Persia, had three pre-Islamic empires: the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 B.C.), which was ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty; the Parthian Empire (247 BC - 224 A.D.), which was ruled by the Arsacid Dynasty, established by Arsaces I (a leader of the Parni of central Asia who conquered Parthia in north-eastern Iran); the Sassanian Empire (224-651), which was ruled by the Sassanian dynasty.