The birth of the
Sassanid army (
Artesh-e Sāsānīyān, Pahlavi
Spâh سپاه, "army") dates back to the rise of
Ardashir IArdashir I, founder of the Sassanid dynasty, was ruler of Istakhr , subsequently Persia , and finally "King of Kings of Iran"...
(r. 226–241), the founder of the Sassanid dynasty, to the throne. Ardashir aimed at the revival of the Persian Empire, and to further this aim, he reformed the military by forming a standing army which was under his personal command and whose officers were separate from
satrapSatrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
s, local princes and nobility. He restored the Achaemenid military organizations, retained the
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
n cavalry model, and employed new types of armour and siege warfare techniques. This was the beginning for a military system which served him and his successors for over 400 years, during which the Sassanid Empire was, along with the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
and later the East Roman Empire, one of the two superpowers of
Late AntiquityLate Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown...
in Western
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
. The Sassanid army protected
EranshahrIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
("the realm of Iran") from the East against the incursions of
central AsiaAsia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east, and from southern Russia in the north to northern India in the south. It is also sometimes known as Middle Asia or Inner Asia, and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.Various definitions of its...
tic nomads like the Hephthalites,
TurksThe Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
, while in the west it was engaged in a recurrent struggle against the Roman Empire.
Army
In the character of their warfare, the Persians of the Sassanid period differed greatly from their forebears under the Achaemenid kings. The principal changes which time had brought about were an almost entire disuse of the war chariot, the advance of the elephant corps into a very prominent and important position, and the increased use and pre-eminence of cavalry on the Parthian model, including both heavy
cataphractA cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
s and horse-archers. Four main arms of the service were recognized, each standing on a
different level: the elephants, the horse, the archers, and the ordinary footmen.
Divisions
In Pahlavi language, smaller divisions of the
spāh were referred to as
vasht and larger divisions were designated as
gond. Interestingly, the
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
word
jond , meaning "army", is derived from the latter.
Ranks
- Erān Spahbod: Commander-in chief.
- Spahbod
Spahbod or Spahbed , is derived from the words Spah and bod ; or "Aspah'Paeity" , and means commander of cavaliers/ knights; alternatively Spah Salar was a rank used in the Parthian empire and more widely in the Sassanid Empire of Persia...
: Field general.
- Pādgospān or Padouspān (Modern Persian: پادوسبان): Commander of each of the four provincial divisions devised during the reign of Khosrau I
Khosrau I , also known as Anushiravan the Just Khosrau I (also called Khosnow I, Chusro I, Khusro I, Husraw I or Khosrow I, Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anushiravan the Just (انوشیروان...
.
- Marzbān
Marzban were a class of margraves or military commanders in charge of border provinces of the Sassanid Empire of Persia between 3rd and 7th centuries CE.-Etymology:Marzban is composed of the two words "Marz" and "ban"...
or Kanārang: Equivalent to MargraveA Margrave was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active military forces...
or commander of the border guards; according to ProcopiusProcopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
, it had been equivalent in rank to the East RomanThe word Byzantine may refer to:Topics directly related to the Byzantine Empire* A citizen of The Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
strategosStrategos, plural strategoi is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
or magister militumMagister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...
.
- Poshtikbān Sālār: Head of the royal guard.
- Erān anbāraghbad: Senior rank responsible for army supplies.
- Stor Bezashk
Stor-bezashk were veterinarians within the Sassanid Persian army that’s purpose was to ensure the safety and health of the steeds before battles. It was these men would care for the horses feeding them and grooming them...
: Senior vet who looked after the cavalry elite's mounts.
- Argbadh
Argbadh were a class of military commanders in charge of castles and fortresses of the Sassanid Empire of Persia between 3rd and 7th centuries CE.Argbadhs were granted their command by the Sassanian emperor and were responsible for maintaining the...
: CastellanA castellan was the governor or caretaker of a castle or keep. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle".-Duties:...
, commander of a castleA castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress, in that it describes a residence of a monarch or...
or fort.
- Pāyygān Sālār
Pāyygān Sālār were commanders of infantry units within the Sassanid armies.The Pāyygān Sālār were very respected and trustworthy men,they would be guarded by the elite Dailamites.- Sources :*Sassanian Elite Cavalry AD 224-642*History Magazine*Historiae...
: Chief of an infantry division.
- Savārān Sardār: Head of a cavalry division.
- Gond Sālār: Commander of a gond division.
Cavalry
The backbone of the
Spâh in the Sassanid era was its heavy armoured cavalry, known since
Classical antiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
in the west as:
CataphractA cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
s. This was made up of noblemen who underwent extensive exercises in warfare and military manoeuvres through military training, gaining discipline and becoming truly elite soldiers. Within the Sassanid military, the cavalry was the most influential element, and Sassanid
cavalry tacticsFor much of history humans have used some form of cavalry for war. Cavalry tactics have evolved over time. Tactically, the main advantages of cavalry over infantry troops were greater mobility, bigger impact and a higher position.-Predecessors:...
were adopted by the Romans, Arabs, and Turks. Their weaponry, battle tactics, tamgas, medallions, court customs, and costumes greatly influenced their Romano-Byzantine neighbours. The Romans had long contended against opponents who fielded heavy cavalry, notably the
SarmatiansThe Sarmatians, Sarmatæ or Sauromatæ were a people of Ancient Iranian origin. Mentioned by classical authors, they migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains around fifth century B.C...
and the
ParthiaParthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasts, after which the Arsacid Empire is then also known as the 'Parthian Empire'....
ns, and the recurrent wars with the Sassanids were an important factor in the Roman turn to new military organizations and battlefield tactics that centered around the use of heavy cavalry in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The Romans called these newly formed units
clibanariiThe Clibanarii or Klibanophoroi were a Sassanid Persian, late Roman and Byzantine military unit of heavy armored horsemen. Similar to the cataphracti, the horsemen themselves and their horses were fully armoured...
; It is said that the word
clibanarii is derived from Persian word
grivpanvar or
griva-pana-vara meaning
neck-guard wearer. Another, more direct and often quoted, etymology is the Greek word
ho klibanos, which refers to a covered pot in which bread was baked or a small oven; perhaps a joking reference to the one-piece mask helmets they wore. The Roman term appears for the first time in the
vita Alexandri Severi (56.5) in the
Historia Augusta, a work from the very end of the 4th century A.D.
Shapur IIShapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I .- Early childhood :...
(r. 309-379) further reformed the army by adopting heavier and more effective cavalry. These mounted units were clad in thick iron plates which covered their entire body. This made them look very much like moving iron statues. Some were armed with a lance and some with a sword and/or mace. Depictions of aforementioned cavalry still survive, with one of the best preserved ones being a rock relief at
Taq-e BostanTaqwasân or Taq-e Bostan or Taq-i-Bustan is a series of large rock relief from the era of Sassanid Empire of Persia, the Iranian dynasty which ruled western Asia from 226 to 650 AD. This example of Sassanid art is located 5 km from the city center of Kermanshah in western Iran...
where
Khosrau II250px|thumb|Khosrau II was the twenty-second Sassanid King of Persia, reigning from 590 to 628...
is seen riding his favourite horse,
ShabdizShabdiz was the legendary black stalion of Khosrau Parvez, one of the most famed Sassanid Persian kings . Shabdiz, meaning "midnight", was reputedly the "world's fastest horse" according to ancient Persian literature...
.
The fighting equipment of the heavily-armed Sassanid horsemen were:
- Clibanarii cavalry: helmet, hauberk (Pahlavi griwban), breastplate, mail, gauntlet (Pahlavi abdast), girdle, thigh-guards (Pahlavi ran-ban) sword, mace, bowcase with two bows and two bowstrings, quiver with 30 arrows, two extra bowstrings, and horse armour (zen-abzar).
- Cataphract cavalry: helmet, hauberk, breastplate, mail, gauntlet, girdle, thigh-guards, bowcase with two bows and two bowstrings, quiver with 30 arrows, spear, and horse armour (zen-abzar); to these some have added a lasso (kamand), or a sling with pellets.
The heavy cavalry was complemented by lighter cavalry, which were not made up of Sassanids, but were recruited from among their allies and supplemented by mercenary troops. Gelani (
Guilani),
AlbaniAlbani was the Latin name in the Roman Republic for the inhabitants of Alba Longa, southeast of Rome.-Origins:According to legend, Ascanius, son of Trojan War hero Aeneas, founded the Albani tribe when he settled Alba Longa around 1152 BC. Literary sources suggest the city’s name is derived from...
,
HephthaliteThe Hephthalites were a Central Asian nomadic confederation whose precise origins and composition remain obscure. According to Chinese chronicles they were originally a tribe living to the north of the Great Wall and were known as Hoa or Hoa-tun. Elsewhere they were called White Huns...
s, Kushans and the Khazars were the main suppliers of this light- to medium-armoured cavalry. They were an essential part of the
Spâh because of their endurance and speed on the battlefield.
In short, there were the following classes of mobile cavalry troops:
- Persian immortal guard
The "Immortals" were an elite force of soldiers who fought for the Achaemenid Empire...
(Zhayedan)
- Azadan nobility Savaran: elite cavalry also described as the Persian knightly caste (see below)
- War elephants
- Light cavalry: primarily horse-archers
- Medium cavalry: Medium-armoured cavalry armed with lance and shield
- Clibanarii cavalry: Heavy shock cavalry armed with maces and swords
- Cataphract cavalry: Heavy cavalry armed with lances (also known as Savārān cavalry
The Savārān cavalry were Persian military units and were a division of cavalry during the time of the Sassanid Persian dynasty, they ranged from light cavalry such as horse archers to heavy cavalry such as Cataphracts. Each Savārān unit would have had its own Drafsh...
)
War elephants
Both types of cavalry units were supported by
war elephantA war elephant is an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks....
s and elite
foot archersArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
who showered the enemy with storms of arrows. The elephant corps held the first position. It was recruited from
IndiaThe Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent and other terms, is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate south of the Himalayas, forming a peninsula which extends southward into the Indian Ocean...
, but was at no time very numerous. Great store was set by it; and in some of the earlier battles against the Arabs the victory was regarded as gained mainly by this arm of the service. It acted with best effect in an open and level district; but the value put upon it was such that, however rough, mountainous, and woody the country into which the Persian arms penetrated, the elephant always accompanied the march of the Persian troops, and care was taken to make roads by which it could travel. The elephant corps was under a special chief, known as the
Zend−hapet, or "Commander of the Indians," either because the beasts came from that country, or because they were managed by natives of
HindustanHindustan "land of Hind", is one of the popular names of South Asia. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.-Etymology:...
. These giant beasts acted as walking towers on battlefields and caused panic and disorder in enemy ranks, creating openings in the lines that cavalry could take advantage of.
Infantry
The infantry were mostly lightly-armoured spearmen, who, like their Achaemenid ancestors, were usually levied troops of little fighting ability. Procopius of Caesarea famously derided them as "a crowd of pitiable peasants who come into battle for no other purpose than to dig through walls and to despoil the slain and in general to serve the soldiers [i.e. the cavalrymen]". In some battles however, heavy infantry was deployed. These were well-paid, heavily-armoured infantry (carrying either sword or mace) . The Daylam and
SogdianaSogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the eighteenth in the list in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great...
provinces of the empire in particular were famous for providing high-quality foot soldiers.
The archers formed the elite of the Persian infantry. They were trained to deliver their arrows with extreme rapidity, and with an aim that was almost unerring. The huge wattled shields, adopted by the Achaemenid Persians from the
AssyriansThe Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent, their homeland today being divided between Northern Iraq, Syria, Western...
(called
spara by the Achaemenids), still remained in use; and from behind a row of these, rested upon the ground and forming a sort of loop−holed wall, the Sassanid bowmen shot their weapons with great effect; nor was it until their store of arrows was exhausted that the Romans, ordinarily, felt themselves upon even terms with their enemy. Sometimes the archers, instead of thus fighting in line, were intermixed with the heavy horse, with which it was not difficult for them to keep pace. They galled the foe with their constant discharges from between the ranks of the horsemen, remaining themselves in comparative security, as the legions rarely ventured to charge the Persian mailed cavalry. If they were forced to retreat, they still shot backwards as they fled; and it was a proverbial saying with the Romans that they were then especially formidable. Infantry was divided into the following types:
- Daylami: heavy infantry
- Dailamites
The Deylamites or Dailamites were an Iranian people inhabiting the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. They were employed as soldiers from the time of the Sassanid Empire, and long resisted the Arab conquest of Iran and subsequent Islamization...
Elite Infantry
- Paygan: medium infantry armed with spears and large shields
- Levy Spearmen
- Kamandaran: elite foot archers
- Light ranged troops, such as Kurd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
ish javelinA Javelin is a throw weapon, used more commonly in the modern athletics discipline: Javelin throw.Javelin may also refer to:* Javelin , a DC Comics supervillain...
-throwers
Siege weapons
The Sassanids (unlike the Parthians) had organized and efficient methods of siege warfare for conquering walled towns. Many methods were learned from the Romans, but soon the Sassanids came to match them not only in the use of offensive siege engines such as
scorpionScorpio was a Roman artillery piece invented in 50 BC. Also known by the name of the triggerfish, it was described in detail by Vitruvius, with the next major improvement being the Cheiroballista...
s,
ballistaThe ballista , plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins...
e,
battering ramA battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times to break open fortification walls or doors.In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against an obstacle; the ram would be sufficient to damage the target if the...
s, but also in the use of excellent defensive tactics for their fortifications, such as methods for using and countering catapults, for throwing stones or pouring boiling liquid on the attackers or by hurling fire brands and blazing missiles.
Tabari reports that the main reason behind the victory of
VahrizVahriz was a Deylamite spahbod in the service of the Sassanid Empire of Persia . He was the head of a small expeditionary force of low ranking Azatan nobility numbering around 700 sent by Khosrau I to Yemen to help repel the invading Ethiopians of Axum. Vahriz was successful in expelling the...
over the Axumite army in
YemenYemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is a country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia...
has been the use of
panjigan (probably a ballista equipped with heavy darts) against the Axumite forces who had not encountered such a military contraption in the past.
- Scorpion
Scorpio was a Roman artillery piece invented in 50 BC. Also known by the name of the triggerfish, it was described in detail by Vitruvius, with the next major improvement being the Cheiroballista...
(Pahlavi panjigān or çarx : a ballista equipped with heavy darts)
- Ballista
The ballista , plural ballistae, was a weapon developed from earlier Greek weapons. It relied upon different mechanics, using two levers with torsion springs instead of a prod, the springs consisting of several loops of twisted skeins...
- Battering ram
- Onager (siege weapon)
The onager was a Roman siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager . It is a type of catapult that uses torsional pressure, generally from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot...
(Pahlavi koshkanjir or mangenik derived from Greek mēkhanikos)
Azadan nobility
This class of nobility was first formed in Parthian times, and was carried over into the Sassanid state, where they were a force to be reckoned with. They accompanied the king in the wars and displayed great courage and discipline. They are clearly the forerunners and founders of the "Knights" of later Arab history. The
Aztan (
Azadan, آزادان, "freemen") jealously guarded their status as descendants of the ancient
AryanAryan is an English language loanword denoting variously*in historical or dated usage,**the Indo-Iranian languages and their speakers, viz. the Iranian and Indo-Aryan peoples**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers,...
conquerors and rulers of the mass of originally non-Aryan peasantry. These
Azatan formed a numerous minor aristocracy of lower-ranking administrators, mostly living on their small estates and providing the cavalry backbone of Sassanid army. Most prestigious among them were the armoured
"Aswaran" اسوران who normally decided the outcome of a battle.
Despite their downfall in the 7th century AD, the legacy of the
Savaran endured in Europe, the Caucasus, India and the Muslim world. It was the elite cavalry of Sassanid Persia, who were the forerunners of the later Arabian
Faris, the English knights, the Caucasian horsemen, the Indian Suwar (derived from Persian Savar), and the Turkish Tarkhans.
In point of fact, certain of the later Muslim heavy cavalry, such as the Mamluks, were possibly the descendants of the
clibanarii cavalry, as they used similar weapons and tactics.
The amount of money involved in maintaining a warrior of the
Asawaran (
Azatan) knightly caste required a small estate, and the Asawaran knightly caste received that from the throne, and in return, were the throne's most notable defenders in time of war.
See also
- Spahbod
Spahbod or Spahbed , is derived from the words Spah and bod ; or "Aspah'Paeity" , and means commander of cavaliers/ knights; alternatively Spah Salar was a rank used in the Parthian empire and more widely in the Sassanid Empire of Persia...
- Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman and older Hellenistic Greek armies, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, unparalleled in...
- Late Roman army
The Late Roman army is the term used to denote the military forces of the Roman Empire from the accession of Emperor Diocletian in 284 until the Empire's definitive division into Eastern and Western halves in 395. A few decades afterwards, the Western army disintegrated as the Western empire...
- Roman-Persian Wars
The Roman–Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Greco-Roman world and two successive Iranian empires. Contact between Parthia and the Roman Republic began in 92 BC; wars began under the late Republic, and continued through the Roman and Sassanid empires...
- Derbent
Derbent is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan. Population: 101,031 ; 78,371...
, one of surviving Sassanid fortress
- Persian war elephants
Persians used war elephants first at the Battle of Gaugamela , which took place in what is now Iraq on October 1, 331 BC. The battle raged between king Alexander the Great of Macedon and king Darius III of Persia...
- Cataphract
A cataphract was a form of heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.The word in English is derived from the Kataphraktos , literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed"...
- Savārān cavalry
The Savārān cavalry were Persian military units and were a division of cavalry during the time of the Sassanid Persian dynasty, they ranged from light cavalry such as horse archers to heavy cavalry such as Cataphracts. Each Savārān unit would have had its own Drafsh...