By: Kevin Baker
Location and
Time
-location,
middle
Persia/
modern day
Iran
-Time, 224
A.D. to 641
A.D.
Centralized
Government
-Government is
centralized around a
god appointed
governing body
known as the
Shahanshah or King
of Kings.
-smaller territories
were ruled by lesser
members of the
royal family, known
as Shahrdar
Bureaucracies
-There is a group of
bureaucrats below the king
that handle the
government, consisting :
The Vuzorg Farmadar
(Vice Chancellor)
The Mobadan (Head
Priest)
Iran Spahbod
(commander in chief)
Ho Tokhshan Bod (head
of trader syndicate)
Vastrioshansalar
(minister of agriculture)
Military Recruitment
-Paighan, light
infantry units drawn
from Sassanid
peasant population
to be used as meat
shields
-Cataphract, elite
cavalry unit drawn
from noble
population and
trained from birth
for their position.
Diplomacy
and
Developing supply
lines
-The Sassanid
empire , with the aid
of china kept the silk
road supply lines
operational and
supplied convoys to
protect traders.
-The Sassanid also
had alliances with
china to protect
central Asia for their
own purposes,
against Turkish
advances.
Trade Infrastructure
-The Sassanid's trade was
based around the sales of
these items;
-silk
-textiles
-carpets/rugs
-leather
-pearls
-They also bought silk,
paper, and spices from
China and India and resold
them to Europe at an
upcharge.
-Sassanid trade was so
successful because of their
excellent protection of
trade routes
Currency
-The Sassanid
currency was called
the Drachm
-The coin has a
picture of Great
King Bahram V
-The back of the coin
features 2 priests
around a fire altar
Major cities
-Nishapur, occupies an
import position on the silk
road, and defined the
border between the Iranian
peninsula and the rest of
Asia
-Ctesiphon, capital city of
the Sassanid empire, seat of
power for the empire
-Gundeshapur, One of the
most innovative cities in
the Sassanid empire.
Captured Greek
philosophers fleeing
byzantine rule and had
them translate texts.
Social Hierarchy
4 Classes
-Priests (Atorbanan)
-Warriors (Arteshtaran)
-Secretaries (Dabiran)
-Commoners
(VasteryoshanHootkheshan)
3 Classifications
-Bozorgan (nobles)
-Azatan (freemen)
-Peasants
Nobles
Freemen
Peasants
Priests
Secretaries
Peasants
Warriors
Commoners
Slaves
Corvee
-men in the Sassanid
empire had to pay
tribute to their state by
participating in the
military for a given
amount of time.
-simple peasants were
used as infantry “meat
shields”
-Freemen (Azadan) were
in the cavalry as
clibanarii, spear using
armored cavalry
Patriarchy
-Head of all of the
state was always
preferred to be male
-all official positions
were held by men
-men could have
multiple wives
Collapse
-Constant fighting
with the Byzantine
empire left the empire
with a bad economy
-Over taxation caused
civil disputes and
further hurt the
economy
-Arabs, recently
united by Islam saw
the weakness and
overtook the Sassanid
empire.
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Conzett, Jurg. money museum, 2002. Google. Web. 8 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.moneymuseum.com/moneymuseum/library/coins/coin.jsp?lang=en&aid=9&ix=26&i=13>.
Shapur Shahbazi, A. (2005), "Sassanian Dynasty", Encyclopedia Iranica (Columbia University Press)
Frye, R.N. (1993), "The Political History of Iran under the Sassanians", in William Bayne Fisher, Ilya
Gershevitch, Ehsan Yarshater, R. N. Frye, J. A. Boyle, Peter Jackson, Laurence Lockhart, Peter Avery, Gavin
Hambly, Charles Melville, The Cambridge History of Iran, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-20092-X
Kröger, Jens (1993), "Ctesiphon", Encyclopedia Iranica, 6, Costa Mesa: Mazda
Information |Description=Fresco from Qizil. 6th century. "Tocharian donors", with light hair and light eye
color, dressed in Sassanian style, 6th century CE fresco, Qizil, Tarim Basin, China. |Source=Originally from
[http://en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia)
Depiction of Queen Scheherazade telling her stories to King Shahryar in The Arabian Nights. {{PD-old}} )
more realistic borders & corrections as regards maximum extent in the 7th century, per
http://ecai.org/sasanianweb/sasanianmapmenu.html) (This picture is originally from english Wikipedia. The
creator of this work released it into the public domain, please watch the page at english WP: en:Image:Sassanid
empire map.PNG)
{{Information |Description = Historical re-enactment of a [[Sassanid]] era cataphract in [[Oxford]]. (Rider:
Chris Winstanley Mount: Uther) |Source = [http://www.remountdepot.com/] |Date = 21/06/2003 |Author
= John Tremell
(Source http://www.hp.uab.edu/image_archive/ugp/ == Licensing == {{PD-old}} from en wp (del) (cur)
03:32, 13 December 2005 . . Amir85 (Talk) . . 452x297 (33753 bytes))
({{Information |Description={{en|1=Genealogic tree of the sasanid dinasty of Persia.}} {{es|1=Árbol
genealógico de la dinastía sasánida de Persia.}} |Source=trabajo propio (own work) |Author=Nachoseli
|Date=15/3/2009 |Permission= |ot)
TimeRime. TimeRime, 2003. Google. Web. 11 Sept. 2011. <http://timerime.com/en/timeline/321645/Islam/>.