The Persian Empire
Page 19
Further Reading
Barthold, W. An Historical Geography of Iran. Translated by Svat Soucek. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Frye, Richard Nelson. The History of Ancient Iran. München: C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.
Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Books, 2003.
Isidore of Charax. Parthian Stations: An Account of the Overland Trade Route between the Levant and India in the First Century B.C. Translated by Wilfred H. Schoff. Philadelphia: Commercial Museum, 1914.
Kent, Roland G. Old Persian. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950.
Pliny. Natural History. Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1942.
Schmitt, R. “Aria.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1986, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aria-region-in-the-eastern-part-of-the-persian-empire.
Strabo. The Geography. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.
Wiesehöfer, Josef. Ancient Persia. London: I. B. Tauris, 2011.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II. Translated by James Darmesteter. Oxford: Clarendon, 1883.
Azerbaijan
Known as Media Atropatene and Aturpatakan in the pre-Islamic era, Azerbaijan has been one of the most important provinces of Iran throughout its long and rich history, producing some of the most outstanding rulers, leaders, commanders, intellectuals, scientists, poets, and artists in the Iranian history. During the reign of the Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE), Azerbaijan was an integral part of the important satrapy of Media. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE, the Iranian governor and commander Atarpat (Atropates) proclaimed his independence. From this period forward, the region would be referred to by Greek and Roman authors as Media Atropatene and at times Media Minor. The Greek geographer Strabo wrote that Media was “divided into two parts.” One part of it was called “Greater Media, of which the metropolis” was “Ecbatana, a large city containing the royal residence of the Median empire,” and the other part was “Atropatian Media [present-day Iranian Azerbaijan], which got its name from the commander Atropates, who preserved” this “country, which was a part of Greater Media, from becoming subject to the Macedonians” (Strabo: 11.13.1). After Atropates was “proclaimed king, he organized this country into a separate state by itself, and his succession of descendants” was preserved down to the Parthian period, with his successors marrying “with the kings of the Armenians and Syrians [Seleucids] and in later times, with the kings of the Parthians” (Strabo: 11.13.1). According to Strabo, Media Atropatene was situated “east of Armenia and Matiane, west of Greater Media, and north of both” and “adjacent to the region round the recess of the Hyrcanian Sea [Caspian Sea] and to Matiane on the south” (Strabo: 11.13.2). All “regions of this country” were “fertile except the part towards the north,” which was “mountainous and rugged and cold” (Strabo: 11.13.3). Media Atropatene had a harbor called “Capauta [present-day Lake Orumiyeh] in which salts” effloresced and solidified (Strabo: 11.13.2). Media Atropatene was therefore a large and powerful country that could “furnish as many as ten thousand horsemen and forty thousand foot-soldiers” (Strabo: 11.13.2).
As the Seleucid authority waned, the Arsacid dynasty began to expand its territory from northeastern Iran into central and western Iran. The Arsacid state was transformed from a kingdom in northeastern Iran during the reign of Mithridates I (r. 171–139/138 BCE), who imposed his authority over western and southwestern Iran sometime after 148 BCE. The emergence of the Arsacid (Parthian) Empire did not mean, however, that Media Atropatene lost its autonomy and the ruling family of the province lost its power. Like several other regions and provinces in Greater Iran, Media Atropatene continued to enjoy a large measure of autonomy and self-rule. Its policies and survival, however, depended on its complex relationship with its two powerful neighbors, namely the Armenians and the Parthian Arsacids (Strabo: 11.13.2).
In 36 BCE, Media Atropatene was invaded by the Roman general Mark Antony. He laid siege to the capital of the province, Phraata, but failed to capture it despite strong support from the king of Armenia, who allowed the Romans to use his country as a base of operations against the Arsacids. After repeated attacks and raids by the Parthian armies, which targeted Antony’s rear guard, the Romans were forced to withdraw and flee to Armenia. The ruler of Armenia, Artavasdes, tried to use his alliance with Mark Antony to protect his autonomy from the Arsacids, but when Antony withdrew his forces and moved them west in anticipation of his impending confrontation with Octavian (Augustus), Artavasdes was defeated and captured in 30 BCE. Though he managed to escape prison and reach Rome, he failed to regain his throne even with support from Emperor Augustus. The Roman emperor tried to use the son of Artavasdes, Ariobarzanes II, as an instrument of Roman presence in western Iran by appointing him king of Armenia, but the reign of this local dynasty came to a sudden and final end when the son of Ariobarzanes II, Artavasdes, was murdered. The Arsacid king Artabanus II, who ruled from 10/11 to 38 CE, tried to increase the power of the central government in various provinces of his empire. After signing a peace treaty with the Romans in 18 or 19 CE, the Arsacid monarch embarked on a policy of centralizing power by removing vassal kings and replacing them with the princes of the Arsacid royal family, particularly his own sons and brothers. Media Atropatene was among the provinces where the authority of the Arsacid monarch was consolidated by appointing one of the sons of the king as the new governor. This practice continued during the remainder of Arsacid rule. Thus, the Arsacid king Vologeses I, who ruled from 51 to 76/80 CE, appointed his brother Pacorus as the ruler of Media Atropatene.
In 224 CE Ardashir, the founder of the Sasanian dynasty, defeated the last Arsacid monarch, Artabanus IV. The death of the Arsacid king on the battlefield signaled the end of the Arsacid monarchy and the beginning of Sasanian rule, which lasted until 651. Ardashir quickly established his rule over the provinces previously held by the Arsacids. Azerbaijan was one of the provinces to be incorporated into the Sasanian Empire. In his inscription at Naqsh-e Rostam near Persepolis in Fars province of southern Iran, the second Sasanian monarch, Shapur I, included Azerbaijan as one of the provinces of his empire. Throughout the long period of Sasanian rule, Azerbaijan held a uniquely important political, military, cultural, and religious position within the Sasanian Empire. The district of Shiz, known today as Takht-e Soleyman in western Azerbaijan, was home to Adur Gushnasp, one of the three most sacred fires of pre-Islamic Iran. Housed in its own temple, each of the three great sacred fires of Iran was identified with one of the three social estates, namely priests, warriors, and the members of the third estate, the peasant farmers and artisans. While Adur Borzen Mihr was designated as the fire of the third estate or the laboring classes (i.e., peasant farmers and artisans) and while Adur Farnbag was revered as the holy fire of the priests, Adur Gushnasp was designated as the sacred fire of the warrior class. Because the Sasanian kings themselves belonged to the warrior caste, Adur Gushnasp was considered to be the sacred fire of the royal family. After ascending the throne, Sasanian kings displayed their devotion by making a pilgrimage to the fire on foot. They also bestowed lavish gifts upon the temple housing the sacred fire. The importance of the fire reached new heights during the fifth, sixth, and early seventh centuries. Before departing for a military campaign against the Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian monarch Khosrow I Anushiravan (r. 531–579 CE) visited the fire to pay homage. When the victorious king of kings returned from his successful campaign, he expressed his devotion once again by bequeathing to the sanctuary an enormous quantity of spoils he had collected from his campaign. The Sasanian king Khosrow II Parvez (r. 590–628 CE) also visited the fire to pray for victory against the Byzantine armies. Upon his return, he too donated to Adur Gushnasp a handsome share of the treasures he had seized during the campaign. In 623 CE, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius invaded Sasanian territory and sacked Adur Gushnasp, where his forces destroyed the tem
ple’s altars, set the building ablaze, and killed every living creature to be found there. The sacred fire, however, was carried to safety and later reinstalled. The magnificent temple complex continued to function for several more centuries before its fire was extinguished at an unknown date.
The Sasanian Empire began to decline rapidly after the murder of Khosrow II in 628. After the Sasanian armies were defeated by invading Arabs in 636 and 642, Azerbaijan fell into the hands of Muslim armies. After the establishment of Islamic rule, Azerbaijan continued to play a prominent role in the history of Iran. For example, in the early 9th century the province was home to the Iranian revolutionary hero Babak Khoramdin, who organized a popular mass movement against the ruling Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad. In the 15th century Azerbaijan served as the home of the Safavid family, which in 1501 unified the Iranian state after centuries of fragmentation and disunity.
See also: Peoples: Achaemenid Empire; Arsacid Parthian Empire; Arsacids; Media, Medes, and the Median Empire; Sasanian Empire
Further Reading
Bivar, A. D. H. “The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 21–99. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Frye, Richard Nelson. “The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 116–180. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Rawlinson, George. The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy or the Geography, History, and Antiquities of the Sassanians or New Persian Empire. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1882.
Schippmann, K. “Azerbaijan.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1987, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azerbaijan-iii.
Shahbazi, A. Shapur. “Sasanian Dynasty.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2005, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty/.
Strabo. The Geography of Strabo. Translated by Horace Leonard Jones. London: William Heinemann, 1930.
Tabari. Tarikh-e Tabari, Vol. 2. Translated from Arabic into Persian by Abol Qassem Payandeh. Tehran: Asatir Publications, 1984.
Bactria
Bactria (Old Persian: Bakhtrish) was an Iranian-populated region lying between the Hindu Kush mountain range to the south and the Oxus River (Amu Darya) to the north. The core territory of ancient Bactria corresponded with present-day northern Afghanistan, incorporating the present-day provinces of Takhar, Konduz, Baghlan, Balkh, Samangan, Jowzjan, and Sar-e Pol. Bactria was mentioned in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, as “Bakhdhi,” “the fourth of the good lands and countries,” which the great god Ahura Mazda had created (The Zend-Avesta, Part I: Vendidad, 1.7). In the legendary history of Greater Iran, Bactria was identified as the home of the Kayanian dynasty (Biruni: 100, 12; 186, 19; 220, 20). When the Kayanian monarch Kay Khosrow is assembling his forces to march against Iran’s most formidable foe, King Afrasiyab of Turan, the Iranian forces are ordered to congregate on a plain in the Balkh province (Ibn Balkhi: 45). The Kayanian monarch Kavi Vishtaspa (Goshtasp) is identified as the first ruler to welcome the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster) to his court. After Goshtasp converts to Zoroastrianism and agrees to act as the prophet’s patron and protector, the members of the royal family and the royal court also convert to the new religion. In the legendary history of Iran, several kings have been credited with the actual construction of the city of Balkh, the principal urban center of Bactria. One source, Sharestanha-ye Eranshahr, attributed the construction of the city, which was originally called Navazak, to Esfandiyar, a legendary hero of ancient Iran and the crown prince of King Goshtasp (Markwart: 10, 34–38). Several historians of the Islamic era such as Tabari associated Balkh with the Kayanian monarch Kay Kavus, while others, including the author Ibn al-Balkhi, claimed that Balkh was constructed by King Lohrasb, the father of Goshtasp and the grandfather of Esfandiyar (Tabari: 2.421; Ibn Balkhi: 48). Although the existence of the Kayanian kingdom itself cannot be validated, archaeological discoveries indicate that in great antiquity Bactria was home to large and prosperous urban and rural communities defended by numerous fortresses.
Figure of a man, Achaemenid Persian gold metalwork, fifth/fourth centuries BCE, discovered in Bactria in present-day northern Afghanistan. As one of the most important centers of Iranian civilization, Bactria played a significant role in the history of Greater Iran. The area of Bactria corresponded with the region lying north of the Hindu Kush mountain range and south of the river Oxus (Amu Darya). (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
Bactria was incorporated into the Persian Achaemenid Empire during the reign of Cyrus II the Great (r. 559/558–530 BCE) and was mentioned in the inscription of the Achaemenid king Darius I (r. 522–486 BCE) at Bisotun in western Iran as one of the provinces of his empire. The archaeological evidence indicates that during the Achaemenid period, Bactria was dotted by towns, villages, and fortresses. A prosperous region, it enjoyed a central position on the trade routes that linked Iran and India to Central Asia and China. The wealth of Bactria’s ruling families is demonstrated by the beauty and magnificence of the exquisite gold and silver objects in the so-called Oxus Treasure collection, which were unearthed sometime between 1877 and 1880 and are presently held at the British Museum (Curtis: 65).
Bactrian officials and commanders played an important role in the Achaemenid Empire. Bactrian army units constituted an important component of the Achaemenid forces, and they were mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus in the context of the military campaigns of the Persian king Xerxes I in Greece. During the last battle between Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid king Darius III at Arbela in 331 BCE, the Bactrian cavalry units nearly turned the tide of the battle against the Macedonians. When Darius was finally defeated, he and several of his commanders fled east in a desperate attempt to rally Bactria and Sogdiana against the Macedonians. Before reaching his destination, however, Darius III was murdered by Bessus, the governor of Bactria, who proclaimed himself king of Asia and assumed the royal title of Artaxerxes. Bessus organized his Bactrian, Sogdian, and Scythian units into a formidable force and adopted a scorched-earth policy, denying the Macedonian armies access to food and water. Soon, however, he was betrayed by his generals and handed over to Alexander, who humiliated him by cutting off his nose and the tips of his ears in public before sending him to his death (Arrian: 4.7–8). After Bactria was pacified by the Macedonians, Alexander used it as a territorial base for his military operations in Sogdiana, the territory north of the Oxus and south of Jaxartes. To ensure the complete subjugation of Bactria and Sogdiana, Alexander forced 30,000 Bactrians and Sogdians to join his army as hostages. According to the historians of Alexander’s campaigns, the Macedonian conqueror also settled many of his officers and soldiers in colonies throughout Bactria.
The Macedonian general Seleucus I, who founded the Seleucid state in 312 BCE, incorporated Bactria into his newly established empire. He later appointed his son and designated successor, Antiochus, as the governor of the eastern provinces and assigned him the double task of defending his empire against nomadic incursions from Central Asia as well as from the Mauryan Empire, which ruled present-day Afghanistan south of the Hindu Kush mountain range. As the power of the Seleucid state based in Syria declined during the reign of Antiochus II (r. 261–247 BCE), Bactria proclaimed its independence.
The Greco-Bactrian kingdom (250–125 BCE) was founded by Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, who used the conflict among the contenders to the Seleucid throne to proclaim his independence. As the power and authority of the Seleucid state based in Syria waned, another Iranian-populated province in the east, namely Parthia, also revolted. In 209 BCE, the Seleucid monarch Antiochus III marched to Iran to impose his authority over the eastern provinces of his empire. He first forced the Arsacids, who had established themselves in northeastern Iran, to accept his suzerainty. He then led his forces to northern Afghanistan and laid siege to Bactra (Balkh), the capital of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. The Seleucid army failed to capture the Bact
rian capital, and in return for accepting the nominal sovereignty of the Seleucid king, the ruler of Bactria, Euthydemus, was allowed to retain his position and title. Originally, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was bordered in the west by Parthia, in the east by the rugged mountains of Badakhshan, in the south by the Hindu Kush mountain range, and in the north by the Oxus River (Amu Darya). These frontiers, however, changed dramatically as the kingdom expanded its territory, seizing Sogdiana to the north of the Oxus and capturing Taxila in the present-day Punjab province of northwestern Pakistan. It was during the rule of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom that Buddhism spread widely in the eastern provinces of Greater Iran. The Greco-Bactrian kingdom entered an era of civil war and strife after Eucratides (r. 170–145 BCE) overthrew the reigning king, Demetrius I, and thereby started a long conflict with the descendants of Euthydemus, who remained in power in India.
As the Greco-Bactrian kingdom began to lose its unity and power, it became vulnerable to attacks by nomadic tribes from Central Asia. The fall of the kingdom in 125 BCE resulted in the creation of several small principalities under the control of various branches of the Yüeh-chih (Yuezhi) or Tochari nomads. The Yüeh-chih were a branch of the Iranian Scythian tribes who were moving from the Tarim Basin in present-day western China to Transoxiana. The Greek author Strabo wrote that Bactria was captured by nomadic groups, including the Asiani, the Tochari, and the Saraucae (Strabo: 11.511). The Yüeh-chih moved from Central Asia first to Bactria in the second century BCE. They divided their newly won territory into several principalities. Nearly a century later, the Kushan prince Kujula Kadphises unified all the Yüeh-chih branches under his rule. From Bactria the Kushans crossed the Hindu Kush mountain range and occupied Gandhara. The occupation of Gandhara, southeast of the Hindu Kush Mountains, allowed the Kushans by the middle of the first century CE to extend their power to the Indus River Valley and the city of Taxila. From here, the Kushans moved farther south to the region of the Yamuna (Jamuna) River in the present-day northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where they chose the city of Mathura as their southern capital. By the beginning of the second century CE, the Kushans, along with the Romans, Parthians, and Chinese, were among the four most powerful states in the world. They ruled vast territories in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The Kushan state incorporated what is now Tajikistan, a large part of Uzbekistan, parts of Kyrgyzstan and southern Turkmenistan, almost all of Pakistan and Afghanistan, a portion of eastern Turkestan, the entirety of northern India, and parts of eastern and central India.