The arab conquest and the end of the sassanid empire

There were four centuries of intensive, though intermittent, wars which finally exhausted both the romans and the persians, making them easy prey to Moslem Arab invaders who arrived on their Arabian horses with their curved swords and - most important of all an ideology which they expressed in their own simple, harsh, bedouin cries of "Allah-o-Akbar", great is the one and only God. The Persian empire collapsed suddenly; the Romans lost Syria and Egypt, two vitally important territories.

Once again the vassal overthrows the lord. The bedouin overcomes his protector. There have been many theories put forward regarding the reason why Moslem Arabs managed to conquer Iran at least the better part of it so rapidly and easily. Some point to the decadence of the late Sassanid society; some to Islam's belief in equally irrespective of race, color and social status; yet others point out that Moslems had an ideology, a strong belief to fight for, the belief that dead or alive, they would be the winners at the end of any battle fought for God. Others point the finger at the Persians' overconfidence. The reason, in fact, must be complex and may encompass almost all these factors. But ideology- belief in a God worthy of dying for- is of utmost importance and gave the Arabs great strength of heart. At the same time, the lower Persian classes, bound to their social status through a caste system irrespective of ability, could not help being mesmerized by the idea of equality which was and is a most significant element of Islam.

To these reasons must be added the Persians appreciation of Islam as a monotheistic religion: after all they had been one of the first people to believe in one God, Ahura Mazda as He was called by them, though towards the end of the Sassanid era their religion had become infected by ideas from Mithraism, Manichaeism and other creeds.

At any rate Persians became Moslems and retained Islam even when they had regained their independence and developed their new language. Just about 100 years after Persia had become a part of the Moslem world, an Iranian by the name of Abu Muslim led an uprising in Khorassan against the Omayyad rulers and in favor of Abdollah Saffah, a descendant of Abbas, one of the cousins of the holy Prophet Mohammad. In 750 AD the Omayyads were overthrown and Abdollah Saffah became caliph, the first in line of the Abbasid dynasty. From then on Iranians penetrated further and further into the Arab society and the Moslem world, and contributed greatly to Moslem civilization, art, literature and sciences. Meanwhile, Iranians with a fighting spirits sprang up here and there in the empire, struggling for independence from the Arab yoke.

It is said that the Turks, being extremely poor, used to sell their children, at about the age of ten or so, to the neighboring people. Used to hardship, Turkish boys would normally grow up to become worthy Moslem warriors. In this way the Turks infiltrated the courts and armies of independent Moslem Iranian rulers as well as the caliphs, who eventually became dependent upon them. Finally, they ousted the Iranian rulers and replaced them, and turned the caliph into a puppet ruler under their own influence.

From early 11th century there ruled in various parts of Iran, Turkish kings who were more Moslems than Turks, and became increasingly more absorbed into the Islamic and Iranian cultures. One of their greatest pleasures was listening to recitations from the Shahnameh, the legendary epic of ancient Persia's heroes.

Thus Iran was divided into a number of kingdoms, mostly with Turkish monarchs, who ruled on the advice and guidance of their Iranian viziers, or prime ministers.