worth of the treasures plundered came to 700 million rupees. This was roughly equivalent to £87.5 million sterling at the time, the riches gained by the Afsharid Empire from the Indian campaign were so monumental that Nader Shah made a proclamation alleviating all subjects of the Empire from taxes for a total of three years. After the assassination of Nader Shah in 1747 and the collapse of his empire, the stone came into the hands of one of his generals, Ahmad Shah Durrani, who later became the Emir of Afghanistan
8.
Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire
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Emperor Nader Shah, the Shah of Persia and the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Persia, invaded the Mughal Empire, eventually attacking Delhi in March 1739. His army had defeated the Mughals at the battle at Karnal. Nadir Shah became the Persian ruler in 1736, his troops captured Esfahan from the Safavid dynasty and its ruler, Muhammad Shah, proved unable to stop the disintegration of the empire. The imperial court administration was corrupt and weak whereas the country was extremely rich whilst Delhi’s prosperity, Nadir Shah, attracted by the countrys wealth, sought plunder like so many other foreign invaders before him. Nadir had asked Muhammad Shah to close the Mughal frontiers around Kabul so that the Afghan rebels he was fighting against, even though the Emperor agreed, he practically took no action. Nadir seized upon this as a pretext for war, together with his Georgian subject Erekle II, who took part in the expedition as a commander leading a contingent of Georgian troops, the long march had begun. He defeated his Afghan enemies fleeing into the Hindu Kush and also seized major cities such as Ghazni, Kabul and Peshawar before advancing onto the Punjab, Nadir advanced to the river Indus before the end of year as the Mughals mustered their army against him. At the Battle of Karnal on 24 February 1739, Nadir led his army to victory over the Mughals, Muhammad Shah surrendered, the keys to the capital of Delhi were surrendered to Nadir. He entered the city on 20 March 1739 and occupied Shah Jehan’s imperial suite in the Red Fort, coins were struck, and prayers said, in his name in the Jama Masjid and other Delhi mosques. The next day, the Shah held a durbar in the capital. The Afsharid occupation led to increases in the city. The city administrator attempted to fix prices at a level and Afsharid troops were sent to the market at Paharganj. However, the merchants refused to accept the lower prices. When a rumour spread that Nadir had been assassinated by a guard at the Red Fort. Nadir, furious at the killings, retaliated by ordering his soldiers to carry out the notorious qatl-e-aam of Delhi. On the morning of 22 March, the Shah rode out in full armour and this was the signal to start the onslaught and carnage. Almost immediately, the fully armed Afsharid army of occupation turned their swords and guns on to the unarmed, the Afsharid soldiers were given full licence to do as they pleased and promised a share of the booty as the city was plundered. Muslims, like Hindus and Sikhs, resorted to killing their women, children, in the words of the Tazkira, Here and there some opposition was offered, but in most places people were butchered unresistingly
9.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
10.
Mughal Empire
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The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
11.
Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar
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Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as king. He was originally chieftain of the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe, in 1789, Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned as the king of Iran, but was not officially crowned as its king until March 1796. On 17 June 1797 Agha Mohammad Khan was assassinated, and was succeeded by his nephew, Agha Mohammad Khans reign is noted for the reemergence of a centrally led and united Iran. After 48 years, they were all reconquered by Agha Mohammad Khan, Agha Mohammad Khan is also noted for moving the capital to Tehran, where it still stands as of today. Agha Mohammad Khan was born in around 1742 in Astarabad and he belonged to the Qoyunlu branch of the Qajar tribe. The tribe had several branches, one of the most prominent ones being the Develu. Although he failed to catch Hasan, Adil Shah managed to take Agha Mohammad Khan and he later chose to spare Khans life and instead had him castrated and thereafter freed, the origin of his title Agha, a common one among eunuchs who served at the court. During the following 10 years, Afsharid rule in Khorasan suffered heavily from war among rival chieftains and from invasions by the Durrani ruler of Qandahar, Ahmad Shah Durrani. During this period, Mohammad Hasan fought against the Pashtun military leader Azad Khan Afghan and he was, however, defeated in 1759 by a Zand army, and thereafter betrayed by his own followers and killed by his old rival, Mohammad Khan of Savadkuh. Due to Agha Mohammad Khans castration, his brother Hosayn Qoli Khan was appointed as the new chieftain of the Qoyunlu instead, shortly thereafter Astarabad fell under the control of Karim Khan, who appointed a Develu named Husain Khan Develu as its governor. Meanwhile, Agha Mohammad Khan and his brother Hosayn Qoli Khan fled to the steppe, one year later, Agha Mohammad Khan made an incursion against Astarabad, but was forced to flee, chased by the citys governor. Agha Mohammad Khan managed to reach Ashraf, but was at last seized and was sent as a hostage to Tehran, Hosayn Qoli Khan was also soon captured and sent to Karim Khan. During his stay Agha Mohammad Khan was treated kindly and honorably by Karim Khan, who made him convince his kinsmen to lay down their arms, Karim Khan then settled them in Damghan. In 1763, Agha Mohammad Khan and Hosayn Qoli Khan were sent to the Zand capital, Shiraz, where their paternal aunt Khadija Begum, who was part of Karim Khans harem, lived. Agha Mohammad Khans half-brothers Morteza Qoli Khan and Mostafa Qoli Khan were granted permission to live in Astarabad and his remaining brothers were sent to Qazvin, where they were treated honorably. Agha Mohammad was looked upon more as a respected guest in Karim Khans court than a captive, furthermore, Karim Khan also acknowledged Agha Mohammad Khans political knowledge and asked his advice on interests of the state. He called Agha Mohammad Khan his Piran-i Viseh, referring to an intelligent counselor of the legendary Iranian king Afrasiab, two of Agha Mohammad Khans brothers who were at Qazvin were also sent to Shiraz during this period. In February 1769, Karim Khan appointed Hosayn Qoli Khan as the governor of Damghan, when Hosayn Qoli Khan reached Damghan, he immediately began a fierce conflict with the Develu and other tribes to avenge his fathers death
12.
Qajar dynasty
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The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal dynasty of Turkic origin, specifically from the Qajar tribe, which ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925. The state ruled by the dynasty was known as the Sublime State of Iran. The Qajar family took control of Iran in 1794, deposing Lotf Ali Khan, the last of the Zand dynasty. In the Caucasus, the Qajar dynasty permanently lost many of Irans integral areas to the Russians over the course of the 19th century, comprising modern-day Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The Qajar rulers were members of the Karagöz or Black-Eye sect of the Qajars, Qajars first settled during the Mongol period in the vicinity of Armenia and were among the seven Qizilbash tribes that supported the Safavids. The Safavids left Arran to local Turkic khans, and, in 1554 Ganja was governed by Shahverdi Soltan Ziyadoglu Qajar, Qajars filled a number of diplomatic missions and governorships in the 16–17th centuries for the Safavids. The Qajars were resettled by Shah Abbas I throughout Iran, the great number of them also settled in Astarabad near the south-eastern corner of the Caspian Sea, and it would be this branch of Qajars that would rise to power. The immediate ancestor of the Qajar dynasty, Shah Qoli Khan of the Quvanlu of Ganja and his son, Fath Ali Khan was a renowned military commander during the rule of the Safavid shahs Sultan Husayn and Tahmasp II. He was killed on the orders of Shah Nader Shah in 1726, Fath Ali Khans son Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar was the father of Mohammad Khan Qajar and Hossein Qoli Khan, father of Baba Khan, the future Fath-Ali Shah Qajar. Mohammad Hasan Khan was killed on the orders of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty, like virtually every dynasty that ruled Persia since the 11th century, the Qajars came to power with the backing of Turkic tribal forces, while using educated Persians in their bureaucracy. In 1779 following the death of Karim Khan of the Zand dynasty, Mohammad Khan Qajar, Mohammad Khan was known as one of the cruelest kings, even by the standards of 18th century Iran. In his quest for power, he razed cities, massacred entire populations, the Qajar armies at that time were mostly composed of Turkomans and Georgian slaves. By 1794, Mohammad Khan had eliminated all his rivals, including Lotf Ali Khan and he reestablished Persian control over the territories in the entire Caucasus. Agha Mohammad established his capital at Tehran, a village near the ruins of the ancient city of Rayy, in 1796, he was formally crowned as shah. In 1797, Mohammad Khan Qajar was assassinated in Shusha, the capital of Karabakh Khanate, between 1747 and 1795, Erekle was, therefore, by the turn of events in Iran following the ongoing turmoil there, able to maintain Georgias autonomy through the Zand period. In 1783, Heraclius placed his kingdom under the protection of the Russian Empire in the Treaty of Georgievsk. In the last few decades of the 18th century, Georgia had become an important element in Russo-Iranian relations than some provinces in northern mainland Persia. On top of that, having another port on the Georgian coast of the Black Sea would be ideal, the consequences of these events came a few years later, when a new Iranian dynasty under the Qajars, emerged victorious in the protracted power struggle in Persia
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India
