Sasanian Emperors as the Pioneers of Globalisation: An Investigation on the Ideas of Globalisation in Ancient Iran

“Globalisation” is one of the most influential philosophical thoughts with direct effects on the economic, political and cultural entities of countries in the modern era. Most scholars relate the emergence of this phenomenon to the period after Renascence. However, with little contemplation, one could trace the roots and origins of philosophical thoughts and mythical concepts – of course not in their present form – to ancient civilisations. Doubtless, Sasanian empire (224-651 CE),  with 427 years of glory in the world,s  political arena, can be considered as one of the greatest and most powerful cultural foregrounds of ancient era that was managed by the direct instructions of Zoroastrian philosophers. The founder of this empire (ArdašīrPāpakān: 224-241 CE), in response to the question that why have you risen against your reigning king (Ardavan V Ashkani), clamed: “To make a world with a single-God”. Now, the question is. Can “Ardašīr’s efforts in establishment of a world under governance of a single God” be counted as the first efforts toward unification of the world and the initial steps in globalisation? – efforts that were accompanied by practices and widespread endeavours. The principal hypothesis is that the thoughts of globalisation were nurtured in the thoughts of Zoroastrians’ eminent Mōbads and practiced by the founder of Sasanians Empire. The main aim of the present research is to investigate the first veinsofglobalisation notions and the associated practical measures of Sasanian kings. In doing so, all of the Sasanian historical and archaeological evidences that certify the research hypothesis are envisaged and discussed in the context of globalisation and cosmopolitanism thoughts. The cosmopolitanism idea, with roots in the ancient world, is also used to associate the today’s globalisation concepts with the ancient ones. These concepts together with archaeological and historical evidences are clear indications that globalisation and cosmopolitanism thoughts have been introduced 1800 years ago in Iran; and indeed practiced on the relevant scale by Sasanians.