Sassanid dynasty

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Image:Derafsh.gif
The Sassanid flag , Derafsh Kaviani
Image:Map sassanid empire.jpg
The Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent
Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian)
State Religion Zoroastrianism
Capital Ctesiphon
Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr)
First Ruler Ardashir I
Last Ruler Yazdegerd III
Establishment 224 AD
Dissolution 651 AD
Image:Faravahar.png
Faravahar, The symbol of Zoroastrian faith
Part of the History of Iran

The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia, which includes much of present-day Iran, during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate, the first of the Islamic empires. The Sassanid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly encompassing parts of today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, parts of Turkey, (during Khosrau II's rule Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon), parts of Syria, Northern India, Pakistan, Caucasia, Central Asia and Arabia. By the Sassanids, their Empire was called Iran or Eranshahr. The Sassanid era is considered to be one of the most important and influential historical periods in Iran.

Contents

The term Sassanids or Sassanian

Ardashir I, the establisher of the Sassanids was grandson of Sassan the great priest of Temple of Anahita. Because of Ardashir's kinship to Sassan, his dynasty which ruled Persia between 226 to 651 was called the Sassanian or Sassanids by later historians. Nevertheless during the time of the Sassanids, Persians called their kingdom Eranshahr. The Romans didn't recognize the Sassanids for some time, using the word Parthian to describe events related to the Persian empire of its eastern borders.

Origin

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Ardashir's ancestors were all Zoroastrian priests who were also local governors of Persis. His father Papag (or Papak or Babak) was the ruler of a small town called Kheir. His mother was Rodhagh.

Upon Sassan's death, Papak (Babak) deposed the previous king of Persis (Fars), Gochihr, and took his throne. During his father's reign, Ardashir ruled the town of Darabjird and received the title of "argobadh". Upon Papag's death, Ardashir's elder brother Shapur ascended to the throne. However, Ardashir rebelled against his brother and took the kingship for himself in 208.

He and his successors created a vast empire, based in Firouzabad, Fars, which included those lands of the old Achaemenid Persian empire east of the Euphrates River. The Sassanids wanted to recreate the glories of ancient Persia and claimed to Persianise the country. They made Zoroastrianism the state religion and claimed in inscriptions to have persecuted other faiths (although these claims are not reflected in native Jewish and Christian sources of the time). It was the shahs' long sought-after goal to reunify all of the old Achaemenid territory, which brought them into frequent wars against the Roman Empire and later on Byzantine Empire.

History

Early history (224-310)

Image:Shapur i.jpg Image:Schapur I.jpg Ardashir rapidly extended his territory, demanding fealty from the local princes of Fars and gaining control over the neighboring provinces of Kerman, Isfahan, Susiana, and Mesene. This expansion brought the attention of the Parthian Great King Artabanus IV, Ardashir's overlord and ruler of the Parthian Empire, who marched against him in 224. Their armies clashed at Hormizdeghan, and Artabanus was killed. Ardashir went on to invade the western provinces of the now defunct Parthian Empire. Crowned in 226 as the sole ruler of Persia, and taking the title Shahanshah "King of Kings" (his consort Adhur-Anahid took the title "Queen of Queens"), Ardashir finally brought the 400 year-old Parthian Empire to an end and began four centuries of Sassanid rule. Lovji is a major Zoroastrian scholar.

Over the next few years, Ardashir further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana (in modern Turkmenistan), Balkh, and Chorasmia. Bahrain and Mosul were also added to Sassanid possesions. Furthermore, the kings of Kushan, Turan, and Mekran recognized Ardashir as their overlord. In the West, assaults against Hatra, Armenia and Adiabene met with less success.

Ardashir's son Shapur I (241–272) continued this expansion, conquering Bactria and Kushan, while leading several campaigns against Rome. He penetrated several times deeply into Roman area and conquered and pluenderted Antiochia in Syria (253 or 256); finally it defeated the Roman emperors Gordian III, Philip the Arab and Valerian during his reign. The latter came to 259 even into Persian shank, after the battle of Edessa, a tremendous and up to then unknown disgrace for the Romans. Shapur let its victory perpetuated by the impressing rock reliefs carved in Naqsh-e Rostam, for example with Bishapur, as well as a monumental inscription in Persian, and Greek language with Naqs i Rustam in the proximity of Persepolis:

"In the third campaign, when we advanced toward Karrhai and Edessa and Karrhai and Edessa besieged, there emperor Valerian marched against us, and it was with it, an army power of 70.000 men. And on the jenseitigen side of Karrhai and Edessa with emperor Valerian a large battle for us took place, and we capture emperors Valerian with own hands and the remaining ones, who Praetorianerpraefekten and senators and officers, all which always leaders of that army power were, all these seized we with the hands and they deportierten into the Persis."

Between 260 and 263 Shapur I had lost his conquest to Odaenathus, an ally of the Romans. Shapur II (ruled 309-379) regained the lost territories, however, in three successive wars with the Romans.

The Manichaeism was favoured by Shapur, he protected Mani. Under Shapur's successors Bahram I (273-276) and Bahram II (276-293) the Manichaeism, which found also in the Roman realm was pursued . Otherwise above all relating to domestic affairs Shapurs quite intensive city politics stood out. In the cities created by Shapur there were settlers from the western terretories, which included some Christians, who could exercise their faith there, were settled. He attacked the Romans, but after defeating the emperor Galerius near Callinicum on the Euphrates in 296 was completely defeated in 297 King Narseh (293-302) attacked the Romans, but after defeating the emperor Galerius near Callinicum on the Euphrates in 296 was completely defeated in 297, some areas in Mesopotamien were lost to Romans. However the Sassanids, like Romans had not to only fight at a front, the new Persian realm had to set itself against intruders form other fronts, the passports of the Caucasus had to be likewise defended like the always endangered northeast border, where the Sassaniden had to fight first against the Kushans, later against the white huns and the Turks. These peoples did not show themselves rarely as serious threat for the Sassanids.

Persia in Sassanid dynasty witnessed two golden eras. The first was during the reign of Shapur II (310-379) and the second, which was longer, from 499 when Kavadh I became king again til 622 when emperor Heraclius started invading Assyria. In these eras the empire was at its greatest extent and the arts and science flourished. Because of effective central authority the people were relatively prosperous and comfortable.

First golden era (310-379)

Image:ShapurII.jpg After the conquests of Shapur I, the Sassanids started to decline in authority and power. A series of weak monarchs caused the empire to lose many of its lands to its enemies. Arabs from the south started to ravage and plunder the southern cities of the empire; they even managed to attack the province of Fars, the birthplace of the Sassanid kings, causing much destruction. When King Hormizd II died, the Persian magnates killed his eldest son, blinded the second, and imprisoned the third (Hormizd afterwards escaped to the Romans); the throne was reserved for the unborn child of one of the wives of Hormizd. It is said that Shapur may have been the only king in history to been crowned in utero: the crown was placed upon his mother's belly. This child, named Shapur, was therefore born king; the government was conducted by his mother and the magnates. But when Shapur came of age, he turned out to be one of the greatest monarchs of the dynasty.

He first attacked and crushed the Arabs in the south, and he then campaigned against Romans in the west. After initial success, he concluded a peace treaty and went east to encounter the White Huns. After crushing the White Huns, he then continued his campaign against the Romans and encountered even more success.

Under his reign the collection of the Avesta was completed, heresy and apostasy punished, and the Christians persecuted. This was a reaction against the Christianization of the Roman Empire by Constantine. By his death the Persian Empire was stronger than ever before, (considerably larger than when he came to the throne), the eastern enemies were pacified, and Persia had regained control over Armenia.

Intermediate era (379-498)

After Shapur II's death till Kavadh I's first coronation, Persia was more or less stable with few wars against Byzantine, however near the end of the 5th century a new enemy, the barbaric Hephthalites (white huns) attacked Persia; they defeated the Persian king Firuz (or Peroz) I in 483 and for some years thereafter exacted heavy tribute. Ephthalites invaded and plundered eastern parts of Persia for 2 years. These attacks brought instability and chaos to the kingdom. It was not until the reign of Khosroe (or Khosrau) I that the Huns were crushed forever.

Second golden era (498-622)

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The second golden era started after second coronation of Kavadh I with the help of Ephthalites. Kavadh joined the Ephthalites and began war against the Romans. In 502 he took Theodosiopolis (Erzurum) in Armenia. In 503 Amida (Diarbekr) on the Tigris. In 505 an invasion of Armenia by the western Huns from the Caucasus led to an armistice, during which the Romans paid subsidies to the Persians for the maintenance of the fortifications on the Caucasus. Although he could not free himself from the yoke of the Ephthalites, he succeeded in restoring order in the interior and fought with success against the Romans. He built some towns which were named after him, and began to regulate the taxation.

After Kavadh I, his son Khosrau I also known as Anushirvan the Just (531-579) ascended to the throne, He is the most celebrated of the Sassanid rulers. He reformed the tax system and reorganized the army and the bureaucracy, tying the army more closely to the central government than to local lords. His reign witnessed the rise of the dihqans (literally, village lords), the petty landholding nobility who were the backbone of later Sassanid provincial administration and the tax collection system. Khosro was a great builder, embellishing his capital, founding new towns, and constructing new buildings. He rebuilt the canals and restocked the farms, which had been destroyed in the wars. He built strong fortifications at the passes and placed subject tribes in carefully chosen towns on the frontiers, so that they could act as guardians of the state against invaders.

Justinian paid Khosroe 440,000 pieces of gold as a bribe to keep the peace, but he seems to have been a man who genuinely enjoyed the fruits of peace and saw no reason to continue a senseless war. He was tolerant of all religions, though he decreed that Zoroastrianism should be the official state religion, but he was not unduly disturbed when one of his sons became a Christian.

After him Hormizd IV took the throne, he was also a vigorous ruler but during Bahram Chobin's crisis, empire saw a short lived chaos. However it stabilized soon after with ascend of Khosrau II. Following the civil wars in Byzantine he started full scale invasion Byzantine empire. The Sassanid dream of restoring the Achaemenid boundaries was close to completion when Jerusalem and Damascus fell to Khosrau II. Soon after, Egypt was conquered. Even Constantinople was under siege in 626 by Slavic and Avar forces supported by the Persians. In these years Persian art, music and architecture reached to their highest peak, the royal court was in a splendor that wasn't seen before.

Decline and fall (622-651)

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Khosrau II had overextended his army and overtaxed the people. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius retaliated with a tactical move by abandoning his besieged capital and sailing up the Black Sea to attack Persia from the rear. During Heraclius's campaign in the Persian Empire in the 620s, mutual suspicion arose between Khosrau II and his general Shahrbaraz. Byzantine agents showed Shahbaraz letters indicating that Khosrau was planning the general's execution. This kept one of the main Persian armies and its best general neutral during this crucial period, speeding the end of the war in favour of the Byzantines.

Heraclius managed to defeat several Persian armies, culminating in a battle at Nineveh, where the main Persian army was driven from the field. He then marched through Mesopotamia and Western Persia sacking Takht-e Soleyman and the Palace of Dastugerd, where he received the news of the murder of his rival Khosrau II.

Chaos and civil war followed the defeat. Over a period of fourteen years and twelve successive kings, the Sassanid Empire was weakened considerably, and the power of the central authority passed into the hands of the generals. It took years for a strong king to emerge from a series of coups, but the Sassanids never completely recovered.

In the spring of 633 a grandson of Khosrau, Yazdegerd III, ascended the throne, and in that same year the first Arab squadrons made their first raids into Persian territory. Years of warfare had exhausted both the Byzantines and the Persians. The later Sassanids were further weakened by economic decline, heavy taxation, religious unrest, rigid social stratification, the increasing power of the provincial landholders, and a rapid turnover of rulers. These factors facilitated the Arab invasion in the seventh century.

This was the beginning of the end. Yezdegerd was a boy, at the mercy of his advisers, incapable of uniting a vast country which was crumbling into a number of small feudal kingdoms. Rome no longer threatened. The threat came from the small disciplined armies of Khalid ibn Walid, once one of Mohammad's chosen companion-in-arms and now, after the Prophet's death, the leader of the Arab army.

System of Governing

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The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids, with the capital at Ctesiphon in the Khvarvaran province. The Sassanids system of social stradferserfdsdgdtification reinforced by Zoroastrianism consciously sought to resuscitate Persian traditions and to obliterate Greek cultural influence. Their rule was characterized by considerable centralization, ambitious urban planning, agricultural development, and technological improvements.

Sassanid rulers adopted the title of Shāhanshāh (the King of Kings), as sovereigns over numerous petty rulers, known as shahrdars.

Sassanid rule and the system of social stratification were reinforced by Zoroastrianism, which became the state religion. The Zoroastrian priesthood became immensely powerful. The head of the priestly class, the mobadan (magi), along with the military commander, the Iran (eran) spahbod, and the head of the bureaucracy, were among the great men of the state.

The Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, had replaced Greek city states as Persia's principal Western enemy, and hostilities between the two empires were frequent.

Iranian society under Sassanids

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Historians believe that society was divided into four classes: the priests, warriors, secretaries, and commoners. The royal princes, petty rulers, great landlords, and priests together constituted a privileged stratum, and the social system appears to have been fairly rigid.

Expansion to India

Image:07b.jpg Main article: Indo-Sassanian

After The Sassanids came to power in Persia in 226 A.D. The second emperor, Shapur I (240-270), extended his authority eastwards into what is today Pakistan and northwestern India and the previously autonomous Kushans were obliged to accept his suzerainty.

Successive Sassanid emperors were either tolerant of other religions or pursued policies of persecution, particularly against Christians, but in India the Kushans were generally tolerant of indigenous beliefs. Thanks to traded goods such as silverware and textiles depicting the Sassanid emperors engaged in hunting or administering justice, their imperial example became well known in Kushan India and, owing to the political relationship, it was wise for Kushan art to be seen to be drawing inspiration from Persia, imitation being one of the best forms of flattery. This adoption of Persian forms, rather than Indian, also helped the Kushans to maintain their aloofness from their subjects.

Although the Kushan empire declined at the end of the 3rd century, leading to the rise to power of an indigenous Indian dynasty, the Guptas, in the 4th century, it is clear that Sassanid influence remained relevant in the north-west of India.

There has been numerous cultural exchanges between Persia (Iran) and India in this period .Chess was imported from India to Persia (Iran) where its terminology was translated into Persian, and its name changed to chatrang (See history of chess). In exchange, Persians introduced their own special game Backgammon to India.

Under Khosrau I's auspices, many books were brought from India and translated into Pahlavi. Some of these later found their way into the literature of the Islamic world. His famous minister Burzoe translated indian Panchatantra from Sanscrit into middle persian language of Pahlavi and named it Kelileh va Demneh which later on from its Persian version it transmitted to Arabia and Europe.

Important persian figures in Sassanid era

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  • Mani the prophet : Founder of Manichaeism.
  • Mazdak : Proto-socialist philosopher and founder of Mazdakism.
  • Bozorgmehr : The famous physician and minister of Khosrau I.
  • Purandokht (Boran) : The one and only Sassanid queen on the throne.
  • Barbod the Great : The famous court musician of the king Khosrau II who created the first ever musical system in the Middle East, known as the Royal Khosravani, dedicated to king himself.
  • Nakisa : The famous court musician who collaborated with Barbod on his famous septet piece the Royal Khosravani.
  • Rostam-e Farokhzad : The last great general of Sassanids, though unsuccessful to repel invading muslim arabs but he is considered to be a hero in Iranian folklore and history.

Art and science

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In many ways the Sassanian period (224-633) witnessed the highest achievement of Persian civilization, and constituted the last great Persian Empire before the muslim conquest. In fact much of what later became known as Muslim culture, architecture, writing and other skills, were taken mainly from the Persians into the broad muslim world.

The Sassanian Dynasty, like the Achaemenian, originated in the province of Persis (Fars). They saw themselves as successors to the Achaemenians, after the Hellenistic and Parthian interlude, and perceived it as their role to restore the greatness of Persia.

At its peak, the Sassanian Empire stretched from Syria to north-west India; but its influence was felt far beyond these political boundaries. Sassanian motifs found their way into the art of central Asia and China, the Byzantine Empire, and even Merovingian France.

In reviving, the glories of the Achaemenian past, the Sassanians were no mere imitators. The art of this period reveals an astonishing virility. In certain respects it anticipates features later developed during the Islamic period. The conquest of Persia by Alexander the Macedonian warlord had inaugurated the spread of Hellenistic art into Western Asia; but if the East accepted the outward form of this art, it never really assimilated its spirit. Already in the Parthian period Hellenistic art was being interpreted freely by the peoples of the Near East and throughout the Sassanian period there was a continuing process of reaction against it. Sassanian art revived forms and traditions native to Persia; and in the Islamic period these reached the shores of the Mediterranean.

The splendour in which the Sassanian monarchs lived is well illustrated by their surviving palaces, such as those at Firouzabad and Bishapur in Fars, and the capital city of Ctesiphon in Khvarvaran province, nowadays Iraq. In addition to local traditions, Parthian architecture must have been responsible for a great many of the Sassanian architectural characteristics. All are characterised by the barrel-vaulted iwans introduced in the Parthian period, but now they reached massive proportions, particularly at Ctesiphon. The arch of the great vaulted hall at Ctesiphon attributed to the reign of Shapur I (241-272) has a span of more than 80 ft, and reaches a height of 118 ft. from the ground. This magnificent structure fascinated architects in the centuries that followed and has always been considered as one of the most important pieces of Persian architecture. Many of the palaces contain an inner audience hall which consists, as at Firuzabad, of a chamber surmounted by a dome. The Persians solved the problem of constructing a circular dome on a square building by the squinch. This is an arch built across each corner of the square, thereby converting it into an octagon on which it is simple to place the dome. The dome chamber in the palace of Firouzabad is the earliest surviving example of the use of the squinch and so there is good reason for regarding Persia as its place of invention.

The unique characteristic of Sassanian architecture, was its distinctive use of space. The Sassanian architect conceived his building in terms of masses and surfaces; hence the use of massive walls of brick decorated with molded or carved stucco. Stucco wall decorations appear at Bishapur, but better examples are preserved from Chal Tarkhan near Ray (late Sassanian or early Islamic in date), and from Ctesiphon and Kish in Mesopotamia. The panels show animal figures set in roundels, human busts, and geometric and floral motifs.

At Bishapur some of the floors were decorated with mosaics showing scenes of merrymaking as at a banquet; the Roman influence here is clear, and the mosaics may have been laid by Roman prisoners. Buildings were also decorated with wall paintings; particularly fine examples have been found at Kuh-i Khwaja in Sistan.

Studies on Sassanid remains show that there has been over 100 types of crown being worn by Sassanid kings.The various Sassanid crowns demonstrate the cultural, economic, social, and historical situation in each period. The crowns also show the character traits of each king in this era.

There are different symbols and signs on the crowns of Sassanid kings including the moon, stars, eagle, and palm that show their religious faith and beliefs.

Sassanid army

Image:Knight-Iran.JPG Main article:Sassanid Army

The backbone of Persian army (Spah) in the Sassanid era was their heavy armoured cavalry. The Clibinarii cavalry of Shapur II is described by an eye-witness historian as follows:

All the companies were clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff-joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces were so skilfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire body was covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tip of their nose they were able to get a little breath. Of these some who were armed with pikes, stood so motionless that you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze.

Some of the Sassanid army units and their weaponry:

  • Azadan nobility - (Savaran elite cavalry, the Persian knightly caste)
  • War elephants
  • Light cavalry (archers)
  • Clibinarii cavalry (Heavy cavalry armed with maces and swords)
  • Cataphract cavalry (Heavy cavalry armed with lances)
  • Daylami and Soghdiana (Sughdian) heavy infantry
  • Paygan (Medium infantry armed with spears and large shields)
  • Kamandaran (Elite foot archers)

Sassanid Empire chronology

Sassanid rulers
Ruler Year
Ardashir I 224 to 241
Shapur I 241 to 272
Hormizd I 272 to 273
Bahram I 273 to 276
Bahram II 276 to 293
Bahram III 293
Narseh 293 to 302
Hormizd II 302 to 310
Shapur II 310 to 379
Ardashir II 379 to 383
Shapur III 383 to 388
Bahram IV 388 to 399
Yazdegerd I 399 to 420
Bahram V 420 to 438
Yazdegerd II 438 to 457
Hormizd III 457 to 459
Peroz I 457 to 484
Balash 484 to 488
Kavadh I 488 to 531
Djamasp 496 to 498
Khosrau I 531 to 579
Hormizd IV 579 to 590
Khosrau II 590 to 628
Bahram VI 590 to 591
Bistam 591 to 592
Hormizd V 593
Kavadh II 628
Ardashir III 628 to 630
Peroz II 629
Shahrbaraz 630
Purandokht 630 to 631
Hormizd VI 631 to 632
Yazdegerd III 632 to 651

226-241: Reign of Ardashir I

241-271: Reign of Shapur I

  • 241-244: First war with Rome.
  • 258-260: Second war with Rome. Capture of Roman emperor Valerian.
  • 215-271: Mani, founder of Manicheanism.

271-301: A period of dynastic struggles

309-379: Reign of Shapur II "the Great"

  • 337-350: First war with Rome with a relatively not much of success.
  • 358-363: Second war with Rome. Great victories , extending eastern and western borders of empire.

399-420: Reign of Yazdegerd I "the Sinner"

  • 409: Christian are permitted to publicly worship and to build churches.
  • 416-420: Persecution of Christians as Yazdegerd revokes his earlier order.

420-440: Reign of Bahram V.

  • 420-422: War with Rome.
  • 424: Council of Dad-Ishu declares the Eastern Church independent of Constantinople.

483: Edict of Toleration granted to Christians

491: Armenian Church repudiates the Council of Chalcedon.

531-579: Reign of Khosrau I, "the Blessed" (Anushirvan)

533: "Treaty of Endless Peace" with Rome.

540-562: War with Rome.

590-628: Reign of Khosrau II

603-628: War with Rome. With conquests in Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Anatolia, Persia nearly restored to boundaries of Achaemenid dynasty, before being beaten back by Romans.

610: Arabs defeat a Sassanid army at Dhu-Qar.

626: Unsuccessful siege of Constantinople by Avars and Persians.

627: Roman Emperor Heraclius invades Assyria and Mesopotamia. Definitive defeat of Persian forces at the battle of Nineveh by Khazar-Roman alliance.

628-632: Chaotic period of multiple rulers.

632-642: Reign of Yazdegerd III

633: Decisive Sassanid defeat at the battle of Kadisiya begins Arab conquest of Persia.

642: Final victory of Arabs when Persian army destroyed at Nahavand (Nehavand).

651: Last Sassanid ruler Yazdegerd III murdered at Merv, present-day Turkmenistan, ending the dynasty.

In modern media

The Sassanid Empire is one of a number of factions in the 2005 PC game Rome Total War: Barbarian invasion.

See also

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Sassanid_dynasty.html"


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