Iran History Trivia

1. The Qajars were a Turkmen tribe which held ancestral lands in the area of what present-day country, which was then part of Iran?

From Quiz The Qajar Empire of Iran: 1789 - 1925

Answer: Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has only been separated from Iran since the beginning of the 19th century, via the Russo-Persian Wars. Although the Qajars had their lands of present-day Azerbaijan, they did not fully take control of Iran until the death of the last shah of the Zand dynasty.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: Mir-Hossein Mousavi

Mir-Hossein Mousavi finished second with 33.87% of the popular vote, a total of 13,338,121 votes. He ran as an Independent Reformist, having served as the last Prime Minister of Iran, from October 31, 1981 to August 3, 1989. Mohsen Rezaee ran as an Independent Conservative and finished third with 1.73% of the vote, for a total of 681,851 votes. Mehdi Karroubi ran as part of the National Trust Party, or NTP. Mehdi finished fourth, and last, in the election with 338,278 votes, which was 0.86% of the total popular vote. Rafat Bayat was a rejected candidate for the presidency of Iran.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great was the founder of Persia. He took control of the throne and conquered many countries. He made Persia one of the largest empires the world ever saw.

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: Persia

This was the same year in which Reza Shah Pahlavi established the first European-style university.

From Quiz Persian History and Culture

Answer: Achaemenid Empire

The Persians were a wandering tribe of Indo-Europeans, people who settled between India and Europe. They made their home in Persia, modern Iran, sometime around 1000 BC, and are named after Achaemenes, a minor ruler of the group sometime during the eighth or seventh century BC, to whom later rulers traced their descent. Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II, began the Achaemenid Empire by overthrowing the overlord of the Persians, Astyages, and seizing control of all his vassals. During his thirty year reign, Cyrus fought many wars of conquest, which enabled him to create an empire. The incorrect choices are all empires that existed later in Persian history.

From Quiz The Qajar Empire of Iran: 1789 - 1925

Answer: Lotf Ali Khan

As the son of Jafar Khan, Lotf Ali Khan inherited the Iranian throne in 1789. The Zand dynasty had seen a lot of turmoil and infighting amongst the chiefs, after the death of the founder of the Zand dynasty, Karim Khan Zand, in 1779. Many were disillusioned with the Zand dynasty. Karim Khan Zand was regarded as benevolent - a tough act to follow. Mohammad Khan Qaja quickly gathered followers with his charisma. Lotf Ali Khan was tortured in Tehran where he died under arrest, in 1794.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: Facebook

On May 23, 2009 access to Facebook was blocked in Iran by the Iranian government. Mousavi and other opponents to Ahmadinejad using Facebook was apparently the reason. Access was restored by May 26. This wasn't the only irregularity in the days before the election. Another thing was the stalling of mobile phone service in Tehran on election day.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Persepolis

Persepolis was built by Darius the Great. However, some people believe that Cyrus the Great chose the site for it. Iranians call this city Takht-e-Jamshid. Its ruins can be found near the city of Shiraz.

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: 444 days

On 4 November, 1979, a huge mob of Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran. On 20 January, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, the 52 hostages were freed.

From Quiz Persian History and Culture

Answer: Medes

The Medes left behind no written records, so what is known about them comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, and other people who had contact with them. While the Persians occupied the southern part of the Iranian plateau, another group of Indo-Europeans, the Medes, who arrived to the area at approximately the same time, occupied the northern part. It is known that when Cyrus the Great overthrew the Medes, the Persians had the status of vassal. Although Cyrus had married a Median princess, it appears that within a very short time he began to plot a rebellion, defeating them within three years. When the Median capital city of Ecbatana fell to Cyrus' army, he assumed control of the entire empire; Ecbatana became the summer residence of the kings of the First Persian Empire, and the city continued to be important due to its location at a crossroads for trade.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism believers have one god named Ahura Mazda. The prophet of this religion is Zoroaster. Zoroastrianists believe that fire is a holy thing.

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: Rial

Iran has several different exchange rates. State transactions such as imports of essential goods and oil export receipts are held an official rate, while the official export rate for almost everything else is different. For travelers authorized to receive hard cash, there is yet another rate.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: June 15

At a rally in Tehran's Freedom Square, Mousavi made his first public appearance since losing the election in front of 100,000 or more supporters. He did this despite being cautioned by government officials that it would not be tolerated. Seven people were killed after the Basij militia fired on the supporters in the square.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Ibn Sina

Ibn Sina's most famous medicine books were "The Book of Healing" and "The Canon of Medicine". His tomb is very large and can be found in Hamadan in present day Iran. He lived from c. 980-1037. (He is sometimes referred to in the West as Avicenna, which is a Latinized form of his name).

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: Absolute monarchy

The founder of the Achaemenid Empire was Cyrus, who killed the opulent Lydian king Croesus and amassed a great deal of land. His successors ruled until the empire was crushed in 330 BC by Alexander the Great.

From Quiz Persian History and Culture

Answer: Ionian Revolt

The policy during the First Persian Empire was typically one of fairness and toleration to people who were conquered, as long as they kept the peace, paid their taxes, and fulfilled their military obligation. When Cyrus the Great conquered Lydia, the Greek city-states in the western part of Asia Minor, called Ionia, that were considered to be part of Lydia, became part of the First Persian Empire. The area was controlled by the satrap, or governor, who lived in Sardis, and those independent Greeks in Ionia were not happy. In 499 BC the leader of Greek colony of Miletus, Aristagoras, joined with the Satrap of Sardis in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer a Greek island. To turn attention away from his failure, Aristagoras led a revolt and burned the city of Sardis. The Persians, in turn, did the same to Miletus in 495 BC. The Ionian Revolt was just the beginning of a series of conflicts between the Persians and Greeks called the Greco-Persian Wars that lasted from 499 BC-449 BC.

From Quiz The Qajar Empire of Iran: 1789 - 1925

Answer: Fath-Ali Shah Qajar

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar was the nephew of Mohammad Khan Qajar, the first shah of Qajar Iran. He ruled Iran from 1797 until his death in around 1834. During his reign, Iran completely lost several territories to Russia, including what is now Azerbaijan, Armenia, Dagestan and Georgia.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: Guardian Council

Even though this wasn't what opposition leaders were looking for, it was a concession. Mir-Hossein Mousavi did not accept the offer. He demanded a new election was demanded, but no new election took place.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Isfahan

Isfahan holds the world's largest historic square. Many historic structures are in this city. There are also many amazing mosques.

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: Smoked hashish

The Syrian word is "hashishiyya," for "one who smokes or chews hashish." The origin of the word "assassin" had been strongly debated for some time, but Silvestre de Sacy laid the controversy to rest with his discovery of this term.

From Quiz Persian History and Culture

Answer: Darics

Not only did Darius the Great standardize the system of weights and measures to facilitate trade, he also minted gold coins that were used throughout the empire. Historians believe that the minting of coins became a Persian custom after their defeat of the Lydians, who are credited with using the first coins in history. The daric, known for its purity of 95.83%, weighted 8.4 grams, and typically was stamped with the picture of either the Persian king or a warrior holding a weapon of some sort. It took twenty sigloi, the silver coin minted by the Persians, to equal one daric. After the conquest of the First Persian Empire, many of the coins were melted down and reissued as a different form of currency.

From Quiz The Qajar Empire of Iran: 1789 - 1925

Answer: Naser al-Din Shah

Naser al-Din Shah was the first Persian shah to be photographed. He was a patron of photography, and happily arranged to be the subject of a photograph hundreds of times. He also saw the use of photography for political purposes, taking photographs that flattered and re-defined the national identity of Iran. Naser al-Din was partial to reformist ideas, however his rule was a dictatorship. Under his orders thousands of followers of Bábism (an old Abrahamic religion) were massacred.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: Republic of Korea

This match took place on June 17th between Iran and the Republic of Korea in Seoul. It was played at Seoul World Cup Stadium in front of 40,000 people. The final score was 1-1. At the start of the game some Iranians wore green armbands and wristbands to show support for Mousavi. Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Kaebi, and Vahid Hashemian were banned for life from the Iranian Football Federation, according to the Iranian press, as a response to their attire.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: 1935

The shah or king of Iran simply asked all western nations to call Persia Iran. Iran was what Aryan tribes that founded Persia called the land.

From Quiz Iran: A Brief Profile

Answer: Shi'a Islam

Shi'a Muslims comprise about 90% of the population. Baha'i, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism together comprise about 1%. Under the rule of the Sassanids from AD 224-642, Zoroastrianism was the state religion, but it is no longer popular. Iranians did not, for the most part, become Muslims until the 9th century AD.

From Quiz Persian History and Culture

Answer: Sparabara

The Persian army was composed of people from the many regions eventually conquered by the Persians, however, core groups, like the Immortals, who were immediately replaced when killed, and Sparabara, were composed mostly of native Persians. Many historians believe today that the Sparabara was the army's backbone, and consisted of Persians who trained from childhood to serve in the army. They wore linen armor and carried wicker shields and two-meter long spears. Although they were not professional soldiers - during times of peace they would return home to farm and graze animals - they were competent and well-trained.

From Quiz The Qajar Empire of Iran: 1789 - 1925

Answer: Fath Ali Shah and Abbas Mirza

Fath Ali Shah Qajar's harem contained 160 wives. They bore him 60 sons and 48 daughters who survived into adulthood. It is calculated that he had around 700 children and grandchildren by the time of his death in 1834. Abbas Mirza was one of Fath Ali Shah's sons, and his line although smaller than his father's, still produced 26 sons and 22 daughters, who together in time crafted a more powerful branch of the royal lineage.

From Quiz The Re-Election of Ahmadinejad (2009)

Answer: Zionists

This comes from the quote "media belonging to Zionists", and he went on to say that this media was attempting to draw the state and western powers into a war of words. He also characterized the criticisms of the election as "illegal pressures" and said he wouldn't give in. Mehdi Karroubi, not long after the speech, demanded that the results to be annulled.

From Quiz Iran's History

Answer: Khomeini

For 38 years the Shah sat on the Peacock Throne. While he ruled, Iran was still an Islamic country, but it was a modern Islam. Some people wanted democracy, but the shah insisted on his personal rule and thus the seeds of the Islamic revolution were sown. The Shah handed over power to Bakhtiar, who invited the Ayatollah to form a coaltition government. However, Khomeini rejected the offer and gained complete power.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:02 AM

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