524KE4) THE SASANIAN EMPIRE, KHUSRU II, 590-627 AD;AR DRACHM, 4.11 GRAMS, DIA 30 MM, MINT SIGNATURE : DA (MINT NAME : DARABJIRD) YEAR 37, VF+ CONDITION.
KHUSRU II achieved numerous military successes, but he did this at the expense of excessive taxation and a drain on Iranian manpower. He maintained his Eastern frontierand even conquered some new territoriesin that direction. He also took much of Turkey, Syria, and even Egypt from Byzantium but only held these until Heraclius counter-attacked and besieged him at Ctesiphon. There khusru's own people assassinated him in 628 AD. Under a succession of ephemeral puppets put forward by rival factions of the feudal aristocracy, the Sasanian empire crumbled and soon fell easy prey to the rising power of Islam;