ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how Alexander the Great had challenged the hegemony of the behemoth king Darius III of the Persian Empire and crushed it just in three battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela over a period of two years. By defeating Darius III, Alexander conquered the whole of the Persian empire and appointed his own satraps for the collection of taxes. Alexander ruled for thirteen years until his death. The causes of the fall of Alexander’s empire have been discussed. After the fall of the Greek empire, how the most powerful Sassanian dynasty emerged after defeating the Parthians has been discussed in detail. The Sassanians ruled from Syria to Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The royal intrigues, fratricides, and patricides led to the dwindling of the Persian Empire. This chapter has dealt in great detail with the pride and the power of the behemoth Persian army and the attitude of the boastful kings who considered the Arab Muslims low-level desert grass eaters. The chapter further discusses how the handing over of a basket of dust by Emperor Yazdjurd to the Muslims turned out to be a tipping point of turning the soil of the entire Persian Empire into the soil of Islam, which spread from Iraq to Iran, Afghanistan, the modern-day Pakistan, and the Central Asian states.
