Persis in
Sarvestan The ancient
Persians were present in the region from about the 10th century BC, and became the rulers of the largest empire the world had yet seen under the
Achaemenid dynasty which was established in the mid 6th century BC, at its peak stretching from
Thrace-
Macedonia,
Bulgaria-
Paeonia and
Eastern Europe proper in the west, to the
Indus Valley in its far east. The ruins of
Persepolis and
Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the
Achaemenid Empire, are located in Pars. The Achaemenid Empire was defeated by
Alexander the Great in 333 BC, incorporating most of their vast empire. Shortly after this the
Seleucid Empire was established. However, it never extended its power in Pars beyond the main trade routes, and by the reign of
Antiochus I or possibly later Persis emerged as an independent state that minted its own coins. The Seleucid Empire was subsequently defeated by the
Parthians in 238 BC, but by 205 BC, the Seleucid king
Antiochus III had extended his authority into Persis and it ceased to be an independent state. Babak was the ruler of a small town called Kheir. Babak's efforts in gaining local power at the time escaped the attention of
Artabanus IV, the Parthian
Arsacid Emperor of the time. Babak and his eldest son
Shapur I managed to expand their power over all of Persis. The subsequent events are unclear. Following the death of Babak around 220,
Ardashir who at the time was the governor of Darabgird, got involved in a power struggle of his own with his elder brother
Shapur. The sources tell us that in 222, Shapur was killed when the roof of a building collapsed on him. At this point, Ardashir moved his capital further to the south of Persis and founded a capital at
Ardashir-Khwarrah (formerly Gur, modern day
Firouzabad). After establishing his rule over Persis,
Ardashir I rapidly extended the territory of his
Sassanid Persian Empire, demanding fealty from the local princes of Pars, and gaining control over the neighboring provinces of
Kerman,
Isfahan,
Susiana, and Mesene. Artabanus marched a second time against Ardashir I in 224. Their armies clashed at
Hormizdegan, where
Artabanus IV was killed. Ardashir was crowned in 226 at
Ctesiphon as the sole ruler of Persia, bringing the 400-year-old
Parthian Empire to an end, and starting the virtually equally long rule of the
Sassanian Empire, over an even larger territory, once again making Persia a leading power in the known world, only this time along with its arch-rival and successor to Persia's earlier opponents (the
Roman Republic and the
Roman Empire); the
Byzantine Empire. The Sassanids ruled for 425 years, until the
Muslim armies conquered the empire. Afterwards, the Persians started to convert to
Islam, this making it much easier for the new Muslim empire to continue the expansion of Islam. Persis then passed hand to hand through numerous
dynasties, leaving behind numerous historical and ancient monuments; each of which has its own values as a world heritage, reflecting the history of the province,
Iran, and
West Asia. The ruins of
Bishapur,
Persepolis, and
Firouzabad are all reminders of this. The Arab invaders brought about an end to centuries of Zoroastrian political and cultural dominance over the region; supplanted as the faith of the ruling class in the 7th century by Islam, which and over the next 200 years gradually expanded to include a majority of the population. ==Demographics==