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| 1837 |
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| First Iranian newspaper was published by Mirza Salih Shirazi, who acquired knowledge of printing and a press in England. With government sanction, the paper continued for a year or two. | 1 |
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| 1848–96 |
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| NASIR AL-DIN SHAH. This son of Muhammad Shah ruled during an eventful period of reforms, growing foreign intervention, and mounting agitation by constitutionalists and opponents of the regime. The shah attempted to formalize government administration along Russian lines, reducing the dependence on local governors and tribal chiefs. He also sought to strengthen the state by limiting the jurisdiction of the religious establishment and creating new courts. This increased the tensions between the state and the ulama (members of the religious establishment), which came to a head in the participation of the ulama in the great antigovernment protests of 1890–92 over the tobacco concession. | 2 |
| A new class of westernized intellectuals emerged during this period. They included people educated in Europe and government officials who shared a belief in the need to modernize the country, introduce constitutional government, and limit European interference. Although their impact on society as a whole was limited, in the 1890s they, along with many ulama, became increasingly opposed to government policies. Their struggle culminated in the constitutional revolution of 1905–11. | 3 |
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| 1850 |
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| Defeat of the Babi movement, with the execution of Sayyid Ali Muhammad, known as the Bab (the Gateway). In 1844, the thousandth anniversary of the disappearance of the twelfth Shi’ite imam, when messianic expectations of his return ran high, Sayyid Ali Muhammad had claimed to be the gateway between the imam and the Shi’ite community. In 1848 he even presented himself as the imam. He denounced the ulama and proclaimed a new scripture, the Bayan. The rebellions he inspired in various parts of the country were suppressed. Some of his followers later joined the Baha'i faith. | 4 |
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| 1851 |
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| Founding of the Dar al-Funun, a state school with a modern French-style organization and curriculum as well as some European teachers. It taught engineering, military science, medicine, and foreign languages and served essentially as an elite school for training high-level bureaucrats and officers. A state printing press was established at the school, where more than 100 titles in history, poetry, and biography were published. | 5 |
| Founding of the official newspaper, Tarbiyat (Edification), by the prime minister Mirza Taqi Khan Amir-i Kabir. It was designed to explain government policy and events outside of Iran primarily to state officials, and it featured illustrations beginning in 1860. | 6 |
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| 1852 |
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| Death of the reformist prime minister Mirza Taqi Khan Amir-i Kabir, the architect of the state-sponsored Dar al-Funun. His plans to end corruption at the Qajar court and curtail stipends paid to the Shi’ite religious learned ended without noticeable effect, as did his attempts to free Iran from dependence on Great Britain and Russia. | 7 |
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| 1856–57 |
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| Iran's occupation of Herat (Oct. 26, 1856) prompted a British invasion of southern Iran from the gulf and several months of hostilities. Peace was concluded in the Treaty of Paris (March 4, 1857), in which Iran gave up all claims to Afghan territory, including Herat. | 8 |
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| 1858–59 |
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| Construction of the first telegraph lines in Iran. The rights to this communications project were granted to the British government, whose primary intent in the venture was faster communication with India in the wake of the mutiny in 1857 (See 1857–58). As a result, Iran received a new system of intercity communications, linking key cities such as Isfahan and Shiraz to the capital of Tehran. Better communication with outlying areas meant greater central control of provincial authorities by the government. | 9 |
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| 1864 |
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| Mirza Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Shirazi was appointed marja al-taqlid (the reference point for emulation). Not only did all other mujtahids (those skilled in making original, legal opinions) accept his rulings in theology and law, but all Shi’ite Muslims, including the Qajar ruling elite, were required to follow him as the representative of the hidden twelfth imam. | 10 |
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| 1866 |
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| Mirza Husayn Ali Nuri (d. 1892) proclaimed publicly while in exile in the Ottoman city of Edirne that he was Baha Allah (the Splendor of God), the messianic figure foretold by the Bab. | 11 |
| Most of followers of the Bab (Babis) became the followers of this new prophet. The Baha'i faith that he founded asserted that Baha Allah, not Muhammad, was the final prophet sent to Muslims as well as to Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. It preached pacifism, equality between the sexes, and tolerance for all religions. The Baha'is made converts in Iran, but were regarded as heretics and persecuted periodically. The majority of Baha'is have resided outside Iran. | 12 |
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| 1868 |
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| First Iranian postage stamps circulated. | 13 |
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| 1870 |
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| Shah's trip to the Shi’ite holy cities in Ottoman Iraq. | 14 |
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| 1871–73 |
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| A far-reaching program of reform was launched by the chief minister, Mirza Husayn. Modeled after the Ottoman Tanzimat, it was intended to reorganize the military, centralize the administration, and reform the law and system of taxation. Opposition from vested interests within the government sabotaged the program and procured the minister's dismissal in 1873. | 15 |
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