The Islamic conquest of the Sassanid Empire was one of the defining events in Iranian
history, destroying a millennia of Zoroastrian hegemony and depriving the region of a purely
native dynasty for the next 900 years, instead being dominated by Arabic and nomadic rulers
such as the Timurids and Ilkhanate. But the House of Sasan did not die with their empire,
and lived on in history after the conquest for a century, constantly trying in vain to
regain their lost realm. Welcome to our video on the Last Sassanid kings and their adventures
in the East.
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The Sassanid Empire was formed in 224 AD when Ardashir I defeated the last Parthian monarch
at the Battle of Hormozdgan, before assuming the old Achaemenid title ‘King of Kings’.
They were the most powerful Iranian dynasty since the Achaemenids and went toe to toe
with the Roman Empire on many occasions, often defeatin g them. They also had to battle nomadic
invaders such as the Hephthalites at their Eastern border and the Huns when they emerged
as a threat during the fifth century. Along with their military endeavors, the House of
Sasan presided over an age of cultural flourishing which climaxed in the reign of Khosrow I Anushiriwan,
with the completion of such masterworks as the Shahnameh along with the construction
of a school of learning in Ctesiphon; the Empire’s capital. But all golden ages must
come to an end, and a series of events were about to occur which would lead to the obliteration
of Ardashir’s Persia. In 602, Khosrow II attacked the Byzantine
usurper emperor Phocas, who had murdered the Persian ally emperor Maurice, beginning the
Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602 to 628. The conflict went well for the King of Kings at
first and his Empire reached its highest territorial extent, annexing Syria, Palestine, portions
of Anatolia and the prosperous province of Egypt. Sassanid forces also even managed to
lay siege to the Roman capital of Constantinople in 626. However, later on in the war a capable
new Roman Emperor; Heraclius, deposed Phocas and reorganised the Empire’s defences. By
628, all their lost territories had been restored and multiple Sassanid armies had been destroyed
in their Mesopotamian heartland. The 26-year long war had been an unmitigated disaster
for both empires, particularly the defeated Sassanids descended into a period of factionalism
and division which weakened the state even more.
At the climax of the long war Khosrow, who had suffered many defeats, was ousted by the
Imperial court in a palace coup while his eldest son was installed as Kavadh II. His
short reign was marked by much internal chaos as well as a devastating plague which decimated
the Empire’s population and killed Kavadh himself. In late 628 Kavadh’s young son
Ardashir III took the throne, but was then quickly dethroned in 629 by Shahrbaraz; a
Persian general in the conflict with the Romans. Soon after, he was dethroned by the Sassanian
nobility and a daughter of Khosrow II; Boran, took power as Queen. She presided over a short
period of stabilisation but was eventually deposed in favour of her sister Azarmigduxt,
who was then murdered by Rostam and was replaced once again by Boran. Finally, in 632 the young
Yazdegerd III was installed by the Persian nobility after Boran’s murder, and he became
the final Shah to rule over the Sassanid Empire, though he never truly wielded real power.
Taking advantage of the Sassanid weakness, Muslim armies began to march through Mesopotamia
where they defeated Persian general Rostam at the Battle of Al-Qadisiyah in 636. This
defeat broke the back of the Shah’s military and a few months later their capital at Ctesiphon
was conquered. The remainder of those loyal to the Sassanian King retreated beyond the
Zagros mountains into Iran. Yazdegerd ordered continuous cavalry raids over into Caliphate
territory and this prompted the Muslims to push east once again. The waning Shah fled
from his Muslim pursuers to Hulwan in Media, but soon fled deeper into the Iranian heartland.
He raised another massive army, but it was defeated by the Caliphate at the decisive
Battle of Nahavand. After this disaster Yazdegerd fled to Isfahan, and then to Estakhr and Kirman,
being closely pursued by the attacking Arabs all the way. The Shah managed to earn the
hostility of both the governor of Kirman and then Sistan. After moving to join up with
the Turks at Merv, it is said that Yazdegerd III was killed by a miller who did not recognise
the King of Kings. Alternatively, it may have been the governor of Merv himself who committed
the murder. However, this was not the end of the House
of Sasan, which had previously extended diplomatic relations to all corners of the world long
before. Further east the Chinese Tang dynasty ruled over a prosperous domain of around 50
million people from their capital of Chang’an; probably the largest population in the world
at the time. Beginning in the early fifth century, a Northern and Southern dynasties
period began; when proto-Mongolic peoples conquered northern China and the core Han
dynasty remained in the south. From 455 AD onwards, regular Sassanid embassies had reached
these northern ‘Barbaric’ dynasties, indicating profound knowledge and contact between the
two great civilisations. By the time Arabic forces conquered Persia, the Tang had emerged
and they would play a part in what was to come. Dynastic histories show that the Chinese
were also well informed about the Sassanid Persians, many of whom lived in the wealthy
capital at Chang’an and are represented in Tang literature and sculptures.
Yazdegerd III had two sons and three daughters. Many details are lost about four of these
five children, but the adventure-like tale of Peroz and his exiled compatriots is an
interesting one. Whilst escaping from the Arabs the son of Yazdegerd took shelter in
Tokharistan in northern Bactria during a temporary slowdown in the Muslim advance. With the help
of local rulers who were still loyal or friendly with the Sassanids, Peroz established himself
in the eastern Sistan province. In 661 the new ruler of the region sent urgent embassies
to the Tang requesting military intervention against the invading Muslims. They declined
to help take back the empire, but instead Peroz was declared the ruler of the ‘Persian
Area Command’ with a capital at Zaranj. In 662 Emperor Gaozong granted Peroz the title
‘King of Persia’, and so he is regarded popularly as Peroz III. The next year in 663,
Arabic forces pushed further to the east and defeated Peroz in battle, after which he fled
east through the Tarim Basin and have arrived to Chang’an during the early 670s. He appeared
at the Tang court on two occasions, and Emperor Gaozong received him warmly both times. Either
for his service to the Chinese Emperor or for his royal station, Peroz was appointed
the ‘General of the Right Militant Guard’. Furthermore in 677, it is stated that the
Sassanian royal asked permission from Gaozong to build a ‘Persian Temple’ in Chang’an
which either served as a Zoroastrian fire temple or a Christian church. It should be
noted that during the late Sassanid Empire Christians were increasingly tolerated as
the empire progressed. According to the diary of his son Narseh,
in around 679 Peroz died of disease and was given a simple burial, as he had requested.
The entire exiled Sassanian court was in attendance along with the Chinese ruler himself. The
dying Peroz held his benefactor’s hands, looked west and said “I have done what I
could for my homeland and I have no regrets.” then the Sasanian looked to the east and stated
“I am grateful to China, my new homeland.” After these dying words, he advised all of
his attending exiles to contribute their talents to China and to devote themselves to the Emperor.
Peroz then died peacefully, and as a successful Chinese general and a Persian prince, a beautiful
horse was made to gallop 33 times around his coffin before burial, as this was the number
of victories he had won during his life. His unfortunately beheaded statue still decorates
the massive tomb of Gaozong near Xi’an, possibly indicating the friendship and closeness
between the two. Another mutilated statue is near Peroz’s representing a man named
Nanmei, and it is possible that he was either one of the Persian exiled aristocrats who
followed his monarch, or another member of the Sassanian family himself.
After the death of his father in 679, Chinese general Pei Xingjian was ordered to accompany
the court hostage Narseh west with an army, in order to rescue Persia from Muslim rule.
The duo marched west through the Gansu Corridor and Tarim Basin into the area formerly controlled
by the Western Turks. They were apparently allied to the Tang, but had in secret been
forming friendships with the Tibetan Empire; an enemy of the Chinese. Knowing this, the
Chinese general feigned ignorance and expressed a desire to fight a common enemy in the Arabs.
However, when the Turks allowed the Chinese to pass through, he took the Turks by surprise
and established Tang hegemony in the area once again. Once he had done this, the army
abandoned Narseh and only concerned about the reinforcement of the newly regained regions.
Information about the grandson of Yazdegerd disappears from the sources almost entirely
at this point, but it is almost certain Narseh never reached Persia, and instead fought against
the Arabs in the eastern provinces for around 20 years with the help of friendly Turkish
chieftains. In 708, he went back to China and eventually died of disease, while the
Muslims finally gained control of all of eastern Iran.
A final Sasanian pretender named Khosrow tried to take Persia again in 728 with the help
of a Turkish chieftain, but this attempt faded away quickly. The remaining Sassanid exiles
in China lived comfortably due to the generosity of the early Tang Emperors, but the devastating
An Lushan rebellion beginning in 755 changed all that, and the money used to fund foreign
nobles in the Imperial court was cut off.
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