Thesaurus

Tehrān, the capital city of Îrān, is located on the southern slopes of the Elburz Mountains. South of Tehrān lay the ruins of its successor, the ancient city of Rayy, which was destroyed by the Mongols in 1220 CE. The remaining inhabitants of Rayy moved north to Tehrān, which may have been an early suburb from ca. 4th century CE. The city became prominent during the Qajar dynasty, and it was made the capital in 1788. Because of the oil and natural gas industry, Tehrān was rapidly modernized in the latter half of the 20th century.