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This article is about the civilization in Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings. For the civilization in Age of Empires, see Persians (Age of Empires).
Civilization Technology tree Strategy
ā€œEmerging from inner Persia, the House of Sasan toppled feeble Parthia, establishing a dynasty capable of challenging their Roman neighbors to the west. Even after the Muslim conquest, the Sasanian legacy lived on in the structure of the medieval Persian states. Stun your enemies with a stampede of mahouted War Elephants and hails of arrows thick enough to blot out the sun while your Savaran ride them down, or field an army of gunpowder units worthy of the great Safavid Empire. Nothing is beyond your grasp!ā€
—Description[1]

The Persians are a Middle Eastern civilization in Age of Empires II based on various Persian states such as the Safavid dynasty, Sasanian Empire, various Sogdian city-states, and the Samanid Empire. They focus on cavalry.

The Persians received a rework with the release of The Mountain Royals, making them the second civilization to receive one (the first being the Indians). Unlike the Indian rework, the Persian one was not a civilization split, but rather a rework to some of their core gameplay mechanics.

Characteristics[]

Unique units[]

Unique building[]

Ao2de caravanserai icon Caravanserai: Building which heals and speeds up nearby allied Trade Carts.

Unique technologies[]

Civilization bonuses[]

Team bonus[]

Knight line has +2 attack against archers.

Overview[]

The Persians are a cavalry civilization. They have access to fully upgraded Hussars and Heavy Camel Riders and, despite not having access to Paladins, they can upgrade their Cavaliers to Savars, which, in comparison with Paladins, have more armor and are cheaper to upgrade. Their Knight line is great with +2 anti-archer damage, which is very helpful given the prevalence of the Crossbowman line during the Castle Age. Their unique unit, the War Elephant, is a situational but incredibly strong unit with great attack and durability.

Their Halberdiers are fully upgradeable. Thanks to Kamandaran, their Archer line costs no gold: this makes Persian Crossbowmen cheap disposable units that pair well with cavalry, as the Crossbowmen can counter Camel Riders and Halberdiers. In addition to trash Crossbowmen, they also have perfectly serviceable Hand Cannoneers. They also have access to Siege Rams and Bombard Cannon at the Siege Workshop, but they lack Siege Engineers, which overall averages out.

Their economy is simply excellent; they get all economic upgrades, as well as a head start with +50 food, +50 wood given at the start of the game. All of this is further bolstered by their faster working Town Centers and Docks, which also gets them Villager and Fishing Ship leads over their opponents, furthermore, translating into economic, and military production advantages. The bonus on their Docks also gives them a solid early-game navy. In the Imperial Age, they can build the Caravanserai, an economic building which heals and speeds up nearby allied Trade Carts.

However, the Persians have some weaknesses. Their heavy infantry, viz. the Militia line, is abysmal in the late game on account of lacking the Two-Handed Swordsman upgrade. Their Archer line is poor in combat without Bracer or Arbalester. The lack of Bracer also hurts their Skirmishers, Cavalry Archers, Castles, and Galleons. The latter is also hurt by a lack of Shipwright, giving them a poor late-game navy.

Persian defenses are a rather mixed bag. While they do get access to Architecture, Heated Shot, Hoardings and the unique technology Citadels, which makes their Castles very strong, they lack Keeps, Arrowslits, Bombard Towers, and even Fortified Walls.

The Persian Monks are among the weakest of all civilizations, without Redemption, Sanctity, or Illumination. The lack of Heresy is unfortunate, as the Persians rely on expensive heavy cavalry units that are prime targets for conversion: the Savar and the War Elephant. Because of this, it is important to mix in Hussars along with the heavy cavalry.

Overall, the Persians have a wide selection of strong cavalry units and supported by economic advantages.

Changelog[]

AoE2-DLCicon-1 The Conquerors[]

AoE2-DLCicon-2 The Forgotten[]

AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African Kingdoms[]

AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the Rajas[]

AoEIIDE icon Definitive Edition[]

AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the West[]

  • With update 50292:
    • War Elephant cost changed from 200 food, 75 gold to 170 food, 85 gold.
    • War Elephant train time decreased from 31 to 25 seconds.

AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of India[]

  • With update 81058, the initial resource bonus is received after completing the first Town Center (previously they possessed it from the start).

AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of Rome[]

  • With update 87863, (Elite) War Elephant Line of Sight increased from 4/5 to 7/8.

AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain Royals[]

  • Town Centers and Docks work 5% faster in the Dark Age again.
  • New civilization bonuses:
  • Mahouts removed - replaced by Citadels.
  • Savar introduced. Consequently, the Paladin is removed.
  • (Elite) War Elephant speed increased by 33% (0.6 ā†’ 0.8) (slightly more than Mahouts' effect).
  • (Elite) War Elephant attack vs buildings increased (7/10 ā†’ 30).
  • Elite War Elephant upgrade cost reduced from 1,600 food, 1,200 gold ā†’ 1,350 food, 800 gold.
  • With update 99311:
    • Civilization bonus of cavalry generate 5 gold per kill removed.
    • Savar bonus damage vs. Archers reduced from 3 to 2.
    • Savar upgrade research time increased from 150 seconds to 160 seconds.

Campaign appearances[]

The Persians are a playable civilization in the Ismail campaign, as well as in the Bukhara scenario from Battles of the Forgotten. They are also playable as the second player in the co-op version of the second scenario of the Tamerlane campaign and the sixth scenario of the Saladin campaign.

They also appear in:

CampaignIcon-SaladinDE Saladin[]

CampaignIcon-KhanDE Genghis Khan[]

CampaignIcon-BarbarossaDE Barbarossa[]

CampaignIcon-AttilaDE Attila the Hun[]

CampaignIcon-ElCidDE El Cid[]

CampaignIcon-AlaricDE Alaric[]

  • All scenarios in the HD Edition:
    • Yakub - Enemy

CampaignIcon-PrithvirajDE Prithviraj[]

In the HD Edition:

In the Definitive Edition:

Battles of the Forgotten Icon Battles of the Forgotten[]

The Bukhara scenario is played as the Persians.

CampaignIcon-FranciscoDE Francisco de Almeida[]

  • A Son's Blood
    • Diu - Ally ā†’ Enemy
    • Enemy Leaders - Ally ā†’ Enemy
    • Gujarati Traders - Ally

CampaignIcon-Tamerlane Tamerlane[]

Babur Icon Babur[]

Tamar Icon Tamar[]

Ismail Icon Ismail[]

This campaign is played as the Persians.

In-game dialogue language[]

In the game, Persian units speak modern Persian (Persian : ŁŲ§Ų±Ų³ŪŒ, Farsi). It is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Persian speech in the game uses modern Iranian accent in a robotic, dreary tone that is devoid of proper emotional intonation. Words and phrases are often poorly chosen, without regards to context.

Villager
Military
Monk
King

AI player names[]

When playing a random map game against the computer, the player may encounter any of the following Persian AI characters.

  • Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (Ų¹Ł„Ų§Ų”Ų§Ł„ŲÆŪŒŁ† Ł…Ų­Ł…ŲÆ Ų®ŁˆŲ§Ų±Ų²Ł…Ų“Ų§Ł‡): was the Shah of the Khwarezmian Empire from 1200 to 1220. His ancestor was a Turkic slave who eventually became a viceroy of a small province named Khwarizm. He is perhaps best known for inciting the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia, which resulted in the utter destruction of his empire.
  • Emp. Hormizd (Ų“Ų§Ł‡Ł†Ų“Ų§Ł‡ Ł‡Ų±Ł…Ų² Ś†Ł‡Ų§Ų±Ł…): A name of rulers of the Sasanian Empire, in early Age of Empires II era Hormizd III/Hormizd IV/Hormizd V/Hormizd VI.
  • Emp. Kavadh (Ų“Ų§Ł‡Ł†Ų“Ų§Ł‡ Ł‚ŲØŲ§ŲÆ): A name of rulers of the Sasanian Empire, Kavadh I/Kavadh II.
  • Emp. Yazdgerd (Ų“Ų§Ł‡Ł†Ų“Ų§Ł‡ ŪŒŲ²ŲÆŚÆŲ±ŲÆ): A name of kings of the Sasanian Empire, Yazdegerd I/Yazdegerd II/Yazdegerd III.
  • Ismail Samani: (Ų§Ų³Ł…Ų§Ų¹ŪŒŁ„ Ų³Ų§Ł…Ų§Ł†ŪŒ) was the Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892ā€“907) and Khorasan (900ā€“907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force.
  • Khosrau Anushirvan (Ų®Ų³Ų±Łˆ Ų§Ł†ŁˆŲ“ŪŒŲ±ŁˆŲ§Ł†): Khosrow I was the Sasanian Emperor of Iran from 531 to 579. He inherited the Sassanid empire at war with the Byzantines. He made a peace treaty with them that will be known as the Perpetual Peace. He was remembered as a patron of the arts.
  • King Bahram (Ų“Ų§Ł‡ ŲØŁ‡Ų±Ų§Ł…): Many of the Sasanian Empire rulers held this name. In early Age of Empires II era, it could refer to Bahram V or Bahram VI Chobin.
  • King Chosroes II (Ų®Ų³Ų±Łˆ Ł¾Ų±ŁˆŪŒŲ² ŲÆŁˆŁ…): The last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628.
  • Malik Nasir (Ł…ŁŽŁ„Ś© Ł†Ų§ŲµŲ±): The Ayyubid Emir of Syria from his seat in Aleppo (1236ā€“1260) and the Sultan of the Kurdish Ayyubid Empire from 1250 until the sack of Aleppo by the Mongols in 1260.
  • Mohammad Shah (Ł…Ų­Ł…ŲÆ Ų“Ų§Ł‡): In the Age of Empires II era the last Seljuq amir of Kerman, from 1183 until 1186.
  • Mondhir (Ł±Ł„Ł’Ł…ŁŁ†Ł’Ų°ŁŲ±): Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi, the governor of the Persian Sasanian Empire in some parts of the Southern Persian Gulf.
  • Shahanshah Hormizd (Ų“Ų§Ł‡Ł†Ų“Ų§Ł‡ Ł‡Ų±Ł…Ų²): Hormizd I, was the third shahanshah of Persia. He is the founder of the city of Hormizd-Ardashir which will be later called the city of Ahvaz of Iran which is an important fragment of Persian history.
  • Shah Rukh (Ų“Ų§Ł‡Ų±Ų®): Shahrukh Mirza, son of Tamerlane was the Timurid ruler of the eastern portion of the empire established by his father.
  • Shah Takash (Ų“Ų§Ł‡ ŲŖŁƒŲ“): Ala ad-Din Tekish, the Shah of Khwarezmian Empire from 1172 to 1200.
  • Shapur the Great (Ų“Ų§Ł¾ŁˆŲ± ŲØŲ²Ų±ŚÆ): The second Sasanian emperor of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent until the death of the latter in 242.
  • Yakub (ŁŠŲ¹Ł‚ŁˆŲØ) or Yaqub al-Saffar (ŪŒŲ¹Ł‚ŁˆŲØ Ų§Ł„ŲµŁŁ’Ų§Ų±): Ya'qÅ«b-i Layth-i SaffārÄ«, a Persian coppersmith, was the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan.

The following AI players names were also Persian before being moved to the Hindustanis:

  • Mahmud Ghaznavi (Ł…Ų­Ł…ŁˆŲÆ ŲŗŲ²Ł†ŁˆŪŒ): The first independent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 999 to 1030. At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.
  • Muhammad Ghori (Ł…Ų­Ł…ŲÆ ŲŗŁˆŲ±ŪŒ):was the Sultan of the Ghurid Empire along with his brother Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad from 1173 to 1202 and as the sole ruler from 1202 to 1206.

History[]

ā€œThe Persian Empire had existed for many centuries when the Middle Ages began. It had been reassembled following the conquest by Alexander in the fourth century BC and the subsequent breakup of his empire in later centuries. The Persians had been fighting the Romans since the third century AD.
Persians artwork

The Persian Empire stretched from Mesopotamia to India and from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, encompassing the modern nations of Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. They fought the Romans, and later the Byzantines, for control of modern Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Arabia. The capital of the Persian Empire was Ctesiphon, called Baghdad today.

During the third and fourth centuries, the Romans made several attempts to subdue the Persians. In 364 a peace treaty was signed between the two that allowed the Persians to consolidate their power to the east and north. Beginning with the sixth century, the Persians began attacking the Byzantine Empire in Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and modern Turkey. The war between the two powers went back and forth. In 626 the Persians besieged Byzantium itself without success, and the Byzantines were able to invade Persia the following year. Peace was made between the two exhausted empires in 628.

The Persians were unprepared for the fury of the Islamic Arabs in the seventh century. The Sassanid dynasty of Persia ended in battle in 636. The Persians did not have a capital with defenses comparable to those of Constantinople. Muslim conquest of Persia was complete by 651.
ā€
[1]

Trivia[]

  • The Persian civilization's icon is based on a real 7th-8th century Sassanid silver plate depicting the Simurgh, a fantastic creature from Persian mythology with the wings of a bird, the head of a dog, and the claws of a lion.
  • The user interface image in the Definitive Edition displays the Faravahar symbol.
  • With The Mountain Royals, the Persians and Saracens became the first civilizations to have both of their original unique technologies changed.
  • Before Citadels replaced Mahouts, the Persians were the only civilization whose Castle Age unique technology costs more than the Imperial Age one.
  • The Persians are the only civilization that cannot upgrade the swordsman line past the Long Swordsman.
  • Before Rise of the Rajas, the Persians were the only civilization with access to all Stable units and technologies. They are still the only civilization with fully upgraded Hussar, Paladin-equivalent (Savar), and Heavy Camel Rider.
  • The following heroes available in the Scenario Editor are themed on the Persians: Khosrau and Ismail (whose older form is Shah Ismail).
  • After the Byzantines were changed to the Mediterranean building set in the Definitive Edition, the Persians became the only Middle Eastern civilization with access to the Halberdier and one of only two non-European civilizations with access to the Paladin (the other being the Cumans), before the Paladin was replaced with the unique Savar upgrade.
  • The Persians share similar characteristics with their first game's counterpart where they have an expensive army consisting of heavy cavalry and War Elephants with lackluster heavy infantry and average everything else. More importantly, both versions of the Persians lack the last range technology for their Archery Range units and miss an important upgrade or unit in their Archery Range (in this case, the Persians in Age of Empires II lack the Arbalester while their first game's counterpart lack the Chariot Archer). Like their first game counterpart, the Persians are a solid choice in both water and land maps due to having bonuses for their cavalry and their navy (in this case, the Persian Docks have increased work rate).
  • Before The Mountain Royals, The Persians were tied with the Poles (this excludes the latter's unique building) for the civilization with the fewest civilization bonuses, with two.
  • The former extra 5% work rate for Town Centers and Docks in the Dark Age at release of the Definitive Edition boosted Persians to be one of the "top tier" civilizations on nomad and hybrid maps, to the point that most of the match-ups at higher levels of competitive games were Persian mirrors. Following update 36906, they lost the extra work rate in the Dark Age and are not considered the strongest in those settings, thus no longer being highly picked in non-hybrid and non-nomad maps. Instead, they became one of the least popular civilizations on land maps in most settings. In addition, their identity as a cavalry civilization became overshadowed due to the presence of other prominent cavalry civilizations and cavalry unique units. Because of all this, many changes were done to the Persians in The Mountain Royals to make them more popular and viable, viz a new unique unit, two new bonuses, a new building, a new Imperial Age unique technology, the comeback of the extra work rate in the Dark Age, and the improvement of the War Elephant.
  • The Persians are the only civilization with access to only two Castle Age Monastery technologies. They, the Britons, and the Vietnamese are the only civilizations with access to more Imperial Age Monastery technologies than Castle Age ones.

Gallery[]

References[]

Civilizations in Age of Empires II
Categorised by architecture sets
AfricanCivIcon-Ethiopians Ethiopians Ā· CivIcon-Malians Malians
Central AsianCivIcon-Cumans Cumans Ā· CivIcon-Tatars Tatars
Central EuropeanCivIcon-Goths Goths Ā· CivIcon-Huns Huns Ā· CivIcon-Teutons Teutons Ā· CivIcon-Vikings Vikings
East AsianCivIcon-Chinese Chinese Ā· CivIcon-Japanese Japanese Ā· CivIcon-Koreans Koreans Ā· CivIcon-Mongols Mongols Ā· CivIcon-Vietnamese Vietnamese
Eastern EuropeanCivIcon-Bohemians Bohemians Ā· CivIcon-Bulgarians Bulgarians Ā· CivIcon-Lithuanians Lithuanians Ā· CivIcon-Magyars Magyars Ā· CivIcon-Poles Poles Ā· CivIcon-Slavs Slavs
MediterraneanCivIcon-Armenians Armenians Ā· CivIcon-Byzantines Byzantines Ā· CivIcon-Georgians Georgians Ā· CivIcon-Italians Italians Ā· CivIcon-Portuguese Portuguese Ā· CivIcon-Romans Romans Ā· CivIcon-Sicilians Sicilians Ā· CivIcon-Spanish Spanish
Middle EasternCivIcon-Berbers Berbers Ā· CivIcon-Persians Persians Ā· CivIcon-Saracens Saracens Ā· CivIcon-Turks Turks
Native AmericanCivIcon-Aztecs Aztecs Ā· CivIcon-Incas Incas Ā· CivIcon-Mayans Mayans
South Asian/IndianCivIcon-Bengalis Bengalis Ā· CivIcon-Dravidians Dravidians Ā· CivIcon-Gurjaras Gurjaras Ā· CivIcon-Hindustanis Hindustanis Ā· CivIcon-Indians Indians (removed)
Southeast AsianCivIcon-Burmese Burmese Ā· CivIcon-Khmer Khmer Ā· CivIcon-Malay Malay
Western EuropeanCivIcon-Britons Britons Ā· CivIcon-Burgundians Burgundians Ā· CivIcon-Celts Celts Ā· CivIcon-Franks Franks
Categorised by expansions
AoE2-DLCicon-0 The Age of KingsCivIcon-Britons Britons Ā· CivIcon-Byzantines Byzantines Ā· CivIcon-Celts Celts Ā· CivIcon-Chinese Chinese Ā· CivIcon-Franks Franks Ā· CivIcon-Goths Goths Ā· CivIcon-Japanese Japanese Ā· CivIcon-Mongols Mongols Ā· CivIcon-Persians Persians Ā· CivIcon-Saracens Saracens Ā· CivIcon-Teutons Teutons Ā· CivIcon-Turks Turks Ā· CivIcon-Vikings Vikings
AoE2-DLCicon-1 The ConquerorsCivIcon-Aztecs Aztecs Ā· CivIcon-Huns Huns Ā· CivIcon-Koreans Koreans Ā· CivIcon-Mayans Mayans Ā· CivIcon-Spanish Spanish
AoE2-DLCicon-2 The ForgottenCivIcon-Incas Incas Ā· CivIcon-Indians Indians (removed) Ā· CivIcon-Italians Italians Ā· CivIcon-Magyars Magyars Ā· CivIcon-Slavs Slavs
AoE2-DLCicon-3 The African KingdomsCivIcon-Berbers Berbers Ā· CivIcon-Ethiopians Ethiopians Ā· CivIcon-Malians Malians Ā· CivIcon-Portuguese Portuguese
AoE2-DLCicon-4 Rise of the RajasCivIcon-Burmese Burmese Ā· CivIcon-Khmer Khmer Ā· CivIcon-Malay Malay Ā· CivIcon-Vietnamese Vietnamese
AoE2-DLCicon-5 The Last KhansCivIcon-Bulgarians Bulgarians Ā· CivIcon-Cumans Cumans Ā· CivIcon-Lithuanians Lithuanians Ā· CivIcon-Tatars Tatars
AoE2Icon-LordsWest Lords of the WestCivIcon-Burgundians Burgundians Ā· CivIcon-Sicilians Sicilians
Dawn of the Dukes icon Dawn of the DukesCivIcon-Bohemians Bohemians Ā· CivIcon-Poles Poles
AoE2Icon-DynastiesIndia Dynasties of IndiaCivIcon-Bengalis Bengalis Ā· CivIcon-Dravidians Dravidians Ā· CivIcon-Gurjaras Gurjaras Ā· CivIcon-Hindustanis Hindustanis
AoE2Icon-ReturnRome Return of RomeCivIcon-Romans Romans
AoE2Icon-MountainRoyals The Mountain RoyalsCivIcon-Armenians Armenians Ā· CivIcon-Georgians Georgians
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