Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
590-628
Khosrow II expands the Sassanid empire to its largest, stretching from Egypt to the
borders of modern China. He is murdered by his son in 628 and the empire quickly un-
ravels.
632
The Prophet Mohammed dies and a year later Arab forces driven by religious zeal at-
tack Persia. By 651 the last Sassanid king dead and the empire is history.
661-750
The Umayyad Caliphate take control of much of the lands of the former Sassanid em-
pire, governing from Damascus and spreading Sunni Islam.
680
Imam Hossein, son of Imam Ali, is killed along with 72 partisans at Karbala. This be-
comes the defining event in the antagonism between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
749-830s
An uprising in Khorasan casts off Ummayad rule and the Abbasid Caliphate is born.
Heavily influenced by Persian customs, the Abbasids choose Baghdad as their capital,
near former Sassanid capital Ctesiphon.
820-999
As Abbasid control weakens, a series of regional dynasties takes control. The Taherids
(820-72) in Khorasan, the expansionist Saffarids (868-903) from Sistan and the
Samanids (874-999), based in Bukhara.
928-1140
The Persian Ziarids (928-1077) and Buyids (945-1055) were noted for their support of
the arts, but their power gave way to Turkish clans, beginning with the Qaznavids in
962.
980-1037
