Sasanid Empire (jul 12, 224 – jul 12, 651)
Description:
Sasanids claim to be direct Persian descendants of the Achaemenids.The Sasanid "king of kings" (he probably named himself that) rules from the ex-Parthian capital over Parthian and Mesopotamian lands.
He recreates what had been lost of the Achaemenid admin system and either founds or rebuilds a bunch of cool cities. He extended trade routes and encouraged trade with other places, which introduced new crops such as rice, sugarcane, and cotton from China and India.
Especially after the rule of Shapur I (272 C.E.) the Sasanids were continuously engaged in annoying conflicts with the Roman, Byzantine, and Kushan Empires, which considerably tired them out in the long-term.
The Sasanid Empire revived the Zoroastrian religion as the more closely-related descendants of the Achaemenid Empire out of all three of them. They were so intense about it and how it was their legacy that they genuinely persecuted other religions if they got a little too popular for comfort. The religion grew in popularity like never before, openly promoted by the imperial government.
Added to timeline:
Date:
jul 12, 224
jul 12, 651
~ 427 years