Polo

picture info	Polo Polo is a team sport played on horseback. The objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small hard white ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled wooden mallet. The modern sport of polo is played on a grass field of 300 by 160 yards (270 by 150 m). Each polo team consists of four riders and their polo ponies. Arena polo has three players per team and the game usually involves more maneuvering and shorter plays at lower speeds due to space limitations of arenas. Arena polo is played with a small air-filled ball, similar to a small football. The modern game usually lasts one to two hours and is divided into periods called chukkas (or "chukkers"). Polo is played professionally in 16 countries [...More...]
	Qutubuddin Aibak Quṭb al-Dīn Aibak also spelt Quṭb ud-Dīn Aibak or Qutub ud-Din Aybak, (1150–1210), was the founder of the Mamluk dynasty and the first sultan of the Delhi Sultanate. [...More...]
picture info	Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – August 29, 886) was a Byzantine Emperor"> Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a simple peasant in the Byzantine themes">theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court, and usurped the Imperial throne from Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867). Despite his humble origins, he showed great ability in running the affairs of state, leading to a revival of Imperial power and a renaissance of Byzantine art"> Byzantine art [...More...]
	Abbas I Of Iran Shāh Abbās the Great or Shāh Abbās I of Persia (Persian: شاه عباس بزرگ‎; 27 January 1571 – 19 January 1629) was the 5th Safavid Shah (king) of Iran, and is generally considered the strongest ruler of the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda. Although Abbas would preside over the apex of Iran's military, political and economic power, he came to the throne during a troubled time for the Safavid Empire. Under his weak-willed father, the country was riven with discord between the different factions of the Qizilbash army, who killed Abbas' mother and elder brother. Meanwhile, Iran's enemies, the Ottoman Empire (its archrival) and the Uzbeks, exploited this political chaos to seize territory for themselves. In 1588, one of the Qizilbash leaders, Murshid Qoli Khan, overthrew Shah Mohammed in a coup and placed the 16-year-old Abbas on the throne [...More...]
picture info	Isfahan Isfahan (Persian: اصفهان‎, translit. Esfahān [esfæˈhɒːn] ( listen)), historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan, Esfahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province"> Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 kilometres (211 miles) south of Tehran. The Isfahan Region">Greater Isfahan Region had a population of 2,101,220 in the 2016 Census, the third most populous metropolitan area in Iran after Tehran and Mashhad [...More...]
picture info	Muslim Conquests Sassanid Persian Empire Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent">Indus Valley Caucasus Transoxiana Visigothic Kingdom (Hispania) Frankish Empire (Gaul)

Shapur II
Shapur II (Middle Persian: 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩‎ Šāpuhr), also known as Shapur II the Great, was the tenth Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigned for his entire 70-year life from 309 to 379. He was the son of Hormizd II (r. 302–309). His reign saw the military resurgence of the country, and the expansion of its territory, which marked the start of the first Sasanian golden era. He is thus along with Shapur I and Khosrow I regarded as one of the most illustrious Sasanian kings. His three direct successors, on the other hand, were less successful. Shapur II pursued a harsh religious policy. Under his reign, the collection of the Avesta, the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism, was completed, heresy and apostasy were punished, and Christians were persecuted. The latter was a reaction against the Christianization of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great
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