Khosrow I was one of the most illustrious Sāsānian monarchs. From his time dates a new and more equitable adjustment of the imperial tax system. The levying of land revenue in kind was replaced by a fixed assessment in cash, and these assessments continued in force later under the Arab administration. His reputation as an enlightened and just ruler was high during his lifetime and later became legendary. When Justinian I closed the philosophy school in Athens in 529, the last Neoplatonists turned to Khosrow in hopes of finding in him the true philosopher-king. Although they were disillusioned by conditions at his court, their gratitude was great when Khosrow obtained for them the right to return to Athens. From 540 onward Khosrow had been conducting a long war against Justinian, which, although interrupted by several armistices, lasted until the so-called 50 years’ peace of 561. Khosrow also extended his power to the Black Sea and inflicted heavy defeats on the Hephthalites. These military successes resulted partly because the armed forces and the chain of command were reorganized several times during Khosrow’s long reign. Conflicts with the Turks and Byzantium
About 560 a new nation, that of the Turks, had emerged in the east. By concluding an alliance with a Turkish leader called Sinjibu (Silzibul), Khosrow was able to inflict a decisive defeat on the Hephthalites, after which event a common frontier between the Turkish and Sāsānian empires was established. Inevitably, this alliance became a source of possible friction, and the Turks sometimes acted as an ally of Byzantium against Iran in a second war (572–579).
Khosrow bequeathed this war to his son Hormizd IV (579–590), who, in spite of repeated negotiations, failed to reestablish peace between Byzantium and Iran, and fighting occurred intermittently throughout his reign. Hormizd was unable to display the same authority as his father, and he antagonized the Zoroastrian clergy by failing to take action against the Christians. He finally fell victim to a conspiracy headed by the general Bahrām Chūbīn. Hormizd’s son, Khosrow II, was set up against his father and forced to acquiesce when Hormizd was executed. New unrest broke out, in which Bahrām Chūbīn—though not of royal lineage—attempted to secure the throne. Simultaneously another pretender, Prince Bestām, decided to try his luck. Khosrow fled to Byzantium, and the emperor Maurice undertook to restore him by military force. Bahrām Chūbīn was routed (591) and fled to and was killed by the Turks, and Khosrow again ascended the throne in Ctesiphon. Bestām held out in Media until 596.
During the two reigns (590 and 591–628) of Khosrow II—surnamed Parvīz (the “Victorious”)—the Sāsānids achieved unprecedented splendour and material wealth. The assassination of Maurice (602) impelled Khosrow to war against Byzantium, in the course of which his armies penetrated as far as Chalcedon (opposite Constantinople), ravaged Syria, and captured Antioch (611), Damascus (613), and Jerusalem (614); in 619 Egypt was occupied. The Byzantine Empire was, indeed, at its lowest ebb.
It took the great emperor Heraclius, who was crowned in 610, many years to rebuild the nucleus of a new army. This done, however, he set out in 622 and retaliated vigorously against the Persians, whose armies were defeated everywhere. In 624 Heraclius invaded Atropatene (Azerbaijan) and destroyed the great Zoroastrian fire temple; in 627 he entered the Tigris provinces. Khosrow II attempted no resistance, and a revolution followed in which he was defeated and slain by his son Kavadh (Qobād) II (628). When Kavadh died a few months later, anarchy resulted. After a succession of short-time rulers, Yazdegerd III, grandson of Khosrow II, came to the throne in 632. Triumph of the Arabs
All these prolonged and exhausting hostilities drastically reduced the powers of both Byzantium and Iran. The door was open to a newly emerging force that challenged both states and religions—the Arabs. After several encounters, the fate of the Sāsānian empire was decided in the battle of Al-Qādisiyyah (636/637)—on one of the Euphrates canals, not far from Al-Ḥīrah—during which the Sāsānian commander in chief, Rostam, was killed. Ctesiphon with its treasures was at the mercy of the victors. Yazdegerd III fled to Media, where his generals tried to organize new resistance. The Battle of Nahāvand (642), south of Hamadān, put an end to their hopes. Yazdegerd sought refuge in one province after another, until at last, in 651, he was assassinated near Merv.
With the fall of the empire, the fate of its religion was also sealed. The Muslims officially tolerated the Zoroastrian faith, though persecutions were not unknown. Little by little it vanished from Iran, except for a few surviving adherents who remain to the present day in Yazd and a few other places. Other Zoroastrians emigrated to western India, where they are now chiefly concentrated in Mumbai (Bombay). These Parsi (Persians) have preserved only a relatively small portion of their sacred writings. They still number their years by the era of Yazdegerd III, the last king of their faith and the last Sāsānian sovereign of Iran. Adrian David Hugh Bivar Mark J. Dresden Persian dynasties
A list of Persian dynasties is provided in the table.
Persian dynasties1Dates from the death of Darius III, the last Achaemenian king, and the invasion of Alexander the Great.
2Dates from the year in which the Parnian chief Arsaces first battled the Seleucids.
3Includes the Tahirid, Samanid, Ghaznavid, and Buyid dynasties.
4Mainly the Il-Khanid dynasty (1256–1353). dynasty/kingdom period Median 728–550 BCE Achaemenian 559–330 BCE Hellenistic period of Alexander and the Seleucids1 330–247 BCE Parthian period (Arsacid dynasty)2 247 BCE–224 CE Sasanian 224–651 Arab invasion and the advent of Islam 640–829 Iranian intermezzo3 821–1055 Seljuqs 1038–1157 Mongols4 1220–1335 Timurids and Ottoman Turks 1380–1501 Safavid 1502–1736 Afghan interlude 1723–36 Nader Shah 1736–47 Zand 1750–79 Qajars 1794–1925 Pahlavi 1925–79
Citation Information
Article Title: Ancient Iran
Website Name: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Date Published: 25 May 2018
URL: https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Iran
Access Date: August 20, 2019