History

Until the first half of the 1950s, firewood vendors were among the most essential yet overlooked figures in the daily life of Tehran. In an era when modern energy sources such as kerosene, gas oil, and later piped gas had not yet become widespread, firewood was the primary and most reliable fuel for heating homes, cooking food, and sustaining daily …

Dariush Asadzadeh (December 1, 1923 – September 2, 2019) was one of the most enduring and versatile figures of modern performing arts in his country. Active for more than seven decades, he left a lasting mark on theater, cinema, radio, television, and cultural historiography. His career unfolded across multiple generations, political transformations, and artistic movements, allowing him to become both …

The month of 1340 in the Iranian calendar marked a significant moment in the cultural and political life of Iran, a time when modernization was no longer merely a slogan but a visible, tangible project that extended into everyday life, technology, and even personal taste. Among the many symbolic events of that period, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s visit to the …

In the mid-1950s, Iran stood at a complex crossroads of modernization and deprivation. While the Pahlavi state promoted images of progress, urban development, and medical advancement—particularly in Tehran—the realities of everyday life for large segments of the population remained deeply marked by poverty, inequality, and institutional fragmentation. One of the starkest illustrations of this contradiction can be found in the …

By the mid-1950s, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi had emerged from the most dangerous crisis of his reign with a renewed sense of authority and historical purpose. The overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, engineered with the decisive involvement of British and American intelligence services, marked a turning point not only in Iran’s political trajectory but also in the …

Reza Shah Pahlavi (15 March 1878 – 26 July 1944), born Reza Khan, was one of the most consequential figures in modern Iranian history. Rising from humble origins as a military officer to become Shah of Iran, he founded the Pahlavi dynasty and ruled the country from 1925 until 1941. His reign marked a decisive break with Iran’s pre-modern political …

Fifty years ago, in a period when Tehran was undergoing rapid urban growth and social transformation, municipal institutions launched an unusual and, for its time, innovative initiative: a training camp for beggars. The idea behind this program was not merely to remove beggars from the streets temporarily, but to address what officials perceived as the root causes of begging by …

Maryam Roohparovar (September 31, 1932 – January 1, 1987) was one of the most powerful and emotionally resonant voices of Iranian popular music in the 1960s. Though her name may not be as widely remembered as some of her contemporaries, Roohparovar occupies a unique and influential place in the history of Iranian vocal performance. Her life and career reflect the …

The late 1930s marked a decisive chapter in the transformation of Iran from a fragmented, semi-traditional society into a centralized modern state. Under the rule of Reza Shah Pahlavi, modernization was pursued not as a gradual cultural evolution but as a forceful, state-driven project. Roads, railways, schools, courts, and military institutions were reorganized to reflect a new vision of order, …

On December 17, 1955, the Officers’ Club in Tehran hosted a performance unlike anything the city had witnessed before. The main attraction was a young man named Khalil Tarighat Pima, better known to the public as Khalil Oqab. At just 28 years old, he had already begun to attract attention through extraordinary demonstrations of physical power, endurance, and courage. That …