(Part 22)
A Brief Introduction About “Khorasan”
The Sassanid Empire was the end of the period of Ancient Persia and also the last Iranian Empire before the Muslim invasion Persia in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, which had ruled Persia for almost 427 years, since 224 AD up to 651 AD. The Emperors of that dynasty were from the Sasanian family. That unified Empire was founded by Ardeshir Babakan after the defeat of Aredvan IV, the last Ashkanite Emperor. The Sassanid Emperors, whose origin was from Persia, conquered a large area of Western Asia and were considered the superpower of the ancient world, alongside with the Roman Empire of Byzantium. The Sassanid capital during this period was the city of Tisphon near Baghdad, the present-day Iraq. It was during this period that parts of Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asian countries were known as Khorasan.
At the beginning of the Islamic era, Khorasan was divided into four regions: Neishabur, Marv, Herat and Balkh. In the year of 31 AH, Muslims moved to Khorasan regions and occupied Takharistan, and at the same time, the residents of Khorasan converted to Islam. During the Umayyad caliphate, Khorasan province was considered one of the most important province of Fars, and with its ups and downs, it sometimes encompassed all northeastern of Iran, northern Afghanistan, and some of the countries in Central Asia as far as bordering line with China.
Khorasan was administered by Umayyad and Abbasid Islamic caliphates for nearly 2000 years, until it gained independence in 205 AH by the Tahirian (Herati) dynasty. During the Taheri dynasty, the regions of Sistan and southern Afghanistan became part of the Taheri government; But it was not recognized officially as a part of Khorasan. In the year 283 AH, when Yaqub bin Laith Safari defeated Taherian dynasty, he captured Khorasan, and it became part of the possessions of the Sistan, the Safarian government. In 287 A.H., Amir Ismail Samani defeated Amr bin Laith Safari and Khorasan became part of the Samanid territory and Mawaraonnahr(this region from the East reaches Tibet and from South, West and North reaches Khorasan, Ghor and Khalkh). The Samanid dynasty covered most of the of Central Asian countries, including present-day Afghanistan, major parts of Iran and Pakistan.
Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi captured Khorasan in 384 AH, and ruled this land for the period of 45 years. In the year 429 AH, Tughrel I, captured Nishabur and made it the center of his government. in the reign of Seljuk, Khorasan was its territory until 552 AH, and after the death of Sultan Sanjar Seljuki, this land was taken over by the Ghorians in (569 AH) and then by making a peace treaty between Ghorians and Khwarazmshahian in (589 AH), it was taken over by the Khwarazmshahian. With the attack of the Mongols in 626 AH, many cities and settlements of Khorasan were destroyed and most of the people were massacred, and the government of Khorasan was handed over to the Kurts dynasty, by Mongols.
In 784 AH, Khorasan was captured by Gorkani Kings (Timur Lang), and then in 886 AH, Uzbeks led by Shibak Khan invaded Khorasan. Shah Ismail Safavi defended this land in (916 AH), attacked the Uzbek and finally defeated them. At the end of Safavid reign, the whole part of Iran and Khorasan were attacked by Hotki heroes, and in 1132 AH, this land fell into the hands of the Afghan conquerors. But Nader Afshar, who was born in Khorasan, started fighting with Shah Ashraf, but Shah Ashraf managed to defeat and repulse Nader Afshar, far beyound the capital of his government, which was called Isfahan,(Shah Ashraf Ruled Isfahan and other territory of Persia which he had captured from Nader Afshar for a few years ) but after some years Nader Afshar could take back Isfahan from Shah Ashraf in 1142 AH.
After the death of Nadershah Afshar in 1160 AH, the Eastern parts of Khorasan, Herat and Balkh were taken over by Ahmad Shah Durrani. The western parts, included Mashhad and Neishabur, were exchanged between Nadir Afshar and Qajar descendants until the domination of Qajar.