Sassanid Empire, Third to Seventh Centuries

Abstract

The political situation surrounding Central Asia changed considerably during the third century b.c., affecting both political and economic relations with the region’s neighbors. In the south the fall of the Parthian Empire and, shortly after, that of the Kushan Empire was followed by several decades of intense wars. In the East, the Chinese Empire of the Han Dynasty (206 b.c.–220 a.d.) disintegrated and was replaced by several kingdoms that were engaged in unceasing military strife. The Chinese not only withdrew from Central Asia and Turfan (present-day China), but also reduced trade with all their trading partners. In the north, on the great grasslands of the Eurasian steppe, the new tribal confederations of the Turkic-speaking peoples gained strength in and around Greater Mongolia and southern Siberia. They began slowly moving westward, pushing various groups of Iranian-speaking tribes to move to the Transoxiana, Caucasus and Eastern Europe.