Persian Empire

The Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia (Iran). The first of these was established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, with the Persian conquest of Media, Lydia and Babylonia. Several later dynasties "claimed to be heirs of the Achaemenids".

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.

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.

List of dynasties described as a Persian Empire

Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654)

Sasanian Empire

The Sasanian Empire (/səˈsɑːnɪən/ or /səˈseɪnɪən/), also known as Sassanian, Sasanid, Sassanid or Neo-Persian Empire), known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr in Middle Persian language, was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam, ruled by and named after the Sasanian dynasty from 224 to 651. The Sasanian Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the leading world powers alongside its neighboring arch rival the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for a period of more than 400 years.

The Sasanian Empire was founded by Ardashir I, after the fall of the Parthian Empire and the defeat of the last Arsacid king, Artabanus V. At its greatest extent, the Sasanian Empire encompassed all of today's Iran, Iraq, Eastern Arabia (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatif, Qatar, UAE), the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan), the Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, South Ossetia, Abkhazia), Egypt, large parts of Turkey, much of Central Asia (Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan), Yemen and Pakistan. According to a legend, the vexilloid of the Sasanian Empire was the Derafsh Kaviani.