A crowd attacks Russia’s Tehran mission and kills Griboedov

Iran and Britain signed a preliminary treaty as Iran sought an alternative to unreliable French support against Russia. The diplomatic shift illustrates Iran’s search for military assistance within...

Russian troops defeated Abbas Mirza’s army at Aslanduz. The defeat weakened Iran’s ability to resist Russian territorial demands. British officer Charles Christie, who had remained in Iranian service,...

After the 1804–1813 war, Iran recognized Russian control over major Caucasian territories under the Treaty of Gulistan. Russia also secured exclusive Caspian warship rights, deepening the unequal...

Iran and Britain concluded a definitive treaty offering British troops or a subsidy if a European power attacked Iran. It also constrained Iran’s alliances. The agreement sought protection after...

The Treaty of Turkmenchay ended the 1826–1828 war. Iran ceded the Erivan and Nakhchivan khanates, accepted an indemnity and confirmed Russia’s exclusive Caspian warship rights, consolidating Russian...

Iran and Russia concluded the Akhal-Khorasan boundary convention after Russian advances among the Turkmen. It helped delimit their northeastern frontier and curtailed Iranian territorial claims, while...

Merchants took sanctuary at Shah Abd al-Azim to protest customs administration. Their grievances formed part of resistance to fiscal arrangements favouring foreign interests, including Russian...

Merchants and clerics began taking sanctuary in the British legation in Tehran; the protest grew into demands for a national assembly. Seeking foreign refuge exposed both Iranian organizing power...

After continuing protest, a revised royal decree granted a national consultative assembly. Iranians pushed beyond a vague concession toward representative government, creating an institution later...

Iran’s First Majlis opened in Tehran. Its establishment gave constitutionalists an institution through which to challenge arbitrary government and foreign financial pressure; parliament began work...