The Aryan Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - "Land of the Aryans) and beyond. Generally, the earliest entity considered a part of the Persian Empire is Persia's Achaemenid dynasty (648–330 BC), a united Aryan kingdom that originated in the region now known as Pars province of Iran and was formed under Cyrus the Great. Successive states in Iran prior to March, 1935 are collectively called the Persian Empire by Western historians.