Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It is rooted in the belief that the Islamic prophet Muhammad explicitly designated his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his rightful politic
The investiture of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib at Ghadir Khumm (MS Arab 161, fol. 162r, 1308–1309, Ilkhanid manuscript illustration)
Great Mosque of Kufa, site of ʿAlī's assassination (661)
Shāh ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm Shrine in Rey, Iran
Battle of Karbala, painting by the Isfahan-based Persian artist Abbas Al-Mousavi (between 1868 and 1933)
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and historically known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian S
Shia Islam
…several lines that ruled in various parts of al-Jazira, northern Syria, and Iraq. Ilkhanate (1256–1335): a Persianate Mongol khanate established in Iran in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanate initially embraced many religions, but was particularly sympathetic to…
Chogha Zanbil is one of the few extant ziggurats outside of Mesopotamia and considered the best-preserved example in the world.
The Saffarid dynasty in 900 AD
Reza Shah with then-Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi at Persepolis, c. 1939
The coronation of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Iranian coronation, held in 1967