| 06 Oct 2008 |
| The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: ساسانیان [sɒsɒnijɒn]) is the name of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire. It was one of the two main powers in Western Asia for a period of more than 400 years. The Sassanid dynasty was founded by Ardashir I after defeating the last Parthian (Arsacid) king, Artabanus IV (Persian: اردوان Ardavan) and ended when the last Sassanid Shahanshah (King of Kings), Yazdegerd III (632–651), lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the early Arab Caliphate, the first of the Islamic empires. The Sassanid Empire's traditional territory encompassed all of today's Iran, Iraq, Armenia, the southern Caucasus (including southern Dagestan), southwestern Central Asia, western Afghanistan, parts of Turkey, parts of Syria, some coastal parts of the Arabian Peninsula, Persian Gulf area, and some parts of southwestern Pakistan. The Sassanids called their empire Eranshahr "the Iranian Empire". Sassanid Empire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 19 February 2009 13:53 |
