Masmughan ("Chief Magian" or "Great one of the Magians") was a Sasanian title that existed in the 7th century, probably equivalent to governor of a district or a region.
99-631: The collapse of the Sasanian Empire resulted in the rise of several independent dynasties in Tabaristan . A certain Karenid named Mardanshah , carried the title of Masmughan and held control over Damavand and Larijan including its surrounding areas. His successors would control the area until in 760 when the region was conquered by the Arabs. Another Karenid named Valash appears to bear
198-517: A Babylonian rabbi called Samuel . This friendship was advantageous for the Jewish community and gave them a respite from the oppressive laws enacted against them. Later kings reversed Shapur's policy of religious tolerance. When Shapur's son Bahram I acceded to the throne, he was pressured by the Zoroastrian high-priest Kartir Bahram I to kill Mani and persecute his followers. Bahram II
297-570: A general amnesty, which brought Armenia back into the Sassanid Empire. Around 570, "Ma 'd-Karib", half-brother of the King of Yemen, requested Khosrow I's intervention. Khosrow I sent a fleet and a small army under a commander called Vahriz to the area near present Aden , and they marched against the capital San'a'l, which was occupied. Saif, son of Mard-Karib, who had accompanied the expedition, became King sometime between 575 and 577. Thus,
396-500: A hunting trip in 309. Following Hormizd II's death, northern Arabs started to ravage and plunder the western cities of the empire, even attacking the province of Fars, the birthplace of the Sassanid kings. Meanwhile, Persian nobles killed Hormizd II's eldest son, blinded the second, and imprisoned the third (who later escaped into Roman territory). The throne was reserved for Shapur II , the unborn child of one of Hormizd II's wives who
495-423: A legitimizing and unifying ideal. This period saw the construction of many grand monuments, public works, and patronized cultural and educational institutions. The Sasanian Empire's cultural influence extended far beyond the physical territory that it controlled, impacting regions as distant as Western Europe , Eastern Africa , and China and India . It also helped shape European and Asian medieval art. With
594-596: A major Byzantine offensive in Armenia was defeated at Anglon . Also in 541, Khosrow I entered Lazica at the invitation of its king, captured the main Byzantine stronghold at Petra , and established another protectorate over the country, commencing the Lazic War . A five-year truce agreed to in 545 was interrupted in 547 when Lazica again switched sides and eventually expelled its Persian garrison with Byzantine help;
693-712: A member of the Parthian House of Karen , one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran , quickly raised a new force and stopped the Hephthalites from achieving further success. Peroz's brother, Balash , was elected as shah by the Iranian magnates, most notably Sukhra and the Mihranid general Shapur Mihran . Balash (484–488) was a mild and generous monarch, and showed care towards his subjects, including
792-835: A mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current . Western Europe is a heatwave hotspot, exhibiting upward trends that are three-to-four times faster compared to the rest of the northern midlatitudes. Western European languages mostly fall within two Indo-European language families: the Romance languages , descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire ; and the Germanic languages , whose ancestor language ( Proto-Germanic ) came from southern Scandinavia . Romance languages are spoken primarily in
891-577: A monumental inscription in Persian and Greek in the vicinity of Persepolis . He exploited his success by advancing into Anatolia (260), 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. Shapur had intensive development plans. He ordered the construction of
990-635: A number of battles he crushed them and drove them out beyond the Oxus river in 450. During his eastern campaign, Yazdegerd II grew suspicious of the Christians in the army and expelled them all from the governing body and army. He then persecuted the Christians in his land, and, to a much lesser extent, the Jews . In order to reestablish Zoroastrianism in Armenia, he crushed an uprising of Armenian Christians at
1089-410: 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. Previous great feudal lords fielded their own military equipment, followers, and retainers. Khosrow I developed a new force of dehqans , or "knights", paid and equipped by the central government and the bureaucracy, tying
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#17327799194991188-464: A relatively peaceful era with the Romans, and he even took the young Theodosius II (408–450) under his guardianship. Yazdegerd also married a Jewish princess, who bore him a son called Narsi. Yazdegerd I's successor was his son Bahram V (421–438), one of the most well-known Sasanian kings and the hero of many myths. These myths persisted even after the destruction of the Sasanian Empire by
1287-800: A strategically critical area for control of the Silk Road . Shapur therefore marched east toward Transoxiana to meet the eastern nomads, leaving his local commanders to mount nuisance raids on the Romans. He crushed the Central Asian tribes, and annexed the area as a new province. In the east around 325, Shapur II regained the upper hand against the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom and took control of large territories in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan . Cultural expansion followed this victory, and Sasanian art penetrated Transoxiana , reaching as far as China. Shapur, along with
1386-530: A very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. Although some countries were officially neutral , they were classified according to the nature of their political and economic systems. This division largely defines the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe . The world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. West Germany peacefully absorbed East Germany , in
1485-540: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire ( / s ə ˈ s ɑː n i ə n , s ə ˈ s eɪ n i ə n / ), officially Ērānšahr ( Middle Persian : 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩 , lit. ' Empire of the Iranians ' ), was the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire . Named after the House of Sasan , it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651, making it
1584-735: Is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union . In this thesaurus, the countries of Europe are grouped into sub-regions. The following countries are included in the sub-group Western Europe: The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European members of
1683-399: Is more likely that these actually submitted to Ardashir's son, the future Shapur I . In the west, assaults against Hatra , Armenia and Adiabene met with less success. In 230, Ardashir raided deep into Roman territory, and a Roman counter-offensive two years later ended inconclusively. Ardashīr began leading campaigns into Greater Khurasan as early as 233, extending his power to Khwarazm in
1782-758: Is the largest religion in Western Europe. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center , 71.0% of Western Europeans identified as Christians. In 1054, the East–West Schism divided Christianity into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity . This split Europe in two, with Western Europe primarily under the Catholic Church , and Eastern Europe primarily under the Eastern Orthodox Church . Ever since
1881-800: Is the western region of Europe . The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean world, the Roman Empire (both Western and Eastern ), and medieval " Christendom ". Beginning with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery , roughly from the 15th century, the concept of Europe as "the West " slowly became distinguished from and eventually replaced
1980-676: The Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe . Warsaw , Berlin , Prague , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade , Bucharest and Sofia ; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to
2079-595: The Battle of Vartanantz in 451. The Armenians, however, remained primarily Christian. In his later years, he was engaged yet again with the Kidarites right up until his death in 457. Hormizd III (457–459), the younger son of Yazdegerd II, then ascended to the throne. During his short rule, he continually fought with his elder brother Peroz I , who had the support of the nobility, and with the Hephthalites in Bactria . He
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#17327799194992178-880: The German reunification . Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium , France , Luxembourg , the Netherlands and the United Kingdom . It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference , when
2277-706: The Mamikonian family, touching off a revolt which led to the massacre of the Persian governor and his guard in 571, while rebellion also broke out in Iberia . Justin II took advantage of the Armenian revolt to stop his yearly payments to Khosrow I for the defense of the Caucasus passes. The Armenians were welcomed as allies, and an army was sent into Sassanid territory which besieged Nisibis in 573. However, dissension among
2376-623: The Muslim conquest of Persia , the influence of Sasanian art , architecture , music , literature , and philosophy was gradually absorbed into nascent Islamic culture , which, in turn, ensured the spread of Iranian culture, knowledge, and ideas throughout the expanding Muslim world . Officially, the empire was known as the Empire of the Iranians ( Middle Persian : 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭𐭱𐭲𐭥𐭩 , ērānšahr , Parthian : 𐭀𐭓𐭉𐭀𐭍𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓 , aryānšahr , Greek : Ἀριανῶν ἔθνος , Arianōn ethnos ),
2475-771: The Reformation in the 16th century, Protestantism has also been a major denomination in Europe, with Eastern Protestant and Eastern Catholic denominations also emerging in Central and Eastern Europe . During the four decades of the Cold War , the definition of East and West was simplified by the existence of the Eastern Bloc . A number of historians and social scientists view the Cold War definition of Western and Eastern Europe as outdated or relegating. During
2574-472: The Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted the newly developed La Tène culture . As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek -speaking eastern provinces, which had formed the highly urbanised Hellenistic civilisation , and the western territories, which in contrast largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division
2673-514: The Soviet Union . With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain . This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and, later, Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address on 5 March 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri : From Stettin in
2772-507: The Tigris , taking Ctesiphon. Narseh had previously sent an ambassador to Galerius to plead for the return of his wives and children. Peace negotiations began in the spring of 299, with both Diocletian and Galerius presiding. The conditions of the peace were heavy: Persia would give up territory to Rome, making the Tigris the boundary between the two empires. Further terms specified that Armenia
2871-740: The Western European Union was established. It was declared defunct in 2011 after the Treaty of Lisbon , and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries. Additionally, it had 6 associate member countries, 7 associate partner countries and 5 observer countries. The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides
2970-550: 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. Two cities, Bishapur and Nishapur , are named after him. He particularly favoured Manichaeism , protecting Mani (who dedicated one of his books, the Shabuhragan , to him) and sent many Manichaean missionaries abroad. He also befriended
3069-706: The " Far West ". The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty . The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East . In Ricci's writings, Ricci referred to himself as "Matteo of the Far West". The term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Christianity
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3168-647: The Alchon Tamgha and the name "Alchono" in Bactrian script on the obverse, and with attendants to a fire altar on the reverse. Shapur II pursued a harsh religious policy. Under his reign, the collection of the Avesta , the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, was completed, heresy and apostasy were punished, and Christians were persecuted. The latter was a reaction against the Christianization of
3267-554: The Arabs. Bahram gained the crown after Yazdegerd's sudden death (or assassination), which occurred when the grandees opposed the king with the help of al-Mundhir , the Arabic dynast of al-Hirah . Bahram's mother was Shushandukht , the daughter of the Jewish Exilarch . In 427, he crushed an invasion in the east by the nomadic Hephthalites , extending his influence into Central Asia, where his portrait survived for centuries on
3366-486: The Byzantine Empire and met little effective resistance. Khosrow's generals systematically subdued the heavily fortified frontier cities of Byzantine Mesopotamia and Armenia, laying the foundations for unprecedented expansion. The Persians overran Syria and captured Antioch in 611. In 613, outside Antioch, the Persian generals Shahrbaraz and Shahin decisively defeated a major counter-attack led in person by
3465-422: The Byzantine Empire held a small portion of western Armenia. Bahram IV's son Yazdegerd I (399–421) is often compared to Constantine I . Both were physically and diplomatically powerful, opportunistic, practiced religious tolerance and provided freedom for the rise of religious minorities. Yazdegerd stopped the persecution against the Christians and punished nobles and priests who persecuted them. His reign marked
3564-598: The Byzantine emperor Heraclius . Thereafter, the Persian advance continued unchecked. Jerusalem fell in 614, Alexandria in 619, and the rest of Egypt by 621. The Sassanid dream of restoring the Achaemenid boundaries was almost complete, while the Byzantine Empire was on the verge of collapse. This remarkable peak of expansion was paralleled by a blossoming of Persian art , music , and architecture . While successful at its first stage (from 602 to 622),
3663-525: The Byzantine generals not only led to an abandonment of the siege, but they in turn were besieged in the city of Dara , which was taken by the Persians. Capitalizing on this success, the Persians then ravaged Syria, causing Justin II to agree to make annual payments in exchange for a five-year truce on the Mesopotamian front, although the war continued elsewhere. In 576 Khosrow I led his last campaign, an offensive into Anatolia which sacked Sebasteia and Melitene , but ended in disaster: defeated outside Melitene,
3762-452: The CIA classification a little more liberally and including "South-Western Europe", would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. The Hague is the seat of government The climate of Western Europe varies from Mediterranean in the coasts of Italy , Portugal and Spain to alpine in the Pyrenees and the Alps . The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western and northwestern parts have
3861-457: The Christians. However, he proved unpopular among the nobility and clergy who had him deposed after just four years in 488. Sukhra, who had played a key role in Balash's deposition, appointed Peroz's son Kavad I as the new shah of Iran. According to Miskawayh (d. 1030), Sukhra was Kavad's maternal uncle. Kavad I (488–531) was an energetic and reformist ruler. He gave his support to the sect founded by Mazdak , son of Bamdad, who demanded that
3960-440: The Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Carolingian Empire ), the division between Roman Catholic and Protestant became more important in Europe than that with Eastern Orthodoxy. In East Asia , Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as
4059-410: The Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire , survived and even thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of the Carolingian Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism , enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire , center of
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4158-429: The Eastern Romans, founded several cities, some of which were named after him, and began to regulate taxation and internal administration. After the reign of Kavad I, his son Khosrow I , also known as Anushirvan ("with the immortal soul"; ruled 531–579), ascended to the throne. He is the most celebrated of the Sassanid rulers. Khosrow I is most famous for his reforms in the aging governing body of Sassanids. He introduced
4257-410: The Euphrates in 296, he was eventually decisively defeated by them. Galerius had been reinforced, probably in the spring of 298, by a new contingent collected from the empire's Danubian holdings. Narseh did not advance from Armenia and Mesopotamia , leaving Galerius to lead the offensive in 298 with an attack on northern Mesopotamia via Armenia. Narseh retreated to Armenia to fight Galerius's force, to
4356-437: The Hephthalites. Smbat, with the aid of a Persian prince named Datoyean, repelled the Hephthalites from Persia, and plundered their domains in eastern Khorasan , where Smbat is said to have killed their king in single combat. After Maurice was overthrown and killed by Phocas (602–610) in 602, however, Khosrow II used the murder of his benefactor as a pretext to begin a new invasion, which benefited from continuing civil war in
4455-442: The Persians at Rhesaina and regained the lost territories. The emperor Gordian III 's (238–244) subsequent advance down the Euphrates was defeated at Meshike (244), leading to Gordian's murder by his own troops and enabling Shapur to conclude a highly advantageous peace treaty with the new emperor Philip the Arab , by which he secured the immediate payment of 500,000 denarii and further annual payments. Shapur soon resumed
4554-429: The Persians in Anatolia and the Caucasus, winning a string of victories against Persian forces under Shahrbaraz , Shahin , and Shahraplakan (whose competition to claim the glory of personally defeating the Byzantine emperor contributed to their failure), sacking the great Zoroastrian temple at Ganzak , and securing assistance from the Khazars and Western Turkic Khaganate . Western Europe Western Europe
4653-441: The Persians suffered heavy losses as they fled across the Euphrates under Byzantine attack. Taking advantage of Persian disarray, the Byzantines raided deep into Khosrow's territory, even mounting amphibious attacks across the Caspian Sea . Khosrow sued for peace, but he decided to continue the war after a victory by his general Tamkhosrow in Armenia in 577, and fighting resumed in Mesopotamia. The Armenian revolt came to an end with
4752-422: The Roman Empire by Constantine the Great . Shapur II, like Shapur I, was amicable towards Jews , who lived in relative freedom and gained many advantages during his reign. At the time of his death, the Persian Empire was stronger than ever, with its enemies to the east pacified and Armenia under Persian control. From Shapur II's death until Kavad I 's first coronation, there was a largely peaceful period with
4851-462: The Romans (by this time the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire ) engaged in just two brief wars with the Sasanian Empire, the first in 421–422 and the second in 440 . Throughout this era, Sasanian religious policy differed dramatically from king to king. Despite a series of weak leaders, the administrative system established during Shapur II's reign remained strong, and the empire continued to function effectively. After Shapur II died in 379,
4950-421: 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. These campaigns were halted by nomadic raids along the eastern borders of the empire, which threatened Transoxiana ,
5049-419: The Romans; an attempt by the Iberians in 524/525 to do likewise triggered a war between Rome and Persia. In 527, a Roman offensive against Nisibis was repulsed and Roman efforts to fortify positions near the frontier were thwarted. In 530, Kavad sent an army under Perozes to attack the important Roman frontier city of Dara . The army was met by the Roman general Belisarius , and, though superior in numbers,
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#17327799194995148-434: The Sasanian Empire encompassed all of modern-day Iran and Iraq and parts of the Arabian Peninsula (particularly Eastern Arabia and South Arabia ), as well as the Caucasus , the Levant , and parts of Central Asia and South Asia . One of the high points in Iranian civilization, the Sasanian dynasty's rule was characterized by a complex and centralized government bureaucracy, and also revitalized Zoroastrianism as
5247-421: The Sassanids were able to establish a base in South Arabia to control the sea trade with the east. Later, the south Arabian kingdom renounced Sassanid overlordship, and another Persian expedition was sent in 598 that successfully annexed southern Arabia as a Sassanid province, which lasted until the time of troubles after Khosrow II. Khosrow I's reign witnessed the rise of the dihqans (literally, village lords),
5346-399: The Tigris, and agreed not to interfere in the affairs of Armenia and Georgia. In the aftermath of this defeat, Narseh gave up the throne and died a year later, leaving the Sassanid throne to his son, Hormizd II . Unrest spread throughout the land, and while the new king suppressed revolts in Sakastan and Kushan, he was unable to control the nobles and was subsequently killed by Bedouins on
5445-691: The Tigris, had to hand over all the provinces the Persians had ceded to Rome in 298, as well as Nisibis and Singara, to secure safe passage for his army out of Persia. From around 370, however, towards the end of the reign of Shapur II , the Sasanians lost the control of Bactria to invaders from the north: first the Kidarites , then the Hephthalites and finally the Alchon Huns , who would follow up with an invasion of India . These invaders initially issued coins based on Sasanian designs. Various coins minted in Bactria and based on Sasanian designs are extant, often with busts imitating Sassanian kings Shapur II (r. 309 to 379) and Shapur III (r. 383 to 388), adding
5544-444: The alliance, Khosrow also married Maurice's daughter Miriam. Under the command of Khosrow and the Byzantine generals Narses and John Mystacon , the new combined Byzantine-Persian army raised a rebellion against Bahram, defeating him at the Battle of Blarathon in 591. When Khosrow was subsequently restored to power he kept his promise, handing over control of western Armenia and Caucasian Iberia . The new peace arrangement allowed
5643-421: The army and bureaucracy more closely to the central government than to local lords. Emperor Justinian I (527–565) paid Khosrow I 440,000 pieces of gold as a part of the "eternal peace" treaty of 532. In 540, Khosrow broke the treaty and invaded Syria, sacking Antioch and extorting large sums of money from a number of other cities. Further successes followed: in 541 Lazica defected to the Persian side, and in 542
5742-409: The attention of Artabanus IV, the Parthian king, who initially ordered the governor of Khuzestan to wage war against Ardashir in 224, but Ardashir was victorious in the ensuing battles. In a second attempt to destroy Ardashir, Artabanus himself met Ardashir in battle at Hormozgan, where the former met his death. Following the death of the Parthian ruler, Ardashir went on to invade the western provinces of
5841-436: The campaign of Khosrau II had actually exhausted the Persian army and treasuries. In an effort to rebuild the national treasuries, Khosrau overtaxed the population. Thus, while his empire was on the verge of total defeat, Heraclius (610–641) drew on all his diminished and devastated empire's remaining resources, reorganised his armies, and mounted a remarkable, risky counter-offensive. Between 622 and 627, he campaigned against
5940-514: The coinage of Bukhara (in modern Uzbekistan ). Bahram deposed the vassal king of the Iranian-held area of Armenia and made it a province of the empire. Bahram V's son Yazdegerd II (438–457) was in some ways a moderate ruler, but, in contrast to Yazdegerd I, he practised a harsh policy towards minority religions, particularly Christianity . However, at the Battle of Avarayr in 451, the Armenian subjects led by Vardan Mamikonian reaffirmed Armenia's right to profess Christianity freely. This
6039-508: The countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as Western Europe: The CIA classifies seven countries as belonging to "Western Europe": The CIA also classifies three countries as belonging to "Southwestern Europe": EuroVoc
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#17327799194996138-410: The details of the fall of the Parthian Empire and subsequent rise of the Sassanian Empire in mystery. The Sassanian Empire was established in Estakhr by Ardashir I . Ardashir's father, Papak , was originally the ruler of a region called Khir. However, by 200, Papak had managed to overthrow Gochihr and appoint himself the new ruler of the Bazrangids . Papak's mother, Rodhagh, was the daughter of
6237-486: The dominant use of "Christendom" as the preferred endonym within the area. By the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution , the concepts of " Eastern Europe " and "Western Europe" were more regularly used. The distinctiveness of Western Europe became most apparent during the Cold War , when Europe was divided for 40 years by the Iron Curtain into the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc , each characterised by distinct political and economical systems. Prior to
6336-421: The empire passed on to his half-brother Ardashir II (379–383; son of Hormizd II) and his son Shapur III (383–388), neither of whom demonstrated their predecessor's skill in ruling. Bahram IV (388–399) also failed to achieve anything important for the empire. During this time Armenia was divided by a treaty between the Roman and Sasanian empires. The Sasanians reestablished their rule over Greater Armenia, while
6435-437: The empire. Nonetheless, Ardashir I further expanded his new empire to the east and northwest, conquering the provinces of Sakastan , Gorgan , Khorasan , Marw (in modern Turkmenistan ), Balkh and Chorasmia . He also added Bahrain and Mosul to the Sassanid possessions. Later Sassanid inscriptions also claim the submission of the kings of Kushan , Turan and Makuran to Ardashir, although based on numismatic evidence it
6534-430: The final stages of World War II , the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference , between the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , the U.S. President , Franklin D. Roosevelt , and the Premier of the Soviet Union , Joseph Stalin . Post-war Europe was divided into two major spheres: the Western Bloc , influenced by the United States , and the Eastern Bloc , influenced by
6633-567: The former's disadvantage: the rugged Armenian terrain was favourable to Roman infantry, but not to Sassanid cavalry. Local aid gave Galerius the advantage of surprise over the Persian forces, and, in two successive battles, Galerius secured victories over Narseh. During the second encounter, Roman forces seized Narseh's camp, his treasury, his harem, and his wife. Galerius advanced into Media and Adiabene , winning successive victories, most prominently near Erzurum , and securing Nisibis ( Nusaybin , Turkey) before 1 October 298. He then advanced down
6732-493: The frontiers to act as guardians against invaders. He 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. After Khosrow I, Hormizd IV (579–590) took the throne. The war with the Byzantines continued to rage intensely but inconclusively until the general Bahram Chobin , dismissed and humiliated by Hormizd, rose in revolt in 589. The following year, Hormizd
6831-402: The group are: In addition, Australia , Canada , Israel and New Zealand are members of the group, with the United States as observer. Using the CIA classification strictly would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. All figures based on the projections for 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs . Using
6930-405: The head of a large army granted to him by the Hephthalite king, returned to the empire's capital. Jamasp stepped down from his position and returned the throne to his brother. No further mention of Jamasp is made after the restoration of Kavad I, but it is widely believed that he was treated favourably at the court of his brother. The second golden era began after the second reign of Kavad I. With
7029-451: The kingdom. Peroz tried again to drive out the Hephthalites, but on the way to Balkh his army was trapped by the Huns in the desert. Peroz was defeated and killed by a Hephthalite army near Balkh. His army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found. Four of his sons and brothers had also died. The main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan − Nishapur , Herat and Marw were now under Hephthalite rule. Sukhra ,
7128-642: The neighbouring Roman Empire . It was founded by Ardashir I , a ruler who rose to power as Parthia weakened amidst internal strife and the Roman–Persian Wars . After defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia during the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224, Ardashir's dynasty replaced that of the Arsacids and promptly set out to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding the newly acquired Sasanian dominions. At its greatest territorial extent,
7227-402: The nomad King Grumbates , started his second campaign against the Romans in 359 and soon succeeded in retaking Singara and Amida. In response the Roman emperor Julian struck deep into Persian territory and defeated Shapur's forces at Ctesiphon . He failed to take the capital, however, and was killed while trying to retreat to Roman territory. His successor Jovian , trapped on the east bank of
7326-484: The north and Sistan in the south while capturing lands from Gorgan to Abarshahr, Marw, and as far east as Balkh . Ardashir I's son Shapur I continued the expansion of the empire, conquering Bactria and the western portion of the Kushan Empire, while leading several campaigns against Rome. Invading Roman Mesopotamia , Shapur I captured Carrhae and Nisibis , but in 243 the Roman general Timesitheus defeated
7425-512: The now defunct Parthian Empire. At that time the Arsacid dynasty was divided between supporters of Artabanus IV and Vologases VI , which probably allowed Ardashir to consolidate his authority in the south with little or no interference from the Parthians. Ardashir was aided by the geography of the province of Fars, which was separated from the rest of Iran. Crowned in 224 at Ctesiphon as
7524-417: The petty landholding nobility who were the backbone of later Sassanid provincial administration and the tax collection system. Khosrow I built infrastructure, embellishing his capital and founding new towns with the construction of new buildings. He rebuilt the canals and restocked the farms destroyed in the wars. He built strong fortifications at the passes and placed subject tribes in carefully chosen towns on
7623-522: The protection of regional and minority languages are recognised political goals in Western Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe. Western Europe is one of the richest regions of the world. Germany has
7722-445: The protests of his other brothers, who were put to death, Ardashir declared himself ruler of Pars. Once Ardashir was appointed shah (king), he moved his capital further to the south of Pars and founded Ardashir-Khwarrah (formerly Gur , modern day Firuzabad ). The city, well protected by high mountains and easily defensible due to the narrow passes that approached it, became the center of Ardashir's efforts to gain more power. It
7821-438: The provincial governor of Pars . Papak and his eldest son Shapur managed to expand their power over all of Pars. Subsequent events are unclear due to the elusive nature of the sources. It is certain that following the death of Papak, Ardashir, the governor of Darabgerd , became involved in a power struggle with his elder brother Shapur. Sources reveal that Shapur was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. By 208, over
7920-571: The rich should divide their wives and their wealth with the poor. By adopting the doctrine of the Mazdakites, his intention evidently was to break the influence of the magnates and the growing aristocracy. These reforms led to his being deposed and imprisoned in the Castle of Oblivion in Khuzestan , and his younger brother Jamasp (Zamaspes) became king in 496. Kavad, however, quickly escaped and
8019-642: The second longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty after the directly preceding Arsacid dynasty of Parthia . It fell to the Rashidun Caliphate during the early Muslim conquests , which marked the beginning of a monumental societal shift by initiating the Islamization of Iran . Upon succeeding the Parthians, the Sasanian dynasty re-established the Persian nation as a major power in late antiquity , and also continued to compete extensively with
8118-403: The sole ruler of Persia, Ardashir took the title shahanshah , or "King of Kings" (the inscriptions mention Adhur-Anahid as his Banbishnan banbishn , "Queen of Queens", but her relationship with Ardashir has not been fully established), bringing the 400-year-old Parthian Empire to an end, and beginning four centuries of Sassanid rule. In the next few years, local rebellions occurred throughout
8217-606: The southern and central part of Western Europe, Germanic languages in the northern part (the British Isles and the Low Countries ), as well as a large part of Northern and Central Europe . Other Western European languages include the Celtic group (that is, Irish , Scottish Gaelic , Manx , Welsh , Cornish and Breton ) and Basque , the only currently living European language isolate . Multilingualism and
8316-491: The support of the Hephthalites , Kavad launched a campaign against the Romans. In 502, he took Theodosiopolis in Armenia, but lost it soon afterwards. In 503 he took Amida on the Tigris. In 504, an invasion of Armenia by the western Huns from the Caucasus led to an armistice, the return of Amida to Roman control and a peace treaty in 506. In 521/522 Kavad lost control of Lazica , whose rulers switched their allegiance to
8415-741: The term is first attested in the trilingual Great Inscription of Shapur I , where the king says "I am the lord of the Empire of the Iranians". More commonly, as the ruling dynasty was named after Sasan , the empire is known as the Sasanian Empire in historical and academic sources. This term is also recorded in English as the Sassanian Empire , the Sasanid Empire , and the Sassanid Empire . Conflicting accounts shroud
8514-583: The title of Masmughan, who served as Marzban of Miyano-du-rud, near Sari between the Kalarud river limited to the east with Karatughan. Valash was later murdered in revenge by Sukhrab I, the ispahbadh of the Bavand dynasty . This Sasanian Empire -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This government -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Middle Eastern history –related article
8613-523: The two empires to focus on military matters elsewhere: Khosrow focused on the Sassanid Empire's eastern frontier while Maurice restored Byzantine control of the Balkans . Circa 600, the Hephthalites had been raiding the Sassanid Empire as far as Spahan in central Iran. The Hephthalites issued numerous coins imitating the coinage of Khosrow II. In c. 606/607 , Khosrow recalled Smbat IV Bagratuni from Persian Armenia and sent him to Iran to repel
8712-649: The war resumed but remained confined to Lazica, which was retained by the Byzantines when peace was concluded in 562. In 565, Justinian I died and was succeeded by Justin II (565–578), who resolved to stop subsidies to Arab chieftains to restrain them from raiding Byzantine territory in Syria. A year earlier, the Sassanid governor of Armenia, Chihor-Vishnasp of the Suren family, built a fire temple at Dvin near modern Yerevan , and he put to death an influential member of
8811-494: The war, defeated the Romans at Barbalissos (253), and then probably took and plundered Antioch . Roman counter-attacks under the emperor Valerian ended in disaster when the Roman army was defeated and besieged at Edessa and Valerian was captured by Shapur, remaining his prisoner for the rest of his life. Shapur celebrated his victory by carving the impressive rock reliefs in Naqsh-e Rostam and Bishapur , as well as
8910-554: Was also amenable to the wishes of the Zoroastrian priesthood. During his reign, the Sassanid capital Ctesiphon was sacked by the Romans under Emperor Carus , and most of Armenia, after half a century of Persian rule, was ceded to Diocletian . Succeeding Bahram III (who ruled briefly in 293), Narseh embarked on another war with the Romans. After an early success against the Emperor Galerius near Callinicum on
9009-419: Was crowned in utero : the crown was placed upon his mother's stomach. During his youth the empire was controlled by his mother and the nobles. Upon coming of age, Shapur II assumed power and quickly proved to be an active and effective ruler. He first led his small but disciplined army south against the Arabs, whom he defeated, securing the southern areas of the empire. He then began his first campaign against
9108-443: Was defeated at the Battle of Dara . In the same year, a second Persian army under Mihr-Mihroe was defeated at Satala by Roman forces under Sittas and Dorotheus, but in 531 a Persian army accompanied by a Lakhmid contingent under Al-Mundhir III defeated Belisarius at the Battle of Callinicum , and in 532 an "eternal peace" was concluded. Kavad succeeded in restoring order in the interior and fought with general success against
9207-621: Was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of the Roman Empire . The Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the two divergent regions between the 3rd and the 5th centuries. The division between these two was enhanced during late antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed , starting the Early Middle Ages . By contrast,
9306-512: Was given refuge by the Hephthalite king. Jamasp (496–498) was installed on the Sasanian throne upon the deposition of Kavad I by members of the nobility. He was a good and kind king; he reduced taxes in order to improve the condition of the peasants and the poor. He was also an adherent of the mainstream Zoroastrian religion, diversions from which had cost Kavad I his throne and freedom. Jamasp's reign soon ended, however, when Kavad I, at
9405-607: Was killed by his brother Peroz in 459. At the beginning of the 5th century, the Hephthalites (White Huns), along with other nomadic groups, attacked Iran. At first Bahram V and Yazdegerd II inflicted decisive defeats against them and drove them back eastward. The Huns returned at the end of the 5th century and defeated Peroz I (457–484) in 483. Following this victory, the Huns invaded and plundered parts of eastern Iran continually for two years. They exacted heavy tribute for some years thereafter. These attacks brought instability and chaos to
9504-491: Was overthrown by a palace coup and his son Khosrow II (590–628) placed on the throne. However, this change of ruler failed to placate Bahram, who defeated Khosrow, forcing him to flee to Byzantine territory, and seized the throne for himself as Bahram VI. Khosrow asked the Byzantine Emperor Maurice (582–602) for assistance against Bahram, offering to cede the western Caucasus to the Byzantines. To cement
9603-494: Was returned to Roman domination, with the fort of Ziatha as its border; Caucasian Iberia would pay allegiance to Rome under a Roman appointee; Nisibis, now under Roman rule, would become the sole conduit for trade between Persia and Rome; and Rome would exercise control over the five satrapies between the Tigris and Armenia: Ingilene , Sophanene ( Sophene ), Arzanene ( Aghdznik ), Corduene , and Zabdicene (near modern Hakkâri , Turkey). The Sassanids ceded five provinces west of
9702-419: Was surrounded by a high, circular wall, probably copied from that of Darabgerd. Ardashir's palace was on the north side of the city; remains of it are extant. After establishing his rule over Pars, Ardashir rapidly extended his territory, demanding fealty from the local princes of Fars, and gaining control over the neighbouring provinces of Kerman , Isfahan , Susiana and Mesene . This expansion quickly came to
9801-576: Was to be later confirmed by the Nvarsak Treaty (484). At the beginning of his reign in 441, Yazdegerd II assembled an army of soldiers from various nations, including his Indian allies, and attacked the Byzantine Empire , but peace was soon restored after some small-scale fighting. He then gathered his forces in Nishapur in 443 and launched a prolonged campaign against the Kidarites . After
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