Khorasan ( ) (also transcribed as
Khurasan and
Khorassan, also called
Traxiane during
Hellenistic and
Parthian times) was a province in north eastern
Iran, but historically referred to a much larger area east and north-east of the
Persian Empire. The name
Khorasan is Persian and means "where the sun arrives from." The name was given to the eastern province of
Persia during the
Sassanid Empire.