Iranian national history

Iranian National History
Pishdadian dynasty – Sasanian dynasty
Depiction of the Rostam cycle, an important story from Iranian national history
Duration12,000 years
LocationGreater Iran

The Iranian national history or national tradition is the collective historical memory of the pre-Islamic Iranians. It combines legendary accounts about the Pishdadians and Kayanians with historical elements about the Arsacids and Sasanians into a coherent national myth of Greater Iran.

Based on the references found in the Avesta, the core of the national history had already formed during the Young Avestan period (c. 900 – c. 400 BCE). It continued to develop during the Achaemenid (550–330 BC) and Parthian period (247 BC–224 AD) and reached its full expression during the Sasanian period (224 - 651 CE). After the Islamization of Iran, it survived by forming the basis of the Shahnameh, Iran's national epic.

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