The Sasanian army was the primary military body of the Sasanian armed forces, serving alongside the Sasanian navy. The birth of the army dates back to the rise of Ardashir I (r. 224–241), the founder of the Sasanian Empire, 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 satraps, local princes and nobility. He restored the Achaemenid military organizations, retained the Parthian 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 Sasanian Empire was, along with the Roman Empire and later the Eastern Roman Empire, one of the two superpowers of Late Antiquity in Western Eurasia. During the reign of Khosrow the Sasanian army underwent major reforms. The Sasanian army protected Eranshahr ("the realm of Iran") from the East against the incursions of central Asiatic nomads like the Hephthalites and Turks, while in the west it was engaged in a recurrent struggle against the Roman Empire.The silk road: a journey from the High Pamirs and Ili through Sinkiang and Kansu, p. 53
Army In the character of their warfare, the Persians of the Sasanian 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 cataphracts 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.George Rawlinson "The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World: The Seventh Monarchy: History of the Sassanian or New Persian Empire" p. 189
Divisions In Pahlavi language, smaller divisions of the spāh were referred to as vasht and larger divisions were designated as gond.Arthur Christensen, Sassanid Persia, 2nd Ed., 1965, p. 237 The Arabic word jund (), meaning "army", is derived from the latter.Dehkhoda Persian Dictionary
The Sassanid army was organized in accordance with the "decimal system", that is, its structural units were units that consistently counted tens, hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of soldiers.Nikonorov V. P. On the Parthian Legacy in Sasanian Iran: the Case of Warfare // Центральная Азия от Ахеменидов до Тимуридов: археология, история, этнология, культура. Материалы международной научной конференции, посвященной 100-летию со дня рождения Александра Марковича Беленицкого (Санкт-Петербург, 2–5 ноября 2004 года) / Отв. ред. В. П. Никоноров. СПб., 2005. С. 145. сн. 18 It is known from Sasanian sources that a tens was called ,Дмитриев В.А. Военная разведка в сасанидском Иране: организация деятельности и источники информации // Вестник Нижегородского университета им. Н.И. Лобачевского. 2016. № 1. С. 9–22. Прим. 12 на стр. 18 a hundred - , commanded by an officer with the rank of . A unit of 500 warriors was called a , commanded by an officer with the rank of . was a large detachment (possibly numbering 1000 soldiers) under the command of an officer with the rank of . Units of 5,000 warriors were called , and they were commanded by a commander in the rank of . An army of 10,000 warriors was called and was commanded by a general with the rank of .Daryaee T. Sasanian Persia. The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London; New York, 2009. p. 45 The head of the military estate of Sasanian Iran was called .Дьяконов М. М. Очерк истории древнего Ирана. М., 1961. С. 291
Ranks
Head of the military was the Shahanshah (the King of Kings). The empire's military command was split into four. Initially, the offices of the Great King of Armenia, King of Meshan, King of Gilan, and King of Sakastan fulfilled these roles. After the reforms of Khosrow I, there were four spahbeds (Army Commanders), each for a cardinal direction. Other attested military ranks throughout the Sasanian period are as follows: (the exact nature of some of these are not well-understood)
Wuzurg-framadar, who could become the commander-in-chief and was entrusted to engage in diplomatic negotiations. Ērān-spāhbed, spāhbedān-spāhbed, artēštārān-sālār: all denote the regular commander-in-chief, apparently chosen from the House of Suren. Spāhbed: Field general. Aswārān-sardār, aswārān-sālār: literally "Commander of the Cavalry", but its duties are unknown. Aspbed, also means "Commander of the Cavalry" Andarzbad-i Aswaran, chief instructor of the cavalry Paygān-sālār: Commander of the Infantry Kanārang, commander in the Abarshahr. Marzbān: Commander of the border guards; according to Procopius, it had been equivalent in rank to the East Roman strategos or magister militum. Pushtigbān-sālār: Head of the royal guard. Padgōspān or pādhūspān: military commander of a district or province. shahrab, commander of a rural district. Erān anbāraghbad: Senior rank responsible for army supplies. Stor Bezashk: Senior vet who looked after the cavalry elite's mounts. Argbed, commander of a citadel or fort. Gund-sālār: Commander of a gond division. Hazāruft or hazārbed: Commander of a Thousand [man], probably the commander of the Royal Bodyguard Sarhang Framadar or Framandar, battlefield commander
The military appointments were mostly dominated by the noble houses of Suren, Mihran, and Spandiyadh.
Cavalry
The backbone of the Spâh in the Sasanian era was its heavy armoured cavalry, known since Classical antiquity in the west as Cataphracts. This was made up of noblemen who underwent extensive exercises in warfare and military maneuvers through military training, gaining discipline and becoming true soldiers. Within the Sasanian military, the cavalry was the most influential element, and Sasanian cavalry tactics 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 Sarmatians and the Parthians, and the recurrent wars with the Sasanian 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 clibanarii; 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 AD.
Shapur II (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 Bostan where Khosrau II is seen riding his favorite horse, Shabdiz.
The fighting equipment of the heavily armed Sasanian horsemen were: Clibanarii/Cataphract 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).
The heavy cavalry was complemented by lighter cavalry, which were not made up of Sasanian, but were recruited from among their allies and supplemented by mercenary troops. Gelani (Guilani), Albani, Hephthalites, 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.
It is possible that the mainly light cavalry were intended for the battles with the central Asiatic tribes, while the more heavy cavalry were used in encounters with Rome.
In short, there were the following classes of mobile cavalry troops: Persian immortal guard (Zhayedan) Azadan nobility Aswaran: elite cavalry also described as the Persian knightly caste (see below) War elephants Light cavalry: primarily horse-archers Dehqan cavalry: Medium-armoured cavalry armed with lance and bow Cataphract /Clibanarii cavalry: Heavy shock cavalry armed with lance, bow, sword and mace or battle axe (also known as Asvārān)
Depictions from the Sasanian art show different forms of horse archery: frontal shot, Parthian shot, shooting with stirrups and shooting while riding the horse backwards.Farrokh, K., Khorasani, M. M., & Dwyer, B. (2018). Depictions of archery in Sassanian silver plates and their relationship to warfare. Revista de Artes Marciales Asiáticas, 13(2), 82–113.
War elephants
Both types of cavalry units were supported by war elephants and foot archers who showered the enemy with storms of arrows. The elephant corps held the first position. It was recruited from India, 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 Hindustan. 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. Elephants played important roles in Sasanian victories at the battles of Arzamon and the Bridge.
Infantry
There is growing conjecture that the historical view that Sasanian infantry were mostly lightly armed spearmen, who, like their Achaemenid ancestors, were usually levied troops of little fighting ability, could be an incomplete picture of the actual composition of these forces. The truth may be that Sasanian armies often fielded a complex mix of infantry troop types, some much more effective than others. However, the popular and long-held view of many modern historians has been greatly influenced by classical Roman views, which disparaged the infantry components of Sasanian armies. Procopius of Caesarea, for example, described 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]".Procopius, History of the Wars: Persian War, Book I, XIV.22–30 In some battles, however, significant numbers of heavy infantry were deployed. These were well-paid, heavy mail armoured infantry (carrying swords and large rectangular shields). The Daylam provinces of the empire in particular were famous for providing high-quality foot soldiers.