Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire »

TOURAJ DARYAEE is Howard C. Baskerville Professor in the history of Iran and the Persianate World and the Associate Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at the University of California, Irvine.

The Sasanians were the last of the ancient Persian dynasties, and the largest empire to espouse Zoroastrianism, before the encounter with the Arabs swept away the pre-Islamic institutions. Using new sources, Touraj Daryaee provides a portrait of the empire's often negelcted social history, exploring the development of political and administrative institutions from foundation by Ardashir I to the last king, Yasdegerd III, and the attempts of his descendants to re-estabish a second state for almost a century after.

List of plates

Prolegomena

1 The Political History of Iran and an-Iran 1

2 The Society of Iranshahr 39

3 Religions of the Empire: Zoroastrians, Manichaeans, Jews and Christians 69

4 Languages and Textual Remains of the Citizens 99

5 The Economy and Administration of the Iranshahr 123

Notes 151

Bibliography 191

Index 217