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Remains of the Persian Royal Road

Type Object Region Iran Time c. -500–1500

Achaemenid Royal Road trunk line and relay stations were still partly used under the 14th-century Ilkhanate, linking Susa, Isfahan, and Khorasan for …

Timeline

  1. c. -500–-330Susa · KhuzestanDarius I built an east-west Royal Road from Susa via Hamadan to Sardis, with relay stations and horse-changing system; Herodotus records the roughly ninety-day journey could be cut to a seven-day express run.
  2. c. 200–1200Isfahan · Isfahan ProvinceThe Sasanian dynasty repaired and reused the Royal Road trunk line; after the Islamic conquest, the Abbasid and Seljuk periods still used this route to connect Iraq and Khorasan, with relay stations converted into a caravanserai system.
  3. 1360–1370Ray · Tehran ProvinceIn the 14th century, Chagatai, Jalairid, and other powers controlled sections of the Royal Road; envoys, silk caravans, and war-horse transport still traveled the ancient routes; Rashid al-Din's Jami' al-Tawarikh and Chinese envoys' itineraries indirectly attest to the northern West Asian route's smooth passage.
  4. c. 1370–1450Samarkand · UzbekistanThe Timurid Empire added relay stations and bridges on the eastern section of the Royal Road, strengthening the link between Samarkand and the Iranian Plateau; the ancient Persian road legacy was incorporated into the Timurid transport network.

Sources