Sasanian defense lines

Along the [[Euphrates]] (in [[Arbayistan]]), there was a series of heavily fortified cities as a line of defence.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arbayistan-name-of-a-mesopotamian-province-in-the-sasanian-empire|title=ARBĀYISTĀN – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}

Along the [[Euphrates]] (in [[Arbayistan]]), there was a series of heavily fortified cities as a line of defence.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arbayistan-name-of-a-mesopotamian-province-in-the-sasanian-empire|title=ARBĀYISTĀN – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}

=== Wall of the Arabs ===

During the early years of [[Shapur II]] ({{reign | 309 | 379}}), nomadic [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Arabian]] tribesmen made incursions into Persia from the south. After his successful [[Shapur II's Arab campaign|campaign in Arabia]] (325) and having secured the coasts around Persian Gulf, Shapur II established a defensive system in southern [[Mesopotamia]] to prevent raids via land. The defensive line, called the '''Wall of the Arabs''' ([[Middle Persian]]: ''War ī Tāzīgān'', in {{langx|ar|خندق سابور}} ''Khandaq Sābūr'', literally "Ditch of Shapur", also possibly "Wall of Shapur"),[[Touraj Daryaee]], [http://tourajdaryaee.com/wp-content/uploads/2-If_these_Walls_Could_Speak_The_Barrier.pdf "If these Walls Could Speak: The Barrier of Alexander, Wall of Darband and Other Defensive Moats"], in ''Borders: Itineraries on the Edges of Iran'', ed. S. Pello, Venice, 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/Shahrestan.pdf |title=Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšah |website=www.sasanika.org |access-date=2017-06-22 |archive-date=2014-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221225458/http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/Shahrestan.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/qadesiya-battle|title=QADESIYA, BATTLE OF – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}} consisted of a large [[moat]], probably also with an actual wall on the Persian side, with watchtowers and a network of fortifications, at the edge of the [[Arabian Desert]], located between modern-day [[Basra]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].{{cite book|last1= Ward|first1= Steven R.|title= Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces|date= 2014|publisher= Georgetown University Press|location= Washington|isbn= 9781626160651|page= 31}} The defense line ran from [[Hit, Iraq|Hit]] to [[Basra]], on the margin of fertile lands west of Euphrates. It included small forts at key spots, acting as outliers for larger fortifications, some of which have been uncovered.

During the early years of [[Shapur II]] ({{reign | 309 | 379}}), nomadic [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Arabian]] tribesmen made incursions into Persia from the south. After his successful [[Shapur II's Arab campaign|campaign in Arabia]] (325) and having secured the coasts around Persian Gulf, Shapur II established a defensive system in southern [[Mesopotamia]] to prevent raids via land. The defensive line, called the '''Wall of the Arabs''' ([[Middle Persian]]: ''War ī Tāzīgān'', in {{langx|ar|خندق سابور}} ''Khandaq Sābūr'', literally "Ditch of Shapur", also possibly "Wall of Shapur"),[[Touraj Daryaee]], [http://tourajdaryaee.com/wp-content/uploads/2-If_these_Walls_Could_Speak_The_Barrier.pdf "If these Walls Could Speak: The Barrier of Alexander, Wall of Darband and Other Defensive Moats"], in ''Borders: Itineraries on the Edges of Iran'', ed. S. Pello, Venice, 2016.{{cite web |url=http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/Shahrestan.pdf |title=Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšah |website=www.sasanika.org |access-date=2017-06-22 |archive-date=2014-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221225458/http://www.sasanika.org/wp-content/uploads/Shahrestan.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/qadesiya-battle|title=QADESIYA, BATTLE OF – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}} consisted of a large [[moat]], probably also with an actual wall on the Persian side, with watchtowers and a network of fortifications, at the edge of the [[Arabian Desert]], located between modern-day [[Basra]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].{{cite book|last1= Ward|first1= Steven R.|title= Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces|date= 2014|publisher= Georgetown University Press|location= Washington|isbn= 9781626160651|page= 31}} The defense line ran from [[Hit, Iraq|Hit]] to [[Basra]], on the margin of fertile lands west of Euphrates. It included small forts at key spots, acting as outliers for larger fortifications, some of which have been uncovered.

==In the Caucasus==

==In the Caucasus==

Massive fortification activity was conducted in the [[Caucasus]] during the reign of [[Kavad I]] ({{reign|488|496|498|531}}) and later his son [[Khosrow I]] ({{reign|531|579}}), in response to the pressure by people in the north, such as the [[Alans]]. Key components of this defensive system were the strategic passes [[Darial Gorge|Darial]] in the Central Caucasus and [[Derbent]] just west of the [[Caspian Sea]], the only two practicable crossing of the Caucasus ridge through which the land traffic between the [[Eurasian Steppe]] and the [[Middle East]] was conducted. A formal system of rulership was also created in the region by Khusrow I, and the fortifications were assigned to local rulers. This is reflected in titles like "[[Shirvanshah|Sharvān-shāh]]" ("King of Shirvan"), "[[Tabasaran people|Tabarsarān]]-shāh", "[[Caucasian Albania (Sasanian province)|Alān]]-shāh/Arrānshāh",{{cite book|last1=Sijpesteijn|first1=Petra|last2=Schubert|first2=Alexander T.|title=Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World|date=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004284340|pages=35–37}} and "[[Layzanshah|Lāyzān-shāh]]".

Massive fortification activity was conducted in the [[Caucasus]] during the reign of [[Kavad I]] ({{reign|488|496|498|531}}) and later his son [[Khosrow I]] ({{reign|531|579}}), in response to the pressure by people in the north, such as the [[Alans]]. Key components of this defensive system were the strategic passes [[Darial Gorge|Darial]] in the Central Caucasus and [[Derbent]] just west of the [[Caspian Sea]], the only two practicable crossing of the Caucasus ridge through which the land traffic between the [[Eurasian Steppe]] and the [[Middle East]] was conducted. A formal system of rulership was also created in the region by [[Khusrow I]], and the fortifications were assigned to local rulers. This is reflected in titles like "[[Shirvanshah|Sharvān-shāh]]" ("King of Shirvan"), "[[Tabasaran people|Tabarsarān]]-shāh", "[[Caucasian Albania (Sasanian province)|Alān]]-shāh/Arrānshāh",{{cite book|last1=Sijpesteijn|first1=Petra|last2=Schubert|first2=Alexander T.|title=Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World|date=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004284340|pages=35–37}} and "[[Layzanshah|Lāyzān-shāh]]".

===Pass of Derbent===

===Pass of Derbent===

Location: {{coord|41.133|49.052|display=inline}}. The second known Sasanian reconstruction of the fortifications in the Caucasus is attributed to the second reign of [[Kavadh I]] ({{Reign|498|531}}), who constructed the long fortification walls at '''Besh Barmak''' (recorded as ''Barmaki Wall'' in Islamic sources), '''Shabran''' and '''[[Gilgilçay|Gilgilchay]]''' (recorded as [[Arabic]] ''Sur al-Tin'' in Islamic sources), also called the '''Apzut Kawat''' (recorded in [[Old Armenian|Armenian]] sources, from [[Middle Persian]] ''*Abzūd Kawād'', literally "Kavadh increased [in [[Khvarenah|Glory]]]" or "has prospered").{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apzut-kawat-wall|title=APZUT KAWĀT WALL – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}

Location: {{coord|41.133|49.052|display=inline}}. The second known Sasanian reconstruction of the fortifications in the Caucasus is attributed to the second reign of [[Kavadh I]] ({{Reign|498|531}}), who constructed the long fortification walls at '''Besh Barmak''' (recorded as ''Barmaki Wall'' in Islamic sources), '''Shabran''' and '''[[Gilgilçay|Gilgilchay]]''' (recorded as [[Arabic]] ''Sur al-Tin'' in Islamic sources), also called the '''Apzut Kawat''' (recorded in [[Old Armenian|Armenian]] sources, from [[Middle Persian]] ''*Abzūd Kawād'', literally "Kavadh increased [in [[Khvarenah|Glory]]]" or "has prospered").{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/apzut-kawat-wall|title=APZUT KAWĀT WALL – Encyclopaedia Iranica|website=www.iranicaonline.org}}

The lines were constructed using a combination of mud brick, stone blocks, and baked bricks. The construction was carried out in three phases, extending to the end of the reign of Khusrow I, but was never actually completed. The defensive line is about 60 km in length, from the Caspian Sea to the foot of Mount Babadagh. In 1980, the Ghilghilchay wall was excavated by an expedition of Azeri archaeologists from the Institute of History of Azerbaijan.{{cite journal |last1=Magomedov |first1=Rabadan |last2=Murtazali |first2=Gadjiev |date=2006 |title=The Gilgilchay Long Defensive Wall: New Investigations |url=https://www.academia.edu/7170335 |journal=Ancient East and West |volume=5 |issue=1,2 |pages=149 |access-date=9 April 2022}} Not far from the Gilgilchay wall is the Shabran wall, located near Shabran village.{{cite web |title=The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1573 |publisher=UNESCO |date=24 October 2001 }}

The lines were constructed using a combination of mud brick, stone blocks, and baked bricks. The construction was carried out in three phases, extending to the end of the reign of Khusrow I, but was never actually completed. The defensive line is about 60 km in length, from the Caspian Sea to the foot of [[Babadağ (Azerbaijan)|Mount Babadagh]]. In 1980, the Ghilghilchay wall was excavated by an expedition of Azeri archaeologists from the Institute of History of Azerbaijan.{{cite journal |last1=Magomedov |first1=Rabadan |last2=Murtazali |first2=Gadjiev |date=2006 |title=The Gilgilchay Long Defensive Wall: New Investigations |url=https://www.academia.edu/7170335 |journal=Ancient East and West |volume=5 |issue=1,2 |pages=149 |access-date=9 April 2022}} Not far from the Gilgilchay wall is the Shabran wall, located near [[Shabaran]] village.{{cite web |title=The Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1573 |publisher=UNESCO |date=24 October 2001 }}

===Darial Gorge===

===Darial Gorge===