logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2021
48m 15s

41. Persia

Goalhanger
About this episode

It is one of the truly great civilisations in world history and yet the story of Persia has faded from view in the west. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Professor Ali Ansari to discuss Persia's extraordinary influence on the modern world.


A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production

Produced by Jack Davenport

Exec Producer Tony Pastor


*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:


Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!


Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com


Twitter: 


@TheRestHistory


@holland_tom


@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Aug 24
594. The First World War: The Invasion of Belgium (Part 1)
Following the declaration of war in 1914, how did the outbreak of the First World War unfold? What were the earliest military engagements of this terrible, totemic event? Who were its key political players and how did they respond? What was the attitude to the war in Germany? Wer ... Show More
1 h
Aug 20
593. The Fight of the Century
Why did two men - John Heenan and and Tom Sayers - illegally meet in a field in Hampshire, in 1860, to brutally fight one another, captivating Britain in the process? What can the fight tell us about the nature of Britishness in the 19th century? Was this the birth of boxing? Who ... Show More
57m 19s
Aug 17
592. Mad Victorian Sport
How and when was football invented, and what are the origins of football clubs? What is the connection between public hangings, highwaymen, and early sporting events? Which is the most historically important sporting ground in the world? When was the first cricket test match play ... Show More
56m 35s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Persia Reborn: Rise of the Sasanians
The Sasanians are renowned as one of Rome's most feared enemies. Founded in third century Persia by an Iranian noble called Ardashir, their dynasty oversaw the growth of a mighty empire that brought down the Parthians and survived into the early Middle Ages. But how did one famil ... Show More
50m 37s
Sep 2022
Rise of the Persians
The Achaemenid Empire, or better known as the First Persian Empire, was one of the largest empires in History - led by Cyrus the Great it covered 2.1 million square miles. But where did it come from? And what do we know about their society? It was in their DNA to travel and explo ... Show More
44m 46s
Dec 2023
A Guide to Ancient Egypt
Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. Its rulers were considered gods and wielded tremendous power and wealth. Egyptian scholars, astrologists and thinkers pioneered in their fields. Lasting for millennia, the kingdom's influence on culture, economics and politics was fe ... Show More
41m 32s
Aug 2023
The Rise of the Persian Empire: Professor Matt Waters on Ancient Empires and Cyrus the Great
The Persian Empire followed in the footsteps of the Assyrians and Babylonians, but it was a much different entity than its predecessors, and its founder - Cyrus the Great - deserves to be mentioned among history's most accomplished conquerors. Professor Matt Waters joins me to di ... Show More
52m 48s
Jun 2023
Persia and the Bible
As the Babylonian Empire fell into decline, and it's power faded, the Persian Empire stepped in to fill the void that was left - but how did this event directly effect the narrative of the Old Testament, and what other sources are available to learn more about this period? As Bab ... Show More
42m 22s
Jun 2024
The Parthians
The Parthians were heavyweights of ancient Mesopotamia. Hailing from what is now modern day Iran, they charged onto the scene by destroying the Seleucid Empire and became one of Rome’s most formidable enemies. They are perhaps most famous for capturing Crassus - Rome’s spider-lik ... Show More
54m 58s
Sep 2023
Peter Good, "The East India Company in Persia: Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Eighteenth Century" (Bloomsbury, 2022)
In 1747, the city of Kerman in Persia burned amidst chaos, destruction and death perpetrated by the city's own overlord, Nader Shah. After the violent overthrow of the Safavid dynasty in 1722 and subsequent foreign invasions from all sides, Persia had been in constant turmoil. On ... Show More
55m 40s
Jan 2024
112. Ferdowsi: How One Poet Saved Persian Civilisation
After the Arab conquest, Persia was turned upside down. Patronage went to Islam as opposed to Zoroastrianism. The official language of state was now Arabic. Even the very nature of the state changed; for 1,000 years Persia had been the centre of imperial power, dominating those a ... Show More
56m 41s
May 2023
Irán 1979, la revolución de los ayatolás - Ep.6 (El Islam, de Mahoma al S.XXI)
Hace cuarenta años, el mundo se vio sorprendido por la primera revolución islámica, que acabó con la tiranía de los Pahlaví pero convirtió la antigua Persia en un brutal Estado teocrático impuesto a sangre y fuego. Hemos preparado para ti este podcast narrativo documental donde d ... Show More
17m 6s
Jan 2024
115. The Great Conversion: How Iran became Shia
How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th century confrontation between the Ottomans of Turkey and the Safavids of Iran cemented what had previously been a much more porous division. Iran has been a Shia country ... Show More
53m 8s