e-warriors (Mamluks), replacing Persian and Arab elements within the army. As a result the Mamluks gained significant political power. In 999, Iran came under the rule of Ghaznavid dynasty, whose rulers were of Mamluk Turk origin, and later under the Turkish Seljuk and Khwarezmian Empires. These Turks had been Persianised and had adopted Persian models of administration and rulership. The result of the adoption and patronage of Persian culture by Turkish rulers was the development of a distinct Turko-Persian tradition.
In 1219-21 the Khwarezmian Empire suffered a devastating invasion by Genghis Khan's Mongol army. Mongol violence and depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian Plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population did not again reach its pre-Mongol levels until the mid-20th century. Following the fracture of the Mongol Empire in 1256 Hulagu Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson, established the Ilkhanate dynasty in Iran. In 1370 yet another conqueror, Timur, commonly known as Tamerlane in the West, followed Hulagu's example, establishing the Timurid Dynasty which lasted for another 156 years. In 1387, Timur ordered the complete massacre of Isfahan, reportedly killing 70,000 citizens. Hulagu, Timur and their successors soon came to adopt the ways and customs of that which they had conquered, choosing to surround themselves with a culture that was distinctively Persian.
Modern era (1501–)
In 1501 Shah Ismail I re-established Iranian political unity in the form of the Safavid Dynasty. Ismail is also known for instigated a religious revolution in Iran, forcefully converting the predominantly Sunni population to the state religion of Shi'a Islam. During the Safavid era Iran once again became a centre for high civilisation and wealth, peaking under the reign of Shah Abbas I. Under his rule the state became highly centralized, the first attempts to modernize the
