Army Arrangement and Martial Techniques in Sassanied Period and its Reflection in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

The Sassanied Dynasty was one of the most brilliant period of ancient Iran. The adjacency of this period to the Islamic era has opened ways to study the whole period better. Even so as most of the books and written works of the time were ruined, and the remaining is scattered in the Arabic texts of the beginning hundreds of years, it is difficult to fully understand those days. This difficulty is more reflected when the official, political, or social structure of the Sassanied period is being studied. The reason lies behind the fact that a considerable part of the resources that could wipe off the dust of mystery are gone, and we can only indirectly enhance our knowledge through the books that have probably gained their information directly from Pahlavi literature of the time.This article restudies the army arrangement and martial techniques of the Sassanied Dynasty in two phases: firstly, through the historical books of the beginning hundreds of years in Islamic era, which are most often written by the well educated Iranians, and also those written by the contemporary researchers. Secondly, through comparisons and contrasts with the army methods elaborated on in Shahnameh. The results demonstrate significant similarities, indicating that the army techniques in Shahnameh are true reflections of the Sassanied culture and customs.