48 Facts About Sasanian

The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire .

At its greatest territorial extent, the Sasanian Empire encompassed all of present-day Iran and Iraq, and stretched from the eastern Mediterranean to parts of modern-day Pakistan as well as from parts of southern Arabia to the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Period of Sasanian rule is considered to be a high point in Iranian history and in many ways was the peak of ancient Iranian culture before the conquest by Arab Muslims under the Rashidun Caliphate and subsequent Islamization of Iran.

Sasanian'storians have referred to the Sasanian Empire as the Neo-Persian Empire, since it was the second Iranian empire that rose from Pars ; while the Achaemenid Empire was the first one.

Sasanian exploited his success by advancing into Anatolia, but withdrew in disarray after defeats at the hands of the Romans and their Palmyrene ally Odaenathus, suffering the capture of his harem and the loss of all the Roman territories he had occupied.

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Sasanian ordered the construction of the first dam bridge in Iran and founded many cities, some settled in part by emigrants from the Roman territories, including Christians who could exercise their faith freely under Sassanid rule.

Sasanian particularly favoured Manichaeism, protecting Mani and sent many Manichaean missionaries abroad.

Sasanian first led his small but disciplined army south against the Arabs, whom he defeated, securing the southern areas of the empire.

Sasanian then began his first campaign against the Romans in the west, where Persian forces won a series of battles but were unable to make territorial gains due to the failure of repeated sieges of the key frontier city of Nisibis, and Roman success in retaking the cities of Singara and Amida after they had previously fallen to the Persians.

Sasanian crushed the Central Asian tribes, and annexed the area as a new province.

Cultural expansion followed this victory, and Sasanian art penetrated Transoxiana, reaching as far as China.

Sasanian failed to take the capital and was killed while trying to retreat to Roman territory.

Sasanian's reign marked a relatively peaceful era with the Romans, and he even took the young Theodosius II under his guardianship.

Sasanian was better known as Bahram-e Gur, Gur meaning onager, on account of his love for hunting and, in particular, hunting onagers.

Sasanian symbolised a king at the height of a golden age, embodying royal prosperity.

Sasanian had won his crown by competing with his brother and spent much time fighting foreign enemies, but mostly he kept himself amused by hunting, holding court parties and entertaining a famous band of ladies and courtiers.

Sasanian then gathered his forces in Nishapur in 443 and launched a prolonged campaign against the Kidarites.

Sasanian then persecuted the Christians in his land, and, to a much lesser extent, the Jews.

Sasanian's army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found.

Sasanian gave his support to the sect founded by Mazdak, son of Bamdad, who demanded that the rich should divide their wives and their wealth with the poor.

Sasanian was a good and kind king; he reduced taxes in order to improve the condition of the peasants and the poor.

Sasanian was an adherent of the mainstream Zoroastrian religion, diversions from which had cost Kavad I his throne and freedom.

Sasanian introduced a rational system of taxation based upon a survey of landed possessions, which his father had begun, and he tried in every way to increase the welfare and the revenues of his empire.

Sasanian rebuilt the canals and restocked the farms destroyed in the wars.

Sasanian built strong fortifications at the passes and placed subject tribes in carefully chosen towns on the frontiers to act as guardians against invaders.

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Sasanian was tolerant of all religions, though he decreed that Zoroastrianism should be the official state religion, and was not unduly disturbed when one of his sons became a Christian.

Sasanian was prevented from attacking Ctesiphon by the destruction of the bridges on the Nahrawan Canal and conducted further raids before withdrawing up the Diyala into north-western Iran.

Sasanian rule was characterized by considerable centralization, ambitious urban planning, agricultural development, and technological improvements.

Sasanian nobility was a mixture of old Parthian clans, Persian aristocratic families, and noble families from subjected territories.

Sasanian navy was an important constituent of the Sasanian military from the time that Ardashir I conquered the Arab side of the Persian Gulf.

Sasanian told Borzuya of a book, the remedy of ignorance, called the Kalila, which was kept in a treasure chamber.

The early Sasanian kings considered themselves of divine descent; they called themselves "bay" .

Artistically, the Sasanian period witnessed some of the highest achievements of Iranian civilization.

At its peak, the Sasanian Empire stretched from western Anatolia to northwest India, but its influence was felt far beyond these political boundaries.

Sasanian motifs found their way into the art of Central Asia and China, the Byzantine Empire, and even Merovingian France.

Sasanian art exported its forms and motifs eastward into India, Turkestan and China, westward into Syria, Asia Minor, Constantinople, the Balkans, Egypt and Spain.

Studies on Sasanian remains show over 100 types of crowns being worn by Sasanian kings.

Sasanian art combined elements of traditional Persian art with Hellenistic elements and influences.

Sasanian art revived forms and traditions native to Persia, and in the Islamic period, these reached the shores of the Mediterranean.

The Sasanian architect conceived his building in terms of masses and surfaces; hence the use of massive walls of brick decorated with molded or carved stucco.

The mountains of the Sasanian state were used for lumbering by the nomads of the region, and the centralized nature of the Sasanian state allowed it to impose taxes on the nomads and inhabitants of the mountains.

Sasanian merchants ranged far and wide and gradually ousted Romans from the lucrative Indian Ocean trade routes.

The extraordinary mineral wealth of the Pamir Mountains on the eastern horizon of the Sasanian empire led to a legend among the Tajiks, an Iranian people living there, which is still told today.

Christians in the Sasanian Empire belonged mainly to the Nestorian Church and the Jacobite Church branches of Christianity.

Sasanian even offered the Jews in the Sasanian empire a fine white Nisaean horse, just in case the Messiah, who was thought to ride a donkey or a mule, would come.

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The Sasanian Empire appears to have stopped using the Parthian language in their official inscriptions during the reign of Narseh.

In modern Iran and the regions of the Iranosphere, the Sasanian period is regarded as one of the high points of Iranian civilization.

Collapse of the Sasanian Empire led to Islam slowly replacing Zoroastrianism as the primary religion of Iran.