The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  After returning from his capture of Valerian, Shapur I celebrated his victories by building a city in the present-day Iranian province of Fars, the birthplace of the Sasanian monarchy. The new city of Bishapur was constructed at the foot of a mountain, where the Shapur River cuts through a gorge and opens onto a wide open plain. Scholars have debated whether the name Bishapur derives from Weh Andiyok Shapur (meaning “the City of Shapur is more beautiful than Antioch”) or Weh Shapur (meaning “the beautiful City of Shapur”) or Bay Shapur (Middle Persian for “Lord Shapur”). Regardless, it is significant to note that Roman prisoners of war most probably participated in the construction of the new city, which was surrounded by massive walls and deep, wide ditches.

  Bishapur was first excavated in the 1930s and early 1940s by a team of French archaeologists, led by Roman Ghirshman. At least one of the buildings excavated displayed Roman influence. Three rock reliefs on the sides of the Bishapur River gorge, commemorating Shapur’s triumph over Roman emperors, and three other reliefs added later by the Sasanian kings Bahram I (r. 273–276), Bahram II (r. 276–293), and Shapur II (r. 309–379) indicate that the city was viewed as an important urban center in the third and fourth centuries CE and was frequently visited by Sasanian kings. Shapur I may have died in Bishapur during a visit to the city.

  Three of the rock reliefs at Bishapur date back to the reign of Shapur I. One of these portrays the investiture ceremony of the king. Seated on his horse, Shapur I receives the royal diadem from the great god Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda). The king’s horse has trampled a figure believed by some scholars to be the Roman emperor Gordian III, and Ahura Mazda’s horse has killed the evil spirit Ahriman under its hooves. A figure identified by some scholars as the Roman emperor Philip the Arab kneels in a display of defeat and submission. In the second rock relief, Shapur, seated on his horse, receives the diadem of kingship from a winged angel (putto) or a naked and winged boy child. A figure identified by some to be the Roman emperor Philip the Arab again kneels in front of the Persian king, who has seized a figure believed to be the Roman emperor Valerian by his wrist. Valerian stands next to Shapur, while a third Roman emperor, probably Gordian III, has been trampled under the hooves of the king’s horse. A third rock relief repeats the triumphal scene of the second relief with the three Roman emperors killed, captured, and subdued, while the Persian king is flanked by his commanders and high government officials. The fourth rock relief shows the investiture of Bahram I, the oldest son of Shapur I, who faces Ohrmazd. Both the god and the king are mounted on horseback. Sitting majestically on his horse, the Sasanian king of kings receives the diadem of royalty from Ohrmazd. The Iranian archaeologist Sarfaraz discovered a figure prostrate beneath Bahram’s horse. The identity of this figure remains uncertain. The fifth rock relief depicts Bahram II seated on his horse, while a group of Arabs stands submissively before him. The sixth rock relief shows Shapur II seated on the royal throne while gifts and trophies are brought to his court.

  Ruins of the ancient city of Bishapur in the southern Iranian province of Fars. Bishapur served as an important administrative center during the Sasanian period. The city was named after Shapur I, the second monarch of the Persian Sasanian dynasty. (dbimages/Alamy Stock Photo)

  Aside from these rock reliefs, archaeologists also discovered several buildings at Bishapur. These structures include a palace, a temple (most probably devoted to the goddess of water, Anahita [Anahid]), and a building and courtyard with intricate floor mosaics depicting Persian nobles as well as musicians. In a large limestone cave a few miles outside Bishapur stands a colossal statue nearly 22 feet (6.70 meters) high of Shapur I. The statue of the Sasanian monarch, which is “carved out of a huge stalagmite formed in situ, is rich in details and sculptured on each side with extraordinary care and attention” (Garosi: Shapur I).

  See also: Ancient Cities: Naqsh-e Rostam; K&Q, Sasanian: Bahram I, Bahram II, Bahram III; Shapur I

  Further Reading

  Frye, Richard Nelson. The History of Ancient Iran. München: C. H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1984.

  Garosi, G. R. “Shapur I ii: The Great Statue.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shapur-I-ii-great-statue.

  Keall, Edward J. “Bīšāpūr.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1989, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bisapur-town.

  Markwart, J. A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of Ērānšahr. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1931.

  Bisotun Inscription

  An inscription incised on a colossal rock relief celebrating the campaigns and victories of the Persian Achaemenid king Darius I (r. 522–486) over rebel leaders who had revolted against his authority after he seized the throne. The Bisotun inscription is one of the most important historical and linguistic documents of the ancient world. Carved into the side of Mount Bisotun, located east of the city of Kermanshah in western Iran, it celebrates Darius’s victory over the usurper Gaumata and nine other rebels. Enclosed within a trilingual introduction in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian languages, the inscription provides a detailed justification for Darius seizing the throne of the Persian Empire after the death of Cambyses II in 522 BCE and describes how he suppressed the numerous rebellions that erupted after his accession. In addition to its historical significance, the inscription offers a crucial opportunity for deciphering the ancient cuneiform script in which it is written.

  Darius begins the Bisotun inscription by stating that while his predecessor Cambyses was in Egypt, news arrived that a man claiming to be the king’s brother Bardiya had revolted against him. Cambyses started out for home at once but died before reaching his destination. Darius claims in his inscription that the man who had revolted against Cambyses was in fact not Bardiya, the brother of the king, but rather a magian, or a priest, named Gaumata. Darius asserts that before leaving for his campaign to conquer Egypt, Cambyses had secretly ordered the execution of his brother Bardiya to prevent any attempt by his opponents at the court to stage a palace coup in his absence. The murder of the king’s brother was, however, kept secret and was known only to a handful of individuals.

  Monument of the Persian Achaemenid monarch Darius I the Great at Bisotun in western Iran, near the city of Kermanshah. The monument of Darius I consists of a rock relief, as well as a trilingual inscription describing the events which led to the emergence of Darius as the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. (Jerome Bon)

  Denouncing the new king as an imposter, Darius and six fellow officers marched against Bardiya/Gaumata and killed him in Media, in western Iran. Although the removal of Bardiya/Gaumata from the throne allowed Darius to proclaim himself king, the military coup staged by the officers ignited mass insurrections throughout the empire. Rebels in Elam, Babylon, Persia, Media, Assyria, Egypt, Armenia, Parthia, Hyrcania, Margiana, and Sattagydia declared themselves independent from the central government.

  The Bisotun inscription identifies a certain Achina as the man who led the revolt in Elam in present-day southwestern Iran. He proclaimed himself the king of Elam. The Elamites joined Achina and “became rebellious” (Kent: 118–120). Darius did not go to Elam but sent a message to the province. The Elamite rebel leader Achina was captured and delivered to the Persian king, who executed him. Shortly thereafter, another rebellion erupted in Babylon. The leader of this uprising was a certain Nidintu-Bel who claimed to be Nebuchadrezzar, the son of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire overthrown by Cyrus II the Great (Kent: 118–120). In contrast to his response in Elam, Darius marched against the Babylonian rebels in person. Commanding his forces in two battles against the rebels, he defeated them in both. Babylon was seized, and the rebel leader Nidintu-Bel was captured and executed. While Darius was in Babylon, Persia, Media, Assyria, Egypt, Parthia, Margiana, Sattagydia, the Saka tribes, and, once again, Elam rebelled against him (Kent: 121–123).

  This second rebellion in Elam was led by a certain Persian, Martiya, who proclaimed himself Imanish, the king of Elam. Darius and his ar
my were in close proximity to Elam at the time, and those Elamites who apparently wished to avoid bloodshed seized the rebel leader and delivered him to Darius, who executed him. Leadership of the rebellion in Media fell to a certain Fravartish (Phraortes), who claimed to be Khshathrita from the family of the former Median king Huvakhshtra (perhaps the Cyaxares of Herodotus). The Median army stationed in the province rose in rebellion and switched its allegiance to Fravartish, who proclaimed himself the king of Media. Because the Persian and Median units under Darius were small, the king sent an army under the command of his trusted friend Vidarna to suppress the uprising. Vidarna defeated the rebel army in the first battle, but this victory did not put an end to the rebellion. The Persian king then marched with his army to Media while sending another army under the command of an Armenian officer, Dadarshish, to Armenia to quell the rebellion there. After three inconclusive battles with the Armenian rebels, Darius dispatched another commander, Vaumisa, who had to fight two more battles before the Armenian rebels were fully pacified.

  Meanwhile, after his victory in Babylon, the inscription records that Darius marched northward to Media, where he fought and defeated Faravartish (Phraortes), who fled to Rhagae (modern-day Ray south of Tehran). An army was sent to capture the rebel leader. Fravartish was seized, tortured, and eventually executed at the former Median capital, Hagmatana or Ecbatana (modern-day Hamedan). His closest followers and supporters were flayed, and their hides were stuffed with straw and hung out for everyone to see (Kent: 122–124).

  Despite these victories over his rebellious subjects, Darius’s troubles were far from over. The inscription recounts that in Sagartia a certain Cichantakhma, who claimed to be from the family of the former Median monarch Huvakhshtra, declared himself king of the Sagartians. Darius dispatched an army under the command of a Persian officer, Takhmaspada, who defeated the rebels, captured Cichantakhma, and sent him to Darius, who impaled him at Arbela (modern-day Arbil/Erbil) in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, Parthia and Hyrcania rose in rebellion against Darius and declared their support for the Median rebel leader Faravartish/Phraortes. Darius asked his father Vishtaspa (Hystaspes) to suppress the rebellion. In his Bisotun inscription, Darius claims that his father defeated the rebels in Parthia and Hyrcania, but it seems that the campaign was inconclusive because the Persian king was forced to send an army to reinforce his father’s troops (Kent: 124–127).

  The next rebellion mentioned in Darius’s inscription is the uprising in Margush (Margiana) led by a certain Frada. An army under the command of a Persian officer Dadarshi attacked and defeated the rebel army and forced Margush back into the empire’s fold. After the rebellion in Media, the most serious challenge to Darius came from Persia, which staged its own rebellion under the leadership of a certain Vahyazdata, who claimed to be the slain prince Bardiya, the second son of Cyrus II the Great (Kent: 125–127). The Persian army, which was stationed in the royal palace but originated from the region of Anshan, rebelled against Darius. In its place, Darius sent an army under the command of a Persian officer by the name of Artavardiya to suppress the rebellion in Persia. After two battles, the rebel Vahyazdata and his followers were captured and sent to Darius, who impaled them. In the Bisotun inscription, Darius states that before his death Vahyazdata had sent an army to Harauvatim or Arachosia (present-day Kandahar or Qandahar in southern Afghanistan) against the Persian governor Vivana, but the latter managed to defeat this army and capture its leader (Kent: 125–128).

  While Darius was in Persia and Media, the Babylonians revolted for a second time. This revolt was led by a certain Armenian, Arkha, who claimed to be Nebuchadrezzar, son of Nabonidus, the former king of Babylonia. Darius sent an army against Arkha. This army, commanded by the Persian officer Vidafarna, defeated the Babylonian rebels and captured their leader. Arkha, along with his followers, was subsequently impaled in Babylon (Kent: 126–128).

  In the Bisotun inscription, Darius claimed that he and his armies fought a total of 19 battles in the first year of his reign to consolidate his position as the new ruler of the Persian Empire. In the third year of Darius’s reign Elam rebelled once again, this time against the Persian king. The leader of the rebellion was a certain Atamaita. Darius dispatched his trusted friend and general Gaubaruva (Gobryas) to suppress the rebellion. Gobryas marched against the rebels, defeated them, and captured their leader. The defeated rebel leader, Atamaita, was sent to Darius, who executed him (Kent: 133–134). After this victory, Darius organized a campaign against the Scythians (Sakas), who wore pointed caps. To reach the land of these Scythians, the Persian army used rafts to cross a body of water, described by Darius in the inscription as a sea. The Persian forces crossed the sea by rafts and defeated the Scythians. The Scythian leader Skunkha was captured and brought to Darius (Kent: 133–134). In his inscription at Bisotun, Darius identified the six Persian officers who had collaborated with him in overthrowing Bardiya/Gaumata. These army commanders were Vidafarna (Intaphernes), Utana (Otanes), Gaubaruva (Gobryas), Vidarna (Hydarnes), Bagabukhsha (Megabyzus), and Ardumanish (Kent: 130, 132).

  See also: K&Q, Achaemenid: Cambyses II; Cyrus II the Great; Darius I; Peoples: Achaemenid Empire; Primary Documents: Document 9

  Further Reading

  Aelian. Historical Miscellany. Edited and translated by N. G. Wilson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.

  Cameron, G. G. “The Elamite Version of the Bisitun Inscription.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 14 (1960): 59–68.

  Cameron, G. G. “The Old Persian Text of the Bisitun Inscription.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 5 (1951): 47–54.

  Herodotus. The Histories. London: Penguin, 1972.

  Kent, Roland G. Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon. New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950.

  Schmitt R. “Bisotun III: Darius’s Inscription.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2013, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bisotun-iii.

  Bokhara

  Also spelled as Bukhara, a predominantly Iranian-populated urban center in ancient Sogdiana, an Iranian-speaking region, that extended from the Oxus River (Amu Darya) in the south to the Jaxartes River (Syr Darya) in the north, with its central region located in the Zarafshan and Kashka Darya River Valleys. Modern-day Bokhara is located in the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. The meaning of the word “Bokhara” is uncertain. Some have maintained that the name derives from the Sogdian word bukharak, meaning “fortunate place,” while others have asserted that the name originates from the word vihara, the term for a Buddhist monastery (Frye: Bukhara). The first coins discovered in Bokhara resemble Sasanian coins, particularly those dating back to the reign of the Sasanian king of kings Bahram V, who ruled from 421 to 439 CE (Frye: Bukhara). The date for the founding of the city of Bokhara is uncertain. It has been asserted that Bokhara as an urban center did not exist during the reign of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE), nor is the city mentioned by the historians of Alexander, the Macedonian conqueror. In his book Tarikh-e Bokhara [History of Bokhara], the historian Abu Bakr Mohammad al-Narshakhi wrote that before the founding of the city, the site of Bokhara was a swamp (al-Narshakhi: 7). The same author mentioned the names of several rulers of Bokhara, suggesting that the city had its own rulers. According to Narshakhi, the rulers of Bokhara carried the title bokhar khodat (al-Narshakhi: 10). When Muslim Arabs arrived outside the walls of Bokhara, a woman known by the title khatun ruled the city as a regent for her son (al-Narshakhi: 12). The city of Bokhara was conquered by Muslim Arabs during the reign of Muawiya (r. 661–680) of the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled from 661 to 750 CE (al-Narshakhi: 10–11). As the governor of Khorasan from 705 to 715, the Arab general Qutaiba bin Muslim Baheli focused his campaign on the conquest of the major urban centers of the region, particularly Bokhara and Samarqand. His ultimate objective was to seize the entire territory of Sogdiana.

  BOKHARA IN THE POETRY OF RUDAKI

  For centuries, the city of Bokhara was regarded as one of the major centers of Persian civilization in Central As
ia. The Samanids, who ruled from 819 to 999 CE, designated Bokhara as their capital. The Samanid rulers traced their lineage to Bahram Chobin (Bahram VI), the Persian general who seized the Sasanian throne in 590 and ruled until 591 CE. The greatest Persian poet of the Samanid era was Rudaki (858–ca. 941). Today, Rudaki is generally recognized as the first great Persian poet who composed poems in New Persian. Only a small number of Rudaki’s poems have survived. Rudaki’s most recognizable poem is the brilliant piece that he composed and sang for the Samanid monarch Amir Nasr ibn Ahmad. The purpose of this poem was to persuade the Samanid ruler to return to Bokhara after a long absence. The poem’s exceptional simplicity and rhythmical beauty as well as its delightful description of the Oxus River and the love and adoration displayed for the city of Bokhara (“Long live Bukhara! Be thou of good cheer!”) make this one of the most popular and recognizable poems in Persian literature.

  The Arabs soon learned, however, that although occupying cities was attainable, religious conversion of an ancient people with their own rich culture and civilization was far more difficult. According to one source, the people of Bokhara converted to Islam several times when the Arab armies laid siege to their town, but on each occasion when the Arabs withdrew the people reverted to their traditional religious practices, which included Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Christianity. One of the most important obstacles in conversion to Islam was the Arabic language, which the native population did not understand and found extremely difficult to learn. Thus, in Bokhara, Muslim prayers were recited first in Persian (Farsi) rather than Arabic (al-Narshakhi: 67). Bokhara prospered during the reign of the Persian Samanid dynasty (819–999). The city served as the capital of the Samanid Empire. The anonymous author of the 10th-century Persian geography Hodud ul-Alam min al-Mashriq ila al-Maghrib [The Regions of the World from East to West] described Bokhara as the most prosperous city of Transoxiana, which produced a variety of goods, including high-quality carpets and rugs (Anonymous, Hodud ul-Alam: 106). The Mongols led by Genghis Khan destroyed Bokhara and massacred its population in 1219.