The series begins with history teacher Nima Zande-Karimi (Siamak Ansari) realizing that his extensive research on Persian and world history is of little use to financing his day-to-day life. He is about to leave Tehran for good to go back to his hometown by the name of Darab, when he comes across young university student Roya Atabaki (Sahar Jafari-Jozani) who is researching for her final year dissertation, which is regarding the period 1198–1203, that is said to be a period of turmoil for Iran's ruling elite. Such turmoil that, very few books are available on that period for Roya's research. It is then that Nima receives an anonymous telephone call, which leads him to Niavaran Palace (currently a museum), where he is told to have a coffee and wait. The coffee (which is bitter) is ready and he duly drinks it, his sight becomes hazy, and when he manages to refocus he is in the year 1201 (1822 AD), and the story develops therein.

The show stars Mehran Modiri, as Shir Farhad, the son of Lower Barare's khan, or leader. He lives with his sister, Saharnaz; mother, Shadone; and father, Salar Khan. The show begins when a journalist, Kiyanush, from Tehran is arrested for writing an article criticizing the government, escapes capture, and then is bitten by a snake. Shir Farhad finds him collapsed and brings him to the village of Barare, nurtures him to health, and gradually introduces him to the town and the other characters in the show, such as the families of Upper and Lower Barare's Khans, as well as the flamboyant village poet, Baguri, and village doctor. Later in the series, new characters such as the village gendarme and Upper Barare's Khan's son and daughter, Keivun and Leilun, join the cast. Davune doesn't appear in this.