Heavy Cavalry of the Sassanians: The Savaran

For centuries, the Persians were known to use heavy cavalry on their armies. Thus, heavily armed and armored horsemen is really not something new to the empire. The Saravan, which literally means riders rose to fame because of their skills in the use of the lance and their one of a kind code of conduct which has a big resemblance to the medieval chivalry.

A combination of a ring armor, a plate and a chain mail is what a Sassanian heavy cavalry made of. They also wore conical helms that protects the entire head. Their main weapon is the long lance which are usually wielded two handed.

The introduction of the stirrup made mounted shock tactics by lance wielding warriors even more deadly, as warriors could now direct the combined weight of rider and mount into their charge.

Lance duels is a common custom of the Savaran. Byzantine and Savaran held such duels every now and then. It is said that the Cataphracts were inspired from the Savaran. Cataphracts are Byzantium heavy mounted horsemen.

The Savaran was a feudal society just like the Parthians and other kingdoms in middle age Europe. Due to issues of nobilities that causes rifts during warfare, Khosrow I, the King of Kings of the Sasanian Empire ordered to allow those who have minor nobility to serve the Savaran.

Savaran Training

Recruits underwent military training from an early age. Training focused on obtaining proficiency in the use of mace, sword, lance and bow, as well as perfecting horsemanship. Warriors training was only considered complete once he had successfully proven himself in battle.

The Sassanians bled themselves white with centuries of protracted and bitter war with the Empire of Byzantium, to the west. Weakened by this exhaustive warfare and divided by internal power struggles, Sassanian Persia was ripe for conquest by Arab armies fuelled by the relatively new religion of Islam.

The Sassanian Legacy

The Sassanians left a subtle yet indelible stamp upon the world. Much of the knowledge in mathematics, arts, architecture, science, medicine and warfare previously attributed to the followers of Islam (who had conquered Persia by the late 7th Century AD) were actually Sassanian in origin.

The Sassanians stood at the cross-roads of culture, with connections to China, India and even Japan, as well as the west.

The knowledge of the Sassanians was absorbed and diffused throughout the lands conquered by Islam, from Spain to Northern India. The Arabs, who were originally lightly armed and armored tribal horsemen, adopted Savaran armor, horse armor, weapons and tactics, as well as their code of honor.

Many Arabic manuals on horsemanship were Persian in origin. The word 'Faris', meaning horseman or knight, stems from 'Farsi', the Arabic word for Persian.

The Muslim warriors encountered by the Crusaders from the 1100's onwards were the indirect descendants of the Savaran and the codes of conduct observed by these Muslim horsemen were to rub off onto rough, illiterate European Knights and profoundly influenced the development of western chivalry.

Sources

_{Shadows in the Desert Ancient Persia at War
Warfare in the Classical World
Image Sources - 1 2 3 4}

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