Persia

(pûrˈzhə, -shə)

1. also Persian Empire A vast empire of southwest Asia founded by Cyrus II after 546 B.C. and brought to the height of its power and glory by Darius I and his son Xerxes. Eventually the empire extended from the Indus River valley in present-day Pakistan to the Mediterranean Sea before Alexander the Great conquered it between 333 and 331 B.C.
2. See Iran.