The historical prototype of "The War of Arslan": The rise of the Sassanian Persian Empire, the overlord of Central Asia

In the overview historical novel "The Battle of Arslan" by the famous Japanese novelist Yoshiki Tanaka, there is an extremely powerful "Pals Kingdom" located in the center of the "continental highway" connecting the East and the West. The prototypes of the "Silk Kingdom" and the "Continental Highway" are China and the Silk Road respectively, while the prototypes of the "Pals Kingdom" are the historical Sassanian Persian Empire.

▲Arslan War Story

The Sassanian Persian Empire, also known as the Second Persian Empire, was founded in 224 AD and destroyed in 651 AD. It is a highly centralized country with Zoroastrianism (Zoroastrianism or Zoroastrianism) as its state religion. Its territory includes today's Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Caucasus region, southwestern Central Asia, the Persian Gulf region, and southwestern Pakistan. It even once included most of India, Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Turkey.

The Sassanian Persians called the territory of its empire Iran Shahl or Iran, which is another transliteration of Iran. Now, the Persians, the largest nation in Iran, are descendants of the Sassanian Persian people. In a sense, Iran was the successor to the Sassanian Persian Empire.

▲1. Early Sassanian Persian cavalry; 2. Parthian cavalry; 3. Sassanian Persian flag bearer

The Iranian Plateau is located in the plateau area in southwestern Asia. It reaches India in the east, to the Tigris Valley in the west, to the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf in the south, to the Caspian Sea in the north, and to the Caspian Sea in the central West Asia and the surrounding mountains. The strategic position of the Iranian Plateau is very important and is a transit station for exchanges between Eastern and Western civilizations. It is close to the Mesopotamian Plain that nurtured the Mesopotamian civilization and is the birthplace of many ancient civilizations.

A branch of the Indo-European Aryans moved to the Iranian Plateau around 1000 BC. They were divided into the Medes and Persians. Before the Aryans came, the Elams in the Iranian region were located in the southwest of the Iranian plateau. By then, nearly a thousand years of war had been fought between the ancient Babylonian Kingdom, the Kingdom of Elam and the Kingdom of Assyria. The Elamites were destroyed by the Assyrians due to the civil war, and the Medes thus stepped onto the stage of history. In order to resist the Assyrian attack, the Medes united with each other, thus establishing the Kingdom of Medes and establishing the capital of Ekebatana. The Kingdom of Medi soon flourished and became ally with the Kingdom of New Babylon. In 609 BC, the Kingdom of Medi destroyed the Assyrian Kingdom. Since then, the Medes Kingdom has expanded its territory and has become one of the most powerful kingdoms in West Asia.

▲The territory of the Achaemenid Empire

At that time, the Persians surrendered to the Kingdom of Medes and lived in the southwest of the Iranian Plateau. In 559 BC, Cyrus II, a Persian nobility with the Medite royal blood, unified ten Persian tribes (six engaged in agriculture and four engaged in animal husbandry). In 553 BC, Cyrus II raised an army to resist the rule of the Medes and destroyed the Kingdom of Medes in 550 BC.The Achaemenid Empire (Persian Empire, or the First Persian Empire) was established. But in 334 BC, Alexander the Great led a Macedonian army across the Dardanelles and invaded Asia Minor in the Achaemenid Empire. The well-trained Macedonian army defeated the dominant Persian army in the Battle of Issus and the Battle of Caucasia. Then, Darius III was killed by his generals, and the Achaemenid Empire was destroyed.

▲The Seleucid dynasty and the territory of successor countries (blue: Ptolemy; green: Cassandra; light yellow: Seleucid; deep yellow: Lisimacos; purple: Epirus)

After Alexander the Great died in Babylonia, the generals began to divide the empire. The Seleucid established the Seleucid dynasty with the Syrian region as its ruling center, with the rule base being Greek immigrants in cities and military colonies. In 64 BC, the Roman army came to West Asia, the Seleucid dynasty perished, and Syria became a Roman province.

▲Pathia cavalry shooter in the Battle of Kale

In 238 BC, under the leadership of Alshak I, the nomadic tribe of Central Asia, the Pani peoples, destroyed Andragolas, the former governor of the Seleucid dynasty that ruled Parthia, and settled in the Parthia region, where the Parthian Empire (also known as the Alsace dynasty or the Silence Empire) was established.

After the demise of the Seleucid dynasty, Parthia clashed with the Mediterranean world (the Roman Republic and the subsequent Roman Empire), and this war was considered the first half of the "Roman Persian War". In the famous Battle of Carly, Parthia's heavy cavalry and cavalry archers united to defeat the Roman legion led by Crasso. But later, the capital of Parthia, Tessifon (32 kilometers southeast of Baghdad), was repeatedly captured by Roman troops.

▲ (100 BC) Territory map of Parthian Empire (GREECE Greece, EGYPT Egypt, ARABIA Arabia, PARTHIAN EMPIRE Parthian Empire, INDIA India)

▲The equipped cavalry of the Parthian Empire

▲Cabinet officers and horse-handed flag officers of the Parthian Empire

During the rule of the Parthian Empire, the heart of the Persian province, the Persians' birthplace, was in a semi-autonomous state and retained many ancient traditions. The local rulers had the right to mint coins and were called the Kings of Persis. With the decline of Parthia, Sassan Persia, a hereditary priest who was dedicated to the goddess Annahita in the local city of Ishtar, began to lead the family to rise. After that, Sassan Persian son Babak overthrew Chihel of the Bazrenji family, the ruler of Ishtaker. The power of the Sassanthemum Persian family expanded rapidly and soon no longer limited to Ishtar City. Before Barbak's death, the family had basically unified the Boses region.

▲The Sassanian Persian Empire, rising with Persia at the center of Persis (Pink, Roman Empire; Light Blue, Parthian Empire; Orange, Sassanian Kingdom; Sky Blue, Armenia; Dark Blue, Kushan Empire)

In 222 AD, after Babak's death, his eldest son Shapur inherited the throne. However, Shapur soon died unexpectedly, and Babak's other son Ardashir I succeeded to the throne. He moved the ruling center to Ardashir-Huala (now Firuzabad) south of Persis. After consolidating his rule under Persis, Ardashir I quickly expanded his power and seized neighboring areas: Kerman, Isfahan, Susa, Messene. His expansion attracted the attention of Ardaban IV, the Parthian Empire. In 224 AD, Aldaban IV ordered the governor of Khuzestan to attack Aldashir I. However, the attack failed and Aldaban IV had to lead his troops in person. In 226 AD, Aldaban IV was also defeated in Hormuzgan. Later, Ardashir I was crowned the sole ruler of Persia in Tessie, ending the nearly 400 years of the Parthian Empire and establishing the Sassanian Persian Empire. Ardashir I was awarded the title of "Sharkhansha" and began to rule the land called Elanshahr.

▲Sassanthesian Persian silver plate, which portrays Ardashir I defeated Ardaban V

In the next few years, Aldashir I continued to expand his power to the east and northwest, conquering Sistan, Gorgan, Khorasan, Margiana and other places, with his troops approaching the Kushan Empire.

The Kushan Empire (1-3rd centuries) was once a powerful country in Central Asia. It was at its peak during the reign of Kanesega I and its successors. It was known as the four powerful countries in Asia and Europe together with the Han Empire, Rome and Parthia. But in the 3rd century, the strength of the Kushan Empire was greatly reduced and it could only barely maintain unity. When Ardashir I attacked Sogdiana, Baktria, Kabul and other places of the Kushan Empire around 230 AD, the Kushan Empire had actually split into two parts, east and west. The Kushan Empire in the west was forced to surrender to the Sassanian Persian Empire. Under the continuous attack of the Sassanian Persian Empire, the Kushan Empire was in a slump and eventually disintegrated.

▲The army of the Kushan Empire

The newly rising Sassanian Persian Empire inherited the conflict between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Empire. Previously, the border between Rome and Parthia was generally on the front line of Osjon (Edessa)-Hatra-Armenia. But after the establishment of the Sassanian Persian Empire, the Romans conquered Osjon, threatening the core area of the Sassanian Persian Empire. Therefore, Aldashir I invaded Syria and Cappadocia in Armenia and the Roman Empire, and clashed with Alexander Severu, the last emperor of the Severu dynasty. In a letter to Aldashir I, Alexander Sevelu said that the Sassanian Persian invasion of Rome would not succeed. In the battle between 231 and 233 AD, neither the Sassanian Persians nor the Romans could defeat each other. In 235 AD, Alexander Sevelu was killed after being overthrown by the army, and the Roman Empire fell into a civil war. In order to fight against the army-supported Maximinus, the Roman Senate recognized Goldian I in Africa as the new emperor.

▲Battle of Saena

In 238 AD, the Gordian and his son died in an accident. The Senate then elected Pupienus and Balbinus as the new emperors. This year, Maximinus was killed by his subordinates due to his poor attack on Italy. Although Pupienus and Balbinus won, they were both killed due to the sudden riot of the Imperial Guards in the city of Rome. Finally, Goldian III, under the control of the Imperial Guards, succeeded to the throne as emperor. This year is also called the "Year of the Six Emperors".

In 240 AD, Aldashir I retreated to the second line and spent the last few years of his life in Persis. His son Shapur I, as his co-governor, continued to expand his territory for the empire and won many wars with Rome.