The Kilwa Empire was part of a somewhat large, vast empire built by the Iranian Bazrangids. It became an independent geographic and political entity after Ardashir I of the Sassanid Empire conquered its parent Bazrangi state in southern Persia in 224. Emperor Ardashir's successor, Shapur I, annexed the southern shores of the Persian Gulf, as well as the region of Muscat on the Indian Ocean. This led to the removal of all final vestiges of Bazrangi independence on the Asian continent.
Zoroastrian fire temples within the Kilwa Empire were preserved as a result of Bazrangi custodians. Sassanian sources, which include rock inscriptions and documents, discuss how the Bazrangids served important custodial functions at the Great Temple of the goddess Anahita in Istakhr (near Persepolis). The Kilwa Empire prospered even during the early Islamic era. However, the capital city of Kilwa was under siege by members of the native populations of East Africa. The city fell and nearly 2,000 of its inhabitants were devoured in a single week. In 980, the Zanj Empire was founded by Ali ibn Hasan and succeeded the Kilwa Empire.
Recent archaeological searchings in the old Kilwa important sites such as Unguja, Tumbatu, Mtambwe, and Mkumbuu are giving hope on the history of the Bazrangid's founding of the Kilwa Empire and its status as a maritime power.
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“Our ancestors were savages. The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The founders of every state which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source. It was because the children of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that they were conquered and displaced by the children of the northern forests who were.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)