Sasanian dynasty

House of Sasan
Country	Sasanian Empire
Founded	224
Founder	Ardashir I
Final ruler	Yazdegerd III
Titles	Shahanshah Shah Padishah Kay
Deposition	651
Cadet branches	Dabuyid dynasty Mikalid dynasty Banu Munajjim Bavand Dynasty

The Sasanian dynasty (also known as the Sassanids or the House of Sasan) was the house that founded the Sasanian Empire of Iran, ruling this empire from 224 to 651 AD. It began with Ardashir I, who named the dynasty in honour of his predecessor, Sasan.

The Shahanshah was the sole regent, head of state and head of government of the empire. At times, power shifted de facto to other officials, namely the spahbed. Upon the empire's conquest by the Islamic caliphate in 651, members of the imperial family fled in exile to China following the death of Yazdegerd III, where they would become accepted as members of the imperial court by Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Although there would be numerous attempts to invade Islamic Persia with Chinese support, this branch of Sasanids would remain in China indefinitely. Narsieh, grandson of Yazdegerd and last recorded Sasanid in China, would adopt the surname Li (李) in honor of the Chinese imperial family.

The Sasanian monarchs claimed descent from the Kayanids, a legendary Persian dynasty mentioned in the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, which is commonly thought to be based upon the late Achaemenid dynasty. As such, Dara II, the Kayanid king Sasan supposedly traced his lineage to, was most likely based upon Darius III, whose empire was conquered by Alexander the Great just like Dara's. Another differing account exists in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan, in which Ardashir is presented as the son of Sasan, a descendant of Darius III, and a daughter of Pabag, a feudal ruler in Persis, whose name is not mentioned. However, these conflicting accounts led some historians, like Touraj Daryaee, to believe that Ardashir simply claimed descent from anyone who was most convenient for him. Relating Ardashir to the legendary Kayanians with the nickname Kay, besides connecting himself to Sasan, a guardian deity, and also to Dara, which is possibly a combination of Darius I and Darius III the Achaemenid, hints at a possible attempt to claim lineage from the Achaemenids. Additionally, the name "Sasan" was thought to be composed of the epigraphic form "Ssn" on wares and other documents, implying that Sasan was based on a Zoroastrian deity, though he is not mentioned in the Avesta or any other Iranian texts. Martin Schwartz has recently shown that the deity shown on the pottery wares is not related to Sasan, but shows Ssn, an old Semitic goddess that was worshiped in Ugarit in the second millennium BC. The word "Sasa" is written on coins found in Taxila; it is probably related to "Sasan", since the symbols on the coins are similar to the coins of Shapur I, son of Ardashir. With all this in mind, it can be assumed that Ardashir claimed his lineage to be divine and the Sasanians may have raised Sasan's rank to that of a god's.

See also

• List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire
• Sasanian family tree
• Sasanian architecture

Sources

• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2016). "Dynastic Connections in the Arsacid Empire and the Origins of the House of Sāsān". In Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh; Pendleton, Elizabeth J.; Alram, Michael; Daryaee, Touraj (eds.). The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: Adaptation and Expansion. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781785702082.
• Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
• Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2005). "SASANIAN DYNASTY". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
• Zanous, Hamidreza Pasha; Sangari, Esmaeil (2018). "The Last Sasanians in Chinese Literary Sources: Recently Identified Statue Head of a Sasanian Prince at the Qianling Mausoleum". Iranian Studies. 51 (4): 499–515. doi:10.1080/00210862.2018.1440966. S2CID 165568529.