THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

PERSIAN EMPIRE
The Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in
Persia (now Iran). The first of these was established by Cyrus the Great
in 550 BC, with the Persian conquest of Media, Lydia and Babylonia.
ZOROASTRIANISM AND ISLAM
Persian dynastic history was interrupted by the Islamic conquest (651
AD) and later by the Mongol invasion. The main religion of ancient
Persia was Zoroastrianism, but after the 7th century this was replaced
by Islam.
IRAN
In the modern era, a series of Islamic dynasties ruled Persia
independently of the universal caliphate. Since 1979 Persia (Iran) has
been an Islamic republic.
PERSIAN DYNASTIES
Median Empire (728-549 BC)
Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC)
Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD, also called the "Arsacid Empire"
Sasanian Empire (224–651), also called the "Neo-Persian Empire"
Safavid dynasty (1501–1736)
Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796)
Zand dynasty (1750–1794)
Qajar dynasty (1785–1925)
Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979)
FAMOUS KINGS OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
Cyrus the Great
Cambysses
Darius the Great
Xerxes
Artaxerxes I
TYPE OF GOVERNMENT
Persian government was a monarchy system in which the kings had the
final say so in how things where supposed to be handled.
The first king through 559-529 BCE and the last king ruled from 336-
330 BCE.
The empire was divided into twenty provinces each ruled by a governor
and called satraps.
XERXES I OF PERSIA
Xerxes I of Persia, meaning "ruling over heroes", 519–465 BC, also
known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth of the king of kings of the
Achaemenid Empire. He ruled from 486 BC until his assassination in
465 BC.

He is notable in Western history for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Like his
predecessor Darius I, he ruled the empire at its territorial apex, although Xerxes
I would briefly manage to conquer even more land of mainland Greece than
Darius I through the battles at Thermopylae and Artemisium, overrunning
Attica, Boeotia, Euboea, Thessaly, and the rest of mainland Greece to the north
of the Isthmus of Corinth, until the losses at Salamis and Plataea which reversed
these gains and would eventually end the second invasion decisively.
WORLD’S FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS CHARTER
It was the Persians who are thought to draft the world’s first human
rights charter. This charter is better known as the Cyrus Cylinder, as it is
a baked-clay cylindrical object from 539 BC with engraved Akkadian
language.

The artifact was created under King Cyrus’s orders, when his army marched
inside Babylon, and bloodlessly conquered the fabled city. As for the contents of
ancient inscriptions on the tablet, they mainly pertain to – equality for all races,
religions and languages; along with the opportunity of slaves and deported
people to return to their original homelands.
WORLD’S FIRST VERTICAL AXIS WINDMILL
The core technology of windmills obviously came from wind sails that
were used for the maneuvering of ships. The first historically
documented vertical axis windmill is Persian, with accounts of the tech
being as old as 1,500 years.

This particular specimen’s vertical sail was built from bundled reeds or timber,
and they were in turn were fixed to the central vertical shaft with the help of
horizontal struts. The bidirectional system was perhaps further fine-tuned with
the use of strategically placed external walls that aided in the guiding of the
available wind in the desired direction.
FIRST ANCIENT REFRIGERATORS
The Persian prowess in cooling and refrigeration tech is even older with
the first crafting techniques of ancient refrigerators coming from circa
400 BC. Known as Yakhchals (or ice pits), these designs generally
comprised of large yet insulated underground huge storage spaces.

The subterranean areas additionally consisted of Qanat, or wind catchers for

creating natural ventilation that aided in temperature drops to even frigid
conditions. These underground chambers were literally topped off by stepped
dome like structures made of heat-resistant mud bricks, built with the help of a
mortar consisting of sand, lime, egg white, goat hair and ash. These ingeniously
engineered installations was mainly used to store ice and even food items
during the rigorous summer months.
PARADISE GARDENS
It was during the time of the Achaemenid Dynasty that the notion of an
earthly paradise came into existence – with one legend of Zarathushtra
even proclaiming the creation of a paradise-like community garden.

In that regard, the term for spectacularly well-tended gardens in Old Iranian, is
‘pairi-daeza‘. This is turn was transmuted to ‘paradeisos‘ in Greek, and made
way to ‘paradis‘ in Old French – from which the common English term is
ultimately borrowed.
THE IMMORTALS
The Immortals were the Achaemenid King’s vibrantly dressed personal
division armed with spears and bows, and they were actually chosen
from the regular conscripts of the nation’s army (based on their
physical prowess and stamina).

The name ‘Immortal’ possibly stems from the Persian Amartaka, and according
to Herodotus, their numbers were always kept at 10,000 with ready
replacements always taking the vacated positions of those who were killed,
injured or taken sick. The tradition of the Immortals were kept also alive during
the latter Sassanian period. However, the spear-and-bow carrying infantrymen
were then replaced by the crème de la crème of 10,000 Savaran knights. This
prestigious unit was called the Zhayedan, and it might have provided the basis
for the formation of the ‘Athanatoi‘, an ‘Immortal’ army unit of the Eastern
Romans (Byzantines) raised during 10th century AD.
FIRST UNIFORMS OF THE MILITARY FORCES
The Iranian people have always maintained their unique pattern of
clothing, which is mainly mirrored by their riding attires of leather
boots, trousers, tunic and cap. In addition to that, the Achaemenids
introduced the very concept of uniforms for armies, after which the
classical Greeks adopted the nifty system.

The Sassanians continued with the tradition of elegant attires and ensembles
being flaunted in lavish court cultures, with multifarious regal colours ranging
from gold, purple to red and crimson. But perhaps the most recognizable
Persian contribution to the world of fashion is the seamed fitted coat, with their
initial designs being made from animal skins. These clothing objects were
mainly adopted to guard against the cold weathers that were prevalent in most
of Iran’s and Khorasan’s mountainous areas.