Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran (International Library of Iranian Studies)

Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire has already been praised as one of the most intellectually exciting books about ancient Persia to have been published for years. It proposes a convincing contemporary answer answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, did the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam? Offering an impressive appraisal of the Sasanians' nemesis at the hands of the Arab forces which scythed all before them, the author suggests a bold solution to the enigma. On the face of it, the collapse of the Sasanians--given their strength and imperial power in the earlier part of the century--looks startling and inexplicable. But Professor Pourshariati explains their fall in terms of an earlier corrosion and decline, and as a result of their own internal weaknesses. The decentralized dynastic system of the Sasanian empire, whose backbone was a Sasanian-Parthian alliance, contained the seeds of its own destruction. This confederacy soon became unstable, and its degeneration sealed the fate of a doomed dynasty. This latest volume in The Idea of Iran series concentrates on the Sasanian period. Seizing power from the previous dynasty - the Parthians - the Sasanians ruled Iran and most of the ancient Near East from 224 until 642 CE. They are particularly fascinating because of their adherence to Zoroastrianism, an ancient dualistic Iranian religion named after the prophet Zarathustra (or, in Greek, Zoroaster). The Sasanians expressed the divine aspect of their rule in a variety of forms, such as on coins, rock reliefs and silver plates, and architecture and the arts flourished under their aegis. Sasanian military success brought them into conflict with Rome, and later Byzantium. Their empire eventually collapsed under the force of the Arab army in AD 642, when Zoroastrianism was replaced with Islam. Engaging with all the major aspects of Sasanian culture, twelve eminent scholars address subjects which include: early Sasanian art and iconography; early Sasanian coinage; religion and identity in the Sasanian empire; later Sasanian orality and literacy; and state and society in late antique Iran. The volume in question arguably comprises the most complete and comprehensive treatment of the Sasanian civilization yet to be published in English. As stated in the Editorial Book Reviews, this book proposes to rewrite the details of the history of the Arab conquest of Iran. The author has taken a very detailed look at all the information available for the era, including recently published coin and seal data. Based on this she, identifies lineage, names and durations of the Kings/Queens, primary advisors and generals of the Sassanian empire immediately prior to and during the Arab conquest.From this she then correlates the timing and leadership with the Arab records of the conquest. This results in a significant change in the dates of the early battles, which has implications for early Islamic history (which the book does not address).The book is well written and very well referenced. It provides the first clear look at a previously very unclear time in Persian history.I am certain that people will argue about the logic and accuracy of the work as there is a large amount of new conclusions and understandings. To my reading the book makes sense and overall makes a fairly compelling case. I however am not a historian. "I.B.Tauris in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation It proposes a convincing contemporary answer answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, did the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam? Offering an impressive appraisal of the Sasanians' nemesis at the hands of the Arab forces which scythed all before them, the author suggests a bold solution to the enigma. On the face of it, the collapse of the Sasanians - given their strength and imperial power in the earlier part of the century - looks startling and inexplicable. But Professor Pourshariati explains their fall in terms of an earlier corrosion and decline, and as a result of their own internal weaknesses. The decentralised dynastic system of the Sasanian empire, whose backbone was a Sasanian-Parthian alliance, contained the seeds of its own destruction. This confederacy soon became unstable, and its degeneration sealed the fate of a doomed dynasty."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Contents......Page 8 Note on transliteration and citation......Page 12 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 1. Preliminaries......Page 34 Part I: Political History......Page 46 2. Sasanian polity revisited: the Sasanian-Parthian confederacy......Page 48 3. The Arab conquest of Iran......Page 176 4. Dynastic polities of Tabaristan......Page 302 Part II: Religious Currents......Page 334 5. Sasanian religious landscape......Page 336 6. Revolts of late antiquity in Khurasan and Tabaristan......Page 412 Conclusion......Page 468 Table, figures and map......Page 482 Bibliography......Page 488 Glossary......Page 514 Index......Page 524 Decline and Fall of the Sasanians has already been praised as one of the most intellectually exciting books about ancient Persia to have been published for years. It proposes a convincing contemporary answer answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, did the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam? Offering an impressive appraisal of the Sasanians' nemesis at the hands of the Arab forces which scythed all before them, the author suggests a bold solution to the enigma This book examines why, in the seventh century CE, the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam. The author suggests that the collapse of the Sasanians was due to an earlier corrosion and decline, which resulted in their own internal weaknesses. The decentralized dynastic system of the Sasanian empire, whose backbone was a Sasanian-Parthian alliance, contained the seeds of its own destruction. This confederacy soon became unstable, and its degeneration sealed the fate of a doomed dynasty