Ancient World /
Persia

Dynasties & Rulers Median Dynasty 728-550 BCE Achaemenid Dynasty ca. 550-330 BCE Macedonian Dynasty 330-310 BCE; Foreign rulers Alexander the Great 330-323 Philip 3 323-317 Alexander 4 Official co-ruler since 323 317-310 Seleucid Dynasty 312-164 BCE Parthian Dynasty 246 BCE-224 CE Sassanid Dynasty 224-651 Seljuq Dynasty 1029-1194 Ilkhanate 1256-1343 Hülegü 1256-1265 Abaqa 1265-1281 Tegüder 1281-1284 Arghun 1284-1291 Gaikhatu 1291-1295 Baidu 1295 Ghazan 1295-1304 Öljeitü 1304-1316 Abu Said 1316-1335 Arpa Keun 1335-1336 Musa 1336-1337 Muhammad 1337-1338 Persia divided 1343-1380 Timurid Dynasty 1380-1449 Timur Lenk 1380-1405 Shah Rukh 1405-1447 Ulugh Beg 1447-1449 Persia divided 1449-1501 Safavid Dynasty 1501-1736 Nadir Shah 1736-1747 Zand Dynasty 1750-1794 Qajar Dynasty 1794-1925 Pahlavi Dynasty 1925-1979 The name "Persia" ceased to be used in 1935, when replaced with "Iran".

Name for the Iranian plateau, comprising today's Iran and Afghanistan. The name came from an area in southern Iran called Persia, but came to be used for the larger area with the expansion performed by the Greeks in the last centuries BCE.
There were, and are, several peoples living in this area, all considering themselves as Iranians. From the earliest sources we know that in the 3rd millenium BCE, the following people lived here: In the south the Elamites; north of them the Kassites; in the northwestern parts of today's Iran lived the Manneans; south of the Caspian Sea lived the Caspians. We know little of what relationship there were between these peoples, and we know little of their languages.
From the 2nd millenium BCE we hear of the Aryans invading from the north. It is in the 1st millenium BCE that a people called Persians appears in the south, these were descendants of the Aryans.
There is quite a bit of confusion to what should be called Persia, and what Iran throughout history.
The name Persia was used up until 1935, when there came a demand to change from Persia considered to be a Western name into the name used by people of the region: Iran. Even if the people of Persia can be divided, they consider themselves more or less as one racial entity, the different peoples are often set apart due to geography and culture. The peoples today often overlap one another, especially is this true in major cities. Azerbaijanis live in the northwestern corner; Kurds along the border to Turkey and Iran; Lors live in the central western Iran; south of the Lors live the Bakhtiari; Persians live in the central and southern Iran; Baloch live in southeastern Iran, as well as in southwestern Pakistan; Pathans live in southern Afghanistan; Tadchiks live in northern Afghanistan; as well as Uzbeks, Turcomans and Kygyzians live in northeastern Afghanistan.