Cyrus the Great was born c. 600 in Ira and died c. 530 BC in Asia. Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Under his rule, the empire expanded, conquering much of Western Asia and Central Asia, encompassing the ancient Near East and stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River. The Achaemenid Empire, at its largest, extended from Eastern Bulgaria to the Indus Valley.