| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Persia | modern day Iran. Did not become Iran till 1935 |
| Dynasty | a succession of rulers from the same family |
| Achaemenid Dynasty | Persian Empire started by Cyrus the Great 550-336 BC |
| Persepolis | ancient capital city of Achaemenid dynasty built by Darius |
| Cuneiform | an ancient writing system of Mesopotamia and Persia-wedge shaped characters pressed into clay tablets |
| CIA | central intelligence and security organization |
| Savak | national intelligence and security organization; the CIA of Iran |
| Mullah | a muslim learned in Islamic theology and sacred law; sometimes function the way mayors do |
| Depraved | immoral or wicked |
| Majlis | Iran's parliament |
| White Revolution | in 1962, the Shah's attempt to quiet the people from rebelling for economic and political reform; creates land reform, profit sharing literacy corp instead of army, women's right to vote |
| The Shah of Iran | Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and the last monarch of Iran, took the throne in 1941 |
| Evin Prison | Iran's biggest and most feared and most notorious prison in Tehran |
| Ayatollah | means "sign of god" is a learned, prestigious scholar who has a significant following; inspires, writes, teaches, and highest honor in shia branch |
| Fatwa | a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority |
| Cleric | a priest or religious leader in any religion |
| Clergy | the body of all people ordained for religious duties |
| Monarchy | a form of government with a monarch at the head-a member of the royal family, usually a shah, queen or king (Iran was for 2500 years) |
| Licentious | unprincipled in sexual matters |
| Dissident | a person who opposes official policy |
| Chador | a large piece of dark cloth, worn by Muslim women, wrapped around the head and upper body to leave only the face exposed |
| Theocracy | government by a god regarded as the ruling power or by officials claiming divine sanction |
| Fundamentalist | a person who has rigid adherence to religious principles and is often intolerant of other views; often opposes secularism |
| Ramadan | the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset |
| Martial law | military government that suspends ordinary law |
| Political asylum | the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left his native country as a political refugee |
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