Sasanian dynasty (redirected from Sassanid Empire)

Sasanian dynasty

 or Sassanian dynasty

Persian dynasty (AD 224–651). Founded by Ardashir I (r. AD 224–241) and named for his ancestor Sasan (c. 1st century AD), it replaced the Parthian empire (see Parthia). Its capital was Ctesiphon. The dynasty battled the Roman Republic and Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire in the west and the Kushans and Hephthalites in the east throughout much of its existence. In the 3rd century its empire stretched from Sogdiana and Georgia to northern Arabia, and from the Indus River to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Traditions of the Achaemenian dynasty were revived, Zoroastrianism was reestablished as the state religion, and art and architecture experienced a renaissance. Its important rulers included Shapur I (d. 272), Shapur II (309–379), Khosrow I, and Khosrow II. The Sasanids were the last native Persian dynasty before the Arab conquest of the region in the late 7th century.