Iran (Persia) has had numerous capital cities and royal centers throughout its history. Ahar; Pishkinid dynasty Anshan; pre-Achaemenid era Ardabil; early Safavid era, Sajid Asaak; Parthian era royal center Astara; Ispahbads of Gilan Alamut Castle; Nizari Ismaili state Amol; Ziyarid, Alavid, Marashis, Dabuyid, Bavandid, Chalavi, (Parthian Empire climate capital) Babylon; Achaemenid era Baghdad; caliphates, Jalayerid, Buyid Bardsir; Banu Ilyas Basra; Jalayerid Bukhara; Samanid era Ctesiphon; Parthian, Sassanid era Damavand; Masmughans of Damavand Dinavar; Hasanwayhids Diyarbakır; Aq Qoyunlu Fuman; Dabuyid Farim (Perim); Bavandid Firozkoh; Ghurid Firuzkuh; Chalavi Shahr-e Qumis (Hecatompylos); Parthian era Ghazna; Ghurid, Khwarazmid, Ghaznavid Gor (Firuzabad); Sassanid era Gorgan (Astarabad); Ziyarid, Alavids Herat; Ghurid, Kartids, Timurid Empire Hulwan; Annazids Ij (Ig); Shabankara Isfahan; Ziyarid dynasty, Kakuyid Emirate, Injuid dynasty, Seljuk era, Safavid era Istakhr; Sassanian era Izeh (Idaj); Hazaraspids Ecbatana (later Hamadan); Median Empire, Achaemenid era, Eldiguzids, Seljuks (Greater and Iraq Seljuks) Kerman; Muzaffarid, Qutlugh-Khanids Khorramabad; Khorshidi dynasty Kunya Urgench; early Khwarezmid era Lafur; Qarinvand dynasty Lankaran; Talysh Khanate Lahijan; Karkiya dynasty Maragheh; Ilkhanid, Ahmadilis, Sajid Mashhad; Afsharid Merv; capital during al-Mamun's caliphate, and Taherid era, Seljuk Empire Mosul; winter capital during Qara Qoyunlu Nakhchivan; Eldiguzids Nishapur; Ilkhanid, Seljuq, Taherid eras Nisa, Turkmenistan; periodical capital of the Parthian era Pasargadae; Achaemenid Persepolis; Achaemenid grand capital Rey (Rhagae); Median, Ziyarid, Buyid, Seljuk Empire Rudbar; Justanids Qazvin; early Safavid era Sabzevar; Sarbadars Samarkand; Samanid, Khwarazmid, Timurid era Shiraz; Buyid dynasty, Injuid dynasty, Muzaffarid dynasty, Salghurid dynasty, Zand dynasty Soltaniyeh; Ilkhanid Susa; Achaemenid, Parthian era Tabriz; Ilkhanid, Khwarezmid, Rawadid, Chupanid, Jalayerid, Eldiguzids, Kara Koyunlu, Aq Qoyunlu, early Safavid era Tarom; Sallarid Sari; Qajar, Dabuyid, Alavid, Bavandid, Marashis Yazd; Kakuyid, Atabegs of Yazd Zaranj; Saffarid Empire, Mihrabanid, Nasrid Tehran; Qajar Empire, Pahlavi Dynasty, Islamic Republic of Iran 1796–present See also Iran Ancient Iran Afghanistan External links Capital cities in Encyclopedia Iranica Geographic history of Iran