Sasanian Persia

Download or read book Sasanian Persia written by Touraj Daryaee and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation Of profound importance in late antiquity,the Sasanian Empire is almost completely unknown today,except as a counterpoint to the Roman Empire.What are the reasons for this ignorance and why does the Sasanian Empire matter? In this brilliant and highly readable new history Touraj Daryaee fills a huge gap in our knowledge of world history.He examines the Sasanians'complex and colourful narrative and demonstrates their unique significance,not only for the development of Iranian civilisation but also for Roman and Islamic history. The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties and are best known as the preeminent practitioners of the Zoroastrian religion.From its foundation by Ardashir I in 224 CE, the Sasanian Empire was the dominant force in the Middle East for several centuries until its last king, Yazdgerd III, was defeated by the Muslim Arabs,whose horsemen swept away his seemingly far more powerful empire in the 7th century.Theirs was the first post Hellenic civilisation in the Near East to operate on an imperial scale and its sphere of influence and contact was unparalleled-from India to the Levant and from the Arabian Peninsula to the Caspian Sea. In this concise yet comprehensive new book,Touraj Daryaee provides an unrivalled account of Sasanian Persia.Drawing on extensive new sources he paints a vivid portrait of Sasanian life and unravels the divergent strands that contributed to the making of this great Empire:religion-not just Zoroastrianism but also Manichaeaism;the economy;administration;the multiple languages and their literature as well as the Empire's often neglected social history. Daryaee also explores - for the first time in an integrated book on the Sasanians-their descendants'attempts for more than a century after their defeat to establish a second state and reveals how their values and traditions have endured,both in Iranian popular culture and in the literary tradition of the Persian language and literature,to the present day. Sasanian Persia is a unique examination of a period of history that still has great significance for a full understanding of modern Iran.

Download or read book Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire written by Parvaneh Pourshariati and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation It proposes a convincing contemporary answer answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, did the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam? Offering an impressive appraisal of the Sasanians' nemesis at the hands of the Arab forces which scythed all before them, the author suggests a bold solution to the enigma. On the face of it, the collapse of the Sasanians - given their strength and imperial power in the earlier part of the century - looks startling and inexplicable. But Professor Pourshariati explains their fall in terms of an earlier corrosion and decline, and as a result of their own internal weaknesses. The decentralised dynastic system of the Sasanian empire, whose backbone was a Sasanian-Parthian alliance, contained the seeds of its own destruction. This confederacy soon became unstable, and its degeneration sealed the fate of a doomed dynasty.

Download or read book Sasanian Persia written by Eberhard Sauer and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details Persias growing military and economic power in the late antique worldThe Sasanian Empire (3rd7th centuries) was one of the largest empires of antiquity, stretching from Mesopotamia to modern Pakistan and from Central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. This mega-empire withstood powerful opponents in the steppe and expanded further in Late Antiquity, whilst the Roman world shrunk in size. Recent research has revealed the reasons for this success: notably population growth in some key territories, economic prosperity, and urban development, made possible through investment in agriculture and military infrastructure on a scale unparalleled in the late antique world. Our volume explores the empires relations with its neighbours and key phenomena which contributed to its wealth and power, from the empires armed forces to agriculture, trade and treatment of minorities. The latest discoveries, notably major urban foundations, fortifications and irrigations systems, feature prominently. An empire whose military might and culture rivalled Rome and foreshadowed the caliphate will be of interest to scholars of the Roman and Islamic world.Challenges our Eurocentric world view by presenting a Near-Eastern empire whose urban culture and military apparatus rivalled that of Rome Covers the latest discoveries on foundations, fortifications and irrigation systemsIncludes case studies on Sasanian frontier walls and urban culture in the Sasanian Empire

Download or read book The Sasanian Empire at War written by Michael J. Decker and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-18 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive military history of one of the most important empires of Late Antiquity The Sasanian Empire at War: Persia, Rome, and the Rise of Islam, 224-651 is the first comprehensive study in English examining war and society in one of the most important empires in world history: the Persian Empire of 224-651 AD, ruled by the Sasanian clan. At its height the Sasanians governed lands from the Indus River in the east to Egypt and the Mediterranean in the west. Adversaries of Rome, they also faced grave challenges from nomadic powers from Central Asia, notably the Huns and Turks. The Sasanians were able to maintain their empire for hundreds of years through nearly constant warfare, but when their expansion was checked in the north by the Byzantines at Constantinople in 626, and with the Muslim invasions to their south and west beginning in the 630s, the empire could no longer be sustained, and it finally collapsed. In this book, historian Michael J. Decker examines Sasanian warfare, including military capabilities, major confrontations, and the organization and weapons of the Persian army. In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of the conflicts that marked this vital period in the history of Eurasia, The Sasanian Empire at War challenges long cherished notions of the inferiority of Sasanian military capabilities and renders a new image of a sophisticated, confident culture astride the heart of Eurasia at the end of the ancient world and birth of the Silk Road. Persian arms were among the many features of their culture that drew widespread admiration and was one of the keys to the survival of Iranian culture beyond the Arab Conquest and into the present day.

Download or read book East Rome, Sasanian Persia and the End of Antiquity written by J. D. Howard-Johnston and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2006 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Howard-Johnston here focuses on the last great war of antiquity, that between East Rome and Sasanian Persia (603-628) which brought the classical phase of west Eurasian history to a dramatic close. He strives to root history in close observation of

Download or read book Mesopotamia and Iran in the Parthian and Sasanian Periods written by Vladimir Grigorʹevich Lukonin and published by British Museum Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The present volume is a companion and sequel to Early Mesopotamia and Iran: contrast and conflict c. 3500-1600 BC, Later Mesopotamia and Iran: tribes and empires 1600-539 BC, and Mesopotamia and Iran in the Persian period: conquest and imperialism 539-331 BC." -- Library of Congress.

Download or read book Arsacids and Sasanians written by M. Rahim Shayegan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-15 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigates Arsacid and early Sasanian political ideologies through their interplay with Roman policy in the East.