Comprehensive history of the Jews of Iran

The earliest history of the Jews in Iran is marked with Haman's conspiracy against the Jews. The situation of the Jews, stable under the Parthians, deteriorated in the Sasanian period; the persecutions were especially harsh during the Mazdakites' religious movement in the early 6th century. With the advent of Islam, the situation of the Jews improved somewhat - the Jews acquired the status of dhimma. Timur's conquest was followed by the massacre of thousands of Jews in Isfahan and other places. In the Safavid period (1502-1722), during which Shi'ism became the official religion of Iran, new restrictions were added to Omar's Laws; expulsions and forced conversions of Jews to Islam ensued. The persecution reached a climax under Abbas II. Discusses the poem by the Jewish poet Babai ibn Lutf "Kitab-i Anusi" (begun in 1656), which describes forced conversions and the expulsion of Jews from Isfahan. In the Qajar period (1794-1907) the Jews again underwent forced conversions, as well as riots in Tabriz, Mashhad, Tehran, and other cities. The Constitutionalist revolution of 1906 led to emancipation of the Jews in Iran; however, the anti-Jewish riots continued - in 1910 in Shiraz and in 1922 in Tehran. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)