The end of Sasanian Empire

In 650, only a few years after the death of Prophet Mohammad, the Muslim armies under the command of Sa’ad ibn Abi Vaghas, attacked Hireh, the southern most province of Sasanian empire, roughly including the present day northern Arabia and Kuwait. Hireh was invaded with little effort. A few months later, Ctesiphone, the glorious capital of Sasanian empire and the largest city in the world, was invaded, sacked, and functionally distroyed by the armies of Islam. Yazdgerd fled to mainland Iran and took refuge in Estakhr, hometown of his ancestor, Ardeshir-i Pabakan.

In 651, at Ghadasiye in western Iran, the grand Sasanian armies that had stopped and defeated the mighty Romans for almost 400 years, were crushed by Muslims. Rostam-i Farrokhzad, the great commander, was forgiven, but later killed by the Arabs. Yazdgerd fled further inland to the northern province of Khorasan, and was assassinated by a miller in late 651. Iran was invaded completely in a period of five years. The local population either willingly accepted Islam, thinking it as an alternative to the imposing Zoroastrianism, or were forced to it by the invading armies. Gondi Shapour university and library were destroyed and the books were burned by the invaders. Most of Sasanian records and literary works were destroyed. A few that escaped this fate, were later translated into Arabic and later to Modern Persian, and are of great value to the researchers today.

Thus came the end of one of the most glorious dynasties in Iran. For over 450 years, Sasanian Iran grew from a Feudalistic kingdom to an incredibly progressive and civilised land, competing on the forefront of science and civilisation. Although at times showing unforgiving lapses, Sasanians were as a whole a positive presence in the long history of this ancient land.