Persia was also affected by social class system. The people of Persia enjoyed their rights depending on the class or category they belong to. The Persian social hierarchy is illustrated below in a downward order pattern starting with the highest power holder social class and going downwards describing all the classes in vertical order in brief.
Upper Class
The highest social class in Persian social hierarchy was the upper class. The royal family that included royal members & priests along with emperor incorporated this class. Following are the further sub divisions of this class:
- The King – The king was the supreme authority and power holder in the Persian social hierarchy. He was considered son of the God and everyone was to bow before their king. All were expected to abide by the king’s orders with true heart.
- Royal Family – After the king, in the hierarchy was the royal family. Normally royal family members were related to king by blood. But there are some cases in Persian history where some children were also adopted by the king as their son which made them the part of the royal family too.
- Royal Priests – A royal priest is a holy Persian who is the commander of the Persian priests. They possessed the power to question the judgment of the king. The Royal priests were sanctioned to execute the religion’s sacred rituals.
Middle Class
Persian social hierarchy’s middle level incorporated middle classes in the Persia. These were the people who either belonged to military of Persia or the aristocrat people. The sub levels are as below:
- Aristocracy – This class basically involves a group of people, who were actually a council of renowned Persian citizens. These council members used to act as explicit advisors of the emperor. They used to guide and aid their king proficiently for the smooth functioning of the kingdom.
- Military People – For the Persian people, being a part of military was measured as an enormous factor of the honor. These Persian Military along with their families were provided some special reimbursements by the Persian king.
Lower Class
This class in the Persian social hierarchy incorporates those people who possessed lower authority in the Persia. These all categories are well explained as below:
- Traders – This was the class that belonged to the businessmen of the Persia. They were involved in trading of all sorts of commodities which were produced by others.
- Artisans / Craftsmen – This class of the hierarchy included skilled workers who were experts in crafting furniture, sculpture, clothing, household items, jewelry, tools and machines.
- Peasants – This class of the hierarchy included farmers, laborers and proprietors of small lands.
- Slaves – This was the lowest level category in Persian social hierarchy. These were people who were forced to live an unfortunate despondent life while having negligible rights of their own in Persia. Their life only revolved around their master.