Sasanian Empire

/ rānšahr
Iranian Empire
Sassanian Empire

← ← ← 224-651 →
Flag Shield
The Sassanian Empire under Cosroes II (620)
Capital	Ctesifonte
Main language	Pahlavi (middle)
Other languages	Siríaco, mandeo
Religion	Zoroastism, Christianity, Judaism, Maniqueism
Government	Absolute Monarchy
Shahanshah
• 224-241	Ardashir I
• 632-651	Yazdgerd III
Historical period	Late age
• Battle of Hormizdagán	24 April 224
• Battle of Edesa	260
• Final war against Constantinople	602-628
• Muslim Conquest of Persia	633–651
Surface
• 550	3,500,000 km2

The Sassanian Empire (in Persian, شاهنشاهی سانی), officially Empire of the Iranians (middle thrashing): , rānšahr), was the second Persian Empire and the fourth and last Iranian state prior to the Muslim Conquest. The Empire began with the victory of Ardacher I over the last ardid king, Artabán IV of Partia, and ended with the defeat of Yazdgerd III before the first Islamic caliphate. The territory of the Sassanian Persian Empire included the current countries of Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Afghanistan and parts of eastern Turkey and Syria, as well as part of Pakistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Arabia. In addition, during the Cosroes II government (r. 590-628), the territories of the present Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine were annexed to the empire, and they became "protected" over territories currently corresponding to Oman and Yemen, thus almost reaching the Persian Aqueménide Empire extension.

The Sasanian period, which encompasses the entire final period of classical antiquity and even survives a few centuries, is considered one of the most important and influential historical periods in Iranian history. In many respects, the Sasanian period achieved the greatest achievements of Persian culture, constituting the last great Iranian empire before the Arab invasion of Persia and the adoption of Islam as a religion throughout the land. Sasanian Persia rivaled the Roman civilization for control of the Near East and Mesopotamia. Its cultural influence extended well beyond the borderlands of both empires, reaching into Western Europe, Africa, China, and India, and played a pivotal role in the formation of European and Asian medieval art. This influence reached throughout the Islamic world which adopted many aspects of its art and etiquette. The aristocratic and exclusive culture of the Sasanian dynasty transformed the Islamic conquest of Iran into a Persian 'renaissance'. Much of what would later be known as 'Islamic culture' (architecture, writing, music and other skills) were adoptions of the wider Islamic world from Sasanian Persian models.

History

Origins

The Sasanian dynasty was founded by Ardacher I in 224. Ardacher I was a grandson of the Persian king Sasanian and a descendant of a line of priests of the goddess Anahite at Istajr in the province of Fars (Persia), who in early from the 3rd century they had acceded to the government of the province. Ardacher's father, named Papag (also known as 'Papak' or 'Babak') was originally the ruler of a small town called Jeir, but in 205 he deposed the last king of the Bazrangi, Gocihr (local lord who acted as a client of the Arsacids), proclaiming himself the new ruler. His mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of the provincial governor of Peris. The eponymous founder of the dynastic line was the paternal grandfather of Ardacher I, called Sasan, high priest of the temple of Anahita.

Currency of Ardacher I

Pabag's efforts to seize the province escaped the attention of the Arsacid Emperor Artaban IV of Parthia, who in those days was embroiled in a dynastic conflict with his brother Vologases VI in Mesopotamia. Taking advantage of the opportunity that these circumstances offered him, Pabag and his eldest son Sapor tried to expand their power over all of Persia. The events that followed are unknown due to the incompleteness of the sources, but it is believed that after Pabhag's death around the year 220, Ardacher, who was then governor of Darabgird, challenged his elder brother Sapor for power. The sources tell us that in 222 Shapur died when the building where he was going to meet his brother collapsed.

At that time, Ardacher moved his capital further south into Persis, founding a city at Ardashir-Jwarrah (formerly known as Gur and now Firuzabad). The town, located between high mountains, was easily defendable thanks to its narrow accesses, and became the center of Sassanid power. It was further surrounded by a high circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgid. A large palace was built to the north of which some remains are still preserved.

After establishing his rule over Persis, Ardacher I rapidly expanded his territory, demanding the allegiance of the local princes of Fars and gaining control over the neighboring provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Susiana, and Menese (present-day Kuwait). This rapid expansion caught the attention of Artaban IV (216-224), of whom Ardacher was a vassal.

Initially, Artaban ordered the governor of Khuzestan to march against Ardacher in 224, but the confrontation ended in an important victory for Ardacher. Later it was the same Artaban who organized a second campaign against Ardacher, and both armies met at Hormizdeghan, where Artaban IV was killed. Ardacher then marched to invade the western provinces of the late Arsacid Emperor. In the year 226 he was crowned at Ctesiphon as sole lord of Persia under the title of Sahansah (king of kings ), ending four centuries of Parthian rule and beginning four centuries of Sasanian rule.

During the following years, and after some local rebellions throughout the Empire, Ardacher I further expanded his new state to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana (in present-day Turkmenistan), Balkh and Chorasmia. In addition, he annexed Bahrain and Mosul to Sasanian possessions. Later Sasanian inscriptions also affirm the submission of the kingdoms of Kushan, Turan and Mekran to Ardacher, although based on numismatic evidence it is more likely that these kingdoms were submitted by the latter's son, Shapur I. To the west, the campaigns against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene were less successful.

Gordiano III, Roman Emperor defeated in Syria by Sapor I

Ardacher's son, Shapur I (241-272), continued the expansion undertaken by his father, conquering Bactria and Kushan, while carrying out numerous campaigns against Rome. Penetrating deep into Roman territory, Shapur I seized Antioch in Syria (253 or 256), eventually defeating the Roman emperors Gordian III (238-244), Philip the Arab (244-249), and Valerian (253-253). 260). The latter was taken prisoner in 259 after the Battle of Edessa, a tremendous catastrophe unparalleled in Roman history. Shapur I celebrated his victory by commissioning the carving of the impressive reliefs at Najsh-i-Rostam or Naqsh-e Rostam, as well as as a monumental inscription in Persian and Greek in the vicinity of Persepolis. Between 260 and 263, however, he lost some of the recently conquered territory to Odenatus, an ally of Rome.

Sapor I had an intensive development plan. He founded an important number of cities, some of them inhabited by emigrants from Roman territory. These immigrants included Christians and Jews, who were free to profess their faith under Sasanian rule. In the religious aspect Sapor particularly favored Manichaeism; he protected Mani and sent Manichaean missionaries everywhere. In addition, he became friends with a Babylonian Jewish rabbi named Samuel, a relationship that was advantageous to the Jewish community, since it gave them a respite from the oppressive laws previously enacted against them.

Subsequent kings abandoned Shapur's religious tolerance. His own successor, Bahram I (273-276), persecuted Mani and his co-religionists. Mani was imprisoned and Bahram I ordered his execution, although a later legend states that he died in prison while awaiting execution. Bahram II (276-293) continued the religious policy of his father. He was a weak ruler who lost numerous western provinces to the Roman Emperor Caro (282-283). During his reign, most of Armenia, which had been in Persian hands for half a century, came under the control of Diocletian (284-305).

Following the brief reign of Bahram III in 293, Narses (293-302) embarked on a new war against Rome. After initial success against the future Roman Emperor Galerius (305-311) near Callinicum on the Euphrates in 296, Narses was defeated in an ambush while with his harem in Armenia in 297. In the treaty that concluded this war, the Sasanians ceded all land west of the Tigris and agreed not to meddle in the affairs of Armenia and Georgia. After this crushing defeat, Narses abdicated in 301; he passed away a year later. His son Ormuzd II (302-309) then ascended the throne. Although he put down the revolts that broke out in Sistan and Kushan, he was another weak monarch unable to subdue the nobles. He was assassinated in 309 AD by some Bedouins while hunting.

The first golden age (309-379)

Genealogical tree of the Sassanid kings of Persia. The names are in Persian graph instead of the usual Greek. Thus, Hormizd corresponds to Ormuz, Shapur to Sapor and Khosrau to Cosroes. Some kings are not represented, either because they did not belong to the Sassanian dynasty, either because their affiliation is unknown

The death of Ormuzd II coincided with the beginning of a series of raids by the Arabs from the south, in which they assaulted some of the southern cities of the Empire and even penetrated the province of Fars, cradle of the Sassanid kings. Meanwhile, Persian nobles murdered Ormuzd II's eldest son, blinded his second son, and imprisoned his third (who subsequently fled to Roman territory). The throne was reserved for the unborn child of one of Hormuz II's widows.

It is said that Shapur II (309-379) may have been the only king in history to be crowned before he was born. In fact, they placed the crown on the belly of his mother. The child was born, therefore, already being a king. During his youth, the Empire was controlled by his mother and the nobles. Upon reaching adulthood, he assumed power and quickly demonstrated that he was an active and capable ruler.

First, he led his small but disciplined army to fight the Arabs; he defeated them and thus secured the southern lands of the Empire. After this he undertook his first campaign against the Romans in the west, in which he at first won some victories. After the siege of Singara, however, he had to abandon his conquests because of nomadic raids along the Empire's eastern borders. These endangered Transoxiana, a strategic and vital area for the control of the Silk Road. Furthermore, the Sasanian forces were insufficient to hold all the conquered territory in the west; consequently, Sapor signed a truce with Constantine II (337-340).

This done, he marched towards Transoxiana, to meet the eastern nomads. He crushed the Central Asian tribes and took over the region, which he organized as a new province. The victory was followed by cultural expansion and Sasanian art penetrated Turkestan, even reaching China. Sapor II, together with the nomad king Grumbates, undertook a new campaign against the Romans in 359, this time using all his military power and enjoying the collaboration of the nomads. It was a tremendously successful campaign in which the Persians wrested a total of five provinces from the Romans.

Sapor II followed a rigid religious policy. During his reign, the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, were completed, heresy and apostasy were punished, and Christians and Jews were once again persecuted. These anti-Christian and also anti-Jewish persecutions were part of a reaction against the Christianization and legalization of Judaism in the Roman Empire carried out by Constantine I the Great (324-337). However, Shapur II (like Shapur I) was a monarch who protected the emigrant Jews (who lived in relative freedom and obtained many advantages during this period, not so the converts of Persian origin).

By the death of Shapur II, the Persian Empire was stronger than ever, having defeated its enemies to the east and subjugated Armenia.

Middle Ages

From the death of Shapur II and until the first coronation of Kavad I, Persia enjoyed relative stability, with only a few wars against the Byzantine Empire. Throughout this time, the religious policy of the Sasanian Empire changed radically from one king to another. With the exception of a number of weak monarchs, the administrative system established by Shapur II remained strong, and the Empire continued to function normally.

On his death in 379, Shapur II left the powerful Persian Empire to his half-brother Ardacher II (379-383), son of Vahram of Kushan, and later his son Shapur III (383-388) would inherit it. None of them proved to have the talent of his distinguished predecessor.

Ardacher II, who was elevated to power because he was the emperor's half-brother, failed to fill the gap left by him, the most famous of his reign being the construction of a new capital at Taq-I Bustan, and Shapur III he was too weak of character to achieve great achievements.

Bahram IV (388-399), although he was a more active monarch than his father, also failed to provide the empire with important achievements. During this time, Armenia was divided by treaty between the Roman and Sasanian empires. The Sassanids re-established their rule over most of Armenia, while the Byzantines gained a small portion of western Armenia.

Barham IV's son Yazdegerd I (399-421) is often compared to Constantine I. Like him, he was a strong figure, both physically and diplomatically. Like his Roman counterpart, Yazdegerd I used power in an opportunistic way. Like Constantine the Great, Yazdegerd practiced religious tolerance and gave freedom to the rise of minority religions. He stopped the persecution against the Christians, punishing the nobles and priests who persecuted them. His reign spanned a time of relative peace. He made peace with the Romans and even had the young Theodosius II (408-450) in his custody. He too married a Jewish princess, who bore him a son named Narsi.

Yazdegerd I was succeeded by his son Bahram V (421-438), who is one of the best known Sassanid kings, and a hero of numerous later myths as these legends persisted even after the destruction of the Sassanid Empire by the Arabs. Bahram V, obtained the crown after the sudden death (or assassination) of his father Yazdegerd I, and this with the opposition of the nobility of the kingdom, who had the help of Al-Mundhir, of the Arab dynasty (lajmida) of al-Hirah. Bahram V's mother was Soshandukht, the daughter of Jewish exiles.

In 427, Bahram V crushed the invasion of Hephthalite nomads in the east, extending his influence into Central Asia, where his likeness survived for centuries on the coins of Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan). Bahram V also deposed the vassal kingdom of Persian Armenia, turning the region into another province.

Iranian decorated plaque featuring a Bahram-e Gur hunting scene (XII century or early 13th century)

Bahram V is a figurehead in Persian tradition, recounting many stories of his valor and beauty, of his victories over Romans, Turks, Hindus, and Axumite Ethiopians, and of his adventures in hunting and love. He was called Bahram-e Gur (Gur means in Persian onager ), because of his love of hunting and in particular onager hunting. Bahram V is the epitome of a king on the cusp of a golden age. He obtained the crown from him by disputing his brother, and although he spent much of his time fighting his foreign enemies, he preferred to be out hunting and throwing court parties with his famous band of ladies and courtesans. He personified royal prosperity. During his reign the best works of Sassanid literature were written, notable musical works were composed, and sports such as polo became the royal pastime, a tradition that still continues in many kingdoms.

Yazdegerd II (438-457), son of Bahram V, was a just and moderate ruler, although in contrast to Yazdegerd I, he practiced a repressive religious policy towards minorities, especially Christians.

Early in his reign, Yazdegerd II assembled an army made up of various nations, including his Hindu allies, and attacked the Eastern Roman Empire, which was building fortifications on Persian territory near Carras (a ploy used by the Romans to launch expeditions from them). The Persians took the Romans by surprise, and had it not been for a heavy flood, Yazdegerd might have been much deeper into Roman territory. Byzantine Emperor Theodosius II sued for peace by sending his commander to negotiate at Yazdegerd's camp. In 441, both empires pledged not to build any more fortifications on the border. However, Yazdegerd II was in a better position than the Byzantines to negotiate, and if he did not demand further concessions it was because of the Kidarite raids on Parthia and Chorasmia. He assembled his forces at Neishabur in 443, launching a protracted campaign against the Kidarites. Finally, and after some battles, he crushed the Kidarites, driving them beyond the Oxus River in 450.

During his campaign in the east, Yazdegerd II became suspicious of the Christians who made up his army, causing them to be expelled from both the army and the government. He then began a persecution against the Christians and, to a lesser extent, also against the Jews. To re-establish Zoroastrianism in Armenia, he crushed an uprising of Armenian Christians at the Battle of Avarayr in 451. However, the Armenians remained overwhelmingly Christian. In his later years, he would clash again with the Kidarites, until he died in 457.

Hormizd III (457-459), the youngest son of Yazdegerd II, then ascended the throne. During his short reign he continually fought against his older brother Peroz, who had the support of the nobility, and against the Hephthalites in Bactria. He was finally killed in 459 by his brother.

In the early 5th century, the Hephthalites (White Huns), along with other nomadic groups, attacked Persia. At first, Bahram V and Yazdegerd II inflicted decisive defeats on these groups, driving them back to the east. The Huns returned at the end of the V century and defeated Peroz I (457-484) in 483. After this victory, the Huns invaded and plundered parts of eastern Persia for two years, and even collected heavy taxes for several more years after these plunders.

The Hunnic attacks brought instability and chaos to the kingdom. Peroz I tried again to drive out the Hephthalites, but on the way to Herat, he and his army were ambushed by the Huns in the desert. Peroz I was killed, and his army destroyed. Following this victory, the Hephthalites advanced on the city of Herat, turning the Persian empire into chaos.

A Persian nobleman from Karen's old family: Zarmihr (or Sokhra), restored some order. He elevated Balash, one of Peroz I's brothers to the throne, even though the threat of the Huns persisted until the reign of Chosroes I Anusarvan.

Balash (484-488) was a suave and generous monarch, who made concessions to the Christians, though he took no action against the Empire's enemies, especially the White Huns. After a reign of four years, Balash was blinded and deposed, and his nephew Kavadh I was elevated to the throne.

Kavadh I (488-531) was an energetic and reformist ruler. He gave his support to the heterodox communist sect founded by Mazdak, son of Bamdad, who advocated that the rich should share their women and property with the poor. Kavadh's intention was, of course, to end the influence of magnates and the opulent aristocracy. These reforms led to his overthrow and imprisonment in the 'Castle of Oblivion' in Susa, and his younger brother, Djamasp, was raised to the throne in 496. However, Kavadh escaped from prison in 498 and found refuge. next to the king of the white Huns.

Djamasp (or Ŷamasp, 496-498) was installed on the Sasanian throne after the overthrow of Kavadh I by members of the nobility. Djamasp was a good king who reduced taxes to favor the peasants and the poor. He also professed a certain sympathy for the sect of the Mazdakites, sympathies that had cost his brother the throne and his freedom. His reign was short-lived, as his sister Kavadh returned at the head of a large army on loan from the king of the Hephthalites. Djamasp's loyalists laid down their arms and restored Kavadh I to the Sassanid throne. Djamasp is not mentioned again in the sources after the restoration of his brother, although he is presumed to have been well treated at Kavadh I's court.

The Second Golden Age (498-622)

Byzantine and Saudi rival empires by the year 600

The second golden age began after the start of the second reign of Kavadh I. With the support of the Hephthalites, Kavadh launched a campaign against the Romans. In the year 502 he took Theodosiopolis (Erzurum), in Armenia. In 503 he took Amida (Diyarbakır), on the Tigris. In 505, an invasion of Armenia by the Western Huns from the Caucasus led to an armistice. During this armistice, the Romans paid tribute to the Persians for the maintenance of fortifications in the Caucasus. In the year 525, Kavadh put an end to the revolts produced in Lazica (in the southwest of Georgia), and recaptured Georgia. His army, with the help of Nestorian Lakhmid Arabs, from Hira, a vassal kingdom of the Sassanids, defeated the Byzantine army commanded by Belisarius, Justinian's famous general, twice: once in 530, at the Battle of Nisibis, and another in 531, in the battle of Callinico. Although he could not free himself from the yoke of the Hephthalites, Kavadh managed to restore order within the Empire and carry out successful campaigns against the Byzantines, found many cities, some of which took his name, and began to regulate taxes..

After Kavadh I, his son Chosroes I, also called Kusro I Anosharvan, (Immortal Soul), who ruled between 531 and 579, ascended the throne of Persia. He is the most famous of the Sasanian kings. Chosroes I became famous for his reforms in the Sassanid government apparatus. In them he introduced a rational system of taxation based on the inspection of land holdings, a work that his father had started, and he also tried by all means to increase the beneficence and income of his Empire. The previous great feudal lords equipped their own armies, their followers and servants. Chosroes I developed a new force of dekhans or "knights", paid and equipped by the central government. He brought the army and the bureaucracy closer to the central power, away from the influence of local lords.

Despite the fact that the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565) had paid the sum of four hundred and forty thousand gold pieces to keep the peace, in 540 Chosroes I broke the "eternal peace" signed in 532 and invaded Syria, where he captured and sacked the city of Antioch. During his way back, he collected money from different Byzantine cities.

In 565 Justinian I died, being succeeded on the Byzantine throne by Justin II (565-578), who decided to stop paying the Arab leaders to prevent them from making further incursions into Byzantine territory in Syria. A year earlier, the Sasanian governor of Armenia, from the Suren family, had built a fire temple at Dvin, near modern Yerevan, also killing an influential member of the Mamikonia family, sparking a revolt that led to the massacre of the Persian governor and his entire guard in 571. Justin II took advantage of the revolt in Armenia to end the annual payments to Khosrau I for the defense of the Caucasian passes. The Armenians were welcomed as allies and an army was sent into Persian territory that besieged Nisibis in 572. However, disagreements between the Byzantine generals not only led to the abandonment of the siege, but also the Byzantine army was itself besieged in the city of Dara, which was eventually taken by the Persians.

Subsequently, the Persian army sacked Syria, provoking a new petition for peace on the part of Justin II. The Armenian rebellion ended with a general amnesty granted by Chosroes I, which returned Armenia to Sasanian control.

About 570, Ma al-Karib, stepbrother of the king of Yemen, requested the intervention of Chosroes I in his country against the intervention of the Christian kingdom of Ethiopia, sending Chosroes I a fleet and a small army under the command of a commander named Vahriz to the vicinity of present-day Aden who marched against the country's capital, Sanaa, which they occupied. Saif son of Mard-Karib, who had accompanied the expedition, became king between 575 and 577. In addition, the Sasanians established a base in southern Arabia to control maritime trade to the east. Subsequently, the kingdoms of southern Arabia renounced the vassalage that tied them to the Sassanids, and a new Persian expedition had to be sent in 598 that managed to annex southern Arabia as another province of the Empire. These provinces were preserved until the troubled period that followed the death of Chosroes II.

The reign of Chosroes saw the rise of the dighans (literally, "lords of the villas"), the small landed nobility, who formed the skeleton of what would later become became the Sasanian provincial administration and tax collection system. Chosroes I was a great builder who beautified his capital, founding new neighborhoods and building new buildings. He rebuilt the canals and replaced the farms destroyed in the wars. He also built powerful fortifications at the passes, and stationed certain tribes in carefully selected border towns to act as guards against possible invasions. He was a monarch tolerant of all religions, despite making Zoroastrianism official for the entire state. Nor did he seem to mind when one of his children converted to Christianity.

After Chosroes I, Hormuz IV (579-590) took the throne. Hormuzd IV was an energetic ruler who maintained the prosperity begun by his predecessors. During the reign of his successor, Chosroes II (590-628), the revolt of the general Bahram Chobin (proclaimed Bahram VI in opposition to the official monarch) caused a brief crisis in the kingdom, although Chosroes II managed to reestablish control of he over the Empire. In addition, and taking advantage of the civil war that was shaking the Byzantine Empire, he launched a large-scale invasion. The Sasanian dream of reestablishing Persian rule over Armenia came close to being fulfilled when Damascus and Jerusalem fell. Egypt fell soon after. in 626, Chosroes II besieged Constantinople with the help of Slavic and Avar forces, only to gaze, as others before and after would, at the impregnable walls of the Byzantine capital.

This major expansion was accompanied by an equally brilliant period for Persian art, music, and architecture.

Decline and Fall (622-651)

Although very successful, Chosroes II's campaign was carried out at the cost of enormous fiscal pressure. The Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (610-641) counterattacked with a tactical move, abandoning his besieged capital and sailing to the Black Sea to attack Persia from the rear. Meanwhile, the mutual mistrust between Chosroes II and his general Shahrbaraz, aggravated by forged letters that were sent to the Persian general by Byzantine agents, and where Chosroes II was supposedly planning his execution, caused Shahbaraz to remain neutral during this critical period. Persia lost the support of one of its largest armies and one of its best generals. To the greater misfortune of Chosroes, Shanin, the other great supporter of the Sassanid army, which had conquered the Caucasus and Anatolia, died suddenly, which ended up unbalancing the balance in favor of the Byzantines.

Heraclius, with the help of Khazars and other Turkish troops, took advantage of the absence of Shanin and Shabaraz to win several devastating victories against the Sasanian state, weakened by fifteen years of warfare.

Heraclius's campaign culminated in the Battle of Nineveh, where the Byzantines (now without the help of the Khazars, who had abandoned Heraclius) defeated the Persian army commanded by Rhahzadh. Then Heraclius marched towards Mesopotamia and western Persia, sacking Tajt-e Suleiman and Dastugerd's palace, where he received news of the assassination of Chosroes II.

After the assassination of Chosroes II in 628, chaos and civil war ensued. During a period of four years (628-632) there were between twelve and fourteen sovereigns, including two daughters of Chosroes II and the same general Shahbaraz. The Sasanian Empire was considerably weakened. Central power passed into the hands of the generals. Many years passed before the appearance of a strong king, and since then, the Empire has never fully recovered.

In the spring of 632, a grandson of Chosroes II, Yezdegard III, who had lived in hiding, ascended the throne and became the last Sasanian ruler. That same year, the first Arab squadrons made incursions into Persian territory. The years of war had exhausted both the Byzantines and the Persians. The Sassanids were further weakened by economic decline, high taxes, religious problems, rigid social stratification, the growing power of landlords, and successive changes in government, all factors that facilitated the Arab invasion.

In reality, the Sassanids never put up any real resistance to the pressure exerted by the first Arab armies. Yezdegard III was just a boy at the mercy of his advisers, and unable to unite a vast country reduced to a group of small feudal kingdoms, despite the fact that the Byzantines, under similar pressure from the Arabs, no longer constituted a threat. The first encounter between the Sasanians and the Muslim Arabs occurred at the Battle of the Bridge in 634, which resulted in a Persian victory that did not, however, stop the Arab conquest. These reappeared soon after, commanded by the great strategist Khalid ibn al-Walid, one of Muhammad's former companions and head of the Arab army.

A Muslim army under Caliph Úmar ibn al-Khattab defeated the larger Persian army under General Rostam Farrojzad on the plains of al-Qadisiyyah in 637; He then besieged Ctesiphon, which ended up falling after a long siege. Yazdegard then fled east, leaving behind most of the vast Imperial treasury.

Presumably, had the Sasanian Empire not found itself exhausted, divided, and without efficient government at the time of the Arab invasion, the Persian asawara cavalry would have been able to defeat them with certainty. However, the Persian forces never came together in time, and they moved under a prevailing power vacuum. The result of this debacle was the Islamic conquest. A number of Sassanid governors attempted to combine their forces to drive the invaders back, but these efforts proved fruitless due to the lack of a central authority, and the governors were defeated at the Battle of Nihavand. From then on, the Empire, with its non-existent military command structures, its troops decimated, its economic resources destroyed, and the asawara knight caste gone, was helpless against its invader.

Upon hearing of the defeats at Nihawand and at Al-Qadisiyyah, Yezdegard III, with most of the Persian nobility, fled further northeast (fleeing from province to province of what was left of his former empire), to the province of Khorasan. Yezdegard was assassinated by a miller in Merv (Sogdiana), at the end of 651, while the rest of the nobles settled in Central Asia (mainly in Corasmia), where they greatly contributed to the spread of Persian culture and its language in that region, establishing the first Iranian native dynasty: the Samanid dynasty, which revived Sassanid traditions and culture after the invasion of Islam.

The abrupt fall of the Sasanian Empire was completed in a period of five years, and most of its territory was absorbed into the Islamic caliphate of the Umayyads. However, many Iranian cities held out, fighting the invaders multiple times in the decades that followed. The population slowly accepted Islam. Thousands of Zoroastrian worshipers fled east, giving rise to the Parsi community in northwestern India. As in the Near East and the Maghreb, nobles and city dwellers converted early while traditional religion persisted longer in the countryside and rural areas. In the remote areas along the Caspian and Transoxiana, the Sassanid culture and religion continued until two centuries after the Muslim conquest. The Arabs respected the Persian culture and translated many of its secular books, stories and poetry into Arabic while Zoroastrian holy books were sometimes burned.

Government

The Sasanians established their empire covering roughly the same territory as the Achaemenids, with their capital at Ctesiphon, in the province of Khvarvaran. The Sasanian rulers adopted the title of Shahanshah (king of kings), becoming both overlords and guardians of the sacred fire, the symbol of the national religion. This symbology is shown in the Sasanian coins, where the reigning monarch, with his crown and the attributes of his office, appears on one of the faces while the sacred flame occupies the reverse of the coin. The Sasanian queens had the title of Banebshenan barebshen (queen of queens).

On a smaller scale, the territory was ruled by governors belonging to the Sasanian royal family, known as Shahrdar (شهردار), under the direct supervision of the Shahanshah. The Sassanid government was characterized by considerable centralization, by its ambitious urban plans, the development of agriculture and technological research. Under the king, a powerful bureaucracy handled most of the government's business. The head of this bureaucracy and vice-chancellor was the "Vuzorg (Bozorg) Farmadar" (بزرگ فرمادار). Within this bureaucratic apparatus, the Zoroastrian priests were immensely powerful. The head of the priestly class was the Mobadan (موبدان), who together with the commander-in-chief, the Iran (Eran) Spahbod (ايران سپهد) and the head of the trade union, "Ho Tokhshan Bod" (هوتوخشان بد), who was also the minister of agriculture "Vastrioshansalar" (واستریوشانسالار) and head of the farmers were the most powerful men in the Sasanian state, second only to the emperor.

Sasanian monarchs frequently acted as advisers to their ministers, who made up a council of state. The Muslim historian Al-Masudi praised the "excellent administration of the Sasanian kings, their orderly politics, care for their subjects, and the prosperity of their domains."

In normal times, the imperial office was hereditary, although it could be passed on by the king to a younger son. At two moments in its history, supreme power was in the hands of both queens. When there was no direct heir available, the nobles and prelates chose a ruler, although this choice was restricted to members of the royal family.

The Sasanian nobility was a mixture of ancient Parthian clans, Persian aristocratic families, and noble families from the Empire's subject territories. After the dissolution of the Parthian dynasty, many noble families arose, while the once dominant seven Parthian clans retained great social importance. At Ardacher I's court, the old Arsacid families of Suen-Pahlav and Karen-Pahlav, together with numerous Persian families, the Varazes and Andigans, held positions of great honor. Ardacher's successor, Shapur I, used the coat of arms of Gondophar (a circle surrounded by a crescent) as a symbol, which could indicate the relationship of this monarch through his mother with the house of Suran-Pahlav.

As a rule, the highest class families (Bozorgan) held the most powerful positions in the imperial administration, including the governors of the border provinces (Marzban, مرزبان). Most of these positions were patrimonial, and in many cases they were inherited within the same family for generations. The most senior Marzbans were allowed a silver throne, while those from the most strategically important provinces like the Caucasus were allowed a golden throne. During military campaigns, the Marzban could act as field marshals, while the less numerous Spahbods could command the armies.

Culturally, the Sasanians implemented a system of social stratification. This system was based on Zoroastrianism, established as the official state religion. The rest of the religions were treated with enough tolerance (although with occasional episodes of persecution). The Sasanian emperors consciously sought to resurrect Persian traditions, trying to erase Greek cultural influence.

The Sasanian Army

The backbone of the Persian army (Spah) in Sasanian times was made up of heavy cavalry, evolved from Parthian times: the Savaran knights. This cavalry force, made up of elite nobility, trained from their youth for military service, was supported by light cavalry, infantry, and archers. Sasanian tactics focused on distracting and weakening the enemy through the use of archers, mounted or on foot, to allow the Savarans to maximize the power of their charge.

Unlike their Parthian predecessors, the Sasanians developed advanced siege techniques. This development gave him an advantage in his conflicts with Rome; an advantage based on the ability to besiege cities and fortified posts. Conversely, they also developed techniques to defend their own cities from attack. The Sassanid army was famous for its heavy cavalry, inherited from the previous Parthian army, although much more advanced and deadly. The Greek historian Ammianus Marcellinus described Shapur II's cavalry, stating their high level of equipment:

All the companies were coated with iron, and all the parts of their bodies were covered by thick plates rigidly fitted and adjusted to their members, and they wore human face forms embedded in their heads, so that all their bodies were covered with whole metal, and the arrows that fell on them could only be nailed by the holes of the mask where they saw or where they could breathe. Of them, some were armed with spikes, so firmly held that they could be thought to hold them with bronze clamps.

Amiano Marcelino

The amount of money needed to support a warrior of the Asawara caste made it necessary for them to have land, and indeed, the Savaran (asawara) knights obtained it from the Crown. In return, they were the most notable defenders of the crown in times of war.

Conflicts

The Sasanians, like the Parthians, maintained a constant hostility against the Roman Empire. After the division of the Roman Empire in 395, the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital in Constantinople, replaced the Roman Empire as Persia's main enemy. Hostilities between both empires became even more frequent. The Sassanids, like the Romans, were in constant conflict with neighboring kingdoms and nomadic hordes. Despite the fact that the danger of the nomadic raids was never fully resolved, the Sassanids had more success with them than they had in their fight against the Romans, since their military policy was more focused on coordinating the campaigns against the Romans. nomad danger.

In the west, Sasanian territory bordered the large and stable Roman Empire, but in the east its closest neighbors were the Kushan Empire and nomadic tribes such as the White Huns. The construction of fortifications such as the citadel of Tus or the city of Nishapur, later converted into a center of study and commerce, helped defend the eastern provinces from attacks.

To the south, in central Arabia, Bedouin tribes occasionally ranged the southeastern borders of the Sasanian state. The kingdom of al-Hirah, a Sassanid vassal, was established as a buffer state between the imperial territory and the Bedouin tribes. The dissolution of the kingdom of al-Hirah by Chosroes II in 602 contributed greatly to the Sassanid defeat against the Bedouin Arabs that occurred at the end of that same century; the victories of the Bedouin tribes, converted to Islam, allowed them to seize the territory of the Sassanid Empire.

To the north, Khazars and other Turkic tribes frequently raided the northern provinces of the empire. These tribes plundered the territory of the Medes in 634. A little later, the Persian army defeated and drove them out. The Sassanids built numerous fortifications in the Caucasus region to stop these onslaughts.

Interactions with the East

Relations with China

Like its Parthian predecessors, the Sasanian Empire maintained a very intense foreign relationship with China, a region to which Persian ambassadors traveled frequently. Chinese documents give an account of thirteen Sasanian embassies. Land and sea trade between the two empires was important to both the Sasanians and the Chinese. In southern China, a large number of Sasanian coins have been found that corroborate maritime trade between the two regions.

On different occasions, the Sasanian kings sent their most gifted musicians and dancers to the Chinese imperial court. Both empires benefited from trade along the Silk Road and shared an interest in maintaining and protecting it. They cooperated in guarding merchant routes in Central Asia and built outposts in border areas to keep caravans safe from nomadic tribes and bandits.

The efforts of the Sassanids and the Chinese to forge alliances against their common enemy, the Hephthalites, are also known. Given the increasing control of Central Asia by the nomads of Turkic origin, there was also a collaboration between China and the Sassanid Empire to repel their advance.

After the invasion of the Empire by the Muslim Arabs, Peroz, son of Yazdegard III, escaped along with some Persian noblemen and took refuge in the Chinese imperial court. Piroz and his son Narseh obtained peerages at the Chinese court. On at least two occasions, most likely in 670, Chinese troops under Peroz were sent to retake the throne, with mediocre results. One of these attempts ended with a short period of government of Peroz in Sistan, of which a scant numismatic record is preserved. Narseh later rose to the position of head of the Chinese imperial guard, and his descendants lived in China as respected princes.

Expansion to India

Having secured Iran and its neighboring regions under the reign of Ardacher I, the second emperor, Shapur I (240-270), extended his authority further east into modern Pakistan and northwestern India. The Kushans, previously autonomous, were forced to accept his authority. Although the Kushan Empire was in decline towards the end of the III century and was replaced by Gupta in the IV, the change did not affect Sassanid influence, which remained prominent in northwestern India during this transition period.

Persia and northwestern India engaged in cultural and political exchange during this period, and certain Sasanian practices spread throughout Kushan territory. In particular, the Sasanian influence was reflected in their concept of kingship and in the trade in silver and textiles. This cultural exchange did not, however, include Sasanian religious practices or their attitude towards the Kushans. While the Sassanids always had a religious concept linked to the state proselytizing policy, and sporadically persecuted or forced the conversion of religious minorities, the Kushans were more tolerant.

Lesser cultural exchanges between India and Persia also took place during this period. For example, the Persians imported the game of chess, changing the name of the game from chaturanga to shatreng; in return, the Persians introduced backgammon to India.

During the reign of Chosroes I, numerous Indian books were brought to Persia and translated into Middle Persian, the language of the Sasanian Empire. Some of these volumes were later incorporated into the literature of the Islamic world. A notable example of this literary traffic was the translation of the Indian Panchatantra by one of Chosroes's ministers, Burzoe. The translation of this work, known as the Kelileh va Demmeh, later reached Arabia and Europe. The details of Burzoe's legendary journey to India and his daring acquisition of the Panchatantra are described in full detail in Ferdousí's Book of Kings.

Iranian society under Sasanian rule

The society and civilization fostered by the Sassanids was one of the most flourishing of its time. In its geographical scope it was rivaled only by Byzantine society. The importance of scientific and intellectual exchanges between both empires is an example of competition and cooperation between these cradles of civilizations.

The fundamental difference between Parthian and Sasanian society was the latter's emphasis on achieving centralized and charismatic rule. In Sasanian social theory, the ideal society was one that could maintain stability and justice, and the necessary instrument for this was a strong monarchy.

Sasanian society was tremendously complex, with separate organizational systems governing numerous different groups throughout the Empire. Historians consider that society was divided into four classes: the priestly (Atorbanan, Persian: آتروبانان), the warriors (Arteshtaran, Persian: ارتشتاران), the scribes (Debiran, in Persian: دبيران) and the commoners or peasants (Vasteryoshan-Hootkheshan, in Persian: هوتخشان-واستريوشان). At the center of the Sasanian caste system was the Shahansha, ruling over all nobles. Royal princesses, petty rulers, large landowners and priests made up a privileged class, and were known as Bozorgan (بزرگان) or nobles. Apparently it was quite a rigid social system.

Belonging to a social class was based on birth, although it was exceptionally possible for a person to change class by obtaining certain merits. The king's role was to make sure that each class stayed within its own limits, that is, that the strong did not oppress the weak, and the weak did not overthrow the strong. Maintaining this social balance was the essence of the king's justice, and on this justice depended the glorification of the figure of the monarch over the other classes.

At a lower level, Sasanian society was divided between the Azatan or free men (آزادان) and the mass of peasantry of non-Aryan origin. The azatan formed a broad aristocracy of low-level administrators who lived mainly on small estates, jealously guarding their status as descendants of the ancient Aryan conquerors. Militarily, the azatan formed the backbone of the Sasanian cavalry.

Art, science and literature

The Sasanian kings were patrons of letters and philosophy. Cósroes I had the works of Plato and Aristotle translated into Pahlavi and that were taught in Gundishapur, and he even read them himself. During his reign, a large number of historical annals were compiled, of which only the Karnamak-i Artaxshir-i Papakan (The Deeds of Ardacher) has survived, a mixture of history and romance that served as the basis for the Iranian national epic, the Shahnama. When Justinian I closed the schools in Athens, seven of his teachers fled to Persia and found refuge at the court of Cósroes. In time, they became homesick for their land, and in the treaties of 533 between Justinian and the Sasanian king it was stipulated that the Greek sages be allowed to return to their land free from any persecution.

Under Cósroes I, the Gundishapur college, founded in the IV century, became «the greatest intellectual center of the world»^{[citation required]}, students and teachers from all over the world flocking to it. Even Nestorian Christians were received at Gundishapur, contributing Syrian translations of Greek works on medicine and philosophy. Neoplatonists, who planted the seeds of Sufi mysticism, as well as scholars from India, Persia, Syria, and Greece, who mixed to give rise to a flourishing medical school, also flocked to Gundishapur.

Artistically, the Sasanian period witnessed the greatest advances of Persian civilization, much of which merged with what became known as Islamic culture, including architecture and literature. At its height, the Sasanian Empire stretched from Syria to northern India, but its influence reached far beyond its political limits. Sasanian motifs have been found in the art of Central Asia and China, in the Byzantine Empire, and even in Merovingian France. However, the true heir to Sassanid art was Islamic art, which assimilated its concepts and forms and, at the same time, breathed new life and renewed vigor into them. As the American historian Will Durant puts it:

Sassanian art exported its forms and motives to the east, within India, Turkestan and China, and to the west within Syria, Asia Minor, Constantinople, Balkans, Egypt and Spain. Its influence probably helped to change the emphasis on Greek art from classical representations to Byzantine ornament, and in Latin Christian art from wooden ceilings to vaults and brick or stone domes and walls supported in bouncing

William James Durant

Sassanid reliefs of Naqsh-e Rustam

The Sasanian reliefs at Taq-e Bostan and Naqsh-e Rustam were originally polychrome, as were many of the palaces, although only traces of those colors remain. Literature, on the other hand, makes it clear that painting was a flourishing art in the Sasanian period. It is known that the prophet Mani founded a school of painting; Ferdousi tells how Persian magnates adorned their mansions with paintings of Iranian heroes, and the poet al-Buhnturi describes the murals in the Ctesiphon palace. On the death of the Sasanian kings, the best painters of the day were summoned to paint a portrait of the deceased king for the collection of the royal treasury.

Sassanid textile piece of the fourth century

Painting, sculpture, pottery, and other forms of decoration shared their designs with Sasanian textile art. Silks, embroideries, brocades, damascenes, tapestries, tapestries, canopies, canopies, and rugs were woven with slavish patience by master hands, and dipped in warm dyes of yellow, blue, and green. Nearly every Persian, peasants and priests excepted, aspired to dress above their class. Gifts were often in the form of sumptuous clothing, and gaily colored rugs had been a sign of wealth in the East since the days of the Assyrians.

The two dozen Sasanian textiles that escaped the ravages of time are among the most highly prized of human fabrications. Even in his time, Sasanian textiles were admired and imitated from Egypt to the Far East, and during the Crusades, these pagan products were prized to dress the relics of Christian saints. When Heraclius captured Khosru Parvez's palace at Dastagird, the delicate embroidery and immense carpets were among his most precious possessions. The "winter carpet", also known as "the spring of Cósroes" (قالى بهارستان) or Khosru Anushirvan, designed to make you forget winter with its spring and summer scenes: flowers and fruits made of rubies and diamonds, plus paths of silver and streams of pearls traced on a background of gold. Harun al-Rashid stood proud on his spacious Sasanian rug, intricately carved with jewels. The Persians even wrote love poems about their rugs.

The influence of the Sassanid fabrics, in addition to permeating the textile art of the Byzantine Empire, spread after the fall of the Empire into Muslim hands throughout the Arab domains, reaching Al-Andalus, in the eastern end of these domains.

Studies of the remains show that the Sasanian kings used over a hundred types of crowns. The different Sasanian crowns show the cultural, economic, social and historical situation of each period. They also show the character of each king. The different symbols and signs on the crowns, the moon, the stars, the eagle and the hand illustrate the religious beliefs of their owners.

The Sasanian dynasty, like the Achaemenid, originated in the province of Persis (Fars). The Sasanians saw themselves as successors to the Achaemenids after the interlude of Hellenistic and Parthian rule, and were convinced that their ultimate destiny was to restore Persia to greatness.

In reliving the glories of the Achaemenid past, the Sasanians were not mere imitators. The art of this period reveals an astonishing vitality, anticipating in certain respects the key aspects of Islamic art. Sasanian art combined elements of traditional Persian art with Hellenistic elements and influences. The conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great led to the spread of Hellenistic art in western Asia. Although the East accepted these artistic influences externally, he never really assimilated the spirit from it. Even in the Parthian period, Hellenistic art was freely interpreted by the peoples of the Near East. Thus, the Sasanian period was a reaction against these art forms. Sasanian art revived forms and traditions native to Persia, and already in the Islamic period, these forms reached the shores of the Mediterranean. According to Ferguson:

With the rise of the Sassanids, Persia recovered much of the power and stability that had long been strange to him(...) The advances of the domestic arts without an indication of the return to prosperity and to a degree of unknown security since the fall of the aquemenides.

The surviving palaces illustrate the splendor in which the Sasanian monarchs lived. Serve as an example the palaces of Firuzabad and Bishapur in Fars, and in the capital of the Empire in Ctesiphon, in the province of Khvarvaran, in modern Iraq. In addition to local traditions, Parthian architecture also influenced the characteristics of Sasanian architecture. Both are characterized by half-barrel vaults, introduced during the Parthian period. In the Sasanian period these reached enormous proportions, especially at Ctesiphon. There, the arch of the great vaulted hall, attributed to the reign of Shapur I (241-272) had a width of more than twenty-six meters, reaching a height of almost forty. This magnificent building fascinated the architects of the following centuries, and is considered one of the most important examples of Persian architecture. Many of the palaces had an internal audience hall consisting, as in Firuzabad, of a domed chamber. The Persians solved the problem of building a circular dome on a square building by using trumpets, arches built at each corner of the square, effectively turning the square into an octagon on which it was easier to place the dome. The dome of the Firuzabad palace chamber is the oldest surviving example of the use of French horns, suggesting that this architectural technique was probably original to Persia.

The unique characteristic of Sasanian architecture is the distinctive use of space. Sasanian architects conceived their buildings in terms of masses and surfaces. This gave rise to the abundant use of brick walls decorated with molded or carved stucco. Decorations on stucco walls appear at Bishapur, although better examples of it are given at Chal Tarkhan near Rayy (late Sasanian or early Islamic period), and at Ctesiphon and Kish in Mesopotamia. The panels show animal figures in a circle, human busts, and geometric or floral motifs.

In Bishapur, some of the floors were decorated with mosaics showing scenes of jubilation, such as at a banquet. Here, the Roman influence is clear, and the mosaics may have been created by Roman prisoners. The buildings were decorated with wall paintings, good examples of which are found at Kuh-i-Khwaja in Sistan.

Industry and commerce

Persian industry under Sasanian rule developed from the domestic to the urban realm. Numerous guilds were created. Silk garments were introduced from China, and Sasanian silks found their way everywhere, serving as a model for the textile arts in Byzantium, China, Korea, and Japan. The influence of Sasanian textiles and silverware reached as far away as Hispania. Chinese merchants came to Iran to sell raw silk and buy rugs, jewelry, makeup... Armenians, Syrians, and Jews connected Persia with Byzantium and Rome in a slow exchange. The good roads and bridges, well guarded, allowed the establishment of posts and caravans of goods that linked Ctesiphon with all the provinces. Ports were built on the Persian Gulf to facilitate trade with India. Sasanian merchantmen reached far and wide, displacing the Romans from lucrative oceanic trade routes with India. Recent archaeological discoveries show an interesting fact: the Sassanids used special labels on their wares as a way of promoting their brands and distinguishing between different qualities.

Cósroes I further extended the already vast commercial network. The Sassanid State sought to take monopolistic control of trade, with luxury goods assuming a major role in it, and great activity in the construction of ports, caravan posts, bridges, and where the objective was to unite trade with urbanization. The Persians dominated international trade, both with the Indian Ocean and in Central Asia and southern Russia in the time of Chosroes, despite intense competition with the Byzantines at the time. Sassanid settlements in Oman and Yemen attest to the importance of trade with India, although the silk trade with China was mainly in the hands of vassals of the Sassanids and Iranian peoples such as the Sogdians.

The main products exported by the Sassanids were silk, wool and gold fabrics, carpets and tapestries, skins and leathers and pearls from the Persian Gulf. There was also traffic of goods from China (paper, silk) and India (spices) on which the Sasanian customs imposed tariffs and which were re-exported from the Empire to Europe.

This stage also meant an increase in metallurgical production, in such a way that Iran earned the reputation of being the "armor shop of Asia". A large part of the Sassanid mining centers were located on the periphery of the Empire: in Armenia, in the Caucasus, and above all, in Transoxiana. The extraordinary mineral wealth of the Pamir Mountains, on the eastern borders of the Empire, gave rise to the legend about the Tajiks, the Iranian people who lived there and whose legend still lives on. It is said that when God created the world, he traveled over the Pamir Mountains, dropping his jar of minerals that scattered throughout the region.

Religion

The Sassanid state religion was Zoroastrianism, although Sassanid Zoroastrianism had clear differences about the practices reflected in the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism. The Sasanian Zoroastrian clergy modified religion to suit their interests, causing substantial religious unrest. Sasanian religious policies contributed to the flourishing of numerous religious reform movements, the most important of which were the Mani and Mazdak religions.

The extreme and pronounced dualism constituted the most noteworthy characteristic of Zoroastrianism. Ormazd and Ahriman, the principles of good and evil, were regarded as twins, who came in the beginning to create life and death, and to establish what the world would be like. world. There was no priority in the existence of one over the other, and no decided superiority either. Both, being contemporaries, had been fighting since the beginning of time and would continue to do so for all eternity, neither of them being able to unseat the other.

Reverse of a coin of Sapor I, where the altar of fire appears, with the flame rising from it

Reverse of an Ormuz II coin, where in addition to the sacred flame, a human head appears

These two principles were represented as persons. Ormazd was the creator of life, earthly and spiritual, creator of heavenly bodies, earth, water and trees. Ormazd was good, sacred, pure, true. He meant supreme happiness, and he was in possession of all blessings: health, wealth, virtue, wisdom, and immortality. From him came all the gifts that man could enjoy. Just as he rewarded goodness, he also punished evil, though this was a rarely represented aspect of his essence.

Zoroastrian worship was intimately connected with temples and altars dedicated to fire. In all the important cities of the Empire a temple of fire was maintained, and in each of them a sacred flame was venerated, which was believed to have been lit from the heavens and was kept perpetually lit by the priests. This flame was said to be "inextinguishable." It is likely that fire altars also existed independently of temples. Throughout the history of the Sassanids, the altar of fire had a prominent place in numismatics as the most frequent impression on the reverse of coins. This altar was represented with the flame emerging from it, and sometimes with a head in the flame. The foot of this altar used to be decorated with garlands or ribbons, and on each side, as protectors or devotees, two figures were represented, sometimes looking at the flame, and other times with their backs turned to it, as if protecting it from external enemies.

In addition to Zoroastrianism, other minority religions coexisted in Sassanid society, mainly Judaism, Christianity and Buddhism, which were in many periods free to practice their cults and preach their beliefs.

The heterodox idea of a Human and Divine Christ but separated into two persons is known as Nestorianism. When after the Council of Ephesus (year 431) Nestorianism was considered heresy, and therefore was banished from the Roman Empire, the diaspora of Nestorian Christians found refuge in the Sasanian Empire. A large part of the Christian inhabitants of the Persian Empire (especially in Iraq) and the Lakhmids embraced the Christian denomination known in the West (here including Syria and the Byzantine Empire as parts of the West) with the aforementioned adjective of "Nestorianism" 3. 4;.

Under Sasanian rule, a populous Jewish community flourished, whose most prosperous centers were Isfahan, Babylon, and Khorasan, and with a semi-autonomous religious authority established in Mesopotamia. This Jewish community in Persia, in fact, continued to flourish until the advent of Zionism in the late 19th century. Jewish communities suffered, however, occasional persecution, although in general terms, they enjoyed relative religious freedom, and enjoyed privileges that were denied to other minority religious communities. Shapur I (Shabur Malka in Aramaic) was particularly friendly with the Jews. His friendship with Rabbi Samuel brought many benefits to the Jewish community. He even offered the Jews of the Sasanian Empire a magnificent horse, in case the Messiah arrived, who was thought to arrive on the back of a donkey or mule.

Shapur II, whose mother was Jewish, maintained a similar friendship with the Babylonian rabbi Raba. Friendship with Raba assured the Jews of the relaxation of the oppressive laws made against the Jews in the Persian Empire. At this juncture of tolerance, in the eastern territories of the Empire various places of Buddhist worship, especially Bamiyan, experienced a certain boom as Buddhism became more popular in the region (present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan).

Timeline

• 224. King Ardashir sweats and destroys the Empire by founding the Sassanian Empire instead.
• 241.-251. King Sapor I conquers the kushana Empire.
• 260. Battle of Edesa. Sapor I defeats the Roman Emperor Valeriano taking him as a prisoner. The Sasanids are controlled by the Near East, although they will soon have to dispute it with the upward power of Zenobia of Palmira.
• 296. The invading army of King Narsés is annihilated by Maximino Daya causing the loss of the territories of Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia. It is the time for the greatest expansion of the Roman Empire in Asia.
• 310. Sapor II defeats the Romans three times and forces them to leave Armenia and Mesopotamia.
• 339. The persecution of Christians in the Empire is accentuated.
• 384. Sapor III and Theodosius divide Armenia.
• 390. Period of decay marked by the mediocrity of the kings Ardacher II, Sapor III, Bahram III and Peroz I, during which there were internal struggles against the aristocracy.
• 420.-438. Under the mandate of Bahram V, the pressure of the Arab peoples on the southern borders of the Roman and Sassanian Empire grows. The Arab leader Mundhir founded Hira's Principality next to bass Euphrates.
• 438.-457. A long crisis began in Iran.
• 483.-488. Grave defeats against the Heftalite Huns under Balash's command.
• 497. King Kavadh I, fighting against the nobility of Iran, rests on the mazkedist sect. The defeat forces him to flee.
• 499. Kavadh I returns starting a period of reforms. Amazonism is persecuted.
• 590. Cosroes II the Great He declares the war against the Byzantine Empire, and entangles itself in an endless war against Heraclio.
• 611. Cosroes II occupies Antioch in its conquest of Syria.
• 618. Fall of Alexandria in the Egyptian campaign.
• 622. To the continuing defeats that the Sassanian Empire suffers from Byzantine hands, a plague is added that causes a profound demographic crisis that causes the murder of Cosroes II Parviz and the enthronization of their sons Ardashir III and Kavadh II with which the powerful Sassanian empire enters a phase of decomposition and loss of territories at the hands of the Arab incursions.
• 628. The peace negotiations of Kavadh II return to the Byzantine Empire all the conquests of Cosroes II.
• 635. Beginning of Arab campaigns against Sassanid and Byzantine Asia that collapsed are not obstacles.
• 636. Islamic victory of Yarmuk over Byzantines.
• 637. Islamic victory of al-Qadisiyya over the Persians.
• 637. Islam's final victory in Nehawend over his last king, Yazdegerd III.
• 651. The Sassanian Empire lies at the hands of the Orthodox Caliphate after the death of Yazdegerd III.

Related bibliography

• Origen of man: The Revival of Iran II (Volume 70). Barcelona: Editions Folio S.A. 1996. ISBN 84-413-0138-7.