Geographic HistoryMap of the Sasanian Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Sasanian Empire appears from AD 201 to AD 647. It reaches its largest mapped extent in AD 603: about 3.5 million km² across 88 provinces.
The Sasanian Empire was founded in 224, when Ardashir I overthrew the Parthians, and it ruled Iran and Mesopotamia for more than four centuries from its capital Ctesiphon. Zoroastrianism was its state religion, and it was the great rival first of Rome and then of Byzantium. The Arab Muslim conquests brought it down between 633 and 651.
Mapped area over time
The Sasanian Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in AD 603
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Gokturks | 4.3 million km² |
| Sui Dynasty | 3.9 million km² |
| Western Gokturks | 2.8 million km² |
| Byzantine Empire | 2.8 million km² |
| Avars | 890 thousand km² |
| Ghana | 850 thousand km² |
| Kingdom of the Franks | 660 thousand km² |
| Goguryeo | 600 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
