Sasanian navy

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Sasanian navy
Military leader
Abyssinian–Persian wars, Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

The Sasanian navy was the naval force of the Sasanian Empire active since its establishment. It operated in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and briefly in the Mediterranean Sea.

Sources

Not much is known about the Sasanian navy, which never really became a major force.[1] Information about the Sasanian navy is mostly in oriental sources, i.e. works of Arab, Persian, Chinese, and Armenian authors. There is little information in the Roman/Byzantine sources, and almost no iconographic information.[2]

Organization and role

The Sasanian naval forces were established since the time of the empire's founder, Ardashir I.[3]

The main role of the Sasanian navy was to protect Sasanian economic interests, not military expeditions, as the coasts of the Persian Gulf were already under rule of Sasanians or their vassals.[4] According to V. A. Dmitriev, the role of the navy was to enhance the military, political, and commercial influence of the empire in the north of the Indian Ocean. The navy was mostly active in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea. The Sasanians did not emphasize the development of their navy due to their geopolitical interests as well as the fact that their military was highly influenced by the land-based military of the Parthian Empire, and that, unlike the Achaemenids, the Sasanians failed to capture the ports of the Eastern Mediterranean.[3]

The leader of the navy allegedly bore the title of navbed.

Vessels

The vessels used by the Sasanian military were exclusively transport landing ships used to transport land forces, and possibly also merchant ships to transport cavalry. The dhow-type vessels were used in the Indian Ocean basin, while the Byzantine-style sailing-rowing dromons and chelandions were used in the Mediterranean, but only for the purpose of transporting troops.[2]

The Persians were able to construct large ships suited for long voyages as far as the marginal seas of the north of the Indian and west of the Pacific Oceans.[2]

Operational history

There were two distinct areas of operation for the Sasanian navy: the Indian Ocean basin (against the Arabs and the Ethiopians) and the Mediterranean (against the Byzantines).[2]

The Sasanian navy played an important role in

Avars.[10] The weakness of the Sasanian navy is considered a key factor in their failure to defeat the Byzantines in the last war between them.[2]

After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the Sasanian navy forces joined the Muslim armies and participated in the wars against the Byzantines and elsewhere. For example, according to the Chinese source Old Book of Tang, Guangzhou was ravaged and burned during the joint naval expedition of the Arabs and the Persians in 758.[3]

References

Sources