Cyaxares

Cyaxares took the throne in 625 BC after his father Phraortes died fighting the Assyrians, likely against Ashurbanipal. For nearly three decades the Scythians, Assyrian allies, controlled Media while he bided his time. He overthrew them, consolidated power, and forged an alliance with Babylon that dismantled Assyria entirely. By uniting most of the Iranian peoples under Median rule, he elevated what had been a fragmented region into one of the ancient world's major powers.