The Hunnic invasion of the Sasanian Empire was a 395 AD invasion by the Huns, which coincided with an invasion of the neighbouring Roman provinces.

Background

In 395 the Huns, led by led by commanders

Basiq Basich or Basikh ( gr, Βασίχ, fl. 395) was a Hun military commander who co-led an invasion of Persia in 395 AD together with Kursich. Etymology Otto Maenchen-Helfen took the ending -''ich'' for the Turkic diminutive -''iq''; he proposed th ...

and

Kursich Kursich () was a Hun general and royal family member. He led a Hunnish army in the Hunnic invasion of Persia in 395 AD. The Huns started to seriously threaten the Eastern Roman Empire in 395, crossing over the Caucasus mountains in the summer o ...

, crossed the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

and turning southeast crossed the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

. Initially, the Huns invaded the Roman regions of Sophene, Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Syria, capturing and enslaving Roman subjects. The Huns then besieged the Roman fortress of Ziatha, burning it and killing and enslaving its inhabitants. The two contingents then proceeded into Persia proper.

Invasion

Basiq and Kursich led two detachments down the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

, threatening the capital

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

. Upon hearing that the Sasanian army was marching against them, the Huns retreated. However, one group was overtaken, and some were killed. The Sasanians took nearly all of the booty, and freed 18,000 captives. The other group of Huns successfully retreated through the

Derbent Pass The defense lines (or ''"limes"'') of the Sasanians were part of their military strategy and tactics. They were networks of fortifications, walls, and/or ditches built opposite the territory of the enemies. These defense lines are known from trad ...

Aftermath

Years later, the Sasanian Emperor

Yazdegerd I Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination. Yazde ...

returned the Roman prisoners taken by the Huns.

References

Sources

* * * * {{Huns 4th-century conflicts 395 Huns Wars involving the Sasanian Empire 4th century in Iran