Sasanian Persia

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 INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRANIAN STUDIES
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Prelims.indd ii 11/26/2008 5:53:28 PM

 Touraj Daryaee is Howard C. Baskerville Professor in the history
of Iran and the Persianate World and Associate Director of the
Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at
the University of California, Irvine. He works on the history of
ancient and early medieval Iran and is the editor of the International
Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies.

Prelims.indd iii 11/26/2008 5:53:28 PM

 ‘Touraj Daryaee synthesizes a new generation of Sasanian scholar-
ship to present the first single volume study of such important history
– important not only for understanding Iranian, but Roman and early
Islamic histories as well. The author’s erudition is very impressive and
he masters complex sources with exemplary clarity.’
Gene Garthwaite, Professor of History, Dartmouth College,
New Hampshire and Jane and Raphael Bernstein
Professor of Asian Studies, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire

‘Touraj Daryaee is a well-known scholar of Sasanian history and reli-

gious texts who knows the subject well and has published widely in his
field. This will be a useful publication for scholars and those interested
in Sasanian history.’
Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Curator, The British Museum

‘Touraj Daryaee’s Sasanian Persia is far more detailed than all previous
work on the subject, with a multitude of new materials and sources.
It is a masterpiece of research and will be the last word on Sasanian
Iran in all of its aspects – from political history to religion, society and
commerce.’
– Richard N. Frye, Emeritus Professor of Iranian Studies,
Harvard University

‘Touraj Daryaee, one of the most outstanding young scholars dealing

with Sasanian history today, uses the utmost skill in order to shed light
not only on the historical plot, but also on the administration and the
economy of the Sasanian kingdom. His treatment of such subjects may
be set as an example; this is a panoramic survey, concise, clear and
“reader friendly” throughout.’
Ze’ev Rubin, Professor of Ancient History, University of Tel Aviv

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 Sasanian Persia
The Rise and Fall of an Empire

Touraj Daryaee

Published by I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd in association with

the Iran Heritage Foundation

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 Published in 2009 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
www.ibtauris.com
Distributed in the United States and Canada
Exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan
175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010
Copyright © 2009 Touraj Daryaee
The right of Touraj Daryaee to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by the author in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book,
or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced
into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
International Library of Iranian Studies, Vol. 8

ISBN: 978 1 85043 898 4

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
Typeset in Baskerville by
Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

Prelims.indd vi 11/26/2008 5:53:28 PM

 Contents

Acknowledgments xi
List of plates xiii
Prolegomena xv

1 The Political History of Iran and an-Iran 1

2 The Society of Iranshahr 39
3 Religions of the Empire: Zoroastrians, Manichaeans,
Jews and Christians 69
4 Languages and Textual Remains of the Citizens 99
5 The Economy and Administration of the Iranshahr 123

Notes 151
Bibliography 191
Index 217

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Prelims.indd viii 11/26/2008 5:53:28 PM
 Bibliography ix

The author wishes to thank Mrs. Nastaran Akhavan

for her support in publication of this book,
made in memory of Jafar Akhavan

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Prelims.indd x 11/26/2008 5:53:28 PM
 Acknowledgments

I owe much of what is contained in this book to my mentors and teach-

ers, H.-P. Schmidt, M.G. Morony, C. Rapp, and M. Bates. I would
like to thank friends and colleagues who have discussed the material
with me or have guided me or given me material for the book. They
include K. Abdi, S. Adhami, I. Afshar, D. Akbarzadeh, M. Alram, P.
Andami, R.N. Frye, A. Gariboldi, R. Gyselen, K. Kamali-Sarvestani,
A. Khatibi, A. Mousavi, M. Omidsalar, Z. Rubin, R. Shayegan,
S. Solyemani, M. Stausberg, J.T. Walker and D. Whitcomb. I also
have benefited from my students and teaching assistants, Katherine
Martinez, Haleh Emrani, Khodadad Rezakhani and Warren Soward,
as well as the constant support and discussions of the following people
in my endeavor, M. Amanat, M. Behrooz, H.E. Chehabi, A. Matin-
Asgari, and above all my mother, Mina Naraghi, to whom I dedicate
this book.
My research for this book was supported by grants from California
State University, Fullerton; American Institute of Iranian Studies;
University of California, Irvine and through the generosity of my
friend N. Rastegar.
Touraj Daryaee
University of California, Irvine

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Prelims.indd xii 11/26/2008 5:53:29 PM
 List of Plates
Located between Page 106 and 107

1. Ardashir’s victory scene at Firuzabad

2. Bust of Khusro II at Taq-ı̄ Bustan
3. Bust of Shabuhr II from Hajjiabad
4. Sasanian coin a) Obverse b) Reverse
5. Fire-temple of Tape Mill at Ray
6. Hormizd II jousting at Naqsh-i Rustam
7. Ka’be-ye Zardosht at Naqsh-i Rustam
8. Zoroastrian priest Kerdir at Naqsh-i Rajab
9. Gilded dish portraying Khusro I at the National Museum of Iran
10. Khusro II flanked by the deities Anahid (Ahanita) and Ohrmazd
at Taq-ı̄ Bustan
11. Khusro II at the hunt at Taq-ı̄ Bustan
12. Khusro II with full armor at Taq-ı̄ Bustan
13. Manichaean manuscript showing a feast
14. Silver coin of Queen Buran a) Obverse b) Reverse
15. The arch of the palace of Sarvestan in the province of Fars
16. The palace of Sarvestan in the province of Fars
17. Remains of a Sasanian bridge in Fars
18. Bust of an armored king at Taq-ı̄ Bustan
19. Sasanian stucco at the National Museum of Iran
20. Sasanian figurine at the National Museum of Iran
21. Sasanian fresco from Hajjiabad (after Azarnoush)
22. Sasanian silver dish: the king at the hunt. National Museum of
Iran
23. Sasanian stucco underneath of the Masjid Jame in Isfahan
24. Bullae with the impression of the priest (magi) of the city of
Shiraz
25. Part of Shabuhr I’s Middle Persian inscription at the Ka’be-ye
Zardosht

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 xiv List of Plates

26. Victory scene of Shaubhr I with Valerian and Philip the Arab at
Naqsh-i Rustam
27. Silver vase at the National Museum of Iran
28. Sasanian stucco at Tape Mill at Ray
29. General view of the Sasanian complex of Takht-e Suleyman
30. Wahram II and his court at Naqsh-i Rustam
31. A woman at the city of Bishabuhr
32. Harp players during the hunt of Khusro II at Taq-ı̄ Bustan

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 Prolegomena

The impetus for writing a history of the Sasanian Empire arose from the
fact that there currently are no books on this period of Persian/Iranian
history in the English language. The two parts of the third volume of
The Cambridge History of Iran, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, not only deal
with the Sasanians, but also with the Parthians. Richard Nelson Frye’s
two important books, the Heritage of Persia, and The History of Ancient
Iran deal with the entire period of ancient Persian/Iranian history,
where the Sasanians are covered in a chapter or two. Most recently,
Josef Wiesehöfer’s admirable book, Ancient Persia has again provided
a complete review of the ancient Persian/Iranian history. Students
of late antique history in the United States and Britain and other
English speaking countries who deal with the Sasanian history are thus
forced to consult either the classic work of Arthur Christensen L’Iran
sous le Sassanides (1944) in French or Klaus Schippmann’s Grundzüge
der Geschichte des sasanidischen Reiches (1990) in German. This book was
written to fill this gap.
As a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles,
it was a mystery to me as to why no historian had attempted to pro-
vide a useful handbook covering Sasanian history, while it was one of
the most important civilizations in late antiquity and the most power-
ful neighbor and nemesis of the Roman Empire. There are of course
several obstacles to presenting a history of the Persian Empire in late
antiquity. The linguistic challenge maybe one reason for why histori-
ans of this period do not deal with the Sasanians. Not only are docu-
ments and sources pertaining to this period of a varied nature, but
they are also in different languages, making the mastery of all of them
a daunting if not impossible task. One should also mention that those
who deal with Iranian languages and archaeology have had a monop-
oly over ancient Persian history and only a few historians dedicate

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 xvi Prolegomena

themselves to this field. This is clear from the meager number of posi-
tions occupied by historians of ancient Persia/Iran in universities
across the world. Lastly, for historians who deal with antiquity, espe-
cially in the West, ancient Persia/Iran becomes only significant when
they have to make a tangential reference to the enemies of the Greeks
and Romans. One only has to look at the map of the ancient world to
see this uneven and at times warped view of ancient historians. I believe
that in order to understand the ancient world in the context of world
history one has to not only know the Mediterranean world, but have a
wider perspective and see how the different civilizations developed on
their own as well as in interaction with one another. The center of the
ancient world was not exclusively at Rome, unless historians of antiq-
uity make it so. There were many centers, one being Ctesiphon, the
capital of the Sasanian Empire rivaling Rome and Constantinople.
What I have done here is to provide the basic outlines of the his-
tory of the Sasanian civilization, where its history, society, religion,
economy, administration, languages and literature are reviewed with
an updated bibliography. Much of our perception in regard to the
Sasanians has changed since the time of Christensen’s book and it is
time to take the first step and provide a history of late antique Persia/
Iran. This would be of use not only for the students of Persian/Iranian
history but also those of Rome, India and Central Asia. There will
certainly be more books on this subject and period, but until then, it is
hoped that this book guides those who are interested in the history of
the Near East in late antiquity, a period which usually appears to draw
a blank in many text books and historical horizons of not only lay but
also professional historians.
Of course one must ask why the Sasanians are important. Briefly
put, the Persian Empire which came to being in the third century CE
to the seventh century CE established the first post-Hellenic civiliza-
tion on an imperial scale in the Near East. This empire then interacted
and influenced India and Central Asia to the East and the Levant and
the Eastern Mediterranean to the West. It was also an influence on
the Arabian Peninsula in the south as well as the Caspian region to
the north. Sasanian cultural and economic influence was felt from the
Persian Gulf to the Yellow Sea and on the Silk Road. Its values and
traditions, such as ethical dualism, an imperial vision in the unity of
the world, came to exercise an important influence in world history.
Regionally, the Sasanian Empire was a unification of the Iranian and
Mesopotamian core civilizations which was so potent that when Islam
entered the picture, it had no other choice but to follow the Sasanian
model in many respects. Scholars suggest that the Abbasid caliphate

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 Prolegomena xvii

was in many ways a revival of the Sasanian Empire. I too hold to this
belief. As for Iranian history, the Sasanians were the dynasty which
shaped some of the important ideas and mores of the Persianate society
from Tajikistan to modern-day Iraq. In a way the Sasanians made the
Persian worldview and civilization take hold over what later Marshal
G. Hodgson termed the Perso-Islamicate world. As much as Islam
may have shaped the Persiante world in the later period, the Sasanians
first established the foundations of an Islamicate civilization. For Iran,
the very idea of Iran and the name given to the territory is a Sasanian
invention which lasts in the minds of people and in the Persian literary
tradition till today.
Chapter 1 presents an overview of Sasanian political history on its
own, rather than a political history of Iran from the perspective of
Rome, from 200–700 CE. As it will become apparent, different sets of
sources make themselves useful for the beginning, middle and later
Sasanian periods. In fact this is a historiographical issue with which
scholars still grapple: the matter of the effectiveness of a late literary
source for the early Sasanian history. For example, Tabarı̄ provides
a nice narrative of Sasanian history based on one or a series of older
sources which go back to the Sasanian royal chronicle, the Xwadāy-
nāmag “Book of Lords,” or “Book of Kings.” The problem with using
such a source for early or perhaps even middle Sasanian history is that
the work that we hold in hand is a ninth-century work in Arabic, by
a Muslim, in a different cultural setting. Tabrı̄’s sources were mostly
in Arabic which was then based on Middle Persian sources written
some two or three centuries earlier. These Middle Persian sources,
especially the Xwadāy-nāmag, were put in their complete form during
the time of Xusrō I, also known as anūšag-ruwān “Immortal Soul”, in
the sixth century CE. Because of the political and social problems just
before and during his early reign, Xusrō I very much manipulated the
past to justify his reforms. Thus, a reformulation of early and middle
Sasanian history took place at the Sasanian court to fit the world-view
and aims and aspirations of this great monarch. Consequently, older
accounts were re-written to fit the new Sasanian ideology that had
formed in the sixth century CE.
Then how useful would Tabarı̄ be for us in studying the third, fourth
or even fifth century CE Sasanian Empire? The obvious answer at first
would be: not much. How could we trust such a source? But the issue is
much more complicated than that. For one thing, while we have more
and divergent sources for the third century, such as the Middle Persian
royal inscriptions, Roman sources, and Armenian historical tradition,
for the fourth and especially fifth century there is little evidence and

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 xviii Prolegomena

few sources. Do we stay silent for the fifth century and make do with
what we have, which is very little, or try, according to historians, to do
a reading against the grain? At this point, material culture, specifically
coins and seals and bullae (seal impression on clay) become important
as alternative sources. But each of these sources provides us with only
specific information on aspects of Sasanian civilization. Thus, again
we have to go back to Tabarı̄ and by comparing the existing alter-
native sources (Roman, Armenian, and Syriac accounts, Sasanian
inscriptions, coins, archaeological reports and even later Persian
sources) come to a better use of Tabarı̄’s very important text. This is
why Tabarı̄ and sources like his can not be used throughout the text,
but appear more important in the second half of the chapter on politi-
cal history. The same could be said for the other Arabic and Persian
histories, in that they are very important for post fifth-century Iran.
In the same vein, Middle Persian inscriptions which provide us with
Sasanian and Iranian mores, values and outlook, albeit it from an
imperial world-view, become essential for the third century and partly
for the fourth century. Then suddenly for the fifth century, numis-
matics or the study of coins, along with Armenian, Roman, Syriac
sources gain in importance. However, there is another kind of prob-
lem with these sources. Armenians who shared much, both culturally
and religiously, with Iran before the fourth century suddenly turn to
Christianity and the struggle between the Zoroastrian Armenians and
Iranians with those of the newly adopted Christian faith plays out in
much of late antique history. The Armenian historiographical tradi-
tion thereafter is very much colored by a Christian world-view, where
anything before is considered pagan. Those Armenians or Armenian
noble houses who conspired with the Sasanians and their co-reli-
gionists are naturally deemed evil, while those who fought for Christ
against the Zoroastrians are the beneficent ones. One then could not
be surprised that most of the Sasanian kings and their ministers or
the Zoroastrian magi are seen as aggressive pagan figures coming to
destroy the religion and way of life of the Armenian people. Still, the
Armenian texts betray the realities of the third century and onwards
(again reading against the grain), in that they display the Armeno-
Iranian world-view and the importance of Zoroastrianism in the
region and the important institutions and offices that existed in both
kingdoms. The Armenian sources also give us a different perspective
on the Iranian–Roman conflict and movement in Mesopotamia and
the Caucuses and the effect of such dealings on the region. The Syriac
sources are also similar in outlook with the exception that there is no
Syriac nation or kingdom and so it is religion and language that makes

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 Prolegomena xix

its imprint. Notices on political, social and religious history of Sasanian

Empire are gleaned from these Syriac sources, albeit from a Christian
perspective. In some of these sources the king is good, the magi bad
and the Zoroastrian turned Christian, or the pious virgin becomes
martyred for the faith. If one is able to get through these literary topoi,
one can find useful details about life in late antiquity Iran.
The Roman sources, in both Greek and Latin are also important,
but they are generally hostile. In the third century, the conflict is
political. The Romans from Rome have ended up in Mesopotamia
(from one continent to another), but raise the alarm of the “Persian
or Iranian threat,” something that we see also in the contemporary
American empire, half way around the world. These sources supposed
that the Iranians should fold and just give in on their own sovereignty
and leave the workings of their region to the other “empire,” because
might makes right! From the mid fourth-century CE, things become
even more complicated and some of the sources even more hostile, as
the Roman Empire gravitates towards Christianity. Fourth century
sources such as Ammianus Marcellinus who has much to say about the
Sasanians, still use old stereotypes of the Persians from other sources.
Still Ammianus lived in a time where he saw Persians in action and
was privy to their manner and war capabilities. His observations
on the Sasanian army perhaps are most useful. With the coming of
Christianity there is then both political and religious tension between
the two empires. Take, for example, Agathias, an important sixth-
century historian. He was able to go to Ctesiphon and had access to
the Sasanian royal archive through a friend. But Agathias is wholly
hostile to the Iranians and the Sasanian Empire and he rarely has any-
thing nice to say about them. It is as if we are reading Procopius’ Secret
History, but the title is changed and has become Agathias’ Secret History,
and not about Justinian and Theodora, but about Ardaxšı̄r I, Xusrō
I and their ancestors and practices. Still such sources are of impor-
tance and by brushing aside the usual topoi, the anti-Persian bias,
self-aggrandizement and sense of superiority, we gain some detailed
information on the Sasanians and their relations with the Romans.
These are some of the problems encountered when dealing with the
political and textual history of the Sasanian Empire.
Chapter 2 surveys the religions of the Sasanian Empire. I intention-
ally use the plural in that we are conditioned to view ancient Iran as only
Zoroastrian. It is true that the basis of Iranian psyche and world-view
was and is shaped by Zoroastrianism, but other religions were also in
existence and had an impact upon Sasanian policies and religious view.
The Sasanians were certainly Mazda worshippers and created a view

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 xx Prolegomena

of Zoroastrianism that was to be the foundation of the Zoroastrian tra-

dition until recent times. But others, such as Jewish Persians also were
part of this society and were recognized and usually honored by the
King of Kings. The Reš-galūt, the leader of the Jewish community in
exile interacted with the government and represented his community.
Jews participated in government and owned land and slaves, just like
non-Jewish Iranian subjects of the king. The Jewish leadership made
alliances with the Zoroastrian nobility and kings through marriage,
thus creating Jewish-Persian kings in Sasanian Iran. Of course this
depends on from which community one views such an alliance, Jewish
or Zoroastrian. How this affected the Christian community is a diffi-
cult question to answer, but by the fifth century CE a Christian Persian
church was also established, with the Catholicos residing at Ctesiphon
as well. Unlike the Jews, the Christian proselytes ran into more trouble
with the Zoroastrian Magi, the government, and the king who tried to
keep peace and order in the empire. Social and religious strife was det-
rimental to the well-being of the empire. By the fifth century, however
it had become apparent that Christianity was an important and grow-
ing religion, whether the king wished it or not, and so it was decided
to co-opt it into the religious world of Sasanian Iran. By creating a
Persian-Christian church under the control of the King of Kings, the
growing number of Christians came under the control of the empire.
This also served to diffuse the Christian Roman propaganda which
had caused religious strife and tension in the Sasanian Empire. From
then on, the Roman Emperor was not the only leader of the Christians
in the oikumene; rather there were two, the second being the King of
Kings at Ctesiphon.
Manichaeism is the other important religious tradition whose
similar universalistic tendencies, like all universalistic religions, ran into
trouble after an initial success. The religion of Manıi and the Gnostic
tradition, I believe, is of great importance in the history of Iranian
tradition. It has impacted upon Iran in ways that we are still trying
to identify, even in the Islamic period. But there are no Manicheans
here today to push their case and cause. Manichaeism died out in the
fourteenth century in Central Asia. Still, Manichaeans lived in and
around the Sasanian Empire and influenced the religious tradition of
the empire.
What are our sources? As for Zoroastrianism, the most important
of the traditions for the Sasanian period, we are blessed with inscrip-
tions of the third century Zoroastrian priest Kerdı̄r who pushed for
an “orthodoxy” in the third century CE. Zoroastrian Middle Persian
texts, mainly from the late Sasanian and early Islamic period are our

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 Prolegomena xxi

most important sources, along with non-Zoroastrian observations on

Sasanian Zoroastrianism. Interestingly, seals and bullae also provide
evidence of Zoroastrian and other religious traditions as well. The slo-
gans and depiction of religious devices all tell us about dress, gestures,
slogans, beliefs, reliefs and onomastic issues. Other devices such as
magic bowls and prayer amulets provide us with another view of reli-
gion in the Sasanian empire, in that they demonstrate a less isolated
and a more interactive and popular religious tradition in Sasanian
Empire.
Chapter 3 deals with the much neglected economic history of
the Sasanian Empire. When historians of the ancient world discuss
“ancient” economy, they only think of Greece and Rome, in similar
ways to which ancient Persian/Iranian history is omitted from most
history departments and is placed in department of Near Eastern
Languages and Cultures or Civilization. This is a tacit statement in
the North American academic setting that beside the Greeks and the
Romans, other people do not have history, that Iranians/Persians
are another group of “people without history,” but they do possess
languages and culture (which for the Greeks and the Romans obvi-
ously is done in the “Classics” department). We have ample sources
for Sasanian economic history, but they are not textual, rather more
material. Again coins, seals, archaeological excavations along with
disparate textual references, both foreign and in Iranian languages
provide us with information on the Iranian economy. The recent finds
of Middle Persian documents from the central Iranian Plateau and the
Bactrian documents from the eastern Iranian world which are now
published by N. Sims-Williams will provide us with a new view of the
economic history of the period. The Middle Persian parchments still
await translation and are not accessible to scholars. But horde (coins
found in jars) finds within and outside of the Sasanian Empire tell
us about Sasanian monetary circulation and the importance of the
Sasanian coins in the international economy of Asia.
Chapter 4 is concerned with Sasanian society, another difficult sub-
ject to tackle. The reason for this is that our sources are usually late
and tend to reflect on the past. The other issue is how to construct or
imagine Persian/Iranian Society in the Sasanian period? I have given
a standard class-structured division of the society as the Sasanians
themselves wished it to be presented. That is, I let the Sasanian Middle
Persian texts themselves tell us how the society was. Once this idyllic
view is presented, then the more difficult task of deconstructing it and
providing a closer picture to social reality is attempted. As texts and
histories need to deal with both genders, I have provided a section on

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 xxii Prolegomena

women. We must remember that the texts are male-centric, religious

and provide a man’s ideal view of women. This is of course not the
reality and one has to seek avenues of providing alternative sources
to challenge such a scheme. Also, the poor and the downtrodden did
not sit idle, but and rose up, protested and were put down. One has to
remember that for the Sasanians as most empires, order was the most
important thing, because in their minds it brought prosperity for all.
The final chapter deals with texts and languages of the Sasanian
Empire. I hope that the reader understands that the Sasanian society,
as in today’s Iran, was an empire with multiple groups of people speak-
ing different languages, some of them related, who have left us diverse
literary accounts. The chapter may read like a menu of languages and
texts, but even so we lack such a menu in its entirety. My lack of sophis-
tication in literary theory also may be the main culprit. However, I
have tried to be more imaginative and inquisitive than the existing
menus on Middle Persian in existence.
Still, this book is a prolegomena, like this chapter, for Sasanian his-
tory and civilization and I intend to deal with the various aspects of
what I discuss in this work in the near future. The study of the Sasanian
Empire is so neglected that I believe any work on any aspect of this
civilization is useful. For the critics of this view, I use Shapur I’s state-
ment in the Hājjiābad inscription, about his shooting skill and that of
others, as an analogy: “Now whoever may be strong of arm, let them
put their foot in this cleft on this rock and let them shoot an arrow
towards that cairn. Then whoever cast an arrow as far as that cairn,
they are indeed strong of arm.”
Touraj Daryaee
University of California, Irvine

Prelims.indd xxii 11/26/2008 5:53:29 PM

 Chapter 1

The Political History of

Iran and an-Iran1
IRAN BEFORE THE SASANIANS

The Achaemenid Empire had made the Persians the dominant power
in the known world from the sixth to the fourth centuries BCE. This
fact usually escapes us, as we in the West have been so infatuated
with Greece and the cluster of islands which surround it in antiquity.
This Persian dominance in a sense meant the unification of the three
major river civilizations, those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and India. This
interaction brought various religious, technological and political ideas
together and brought the world into a new phase of its existence under
Persian rule. For examples those who worshipped Humban, the great
Elamite deity, learned about Ahuramazda, the Zoroastrian deity par
excellence, and the followers of Ahuramazda learned about Marduk,
who sat at the head of the Mesopotamian deities. The Hebrews, the
ethical monotheists, came into contact with the Zoroastrians and a
fruitful period of interaction began which left its mark on beliefs of all
sides. This interaction no doubt took place in an atmosphere of toler-
ance which the world had rarely seen and was to be a lesson for the
succeeding Greco-Macedonian armies and the period known as the
Hellenistic Age.
In the fourth century BCE, Alexander was able to conquer the
Satrapies of the Persian Empire. Even in this Greco-Macedonian
venture, one can see Alexander not as a foreign conqueror, but as
someone who attempted to justify his conquest by claiming to be
the rightful heir to the Persian throne. As his conquests took him to
the heart of Persia, he began to adopt Persian customs, partake in the
ceremonies of the Magi and marry Persian princesses to symbolically
continue the royal Acahemenid line. For Persia, to follow P. Briant’s
view, Alexander was only the last of the Achaemenid rulers. Now the

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 2 Sasanian Persia

Greco-Macedonians had become part of an already existing world

order whose new masters they had become.
Alexander did not live to see the fruits of his conquests and died in
Babylonia, leaving his generals squabbling over the spoils. One of his
generals, Seleucus (312–308 BCE), was able to establish the Seleucid
Dynasty in Persia. This dynasty only nominally controlled the Iranian
Plateau and by 250 BCE there already were signs of weakness and
fragmentation. At this time Greco-Macedonian colonies had been
established on the Iranian Plateau, but soon these conquerors were
subsumed by Persian culture and only a few held out in garrisons.
We are not sure of the local population’s reaction to these political
events, but if the Zoroastrian literature is of any measure, Alexander
and his motley group of conquerors were seen as wicked, coming from
the seed of the demon of Wrath who had ravaged the earth, killed
the Magi, and destroyed the Mazda-worshiping religion. Only then,
Alexander ran off to that dark, stinky place which the Zoroastrians
knew as the House of Worst Existence, i.e., Hell.
By 238 BCE the Arsacids had invaded the eastern Iranian Plateau and
a new dynasty, mindful of both the Persian and Greco-Macedonian
heritage, was established. The Arsacids in time gravitated more and
more towards Persian culture and adopted the ideas and ideals of the
old Persian rulers. We are ill informed about the province of Persis
(Fars), the heartland of the Persians, but based on the meager evidence,
it can be said that they were semi-autonomous and remembered much
of their old tradition. The local rulers, the fratarakā,2 whose coinage
demonstrate their respect for the past, ruled the area. They were fol-
lowed by other local rulers who also minted coins in their own name
and came to be known as the kings of Persis. By the beginning of the
third century CE, for reasons unknown, there was an effort by a local
Persian family known as Sasan to expand their power far beyond its
locality of the city of Istakhr. Then a favorite son of Persis, named
Ardashir (reminding us of the Achaemenid throne name Artaxerxes
and of course the more recent Persis king Ardashir/Ardaxšahr)
changed the course of history again.

ARDASHIR I AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE

SASANIAN EMPIRE

Ardashir I was able to defeat Ardawan (Artabanus IV) at the plain of

Hormozgan in 224 CE and established the Sasanian Empire.3 From
then on, Ardashir took the title of šāhān šāh “King of Kings” and began

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 3

the conquest of a territory which would be called Iranshahr (Ērānšahr).

But before this fateful battle between the last Arsacid king and the
institutor of the Sasanian dynasty, much had happened internally and
externally in order for this new dynasty to come to power. To the
west, the Roman Empire was going through one of its worst centu-
ries, an anxious period, when its future seemed unsure. Roman armies
whose allegiance lay with their generals brought chaos to the empire
and one “Barrack Emperor” followed another, with some ruling for
a very short time. During Caracalla’s rule the empire was ruled by
religious fanatics and imbued with civil strife. Ardawan IV had held
his own fighting Caracalla and the Romans close to Nisibis in 217 CE.
A treaty in 218 CE brought a monetary settlement and kept most of
Mesopotamia in the hands of the Arsacids. The next two emperors,
Elagabalus (218–222 CE) and Alexander Severus (222–235 CE) were
faced with their own internal problems, preventing them from making
the Arsacids and then the Sasanians their sole priority.
While Ardawan was able to repel the Romans, internally he had
been challenged by Balash (Vologases VI) who minted coins in his
own name until 221–222 CE, demonstrating the fact that the issue
of an all-powerful King of Kings had not been settled in the Arsacid
Empire.4 So it would not seem amazing that a local warrior and his
family in the province of Persis was able to rise and begin conquering
the surrounding territories in a short time. Ardawan had bigger prob-
lems and could not turn his attention to a minor upstart in Persis.
The Sasanian campaign in controlling the province of Persis began
in 205–206 CE, when the father of Ardashir I, Pabag5 dethroned the
local ruler of Istakhr, by the name of Gozihr, from the Bazrangid fam-
ily. According to the sources, Pabag was a priest of the fire-temple of
Anahid at the city of Istakhr and this must have been a stage for the
rallying of the local Persian warriors who were devoted to the cult of
this deity.6 Anahid is important, since she is an object of devotion in
the Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta, (see Yasht V or the Aban Yasht)
by heroes, warriors and kings. During the Achaemenid period, in
the beginning of the fifth century BCE, Artaxerxes II also worshipped
Anahid (Anahita) along with Mihr (Mithra) and Ohrmazd (Ahura
Mazda). Thus, her cult must have been an old one in Persis and the
temple may have served as a location where the Persian tradition was
kept alive. Anahita’s warlike character was the symbiosis of ancient
Near Eastern (Ishtar), Hellenic (Athena/Anaitis) and Iranian tradition
which provided legitimacy for kingship in the Sasanian period.7
Pabag had envisaged his eldest son, Shabuhr, as his heir since we
have coins representing both Shabuhr and his father. Nevertheless,

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 4 Sasanian Persia

Shabuhr died under mysterious circumstances. On these coins the

obverse has the legend bgy šhpwhly MLK’ “(His) Majesty, king Shabuhr”
and the reverse BRH bgy p’pky MLK’ “son of (His) Majesty, king Pabag.”8
Ardashir and his followers seem to be the culprits who benefited the
most out of this “accidental death,” but that cannot be proved for
certain. If the graffiti at Persepolis is an accurate portrayal of Pabag
and his son Shabuhr, one can make several assumptions. One is that
the Sasanians were becoming or had become a family that held both
secular and religious power in Persis. Second, the cult of fire, which is
very much an idea connected with Zoroastrianism, was alive before
Ardashir came to power.9 Third, the proximity of the graffiti of Pabag
and Shabuhr to the Achaemenid structures suggests that these monu-
ments were important for the Sasanians. We may assume that after
the death of Shabuhr, Ardashir became the next heir and began to
complete the conquest of Persis and beyond. By this time Ardawan IV
had become alarmed, but neither the forces sent nor the army under
his direct command were able to defeat Ardashir. Walakhash/Balash,
the Parthian challenger to Ardawan IV in Mesopotamia, outlived the
Parthian king, but he was the next victim of Ardashir in 229 CE. By this
time most of the Iranian Plateau10 and the Arab11 side of the Persian
Gulf had become part of his empire.12
In his invasion of Armenia,13 Syria and Cappadocia, Ardashir came
into conflict with Rome and Emperor Alexander Severus (222–235
CE).14 In a letter to Ardashir, Alexander Severus had made it clear
that his invasion of the Roman Empire would not be as successful
as his conquest of his other neighbors.15 While Severus was alive,
neither Ardashir nor the Romans were able to defeat one another
(wars of 231–233 CE).16 However, once Severus died in 235 CE,
Mesopotamia, Dura, Carrhae, Nisbis and finally Hatra were invaded
by the Sasanians.17 Ardashir then retired and spent the last years of
his life in Persis while his son, Shabuhr I who had taken part in the
240 CE campaign, continued his conquests and the expansion of the
empire. One might ask why Ardashir had taken on these campaigns
against the Romans? This was probably due to the fact that the stable
borders between the two empires of Rome and Parthia had previously
been Oshroene, Hatra, and Armenia, but Severus had conquered
Oshroene which put the heartland of the Arsacid and later Sasanian
dynasty in danger.18
We should say more about Ardashir, since he is an important
personage in the development of the Sasanian outlook and impe-
rial ideology. The material remains of his rule are especially rich in
providing us with his world-view. In commemoration of his victory,

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 5

he commissioned several rock-reliefs at Firouzabad, Naqsh-i Rajab

and Naqsh-i Rustam. At Naqsh-i Rustam, he is shown on his horse
standing over the dead body of Ardawan. Ohrmazd faces him on
a horse as well, standing over the body of the evil spirit Ahreman,
and is handing the symbol of sovereignty to Ardashir I.19 This relief
demonstrates that Ardashir believed or wanted others to believe that
he was appointed by God to rule over a territory which the inscrip-
tions call Iranshahr (realm of the Iranians/Ayrans) and the people
Ērān (Iranians). The name used for this territory had precedence in
the Avesta and designated the mythical homeland of the Aryans, now
transposed onto the region where the Sasanians were ruling.20 This
idea was to be accepted by the Zoroastrian and non-Zoroastrian
population of the empire and lived on in the collective memory of
Persians in various stages and among the various strata of Iranian
society and governments till modern times.21 This idea should not
be mistaken for the Classical historian’s testimonies, relaying that
Ardashir was attempting to regain the Achaemenid Persian terri-
tory.22 What is clear is that a notion of what Iranshahr meant was
present in the religious sphere, which may have given rise to politi-
cal concepts of a set territory. This is gained from the third century
inscription(s) of the Zoroastrian priest Kerdir who tells us what was
considered to be Iranshahr and what was considered to be an-Ērān
or “non-Iranian” lands. Kerdir tells us that he established many
fires and priests in Iranshahr, which according to him were the fol-
lowing provinces: Persis, Parthia, Babylonia, Mesene, Adiabene,
Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Ray, Kerman, Sistan, and Gurgan, to Peshavar.
Kerdir tells us that Syria, Cilicia, Armenia, Georgia, Albania
and Balasgan which were under Sasanian control were deemed
as an-Ērān.23 This term is also used in an adjectival form, giving
Ērı̄h “Iranianess,” and an antonym, an-Ērı̄h which may be equiva-
lent to the ancient Greek concept of barbaroi along with all its cultural
trappings.
Ardashir’s coins24 also bear a standard formula which the succeed-
ing kings in the third and the fourth centuries adopted: mazdysn bgy ...
MLK’n MLK’ ’yl’n MNW ctry MN yzd’n “Mazdaean Majesty, [name of
the king], King of Kings of Ērān, whose lineage (is) from the gods.”25
According to this legend, Ardashir considered himself a worshiper
of Mazda (Ohrmazd) “mazdysn” first and above all.26 Second, he saw
himself of divine descent: “MNW ctry MN yzd’n.” This of course brings
us to the question of from whom did he believe he was descended?
Which “gods” were his forefathers? The eponym of the dynasty, i.e.,
Sasan is clearly important to this question. It was thought that the

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 6 Sasanian Persia

epigraphic form ssn, which appeared on certain Parthian ostraca and

other documents, designated Sasan as a Zoroastrian deity, although
he was not mentioned in the Avesta or the Old Persian material.27
Recently, Martin Schwartz has suggested that the deity mentioned
on the ostraca has nothing to do with Sasan, but represented Sesen, an
old Semitic god which is found in Ugaraitic as early as the second mil-
lennium BCE.28 Be that as it may, in the first century CE, in Taxila we
find coins with the name of Sasa which may be connected with Sasan
because the emblem on the coin matches those on the coat-of-arms for
Shabuhr I.29 The Persian epic, the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, also men-
tions an eastern connection for Sasan which leads us to believe that
this family may have come from the east. Still, despite this difficulty
and confusion, we can state that Ardashir saw himself as the descen-
dent of the gods, “yazdān,” and the Sasanians may have elevated Sasan
to divine status.30 It is altogether possible that this idea was part of
the Hellenic past of Iran. Alexander the Great and the Seleucids con-
sidered themselves descendants of theos “god” and more importantly
epiphanies, “god-made-manifests,” which matches that of MNW ctry
MN yzd’n of the early Sasanian inscriptions.31 The artistic elements
in early Sasanian period may also corroborate this suggestion, as the
image of Ohrmzad and Ardashir I are similar in Naqsh-i Rustam and
other early rock-reliefs.32

SHABUHR I AND WAR WITH ROME

Ardashir’s son, Shabuhr I had become his co-regent in 240 CE. This
is apparent from a coinage which portrays both men together, and
was probably ordered by Ardashir to ensure a safe succession. This
was because there were other sons of his who had been given gover-
norship of other provinces, and they might have wanted to assume
the throne, just as he had done in his youth. This system is charac-
teristic of the Sasanians, under whom sons were sent to rule different
provinces and when the ruler died, one of the heirs would assume the
throne. In this manner, there was always a danger of dynastic squab-
bling, of which the Sasanians had their fair share. The method of suc-
cession was initially based on the choice of the preceding king, but
later the nobility and the Zoroastrian priests assumed the decision.33
Shabuhr I did accompany his father in battle, which made him battle
ready and in fact ensured his success in wars against Rome. In 243
CE, Gordian invaded Mesopotamia to retrieve what had been taken
by Ardashir and his son after Alexander Severus’ death. But Shabuhr

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 7

tells us (according to ŠKZ) that he was able to kill him at Misikhe

in 244 CE, close to the Euphrates river which he later called Peroz-
Shabuhr (Victorious is Shabuhr).34 It is now known that Gordian had
died in Zaitha in northern Mesopotamia in 244 CE at a time when
warfare between the two sides seemed unlikely.35 Thus, it is suggested
by some that after the defeat, the Roman forces murdered Gordian
in retreat at Zaitha.36 According to Shabuhr I’s Ka’be-ye Zardosht
inscription, Gordian had come with a force composed of “Goths and
Germans” (ŠKZ Pa4/37 gwt w grm’ny), and they were defeated in a
headlong battle. Consequently, Philip the Arab was forced to sign a
treaty which ceded much territory and a large sum of gold as war
reparations, amounting to 500,000 denarii.37 The territories that
the Sasanians were able to take from the Romans were large parts of
Mesopotamia and Armenia.38 We should not lose sight of the fact that
the newly established Sasanian dynasty was also confronting a branch
of the Arsacid family in Armenia and so it needed to flush out any such
resistance to secure its northern flank while fighting the Romans. For
this reason the great kingdom of Armenia was to have a turbulent his-
tory during the Sasanian period.
Shabuhr I commemorated his victory in a rock-relief at Naqsh-i
Rustam showing him subjugating the two Roman emperors to his will.
He also left us a long resume of his deeds at Ka’be-ye Zardosht in
Persis, which is the first long testament from the Sasanians themselves
and demonstrates their outlook in an epic narrative. In his res gestae he
provides information on his religious conviction, lineage, the areas
that he ruled over, and also the fate of the Romans. It is interesting to
note that Shabuhr I tells us that the Caeser (Gordian) lied, putting the
matters in a Zoroastrian doctrinal context where the Romans repre-
sented the concept of Lie/Disorder, against the Persian representa-
tives of Truth/Order.39 In any case, the second campaign of Shabuhr
began in 252 CE against a Roman force of 60,000 at Barbalissus. It
ended in total defeat of the Romans, and if we are to believe the ŠKZ
narrative, some 37 towns in Mesopotamia and Syria were taken.40
The reason for this campaign is again given in a phrase in the ŠKZ:
W kysr TWB MKDBW-t W ‘L ’rmn-y wyns ‘BD-t “and Caesar again lied
and did wrong to Armenia.”41 What was this lie? In effect, although
Philip had promised to give Iranians control over Armenia, he did
not cede Armenia to the Sasanians. Instead, Philip only agreed to go
back to the old treaty from the time of Augustus and the Arsacids
where the Roman emperor crowned the Armenian ruler who was
picked by the Arsacid King of Kings.42 At the time of the Sasanians, of
course the Arsacid family of Armenia would not have agreed with such

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 8 Sasanian Persia

tradition, nor would have the Sasanians who saw their nemesis to the
north being crowned by the Romans.
In 260 CE Shabuhr I begun his third campaign and took eastern
Mesopotamia and Syria43 and the coast of eastern Mediterranean.
At this battle the emperor Valerian along with senators and soldiers
were captured and deported to the Sasanian territory.44 Now Goths,
Romans, Slavs and other people from the Near East were incorpo-
rated into the Sasanian Empire. Before this, no other person could
have claimed that he was able to kill a Roman emperor, make one
tributary, and capture and imprison the third. Shabuhr was very
much aware of his feat and did not hesitate to mention his heroism in
his inscription.45 At a rock-relief in Persis, Valerian is shown kneeling
before him and today at the city of Bishabuhr, among the ruins of the
city, a place is marked as zendan-e valerian “Valerian’s prison.” This
victory by Shabuhr I did not escape the attention of Roman sources
either, although the reason for Valerian’s defeat, as many now wrote
as Christians was his paganism and tormenting of Christians, while
others gave a more sober view of the captured emperor.46
Although the borders between Rome and Persia fluctuated between
the Tigris and the Euphrates, depending on the military success on
either side, this did not mean that travel was restricted. In fact people
from both sides traveled from one side to another, engaged in trade,
and intermarried. This openness and ease of movement from one side
of the border to another made spies useful, and supplying information
on the enemy was seen as a great betrayal by both sides.47 For now,
Mesopotamia was in Persian hands, but Armenia needed to be dealt
with as it had resisted Ardashir and defeated his army.
Armenia would be the focal point between the Sasanians and the
Romans and remained so until the end of the Sasanian period. The
Armenian situation was quite complex and important for both sides,
because of the strategic and economic interests, and the fact that
Armenia served as a buffer between Persia and Rome. Considering
that a branch of the Parthian royal family remained in Armenia, it
is quite easy to imagine why Shabuhr wanted to put an end to the
problem of Armenia. He planned the assassination of king Xosrov
and installed a king loyal to him by the name of Tirdates (Tirdād)
who ruled from 252–262 CE. Armenia’s importance in the eyes of
the Persians is well manifested, as in the case of several of the heirs
to the Sasanian throne who were stationed in Armenia and were
called wuzurg-Arman-šāh “The Great King of Armenia.”48 No other
province of the Sasanian Empire had such an important title attached
to it.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 9

SHABUHR I AND MANI

During Shabuhr’s reign his religious outlook became a matter of

importance. The Zoroastrian “church” was being formed by Kerdir,
who was trying to establish a body of laws, canonize the Avesta, cre-
ate a common doctrine, unify the belief system, and establish a
Zoroastrian religious hierarchy tied to the State. At the same time
Mani emerged from Mesopotamia, professing a religion which by all
accounts was universal. Manichaean sources state that during the last
years of Ardashir’s reign Mani had crossed the empire and had gone
to India. During Shabuhr I’s reign he had come back to the Sasanian
Empire, appeared before the king and was honored, stayed with the
king for sometime and was given permission to preach throughout the
empire.49
At this time it would be wrong to see Zoroastrianism as an exclusive
religion, since Zoroastrianism was a religion that could be adopted by
the conquered people. Shabuhr’s tolerance of Mani, and at the same
time his commitment to Ohrmazd and Zoroastrianism has caused
problems for historians. But if Shabuhr saw the growing power and
structure of the Zoroastrian priesthood, might he not have attempted
to show them that the King of Kings was still the one who has the last
say? Were it not the Sasanians who were the caretakers and priests of
the Anahid fire-temple and were schooled in the rites and ceremo-
nies? Sasanian concern with politics should not have diminished their
religious authority, at least until the time of Wahram I. Mani was able
to propagate his religion during Shabuhr I’s rule and that of his son.
Still, Shabuhr I mentions in his res gestae that many Wahram fires were
established and that lamb, wine, and bread were offered to the gods
for the soul of the kings and queens of the family of Sasan. All of these,
to a Zoroastrian priest may have seemed “pagan,” and the king’s cult
may just have been that.

SASANIAN COURT AND BUREAUCRACY

If one compares the retinue, the bureaucracy and the size of the court,
between Ardashir I and Shabuhr I, one begins to see that there was
an increase in the administrative apparatus and the size of the court.
This would be natural, since if an empire was to be centralized and
to be functioning, it needed to have not only a king, but also gover-
nors (šahrābs), viceroys (bidaxš), a steward of royal property (framādār)
a commander of the royal guard (hazārbad), scribes (dibı¯rs), treasurers

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 10 Sasanian Persia

(ganzwars), judges (dādwars), and a market inspector (wāzārbed), along

with the local kings (šahrdārān), princes of royal blood (wāspuhragān),
grandees (wuzurgān), minor nobility (āzādān), and other officials as
mentioned in the res gestae. The nobility (wuzurgān), whose loyalty to
their clan was paramount, now submitted to the Sasanians.50 Such
families as Waraz, Suren, Andigan, Karen, and others were given
various honors and positions, such as being master of ceremonies or
crown bestower. They also displayed their clan emblem or coat-of-
arms on their caps (kulāfs) as is apparent on the rock-reliefs at Naqsh-i
Rajab and Naqsh-i Rustam. We do not know which symbol belonged
to which clan and what the symbols exactly meant, whether they were
insignias or names of the clans made into designs.

JOUSTING FOR KINGSHIP: WAHRAMS AND NARSEH

The next king, Hormizd I (270–271 CE), probably the youngest son of
Shabuhr I came to the throne and ruled for only a short time,51 but he is
associated with good rule and the building of the city of Ram-Hormizd
in Khuzistan. Tabarı̄ states that Hormizd had been appointed as the
ruler of Khurasan and because of his fearlessness and extreme loyalty
to Shabuhr was chosen as heir to the throne. He may have shown a
military talent, like his father, during Shabuhr’s campaign in the 260s
which gave reasons for the king to appoint him as heir. He was chosen
over his elder brother Narseh, who in the Shabuhr Ka‘be-ye Zardosht
inscription was called king of Sistan (Sagān-šāh). Religiously, again it is
not clear why Hormizd I allowed Mani to preach his message freely
and also let Kerdir continue his activity, giving him new ranks and
titles. This may have been part of his campaign of dual containment,
controlling both religions that were attempting to dominate the region.
Wahram I (271–274 CE) also had a relatively short rule, but we have
more information about him and his eventful career. He was the eldest
son of Shabuhr I, but had been bypassed by Hormizd. He had been
appointed as the king of Gilan by his father. Initially, Kerdir appears
to have backed his succession and consequently the Zoroastrian priest-
hood and the person of Kerdir benefited from his enthronement. In
274 CE Mani was sent from the east to present himself to Wahram, and
we have a Manichaean text which describes the harsh treatment of the
prophet. He was scolded as not being a good doctor nor having any
benefit, and Wahram ordered his arrest and imprisonment.
Wahram II came to the throne in 274 CE and may have needed
Kerdir’s support in bypassing Narseh, who was now the Great King

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 11

of Armenia, and it is in this period that Kerdir begins his real ascent
to power. Kerdir also began the persecution of the non-Zoroastrians
in the empire, such as the Jews, Christians, Manichaeans, Mandeans
and Buddhists.
During the rule of Wahram II (274–293 CE) Kerdir achieved higher
rank and status, and it is during this period that the Sasanian kings lost
much of their religious power as caretakers of the Anahid fire temple
to Kerdir, making him the judge of the whole empire. This meant
that from now on, the priests acted as judges throughout the empire
and probably court cases were now based on Zoroastrian law except
when members of other religious minorities had disputes with each
other.52 More will be said of these developments in the chapter on
religion. Wahram II is the first ruler to have a family portrait struck
on his coins. On the drahms (silver coins), he is shown with his queen
Shabuhrdukhtag who was his cousin, and his son, Wahram III.53 He
also had several rock-reliefs carved as memorial with his family. This
is an interesting feature of Wahram II in that he was very much con-
cerned to leave a portrait of his family54 which incidentally gives us
information about the court and the Persian concept of the royal ban-
quet (bazm).55
This included wine drinking, feasting, music and games being
played before the king and the courtiers as evidenced not only from
the rock reliefs, but also the silver dishes from the Sasanian period.
While the term bazm means “feast,” the Armenian sources give us its
true use during the Sasanian period. (Armenian) bazmoc‘k‘ “to recline,”
meant a banqueting-couch which the nobility and the king used dur-
ing feasting at the court. The courtiers would recline on cushions (barj),
where the number of the cushions signified their importance in the
court. Some of these banqueting couches had room for two people,
referred to as taxt or gāh where one’s proximity to the King of Kings
showed his/her honor and closeness to him.56 Naturally, those whose
taxt or gāh was further from the king, signified their lesser rank, and
if moved further, was a sign of demotion and disgrace. These por-
traits may also have been a means of justifying Wahram II’s succession
over Narseh who by now must have been quite dissatisfied from being
bypassed several times, although he was the Great King of Armenia, a
title reserved for the heir to the throne. Wahram II’s precarious situa-
tion is also clear because of the revolt of his brother Hormizd in Sistan
in 283 CE. Although the chronology of the events are not clear, we
are told that Hormizd was supported by the Sistanis, Gilanis and the
Kushans (Rufii)57 in his campaign against Wahram II.58 This was not
the only problem that Wahram II had as we hear of religious strife as

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 12 Sasanian Persia

well, namely in the province of Khuzistan led by a certain mowbed

who held power there for some time.59
Plans had already been made by Emperor Probus to invaded the
Sasanian territory, but he died and so Carus begun the war and
invaded Mesopotamia, laying siege to the capital Ctesiphon while
Wahram II was in the East, but he died in Mesopotamia in 283 CE.60
The next emperor, Diocletian, who had to deal with the internal
problems of Rome, made a treaty with Wahram II which demar-
cated the Perso-Roman borders. Now Wahram II could deal with
his brother, Hormizd, and Diocletian was able to focus his attention
on the reforms in his empire, bringing order to an otherwise chaotic
Roman realm. This treaty divided Armenia among the two powers
and left western Armenia in the hands of Tirdat (Tirdates IV) while
Narseh ruled over greater Armenian (thereafter called Persarmenia).
By 293 CE, when Wahram II died, his rival Hormizd had been paci-
fied in the east, but dynastic squabbling continued. Wahram’s son,
Wahram III who was known as King of the Sakas (sagān-šāh),61 was
brought to the throne by one faction, perhaps with the backing
of Kerdir, Adur-Farrobay, king of Meshan, and Wahnām, son of
Tartus. But Narseh was not going to be bypassed again. He left for
Mesopotamia and was greeted by a group of the nobility and men
who had given their allegiance to him. We do not know what hap-
pened to Wahram III, but Wahnām was captured and executed and
Narseh finally became the King of Kings.
Again Narseh has blessed us by leaving his personal attestation
at Paikuli in northern Mesopotamia. It is a biography and a narra-
tive justifying his succession to the throne, in which it is related that
the nobility and courtiers asked him to take the throne when he met
them.62 There are similarities between this inscription and others in
the Near East, such as the Behistun inscription of Darius I and other
pre-Achaemenid ones which has given cause to some to believe that
it is less reliable source. In fact, recently it has been claimed that the
Paikuli inscription may be devoid of much historical information
because it belongs to the genre of epic literature composed since time
immemorial in the ancient Near East. One cannot accept this assump-
tion certainly, and while it can be agreed that the story is told in an
epic setting (formula), I do not know in how many ways a king could
relate his story and his campaign. Relating a story or historical event
in a specific form or formula should not necessarily deplete the story
of its historical significance.63 After all, kings made war, defeated their
enemies, and ruled over their kingdom. These issues in themselves are
the genre that gives cause to a king to commission an inscription.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 13

It should be said also that again a constant feature of the Persian

civilization represents itself, as is evident in the Behistun and the
Naqsh-i Rustam inscriptions. In the Paikuli inscription we come across
the notion that the enemies of the rightful king (Narseh, follower of
Truth/Order) were followers of Lie (Demon/Disorder).64 This binary
opposition which is a hallmark of Sasanian Zoroastrianism worked
well for demonizing the king’s enemies. Narseh’s rock-relief at Naqsh-
i Rustam is also important in that it shows him receiving the symbol
of sovereignty from the deity, Anahid.65 Leaving the religious implica-
tions aside, could this mean that politically Narseh was able to regain
the control of the fire-temple of Anahid at Istakhr and was re-orient-
ing his devotion to this deity at the cost of Kerdir’s power? Of course
it is possible that devotion to Lady Anahid was never forsaken, but I
think the mere representation of Narseh along with Anahid may hint
at a religio-political shake-up in the Sasanian Empire. This perhaps
reaffirmed the tradition of Narseh’s father and grandfather, Shabuhr
I and Ardashir I, and his own as the original and legitimate rulers who
began their campaign around the cult of this deity.
On the foreign front Narseh was less successful. He declared war
on Rome in 296 CE because of Roman meddling in Armenia. While
initially he was able to withstand the Roman forces under Galerius, in
the second battle the Sasanian army was defeated and he lost his wife
and family.66 In 298 he negotiated a peace treaty (Treaty of Nisbis) in
which in exchange for his family’s return and peace, he ceded parts of
Mesopotamia, restoring Armenia to Tirdat, and the King of Iberia was
now to be chosen by the Romans.67 This Roman influence in Iberia
(Georgia) was to be detrimental to Sasanian influence in the region,
since in 330 CE the Georgian king and nobility adopted Christianity.
Narseh’s rule announced a new balance of power among the Romans
and the Persians. This weakness in imperial aspiration may be appar-
ent from the omission of an-Ērān from his titles on some of the coin
legends.

THE THIRD CENTURY: AN OVERVIEW

It can be said that in the third century CE the first two rulers of Iranshahr
established and organized a Persian Empire from the province of
Persis. Persis in the third century appears to have had a centrality,
not only because it is the first province that all of the early Sasanian
rock reliefs mention, but also because it is the location from where the
family of Sasan rose. From the later sources we also learn that, just like

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 14 Sasanian Persia

Constantine in the fourth century, Ardashir I also attempted to estab-

lish a blueprint for a religion, but a religion that he and his ancestors
worshipped, what they called mazdēsn or Mazda-worshipping religion,
i.e., Zoroastrianism. This is the first word that appears on the coins and
inscription of Ardashir and Shabuhr, suggesting their deep devotion
and proclamation for Ohrmazd. Ardashir along with his wise priest,
Tosar, sifted through the existing oral and written tradition kept
throughout the empire and especially in Persis, and began the canon-
ization of the doctrines of what we today call Zoroastrianism. By the
time of Shabuhr I the Romans had realized that a new power existed
in the East which could defeat any Roman army and even kill its gen-
erals and hold captive its emperor. Shabuhr I’s inscription also dem-
onstrates the fact that the administrative apparatus of the Sasanian
Empire had grown and became more sophisticated. This is to be
expected if an organized and vibrant empire was to exist. Shabuhr I,
however, also tried to use Manichaeism, a religion which seems to have
attracted many from different regions in Asia and the Mediterranean
world as an alternative to Zoroastrianism. While Zoroastrianism was
the religion of his father and forefathers, Shabuhr I understood that
in order to have a universal empire, a universal religion which could
cement loyalty to the king and state was much desired. To be the ruler
of Iranians was one matter, but to rule over an-ērān, needed a more
universal religion.
The growing number of Zoroastrian priests, however, would not
allow this to happen and after Shabuhr’s death, under king Wahram I,
Kerdir and company made sure that Mani was stopped and later met
an early death and that the King of Kings remained mazdēsn and that
the Zoroastrian religion was spread at any cost to the empire. In a way
Kerdir is responsible for the preservation of the Zoroastrian tradition
until its full development under later Sasanians. Shabuhr I may have
begun to imagine that the concept of Iranshahr would not necessarily
be tied to Zoroastrianism, although it had its origin in that tradition,
and that any citizen, i.e., mard ¯ı šahr “male citizen”/zan ¯ı šahr “female
citizen,” would be able to be considered as Ērānagān “Iranians.” This
idea would take place in another century or so, but it was too early
for it to take hold in a new empire. The Zoroastrian priests not only
made themselves an important part of the imperial government,
but also would become ever more involved in the day-to-day work-
ings of society. They also reduced the religious power of the King of
Kings, especially after Shabuhr I’s “ungodly” meddling with Mani. If
Zoroastrianism was to survive, it needed to have a hierarchy, a reli-
gious tradition in the name of the Avesta, and its traditions needed to be

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 15

zealously maintained. While the Wahrams caved into these demands,

Narseh struck back and attempted to make the family of Sasan the
ultimate decision maker. By the end of the third century CE, an equi-
librium had been reached between the church and the state and none
was able to really exist without the other or to overtake the other.
Internationally, Rome now had to face a new and more centralized
empire which had specific geo-political agendas and it did not fear
coming into conflict with the Mediterranean empire. The presence
of this Mediterranean empire, centered in Rome, in Syria and more
importantly in Mesopotamia created the notion that it is certainly an
imperialistic empire. As Mesopotamia served as the heartland of the
empire with its capital Ctesiphon, and an agricultural center along
with Khuzistan, the presence of the Roman forts only a short distance
to the west made the Sasanians wary. This may be a prime reason for
which early on Ardashir and Shabuhr I waged war on the Roman
holdings in those regions. We are not so clear on the eastern cam-
paigns of the Sasanians, but it is sure that they were able to establish a
strong foothold there and secure their border against the Kushans.

SHABUHR, ARMENIA, AND THE WARS IN THE WEST

AND THE EAST

Hormizd II (302–309 CE) succeeded his father, but did not do much
militarily, and, even worse for the Sasanians, during his reign Armenia
under king Tirdates IV adopted Christianity. He had tried to consoli-
date Persian-Armenian relations by marrying his daughter Hormizd-
duxtag to the Armenian prince Wahan Mamikonian,68 and such an
alliance must have affected the loyalties of some of the Armenian noble
families. Consequently some of the Armenian feudal clans (naxarars)
converted as well and supported Tirdat against those naxarars who
were loyal to the Sasanians and more specifically those who honored
the ancient Mazdean/Zoroastrian tradition of Armenia. It has usually
been the case that Armenians have seen this momentous event as a
break from the old “pagan” past, when the Armenian nation and iden-
tity was established through the medium of Christianity. But one can
look at the event in another way as well, namely through the eyes of the
Armenians who did not convert to the new religion. Those Armenians
who chose to stay faithful to their ancient heritage went down into
Armenian historiography as either villains or worshiping Ormizd, Anahit,
and Vahagn and Christian historians attempted to erase them from the
Armenian historical memory, except a few as the evil-doers.69

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 16 Sasanian Persia

For many Armenian naxarars and especially those of the noble clans,
their past history and religion must have meant something important
and the adoption of new ways and religion (Christianity) must have
not been accepted very easily. After all, according to these Armenian
nobles, it was King Tirdat who was the heretic who adopted a reli-
gion from the West, supplanting the Armenian Mazdeans who had
been worshipping Ohrmazd since the sixth century BCE. James
Russell has put an end to the modern Armenian notions of a pagan
past vs. Christianity. According to Armenian historiography which is
Christian and hostile to Zoroastrianism, Armenia was pagan, illiterate
and disunited, but when in the early fourth century Christianity was
adopted, there was a united vision and a united people or “nation.”
Russell has shown that the Armenians from ancient times were a peo-
ple who, although their culture was under Persian and Zoroastrian
influence, had their own view of what Zoroastrianism meant and gave
it an Armenian outlook.70 So the few “evil” naxarars mentioned in the
Armenian historical narratives who supported the Sasanians were
those who in fact chose to keep their ancient Armenian tradition at
the expense of the newcomers. The issue of the future of Armenia
was not to be decided at this time and the adoption of Christianity
further caused problems and divided Armenian society for some time
to come.
When Hormizd II died, his son Adur-Narseh was chosen to rule, but
he ruled only briefly and was deposed by the nobility and the priests.
Then the infant son of Hormizd II, named Shabuhr II (309–379 CE)
was put on the throne. In regard to this king we have the legend that
the courtiers and the clergy placed the crown on the womb of his
mother when she was pregnant. We may assume that during the early
years of his reign, the court and the Zoroastrian priests ran the empire
and the empire was secure and stable structurally and administratively
to survive without a strong monarch. This scenario also signaled to
the courtiers and the nobility that the empire could be managed with-
out a powerful king which would benefit them. The Arabs in eastern
Arabia raided the southwestern provinces of the Sasanian Empire,
while Constantine and the other emperors battled for the soul of the
Roman Empire which made the Persians safe from the Western front.
When Shabuhr II came of age (325 CE), he took revenge on the Arabs
and hence received the title “Shoulder Piercer” (Arabic Dhū al-Aktāf),
referring to the punishment inflicted on the Arab tribes. As a result
of his campaigns some of the Arabs were pushed into the heartland
of Arabia and the Persian Gulf region remained in the hands of the
Sasanian Empire. This was part of the overall strategy of the Sasanians

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 17

to secure the Persian Gulf. Some Arab tribes were forcibly displaced
and relocated into the Sasanian Empire. The Taghlib tribe was set-
tled in Darayn (a port in Bahrayn) and al-Khat.t.; the Abd al-Qays and
Tamim were settled in Hajar, and the tribe of Bakr b. Wa’il was settled
in Kerman and the Hanazila in Ramila (vicinity of Ahwaz).71 To keep
the Arabs from mounting further attacks Shabuhr II constructed a
defensive system which was called war ¯ı tāzı¯gān “wall of the Arabs.”72
This wall appears to have been close to the city of Hira which came to
be known as Khandaq i Shapur (Ditch of Shabuhr).73
It is again here that we hear of Arab forced immigration into the
Sasanian Empire by Shabuhr II, namely Bakr b. Wā’il and Banu
Hanzalah in Kerman and Khuzistan.74 Thus the relation between the
Arabs and Persians was just not on the frontiers, but also within the
Sasanian Empire.75 Also for the first time we hear of the Chionites
(Xyōn) tribes encroaching onto the empire from Central Asia, but
Shabuhr II was able to contain them and make peace with them.76
Shabuhr II placed his son, who now took the title of “King of Kushan”
(kūšan-šāh), on the throne in the east as is apparent from the coins and
a few inscriptions in Kushan territory.
On the western front, the Roman rulers’ backing of Armenia caused
Shabuhr II to begin a campaign against them. When Constantius
came to the throne (337–338 CE), war began and Shabuhr II laid
siege to Nisibis three times, and there was constant warfare which did
not go in favor of either side. The defensive system of fortresses and
limes hindered Shabuhr’s campaign in the region, but some forts such
as Vitra fell to him.77 The encroachment of the nomadic tribes in the
Central Asia forced Shabuhr II to turn his attention to the east,78 and
the war with Rome ended in stalemate by 350 CE. Around this time
we first hear of the Hunnic tribes, who were probably the Kidarites
(Chinese Jiduolo), encroaching onto the Sasanian Empire and were
also menacing the Gupta Empire (320–500 CE) in India. Shabuhr
II, who had just returned from the Syrian front, was able to contain
his eastern foes by making an alliance with their king, Grumbates,
against the Romans. By such action, he foresaw an ally to attack
against the Romans.79
It is quite possible that Shabuhr II defeated his eastern foes and
established Sasanian domination over the Kushans.80 This theory
can be substantiated from the two Middle Persian inscriptions which
mention that the eastern boundary of the Sasanian Empire under
Shabuhr II included Sind, Sistan, and Turan.81 Also Ammianus
Marcellinus lists the provinces of the Sasanian Empire in that period
as Assyria, Susiana, Media, Persis, Parthia, Greater Carmania,

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 18 Sasanian Persia

Hyrcania, Margiana, the Bactriani, the Sogdiani, the Sacae, and

Scythia at the foot of Imaus (Himalayas), and beyond the same
mountain, Serica, Aria, the Paropanisadae, Drangiana, Arachosia,
and Gedrosia.82 Al-Tabarı̄, additionally mentions that, among his city
building projects, Shapur II established cities in Sind and Sijistān,83
which confirms his rule over that region. Finally, most of the gold
coins minted by Shabuhr II are from eastern mints such as Marw
where the Kushans also minted gold coins. Also, a large amount of
copper coins from the mints of Sakastān and Kabul exist.84 This may
mean that Shabuhr II was able to extract a large amount of gold and
other precious metals from his defeated eastern enemies.
In 359 CE Shabuhr II, with the backing of king Grumbates,
attacked Syria, laid siege to Amida, entered it after 73 days,85
and deported its population to Khuzistan. The city of Amida was
sacked and its population deported as punishment because the son
of the Kidirite king was killed. In 361 CE, the new Roman emperor,
Julian, counter-attacked and won against Shabuhr II with victories
in 363 CE, and even laid siege to Ctesiphon. The capital, however,
was not taken because of disorder and pillaging among the Roman
forces.86 In anticipation of Julian’s victory against the Persians an
inscription was placed in upper Jordan valley, with the premature
title of BARORVM EXTINCTORI, probably because at his initial
success in Antioch in March of 363.87 We are told that among the
Roman generals there was a Persian renegade by the name of
Hormizd who commanded the cavalry. Julian had destroyed his
own naval ships, so that his forces would not retreat,88 and Shabuhr
II responded by adopting a scorched-earth policy in Mesopotamia
which resulted in hunger among the Roman forces. In June of
363 Persian forces equipped with elephants defeated the Romans,
and Julian was badly wounded in battle, probably by a kontophoroi
“cavalry spearmen,” and died in his tent.89 Eutropius, who was an
eyewitness to this campaign, affirms that Julian was killed by the
hand of the enemy.90
Jovian was elected emperor and had to make peace with Shabuhr
II, which the Romans called ignobili decreto “shameful treaty,”91
ceding eastern Mesopotamia, Armenia and the adjoining regions,
15 fortresses as well as Nisibis.92 Persian terms and conditions were
conveyed by Surenas (Sūren) who agreed to have the mainly Christian
population of Nisibis moved to Roman territory while the Persian
standard was raised over the city.93 Jovian left Mesopotamia and the
Romans would not engage the Sasanians further as Emperor Valens
had to deal with Germanic tribes in the Balkans.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 19

On the Armenian front, during the early years of Shabuhr II’s life
Armenia under king Tirdates IV (298–330) adopted Christianity (314
CE). Consequently some of the Armenian feudal clans (naxarars) con-
verted as well and supported Tirdat IV against those naxarars who
were loyal to the Sasanians, and more specifically, those who honored
the ancient Zoroastrian tradition of Armenia, still worshiping Ormizd,
Anāhit, and Vahagn. The precarious internal struggle and the wavering
loyalties of the naxarars, the king, and the clergy ushered in a turbulent
period in Armenian history, and the sources for this period are con-
fused. King Tiran, who had attempted to keep Armenia independent
by playing both the Romans and the Persians, lost his life to Shabuhr
II. He was replaced by his son, Aršak II (350–367 CE) who initially also
tried to appease both the Romans and the Persians, but who finally
joined Julian’s expedition against the Sasanians.94 As part of the peace
treaty between Shabuhr II and Jovian, Armenia and Georgia were
to come under Sasanian control and the Romans were not to get
involved in Armenian affairs.95 The Armenian king was captured by
the Persians and imprisoned in the Castle of Oblivion (in Armenian
sources known as Fortress of Andmaš or Castle of Anyuš in Khuzistan),
where he is said to have committed suicide while being visited by his
eunuch Drastamat.96 The cities of Artashat, Vałaršapat, Eruandashat,
Zarehawan, Zarishat, Van and Naxchvan were taken and their
populations deported, among whom there were many Jewish fami-
lies.97 The pro-Persian naxarars, namely Vahan Mamikonean and
Meružan Arcruni accompanied Shapur II and were rewarded for their
help, and two Persians, Zik and Karēn with a large army were placed
over Armenian affairs.98 Georgia was also placed under Persian con-
trol where Shapur II installed Aspacures in eastern Georgia, but even-
tually the Roman emperor Valens succeeded in installing Sauromaces
in western Georgia.99
Pap (367–374 CE), who was the son of the Armenian ruler Aršak
who had fled to the Romans, was placed on the throne in 367 with
Roman backing. The Armenians were able to withstand Shabuhr II’s
attack near Bagawan in 371 CE.100 Pap, however, was not popular with
many of the naxarars or the Armenian church because of his pro-Arian
policy, which caused him to be slandered by the Armenian sources as
devoted to the dēwān“demons” due his mother’s religious beliefs (Queen
P‘aranjem of Siwnik‘).101 Pap became a victim of internal divisions and
fighting among naxarars and the sparapet Mušeł Mamikonean and was
eventually killed at the instigation of Emperor Valens.102 Armenia,
however, was divided between Shabuhr II and Valens in 377 CE and
a state of relative peace reigned in the Caucuses.

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 20 Sasanian Persia

Internally, the Zoroastrian priest named Adurbad i Mahrspandan

was to canonize the Avesta and the Zoroastrian tradition. As Richard Frye
has stated, the semblance of the Ottoman millet system was first begun
during this period, where the Christian bishop resided at Ctesiphon and,
along with the Jewish exilarch, paid his poll tax in return for peace and
security. By this time religious communities were being established and
the foundation of a Late Antique society in Persia was being laid by the
Zoroastrian priests, the Jewish rabbis, and the Christian clergy.103 We
do not know how far Shabuhr II was able to cut the power of the gran-
dees and the clergy, but since he was a strong ruler he was able to hold
his own. The only hint which may suggest that the Zoroastrian clergy
were able to impose themselves on the monarchy is that Shabuhr II is
one of the last kings to call himself “whose lineage (is) from the Gods.” It
may be that finally the King of Kings had become a secular ruler, whose
religious authority had become minimal.
It is exactly at this juncture in history that the Sasanian monuments
disappear in Persis and appear in the north, in Media. We may con-
sider that the Zoroastrian priests in Persis had become too powerful
and the king decided to shift their focus not only away from their tra-
ditional stronghold where they were from, but to another place where
a new image was to be presented. It is not clear what motivated this
move by the king, or the adoption of the new titles. The artistic style
is essentially different from those in Persis. Mithra’s image becomes
prominent, along with Ohrmazd. Ardashir II and Shabuhr III are
presented motionless and standing frontally, flanked by two small
Middle Persian inscriptions, bearing the traditional formula which
Ardashir I had first adopted on his coins and inscriptions.104 They are
not receiving a diadem from the gods, nor victorious over any enemies,
rather posing for a personal portrait. At Taq-ı̄ Bustan, the monuments
of Ardashir II (379–383 CE) and his son, Shabuhr III (383–388 CE)
are present. These kings along with Wahram IV (388–399 CE)105 all
met a violent end which suggests the growing power of the nobility
and the priests since the time of Shabuhr II.106 This growing power
of the nobility is also reflected in the brief description of Ardashir II’s
rule who is said to have killed a number of the great men and holders
of authority in order to reduce their power.107 During Wahram IV’s
reign, Armenia lost any semblance of independence, and the western
part become part of the Roman empire and the east was put under
the rule of the King of Kings’ brother, Wahram Shabuhr (Armenian
Vramshapuh) as king of Persarmenia in 394 CE. But Wahram IV’s great-
est achievement was the stopping of the Huns who had entered Syria
and northern Mesopotamia.108

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 21

FOURTH CENTURY: AN OVERVIEW

For the fourth century CE it can be said that Christianity was seen as
a major threat to Zoroastrianism and a break from the ancient tradi-
tion by the Armenians. By adopting Christianity, Armenia and then
Georgia began to come closer to the Eastern Roman Empire. This
is because Constantine and his successors first allowed Christianity
to thrive, and then it was tied to the institution of the emperor and
the empire. The Roman Emperors saw themselves as the leaders of
all Christians in the world, and hence the Christians in the Sasanian
Empire had become suspect. A strong king such as Shabuhr II and a
Zoroastrian priest like Adurbad i Mahrspandan reacted to the expan-
sion of Christianity. This tactic was not to be fruitful, and in the fifth
century CE another way was found to appease the situation. A strong
and long-lived king like Shabuhr II brought security to the Sasanian
Empire and secured its borders in the west and the south. In the east
it appears that Shabuhr II had been able to control the encroach-
ment of the various nomadic tribes from the East such as the Huns
and Kidarites. Shabuhr II was able to create an alliance and a sem-
blance of allegiance with the Huns and later the Kidarites. Shabuhr
II’s raids into the Arabian Peninsula and the coast was not only to
punish the Arab tribes, but perhaps to secure the Persian Gulf region.
The Sasanians could now call the Persian Gulf their mare nostrum. The
institution of kingship, however, was to be redefined as the Zoroastrian
ecclesiastical hierarchy strengthened. From now on the King of Kings
was not known to be from the lineage of the gods (yazdān) any more,
but rather a secular ruler who continued to be a Mazda worshipper.

YAZDGERD I AND PEACE WITH CHRISTIANITY

With the reign of Yazdgerd I (399–420 CE) we begin to get a new ideo-
logical outlook and treatment of the minorities in the empire. His coins
add the slogan “who maintains peace in his dominion” (Ramšahr) while
the Sasanian sources called him “sinner” (Arabic al-Athı¯m; Persian
bazehkar). This is purely a priestly propaganda, because he not only
killed some Zoroastrian priests who had looked down upon his good
treatment of the religious minorities, but also treated the Jews and the
Christians favorably.109 In fact Christianity became a recognized reli-
gion, when the first synod of the “Nestorian Church” was convened
in 410 CE, during the rule of Yazdgerd I.110 Agathis calls Yazdgerd I a
pro-Christian monarch, but, what is more important, a “friendly and

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 22 Sasanian Persia

peaceable,” ruler who never once made war on the Romans.111 So his
title would be fitting for the period, but we can connect this to Kayanid
ideology as well. In the Middle Persian epic Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān (The
Testament of Zarer) the last Kayanid ruler, Kay Wištāsp, is given the
title Ramšahr which appears in the Dēnkard as well.112 This title suggests
gravitation towards an Avestan/Kayanid ideology even before seeing
such titles and terminology as kay “Kayanid” and xwarrah “Glory.”
How much of this new ideological framework is due to the contacts
with the East is difficult to say, but the attention increasingly given to
the eastern boundaries of the empire must have had an impact upon
the view of the king.
By all accounts, the rule of Yazdgerd I was peaceful and with
mutual respect with the Roman Empire. In fact the emperor Arcadius
(383–408 CE) asked the Persian ruler to become the guardian of his
son Theodosius II113 and this tradition would live on, sometimes the
Romans and sometimes the Persians asking the other side for guard-
ianship of the heirs to the throne of the respective empires. This action
indicates that by the fifth century both empires saw each other as
equals and worthy to have their heirs at the court of the other, or sim-
ply securing succession and being more fearful of internal opposition
than each other’s forces. We should not forget before Yazdgerd I, the
three kings who followed one another had met violent deaths at the
hands of the nobility and so Yazdgerd I had to react and that he did,
by killing many of them, hence being called the “sinner” in the official
Sasanian record. This title of Yazdgerd I may be as much for his tol-
erance of other religions and opening a new chapter in the history of
Christianity in Persia as for establishing a balance of power between
the institution of kingship and the noble families and the Zoroastrian
priests.

WAHRAM GUR, PROBLEMS IN THE EAST AND

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION

In 414 CE, when Yazdgerd I died, his eldest son, Shabuhr left Armenia
(Wahram Shabuhr/Armenian Vramshapuh) to take the throne but he
was murdered by the nobility who placed Khusro, who was not related
directly to Yazdgerd I, on the throne. This action suggests the nobil-
ity and priestly class’ distaste for what Yazdgerd I had done which
ultimately put his own sons in danger. Another son of Yazdgerd I,
Wahram who had been sent to the Arab court at al-Hira, returned
with an army of mainly Arabs and forced Khusro to abdicate in

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 23

421 CE. By all accounts Wahram (421–438 CE) was a successful ruler;
in 422 CE in the west a peace treaty was signed giving religious freedom
to the Christians in the Sasanian Empire and to the Zoroastrians in
the Roman Empire. This was in the face of persecution of Christians
which seems to have begun at the end of Yazdgerd I’s reign,114 or
more probably in the beginning of Wahram’s reign, instigated by the
Zoroastrian priests.115 He defeated the Hephthalites, another tribe in
the east, killing their king and stopping their encroachment on the
eastern borders of the empire. While on his campaign it appears that
he had left his brother Narseh who was the youngest of his broth-
ers in charge and when Wahram returned, Narseh was appointed as
the ruler of Khurasan. We also hear of the office of Wuzurg-framadār
which was given to Mihr-Narseh.116 At this time Armenia’s status
also changed when the Armenian naxarars once again sought the aid
of the Sasanians in the deposing of their king, Artashes, the son of
Vramshapuh. In 428 CE, Wahram V removed him and placed a mar-
grave (marzbān) in Armenia, ushering in what is known in Armenian
history as the marzpanate period.
There are many romantic accounts about Wahram V, such as the
importation of Indian minstrels as entertainers (lurs), and his pen-
chant for drinking and especially hunting, receiving the epithet of Gur
“onogur.” The composition of the first Persian poem is also attributed
to him in early Persian compendia, which is a stretch of the imagina-
tion. But it was this imagination that he captured even by his mys-
terious death, where it is said that one day while hunting in Media
(Māh) he fell into some marshes or a well and disappeared, and his
body was never found. He was also remembered by the composers
of the Zoroastrian apocalyptic texts as the one who brought about
an age when there was peace and that evil and the demons went into
hiding.117
In the early years of the rule of Yazdgerd II (438–457 CE), the focus
shifted to the east and battling what the sources call the Kushans, prob-
ably the Huns. Yazdgerd was stationed in Khurasan for some time
until he was able to secure the eastern flank of the empire, and Bactria
came under the control of the Sasanians. He then moved towards
Armenia and Albania, as the defense of the Caucasus from the Huns
moving westward was imperative, a campaign which also involved
the Romans.118 There were further problems in Armenia, probably at
the instigation of Mihr-Narse (Wuzurg-framādār/Armenian Vzurk hra-
matar), who issued an edict in which Zoroastrianism was re-imposed as
the official religion in Armenia.119 This edict provides us with an inter-
esting glimpse into the Zurvanite tendency of Mihr-Narseh and the

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 24 Sasanian Persia

reasons why the Armenians should convert to Zoroastrianism.120 This

caused an uprising by some of the Armenian naxarars who had become
Christian. We can tell that the Armenians were not united for this
cause and as a result at the battle of Avarair in 451 CE the Armenian
forces, led by Vardan of the Mamikonian’s family, were annihilated,
and many were deported to Persia.121 This calamity was not to be
forgotten by the Armenian (Christian) people and became a symbol of
resistance and remembrance against their Zoroastrian neighbors.
This anti-Christian measure did not only befall the Armenian
Christians, since there are also Syriac martyrologies from this period
which mention Christian and Jewish persecutions. Consequently
Yazdgerd II is remembered well by the Zoroastrian priests and the
Sasanian chronicle as someone who defeated his enemies (non-
Zoroastrians) but who behaved with benevolence towards the
Zoroastrians and the army. In terms of imperial ideology, he is the
first to use the new title of “Mazdaean Majesty Kay” (mzdysn bgy kdy).
This means the Sasanian kings were no longer seen as in the image of
gods, at least in the empire where these coins were circulated, but
were connected with the Avestan dynasty of the Kayanids. However,
we should remember that this trend had begun with Yazdgerd I
and the title of Ramšahr, and that kay was the second manifestation
of this Kayanid ideology. It is especially interesting that this Avestan
orientation takes place at the exact time when a Sasanian king is again
concerned with the east and when the king resided in that region for
several years. We cannot say that his stay in Khurasan or contact with
Bactria would have brought about this fascination with the Kayanids,
since we have the Ramšahr title appearing before. This Kayanid
identity, which was now to be adopted wholesale by the Sasanians
was to manifest itself in several titles which will be dealt with below.
By a Kayanid ideology it is meant that rather than looking to the
Achaemenids as their ancestors (for all we know they might have seen
the Achaemenid monuments as the work of the kings of Persis), they
connected themselves to the primordial kings, especially the Kayanid
kings in the Avesta.122
The two sons of Yazdgerd II, Hormizd III (457–459 CE) and Peroz
(459–484 CE) ruled consecutively, although the latter deposed the for-
mer in a power struggle. Peroz fled to the east to Khurasan and with
an army probably consisting of Kidarites or Hephthalites regained the
throne. Meantime, while Hormizd III may have crowned himself, we
hear that their mother, Denag was governing the capital or parts of the
capital. During this confusion Albania gained independence and the
eastern boarders of the empire were laid open to Hephthalite attack.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 25

When Peroz came to the throne, he pacified Albania, but allowed the
Armenians to practice Christianity and made an agreement with the
eastern Roman Empire to cooperate in defending the Caucus passes.
The Sasanians met their match against the Hepthalites in Khurasan
and in 469 CE Peroz and his harem and retinue were captured by
Khwashnawaz. This calamity took place during the third major
battle, while during the first two, his war was partly financed by the
Romans.123 This was the low point of Sasanian rule, where they in fact
became tributaries to the Hephthalites and ceded territory to them
for returning the king and his entourage to Sasanian territory. The
chief priest (mowbed), Peroz’s son, Kavad, and his daughter were held
by the Hephthalites as assurance hostages.124 The only reason that the
Romans did not attack Persia at this time was because emperor Zeno
was facing internal problems and could not turn his attention to the
east.125
We know there were religious persecutions, especially against the
Jews, at this time and drought and famine were rampant in the empire,
as well as a revolt in Armenia in 482 CE.126 But Peroz took it upon him-
self to revenge his loss in the east. This time in 484 CE, his actions cost
him his life, seven of his sons, and his entire army.127 It is here that we
hear of the famous legend of the “pearl earring” of Peroz which was
so precious that before dying he threw it to the ground so that no one
would wear it.128 The short rule of Balash (Walāxš) (484–488 CE) was
uneventful and since the empire was weak, the king kept peaceful rela-
tions with Armenia and the Hephthalites by giving tribute to the latter.
Balash appears to have been dominated by the noble families and it
is interesting that we see the creeping influence of the Parthian noble
families at this time. One such person is Zarmihr Sokhra of the Karen
clan, who saved the rest of the Sasanian army after Peroz’s death, and
the other Shabuhr of the Mehran clan.129 Balash was deposed by the
nobility and the priests in 499 CE, when Kavad I (488–496, 499–531
CE) was brought to the throne.

FIFTH CENTURY: AN OVERVIEW

The fifth century kings were generally weak and the nobility and the
Zoroastrian priests were able to exert their influence at the cost of the
court. Some kings like Yazdgerd I did punish some Zoroastrian priests
and the nobility to reduce their power, but this only hampered their
eventual take-over of the Sasanian state for a short time. This, however,
did not mean that the empire was ineffective or not centralized. The

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 26 Sasanian Persia

bureaucratic apparatus, under the control of the priests, had reached

such a level of sophistication that the death of a king would not bring
the empire down, something that worked to the advantage of the priests
and the nobility. This centralization is also apparent with the growing
number of titles as they appear on administrative seals,130 as well as the
appearance of mint-marks on the coins. Economically, the empire was
not faring well, because of the drought, famine and the incisive wars
which had resulted in giving huge sums of tribute to the Hephthalite,
nor had there been any victories in the west to enable the collection of
gold from the Romans.

KAVAD, MAZDAK AND DISORDER

Thus Kavad I had to face economic and political problems which

confronted the empire at the end of the fifth century. It is at this time
that we have some information on Zoroastrian sectarianism in the
Sasanian Empire. In the first period of Kavad’s rule a Zoroastrian
priest by the name of Mazdak was able to capture the attention of
Kavad I, enabling both to make reforms which went beyond the
accepted religious dogma and the established social order. Mazdak
brought a social reform which caused much resentment during and
especially after its success in the minds of the Zoroastrian priests.
Sources tell us that Mazdak preached an egalitarian social system, one
in which equality in sharing wealth, women and property was propa-
gated. Byzantine sources state that it was Kavad who introduced to
Persians the idea that they should “have communal intercourse with
their women.”131 Mazdak’s outlook had theological and cosmological
dimensions which will be discussed in some detail in the chapter on
religion, but it also had political and social ramifications.132 Here, how-
ever, one needs to see the Mazdakite movement in terms of its function
as a political tool for Kavad. Kavad was able to use Mazdak’s ideas to
weaken the power of the nobility and the grandees, the large land own-
ers and the priests who now were involved in every aspect of the state
and were not always honest.133 Mazdak’s teaching went against the
social division which was enforced by the Avesta, or perhaps how the
Zoroastrian priests had interpreted the Avesta. Now Mazdak had a new
and perhaps novel interpretation of the Zoroastrian tradition. Kavad
may or may not have believed in his message, but he certainly used
it to his advantage, in leveling the upper classes and making the king
more appealing and accessible to the masses by adopting Mazdakite
ideas. Imperial granaries were given away and land was redistributed

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 27

among the peasants. In the Zoroastrian texts composed by the very

priests who were against this reform, this period is seen as a time of
chaos where women were shared by all, and no one knew one’s lineage
anymore.
The remaining dissatisfied nobility and the priests had Kavad
arrested and imprisoned in the “Prison of Oblivion,” in 496 CE and
they put his brother Zamasp on the throne for several years. Zamasp
is noted for his gentleness and sense of justice which may be anti-
Mazdakite propaganda,134 and he probably attempted to undo Kavad’s
reforms. Kavad, with the help of his sister was able to escape to the
Hephthalites. He raised a force there and was able to come back to the
throne in 499 CE, when Zamasp abdicated in his favor. This action also
demonstrated the beleaguered situation of the empire, where in a time
of chaos a small force was able to overrun the nobility-priest alliance.
Kavad forced the Mazdakite religion not only upon the population of
the empire where many must have been happy, especially the lower
classes, but also upon the clients of the Sasanians, such as the Arabs in
Najd and Hijaz in the first quarter of the sixth century.135
Once the economic, political and social situation was under control,
Kavad began to institute reforms that were fundamental to the empire
in the sixth century and were usually credited to Khusro I. The office
of the “protector of the poor and judge” (drı¯yōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar)
was created from the ranks of the mowbeds (chief priests) to help the poor
and the downtrodden which was not only a reaction to the Mazdakite
movement, but a general trend in Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and
later Islam.136 Administratively, four chanceries (diwān) were created
for the empire which probably corresponded with the military division
of the empire under the rule of four generals (spāhbeds).137 Prior to this
an Ērān-spāhbed led the army, but now it had become exceedingly dif-
ficult to be on several fronts at once. The survey of agricultural lands
and reorganization of the tax system was also begun during his rule as
was the creation of new districts in the empire.138
Religiously, Christian Nestorianism became the officially tolerated
church in Persia and by the time of Khusro I we are told that the
leader of the Christians had the title of Ērān Cathollicos.139 Luckily for
the Sasanians, the Hephthalites were in demise and division by 515 CE.
In the West, however, things were different and there was a protracted
war beginning in 502 CE, ending a long period of pence. Procopius
informs us that Kavad owed money to the Hephthalites,140 while
another source suggests that the Persians were unhappy because the
Romans had been unwilling to help in the defense against the Huns.141
Kavad successfully invaded Armenia and took Theodosiopolis.

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 28 Sasanian Persia

Then from Armenia he moved westward and laid siege to Amida in

Mesopotamia and was able to take it.142 Kavad made further incur-
sions westward, but was only partially successful in his predatory inva-
sion in search of booty. The negotiations, however, paid off for the
Persians and in 506 CE the war was concluded. In 524 the Iberian
king Gourgenes sided with the Romans, because Kavad was trying to
impose Zoroastrianism. This act threatened the Persian control over
that kingdom but the Persians were able to hold the area under firm
control by 528 CE. Mesopotamia bore the brunt of further battles,
beginning in 527 CE, and the Arab tribes and the Huns also became
involved. By 529 CE there were negotiations which broke down and
Kavad invaded Dara in 530 CE, coinciding with Justinian’s reign.
His capable general, Belisarius, was sent to defend the city against
the Persian general, Mehran.143 There were further campaigns on the
Mesopotamian-Syrian border as well as in Armenia in 531 CE, but
none of these wars had a clear winner.

KHUSRO I, REFORMS AND THE SASANIAN REVIVAL

The Sasanian revival was taking place at this time and its effect was
that Georgia as well as parts of inner Arabia and Oman were now con-
trolled by the Persians.144 Persians had already settled in Central Asia
and traders had gone to India, China and as far away as Indonesia.145
They were more interested in business and wanted to control the trade
in spices and silk, motivated by economic gain, rather than as a state
sponsored activity. When Kavad died in 531 CE, the Mazdakites sup-
ported one of his sons by the name of Kawus who was the eldest and
also the heir (another Kayanid name along with his father). Here we
have information that the court and the religious hierarchy decided
in favor of Khusro I, who was younger, but also an anti-Mazdakite.
Kawus was ruling in the north in Tabarestan and battled Khusro I,
but was ultimately defeated.146 By this time Khusro I became instru-
mental in the murder of Mazdak and a large number of his followers
who had felt secure enough to proclaim their allegiance to Mazdak
openly. Although the Shahnameh may be exaggerating the end of the
Mazdakites, it has captured the mind of the Persians to this day in
describing his end: “Kasra (Khusro) owned an estate with high walls.
He ordered holes to be dug there and had the followers of Mazdak
implanted, heads in the ground and feet upwards.”147 He then is said
to have told Mazdak to enter the garden of the estate to view the seeds
that he had sown and had borne fruit, and when the mowbed saw his

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 29

followers in such a state he cried aloud and fell to the ground. He

was then hung alive and killed by volleys of arrows. At the end of the
story, Ferdowsi proclaims: “If you are wise, do not follow the path of
Mazdak.”148
Khusro I (531–579 CE) represents the epitome of the philosopher-
king in Sasanian and Near Eastern history. There is so much that has
been attributed to him that it is quite difficult to discern fact from fic-
tion. But certainly he was able to capture the imagination of the people
of that region even after the fall of the Sasanians and the coming of
Islam. Khusro I’s reforms and changes to the empire were to become
a blue-print for Kings and Caliphs and Sultans alike. Before under-
taking major changes, however, he needed to secure his power on
the throne. His power was initially contested by his brother, Kawus,
whose stronghold was the north, in Mazandarān. Historical sources
have it that the nobles who did not favor Mazdak and his followers
sided with Khusro I. But in effect Khusro I followed his father’s vision
of administrative and economic reforms and in order to achieve this,
the power of the great noble houses needed to be reduced. Once this
had happened it appears that Khusro I presented himself as the anti-
Mazdakite candidate, aspiring to a time when there was stability and
social order, while in reality he was creating a new order after the
defeat and the destruction of the old order.
When Khusro I came to power as an anti-Mazdakite, he did not
restore the power of the great noble houses and the large landed aris-
tocracy, instead he favored the small landholding gentry known in
the Middle Persian sources and the Perso-Arabic sources as dehgāns/
dehghāns.149 The dehgāns would not only become the backbone of the
Sasanian military, but more importantly the economic foundation of
the state as tax collectors. They would also remain as the repository
of the Persian culture and history in time to come, up to the eleventh
century, when one of them in his poor economic state completed the
Shahnameh or the Book of Kings.
To secure the borders of the Persian Empire, Khusro built as
a defensive measure a series of walls (war), in a similar fashion to
Hadrian’s Wall in northern Britain and the Great Wall of China. The
Persian walls, however, were built on the borders of the four sides of
the empire. One was built in the northeast, along the Gurgan plain to
defend against the Hephthalites, one in the northwest at the Caucasus
passes, one in the southeast, and one in the southwest called the “wall
of the Arabs” (war ¯ı tāzı¯gān), in southwestern Persia.150
Intellectually, there seems to have been an opening of relations
and ideas with other people, especially India and Rome. Works on

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 30 Sasanian Persia

medicine, astronomy, mirrors for princes, fables and stories, and

manuals for games such as chess were brought and translated from
India.151 From Rome, musical instruments, various scientific works,
medical treatises, and philosophical texts were translated. Some phi-
losophers came to the court of Khusro I from Athens, especially after
the closing down of the school of neo-Platonists by Justinian. Khusro
I’s interest in philosophy is indicated by noting that he was called
“Plato’s Philosopher King.”152 More will be said about the cultural
development in the Sasanian empire in a separate chapter. Khusro I
and the Roman Emperor, Justinian, however, represented the enlight-
ened monarchs and memorable rulers of Late Antiquity. Their sense
of being just (ādel), as Persian texts refer to Khusro I, their campaign
in the codification of laws (probably begun in the time of Khusro I
and last compiled under Khusro II, the Madyān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān),
and administrative and military reforms took place almost simultane-
ously in both empires. Scholars argue whether one king influenced
the other, but rather than trying to see the process one way, one can
view the relations as reciprocal, where each encouraged and perhaps
wanted to outdo the other.
Khusro I made new administrative and military innovations as
well and completed Kawad’s reforms. He divided the empire into four
regions, placing a general (spāhbed) in each quadrant. Now instead of
the great General of the Iranians (Ērān Spāhbed) there were four spāhbeds
in the northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest. He created a
registry or dı¯wān for the military. He also drew on different tribal
people such as the Daylamites to enforce the military which in time
led to a different military composition whose loyalty lay with the king.
There were also tax reforms, where taxes were excised not only based
on the amount of land, but based on the type of product or produce.

WAR IN THE EAST AND IN THE WEST

With these reforms Khusro I was able to reinvigorate the Sasanian

Empire. The success of these reforms can be gleaned from his military
successes. In the east in 557–558 CE, Khusro I defeated the Hephthalites
and between 572 to 577 CE, checked Turkic incursions into the Near
East.153 In the west, Khusro I concluded negotiations with Justinian
which came to be known as The Eternal Peace in 532 CE, and it was
favorable to the Persians. The Persians would receive gold to protect
Caucasus pass, kept control over most of Armenia and Iberia and
the Romans relinquished their bases in Mesopotamia.154 In 540 CE,

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 31

however, Khusro I began a campaign in the west, being informed by

the Gothic king, Vitiges, of Justinian’s campaigning in North Africa
and Italy, and Armenian pleas for help from the Persians.155 He began
his campaign in Mesopotamia and Syria, where the city of Antioch
was taken.156 There was another campaign in 542 CE by Khusro I, but
a plague dissuaded the king from going further. Warfare continued in
543 CE where the Romans were defeated in Armenia, and in 544 the
Persians laid siege to Edessa, exacting a large amount of gold from
its inhabitants. In 540 CE at the instigation of the Armenians and the
Lazics, Khusro I again invaded Armenia to reduce Roman harass-
ment in the region. This war proved to be a long one, beginning in
541 and lasting until 557 CE when a truce was agreed upon. Then
Khusro I took to the eastern borders of his empire, waging war on the
Hepthtalites and defeating them, thereafter controlling the lands all
the way to the Oxus.
This truce lasted until 565 CE when Justinian died. When Justin II
became the new emperor, he demanded control over Suania.157 This
became a cause for war and war proved disastrous for the Romans and
by 573 CE the Persians had made substantial gains in the Caucuses,
Mesopotamia and Syria. Dara was again taken by Khusro I, which
was a blow to the already ill Justin.158 With the new emperor, Tiberius,
there were negotiations over Mesopotamia but the fighting contin-
ued in the Caucuses in 574–575 CE and then in Mesopotamia. This
phase of the war continued during the reign of Emperor Maurice and
beyond till the seventh century.159 Khusro I was able to gain a foot-
hold in the Arabian Peninsula, all the way to Yemen. Because of his
spectacular victories and achievements, Khusro I minted such legends
on his especial issue coinage as “Iranians has become fearless” (ērān
abē-bēm kard), and “Iranians became strong” (ērān abzōnhēnēd).160 This
is the Sasanian Empire at the apex of its glory and power, headed by
a philosopher-king.
Khusro’s son, Hormizd IV (579–590 CE), did not match his father’s
grandeur, nor his political outlook. He is noted for his arrogance, tyr-
anny and he made many enemies at the court.161 Sebeos tells us that
Hormizd IV was responsible for the killing of many of the nobility,
which must have made him much hated.162 He continued his support
of the landed gentry dehgans who probably grew in strength at the cost
of the nobility (āzādān) and dealt harshly with the Zoroastrian priests as
well. In the east in 589 CE, the Turks were met by the Sasanian General
Wahram Chubin, whose victory over them made the general famous
within the empire. He was from the noble Arsacid family of Mehran,
which could trace its genealogy further back than the Sasanians. When

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 32 Sasanian Persia

Wahram Chubin had a minor defeat in Armenia against the Romans,

Hormizd IV slandered him and made false accusations against him,
which caused the general to rebel and move towards Ctesiphon.163 With
the help of the nobility, led by Wistahm and Windoe, they deposed the
king and brought his son, Khusro II to power.
These events took place in 589–590 CE and it was quite important
that it was the first time someone outside the family of Sasan had
attempted to take over the empire, which probably was a shock to the
Sasanian family. This may characterize the strength of the centralized
system and the problems with Sasanian imperial propaganda, espe-
cially when a weak or hated king was on the throne. The institutions
which were reformed and strengthened during the time of Kavad I
and Khusro I were so powerful and entrenched by this time that they
functioned regardless of the political chaos. The same may be said
of the local affairs, where the dehgans became the important officials
and local matters became more important for the local population
than the political affairs of the empire. One can suggest that when fur-
ther damage was done to the Sasanian imperial image in the seventh
century, during the Arab Muslim conquest, it did not really shake up
the institutions and officials of the empire, in that the “system” con-
tinued to function under Muslim governors. This is evidenced by the
adoption of the Persian administrative system and its employees by
the Caliphate.

KHUSRO II AND THE EMPIRE AT ITS GREATEST

EXTENT

Turning to the late sixth century CE, Khusro II (590–628 CE) was not
able to withstand the forces of Wahram Chubin164 and did not feel
safe within the empire, so he fled to the Eastern Roman Empire in
590 CE, taking refuge in the city of Hierapolis and seeking the aid of
emperor Maurice.165 The Roman emperor supplied Roman and
mainly Armenian forces to Khusro II, enabling him to come back to
the empire that same year and defeat Wahram. The now renegade
general took to the east and was eventually assassinated at the instiga-
tion of Khusro by the Turks. We know that Wahram considered him-
self a legitimate king, since he minted coins for two years (590–591 CE),
in the first year in the southwest, primarily in Iraq and Media and then
in the second year in the northeast to where he had fled. Even after his
death, Wahram captured the imagination of the people who composed
songs and stories about him that survived in Arabic and Persian.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 33

When Khusro II came to the throne, he began to take revenge on

those who had had a hand in the murder of his father, although we are
not sure if he himself was innocent of the crime. His uncle Wistahm,
who had been Khusro’s supporter, was targeted by his enemies and as
a result he took himself to Media, minted coins in his own name and
probably lived there until 600 CE.166 So in the last decade of the sixth
century, two people who were not deemed to be the legitimate rulers
by the Sasanians minted coins. This is significant, since in 366 years,
no one except the Sasanian king was allowed or was able to mint coins
in his own name. It is with this damage to the Sasanian prestige that
we may turn to Khusro II’s conquests.
Khusro II consolidated his power around the Persian Gulf and
sent envoys to Arabia, as far as Mecca, to inquire about the situation.
The last king of al-Hira, al-Nu’man III ibn al-Mundir was killed and
the Lakhmid state put under other Persian loyalists in 602 CE. When
the Roman emperor Maurice was murdered and Phokas came to
the throne, Khusro II used this event as a pretext for the conquest of
Syria and beyond. First Roman Armenia was captured by Khusro
II,167 and in 604 CE with blazing speed, his two generals Shahin and
Shahrwaraz conquered Syria.168 Palestine and then Egypt were taken
in 619 CE, and the Persians even went as far as Libya,169 while Anatolia
was conquered between 619–622 CE. We have vivid descriptions by
Antiochus Strategos of the conquest of the city of Jerusalem in 614
CE and the taking of the holy cross which resonated negatively in the
Roman Empire and was much lamented.170 This shocked the Eastern
Roman empire which in 610 CE had made Heraclius its emperor.171
Heraclius was intent on leaving for North Africa, but it is said that
he was persuaded by the clergy to stay and with the aid of church
funds, he mounted a counterattack. From the Black Sea he entered
Armenia and went into the heart of the Persian Empire in 624 CE,
sacking the sacred Adur Farrobay temple at Ganzak172 in retaliation
for the taking of the “True Cross” by the Sasanains from Jerusalem.
The first real crusade between the Christian world and the East thus
had taken place, even before the Arab Muslims began their conquest.
Along with the retreating Persian army, the Persian nobility and
those attached to the Persians also retreated from Syria and Iraq.173
In a matter of years, Khusro II went from a world conqueror, emulat-
ing the Achaemenid territorial integrity to a humiliated king who was
unable to protect the sacred Zoroastrian fire-temples and his subjects.
Khusro II was removed in 628 CE by the nobility and the priests,
and all the conquered territories were returned to the Romans by
630 CE.174

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 34 Sasanian Persia

IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY, KINGSHIP AND POWER IN THE

SEVENTH CENTURY

In terms of imperial ideology we may say that while the early Sasanians
considered themselves to be from the lineage of the Gods, they also
used Persian Achaemenid and Parthian titles, such as “King of Kings”
on their coins and inscriptions. This heritage was set aside by the adop-
tion of the Kayanid ideology from the fourth to the sixth century CE.
However, Khusro II proclaimed a return to the dual heritage of the
Achaemenid and Kayanid ideology by minting coins in his name with
the title of “King of Kings” and also inscribing for the first time the
slogan, “increased in glory” (xwarrah abazūd). Xwarrah is central to the
ancient Persian royal ideology as demonstrated in the Avesta, and is a
prerequisite for rulership in the Iranian world. In Persian art this glory
is shown usually with a halo around the king’s head.175
Khusro II was a warrior-king similar to the kings of the early
Sasanian period. His grotto at Taq-ı̄ Bustan shows him in full body-
armor, characteristic of the Sasanian heavy cavalry, and shows the
deity, Anahid, the lady of the waters, above him. In many ways
Khusro II represents the culmination of Sasanian absolutism and a
return to the past glories for one last time. While Ohrmazd was held
to be supreme, at Taq-ı̄ Bustan one also encounters two other dei-
ties, namely Mihr and Anahid. These are the triple deities that were
worshiped by Artaxerxes II in the fifth century BCE, thus, there is a
full return to devotion to these deities. The opulence of the court of
Khusro II is clearly demonstrated by the Taq-ı̄ Bustan rock-relief,
where the king is shown on a boat, hunting, and musicians play-
ing their harps, along with the retinue. Khusro II has gone down in
Persian history as an opulent176 king who brought ruin to the Persian
Empire. But perhaps his religious policy, specifically his interest in
Christianity was a source of his condemnation by the Zoroastrian
sources.177 His favorite wife, Shirin is well known in the epic and
romance literature, and is also said to have propagated Christianity
in the empire,178 along his other Christian wife Maryam who was an
Eastern Roman princess.

FRATRICIDE AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE

SASANIAN EMPIRE

After Khusro II, Kavad II (Šērōe) came to the throne in 628 CE. He
committed fratricide, killing almost every eligible or capable male

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 35

heir in the Sasanian family. This again maybe due to the fact that
his father Khusro II had crowned a younger brother of his, named
Mardānšāh, as his heir. Nonetheless, Kavad II’s action would have a
devastating effect on the future of the empire. He did not want to be
associated with his father’s memory, a fact apparent from his coin-
age which reverted to the style of Khusro I.179 In 629 CE however,
Kavad II made a peace treaty with Heraclius in which he returned
all the lands that were held by the Sasanians,180 and the Persian gen-
eral Shahrwaraz met the emperor at Arabissus Tripotamus, where the
Eupharates became the permanent boundary between the Sasanian
Persian and the Roman empires.181 Kavad II was himself assassinated,
like his brothers, which further demonstrates the beleaguered state of
royal affairs at Ctesiphon.
In 630 CE, Kavad’s young son, Ardashir III came to the throne and
it was during his reign that for a third time the Sasanian family was
challenged by an outsider. This was the Sasanian general who had
fought and led the armies of Khusro II, Shahrwaraz. He soon entered
the capital, Cetsiphon, and put an end to the rule of the young king
and proclaimed himself the new King of Kings. His actions may have
been partly the result of his respect for Khusro II, since he punished
and killed all those who had had a hand in the murder of the fallen
king. His peace with Heraclius in 629 CE and probably the latter’s
backing, according to one Armenian source, gave Shahrwaraz the
impetus to conquer and take over the throne.182 This again was a
serious setback to the Sasanian imperial ideology. However, he was
not able to secure his throne and in a matter of months he, too, was
killed.183

QUEEN BURAN AND THE DECLINE OF SASANIAN

LEGITIMACY

One of the daughters of Khusro II, named Buran, came to the throne
in 630 CE and ruled for two years.184 Her rule was a period of consoli-
dation of the imperial power and the rebuilding of the empire. She
attempted to consolidate the empire and relieve the population of
heavy taxes, as the Islamic sources report. Her notions of the past and
respect for her father are also clear, since she reverted her coinage type
to that of her father. She also minted gold coins which were ceremonial
in nature and were not meant for wide circulation which, however,
stated that she was the restorer of her lineage, i.e., the race of gods
which was emphasized in the early Sasanian period. The legend on her

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 36 Sasanian Persia

coin reads: “Buran, restorer of the race of Gods” (Bōrān ¯ı yazdān tōhm
winārdār).185 Of course something should be said of a woman assum-
ing the throne in the Sasanain Empire. She was probably brought to
the throne because of the fact that she was the only legitimate heir,
along with her sister, who could rule, as Kavad II had murdered all of
her brothers.186 Buran also attempted to keep good relations with the
Romans and sent the Catholicos Mar Isho-Yab to Heraclius and so she
had the opportunity to reorganize the empire.187
Buran was also deposed by another Sasanian general and here
we see that the military generals are assuming power in the face of
the shaken institution of kingship, the competing nobility and the
Zoroastrian priests. Following her, Queen Azarmigduxt ruled for a
brief period, and her coins have the bust of a man, probably a reuse of
the older coins, not having enough time to mint new coins. Between
630 CE when Buran died to 632 CE when Yazdgerd III assumed the
throne, there were a number of “contender-kings” who assumed the
throne and were either removed or were challenged by other distant
members of the family of Sasan. This period may be called a period
of factionalism and division within the empire. We have a list of kings
who struck coins and others who are known only from the literary
sources, but this era is confusing in terms of succession and only a
tentative sequence of rulers can be supplied. The list is as follows:
Jošnasbandah, Azarmigduxt, Hormizd V, Khusro III, Peroz II, and
Khusro IV.188 The late Sasanian Empire was beginning to resemble
the Parthian feudal system before the fall of the Arsacids. This system
left the local officials and dehgans as the most powerful elite, since the
rulers and governors were not able to hold power.189 From the numis-
matic evidence it appears that Hormizd V, Khusro III, Peroz II and
Khusro IV ruled different areas of the empire simultaneously from the
end of 631 CE to 637 CE, when Yazdgerd III had already been on the
throne for some years.190
Thus we can say that during this period, some power resided at the
capital at Cetisphon where the king was crowned, and in the prov-
inces the deposed kings moved from province to province, and the
dehgans who were probably the most numerous, working with the local
Zoroastrian priests, ruled the different regions of the empire. It is omi-
nous that Yazdgerd III was crowned at the Anhāhı̄d fire-temple at
Istakhr in 632 CE, the old center of power for the family of Sasan. This
may be not just a symbolic act, but also a reflection of the region’s loy-
alty to the Sasanian family, making Yazdgerd feel secure in Fars. His
rule, however, coincided with the Arab Muslim invasion of the Near
East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

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 Political history of Iran and an-Iran 37

YAZDGERD III: THE WANDERING KING OF THE

IRANIANS

Yazdgerd III was forced to move from province to province demand-

ing loyalty, money and support. During this monarch’s rule, Persia
looked like the medieval Germanic system of rule, i.e., a Wandering
Kingship. From 633 CE, the Arabs were able to enter Iraq but were
defeated at the battle of the Bridge in 634 CE. In 636 CE at the battle of
Qadisiyya the Sasanians under the leadership of Rustam were defeated
and the capital, Ctesiphon, fell to the Arab Muslims who entered it
unopposed, with the nobility and the courtiers fleeing before them
to the heart of Persia.191 Under Caliph Umar’s direction, Khuzistan
fell in 642 CE and in the same year Media was taken at the battle of
Nı̄hāvand. This laid the heart of Persia open to conquest without any
major resistance. We should remember that during the reforms of
Kavad I and Khusro I the army was divided into four contingents,
each placed at a bordering region. Thus when one army was defeated,
the heart of the empire was laid open. The in-fighting between fac-
tions must have also depleted the unity and power of the standing
army. The Arab Muslim victory was successful for a series of reasons.
In addition to the internal problems, the heavy Sasanian cavalry was
no match for the Arab light cavalry which was much more maneu-
verable. The Islamic texts usually report the number of the Persian
soldiers to have been in the hundreds or tens of thousands and several
times larger than the Arab armies. This is pure fiction and it is boastful
literature which aims to aggrandize Arab Muslim achievement, which
may be compared to the Greek accounts of the Greco-Persian wars.
The Sasanian army would not have been able to muster such a large
force against the Arabs, since many had been killed or were not pres-
ent because of the long wars with the Roman Empire and the internal
strife. In any case, Yazdgerd III fled to Persis, but the Arabs were able
to conquer that region by 650 CE and he was forced to flee to the east.
There he was faced with local officials who were unwilling to help him
and he was defeated by a confederation of local officials, the margrave
of Merv and the Hephthalite ruler of Bāghdı̄s. Tradition has it that he
was killed in 651 CE in Merv by a miller who did not recognize that
Yazdgerd was the King of Kings.
The sons of Yazdgerd III fled to the east asking the T’ang emperor,
Gaozong, to aid them in their battle against the Arab Muslims. Peroz,
the elder son of Yazdgerd III established a kingdom called the “Persian
Area Command” (Bosi dudufu) at Sistan, stationed at Zarang between
658 and 663 CE. He was recognized as the legitimate king of Persia by

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 38 Sasanian Persia

the Chinese,192 but by 674–675 CE we hear that he went to the Chinese

capital, probably because of further Arab Muslim victories.193 He died
in around 679 CE and his son Narseh was placed on the throne of
Persia in exile. Peroz has been remembered by a stone statue of him
which is still in existence at the entrance of the mausoleum of Gaozong
with the inscription: “Peroz, King of Persia, Grand General of the
Right Courageous Guard and Commander-in-chief of Persia.”194
There the family of Sasan kept their royal status, became military gen-
erals, and had temples built at Tun-huang (sha-chou), Wu-wei (Liang-
chou), Ch’ang-an (founded in 631 CE) and at Loyang and lived along
with the other Persians who had been there for commercial activity
or had fled as a result of the Arab Muslim conquest.195 The other son
of Yazdgerd III, Wahram (Aluohan in Chinese sources) attempted to
recapture the lost territories from the Arab Muslims. Although he was
ultimately unsuccessful and died in 710 CE,196 the Middle Persian texts
especially a small Middle Persian poem called Abar Madan ¯ı Wahram ¯ı
Warzāwand (On the Coming of the Miraculous Wahram) may have
a kernel of truth in regard to his campaigns. Wahram’s son, Khusro
(Juluo in Chinese sources) with the aid of the Turks invaded Persia, but
was not able to defeat the Arabs either and this is the last time we hear
of someone from the family of Sasan trying to capture the throne of
Persia.197 The Arab Muslims conquerors met stiff resistance in parts
of the empire from some of the dehgāns and the Zoroastrian priests as
well, while others agreed to pay a poll-tax and remain in charge of
their territory and submit to the Arab governors. Part of the Sasanian
military also joined the Arab forces and as a result kept their status
and continued the conquest of the region and Central Asia. The con-
quest brought Asia closer together and now Arabs, Persians, Indians
and the Chinese met each other on the Silk Road again, and with less
strife. After Wahram’s death the Persians had to wait only 40 years to
topple the Arab rulers at Damascus, and by the ninth century, they
would establish their own independent dynasties in Persia. Even then
the Muslims rulers, be it Persian, Arab, or Turkish, remembered the
Sasanians and claimed to be the descendants of Sasan in one way or
another.198 The family of Sasan was never forgotten.

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 Chapter 2

The Society of Iranshahr

A constant feature of Iranian history is the symbiotic relationship

between the settled population and the nomadic tribes. However,
because of the lack of sources we only have a glimpse of this relation-
ship, and it is only when the nomadic tribes aid or disrupt the impe-
rial order that they come to light in our sources. There are different
ways of approaching the study of Persian society in late antiquity, and
the traditional view has been to look at the class divisions established
by the Sasanian monarchy using the archaic religious tradition of the
Avestan period. The Sasanians with the establishment of Iranshahr
transposed Avestan norms and also its class structure onto the soci-
ety in the Iranian plateau. The existing society, however, was not the
same society of antiquity and had its own characteristics which had
developed in the Achaemenid and the Parthian period. For our pur-
pose here it is important to look at the society of Iranshahr through the
prism of Sasanian world-view and that is class organization. Still, one
should have the nomadic traditions in sight when discussing the urban
history of Sasanian Iran. Alessandro Bausani in his brilliant book I
Persiani1 has outlined the main features of the interaction between the
urban and the nomadic population in Islamic Iran and some of its
tenets may be applicable to Sasanian Iran as well.

ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY: NOMADISM VS.

URBANISM

Sasanian empire aimed to be an urban empire. It appears that

more people settled in the old and new cities which were part of the
Sasanians’ urbanization plan. For example, by the end of the Sasanian
period, Mesopotamia had the largest population density in the

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 40 Sasanian Persia

pre-modern period. This was not an accident, rather it was part of a

plan of urbanization, road and dam building project of the Sasanian
empire in its heartland. The establishment of cities is the main fea-
ture of the Sasanian state-building program which had political,
social and economic repercussions for late antique Persian society.
Middle Persian texts such as the Šahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Iranšahr (The Provincial
Capitals of Iranshahr) demonstrate the vigor with which the Sasanian
kings established and re-established cities under their own names.
Ardashir I himself is credited with having established many cities,
the most important being Ardashir-xwarrah in Persis, and Shabuhr I
established even more cities, again the most notable being Iran-xwar-
rah- Shabuhr.2 The insertion of the word Iran as part of city names as
has been suggested was purposeful and was based on Avestan ideas
and linked archaic “myth” and “epos” of Persia in the third century
CE.3 The appearance of Iran-xwarrah as part of city names is part of
the revival of the Avestan ideology of “glory of the Aryans” which
demonstrates Sasanian ideological beliefs.4 Many of the cities were
also populated by Romans, Goths, and people of different religious
persuasions such as Christians, and probably pagans from the Fertile
Crescent and other captives seized during the wars with Rome. These
deportations resulted in the influx of a non-Persian population into
the empire. Many of these captives were skilled workers, such as engi-
neers, who were put to use in the building of royal cities, and of the
infrastructure such as bridges and dams while the Persian population
became acquainted with Roman technology. The economic impact of
this deportation and settlement was very important and will be dealt
with in the chapter on economy. Still it appears that in part the reason
why Shabuhr I undertook military campaigns in the west was to col-
lect booty and payment from the Romans, the bolstering of Sasanian
power in the Caucuses, Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, and
the importation of skilled workers to populate newly built or re-
established cities in the empire. This is especially true for the establish-
ment of the royal cities and their workshops which were populated by
foreign workers. This action also had another implication which even-
tually caused an influx of Christians and the spread of Christianity in
the empire.5
As opposed to the settled population we have little evidence of the
nomadic tribes which inhabited the Iranian plateau. The most promi-
nent group of nomads are designated by the word (Middle Persian)
kurd. While the word may have stood for the Kurdish people who
were nomadic, in the Middle Persian literature it was used for nomads
in a larger sense who may have had an uneasy relationship with the

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 The Society of Iranshahr 41

urban minded Sasanians. Their co-option into the Sasanian military,

if we are to believe Ibn Balkhi’s account, would suggest that they were
ultimately utilized by the state.6 The same would hold true for the
Daylamite and Gilani tribes who are much better known and who
were also used in the military in the Sasanian and the Islamic period
as well. The other group worth mentioning is the Kermani who also
appear to have been a nomadic tribe and are said to have lived in
the province of Persis, according to Istakhri. Both the Kurds and the
Kermanis appear in Middle Persian texts as part of an army which
corroborates their usage in the Sasanian/early Islamic military.7
Between the city dwelling population and the nomads the landed
gentry (dehgāns) played an important role, and their prominence was to
come to the fore from the sixth century CE onward due to the reforms
of Kavad I and Khusro I.

ŠĀHĀN ŠĀH: THE KING OF KINGS AND THE ORDER

OF THINGS

At the head of the Sasanian Empire stood the King of Kings (Šāhān
Šāh). His well-being and health was always prayed for and the slogan
“May you be immortal” (anōšag bawēd) was used to respond to him.
On the Sasanian coins, from the sixth century one finds the sun and
moon on the four quadrants which suggest that the king was at the
center of the world and the sun and moon revolved around him. In
effect he was the “king of the four corners of the world,” which was an
old Mesopotamian idea. All other rulers were his subordinates, since
there were three other minor thrones present at the court for Roman,
Turkic and Chinese rulers. The awe inspiring court and throne room
is given detailed treatment in Sasanian sources. The king’s dress was
colorful and he wore makeup and his beard was adorned with gold,
with a crown which was so heavy that it was suspended from the
ceiling.8
When one had the chance of coming before the king, he/she saw
the King of Kings behind a curtain, hidden from the eyes of the com-
mon person. The idea of distance between the ruler and the masses
was something which can also be found in the Roman and the Chinese
world. These rulers must have been conscious of each other’s court
protocols and tried to copy and outdo one another. When coming
before the Persian king one prostrated oneself (pad rōy obast) which was
known as Prosykenisis in the Eastern Roman and Kowtow in the Chinese
world. He was only to be in contact with the “Keeper of the Curtain”

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 42 Sasanian Persia

(xorram-bāš) and it was through him that the desires of the king were
made known. This was the private side of Persian kingship. He, how-
ever, gave audience to the people on two major occasions, the New
Year (Nowruz) and the Mihragan. As de Jong has suggested, these two
festivals brought the different classes, or at least their leaders together
and bound the society under the rulership of the king. By the exchange
of gifts, this solidarity between the institution of kingship and the
different classes was emphasized and maintained symbolically.9 It
is also noteworthy to mention that these two festivals fell exactly six
months apart from one another which meant that this connection
could be maintained on a regular and steady basis through the year.
Early Sasanian kings were considered divine, as they themselves men-
tioned in their royal inscriptions. They were known as bay “divine,”
which can also be translated as “majesty,” whose lineage was tied to the
deities. Thus, the king was not an ordinary human being and was to be
respected and conveyed an air of holiness. In time when Zoroastrian
theology and imperial propaganda had developed further, the kings
emphasized their sacred duty even more. As Ohrmazd had estab-
lished order out of chaos and battled chaos in the cosmos, so the king
battled and fought chaos to bring back order on earth. Through order
the well-being of the people was secured and this well-being was only
feasible through the dispensation of justice by the king. This title is
very much associated with one of the most famous Sasanian kings,
Khusro I who ruled in the sixth century CE. If the king was unjust,
then the society could be thrown into chaos. On the other hand if
society and its order fell into disorder, it was incumbent upon the king
to bring back order in society. By order here one means an orderly class
division which according to our sources was upheld vehemently.

PĒŠAG: CLASS DIVISION

With the urban-minded Sasanians we must turn to the city and urban
social organizations in order to understand the social history of Persia.
In was in this milieu that the Sasanians were best able to control and
expand their socio-political patterns. It must be emphasized that we
are unsure at which time class ordering and divisions reached their
ultimate rigidity or even how rigid they really were, since it is only
the eighth and ninth century Middle Persian texts written from a
religious perspective that supply detailed information in this regard.
These texts may suggest an ideal social ordering, thus they represent
Sasanian aspirations which were certainly at work. One may state that

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 The Society of Iranshahr 43

by the end of the third century CE this rigidity may have begun to
take shape. The various sources suggest that there were four estates or
classes (pēšag) which were recognized by the state and propagated by
the religious apparatus.
The priests (āsrōnān) composed a class which was further
divided in rank and function: the chief priests (mowbedān), priests attend-
ing the fires (hērbedān), expert theologians (dastūrān), judges (dādwarān),
and learned priests (radān) were chosen from the ranks of the religious
body. If one looks at such texts as the Hērbedestān one comes across
more priestly titles, which attest to their importance and specialty in
their religious activity.10 They functioned in various capacities within
the state apparatus and the court as well. As mentioned, the judges
were from this estate because they were the ones who had knowledge
about those religious matters which regulated the laws and norms of
the empire. They also acted as councilors (andarzbed) and, based on
the epigraphic remains, we know of councilor-priests (mowān andarz-
bed) who were also important functionaries. Other important priestly
offices included the Priest of Ohrmazd (ohrmazd mowbed).11 We must
remind ourselves that these titles were not all created at one time or the
beginning of the Sasanian dynasty, but rather there was a proliferation
of ranks and titles as the administrative and religious apparatus of the
state grew. By the fifth century CE each class of priests had their own
chief and we have evidence for two of them, the chief of the mowbeds
known as mowbedān mowbed, and for the teacher-priests attending the
fires, the hērbedān hērbed.
The priests were trained in seminaries where religious scripture
and the prayers were learned and memorized and theological matters
were discussed under supervision. These religious schools included
the mowestāns and hērbedestāns. In certain sources we also come across
a title which appears to have been the highest position among the
priests which may be translated as “Zoroaster-like” (zarduxšttom).12 The
zarduxšttom’s residence is not clear but he certainly had to remain in the
empire and not venture out if we are to accept the Middle Persian
texts.13 The term which covered the religious body as a whole was
dēnbarān who were concerned with learning and culture (frahang).14
The performance of correct ritual ceremonies brought about the suc-
cess of the warriors against the enemy and of the farmers for better
cultivation of the land and salvation for the masses.15 Thus not only
their guidance, but also their actions, made certain the well being of
the society. The Middle Persian text the Dādestān ¯ı Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad spells
out the functions of the priest and those activities in which they should
not partake. These include the usual expectations from a priest of any

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 44 Sasanian Persia

religion: “to uphold the religion, worshipping the deities, passing judg-
ments in religious and ritual matters based on past testaments, direct-
ing people to do well, and to show the way to heaven and to invoke the
fear of hell.”16
Not all priests were of course working in the state apparatus or were
part of the Zoroastrian state church; some were either denounced or
simply seen as heretic. The priests not only functioned in the religious
and the legal apparatus, but also in the economic sphere as well. They
were in charge of overlooking the taxes which were to be collected for
the state as evidenced by the appearance of their signature in the form
of signet rings on bullae “or the ostraca evidence”. In one instance
a priest is condemned for cheating or lying over which the religious
courts had jurisdiction.17 The hērbeds also functioned as teachers of
the religious hymns and rituals for the people, and their religious focal
point was probably the fire-temples (ātaxš kadag). A Middle Persian
text supplies a list of the sections of the Avesta which may have been
memorized by the hērbedān which were the Yašt, Hādōxt, Baγān, and the
Wı¯dēwdād. They must have also learned the meaning or its translation,
i.e., the zand.18 Christian martyrologies of the sixth century also attest
to the memorization and chanting of the sacred hymns. A large num-
ber of structures which have come to be known as Chahar Taq were
probably these centers (fire-temples), which the Zoroastrian popula-
tion frequented. Not only those who wanted to say their prayer before
the fire or listen to the hērbed, but also in time of hunger and thirst
people would seek the fire-temples for relief.19
By the late Sasanian period there were probably wide gaps in
terms of priestly functions and outlook which parallel Christianity in
Medieval Europe. This means that the mowbedān mowbed and other
groups of priests lived in luxury and opulence and functioned in the
administrative apparatus as apparent from their signet rings, while
others lived a simple life and toiled and worked the land. The sixth
book of the Dēnkard has preserved for us an important passage in which
two priests till the land and pull water from the well and recite their
religious mantras.20 A priest of high rank passes by and sees their activ-
ity which impresses him and consequently he sends them thousands of
silver coins (drahms) along with the sign of nobility (wandag ¯ı āzādı¯h).21
They, however, only take two drahms and send the rest back, stating
that they will only take what is needed. This story, however, dogmatic
in nature, demonstrates using Christian terminology, an ascetic life-
style. It may have gained prominence for a group of priests (in our text
these being hērbeds) which portrays a very different picture of Sasanian
Zoroastrianism.22 The most important fire-temple in the empire

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 The Society of Iranshahr 45

belonged to the priestly estate known as Adur Farrobay and it was their
ceremonial center.
The warriors (artēštārān) composed the second estate of the soci-
ety and their function was to protect the empire and its subjects,
the armies were initially headed by an Iran-spahbed “General of the
Empire.” Later during the time of Kavad and his son, Khusro I,
this office was abolished and four spahbed “generals” were assigned
to the four quarters (kusts) of the empire. By then another office, the
(artēštārān sālār) “Generalissimo,” had assumed the highest rank in the
Sasanian army. The army included and gained the support of the local
kings (šahrdārān); princes related to the king (wispuhrān); the grandees
(wuzurgān); and the gentry (āzādān). The function of the warriors who
were in effect the largest part the nobility was to protect the empire,
and to deal with people with gentility and keep their oath.23 By the late
Sasanian period, however, the enlisting of nomadic mercenary forces
weakened the position of the upper classes in the military.
There were divisions within the military including the cavalry
(aswārān) and the foot soldiers (paygān). Just as the clergy had to attend
seminaries, the soldiers were also to be trained in the military sci-
ences and manuals of military warfare which were in existence and
whose remnants are present in the artēštārestān in the Dēnkard.24 The
alliance between the priests and the warriors was of paramount impor-
tance since the idea of Iranshahr, which had manifested itself under
the Sasanians as a set territory and ruled by the warrior aristocracy,
conceptually had been developed and revived by the priests. This alli-
ance was very important in the survival of the state at the beginning
of the Sasanian Empire, and it became part of the idyllic axiom of the
Zoroastrian religion, where religion and the state were seen as two pil-
lars which were inseparable from each other. It was believed that one
would not be able to survive without the other. In reality, both groups
attempted to impose their will on the other and this long battle caused
the final fragmentation and the weakening of the empire.
The army was known as (spāh) and was divided into further divi-
sions. The cavalry (aswārān) was the most important part of the army,
which usually consisted of the wuzurgān and the āzādān and those who
showed exceptional talent in the art of war. In the fourth century CE
Ammianus Marcellinus describes the Persian cavalry. It was clad in
body armor, with helmets which only had holes for the eyes. Their
horses were also covered with armor; the groto of Khusro II at Taq-ı̄
Bustan represents the culmination of the advancement in Sasanian
armor, but still reminds us of the description by Ammianus Marcelinus.
Their weapons, based on al-Tabarı̄’s description of the reforms under

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 46 Sasanian Persia

Khusro I, included: horse mail, soldier’s mailed coat, breastplate, leg

armor plates, sword, lance, shield, mace, and fastened at his waist,
a girdle, battle ax, or club, bow case containing two bows with their
strings, thirty arrows, and two plaited cords.25 By the sixth century the
chancery of Warriors (Arabic dı¯wān al-muqātilah) set a stable stipend for
cavalry.26 It was from among these soldiers that the elite corps called
“the Immortals,” was chosen27 and whose leader was probably the
puštigbān-sālār “Commander of the Royal Guard.”
There was also a light cavalry which was composed of mercenar-
ies or tribal people in the empire which included the Dailamites,
Gilanis, Georgians, Armenians, Turks, Arabs, Kushans, Khazars and
Hephtalites who were feared by the Romans. The other form of cav-
alry which was used in wars was the elephant corps (pı¯l-bānān). These
animals could be considered the tanks of the ancient world and the
Persian proximity to India ensured a steady supply of these animals.
Ammianus Marcelinus describes the elephants as having an awful fig-
ure and savage, gaping mouths, they could scarcely be endured by the
faint-hearted, and looked like walking towers.28 Based on Tabarı̄ we
can see that elephants were used as early as the third century CE in the
reign of Shabuhr I who used war elephants to raze the city of Hatra.29
Piruz used 50 elephants in his campaign against the Hephthalites in
the fifth century CE;30 a relief at Taq-ı̄ Bustan depict elephant corps
during the time of Khusro II; and according to Islamic sources they
were used against the Arabs in the seventh century.
The infantry (paygān) was headed by the paygān-sālār “commander
of the infantry.” They were fitted with shields and lances; behind
them in the battle line were the archers. Maurice’s Strategicon gives us
detailed information on the strategies, as well as the intricacies and
differences between the weapons and their uses between the Persian
and the Roman soldiers.31 Naturally the cavalry and the infantry
forces required a huge logistical apparatus which was sustained by
the conscripts among the population, to feed, repair weapons, tend to
the wounded, establish tents, etc. The Sasanians also utilized Roman
know-how when it came to the use of siege weapons which included
scorpions, balistae, battering rams, moving towers, catapults, and
moles.
Something should be said of the Sasanian navy, since it was instru-
mental from the beginning when Ardashir I conquered the Arab side
of the Persian Gulf.32 The control of the Persian Gulf was a necessity
militarily as well as economically, making it safe from piracy, Roman
encroachment, and controlling the Arab tribes. Again based on al-
Tabarı̄ it appears that the Persian ships (kaštı¯g) held 100 men and eight

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 The Society of Iranshahr 47

of them were sent to Yemen during the rule of Khusro I in the sixth
century.33 Another early Islamic source corroborates that Khusro I
had sent 100 men each on eight ships, which suggests the Persian naval
vessels carried up to 100 men. The interesting point of the story is that
the men were those who were confined to his prison. Thus it could not
have been a very effective naval force. As the story goes, six of the ships
arrived safely to the shores of Aden under the command of Wahriz.34
The leader of the navy would have had the title of *nāvbed.35
The other titles and classifications that we have are again from
late sources where we are told that there were several other military
positions which included Commander of the forts (argbed), warden of
marches (marzbāns), the hereditary title of the general of Tūs in the east
kanārang, and the army General (gund-sālār).36 The warrior estate also
had a designated fire-temple, Adur Gushnasp which was only second to
Adur Farrobay. This fire-temple was at Shiz, near Ganzak at the south-
east direction of Lake Urmiya, where the king and the warriors went to
worship. Wahram Gur (V) sent booty of jewelry to be hung in the fire-
temple after defeating the Turks in his campaign against them.37 What
we should remember is that Ardashir I made similar offerings to the
fire-temple of Anahid at Istakhr in the third century CE. His offerings
were the heads of the rebels, but this fact may suggest that while the
Zoroastrian priests dominated the Anāhid fire-temple, Adur Gushnasp
may have taken some specific cultic function.
The third estate consisted of the husbandmen (wāstaryōšān), and
farmers (dahigān), whose function was to till the land and keep the
empire prosperous, and were represented by a chief of husbandmen
(wāstaryōšān sālār). They were producers of the foodstuffs as well as the
tax base for the empire and as a result the land under cultivation was
surveyed by the government and taxes exacted from it. During the
reforms of the Kavad and Khusro I, land and the different types of
yield and taxes were estimated based on its production. Cultivation
of the land was a beneficent act in the Zoroastrian religion and letting
it sit idle a sin. The function of the farmers was “farming and bring-
ing cultivation and as much as possible, bringing ease and prosper-
ity.”38 Adur Burzenmihr was the third major fire-temple which existed in
the empire and it was the place where the husbandmen went during
certain ceremonial occasions.
The fourth estate was much more numerous than the other three
and treated somewhat separately by Zoroastrian law. They were the
artisans (hutuxšān).39 Based on the structure and the differentiating lan-
guage in our Middle Persian texts, one understands an uneasiness of
the priests with the artisans/merchants. The text, the Dādestān ¯ı Mēnōg

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 48 Sasanian Persia

¯ı Xrad (Chapter 30), discusses the function of first three estates, and
while the priests, warriors, and the husbandmen are treated under this
chapter the artisans are treated in a separate section (Chapter 31). The
language and the length employed in specifying the function of this
estate demonstrates the negative view of the Zoroastrians in regard
to the artisan class: “(They) should not undertake a task with which
they are not familiar, and perform well and with concentration those
tasks which they know. Ask for fair wages, because if someone does
not know a task and performs that task, it is possible for him to ruin it
or leave it unfinished, and that man himself is satisfied it would be a
sin for him.”40
The negative tone of this passage as compared with that of the previ-
ous passage dealing with the first three estates demonstrates that when
the Zoroastrian priests began to codify laws in regard to social matters,
the artisans/merchants were placed at the very bottom.41 This dim
view of the artisans or the merchant class is especially important in
the face of the large number of artisans/merchants in Persia in Late
Antiquity. This negative view somewhat contributed to the reduction
of the Zoroastrian involvement towards these tasks and the movement
of religious minorities toward artisanship and commerce. It appears
the government was never involved in opening economic markets or
actively engaged in business, but rather private corporations were to
be the major proponents of trade. The government was only to assure
the upkeep and safety of the roads and to exact toll road taxes. It was
the individual who contributed most to the flourishing economy.
The Sogdian “Merchants” who lived in the northeastern territory
of the Sasanian Persian empire were not necessarily Zoroastrian and
were open to religious ideas of different traditions.42 When we hear of
Persian colonies established in the Far East for commerce and trade
in such things as silk, the Christian Persians become more prominent.
The Christians would have used this anti-Zoroastrian stance in regard
to artisanship and commerce to their advantage, filled this gap in soci-
ety, and through patronage enlarged their numbers. Christian atti-
tudes were much more positive than those of the Zoroastrians towards
commerce and artisanship, and this may be a reason for the strength
of Christianity in the aftermath of the Islamic conquest of the Near
East. While the Manichaean Hearers were artisans and merchants,
the Manichaean Elect, much like Zoroastrianism priests, did not con-
cern themselves with commerce. This is especially interesting in light
of the fact that the Elect were dependent on the Hearers for their basic
needs. This may be a reason why Islam spread rapidly when it was
introduced to the Iranian plateau, because it was business-friendly.

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 The Society of Iranshahr 49

From the seventh century the Sogdian merchants, the Manichaean

artisans, and the Zoroastrian businessmen saw Islam as a religion that
was pro-commerce and supported this estate.43 After all the Prophet
Muhammad, a merchant himself, lived in Mecca, an important com-
mercial city, and he was well aware of the importance of the merchant
class in society. The same reason may be given for the disappearance
of Buddhism in eastern Persia (including Afghanistan), where eco-
nomic matters enforced religious gravitations toward Islam. There
is an irony in such a scenario in which the state was aware of the fact
that the artisan/merchant class was a great source of income, wealthy
and powerful, but it still focused on agriculture which was the dom-
inant mode of production, and kept the artisans and merchants as
the lowest strata of the society. Perhaps the religious foundations of
Persian society also enforced this negative view to the rise and accep-
tance of the artisan/merchant class as an important group, and con-
sequently artisan/merchant gravitation towards Manichaeism and
Christianity first, and then to Islam became natural.
The royal workshops were controlled by the state to hold up the
standards in the making of such commodities as the silver dishes used
as propaganda instruments and production of glass and other goods
for the nobility. Roman, Goths and Mesopotamian skilled workers
were among this group which used Roman techniques in artistic pro-
duction. Then the cities where these foreign laborers were established
and those who functioned in the royal workshops were kept under
close watch. A guild Master (Kārragbed) was in charge of the produc-
tion and the workers. The absence of a fourth major fire-temple for
this artisan/merchant estate also signifies their lowly status and/or
the number of non-Zoroastrian members of the estate. All four estates
were overseen by a pēšag sālār which according to legal texts was the
chief of the estates.44
This is a general division of the society according to the Middle
Persian and Islamic sources, but we may look at the society in terms
of two groups as well: the haves and have not, or the nobility and the
masses. In this division one can make distinctions between court life,
and the life of the others, and finally the poor, slaves and the mob.
Women were not to be treated separately but as part of the society,
where the class that a woman was born into dictated her rights and
privileges, governed by the Zoroastrian law which covered all of
the society. The metics were also an important part of the society,
especially since many were forcibly settled in the empire during the
kings’ campaigning in the west, for the repopulation of the empire
and the introduction of new skilled workers. This group, which was

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 50 Sasanian Persia

mainly composed of Romans, Goths and the Christian population

of Syria, were again used as farmers and slaves, depending on their
skills.

COURTLY LIFE AND FOOD BASED ON MIDDLE

PERSIAN SOURCES

From the textual and the material evidence the court life and the life
of the nobility was extravagant and pleasurable. In the Middle Persian
text Khusro and the Page (Xusrō ud Redag), the various foods, drinks, des-
serts and games in which the nobility engaged are spelled out. We
have already mentioned the important court activity of feasting (bazm),
in which the courtiers gathered, ate, drank, and made merry. These
courtly events are depicted on silver plates showing the king seated,
while dancing girls perform to the musicians. A variety of musical
instruments and musicians existed which included the harp-player
(čang-srāy), vina-player (win-srāy), the long-necked-lute-player (win-
kannār-srāy), the Pandean flute-player (sūr-pı¯k-srāy), the cither-player
(tambūr-srāy), the lyre-player (barbut-srāy) the flute-player (nāy-srāy), and
hand-drum-player (dumbalag-srāy).45
Juggling and other performances such as rope-dancing (rasan
wāzı¯g), chain-playing (zanjı¯r-wāzı¯g), pole-climbing (dār-wāzı¯g), snake-
charming (mār-wāzı¯g), hoop-springing (čambar-wāzı¯g), arrow-playing
(tı¯r-wāzı¯g), cup-juggling (tās-wāzı¯g), rope-walking (wandag-wāzı¯g),
air-playing (andarwāy-wāzı¯g), pole-and-shield-playing (mēx ud spar-
wāzı¯g), armor-playing (zēn-wāzı¯g), ball-playing (gōy-wāzı¯g), jav-
elin-playing (sil-wāzı¯g), dagger-playing (šamšēr-wāzı¯g), club-play-
ing (warz-wāzı¯g), bottle-juggling (šı¯šag-wāzı¯g), and monkey-playing
(kabı¯g-wāzı¯g)46 performed before the court, while the cook (xwahlı¯gar)47
stood attentively beside the fire and the food, covering his mouth so
as not to contaminate the royal feast. Maidens of good voice (xwaš
āwāz) also sang along while playing their harps (čang-srāy-kanı¯g) along
with a vina-player (win-srāy),48 while the dancing girls poured wine
in the cups and courtesans kept them warm. The musician/minstrel
(huniyāgar) who was known under other names such as rāmišgar, or gosān
and later chamagu of course did not necessarily need to be a female. In
fact the most famous is the legendary Bārbad at the court of Khusro II
who sang along with the other legendary female counterpart, Nakisā
and sang about the story of the king and his favorite wife, Shirin.49 In
fact there exists a categorization of “voices” (wāng), in the Zoroastrian
tradition where “vina-voice” (win wāng) is described as singing by

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 The Society of Iranshahr 51

the righteous and the Avesta was read in the same manner which was
accompanied by a kind of string (zı¯h) instrument.50 This is reminis-
cent of the Manichaean tradition, where hymn-singers (mahrsarāyān)
sang the sacred words accompanied by string and other instruments.51
This oppulance and atmosphere of entertainment at the court, espe-
cially at the time of Khusro I in the sixth century CE signaled the idea
that not only all is well in the Sasanian Empire, but that Persia is
prosperous.52
The nobles engaged in riding (aswārı¯h), archery (kamānwarı¯h), and
jousting with spears (nēzagwarı¯h) which burnt off the extravagant food
which was consumed. Some of these dishes are mentioned which
included a young sheep (mēšag) rubbed with a kind of sour and bitter
gruel (āb-kāmag) and thickened butter-milk (kāmag); peacock (frašmurw)
and pheasant (titar), and duck (murw ¯ı ābı¯g) were served. Already the
sense that well-fed animals and free-range chickens supplied the
best meat is mentioned in a text, where a chicken fed on hemp-seed
(šādānag), barley flour (ard ¯ı kaškēn), and olive-oil (rōgn ¯ı zayt), and made
to run (tāxtan) is considered the best food. Cold meats included a calf
(gawdar) whose meat is rubbed with sour vinegar (sig ¯ı truš), then cooked
as potted meat (halām). As for sweet-meats each season a different set of
sweet-meats must be served. In summer time almond-pastry (lōzēnag)
and walnut-pastry (gōzēnag) were desired. In the winter juicy (šiftēnag),
cool (wafrēnag) pastry made of crystal-sugar (tawarzad) and flavored
with coriander (āčārag) was desired. But the most desired was pālūdag
(Persian pālūde) which was made from apple juice, sugar and carda-
mom. As for jam, red and white orange (wādrang ¯ı wahrman ud spēt) and
above all a jam made from Chinese ginger and myrobalan preserved in
sugar (or honey) (sinjı¯wēl¯ı čı¯nı¯g ud halı¯lag¯ı parwardag) were desired. Fruits
(šawēnag), pistachios (bistag), and dates (xormā) are also mentioned. As
for drinks, wine appears to have been the beloved choice. Grape wine
(may ¯ı kanı¯g) from different regions was desired, but Assyrian wine (may
¯ı āsūrı¯g) and Basarangian wine (bādag ¯ı wāzarangı¯g) were deemed the
best.53 Both red and white wine (may ¯ı suxr/may ¯ı spēd) were consumed,
and their clarity and taste judged.54 Again, variety and access to exotic
foods and drinks signaled a prosperous empire which had everything
and was to be emulated by its neighbors.
The chase or the hunt was another favorite activity of the nobility
in which women participated also.55 The hunt mirrored warfare in
the off season, and symbolically signified the battle readiness of the
warriors. Parallel ideas developed in Europe with the coming of the
Germanic people, where the hunt became the accepted activity of
the warrior aristocracy. These hunting programs could also have been

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 52 Sasanian Persia

quite extravagant if the Taq-ı̄ Bustan scene is accurate in depicting

such scenes. While the king was hunting on the boat, there were rows
of harp players, elephants, attendants and others before the king. Silver
plates also mostly depict the ancient Near Eastern image of the king
as hero who either slays a lion or is on the hunt, killing the game with
his arrows or the sword while riding the horse. The image of the king
as the ultimate hero is not only depicted, but mentioned in Shabuhr
I’s inscription at Ka’ba-i Zardosht. In this inscription he mentions
several times his heroic deeds and taking the Roman emperor by his
own hand, but also in another inscription at Hajjiabad, Shabuhr I
again states that in front of the nobility he made a shot with bow and
arrow that went quite far and challenges anyone else to be able to
make their shot go further.56
Wahram II was especially keen on showing himself on plates and
inscriptions along with his family. His rock relief at Sar Mashhad
are among the most interesting, since not only is he shown killing
lions, which reminds us of the Assyrian and more importantly the
Achaemenid artistic representation, but there is also the depiction of
the royal family and the queen(s). At Barm-i Dilak also Wahram II is
shown with his family and the courtiers along with women together.57
By comparing the inscription of Shabuhr I at Ka’ba-i Zardosht and
that of Narseh at Paikuli, we get a sense of the ordering of the courtiers
and the nobility. The family of the king, rankings, that is the princes
of royal blood (wispuhrān), the grandees (wuzurgān), and the nobles
(āzādān) appear to be the most important of them. They are, how-
ever, preceded by the local kings and queens, and the family of the
King of Kings. The grandees appear to include the viceroy (bidaxš);
the Chilarch (hazārbed); chief of cavalry (spāhbed); the noble families of
Waraz, Suren, Undigan, and Karen; followed by other title holders
which included satraps (šahrāb), counselors (andarzbed), sword bearers
(šafšēlār), master of the servants (fristagbed ), master of ceremonies (grast-
bed), chief scribe (dibı¯rbed), chief of prison (zēndānı¯g), gate keeper (darbed),
castle lord (dizbed), treasurer (ganjwar), local rulers (framādār), eunuch of
the harem (šabestān), judge of the empire and other lesser functionaries.
These officials were ranked and distinguished by their clothes, bonnet
and belts which were given to them by the state. We should mention
that we come across later sources which supply other official titles such
as the chief usher or master of the ceremonies (andēmāngārān sālār),
the stablemaster (āxwarbed), the Chiliarch (hazārbed), the Cupbearer
(taghārbed) who may have served as a eunuch. The darı¯gbed which
according to the Greek sources was equivalent to kouropalátēs, a palace
superintendent, and the chief physician (drust-bed) were also present.58

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 The Society of Iranshahr 53

SCRIBES

The scribes’ (dibı¯rān) function and importance became increasingly

greater as the bureaucratic apparatus of the Sasanian government
grew. They performed a variety of functions and needed to have vari-
ous skills. Some scribes accompanied the Sasanian army59 and were in
their service (*dibı¯r-spāh and *gund-dibı¯r)60 while other scribes were in
the employment of the local provincial kings. The royal scribes were
also responsible for ordering the writing of the imperial inscriptions,
and then written drafts were translated into Greek, Arabic, Sanskrit
and other languages.61 Some had to be bilingual for translating and
writing in other languages and probably some were drawn from
Rome, Arabia and other regions. The scribes have left us seals which
demonstrate their rank and the region they covered, from simply dibir
to the chief scribe (dibı¯rbed). At schools (dibı¯rstān),62 the dibı¯rān were
expected to be able to learn different forms of handwriting, such as
calligraphy (xūb-nibēg), shorthand (rag-nibēg), subtle knowledge (bārı¯k-
dānišn), and to have nimble fingers (kāmgār-angust).63 They appear to
have had knowledge of different scripts employed for writing which
included the religious script (dēn-dibı¯rı¯h), i.e., the Avestan script which
was invented in the Sasanian period; a comprehensive script (*wı¯š-
dibı¯rı¯h) whose nature and function is unclear. The Islamic sources state
that it was used for physiognomy, divination and other unorthodox
purposes. A third, known as turned or cursive script (*gaštag-dibı¯rı¯h)
was used for recording contracts and other legal documents, medicine
and philosophy; the secret script (rāz-dibı¯rı¯h) was for such affairs as
secret correspondence among kings. The sixth was script for letters
(nāmag-dibı¯rı¯h), and the seventh was the common script (hām-dibı¯rı¯h).
The dibiran were to draft letters (nāmag) and correspondence (frawardag)
and we posses a specimen of such a manual about the manner in which
one should write for different purposes and occasions.
Thus there was a formula for each type of correspondence to the
grandees or lords (xwadāyān), first to inquire about the state of their
well-being (bēš-pursı¯šnı¯h) and happiness (hunsandı¯h) and then how to
begin and finish the letters.64 This formulaic system of letter writing is
also clear from the seventh-century papyri which exist from the time
of the occupation of Egypt by the Persians. They usually start with
reverence (namāz) and salutations (drōd) to the receiver and/or the date
(rōz) when the letter was written.65 Some of these scribes included the
accountants (āmār-dibı¯r) who used a specific script known as šahr-āmār-
dibı¯rı¯h/(Arabic kātib al-xarāj). The court accountant (kadag-āmār-dibı¯r)
used the kadag-āmār-dibı¯rı¯h, the treasury accountants (*ganj-āmār-dibı¯r)

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 54 Sasanian Persia

used the ganj-āmār-dibı¯rı¯h (Persian dabı¯r-ı¯ xazāna) script, and the accoun-
tant of the royal stables (āxwar-āmār-dibı¯r) used the (āxwar-āmār-dibı¯rı¯h)
script. There were also accountants connected with the fire-temples,
the (ātaxšān-āmār-dibı¯r) who used the (ātaxšān-āmār-dibı¯rı¯h) script. The
accountants of the pious foundations (ruwānagān-āmār-dibı¯r) used the
(ruwānagān-dibı¯rı¯h) script. The royal tax collectors sent to the provinces
of the empire were known as (šahr-dibı¯r Arabic kātib al-kūra).66 The judi-
cial decisions were written down by the legal scribes (*dād-dibı¯rān) who
used the dād-dibı¯rı¯h script.67 The documents or contracts drawn up by
these scribes in relation to legal matters were taken from a known legal
phraseology and then signed with wax and seal (gil ud nāmag),68 and
copies were kept in the different archives (nāmag-miyān).69 They also
had to keep a record of the minutes in tribunals of inquiry. They were
probably drawn from the clergy and dealt with the Zoroastrian law.
There were several kinds of contracts and documents which included
royal decrees (dib ¯ı pādixšāy-kard),70 treaties (pādixšı¯r), the certificates of
divorce (hilišn-nāmag), manumission certificates (āzād-nāmag), and title
deeds for the transfer of property for pious purposes (pādixšı¯r),71 ordeal
warrants (uzdād-nāmag)72 as well as an ordeal document (yazišn-nāmag)
drawn up for the guilty.73 In relation to the holy-scripture, the copiers
of the scripture (*dēn-dibı¯r) used the dēn-dibı¯rı¯h to copy what had been
committed to writing in the Sasanian period.74 The head of the scribes
like any other profession held the title with the suffix “master” (bed),
i.e., dibı¯rbed. The scribes would have a very important presence in the
court and with the coming of the Arabs, they were to stay and render
their service to the Caliphate.
Many of the local kings who were from the family of Sāsān had
their own retinue including a councilor (andarzbed); a priest (mow); a
scribe (dibı¯r); knights/nobles (āzādān); messengers (frēstag), and chiefs
(sardārān).75 This last group had further subdivisions, such as master
of the house or clan leaders (kādag-xwadāyān); and the landed gentry
(dehgānān) who rose in prominence by the late fifth or early sixth century
as a result of the reforms of Kavad I and Khusro I. We should remem-
ber that because of the Mazdakite revolt, Kavad I got the chance to
reduce the power of the upper nobility and in return empower the
lower class of the nobility, the dehgānān. By the sixth century CE the
landed aristocracy or gentry became the backbone of the state and
the state became dependent on these small landowners. The status
of dehgānān grew at the expense of the nobility, because they acted as
collectors of taxes from the peasants and served in the military. This
ultimately must have given rise to localism, where the local landown-
ers saw their interests as more important than that of the Sasanian

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 The Society of Iranshahr 55

state and when the Arab Muslims began the conquest of the region,
they were willing to pay jizya (poll tax) to stay in power and function
similarly under the new masters. The dehgānān are also known to have
been the conduits of Persian ethics, ideals, and social norms which
were captured in the epics and romances of Medieval Islamic Persia.
The epic texts demonstrate their taste for the heroic and a class con-
sciousness which must have been different from the city dwelling
population, where probably the stories of kings and heroes were retold
differently emphasizing other functions which was appealing to the
population at large.

THE CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE

The citizens of the empire known as “flocks” or” masses” (ramān) con-
stituted the largest group of the society. We should also mention that
among them there were non-Zoroastrians, i.e., the Jews and Christians,
who probably had their own dwelling quarters. We know for example
that the city of Gay, which was close to Isfahan, was the city of the Jews.
This city which was on the western side of the Zayandeh Rud in the
Islamic period and was called al-Yahudiyah “the Jewish town,” which
was larger than the part on the east side of the river.76 In Susa as well
there appears to have been a large number of Jews living, where the
important tomb of the Prophet Daniel was nearby. For the Christians,
after the recognition of the Persian Christian church (Nestorian) and
its split from the Byzantine church, the situation became much bet-
ter.77 The establishment of a diocese and the existence of seals can tell
us of their prominence and where the Christians were most numer-
ous. For example in Persis, in six districts Christians administered dio-
ceses.78 This toleration may have been the reason for which such a
proselytizing religion was becoming successful even among the nobil-
ity, especially the royal women, such as Shirin, and Gulinduxt, whose
martyrologies are numerous for this period.79
The Christian subjects of the empire were of two groups: those
Christians who were Persian who were probably much more influ-
ential in Sasanian affairs and established the Nestorian church, and
the second group which consisted of the Roman war prisoners and
those captured in Syria and deported to the Sasanian empire. For the
second group the architectural remains at the city of Bishabuhr and
roads and bridges which demonstrate Western taste and technol-
ogy suggest that they were used in the building activity, and their
engineers were used for building the infrastructure. By the late sixth

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 56 Sasanian Persia

century the issue of the conversion of Sasanian nobility to Christianity

and the amount of hagiographies and martyrologies suggest that
the Christians had penetrated the core of Zoroastrian society. More
importantly the evidence that Yazdgerd III and his son Piruz com-
missioned the building of Christian Churches in China suggests the
tide of conversion among the royal family.80 The non-Zoroastrian
women, especially the Jews and Christians did marry Zoroastrians,
particularly the nobles and the King of Kings as well. For example the
mother of Wahram V was Jewish and the favorite wife of Khusro II,
the mother of Queen Buran, was Christian. This may have made the
situation of their respective communities safe, as such women would
represent their concerns.
By the fifth century CE, the state had realized the importance of the
religious minorities and attempted to co-opt them into a system of gov-
ernance where according to legal precepts, all would be considered
simply as mard / zan ¯ı šahr “man/woman citizen (of the Empire).” Each
community was bound by their local religious tradition and under
the jurisdiction of their Rabbi and/or Priest. When there were cases
which were between people of different religious communities, the
state court had precedence. Although Zoroastrian law was the basis of
state law, the imperial system had created a system to co-opt all citizens
of the empire. This way, one could be considered as ēr “Iranian,” and
the community of the Iranagan “Iranians.” The Jews and Christians
in turn accepted the idea of Iran/Iranshahr as they had become part of
it, but the Manichaeans who were persecuted never did. In this way
the idea of Iran left its Zoroastrian roots and thanks to the Sasanians
lingered on even after the fall of the Sasanians and Zoroastrianism as
a state religion.81

THE POOR, THE NEEDY AND THE REBEL ROUSERS

The other largest part of the society was the poor, the downtrodden,
and the mob. We should however, according to Shaki make a distinc-
tion between those who were seen as the needy poor, which the religion
stipulated should be helped and protected (driyōšān), and the abject
poor who were insolent and unhappy with their state (škōhān). The
worthy poor whose name renders the medieval and modern darwı¯š are
usually praised in the Zoroastrian texts and consisted of women and
men, and as the texts tell us were people who were content with what
they had and lived with basic subsistence.82 There were injunctions
to aid them, and those who did not would be punished in hell and

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 The Society of Iranshahr 57

receive eternal torment.83 Shaki believed that the driyōšān were a class
of learned clergy,84 and this would make it even more possible that
they were the precursors to the darvishes of the Islamic period. On the
other hand the abject poor, the škōh must have been as numerous as
in any other late antique societies. They were the ones who may have
caused most of the tensions within the society and hence were treated
badly in the Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts. From the language
of the texts which cover the abject poor, it appears that they were
discontent not only with their own miserable situation but also with
the Sasanian State and held the richer folks in contempt. Mostly they
would be the common thieves and criminals who stole and caused
disturbance for safety of the urban population and distant trade of
the empire. If they were captured, they were branded (drōš) and thus
identified as deviants from the Ohrmazdian society. Just as the driyōšān
had become a group, the škōhān must have organized in some fashion
not only to help themselves but their kind. A person who was dissatis-
fied with what he had or was contemptuous of his situation85 would
easily be persuaded to steal from the rich. The škōhān may have been
from the fourth estate, those laborers or simply the unemployed who
worked hard and were looked upon with suspicion by the priests and
the state. According to Adurbad i Mahrspandan one of the five great
calamities which can befall people is the uprising of the škōhān against
the Lords (xwadāyān).86
This brings us to another group in the Sasanian society and those
are the mard i juwan, known in the Islamic period as the Jawan-mardan
(literally “young men”) or the männerbund, who represented the discon-
tented youth. The Islamic sources give us more positive information
in regard to these discontented youth which the Sasanian state saw
as mob. They had their own code of conduct and were not bent on
pillaging anyone in sight, but rather had a directed aim of aiding the
poor and the downtrodden in society. In the Middle Persian sources
they are fleetingly mentioned and from the few passages that these
texts provide, one understands their crime as stealing from one group
(the rich) and giving it to another (the poor). What is more interesting
is that they considered it to be meritorious to rob the rich and give to
the worthy poor.87 They may be compared with the social groups known
in the Islamic period as the ‘ayyarun which with some stretch of imagina-
tion have some similarities with Blue and Green circus factions in the
Eastern Roman empire. The reports about the Mazdakite activity
has a similar ring to the activity of this group, since during the early
sixth century it was the followers of this sect that worked to divide the
property of the rich among the poor. This of course stemmed from

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 58 Sasanian Persia

their religious belief that Ohrmazd had given the worldly goods to
all to be shared equally, but some had done wrong and had taken the
wealth and property of the others.88 Thus it appears that these people
acted according to a set theology which was different from that of State
Zoroastrianism.
The Zoroastrian religion had an institution which aided the poor
and the downtrodden. This institution was implemented by individu-
als for the sake of the soul of the departed ones (ruwānagān). According
to Sasanian law, one’s wealth could be divided into three categories,
and one third could be used for the preservation of the soul. Building
infrastructure and money and food for the poor were distributed
under the protection of designated persons by the person who had
established the charitable foundation for his/herself or his/her family
member. This institution certainly appeased some of the misery and
tension which were not mentioned in the surviving Middle Persian
texts.89 The creation of the late office of the “Protector of the Poor and
Judge” (driyōšān dādwar ud jāddag-gōw) was also a reaction to the social
and economic problems during the time of Kawād I. The societal ten-
sion went against the idyllic representation of the Zoroastrian soci-
ety, where everyone had their place and order was given prominence.
Thus the law and the state dealt with these individuals and others who
went against the norms by being punished. For example criminals
who were considered to be the citizens, i.e. men and women of the
empire mard/zan ¯ı šahr, were branded, as the Sasanian legal texts state
as well as being subject to flogging (čūb zandan), amputation (borı¯dan),
and imprisonment (zēndān).90

SLAVERY

There were a large number of slaves who were classified based on their
function, origin, and gender. The typical slave (bandag) was the house-
hold servant who worked in the domestic domain, but also worked at
the fire-temples. The women slaves in the household (bandag paristār)
were common and the man of the house had complete control over
them and could procure children with them as is evident from the
many legal cases which involved slave girls and free citizens and the
issue of the status of their children. People who were in debt or had a
religious decision to give some of their time to a fire-temple can also
be placed in this category. Foreign slaves as well as others who were
simply used as slave labor on farms and manual labor were known as
captive slaves (wardag). These were the most common slaves, but there

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 The Society of Iranshahr 59

was a more basic class of slaves who were known as body (tan) who were
delivered as security. Slaves could be freed at the time of the death of
the master or simply if the owner decided to release them. The slaves
also received wages and were able to have their own families.91

GENDER AND SEXUALITY

In relation to gender, women’s positions depended on their class.

Women of high rank such as the queen and the mother of the king
were much freer in the scope of their activity and decision making.
Their seals demonstrate their importance as is also evident on the
rock-reliefs which demonstrate their presence in the royal bazms. As
mentioned before, they engaged in hunting, drinking and feasting
with men, wore elaborate costumes, and two women were able to rule
in the seventh century CE. Although by all accounts Queens Borān
and Azarmi(g)dukht were the only legitimate surviving members of
the Sasanian family in the seventh century, the acceptance of their rule
and the benevolent remembrance of them by the Sasanian sources
suggest that they were accepted by the clergy as well. The other queens
remembered but who did not rule were Ardashir-Anahid, Wahram
II’s sister and wife, and later Shabuhrdukhtag, his other wife who is the
only queen whose portrait was on the coins beside Wahram II.92
The Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts were written for the commu-
nity to know how to function in the society and since male priests wrote
them, it was their opinion that is known.93 According to de Jong the one
word that best describes what priests wanted from women was “obedi-
ence.”94 Common women were considered to be the property of men
and fetched a certain price (500 stēr). Many of the religious injunctions
against women firmly applied to women of non-noble category. The
priests took much pain in describing in detail every aspect of the life
of women and their rites and rights. One can not give a detailed
discussion here in regard to the position of women in Sasanian soci-
ety, but rather a survey of the different issues will be highlighted here.
Women were seen as creatures that could bring destruction to soci-
ety, like their counterpart in the cosmological world of Zoroastrianism
in the character of the female demoness, jēh.95 The Bundahišn has a
fascinating reference to the inability of Ohrmazd to find any other
creature to bear children than woman, and that if it were otherwise
Ohrmazd states he would have done so. This gives us the sense that
women were not all together of “Ohrmazdian” realm in the mind of
Priests or men.96

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 60 Sasanian Persia

Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts tell us that women had to dress

and look modest. By this it meant that covering one’s head and feet
were important.97 Makeup and wigs were probably forbidden for
the common women, since a passage in the Ardā Wirāz Nāmag states
that certain women were cast into hell who were those “women who
painted (their faces) (rang nihād) and used the hair of others (mōy ¯ı kasān)
as ornament and led the eyes of pious people astray.”98 Laws forbidding
women from taking part in daily activity, such as cooking, cleaning
and coming into contact with the sacred fire during the time of men-
struation (daštān) are detailed and abundant. Women who engaged
in intercourse during the period of menstruation (daštān-marzān) were
worthy of death (marg-arzān). Men were to avoid women during their
menstrual period, because this was the time when women were seen as
most contagious and dangerous to every living being. According to the
Wı¯dēwdād they had to be kept in an enclosure (daštānestān) where they
would not be seen until their menstruation cycle was over.99 Detailed
discussion exists for what type of utensils and trays should be given
to the menstruating woman and how for her to be purified after that
period. This menstrual cycle also gave a sense of when the women
would and would not be fertile, as the texts tell us, ten days after the
end of the menstruation (daštān) they were able to become pregnant.
These legal and mythological injunctions mainly arose from the dread
of pollution of blood which appears to have been the main source.
Abortion (wišūdag) was also seen as a sin which would make a woman
worthy of death.
Legally, women were seen as equal to children and slaves and the
dowry of a women was about 2000 drahm, equal to the price of a slave.
Once a girl reached the age of nine it was believed that she had to be
married, and a boy when he was fifteen. This was the ideal age for
humans, and at the end of the world they would dwell in heaven at
the same age. The women were required to kneel before their hus-
bands three times daily and ask what his wish was and how she could
make him happy.100 There were several forms of marriage according
to Zoroastrian law. The principal wife of the man with full rights was
called a pādixšāy wife, who had many more rights than other wives. If
the husband (šōy) was not able to procure offspring, he could give his
wife as čagar in which she entered into a levirate marriage to procure a
son. This type of marriage was usually undertaken with a close relative
which also made sure that it was a familial affair. If the man died with-
out a male heir, it was up to the daughter to become a stōr, meaning it
was her obligation to provide a successor by procreating a child with
another member of the family, who would inherit the property of the

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 The Society of Iranshahr 61

deceased man and hence protect the familial continuum.101 If she was
harmed (rēš) when she left her husband to procreate a child for another
person, she would be returned to her husband.102 The term designated
for a daughter or sister who is to enter this type of marriage in order to
fulfill the “obligation of successorship” is ayōkēn.103 Still, however, the
wife could ask for divorce (hilišn/abēzārı¯h) and receive a certificate of
divorce (hilišn-nāmag). Both men and women could ask for a divorce.
A man could divorce his wife if she was thought to be barren (starwan),
if she committed adultery (*gādārı¯h), sorcery (jādūgı¯h), failed to fulfill the
obligatory duties, refused to submit herself to her husband, and failed
to observe the period of confinement during menstruation (daštān),104
and a čakar wife could be divorced much more easily. If she had just
reached puberty and abandoned her husband, she would be deserving
of death (marg-arzān).105 If she wanted to marry someone who was not
authorized by the family head, i.e., the father of the woman (xwarāyēn
lit. “self-guardian”)106 it was considered a misunion (jud āyōzišn). The
idea of the girl simply leaving the house (bēastān) to marry was also
unacceptable.107 There were certain measures to protect the wife. For
example if the man unlawfully divorced his wife, the wife would still
receive some compensation, even if the man had left his property as
alms. The law required that a portion of that wealth be returned to
the wife. It appears according to the Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān that if
the woman decided to divorce, the property (wāspuhragān) or dower
(pēšı¯gān) which she brought with her into the marriage could be kept
by her, but the earnings from it were to be kept by the husband.108
Woman, depending on their age and status, could ask and be granted
a divorce.109 But the more privileged men would have two wives (abōg,
Persian havū) and even more by several Sasanian kings. Thus, the pater-
familias was all-powerful and could even sell his wife and children if he
was unable to support his family (adbadāt), or because of death or hard-
ship (margı¯h ud raxtagı¯h).110 If a married woman was raped, she would
receive 300 stērs and 500 stērs for being kidnapped,111 and if raped
before coming of age (aburnāyag) she recieved 1,200 drahms.112 Union
(āmēzišn) out of wedlock was considered a theft (duz).113
As the Middle Persian texts demonstrate, sexuality was an impor-
tant issue in the Sasanian period. If we are to believe, according to the
Bundahišn, that women were the progeny of the evil demoness, their
actions would also be dangerous and had to be controlled. Women
were seen as potent forces in making man deviate from his religious
obligations and duties, primarily through her sexuality. This does not
mean that the good religion prohibited the bearing of children. On
the contrary, it was a mitzveh that men had to engage in the act of

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 62 Sasanian Persia

procreation. In fact if a man had intercourse with a sterile woman,

it was considered a sin, since he had wasted his semen. According
to Zādaspram, women’s wombs were seen as receptacles where man’s
seed was placed and from which the child was born. Thus the wast-
ing of one’s semen was seen as a sin against the religion and caused all
sorts of difficulties, including the loss of strength and intelligence.
But the injunction to marrying at an early age (men at fifteen and
women at nine) was to ensure this process of procreation. We also
come across passages where the idea of the ideal woman is presented.
This includes the following women: “who in her mind loves her hus-
band” (pad mēnišn mard-dōst), “who has good words in bed for her hus-
band, but does not talk shamefully (dirty),” (pad wastarg ¯ı mard hu-saxwan
[ud] nē ašarmı¯hā gōwēd). In her looks she must be one whose stature
is middle-sized and whose chest is broad and whose head, buttocks,
and neck are well-formed and whose legs are short and waist slender
and soles of the feet arched and whose fingers are long and whose
limbs are soft, smooth, and fleshy and whose breast is quince-like and
whose body down to the toes’ nails is snowy-white and whose cheeks
are pomegranate-red and whose eyes are almond-shaped and lips cor-
alline and (eye)brows vaulted and whose denture is white, fresh, and
brilliant and locks black and bright and long (bālāy mayānčı¯g u-š war
pahn ud sar ud kūn ud gardan hambast uš pāy kōtāh ud mayān bārı¯g ud azēr ¯ı pāy
wišādag ud angustān dērang u-š handām narm ud sād ud āgand ud wehı¯g-pestān
u-š hamvg tan tā nāxūn ¯ı pāy wafrēn u-š gōnag anārgōn u-š čašm wādām-āyēn
ud lab wassadēn ud brūg tāg ud gāz spēd ud tarrūg ud xwašāb ud gēsūg siyā ud
rōšn ud drāz).114
Those women who did not follow the social norm were punished
under a variety of reasons, the most common being sorcery, and
blasphemy which all probably meant being disobedient to their
husbands, which was punishable as well. A woman or young girl
who did not want to marry was also worthy of death. There are a
host of negative proclamations against women in Middle Persian texts
as well which show the relative uneasiness of the priestly class with
the female. Some are quite common and can be found in other soci-
eties as well. Only a selection of such sayings will be given here to
demonstrate the general view of men in regard to women. In general
men were expected to beget such women as ideal for marriage: šarmgēn
zan dōst bāš “love a woman who has shame,”115 zan juwān pad zanı¯h
gı¯r “take a young wife for marriage.”116 The negative dictums give us
much more evidence of the male view of women in Sasanian society.
The most common sayings include zanān rāy xird nēst “women have
no intelligence,”117 rāz ō zanān ma bar “do not tell secrets to women,”118

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 The Society of Iranshahr 63

ud ān zan nē pad zan abāyēd dāštan kē framān burdār ¯ı šōy nē bawēd “
and one should not marry that woman who is not obedient to the
husband,”119 pad zanān wistāx ma bawēd kū ō šarm ud pašēmānı¯h nē rasēd
“do not be trusting of the woman so that you do not become shamed
and repentant.”120 Other things that should be avoided include juwān
mard kē zan ¯ı pı¯r pad zanı¯h gı¯rēd “a young man who marries an old
woman.”121
The other important sin which carried the death penalty was
sodomy, which was known under several terms such as “sodomy”
(kun-marzih), “unnatural lust” (waran ¯ı abārōn), and “sinful copulation”
(abārōn marzišnı¯h). There are a number of laws and cases which refer to
this practice which suggest that it occurred. The Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad relates
that the evil beings were created in this manner: “The evil Ahreman
created the demons (dēwān) and deceiving ones (drōjān) and other evil
offsprings through the act of self-sodomy.”122 Then first this act is
given as a vehicle in which evil was able to reproduce more evil in
universe, and secondly Ahreman is seen as a homosexual/sodomite.
In the Wı¯dēwdād (VIII.32) it is stated that if men engaged in passive
and aggressive sodomy unwillingly, they are worthy of lashes, but if
they are willing, they would be worthy of death. It appears that passive
sodomites were seen as more evil than those committing sodomy with
women as evidenced by the Ardā Wirāz Nāmag.123 Many texts demon-
strate that the reference is about a man and a woman, but there are
instances in which we gain insight into the world of homosexuality of
the Sasanian era. These laws were spelled out in a portion of the Avesta
which is now lost. The eighth book of the Dēnkard, in which chapter
XXXIV is about legal precepts against offenses and other matters as
they appeared in the Hūspram Nask of the Avesta, states there were such
laws: “About the immoral desires of the (wiftag) “passive sodomite”
and (wiftı¯nag) “aggressive sodomite,” their tyrannical lust, and corrupt
activity, and blighted glory, (and) corrupt and polluted bodies.”124 In
the Ardā Wirāz Nāmag one of the most imaginative texts of the Middle
Persian corpus, we find the punishments which are given against
homosexuals and sodomites. Wiraz in his journey to hell sees that a
man is being punished by snakes entering into his anus and coming
out of his mouth. The Angels tells him the reason for his punishment
is that: “this is the soul of that wicked man who committed sodomy
in the world and allowed a man over himself.”125 In another chapter
a man is punished for the act of sodomy with a woman which was
less severely punished.126 Needless to say the law handed down a swift
death sentence for such a practice to those who were worthy of death
(marg-arzān).127

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 64 Sasanian Persia

There was only one meritorious act that nullified the “evil effect
of sodomy” and that was the practice of “next-of-kin marriages”
(xwēdodāh). The issue of next-of-kin marriages had been a matter
of controversy in the early part of the last century, but anyone who
can read Avestan or Middle Persian, along with the attestation of
the foreign sources can have no doubt whatsoever that this type of
marriage was practiced in Sasanian Persia. Xwēdodāh is one of those
institutions that has brought about the most fierce debates, on the
one side the European scholars and on the other the Zoroastrian.128
We have evidence from the Achaemenid period which suggests that
this was a common practice among the royal family, but there is less
evidence for it among the population. According to Frye, its origin,
if not Zoroastrian, may be sought among the Elamites, which the
Achaemenids may have emulated for keeping the royal blood pure.
In time this practice became common among the population, and in
the early Sasanian period the Zoroastrian priest Kerdı̄r tells us that he
concluded many xwēdodāh marriages as part of his beneficial acts. Not
only the third century inscriptions, but also later Middle Persian texts
elaborate on the beneficence of such a marriage. These marriages
were of three kinds as attested by Dēnkard III (Chapter 80), between
the father and daughter, son and mother, and brother and sister.129
Beside its religious significance, one should also realize that xwēdodāh
was a means of keeping the wealth of the family intact, as opposed to
marrying one’s daughter to another family, hence giving some of the
wealth away. Xwēdodāh ensured that not only the family and its wealth
were intact, but also the religious affiliation of the family remained
Zoroastrian.130

PUNISHMENT AND REGULATIONS

Punishment was a device used by the state to control the society.

Lashing, cutting of body parts, and branding were practiced in
Sasanian Persia. For example for non-appearance in the court at the
designated time for theft, or if the husband would not provide food for
the wife during her menstruation period and would steal, the punish-
ment was branding (drōš ¯ı šahr),131 and if a person was branded four
times for various offenses, the offender would be imprisoned for life.132
Another type of punishment and humiliation was to have the convicted
person placed on an animal, usually a donkey and paraded through
the streets. The early reference to this is found in the Parthian epic, the
Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān, in which at the end of the battle the Iranians capture

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 The Society of Iranshahr 65

the leader of the enemy of the Iranians, Arjasp. One of his hands, legs,
and ears are cut off and an eye of his is burnt and he is placed on a
maimed donkey and sent back to his city.133 Based on this passage we
may suggest that this was an ancient type of punishment and if one
remembers that the Achaemenid King of Kings, Darius I punished
Phraortes but cutting off his nose, ears and tongue, and putting out
one eye, we see this tradition.134 Again it is in the fourth century CE
during Narseh’s attempt at taking power that we hear of such a pun-
ishment again. According to the Paikuli inscription, his adversary by
the name of Wahnam was captured and brought before him, bound
and put on a maimed donkey.135
A series of injunctions about purity and pollution also reflect the
way in which nature and animals were treated. Cutting down trees,
polluting streams and lakes, and the earth was considered a sinful act.
These injunctions even with the influx of foreigners who were settled
in the empire was a deterrent against ecological distress and made the
plagues less current than in the Eastern Roman empire. Of course this
obsession of the priests with the issue of purity and pollution caused
problems for the population as well. Since water was the manifesta-
tion of the deity Khordad, its pollution meant a major sin, which the
Zoroastrian clergy found ingenious means of getting around, espe-
cially for washing or bathing.136 We are told that in the cities the bath-
house (garmābag) was near the fire-temple and the place where the
seasonal festivals (gāhānbār) were performed.137
The dead body also brought about pollution and the deceased body
had to be cared for three nights and watched so that the evil spirit
would not be able to drag the soul to hell, while the body rotted.138 The
death ceremonies were said not to be solemn occasions, but several
sources suggest that mourning rituals were practiced in the eastern
part of the empire and that the tearing of one’s clothes as an act of
passion was looked down upon by the state clergy and the authors
of the Middle Persian texts. In fact the Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad states that a land
is most miserable in which tearing of hair (mōyag) in mourning takes
place. According to Zoroastrian theology the more the relatives of the
deceased cry a larger river will separate the deceased person and the
bridge on which he/she can pass to heaven. This religious injunc-
tion, however, did not mean that it was applied to every region of the
Sasanian empire. While the Middle Persian texts supply the official
Sasanian Zoroastrian view of prohibition against mourning, in the
eastern territory of the empire we have evidence of mutilating one’s
self and of mourning ceremonies. According to early Persian texts in
Khorasan on a specific day the Zoroastrian priests would mourn the

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 66 Sasanian Persia

death of the innocent hero, Siyavash, who was killed unjustly. This
mourning ceremony is known as the Sōg ¯ı Siyāwaš “The Mourning of
Siyavash,” which resulted in the beautiful work by the Persian litera-
tus, Meskūb,139 and the ceremonies which are still carried on today in
the province of Persis called suwashun. The Persian texts tell us that this
event was sung with mourning ceremonies known as Griystan Moghan
“Wailing of the Mowbeds;”140 and the Persian savant Biruni tells us
that the people of Sogdiana on a specific day wail and mourn for their
dead and cut their faces,141 the pictorial representation can be found
on a panel in China where a Zoroastrian priest is conducting mourn-
ing ceremony.142
Burying the dead was also considered a sin, and so the dead body
was exposed in open air to vultures and dogs in enclosures called
dakhma. The reason for this was that it was thought that once the soul
left the body, it began to decompose and the corpse was instantly pol-
luting. There are detailed measures which are taken by those who are
in charge of carrying the dead and the elaborate cleansing ceremony
which they have to go through after their task.143 In turn the sun was
to cleanse the remaining pollution of the bones and then the bones
were collected and placed in receptacles, usually found in rock tombs
(astōdān). By this act the earth was to remain clean and not be defiled.
These practices must have seemed strange to say the least for the
Romans or those captured during wars when they heard or saw them,
and probably could not make sense of them. The question that can
be raised is how the Jews and Christians would bury their dead and
if they did so, wouldn’t they have been considered impure and hence
untouchable? In one instance when Yazdgerd I had allowed Christian
bodies to be buried they were dug up under Wahram V or Yazdgerd II
and the bones strewn about in the sun. We know that in fact that the
Christians also made tombs which were over the ground and in rock
cut structures which were acceptable to both the Zoroastrians and the
Christians. But with the Muslim conquest of the Sasanian empire we
hear of the horror of the Zoroastrians in seeing the dead bodies being
buried and defiling the sacred earth.
These considerations and others probably caused the segregation of
the people based on religious conviction and so each section of a city
would have had a quarter which belonged to a religious group, some
based on the purity laws of the followers of Zoroastrianism, Judaism
and Christianity. It may have been that some of the cities were also
dominated by a single religious group such as the town of Gay
(Old Town of Isfahan) which was Jewish. We should remember that
the Zoroastrians were probably more numerous and so whole cities

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 The Society of Iranshahr 67

dominated by other religious groups would have been rare, hence

interaction inevitable. For the Zoroastrians, the further one went to
the east from Persis, or westward to Mesopotamia, it made their inter-
action with non-Zoroastrians inevitable. Certainly those who were in
Persian colonies in China, in the Far East had to deal with purity and
pollution laws in their own way.

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ch2.indd 68 11/26/2008 6:09:39 PM
 Chapter 3

Religions of the
Empire: Zoroastrians,
Manichaeans, Jews and
Christians
EARLY SASANIAN ZOROASTRIANISM

Through Ardashir and the family of Sasan, Zoroastrianism was

made the official religion of the empire. This religion certainly
had devotees in the province of Persis before the Sasanian period,
from where the Achaemenids had ruled and worshipped Ahura
Mazda. Coins from Persis, beginning with the second century BCE
to the end of the second century CE demonstrate that Ohrmazd
(Ahura Mazda) was worshipped and honored. The reverse side of
these coins show the king and sometimes two people raising their
hands in a gesture of reverence towards a structure which looks very
much the Ka‘be Zardosht at Naqsh-i Rustam. Above the structure
hovers Ohrmazd in his Achaemenid anthropomorphized self. Thus,
Ardashir was continuing a religious tradition which had existed from
the Achaemenid period in the province of Persis. By all accounts
Ardashir’s family had a priestly function with the Zoroastrian cult
of Anahid and its fire-temple at the city of Istakhr. Their knowledge
of the tradition (Zoroastrian religion) made them equipped for
attaining political control over the region and eventually the whole
of the Iranian plateau. One may make an analogy with the later sufi
warriors in North Africa or the Safavı̄d family in Persia who began as
a religious movement and religious leaders who then become leaders
of bands of warriors.
We are not sure who the family of Sasan was and what their rela-
tion was with the kings of Persis, but there may not have been mutual

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 70 Sasanian Persia

support or respect, especially since Ardashir’s family was an upstart

family.1 Ardashir, in one of his investiture reliefs, erases all doubts as
to his religious conviction when he states: “This is the image of the
Mazda worshiping Majesty (Middle Persian bag; Parthian xwadāy),
Ardashir, King of Kings of Iran, who is from the lineage of the Gods
(yazdān), the son of the Majesty, King Pabag.”2 His coins also bear
similar titles and suggest that Ardashir minted coins with similar titles
before his defeat of Ardawān IV. Then the idea that rulers were from
the race of gods had been current in some form ever since the invasion
of Alexander the Great. This is manifest from the coins of the kings
of Persis who have the Aramaic legend, “from the gods” (Aramaic zy
alahia). The process of codification of religious knowledge is provided
some attention in the Zoroastrian tradition. The Middle Persian text,
the Dēnkard (Acts of Religion) states that:
ōy bay Ardaxšı̄r šāhān šāh ı̄ Pabagān pad rāst dastwarı̄h tōsar ān-iz hammōg ı̄
pargandag hamāg ō dar xwāst tōsar abar mad ān ı̄ ēwar frāz padı̄rift ud abārı̄g az
daswar hišt ud ēn-iz framān dād kū frāz ō amāh har nigēzišn ān-ē bawēd az dēn
māzdēsn čē nūn-z āgāhı̄h ud dānišn aziš frōd nēst
His Majesty, Ardashir, the King of Kings, son of Pabag, acting on the
just judgment of Tosar, demanded that all those scattered teachings to
be brought to the court. Tosar assumed command; he selected those
which were trustworthy, and left the rest out of the canon. And thus
he decreed: From now only those are true expositions which are based
on the Mazdean religion, for now there is no lack of information and
knowledge concerning them.3

The following passage suggests that Ardashir, who was from a priestly
family, was not well versed in the religion that was to become the offi-
cial religion of the empire, so that a priest by the name of Tosar/Tansar
was chosen as the religious authority. One may also be able to con-
clude that Ardashir and his family were knowledgeable about the cult
of Anahid but not the Mazdean tradition as a whole. We see the name
of Tosar mentioned in the inscription of Shabuhr I although curiously
as the father of a member of the court of Ardashir. This part of the
Dēnkard also gives us another clue which is also corroborated by other
sources, which is that Ardashir’s religious views were not accepted by
all the Zoroastrians in the empire.4 First the text states that there was
scattered information on the Zoroastrian doctrine which may mean
that there were different beliefs or understandings of Zoroastrianism.
Consequently, Tosar was employed to systematize the doctrine of
Zoroastrianism based on the surviving texts, documents and the oral
tradition carried by the “reliable” priests. One may make an analogy

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 Religions of the Empire 71

in bringing together the definitive text of the New Testament and the
process in which it was canonized, where some texts and authorities
were seen as unreliable and others agreed upon. The canonization
of the sacred texts of the Zoroastrians and the Christians was taking
place approximately in the same period and would develop in a simi-
lar fashion, but the followers of both religions would clash with each
other in late antiquity as two different world-views formed, backed by
absolutist rulers.
We may even see Ardashir and the religion which he proclaimed to
be the official religion of the empire as a deviation from the tradition(s)
of Zoroastrianism, hence a heresy. That is, the Zoroastrian religion
he proclaimed as “orthodoxy” did not appear to have been accepted
by all. This new tradition which the Sasanian invented was adopted
by the Sasanian states and priests and the Zoroastrians were made to
conform to it. In a sense, with regards to the beginning we should not
speak about “orthodoxy,” because it probably did not exist. In the
Letter of Tansar, the king of Gilan and Mazandaran, who was indepen-
dent of Ardashir, accuses him of being a heretic and bringing innova-
tions into the tradition. Ardashir has to respond that while this is true
innovations had to take place in order to bring unity to the “nation”
and the “religion.”5 The Zoroastrian clergy supporting Ardashir had
to further support Ardashir’s claim via supernatural means, such as
claiming that his arrival was predicted.6
The problem with what was true Zoroastrianism or orthodoxy
would not be solved until the fall of the empire, although the Sasanians
and the priests attached to the state would have liked to have por-
trayed a picture of religious solidarity.7 In terms of the cultic activity
Ardaxšir’s son, Shabuhr I, left us some detail in terms of such prac-
tices. In the early period the Sasanians engaged in establishment of
fire temples as a general rule. Shabuhr I states that he founded at least
five sacred fires, one in his own name, one in the name of his daughter
Shabuhrdukht, and one for each of his three sons who were ruling
Armenia, Meshan/Mesene, and Sistan. From the amount of sacrifi-
cial material that was dedicated to a temple (20 lambs each day and
bread and wine), we may think of a temple economy and the money
needed for its upkeep as well as the others that would be established in
the future. Each king appears to have established a number of fires and
along with them came the care-taking of the fire by priests and people
who worked the temple lands in order to keep them functioning and
thriving. The idea of temporary servitude to these temples was in exis-
tence, and people donated their time working for the temple to cleanse
their soul or reach their religious objective. These people were known

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 72 Sasanian Persia

as “temple-servants,” (ataxš-bandag) or simply “body,” (tan) who gave an

amount of their time to the service of the fire-temple. A fire foundation
had several types of attendants, those of “slaves” (anšahrı̄g); “servants,”
(bandag) and “guardians,” (sālār) who each had specific functions.8
These matters should remind us of the ancient Near Eastern tradition
of temples and their vast land holdings and power which undoubtedly
influenced the Zoroastrian temples as well. This meant the apparatus
of the ancient Near Eastern temples would have been a model for the
Zoroastrian temple economy and its function.
Thus, in early Sasanian Persia we have a king who is the caretaker
of the Anahid fire-temple which was also a warrior of a cultic center.
A religious authority by the name of Tosar was brought in to canon-
ize the sacred texts which were said by him to have been kept in the
hearts (Persian dil) of those who knew about the religion. This suggests
the importance of the oral tradition, as is evident from the dialectal
differences in the surviving Avestan hymns from Arachosia, Sogdia,
and Persis;9 and finally, the existence of cultic sacrifice and the estab-
lishment of fire-temples which took the name of the kings, queens and
the nobility. The situation becomes more complicated when we take
into account that there were priests or those who honored the cult
of Ohrmazd who, like the Sasanians, also dedicated themselves to
Lady Anahid. Just like the Sasanians who centered their cult around
Anahid, others had centered their activity around other deities such as
Mithra, and probably had various ideas as to what “Zoroastrianism”
meant and wanted to emphasize the importance of their cultic deity.10
Thus we may see a religion in which several deities played important
roles for people and local cultic activity. Nothing can really be said of
the existing non-Iranian deities and temples which were certainly in
existence, due to Greek and Mesopotamian influence. These types of
worship now either had to be abandoned or incorporated under the
religion of Ohrmazd.

MANI: THE PROPHET OF LIGHT

During the rule of Shabuhr I, the prophet Mani appeared on the scene
and the king was receptive to his ideas allowing him to move about
freely and propagate his religion. Mani had been born in Babylonia
and was a physician, as he tells Shabuhr (bizišk hēm az bābel zamı̄g), dur-
ing the time when the Sasanians were attempting to conquer Persis
and challenge the Parthians. His early years appear to have been spent
with his parents, religiously focusing on the Baptists in Babylonia who

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 Religions of the Empire 73

probably came under Christian and Gnostic influence.11 His religious

system was by all accounts dualistic and, as Mani himself explains in
the Šabūhragān, based on the two principles (dw bwn). Thus this sys-
tem was dualistic and used Zoroastrian terminology to propagate its
message to those who were familiar with Zoroastrian deities and doc-
trine. This should also give us another clue as to the importance and
popularity of Zoroastrianism in the third century.
It does not mean, however, that this was the Zoroastrianism of
the Sasanians and it appears to be unlikely that in such a short span
of time the population of the Iranian plateau was to have become
familiar with the Sasanian brand of Zoroastrianism. Consequently
we must suspect that Mani propagated his message to the Iranian
population who believed in Ohrmazd and other Zoroastrian/
Mazdean deities (such as Mihr/Mithra who has an important func-
tion in Manichaeism) and who were not altogether accepting of the
particular doctrinal nuances espoused by the Sasanians and the reli-
gious establishment which now attached itself to the state. The use
of Zurvan as the great god in the Manichaean texts also indicates the
importance of this deity in the early Sasanian period and Mani used
this name since he was probably considered the great god, the father
of Ohrmazd and Ahreman according to those who followed the ideas
of Zurvanism.
This is where the similarity between Manichaeism and
Zoroastrianism ends. Mani taught the opposition between spirit
and matter. All that was spiritual was good and all that was mate-
rial, evil. This was contradictory to the Zoroastrian view of the good
life, where all that was created in this world which was beautiful to
the eye was the work of Ohrmazd and his helpers, the Bounteous
Immortals (Amharspandān). In Manichaeism, not resisting sexual
desires which ultimately led to the entrapment of the particles of
light in flesh (one’s body), and asceticism for the Elect (Manichaean
priests) were central to its doctrine. Pesūs, the evil demoness, created
the first couple who entrapped the light particles which represented
the spirit, while in Zoroastrianism the act of creation, enjoying the
fruits of the world and celebrating the bounty of the earth was
celebrated. We may end this religious divide by simply stat-
ing that Manichaeism was anti-material and otherworldly, while
Zoroastrianism was worldly and let its followers enjoy the cre-
ation of Ohrmazd in this world and the next. The Manichaeans
had to wait until the time of redemption when Jesus would
appear and resurrect the bodies of humans and place the
followers of Mani, who had suffered, into heaven.

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 74 Sasanian Persia

What made Mani’s campaign successful, however, was the fact

that he lived in Babylonia, where a large number of different groups
and religions existed side by side, each with its own doctrine and
god(s). Mani would propagate his religion which may be called anti-
material dualism by using the names, terminology and concepts
from the native vocabulary of the area to make the population bet-
ter understand his ideas. Second, he organized scribal teams which
undertook not only to translate Mani’s ideas into different languages
and scripts, but also each book was written in a different language.
For Shabuhr I, Mani presented the Manichaean text in Middle
Persian, wisely called Šabūhragān.12 Another reason his religion was
deemed universal was that he proclaimed himself to be the seal of the
prophets/teachers, meaning that he was to complete the teachings
of the Zoroastrians, Christians, Buddhists and Mandeans. Mani also
incorporated the Gnostic system of Bardesanes of Edessa, Marcion,
and others. He had simply come to complete the message of previous
wise men and prophets.13 Mani appears to have been only hostile to
Judaism which is interesting because he was from a region where a
large number of Jews lived. This may be due to his upbringing where
the anti-Judaic views of the Elkaisites made an impact on the young
Mani.14 Another reason may be that the large Jewish community in
Mesopotamia were not accepting of his ideas and rejected any of his
teachings.
We know that he traveled to India and Central Asia and learned
much about non-Abrahamic religions, namely Hinduism and
Buddhism. That is why Shabuhr I may have liked Mani’s religious
syncretism and universalism,15 and was to live peacefully under
the next king as well. By the time of Wahram I, things began to
change because of Kerdir’s rise to power and his opposition to
Mani. It is said that at the time Mani entered the city of Wendoy-
Shabuhr (Gundišāpur/Jundı̄šāpur), which was also to be an impor-
tant medical centre, his entrance resembled Christ’s entrance into
Jerusalem and caused much commotion. It was at this time that Kerdir,
along with other Zoroastrian priests complained and caused Mani’s
arrest.16 We have some detailed information from the Manichaean
sources which describe Mani’s fateful visit with King Wahram I and
Kerdir’s plot:
’dy’n qyr(d)[y](r) mgbyd (’)[d] ’dy ’wr’n ky
[pr](x)’št prw’n š’h ’nd[yš’d] u rsk [’]wd n(b)[yn
Thereupon Kerdir the Magbed (Mowbed) planned with his friends
who served before the king, and . . . jealousy and cunning . . .17

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 Religions of the Empire 75

He was summoned and scorned by the king in the following manner:

’wh gwpt kw ’yy pad cy ’b’yšn hyd oo k’ ny ’w k’ryc’r

šwyd ’wd ny nhcyhr kwnyd oo b’ ’wh˛y ‘yn bšyhkyh r’y
’wd ‘y drm’n bwrdn r’y ’byšn hyd oo ’wd ‘ync ny kwnyd oo
Eh, what are you good for since you go neither fighting
nor hunting? But perhaps you are needed for this
doctoring and this physicking? And you don’t do even that!18

He was imprisoned and died there, but this did not finish the
Manichaeans’ religious activity and now their focus turned to Central
Asia where the Turkic tribes and the Chinese found interest in his
doctrine. Manichaeism would not have been very successful in the
West since Christianity, which was gaining momentum, would have
eventually put an end to it, with the exception in Egypt. However,
Manichaeans did live in Rome, but they gradually disappear from
our sources. From the episode told in a Manichaean text, it appears
that Wahram I was angry with Mani, perhaps due to the instigation of
Kerdir and others who had precipitated this anger. He may also have
been drunk, since the same fragment states that after feasting, he had
one hand on the shoulder of the Saka queen and the other over the
shoulders of Kerdir, the son of Ardawān, when coming towards the
prophet.

KERDIR: THE FORGOTTEN PRIEST

Kerdir rise from the rank of a Zoroastrian teacher-priest (hērbed) to an

all-powerful chief priest (mowbed), and assuming other titles along the
way is important for understanding early Sasanian Zoroastrianism.
Kerdir has left us his biography in several places in the province of
Persis along with the Sasanian royal inscriptions and rock-reliefs. His
eventual power and influence in the second half of the third century is
apparent in that he is the only non-royal personage in the third cen-
tury who was given permission to have his own biography written on
stone, which was characteristic of Persian royalty.19 In his biography
we may find two different strands of information. One has to do with
his political aspiration and the establishment of a unified religious doc-
trine. Second, we can ascertain what the process of this empowerment
was and how Kerdir was able to justify his religious conviction over
other subjects of the empire. In his biography, he misleads us into
thinking he was active from the time of Ardashir I and that he held

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 76 Sasanian Persia

much power. Kerdir tells us that under Shabuhr I he surveyed the

empire and established fire-temples and that the priests were given
monetary and perhaps more power so that they became content and
he taught them the correct rites and rituals. He had charters signed for
the fire-temples with his insignia, “Kerdir the priest” (hērbed) making
them more authoritative (perhaps those which accepted Kerdir’s con-
ditions and what was to be called Sasanian Zoroastrianism). His title
suggests that he was a simple priest at the time or that there was no real
religious hierarchy, but this would change. He must have also taken
it upon himself to establish religious seminaries (hērbedestān) where the
priests would be trained adequately in matters of religion. This system
would ensure unity in doctrinal matters and the identification of rec-
ognized priests, since others now could be labeled as heretics. These
seminaries were the religious schools where most of the issues in regard
to doctrine and ritual were discussed. It was in the hērbedestāns where
differences arose and debates took place. By focusing on this imperial
religion and its seminaries two problems arise: one being that Kerdir
and the Middle Persian texts portray a unified Zoroastrian doctrine
which the majority of the Zoroastrians followed at the time. Second,
by focusing on these matters, popular religion is neglected and what
must have been an eclectic tendency on the part of the populace and
the Zoroastrian intellectuals at large is pushed aside.20
It is under Hormizd I that Kerdir received new titles and honors. As
he states he received the markings of rank for the upper class, i.e., cap
and belt (kulāf ud kamarband) and he received the title of Chief-Priest
(mowbed). Kerdir also received a new title which, for a long time was
misunderstood, but now thanks to Ph. Huyse we can read the title as
“Kerdir, whose soul (the god) Wahram saved, the Mowbed of (king)
Hormizd.”21 When we come to the reign of Wahram I we begin to
see changes in the status of Kerdir. In describing his feats under the
first three kings in his inscriptions, Kerdir describes his work formulai-
cally, where there is little difference with the exception of the new titles
which he assumes. When Kerdir describes the time of Wahram I, it is
evident that this king bestowed more honor on him. This is clear by
what Wahram I allowed Kerdir to receive, first becoming a magnate
or assuming their rank, second becoming the Judge (dādwar) over the
whole empire which suggests that from then on the judges were drawn
from the ranks of the priests. Third, Kerdir is given the custodianship
of the Anahid fire-temple at Istakhr. One cannot help but feel that
something changed in the relation of the Sasanian kings vis-à-vis the
fire-temple or their religious functions which were once tied to this
important cultic centers. This power base of the rulers was given up

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 Religions of the Empire 77

altogether to a priest and so a divergence took place in the function

of the king and the importance and rise of the professional religious
organization and hierarchy in the late third century CE.
There may have been religious doctrinal differences between
Zoroastrian schools of thought if such schools existed, since Kerdir
states that he put down heresies and tried to put all the different
Mazdean thinkers in line with the official state religion: “them (her-
etics) I punished, and I tormented them until I made them better.”22
Another important but more ambiguous term that Kerdir deals with is
mowestān, which has been translated differently. I see in this the concept
of religious seminaries for the priests (mowān) whose chief (mowbed) was
Kerdir.23 This confirms the Dēnkard’s statement that under Shabuhr
I, the Avesta was collected and the different schools of thought in rela-
tion to religion were brought forth and examined, so there would be
no disputation as to the authoritative text, which also suggests unified
rites, rituals and doctrine.24 He also mentions another important term
which is nask (passage 29 of his inscription) which is of interest. Nask
refers to each of the sections of the Avesta which the Zoroastrian tradi-
tion considers to have consisted of 21 nasks. Nasks were books or collec-
tion of texts and so it suggests that the Avesta may have been written in
one form or another the third century CE.

CHRISTIANITY AND JUDAISM: PERSECUTION,

COEXISTENCE AND RECOGNIZED RELIGIONS

The persecution of the other religious groups also becomes evi-

dent from the inscription (KKZ 9–10) in which Kerdir states that
Jews (yhwd-y), Buddhists (šmn-y), Hindus (brmn-y), Nazarenes (n’cr’-y),
Christians (krstyd’n), Mandaens (mktk-y), and Manichaeans (zndyk-y)
were harmed.25 The next line indicates that idols existed in the empire
or idol worship was in existence which was probably in regard to
Christians’ and Buddhists’ veneration of the image of their respective
leaders/teachers. The Persian term of idol, but is derived from Buddha
which gives credence to the fact that Kerdir persecuted the Buddhists.
Christians were to be the subject of persecution for several reasons.
First, Christianity before the Christianization of the Eastern Roman
empire tended to have a universal outlook, much like Manichaeism
and always held to universal aspirations. But with Constantine and the
adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire, Persian Christian loy-
alties were divided between the King of Kings who was not Christian
and the emperor Constantine who proclaimed to be the leader of all

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 78 Sasanian Persia

Christians in the oikumene.26 The problem with the issue of Christian

loyalty to the King of Kings is also clear in that Shabuhr II in the
fourth century had asked a double tax from the Christians for his war
campaign. According to the Acts of Simeon once the Christian leader had
refused to abide by this request, it is said that Shabuhr had said “Simeon
wants to make his followers and his people rebel against my king-
dom and convert them into servants of Caesar, their coreligionist.”27
Second, Christianity was a proselytizing religion which brought it into
conflict with the Zoroastrian hierarchy. After all, who were the
Christians in Persia trying to convert? We have many cases in which
even people from the noble families converted to Christianity and
were martyred for their belief. For the Zoroastrians this would not
have gone over well with Kerdir and other priests. The persecution of
the Christians from this time took place when the Sasanians fought the
Romans, especially in the fourth century CE.28 This persecution would
decrease because the Persian Christian church became officially
recognized and its Catholikos was stationed at Ctesiphon from the
fifth century CE.
Jews appear to have been treated much better by the Sasanians.
When reading through the non-religious Middle Persian texts written
during the Sasanian period, one can see the close relations between
the Sasanian monarchs and the Jewish population, especially with
the leaders of the community. For example in The Provincial Capitals
of Ērān (Šhrestānı̄hānı̄hā ı̄ Ērānšahr) a Sasanian king is said to be from
the marriage between the Sasanian king and a Jewish woman: “The
city of Khwārizm was built by Narseh, the son of the Jewess (10),”29
or “The city of Šūš (Susa) and Šūštar were built by Shishindokht, the
wife of Yazdgerd, the son of Shabuhr, since she was the daughter of
Resh Galut, the king of the Jews and also the mother of Wahram Gur
(another Sasanian king) (47).” Middle Persian Reš Galut is the Aramaic
form of Resh Galutha, “Leader of the Exile.” We know of this close
association between the Jews and the Sasanians from non-Sasanian
sources as well. These two references are from the time of Yazdgerd I
(339–420 CE) who, according to the Talmud, was in close contact with
the Jewish community. It is even said that Yazdgerd addressed the
rabbis with courtesy, cited scriptures to them, and of course married a
Jewess, i.e., Shishindokht.30 This again may be the product of Jewish
historiography and propaganda, but one cannot deny the historicity
of the contacts between the Sasanians and the Jews. As for Wahram V
(Gur), the Zoroastrian Persians could see him as a legitimate ruler and
the Jews would see him as a Jewish king. After all, he was Jewish since
his mother was a Jewess.

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 Religions of the Empire 79

The Jews would have been the most important source of trans-
mission of knowledge about the Achaemenids as well, even if the
Sasanians were not informed about the Achaemenids independently.
The mention of the Achaemenids in the Bible is very important. This
would mean that when the Middle Persian versions of the Bible were
at hand during late antiquity, the Zoroastrian priests would have had
access to them. Theodoret in the fifth century CE states that a transla-
tion of the Bible was made into Middle Persian.31 In the Talmud as well
there is reference to whether the story of Esther could be recited in
Persian or not which suggests that orally conveying the stories about
the Achaemenids was also possible.32 The story of Esther was central
to this transmission of the memory of the Achaemenids by the Jews to
the Sasanians. Not only the Bible reflects the Jewish fascination about
the Achaemenids but also the paintings at Dura-Europos remember
the Biblical story of late antiquity. This brings us to the Dura-Europos
synagogue in Syria where another important and vital piece of infor-
mation is given in regard to Sasanian understanding of the Biblical
story of Esther. During the time of Shabuhr I (240–270 CE), Sasanian
officials visited the synagogue at Dura-Europos. One of the best pre-
served and elaborate frescos represents the story of Esther. The scene
represents Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) on a throne who is receiving a mes-
sage in the presence of the Jews. Mordecai is on a royal horse which is
held by Haman. What is important is that several Middle Persian graf-
fiti can be found on the scene which has been attributed to the third
century CE. These were inscriptions placed by the Persian emissaries
of Shabuhr I who visited the synagogue where the date is also given
(255 and 256 CE).33
Elisaeus tells us that during the time of Yazdgerd II (438–457
CE), the court and the king were told about the stories of the Bible
regarding the Persians and the treatment of the Jews by the
Achaemenids.34 The translation of the Bible into other Middle Iranian
languages is still in existence and was probably the work of Christian
missionaries in the Sasanian empire and in Central Asia.35 The
Judeo-Persian tradition is certainly rich in Achaemenid stories,36
which demonstrates the continuity of this memory among the Jews
of Persia.37 The Jews must have reminded the Sasanian Persians of
this glorious past when they ruled Asia and were tolerant of all peo-
ple, especially the Jews. This would have made the Jews much more
secure than their rival community, the Christians, but in the end it
was the Christians and their religion which captured the attention of
the Persians.

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 80 Sasanian Persia

BEFORE DANTE: TRAVELING TO HEAVEN, HELL

AND PURGATORY

We should turn back to Kerdir and discuss the second significance

of his inscriptions in the third century. This has to do with his reli-
gious mission and his journey to the other world to find out matters
about the true religion and the correct way in rites and ritual.38 In his
inscription he has a fascinating account of his vision of heaven, hell
and purgatory. F. Grenet has, however, suggested that the idea that
Kerdir himself had made the journey is wrong and placed someone
else,39 a young boy (rahı̄g) in a squatting position (nišast) to have the
vision.40 M. Schwartz has shown that this vision of the other world
was made possible through the reciting of the mantra while the young
boy stared into a mirror (ēwēn mahr).41 This method of divination is
not Iranian in origin and is found in the Mediterranean world in
Late Antiquity, and thus it demonstrates a foreign borrowing by the
Zoroastrian priesthood in the early Sasanian period. This fact suggests
that Zoroastrian ritual and tradition had not yet been formed and was
susceptible to foreign influence. Second, I believe the adoption of such
a non-Iranian method of divination caused Kerdir to be wiped from
the memory of the Zoroastrian tradition and the Sasanian historical
tradition.
Then what is the Iranian manner of divination and journey to the
netherworld? In a Middle Persian text which deals with such a jour-
ney, the righteous Wiraz takes a drink called mang ı̄ wištāpān, which
was a hemp or henbane potion in order to travel to heaven and hell to
inform the Zoroastrian priests.42 In a Zoroastrian apocalyptic text, the
prophet Zoroaster is also able to see what will happen in the future by
drinking water which Ohrmazd had given him in order to achieve “all
knowing wisdom” (xrad ı̄ harwisp āgāhı̄h).43 Long ago H.S. Nyberg had
suggested that this Zoroastrian tradition is part of the Central Asian
heritage which is still common among the Shamans of Siberia.44
Kerdir, however, was able to see the correct conduct of rites and
rituals through “incorrect” means, but it made him certain of the exis-
tence of heaven and hell. This moral power which Kerdir received
from his visionary activity was used as a weapon which he unleashed to
combat not only the heretics, but also Mani who had become impor-
tant in the empire and needed to be dealt with swiftly during Wahram
I’s rule.45 Other religions were not immune to this persecution either,
as his inscription attests to this fact. With Narseh coming to the throne,
the power of Kerdir may have lessened and by this time he must have
been very old. We see that Narseh not only mentions Ohrmazd but

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 Religions of the Empire 81

also Anahid in his inscription at Paikuli which suggests his particular

interest in her cult from which his grandfather Ardashir I had gained
his power.46 He makes the point of mentioning Ardashir and Shabuhr
as the rightful rulers of the Sasanian Empire, while leaving Hormizd
aside and the three Wahrams who interceded between his father and
his rule. At Naqsh-i Rustam he had a rock relief carved which shows
him receiving the diadem of sovereignty from Lady Anahid, thus
making her cult not only important once again but perhaps paying
personal attention to the fire-temple at Istakhr which had fallen into
the hands of Kerdir and company.

POST-KERDIR ZOROASTRIANISM

We should also say something about the nature of “official” doctrinal

Zoroastrianism that was upheld in the Sasanian period. The Middle
Persian sources, which are the product of priestly tradition, lead us
to believe that the path to the Zoroastrian religion was one (rāh ı̄ dēn
ēk)47 and that the priests tied to the state were its representatives. That
this religion was connected to the state and that they were deemed
inseparable is mentioned in a famous passage in the Dēnkard (Dēnkard
Madan edition 470.7):

hād xwadāyı̄h dēn ud dēn xwadāyı̄h . . . pad awēšān xwadāyı̄h

abar dēn ud dēn abar xwadāyvh winnārdagı̄h

Know that kingship is religion and religion is kingship . . . for them king-
ship is arranged based on religion and religion based on kingship.48

Even if we do not have much information about the Zoroastrian sects,

however, the Zurvanite and monotheistic forms of Zoroastrianism
were present. For some time it has been suggested that Zurvanism
was the dominant mode of thought among certain Zoroastrian mow-
beds and kings in the Sasanian period. For the early Sasanian period
it is not the Sasanians who tell us about this orientation, but rather it
is inferred from the Manichaean sources. Mani, in relating his doc-
trine in Middle Persian and Parthian (obviously written or aimed at
the population of the Iranian plateau), does not use Ohrmazd as the
supreme deity but rather Zurvan who in he mentions as the highest
god. Based on this evidence it is thought that the early Sasanian kings
and even Kerdir may have been followers of Zurvan, although this is
speculation based on the Manichaean sources. Kerdir could very well

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 82 Sasanian Persia

have been anti-Zurvanite and thus saw Mani as further endangering

Zoroastrianism. It is again during the middle of Sasanian period, dur-
ing the rule of Wahram V and Yazdgerd II that we hear through the
famous prime minister (wuzurg-framadār), that Zurvanism was in vogue
(he had named one of his sons Zurvandad “created by Zurvan”). Also
such Armenian sources as Ełishe and Eznik of Kolb inform us of Mihr-
Narseh and his efforts to force Zoroastrianism upon the Armenians,
where the Zurvanite form was being propagated. Certainly traces of
Zurvanistic thought are apparent in some of the Pahlavi texts, such as
the Mēnōg ı̄ Xrad, although there was a campaign to cleanse it by the
scribes who wrote down the tradition in the early Islamic period.
Zurvan was the god of eternal time who had existed from time
immemorial. The priests who had Zurvanite leanings basically
believed that the evil spirit, Ahreman came to the world as a result of
Zurvan’s doubt, followed by Ohrmazd. Thus, in this system Ohrmazd
and Ahreman became brothers or twins. This idea may have had its
origins in a passage from the Gathas of Zoroaster (Yasna 30.3), where
there is a reference to the two spirits being born and being in opposi-
tion to one another in thoughts and deeds.49 Now the interpretation
may have been false because in the Gathas the opposition is between
Spenta Mainiuu (Amharspandān) and Angra Mainiiu (Ahreman), and
not between Ohrmazd and Ahreman. In the original Zoroastrian
doctrine of the Gathas, Ohrmazd in this opposition and dualism is
above and beyond the two spirits, but the former is the arm with which
Ohrmazd creates and propagates his ideas. The Zoroastrian priests of
the Sasanian period, however, had elevated Ahreman to such extent
that he was now equated with Ohrmazd. More will be said of the
Zoroastrian priests’ infatuation with evil, Ahreman, and the campaign
to cleanse the world of it with a host of purity laws. These ideas made
a deep impression on the people, who also turned to non-Zoroastrian
religions for aid. It should, however, be stated that since no reference
is made to Zurvan in the Sasanian sources and since Ohrmazd is the
deity that is venerated in the inscriptions, we should not give too much
weight to the Zurvanite hypothesis as a distinct school of thought. This
may be an infatuation of modern scholars with Zurvan rather than
a reflection of its importance in the Sasanian period. As Sh. Shaked
has mentioned, this creation myth which was projected onto the
Sasanian state religion probably never existed as a distinct doctrine of
Zoroastrianism in this period.50
Armenian and Classical sources inform us that the Persian kings
worshipped the sun and the moon, and Roman sources state that
Shabuhr II claimed to be “brother of the Sun and the Moon” (Latin)

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 Religions of the Empire 83

(frater Solis et Lunae) but which does not appear in the Sasanian sources
themselves.51 There are two possibilities. One is that this may be a ref-
erence to the deity Mithra. A more interesting answer is that it may be
an Indo-Iranian trait in which it was believed that their ancestors were
descended from Manūčihr (Indic Manu) and his father Wiwahvant
(Indic Vivasvant) who were identified in India with the Moon and the
Sun respectively.52 Otherwise the dualistic form of Zoroastrianism in
which Ohrmazd and Ahreman were at battle and where humans must
choose between the two was the dominant form of Zoroastrianism.
Now in the intellectual circles, there may have been differences and
this may have been due to foreign influences, since the Dēnkard states
that during the time of Shabuhr I non-religious writings were collected
and added to the Avesta:
Šābuhr šāhān šāh ı̄ Ardashirān nibēgı̄hā-iz az dēn bē abar bizišgı̄h ud star-
gōwišnı̄h (ud) čandišn ud zamān ud gyāg ud gōhr (ud) jahišn ud bawišn ud
wināsišn ud jadag-wihērı̄h ud gōwāgı̄h ud abārı̄g kirrōgı̄h ud abzār andar
hindūgān ud hrōm (ud) abārı̄g-iz zamı̄hı̄hā pargandag būd abāz ō ham āwurd
ud abāg abistāg abāz handāxt ud har ān ı̄ drust paččēn ō ganj ı̄ šāhı̄gān dād (ān)
framūd ud ēstēnı̄dan ı̄ hamāg arist (ag)- ān abar dēn māzdēsn ō uskār kard
Shabuhr, the King of Kings, son of Ardashir, further collected the non-
religious writings on medicine, astronomy, movement, time, space,
substance, accident, becoming, decay, transformation, logic and other
crafts and skills which were dispersed throughout India, Rome and
other lands, and collated them with the Avesta, and commanded that a
copy be made of all those writings which were flawless and be depos-
ited in the Royal Treasury. And he put forward for deliberation the
annexation of all those pure teachings to the Mazdean religion.53

This passage is important in that it tells us that the king ordered that
ideas should be drawn from Greek and Indian sciences and incorpo-
rated into the Avesta. Thus, the Sasanian Avesta was a mélange of ideas
and learning from the world which seemed useful or in accordance
with the Zoroastrianism in which Shabuhr believed or was creating.
What is also apparent is a lively atmosphere of reflection or discussion
(ūskārišn) at the court of what is reliable and what is not. Finally a copy
(paččēn) of this written Avesta is deposited in the royal treasury. This
will not be the last time that the Sasanian Avesta would go through
redaction. This may also signify Shabuhr I’s decision not only to allow
Mani, who had eclectic ideas to be active, but also to make the Avesta a
compendium of foreign and domestic learning in an era of universal-
ism. In fact the Dēnkard demonstrates Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic
influences and Greek thought in general which must have entered

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 84 Sasanian Persia

the empire and which some priests had accepted or incorporated into
their belief.54 One can not help but to see the situation as such that
while the Zoroastrian priests and the state hammered in the idea of an
“Orthodoxy,” they were the real innovators and architects of an eclec-
tic tradition in the name of tradition. We should also mention the influ-
ence of the Jewish religion on the intellectual life of Zoroastrianism.
In some passages of the Middle Persian texts we do have statements
which suggest a strong Semitic presence in the Zoroastrianism of the
Sasanian and of the early Islamic period. For example in a strange
account of the creation it is said that the first man, Gayōmard, was cre-
ated from clay (Middle Persian gil), hence receiving the epitaph “King
of clay” (Middle Persian gilšāh).55 The other is in regard to the sin com-
mitted by Mashya and Mashyane, the first couple in the Zoroastrian
religion, whose lives at times take on Biblical coloring becoming
similar to story of Adam and Eve.56

ADURBAD I MAHRSPANDAN AND THE SEARCH FOR

ORTHODOXY

Of course no foreign influence is needed to cause divergent inter-

pretation among the Zoroastrian priests. Adurbad i Mahrspandan is
another important figure in the history of Zoroastrianism who is also
credited with the further codification of the Avesta and the Zoroastrian
law in the fourth century CE. He was the chief priest during the time of
Shabuhr II in the fourth century CE.
Šābuhr šāhān šāh ı̄ hormizdān hamāg kišwarı̄gān pad paykārišn yazdān āhang
kard ud hamāg gōwišn ō uskār ud wizōyišn āwurd pas az bōxtan ı̄ Adurbād
pad gōwišn ı̄ passāxt abāg hamāg ōyšān jud-sardagān ud nask-ōšmurdān-iz ı̄
jud-ristagān ēn-iz guft kū nūn ka-mān dēn pad stı̄ dēn dı̄d kas-iz ag-dēnı̄h bē nē
hilēm wēš abar tuxšāg tuxšēm ud ham gōnag kard
Shabuhr, the King of Kings, son of Hormizd, induced all countrymen
to orient themselves to god by disputation, and put forth all oral tradi-
tions for consideration and examination. After the triumph of Adurbad,
through his declaration put to the trial by ordeal (in disputation) with
all those sectaries and heretics who recognized (studied) the Nasks, he
made the following statement: “Now that we have gained an insight
into the Religion in the worldly existence, we shall not tolerate anyone
of false religion, and we shall be more zealous.” And thus did he do.57

In this passage we are told that there was a great synod or council
in which all people (kišwarı̄gān), probably meaning Zoroastrian

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 Religions of the Empire 85

theologians, discussed the material at hand. We also still see the “oral
tradition” (gōwišn) at work here along with the Avesta which was already
committed to writing deposited in the royal treasury. The oral tradition
may be referring to zand, commentary of the Avesta which caused so
much discussion. This is because we are supplied by a host of terms for
“different [Zoroastrian] sects” (jud-ristagān), such as those of “different
groups” (jud-sardagān), and those who “study the Nask” (nask-ōšmurdān)
of the Avesta. From the point in which Adurbad i Mahrspandan is suc-
cessful, all other sects beside what the State religion is, are called a false
religion (ag-dēnı̄h).
The way in which Adurbad i Mahrspandan proves the truthfulness
of his ideas over other Zoroastrian sects and theologians is also instruc-
tive about the nature of religious life. It is mentioned that Adurbad i
Mahrspandan also went through an ordeal the components of which
are made clear in another text. In the Book of Righteous Wiraz (Ardā
Wiraz Nāmag), it is said that before Adurbad i Mahrspandan, the peo-
ple and the priests were in doubt, and as a consequence of Alexander’s
destruction of the Avesta and the killing of the priests there were doc-
trines (ēwēnag), faiths (kēš), heresies (jud-ristagı̄h), and doubts (gumānı̄h)
and contradictory laws (jud-dādestānı̄h). Then Adurbad i Mahrspandan
appeared to set the religion straight by going through the following
ceremony:

Adurbād ı̄ mārspandān kē-š padiš passāxt ı̄ pad dēn kard rōy

widāxtag abar war rēxt ud čand dādestān ud dādwarı̄h abāg
jud-kēšān ud jud-wurrōyı̄nān be kard
Adurbad i Mahrspandan about whom the ordeal according to the
Religion was performed: melted copper was poured on his breast, and
he held several processes and (passed) judgment (on) the unbelievers
and heretics.58

Thus he was able to prove his point by going through an ordeal

which, according to the Zoroastrian tradition, proved one’s truthful-
ness or lying. This reminds us of the ordeals that people of ancient
Mesopotamia went through in order to prove their innocence or guilt,
by such means as being thrown into the river. Here, however, molten
metal was poured on one’s chest and survival was proof of truthful-
ness. The molten metal ordeal certainly invokes Gathic imagery of
the end of time when the righteous walk on molten metal as if walking
on warm milk, while the sinners burn. This is only of the six ordeals
by heat (6 war ı̄ garm) which were used in ancient Persia.59 In another
Middle Persian text, (What is) Licit and Illicit (Šāyest nē Šāyest) the story

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 86 Sasanian Persia

is related that Adurbad i Mahrspandan poured molten metal on his

chest (āhan ı̄ widāxtag), but since he was sincere it felt as if milk had been
poured on his chest. But those who were followers of the Lie would
burn and be killed.60 There was also the placing of hot iron on the
tongue and other ordeals which were to prove one’s innocence which
basically meant a person was guilty until he/she were dead from the
ordeal or lived through it. Still another way in which the Persians
proved the truthfulness of their statement was by the ritual drinking
of sulfur which was thought to be connected with the Persian “to take
an oath” (Sōgand Xwardān)61 but this connection has been disproved by
M. Schwartz.62

MAZDAK Ī AHLOMOGĀN AHLAMOG: THE HERETIC

PAR EXCELLENCE

Thus, the problem of “heresy” in the eye of the Sasanian church was
serious enough to have had one priest using foreign tradition of vision
of heaven and hell, and another pour molten metal on his chest to com-
bat heretics and make others believe in their ways and to codify the
Avestan nasks. Of course for the Zoroastrian priests tied to the state
the arch-heretic was no other person than Mazdak who appeared
in the late fifth/early sixth century CE. Regarding Mazdak we must
discuss another issue which is the interpretation of the Avesta. Even
when the Avesta was codified and written down, most of it was unin-
telligible to the priests so commentaries (zand) were written in order
to make it understandable. There is no reason to doubt that there
were various zands or interpretations of the Avesta. Consequently those
who made unacceptable interpretations of the holy text were labeled
“heretic” (zandı¯g) or (ahlāmoγ). Some of the commentaries probably had
a Gnostic interpretation of the Avesta which may have seemed repug-
nant to the courtly priests, as Mani and his doctrine had been. This for-
eign influence on certain Avestan interpretations caused the religious
body to slander those of “mixed doctrine” (gumēzag dād) which was lev-
eled at a certain heretic named Sēn, as well as Mazdak. The doctrine of
these heretics was assumed to be in opposition to those who espoused
the “good religion” (weh dēn). But one has to remember, there was ample
opportunity for the Zoroastrian theologians to draw from foreign reli-
gions and sources as evidenced by the passages of the Dēnkard. Esoteric
interpretations of the Avesta existed which have left traces in the Middle
Persian texts, specifically in relation to such terms as raz “secret,”63 and
the Mazdakite belief in the “hidden” (nihānı¯) meaning of the Avesta.64

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 Religions of the Empire 87

By all accounts the social message of Mazdak was the creation of

an egalitarian system of the distribution of wealth at a time of famine
which must have created further social tensions. Zoroastrian Middle
Persian sources of course see Mazdak as the heretic par excellence
(ahlāmoγān ahlāmoγ) who commanded that women, children, and
property be shared among the population, which resulted in social
chaos. The Middle Persian sources inform us that sons did not know
who their fathers were and so they could not determine their class
affiliation. P. Crone has suggested that Mazdak generalized the insti-
tution of levirate wife (stūrı̄h), in which a man without male issue can
give his wife in levirate marriage to another man.65 This means that
the Mazdakites would have made stūrı̄h possible between classes as
well, and maybe forced such an issue with the backing of Kavad. What
seems novel here is that Mazdak was probably going against the time-
honored dictum “take a wife from your own relatives,” (zan az paywand
ı̄ xwēš kunēd)66 i.e., the institution of next-of-kin-marriage (xwēdodah).67
The lower classes must have favored this (Mazdak) mowbed’s proc-
lamations and ideas which he claimed were based on the zand or the
interpretation of the Avesta. In fact Mazdak’s ideas then were not
totally foreign, only that his interpretation of the Avesta was disliked by
the nobility and the priests who were attached to the state.
According to the Middle Persian and other sources, Mazdak’s ideas
were influenced by a man named Zardosht from the city of Fasā whose
followers were called those who follow “the right religion” (drist-dēn).68
He was probably living in the fifth century CE and was a predeces-
sor of Mazdak who now reformulated and furthered his ideas. The
Mazdakites who followed the teaching of this Zardosht and then
Mazdak and are said to prescribe all the good qualities asked from
a Zoroastrian, that is preaching righteous deeds, abstaining from sin
and the practice of sacerdotal functions. What they lacked, however,
was that they were less bent on following rites and rituals and the most
important sentence about them in the Dēnkard declares their primal
sin:

pad dēn ı̄ māzdēsnān ēd ku pad dēn be niger u-šān čārag-xwāh

Regarding the Mazdean religion they are of the opinion that by
interpreting (the Religion) they seek to remedy it.69

This means that their zand or interpretation was a means of remedying

the social and economic hardships of the period after the Hephthalite
onslaught, famine, and social tensions. The Mazdakites believed
in matrilineal descent, recognizing descent from the mother which

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 88 Sasanian Persia

was contrary to the Zoroastrianism which the Sasanians had estab-

lished.70 He may have been among those heretics who were known
as those “who distort a precept as it has been taught by the ancient
teachers through interpretation.”71 It is here that Shaked’s beliefs in
esoteric interpretation of the Avesta become all the more valid. Mazdak
is said to have distorted the precepts of the religion which seems to
mean that he gave an esoteric interpretation to the Avesta and favored
ascetic practices and maybe even vegetarianism.72 If the Mazdakites
were vegetarians, and believed that through good acts and without
proper ritual they would reach salvation, their views was not very
different from the common or state-sponsored priestly one. According
to tradition it is said that Adurbad i Mahrspandan said “Firmly refrain
from eating the flesh of cows and sheep” (az pid ı̄ gāwān ud gōspandān
xwardan pahrēz saxt kunēd).73
There were also differences in many other aspects of the state-spon-
sored Zoroastrianism, which were similar to Indian and Greek philo-
sophical and cosmological ideas.74 Here the development in Islamic
history may serve as an example: while the Caliphate espoused the rigid
doctrine and ritual of Islam, some of the Muslims felt that the state-
sponsored religion lacked the humanity and spirituality which was in
existence in the beginning. Hence, local anti-establishment Islamic
practices were espoused and became popular, especially Sufı̄sm and
Sufı̄ practices which were persecuted by the early Caliphs. This per-
secution had a point besides its religious implication and it was that by
controlling religion, the Caliphs controlled the political allegiance of
all people through religion. We may see a similar development with
Mazdak and his travails with the Zoroastrian state church and the
King of Kings.
Kavad I used Mazdak in subverting the power of the nobility and
priests who had weakened the power of the king, which also brought
him popular support and made him and Mazdak a populist king and
priest. We can tell that Mazdak was populist and that his doctrines
were supported by the lower classes when the Dēnkard states that
Mazdak had styled himself the spiritual leader of the Zoroastrian
religion, bringing aid to the hungry and the naked (gursag ud brahnag).
Other people from the lower classes, according to the text, seem to be
the young mob, i.e., the Jawan-mardan who plundered the rich in the
cities, to feed the poor.75 Also the king established an office dealing
with the downtrodden masses who needed aid, i.e., the office of the
“Protector of poor and the judge” (drı̄yōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar).76
We also know that during the late Sasanian period charitable foun-
dations were established for the sake of one’s soul and the money was

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 Religions of the Empire 89

used for the poor or public construction projects that benefited the
community and were a model for the later Islamic waqf.77 From this
time Mazdakite propagandists went as far as the Arabian Peninsula,
supported by Kavad I, and where the empire established its base the
Mazdakites were able to establish themselves. How much influence
these Mazdakites had on Arabia and the Islamic doctrine cannot be
known but their presence in Mecca is assured. Even when the anti-
Mazdakite Khusro I came to power the Mazdakites were able to sur-
vive in the distant places away from Persia, specifically in Arabia.
At the end of Kavad’s life there were conflicts in terms of succession
and the Mazdakites chose the wrong contender, Kavus. Once Khusro
I, aided by the anti-Mazdakite faction, came to power he made good
on his promise to his constituents, and Mazdak and many of his fol-
lowers were killed in a gruesome fashion. As a result the interpretation
of the Avesta, and the teaching of their zand was restricted if we are to
believe the Middle Persian texts:

pad zand ı̄ wahman yasn ud hordād yasn ud aštād yasn paydāg kū ēw bār gizistag
Mazdak ı̄ bāmdādān ı̄ dēn-petyārag ō paydāgı̄h āmad u-šān petyārag pad dēn
ı̄ yazdān kard ud ān anōšag-ruwān husraw ı̄ Kavadān māhdād ud Shabuhr
ı̄ dādohrmazd ı̄ ādurbādagān dastwar ud ādur farrbay ı̄ a-dro ud ādurbād
ādurmihr ud baxtāfrı̄d ō pēš xwāst u-š paymān aziš xwāst kū ēn yasnı̄hā pad
nihān ma dārēd be pad pywand ı̄ ašmā zand ma čāšēd awēšān andar husraw
paymān kard
In the zand of the Wahman Yasn and the Hordād Yasn and of the Aštād
Yasn it is revealed that once the accursed Mazdak son of Bāmdād, the
adversary of the religion appeared. And (his followers) brought detri-
ment to the religion of the yazads. And Xosrō of immortal soul, son
of Kavad summoned before him Māhdād Shabuhr of Dādohrmazd,
Dastur of Ādurbādagān, Ādur Farrbay the honest, Ādurbād of
Ādurmihr, and Baxtāfrı̄d. And he asked an agreement from them, “Do
not keep these Yasnas in concealment, but do not teach and zand out-
side your offspring.” They made the agreement with Khusro.78

We realize that Mazdak’s religious views based on his zand were so

divergent from those of the other Zoroastrian theologians, that once
Khusro I had suppressed his activities that he called all the religious
authorities and specifically asked them not to teach the zand (zand ma
čāšēd) to anyone outside of their circles. From this passage it appears
that a kind of exclusion appears in terms of the zand and the wor-
ries of the Sasanians with proliferation of Zoroastrian sectarianism. In
the Dēnkard we have another testimony about the religious policies of
Khusro I which is worth noting:

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 90 Sasanian Persia

im bay xusrōy šāhān šāh ı̄ Kavadān čiyōn-iš ahlamōγı̄h ud sāstārı̄h spurr-

hamēstārı̄hā wānı̄d pad paydāgı̄h az dēn andar har ahlamōγı̄h ı̄ 4 pēšag āgāhı̄h
ud uskārišn ı̄ gōkānı̄g wası̄hā bē abzūd ud ēn-iz pad gēhān hanjamanı̄h guft ku
rāstı̄h ı̄ dēn māzdēsn bē dānist ōšyārān pad uskārišn ōstı̄gı̄hā tuwān pad gētı̄g
bē ēstēnı̄d.
His present Majesty, Khusro, the King of Kings, son of Kavad, after
he had put down heresy and evil dominion with the fullest antago-
nism, according to the revelation of the Religion he greatly promoted
detailed knowledge and investigation in the matter of all heresy within
the four estates. And at an assembly (of the representatives) of the
realm he declared: “We have recognized the truth of the Mazdean
Religion; and the wise can with confidence establish it in the world by
discussion.”79

Here we are dealing with heresy in the eyes of the established

Zoroastrian church tied to the state. For them the heretics (ahlāmoγān)
were of several kinds; those who were unobservant of ceremonies and
rituals; those who had secret doctrines, and those who interpreted the
Avesta very differently. There were even theological differences among
the priests tied to the state and the state nominally supported these
priests and allowed them to function. However, others were not so
fortunate, probably because their ideas or zands were far off the accep-
tance scale of the established doctrines or interpretations. We know of
one other priest whose judgments and beliefs were denounced by the
priests. In the Šāyestnē Šāyest we read that the Zoroastrian priests were
at odds with Sēn, stating:

abēzag dād ud weh-dēn amā hēm ud pōryōtkēš hēm ud gumēzag dād sēnı̄g
wišgardı̄h hēnd ud wattar dād zandı̄g ud tarsāg ud jahūd ud abārı̄g ı̄ az ēn awēšān
hēnd

We are of pure law and good religion and we are the first teachers
of the Mazdean religion, and of mixed law are the followers of Sēn
and of the worse law of heresy and Christians and Jews and others of
these sorts.80

Now there may be several reasons why Sēn was seen as a heretic (zandı̄g).
It may be that the priests believed his doctrine was of “mixed law/doc-
trine,” which could mean that he used Gnostic or foreign theologi-
cal sources, as the Christians and Jews were condemned in the next
passage of the same text. It also may be that plainly put his zand was
so different from the official theological teachings of Zoroastrianism

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 Religions of the Empire 91

which are known as the three doctrines (sē čāštag),81 he was seen as
a heretic. In the Dēnkard he is also mentioned and labeled a heretic
because it is said that the followers of Sēn thought they were superior
to other priests turned to the teachings of the ancients, meaning they
have given it a new interpretation.82
There is other evidence to demonstrate that other priests also were
not so fond of the courtly priests. If we assume that the courtly priests
had their center in Persis we know of a group of priests who lived close
to the city of Ray, in Media, whom the Middle Persian text accuses of
heresy. In the Bundahišn the priests of the region are said to bring doubt
upon the deities and since they are themselves of evil thought they
convert others through religion to evil thoughts.83 The Islamic sources
state that during the eighth century CE there was a fortification at Ray
where priests lived which was also the seat of the great Zoroastrian priest
masmoγān.84 The location of this fort was said to be by the Damāvand
Mountain. The Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi destroyed the fort and had
the masmoγān killed.85 Could this be the source of negative reference
to the north in the Middle Persian texts when dealing with heresy and
bad religion? Even in the Pahlavi Anti-Demonic Law (Wı̄dēwdād), one
of the best lands created by Ohrmazd, Rāy, where Zoroaster is also
believed to have come from, the evil spirit brought opposition in the
form of “extreme unbelief” (wattar gumānagı̄h) by those “who them-
selves are skeptic and make others also skeptic” (kū xwad gumānomand
ud kasān-iz be kunēnd).86
While the problem of zand was to plague the state church, there is
one other group which had a very different view of the problems. These
Zoroastrians may be called the “anti-Zand” faction which, of course,
the Dēnkard takes as heretics. According to them, with the exception
of the Gāthās of Zoroaster which was the word of God, other sections
of the Avesta as well as the commentary were the work of humans and
so susceptible to corruption.87 Thus, on the one hand, the priests tied
to the church had to fend for themselves against those Zoroastrians
who had allowed foreign ideas enter their religion, or from those
whose zand was different from theirs. On the other hand they had
to defend themselves from a group of Zoroastrian theologians who
rejected all interpretations and the Avesta which was compiled by
Tosar and company and went through changes through the centuries.
The problem is that by looking at the translation of the Gāthās we
realize that the Zoroastrian priests at the time had a very imperfect
knowledge of the Avestan language, hence a poor understanding of
the Gāthās as well.

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 92 Sasanian Persia

THE SIGNS OF BEING ZOROASTRIAN

What has been discussed so far relates to the intellectual history of

Zoroastrianism. We can now turn to the realm of popular religion,
which was somewhat different from the intellectual battles of the
priests. Sh. Shaked’s paradigm is useful here. He states that we can
perceive three layers or types of Zoroastrian religion current in the
Sasanian period: 1) The official, state sanctioned religion; 2) The
popular type which was based on magical practices, and 3) What he
calls common religious practices which shared aspects with both of
these mentioned above.88 Mazdak was a populist leader and people
probably continued to support his doctrine and even after his death,
after the fall of the Sasanian dynasty pro-Mazdakite forces would
challenge the Caliphate.89 In this case then intellectual discourse led to
populist movements.
The state sanctioned religion prescribed for the believer a specific
set of rituals besides beliefs. In the morning one had “to wash the hands
and face with the urine of the sheep and cleanse them with water” (dast
ud rōy pad gōmēz ı̄ gōspandān šāyēd ud pad āb pāk šāyēd).90 As for prayer and
worship one had to perform often: “three times a day, everyday go to
the house of fire and worship the fire” (har rōz sē bār andar ō mān ı̄ ātaxšān
šawēd ātaxš niyāyišn kunēd).91 As a Zoroastrian one had “to memorize the
Yašts and Hādōxt and Baγān Yasn and Wı̄dēwdād like the hērbeds,
(and) from passage to passage hear the Zand” (yašt ud hādōxt ud baγān-
yasn ud jūd-dēw-dād hērbedı̄hā warm, gyāg gyāg zand niyōxšı̄d ēstēd).92 As a
sign of being Zoroastrian, one had to wear the kūstı̄g “sacred girdle.”
Before the priest he/she had “to undergo penance, or confession one’s
sins” (pad patı̄t būdan). He/she had to celebrate the six gahanbar “sea-
sonal feasts,” and upon death had to be placed in the dakhmag which is
a building where the corpses were exposed to dogs and vultures.
Popular religion had certain characteristics which the priests
probably tried to curtail. For example the issue of magic, which one
cannot ignore, especially since recent studies have brought to light
magic amulets and bowls of the Sasanian period. In the ancient Near
East we can divide the types of magic practiced into white and black
magic. Textual sources for the Sasanian period are meager in this
regard, while the material culture, especially seals throws light on the
subject which has been the subject of study by R. Gyselen.93 Charms
and amulets used in white magic were geared towards averting evil,
disease, and death. There are many surviving Pazand texts that
give us a flavor of white magic which again have varied aims, such
as combating toothache, headache, fever; the stopping of noxious

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 Religions of the Empire 93

and evil creatures, such as rats, cats, snakes and wolves. The “evil
eye” is an important concept which also was a point of concern as
is still today in the modern country of Persia. For example such a
hero/king as Fredon/Feraidun is invoked by a charm to close the
evil eye and to bring prosperity to the person.94 Of course the reason
for which Fredon appears as a healer in this prayer is that in the
Iranian tradition, he plays a tri-functional role as a priest, Avestan
paraδāta, Sanskrit puróhita “officiating or head priest;”95 as a warrior-
king who battles against (Middle Persian) Dahag, (Persian) Zohhak
and the Maznian Dews; and finally as promoter of agriculture, where
his epithet Aptiya suggests that he is connected with water which
associates him with the third class of the society. With this prayer
we are safely in the Zoroastrian religious world, where white magic
is under the tutelage of the Zoroastrian priest who probably has
written the piece. After all for a spell to work, it needed to be written
by the hands of a religious authority or someone who had religious
powers.
We have less information on black magic and devil worship,
although certainly it did exist as one can deduce from the evidence
on white magic. One must have been able to put a curse or evil eye
on another in revenge as we note in some texts. The Middle Persian
term for sorcery or witchcraft (jādūg) is often met in various texts, and
if Zoroastrian hagiography (Dēnkard VII which contains the life of
Zoroaster) is a reflection on Sasanian society, one can gain some ideas
about the function of sorcerers in Sasanian society.96 In the Dēnkard
in the episodes relating to Zoroaster’s life there are constant refer-
ences to the evil Kavis and Karapans, the ancient Indo-Iranian pagan
priests who tried to destroy the prophet through magic which was
ultimately unsuccessful. These magical practices which can be called
black magic include providing chants which hypnotize the hearer. It is
in this context as well that we hear in the Middle Persian text of “aid-
ing the demons,” (dēw-ayārı̄h) and “devil worshipping” (dēw-yasnı̄h). In
offsetting these acts of the demons, the Zoroastrian priests appear to
have had an important part as well. They were the religious and moral
guardians of their community, especially after the fall of the Sasanian
empire in the seventh century, when the Zoroastrian state was not in
existence. At this time, devil-worship or demon-worship was equated
with the religion of the new invaders. Consequently, the idol-temple
(uzdēszār) was equated with the mosques which were built over the
Zoroastrian fire-temples. It is for this reason that in Zoroastrian apoc-
alyptic poetry there was a longing for a reversal of this process (Abar
madan ı̄ Wahram ı̄ Warzāwand.22-23):

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 94 Sasanian Persia

mazgitı̄hā frōd hilēm be nišānēm ātaxšān

uzdēsparistı̄h be kanēm ud pāk kunēm az gēhān
We will bring down mosques, establish the fires,
we will raze idol-worshipping and wipe it from the
material world.

At this time when the demons had become physically manifested,

and went about not in concealment, and now that the religion was in
danger, according to the Middle Persian texts, it was only the
Zoroastrian priest who could guard the people with his eloquence,
true-speaking and bring health to the people and the land.97 This is,
of course, what the Zoroastrian priests would have liked the people to
believe.
We also find some seal-amulets and incantation bowls which are of
interest in terms of popular religion and magic. The amulets suggest
that a variety of people, belonging to different religious confessions
may have used them.98 We should say that the prominence of these
bowls and amulets is in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region
where there is evidence of this type of practice from the Neo-Assyrian
and Babylonia period, but their prominence in the Sasanian period is
from the fifth to the eighth century CE.99 From reading the inscriptions
on the seals or on the bowls it becomes clear that the line of religious
affiliation became blurred when it came to magic and popular religion.
For example a Zoroastrian might want a priest (maybe a sorcerer!)
to prepare for him/her magic formulas to ward off demons and evil
spirits. The use of magic then could have come from Mesopotamia,
the Mediterranean or the Near Eastern tradition,100 and the native
Persian tradition. Zoroastrianism has no shortage of evil creatures
which appear as various manifestations of social and moral taboos in
Middle Persian texts.
The twelfth/twenty seventh chapter of the Bundashišn is an exposi-
tion on the evil creatures which cause various problems for humanity.
For example there is a demon which causes evil thoughts (akoman);
nanhais who causes unhappiness; mihwakht the demon of lies and bad
thoughts, rashk who causes animosity and the evil eye; chashmag who
causes earthquakes and storm; panı̄ the demon who causes one to store
food and not eat it and not give it to anyone else; āz who causes men
to become unhappy with their wives and seek other women; agaš the
demon which strikes people with the evil eye; astwihad who is an evil
air (wāy ı̄ wattar) as opposed to beneficent air (wāy ı̄ wehttar), whose
shadow causes fever.101 Some of these demons mentioned in the
Sasanian period appear not to have Iranian names and so we may

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 Religions of the Empire 95

suggest that they are from Mesopotamia or other regions.102 It can be

demonstrated that when it came to magic the lines of religious convic-
tion were blurred. A seal amulet which was recently published has the
following formula:

Š-RM-OLK MN yy yynw L yyyy W mlgy ŠYDA KON h’ny cygwn ZNE n’mky
HZYTN’y ADYNt ZK ’ndlcy ’byd’t ’yw [YHW]WNt ZY cygwn-m t [xx]
[xxx] m ’lt’dy APš BREryn ’ndlcy krty KON ZNE pylwcdwhty MNW AMY
ŠM Apš ABY ŠM W MN MTA mklsy AL YHWWNš Apš AL OHDWN
Apt H[t?] OHDWNt HWEt ADYNcš zwty LHLA ŠBW(!)WNn AYKt LA
TWB OHDWN Apt PWN LOYŠE pl(?)wt(?) [p’t?]pl’sy LHYK xxxx [xxx]
Baš KON (kwn?) ’cšc BRA OL cyly AYKš byšzyhy W dlm’n YHWWt PWN
yšwdy ŠM
“Well-being be upon you, from Yahwe Adonai to . . . . . and death to
the demon. Now, just as you may see this inscriptions, then for you that
. . . . righteous, and he admonished his sons, now this Perozduxt, whose
mother’s name and her father’s name . . . And be not from the village
Miklas, and do not seize her/him and if you have seized her/him, then
I too shall quickly leave her/him to . . . so that she/he will not take you
again, and at your head downward . . . punishment far . . . ., but now
from it, too, out to . . . So a healing and a remedy for her there may be
in the name of Jesus.”103

What we have here is a mélange of Irano-Semitic ideas brought

together under Sasanian rule. The name of the person mentioned is
Perozdukht, a Persian for certain, but the deity who is asked to help
her and anyone else and who may carry this amulet is Christian or
Manichaean. This, as has been argued, does not necessarily mean that
the owner was a Christian or a Manichaean Persian, but it also could
be a Zoroastrian, where the name of Jesus was used as a “power name”
in this period.104
The saying of specific mantras or spells in the Zoroastrian tradition
can be classified as white magic. These spells are said to ward off the
evil spirits which as mentioned above are in constant action against
humans and their environment. The best known of these mantras is
the Yatha Ahu Vairiio prayer of which is said that reciting it twice it will
ward off demons.105 In a hagiographical text, when the demon būd
which is characterized as a secret-moving pestilence and deceiver was
to attack Zoroaster by his chanting aloud Yatha Ahu Vairiio, the demon
was confounded and rushed away.106 Other times the chanting of this
prayer causes the demons’ bodies to be shattered107 and more interest-
ingly in one passage it caused all of them to be seized and buried in
the earth.108

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 96 Sasanian Persia

On the eastern frontier religious ideas were also in flux and change.
Here Hinduism made an impact as Buddhism certainly did. Popular
religions of Central Asia also mingled with Zoroastrianism and this
caused the growth of curious and interesting religious practices. For
example in the Zoroastrian text we read that mourning for the dead in
the form of crying (grı̄stān) and lamentation (mōyag) was a sin, in which
the deceased was prevented from crossing the river and reaching the
Činwant bridge because the river had become filled with the tears of
those who had lamented. On the other hand, early Islamic sources on
eastern Persia and Central Asia tell us that the Zoroastrian priests on
a certain day lamented the death of the Persian hero, Siyāwaxš. This
event, which has come to be known as Sog i Siyawash was popular in
Central Asia, where wall paintings at Panjekent show the lamentation
scenes. Also songs were sung in Bukhara in memory of the story of
Siyawash, by minstrels who were called “the Lamentation of the Mages
[Zoroastrian Priests]” (griyistan ı̄ moγān)109 exactly what was forbidden
by the Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts. We now have other pictorial
evidence of this ceremony or similar one in a panel relief from the
Shumei collection. The relief shows a Zoroastrian priest tending the
fire at the center of the picture and a group mourners behind him who
are cutting or slashing their faces with knives or sharp objects.110 In this
regard the Persian scholar Bērūnı̄ states that in Sogdiana, on the last
day of the month of Khshum people cried for the deceased people and
lamented them and cut their faces, which goes well with this Shumei
relief.111 This example should suffice to demonstrate the diversity of
religiosity in the Sasanian empire which held Zoroastrianism as the
official religion. Probably there was diversity from province to prov-
ince and more influence from the neighboring regions in the prov-
inces bordering the Sasanian empire, than the heartland where the
Zoroastrian priests must have been able to propagate their religion
more forcefully. The Zoroastrian religion, however, was never unified
in the Sasanian period and no matter how much the Sasanian state
and church and our Middle Persian sources try to portray such unity,
the textual evidence as well as the evidence from the early Islamic
period suggests the contrary.
In conclusion one must also take into consideration not only
the difference and development between early and late Sasanian
Zoroastrianism, but also regional variations of the religion. F. Grenet’s
work on Central Asia which is really the Eastern Iranian world dem-
onstrates Zoroastrianism in its eastern context, different from what
was practiced in Fars/Persis and the western Iranian World. Thus,
one should take into mind variations for the different parts of the

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 Religions of the Empire 97

empire, the north which still held to pre-Zoroastrian Iranian ideas

mingled with Sasanian Zoroastrianism; the south-east which was
probably also influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism; and the West
influenced by Hellenism, Semitic religious traditions in Arabia, Syria
and Mesopotamia, as well as Judaism and Christianity. In this varia-
tion the Sasanian dynasty attempted to choose and pick its version of
the “truth,” namely the search for an orthodoxy. However, the reality
showed a much more diverse view of Zoroastrianism than what the
Sasanian wished for, but in this way Zoroastrianism influenced other
traditions as it interacted with them on the periphery of the empire.
It is to the credit of the Sasanians that the Avesta as a corpus was
collected and created in late antiquity. This above all created a struc-
ture by which Zoroastrianism would survive till today. Of course the
institutionalization of ritual and laws are the other important aspect of
any religions. Certainly till today the largest numbers of manuscripts
that are found in Iran are the ritual and purity sections of the Avesta,
i.e., the Wı̄dēwdād. The Sasanian state promoted Zoroastrianism, but
by the fifth century it realized that Christianity had become a uni-
versal religion and in order not to be the religion identified with the
Eastern Roman Empire, a Persian Christian church would be ben-
eficial. Although most people today identify Christianity with the
Eastern Roman Empire in late antiquity, there were many Christian
groups who were not in or part of that tradition. The Christians along
with the Jews created a pluralistic society which was headed by their
religious leader, but ultimately answerable to the king and the state. As
long as order was kept, all religious communities prospered, but disor-
der brought persecution. While the Sasanians began as a Zoroastrian
dynasty, in time, they became the mediator and arbiter of justice and
order among the Jews, Christians, Mandaeans, Buddhists, Hindus,
Zoroastrians and other religious communities in the empire. The uni-
versality of the Sasanian Empire, unlike the Eastern Roman Empire,
was not translated into a Christian order but rather an order with
Zoroastrianism at its core, but also with a universal multi-ethnic and
multi-religious aspect.

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Ch3.indd 98 11/25/2008 3:59:48 PM
 Chapter 4

Languages and Textual

Remains of the Citizens
LANGUAGE

Persians were always willing to use the languages of other people in

order to further their cause in state building and effective administra-
tion. This is clear from the Achaemenid period from the sixth BCE
when, while Old Persian was the language of the ruling elite and the
king, Elamite was used for economic matters and Aramaic was the
imperial language used for communication throughout the empire.
Even then, the imperial inscriptions were given in three versions: Old
Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, the languages of the inhabitants of
the immediate region with whom the Persians had been in contact
since their arrival on the plateau. With the conquest of Alexander
the Great, Greek replaced Aramaic as the imperial language and it
was only in the second half of the Parthian period from the first cen-
tury CE onwards that Parthian also came to be inscribed on coins and
inscriptions along with their Greek version. This multilingual view of
the empire was not lost to the Sasanians either and we see that the
early Sasanian royal inscriptions provide bilingual or trilingual testi-
monies, reminding us of the Achaemenid inscriptions. However, now
the dominant language along Middle Persian was the language of the
preceding dynasty, i.e., Parthian and Greek. Greek had remained the
language of science and knowledge from India to the Mediterranean
basin for centuries. Ardaxšı̄r I and his son Šābuhr I both used this
trilingual mode of writing, as the Achaemenids had done with other
languages. Middle Persian was becoming the dominant language at
the heart of the empire which gives us certain insights into the linguis-
tic and cultural preoccupation of the Sasanians.
One can also see that the religious apparatus (Zoroastrian church
and priests) from its first literary evidence was anti-Hellenic and

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 100 Sasanian Persia

had nativist tendencies. Kerdı̄r only had his inscription carved in

Middle Persian in the third century CE which may be an indication
of the change in not only linguistic taste, but a purposeful reaction to
foreign languages and ideas. If we discard the notion that because of
the economy of space Kerdı̄r did not choose to have his inscription
in other languages, then we can gain some ideas about the religious
and imperial policies in relation to language and culture. Middle
Persian was perhaps the language used by the Persian Zoroastrians,
and Kerdı̄r did not need to communicate in any other language. The
King of Kings, however, had to convey his message to all of his people,
whether Persian Zoroastrians, Parthian soldiers and the nobility in the
court, or the Greek prisoners and colonists of old who were phihellen. At
the time of Narseh in the beginning of the fourth century, Greek was
no longer utilized for imperial inscriptions which indicates a waning
of Greek culture and/or a successful anti-Hellenic campaign by the
Zoroastrian priests and the state. We should remind ourselves that
Greek was also the common language of the Persian nemesis to the
West, namely the Eastern Roman empire. With this scheme in mind
we can create a chart in terms of the languages used by the priest-
hood and the imperial court in the third and early fourth centuries (see
Table 4.1)

Table 4.1 Language used in Sasanian Inscriptions

Ardashir I Shabuhr I Narseh Shabuhr II and III Kerdı¯r (Priest)

M. Persian M. Persian M. Persian M. Persian M. Persian
Parthian Parthian
Greek Greek

Our discussion, however, has focused on the imperial languages and

the center of Persian civilization which gives us a false picture of the
linguistic diversity in the Sasanian Empire. While those who were
familiar with Greek or were Greek themselves were present in the
empire during the Parthian period, Mesopotamia was dominated by
Semitic speaking people, and the Persians were only a minority. These
Semitic speakers included the Jews who wrote the Babylonian Talmud,
and the Syriac speaking population and people who spoke various
Aramaic dialects. Arabs resided in southern Mesopotamia, and Arabic
was then known in the empire from the third century, when Ardashir
I had conquered northern Arabia. In the northwest, Armenian and
Georgian were dominant, but since the Parthian nobility had taken

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 Languages and textual remains 101

refuge in Armenia, the Parthian language became even more influ-

ential and the basic vocabulary for institutions, such as religious and
administrative terms entered the Caucuses.
In Persis, Persian had been dominant since the Achaemenid period
and was probably prevalent in Media and the adjoining regions.
There were, however, dialectal differences of which, unfortunately,
we have very little evidence, and what evidence there is, is from the
early Islamic period. Still, one may hazard a hypothetical picture by
drawing on the situation in the early Islamic period. One is reminded
of the language known as fahlaviyāt and the language of Baba Taher
in his poetic masterpiece to understand the complexity of linguistic
diversity on the Iranian plateau.1 In Adurbadagan/Azerbijan, Azari
was spoken and one of its dialects, Tati, is well attested and again in the
Islamic period there are specimens of Azari in existence.2 Even today
in the Republic of Azerbijan where Turkic is the language of the state
and most people, there are villages and towns such as Siyahzan, north
of Baku which has a sizable Tati speaking population. In the Caspian
region of Gēlān and Māzandarān, again there were distinct language
and dialects which is evidenced by the early Islamic attestation and
was much more isolated because the mountainous region separated
it from the rest of the Iranian plateau. In Xūzestān, Neo-Elamite (not
to be confused with the period) or the language of the Elamiyas was
in existence in the Sasanian period. Even in Shiraz, the heartland of
the Sasanians and Persians, we find variant dialects which, although
essentially Persian, still present problems.3
In the east we are better informed where Parthian, Sogdian, Bactrian
and Xwārazmian were in use by these Iranian speaking people. In the
southeast, the Sı̄stānı̄ language was known to have been dominant,
and a recent find of the translation of the Qur’an into the Sı̄stānı̄ dia-
lect (known as Qur’an-e Quds) gives us a clue to the language of south-
east Persia.4 But these are the only languages of which we have some
information and there were many more dialects and languages which
have been lost to us. The nomadic people and their languages are
more difficult to gauge, but certainly the Kurds had been present on
the plateau, and Kurdish, with its various dialectal variances, existed,
perhaps along with Luri and few others which have been lost.
To make matters more complicated, we should remember that
with the capture of Roman soldiers and their relocation along with
the Syriac-speaking population of Syria into the Iranian plateau,
some Latin, Greek and Syriac was used, especially in the royal cities
where masses of Roman soldiers were employed to work as engineers,
builders, craftsmen, and on imperial farms as laborers. We should

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 102 Sasanian Persia

not lose sight of the fact that the Goths and other Germans, along
with some Slavic-speaking people who had enlisted in the Roman
army and were captured, were also placed in Sasanian Persia. So
in a sense, one can state that since there were Germans, Germanic
languages were being spoken in Persia by the third century CE. By the
fifth century CE, when the Turkic tribes began entering the empire,
be it through raiding or by being used as a military force by the
state, Turkic languages also must have been known, especially in the
northeastern region.
The Sasanians had to establish a certain structure to connect the
various provinces linguistically, so there would be a common mode of
communication. This must have been done through the establishment
of Persian and non-Persian speaking administrators and natives who
were bilingual in order to be able to deal with imperial orders and the
local administration. While the princes of the blood, the Wisphuragān
ruled the different regions, a local administration of scribes, priests,
and others were in existence as evidenced by the fourth century
inscription of Shabuhr Sakan-Shah, the King of Sistan. Otherwise,
in such lands as Armenia, Zoroastrian priests and tax-collectors
were sent to administer the province. A system of standardization
of weights and measures was created and the silver drahms indicated
Middle Persian as the dominant language of the empire. This relative
standardization and the beginning of a process of homogeneity by the
Sasanians also was the beginning of the influence of Persian language
in the whole empire. Now we will turn to the Middle Persian language
which was to become the dominant mode of imperial communication
and much of the religious corpus of Manichaeans, Christians, Jews,
and, of course, the Zoroastrians.
Middle Persian or Pahlavi refers to the stage of Persian language
which was in existence between the Old Persian (550–330 BCE) and
Classical Persian (1000 CE) periods. This division, though, is to a large
extent arbitrary and used by scholars as a nice way of demarcating the
different stages of the Persian language. This language was probably
current from the first century to the tenth centuries CE, although by
the late Achaemenid period one can already see that the Old Persian
inscriptions were hinting at the transition to Middle Persian. In the
eleventh century CE, priests wrote in Middle Persian while Persian and
Arabic had become current. Hence, the language of texts that were
written in this language is known as Middle Persian. This historical
division of Persian is similar to the tripartite division of the English
language into Old, Middle and Modern English. In comparison with
English, however, Persian demonstrates that it is very conservative in

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 Languages and textual remains 103

nature and in its development. Persian, which is an Indo-European

language, is part of the Iranian languages whose closest kin are the
Indic languages. In fact there are only minor differences in phonology
and grammatical endings between Old Persian, which was used for
Achaemenid Royal inscriptions (550–330 BC), and Classical Sanskrit.
Any student of first year Sanskrit or Old Persian realizes this fact. For
example the Old Persian verb “to seize,” grab- is equivalent to Sanskrit
grabh- and English “grab.” Another example would be the word for
“door,” duvara- which corresponds to Sanskrit dvár-, English “door;”
Old Persian word for “name” is nāman-, Sanskrit nāman-, English
“name;” Old Persian word for “father” pitar-, Sanskrit pitár-, Latin
pater, Gothic fadar, English “father.” These examples demonstrate the
connections between Persian and other Indo-European languages.
In terms of the development of the Persian language, we can again
use some of the same words in their development during the three
stages. “Door,” Old Persian duvara- > Middle Persian dar > Persian
dar; “name,” nāman- > Middle Persian nām > Persian nām; “father,”
Old Persian pitar- > Middle Persian pidar > Persian pidar.

MIDDLE PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS

Middle Persian literature includes inscriptions and texts which sur-

vive from the third to the tenth century CE. Pazand texts which are
written with the Avestan script, Zabūr texts which are the Psalms
(Hebrew mı¯zmōr) written by the Christians, and the Manichaean texts
from the late antiquity are also among them. The Middle Persian
inscriptions are mainly from the third and the fourth century CE which
were commissioned by the kings and by Kerdı̄r. They are formulaic
in structure and their compositions resemble Achaemnid inscriptions.
Some have suggested that this was part of the oral literary tradition
which was prevalent in ancient Persia and used by the writers of the
inscriptions and texts.5 Others have even gone further to state that
these inscriptions are replete in historical data and rather are stories
which were inscribed to legitimize the kings through the use of the tra-
ditional epic framework of the ancient Near East.6 The later Sasanian
inscriptions (post fourth century) are rarely royal, are shorter, and are
commissioned by individuals or local lords for remembrance, building
campaigns, and funerary dedications which are much shorter. The
script used for the inscription represents the archaic version of the
Aramaic script which may be a continuation of tradition which was
first developed by the Achaemenids for their royal chancery. The

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 104 Sasanian Persia

characters are written separately from right to left, while the later
inscriptions are almost “Arabisque-like” and the letters are joined,
and much more cursive which is similar to the Book Pahlavi or Middle
Persian texts which were written in the late Sasanian and post-Sasanian
period.
The content of the early inscriptions are boastful and the struc-
ture is such that first the king makes sure that it is known that he is
a Zoroastrian (Māzdēsn = worshipper of Mazda), then his genealogy
is given; and next are the territories under his rule. Then a narrative
story appears as in the case of Shabuhr’s Naqsh-i Rustam inscription,
in which there is a story of the defeat of the Romans and what became
of them which is told as a result of Roman aggression. By the middle
of the inscription, we find the boastful nature of the king and his epic
actions: “We searched out for conquest many other lands, and we
acquired fame for heroism, which we have not engraved here, except
for the preceding. We ordered it written so that whoever comes after us
may know this fame, heroism and power of us.”7 This seeking of hero-
ism is also apparent from a short inscription of Shabuhr at Hajjiabad
as well, where he tells us that he has shot an arrow which has gone very
far: “[Now] whoever may be strong of arm, let them put (their) foot
in this cleft [on this rock] and let them shoot an arrow to(wards) that
cairn. Then whoever cast [send] an arrow (as far as) to that cairn, they
are [indeed] strong of arm.”8
Then Shabuhr turns his attention to religion and the establishment
of fire-temples for the souls of the members of his family, sacrifices
are made, and the priests were made content. The rest of Shabuhr’s
inscription is an exposition of the offices that were in existence during
the rule of his grandfather and father. This is followed by an end for-
mula which recounts his zeal towards the gods, and again mentioning
his bravery and wishing those who come after him to know about him
and follow in his footsteps. He also has several shorter inscriptions at
Naqsh-i Rajab (ŠNRb), at Hajjiabad, and at Beshabuhr which really
is the most productive period of inscriptions.
The other long inscription is that of Narseh from the fourth cen-
tury CE which begins the inscription in the same way, but his concern
here is to justify his taking of the throne from Wahram, king of the
Sakas. Narseh plays the dualism of Zoroastrianism very well in this
period, portraying himself as just and the forces of Wahram and his
accomplice Wahnam, son of Tatrus with falsehood. He tells us his
election was the result of the grandees’ election of him over his oppo-
nent, where they met him and asked him to become the King of Kings.
Finally we are told that Wahram was humiliated by such a measure:

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 Languages and textual remains 105

“Take and bind Wahram and [put] him on a maimed donkey [and]
bring him bound to Our Court.”9
Narseh does not portray himself as the hero type, rather making
himself the one that has been wronged in the succession and that he
was instigated to take the throne by the nobility and the grandees which
reappears in Iranian history again and again (one can point to the elec-
tion of Nadir Shah and the institution of the Afsharids). Even at the
end of the inscription after he has punished and killed the supporters of
the king of the Sakas, he portrays his family as the most righteous and
hence fit to rule. He gives a long rendition of the goodness of his family,
certainly playing on his connection with Shabuhr I and the he has to
finally come to power because he is told by the nobility: “nobody else
has been similar to You [whom . . .] the gods have favoured (?) [and
(who) by Your ?] fortune (?) and wisdom and Own [courage (?) have
kept ?] oppression [away from Ērān?]šahr.”10
After Narseh in the fourth century CE, the economy of the inscrip-
tions give us very little historical information with the exception of the
time of Shabuhr II, and while the royal inscriptions such as those of
Shabuhr II and Shabuhr III at Taq-ı̄ Bustan are formulaic, because
of the economy of the non-royal inscriptions such as that of the grand
Wazir, Mihr-Narseh and the astōdān (ossuary) inscriptions, they pro-
vide very little historical information. The subject of the two inscrip-
tions at the time of Shabuhr II is quite valuable and interesting for
several reasons. Both of these inscriptions were commissioned by local
kings at Persepolis, one by the king of the Sakas, Shabuhr Sagan-Shah
and the other by a Seleukos the scribe. These inscriptions reveal the
territorial extent of the Sasanian empire in the fourth century CE, the
local administrative and military apparatus of the Sasanian kings, and
finally the importance of Persepolis for the Sasanians. In the Sagan-
Shah inscription, he and his retinue have lunch at the palace and per-
form a ritual of yazdān kardagān “ritual for the Gods,” but also blessing
his father and forefathers at this place which makes one suspect that
the Sasanians knew the builders of this structure as their ancestors.11
This of course does not mean that we can tell that the Sasanians at this
time knew that the Achaemenids were the builders of this structure,
but since the Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān (The Book of the Deeds of
Ardashir, the son of Pabag) mentions that Ardashir I was from the nāf
“lineage” of Darius III, it can mean that they knew something about
the Achaemenids. The other possibility is that they had already begun
to identify this structure with the Kayanids and see them as their fore-
fathers. This certainly is clear from the later Sasanian period when
the palace at Persepolis came to be known as Taxt-ı¯ Jamšı¯d “Yima’s

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 106 Sasanian Persia

Throne,” and the memory of the Achaemenids was given to oblivion

under state propaganda.
The interesting point of Shabuhr II and Shabuhr III’s short
inscriptions is not their content, rather their location which is away
from the traditional place where we find the early royal inscriptions.
These Two Kings of Kings chose to have their short inscriptions
telling about their fathers and ancestors in Taq-ı̄ Bustan located near
Kermanshah. The two fourth century Kings are set side by side,
suggesting their closeness. This is because after Shabuhr II, Ardashir
II came to power and placed himself at Taq-ı̄ Bustan in a relief
beside his brother. This location is also interesting because Narseh
has a rock carving and later Xusro II as well, and what can be said
is that it may have been a sanctuary dedicated to the deity Anahita.
Here we have a relief of Narseh and Mihr or Mithra being given the
diadem of sovereignty. The largest relief belongs to Khusro II from
the late sixth/seventh century and his grotto which represents the
armored custom of the Sasanian cavalry from this period, where his
horse (Shabdiz) is also covered with armor, reminding us of Medieval
European knights and jousting scenes. Above Khusro II’s grotto,
there is also a scene of Khusro II’s investiture not only Ohrmazd,
but by Anahid who is pouring libations. Other pillar fragments from
Taq-ı̄ Bustan also contain pictures of Lady Anahid which attests to
the importance of this deity. This is interesting, since the triad deity of
the Achaemenid period, such as Ohrmazd, Anahid, and Mithra are
here represented at Taq-ı̄ Bustan and demonstrates the continuity of
Persian belief system.
Mihr-Narseh, who was the grand Wazir or minister Wuzurg-framādār
in the fifth century has left a short inscription by a bridge which he
commissioned for the sake of his and his son’s souls which attest to the
Zoroastrian conception of building for salvation in this period, be it a
common person or a grand Wazir.12 By the end of the Sasanian and
the beginning of the early Islamic period several small private inscrip-
tions exist of which the most prominent include the two inscriptions at
Maqsud Abad which relate the issue of ownership of land and a well.
These inscriptions deal with the owner of a piece of land, it’s well,
and reconstruction of castles. Other inscriptions have been found in
Byzantium,13 and east in India14 and as far as China15 which are from
the late Sasanian period when there was intense contact with those
regions or a later migration as a result of the Arab Muslim conquest of
Persia. Another group of inscriptions belong to the graves of individu-
als (astōdān).16 These inscriptions relate the name and information on
the family of the individual whose bones lay there and the date of their

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 Languages and textual remains 107

passing away to the spiritual world. The general impression that we

can get from the picture of the Middle Persian inscriptions is that while
early on only the king and the high priests were able to leave a record,
by the fifth century the wuzurg-framadār and the sixth and the seventh
centuries we have the mushrooming of smaller private inscriptions.
The question is why is it that the populace did not leave such inscrip-
tions only in the sixth and seventh centuries and not earlier? Could
this phenomenon be connected to the issue of literacy and the passing
away of a society from orality to a literary tradition? These are difficult
questions to answer but it does tell us that the populace besides the
court and the Zoroastrian church were using inscriptions and writing
for memorial inscriptions by the late Sasanian period.
Seals are also important because while they usually contain a
slogan or the name of the owner, they can give us an idea of the
relevant number of women to men who were involved in business
transactions (since these seals were used as signature), the religion of
the owner of the seal and the headdress and fashion of the time. The
seals with longer inscriptions also give us much more information
on the religious preoccupation of the owner of the seal or his/her
office and rank. The coinage on the other hand represents the image
which the imperial government wanted to portray to the populace
and the legend on them is usually the name and a formulaic slogan
inscribed, either “King of Kings of Iranians (and non-Iran), from
the race of the deities,” or the title of “Kay” and a few others. These
two types of material culture which contain Middle Persian writing
give us information on the public and governmental domain and as
to how writing was utilized in those places. While we see diversity
among the slogans and names on the seals, the coinage give us the
formulaic and somewhat static legends, where they change slowly
and represent the changing character of the imperial image.

MIDDLE PERSIAN TEXTS

In relation to non-monumental and non-religious Middle Persian lit-

erature we also should mention papyrus, and ostraca, as well as writ-
ing on silver vessels. The papyri are important because they give us
information on the Sasanian military and in the way in which letters
were composed. The papyri were mainly the product of late Sasanian
period, specifically the product of the period in which King Khusro
II had conquered Egypt and the military apparatus were in charge of
that region. The papyri include the list of foodstuffs to be transported,

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 108 Sasanian Persia

which give us some insights into the diet of the Persian soldiers abroad.
This consisted of bread (nān), meat (gušt), and wine (may), and some-
times fowl. Also the title of several officers and typical salutary formula
are found with the word of praise (namāz).17 These documents also tell
us something about the nature of writing and literacy in the Sasanian
world, where at least those serving as officers knew how to read and
write. The formulaic manner in which the letters are composed also
tell us that they were probably schooled in the art of writing. The let-
ters also use the Zoroastrian calendar system and most names are
Zoroastrian. However, we should remember that by the late Sasanian
period, Christians and others could also have had Iranian names. We
also find non-Iranian names such as Samuel (Shamuel) as merchants
who appear to have cooperated with the Sasanian forces in Egypt.
The recent Middle Persian documents found and housed at Berkeley
informs us that within the Iranian Plateau parchments and leather
were used for writing. These documents are also economic in nature
and appear to be mainly related to central Iran.
The Middle Persian texts are the main corpus of our study.18 They
are mainly the product of Zoroastrian priestly writing and so they
are colored by a religious outlook, where the idea of “profane” does
not, if rarely, exist, although some have been seen as less theological
than others.19 We can firmly believe that there was a larger amount of
Middle Persian literature in various genres, but because of the hard-
ship on the Zoroastrian community throughout the ages, only those
books that were of utmost importance for the religion and communal
solidarity were copied by the priests and the rest were lost. Personal
choice and taste were also to preserve some of the more rare texts that
do survive. Even within the surviving texts, there are different genres
which are dealt with separately in their appropriate headings below.
They are, however, diverse enough to give us an understanding of
Persian mentalities, views of the Persian view of life, religion, and the
cosmos according to men. We will divide this large corpus into the fol-
lowing categories:

• Commentaries on the Avesta (zand).

• Philosophical and debate texts.
• Apocalyptic texts.
• Didactic texts (andarz).
• Geographical and epic texts.
• Legal texts (dādı¯g).
• Cultural texts.
• Dictionaries (frahang).

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 Languages and textual remains 109

Commentary on the Avesta

By far the largest group of corpus are commentaries and elaborations

on the Zoroastrian holy text which was put to final writing in the sixth
century CE, probably during the reign of Khusro I and his high priest
Weh-shabuhr. The Avesta is said to have had 21 chapters (nask) of which
most are now lost, but it is the Zand or Middle Persian commentaries
which gives us information on the lost portion of the Avesta. The major
text which is important for the understanding of Zoroastrian world-
view is the Bundahišn (The Book of Primal Creation). In the preface
of the text the scribe mentions that he is redacting this Zoroastrian
learning in a time of hardship, when the number of adherents are
dwindling in the face of conversion to Islam. Hence what we can gain
from this text is the sense of urgency by the priest to hand down what
he thought was most important for the preservation of the good reli-
gion. The text indeed supplies a medley of topics, from cosmology
and cosmogony, a good deal of information on deities and demons;
an encyclopedia of botany, zoology, ethnography, geography, and
history.20 The other copious work is the Dēnkard (Acts of Religion)
which is another encyclopedic work, at times written in a difficult
and cryptic language and hence consequently the understanding of
the text has remained less than satisfactory.21 The Dēnkard 22 originally
was composed in nine books, where books one and two have been
lost. Book three23 concerns itself with a host of issues, from the com-
position of human body to opinions in regard to church and state in
the Sasanian period, where one finds the famous Persian dictum of
the inseparability of church and state which still rings true in the reli-
gious circles: hād xwadāyı¯h dēn ud dēn xwadāyı¯h . . . pad awēšān xwadāyı¯h
abar dēn ud dēn abar xwadāyı¯h winnārdagı¯h “Know that kingship is
religion and religion is kingship . . . for them kingship is arranged
based on religion and religion based on kingship.”24 Book four has
been called the Book of Manners or Customs ēwēn-nāmag and is
perhaps the most difficult book, since it deals with not only the
history of the sacred texts, but also Greek and Indic science which
will be dealt with below. Book five25 begins with a series of questions
put forth by a non-believer to a Zoroastrian sage, and it deals with
different issues, especially the idea of xwēdodāh or consangnious
marriages. Book six may be called a Book of Counsel Andarz-nāmag,26
while Book seven particularly deals with the story of Zoroaster, from
his birth to his death.27 Book eight is important because it is a
description of the contents of the 21 sections (nasks) of the Avesta.
Each section (nask) is named and its content briefly mentioned,

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 110 Sasanian Persia

while Book nine concentrates on three sections or nasks.28 There are

other encyclopedic works such as the Wı¯zı¯dagı¯hā ¯ı Zādsparam (The
Selections of Zādsparam),29 and Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad,30 however, they need
not be repeated here. The other important genera is known as the
Pahlavı¯ Rivāyats which concern themselves with legal precepts but also
with history, mythical creatures, and customs.31 These legal texts give
us some understanding of the Zoroastrian life in late antiquity, drawn
from the Avesta, which can in turn be compared with Christian and
Jewish legal texts such as that of the Syriac Law Book of Yišoboxt and the
Babylonian Talmud.

Philosophical and Debate texts

Several texts in Middle Persian which mainly are the product of the
eighth to ninth centuries CE and represent the end stage of the era
of Middle Persian literature. The Draxt ¯ı Āsūrı¯g (The Assyrian Tree)
is, however, outstanding in its content and antiquity.32 The vocabu-
lary of the text suggests its Parthian antecedents and its content its
Mesopotamian influence. This text presents a debate between a date
tree and a goat, typical of the ancient Mesopotamian debate poetry
used during banquets. The debate is about which of these two (the
date or the goat) are more useful and their products are enumerated.
Other texts are from the early Islamic period, such as the important
Škand ¯ı Gūmānı¯g Wı¯zār (Doubt Dispelling Explanation), recount the
supremacy of Zoroastrian theology and the deficiency of such reli-
gions as those of the Fatalists (Dahris), Manichaeans, Christians, Jews,
and Muslims.33 The author systematically tackles the tenants of these
religions and sometimes quotes verbatim from the holy texts of these
religious traditions. The method of argumentation is also noteworthy
which resembles the analytical method of debate known in Islamic
Theology (‘Ilm al-Kalam) and may have been influenced by that tradi-
tion of Islamic thought and literature, most probably as a result of
contact with the Mu’tazila. Gizistag Abāliš (The Accursed Abāliš)34 is
a short text about the debate between Abāliš who appears to be a
heretic or atheist (according to Shaki) and the Zoroastrian high priest
and the leader of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians at the
court of the Caliph Ma’mun in the ninth century CE. The last text has
survived in its Pazand form (Middle Persian written in the Avestan
script). The text known as Pus ¯ı Dāneš Kāmag (The Youth in Desire of
Knowledge) is written in the same vain as the Škand ¯ı Gumānı¯g Wı¯zār
but there is little reference to the Islamic period and is concerned with

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 Languages and textual remains 111

Zoroastrian matters such as the reason for the wearing of the sacred
belt, the kustı¯g.

Apocalyptic and Visionary texts

This genre of Middle Persian literature is the most imaginative and

interesting of the Middle Persian corpus. These texts predict the
way in which the world will come to an end and the fate of the peo-
ple and that of Iranshahr, the empire of the Sasanians. Ardā Wirāz
Nāmag (The Book of Righteous Wirāz) is about the journey of a righ-
teous man, Wirāz, to heaven and hell which may be compared with
Dante’s famous work, the Divina Commedia. Not only the journey itself
is interesting but also the preparation for the journey into paradise
and hell by Wirāz. He is properly cleansed and laid on a bed when he
is given a concoction of hemp called mang ¯ı wištāsp “hemp of Wištāsp”
which enables him to make the journey.35 This practice of taking hallu-
cinogens to travel to the netherworld betrays the ancient Shamanistic
tradition in the Iranian world which goes back to the Indo-Iranian
period. By taking on these hallucinogenic drinks, be it the sacred
Haoma/Soma, mang or bang, the Indo-Iranian priests were able to
have visions and compose hymns to various deities. We see that this
tradition was alive and well in the Sasanian period and in several apoc-
alyptic texts the various means of achieving this travel is mentioned. In
the apocalyptic text of Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn (The Commentary of the
Wahman Yasn) Zoroaster is given the xrad ¯ı harwisp āgāhı¯h (Wisdom
of complete knowledge) by the means of Ohrmazd pouring it in the
form of water onto his hand to drink which induces seven days and
nights of dreaming, as in the cases of Wirāz. Then Zoroaster is able to
see the future in a mysterious form (a tree with seven trunks) which is
explained to him to be seven eras (in another part there are four eras
which sound very much like Hesiod’s division in his Theogony). These
eras begin from the beginning of Zoroastrianism to the time of Turkic
conquest of Persia.
These texts predict the fate of the Zoroastrians which will eventu-
ally face hardships and will only achieve supremacy at the end of the
world when the sinners will be punished and those Zoroastrians who
have endured hardship will go to heaven, the heaven about which
Wiraz had seen and told the believers. There are few people who are
given the power to look into the future through the means of halluci-
nogens, such as Zoroaster, King Wištāsp, his minister Jamasp, and
Wiraz. Also one must mention Kerdir whose inscription suggests his

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 112 Sasanian Persia

campaign be included in the host of righteous personages who were

able to make the journey.36
The Jāmāsp Nāmag is another one of these texts which was
especially popular among the Pārsı̄s in the past century.37 Again,
Jamasp is endowed with a vision of what is to come along with
all of its calamities. This text along with that of the Zand ¯ı Wahman
Yasn portrays a great deal of natural and political disasters until the
saviors appear, and men and women arise from the dead and are
judged. Finally, evil is destroyed and molten metal will extrapiate all
that is evil and send it into the womb of the earth. Those who have
been good walk in this molten metal as if walking through warm
milk. Then the earth becomes flat, and all returns to how it was in the
beginning.

Didactic Texts

Andarz texts or wisdom literature are abundant and are usually attrib-
uted to wise sages or people of authority according to the Zoroastrian
religion. There are, however, also anonymous andarz texts which are
found in the sixth book of the Dēnkard.38 These texts give didactic
ordinances about religion, social order, good and bad conduct, and
proper rules. Priests, kings, important people and wise men all are
given credit for these andarz (wise sayings). The importance of this
genre of Middle Persian literature is that it was liberally used and
translated into mainly Arabic and Persian. Thus a major corpus of
Arabic andarz texts are translations of these works from the Sasanian
period. Ibn Miskawayh in his work, which from its title suggest its
Middle Persian origin, the Jāwı̄dān xrad (the Eternity of Wisdom), is
the best example.39 The author mentions the genealogy of the text
and its translation to another famous Muslim author Jahiz who had
found the original text in Middle Persian in the province of Persis/
Fars with the Zoroastrian priests. Other Arabic texts also relate the
andarz of Sasanian kings such as those of Ardashir I, Kawad, Khusro
I, and Khusro II. These texts discuss the effective means of ruling
over the subjects and how to keep the empire in order. It is for this
very reason that this genre found favor with the Caliphs at Baghdad
in the Islamic period, who drew from the example of the ancients
to keep their Caliphate in order and prosperous. In this manner the
andarz genre are important and have lasted in the Persian and Arab
and Turkish world as a major body of literature of the Medieval
Islamic world.

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 Languages and textual remains 113

Geographical and Epic texts

There is little material for this genre in terms of complete texts describ-
ing the geography of a region. Still, chapters in the Bundahišn provide
a detailed description of the Persian universe. These include climes
of earth, the people, lands, mountains, rivers of Asia and eastern
Mediterranean. This would partly be in the tradition of the Avesta
where a chapter in the Wı¯dēwdād gives us information on the different
regions and people who inhabited them. After all we must remem-
ber these Middle Persian texts were aimed as commentaries on the
Avesta, but they took into account the realities of the late antiquity. Still
the Bundahišn takes notice of the geo-political realities of the Sasanian
period and for this reason it is worthy of study.
A short text known as Abādı¯h ud Sāhagı¯hā ¯ı Sı¯stān is concerned with the
Province of Sistan which had special importance for Zoroastrianism
in the Sasanian period and at this time it was thought to be the back-
drop of Zoroaster activity and the homeland of the Kayanid king,
Wishtasp.40 The text may be seen as a progenitor of the later Islamic
geographical texts and local histories such as Tārı¯x-e Sı¯stān (History of
Sı̄stān) which is related to this text, and other local histories and geo-
graphical texts. There is one text known as the Šahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānšahr
(The Provincial Capitals of Iranshahr) which discusses the different
capital cities in the different regions. All the cities are mentioned as
part of the Sasanian empire which include Mecca, Medina, and parts
of Africa. The author mentions the builder and rebuilder of a specific
city and the important events which took place there. The text is not
an exact geographical-administrative history but contains an imperial
outlook which is enforced by Zoroastrian dogma.41
There are specifically two texts which may be considered as epic
texts. The older one is a Parthian epic entitled the Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān
(Memoir of Zarēr)42 which focuses on the court of King Wištāsp,
the patron of Zoroaster and the bloody war with their enemies, the
Turanians. The epic is certainly tragic and victory will come to the
Zoroastrians only after many heroes and princes have fallen. The
epic is more tragic because the minister of Wištāsp, Jāmāsp who is
endowed with the knowledge of the future, again in the Indo-Iranian
Shamanistic style, tells the king what will happen. The text is set in a
poetic style, indicating that it would have been performed and, in a
similar way that Bacche was performed at the Parthian court, this epic
was made into a play. The story survived the Sasanian victory and was
written in Middle Persian and then translated into Persian which was
incorporated into the Persian epic, the Šāhānme-ye Ferdowsı¯.

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 114 Sasanian Persia

The other text which is pseudo-historical is about the career of the

founder of the Sasanian dynasty, Ardashir I Pabagan. The Kārnāmag
¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān (The Book of the Deeds of Ardaxšı̄r, the Son of
Pābag) is a sixth century epic which describes Ardaxšı̄r’s origins, as a
descendant of King Dara, i.e., Achaemenid Darius. His father’s noble
origin is found out by Pabag and so Ardaxšı̄r’s turbulent adventures as
a man who is good at all that he does, from polo to board games to the
challenging of the last Parthian king, Ardawan (Artabanus) is chroni-
cled.43 This story has also found its way into the Persian epic and so we
may assume most of what survives about the ancients in Persian epical
form were translations of the Middle Persian version.

Legal texts

The Wı¯dēwdād part of the Avesta is mainly concerned with the laws of
purity and pollution, and the Middle Persian translation of this text
also adds commentaries as glosses in the text. There is an even more
copious Zand of the Wı¯dēwdād which has not been translated. If we
are to accept the contents of Dēnkard (Book eight) as having been the
topics of the lost portions of the Avesta, we realize that much of this
text was concerned legal matters as well. The Middle Persian texts
also have a prodigious output of legal commentaries. The most impor-
tant legal text of the Sasanian period is the Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān
(The Exposition of One Thousand Judgments)44 written during the
late Sasanian period which deals with legal cases brought to the court.
The Šāyest nē Šāyest (Licit and Illicit)45 is another important text deal-
ing with judgments of the Zoroastrian judges and theologians who
sometimes disagree with one another over legal injunction. Other
legal texts are mainly the product of the early Islamic period where
the community was shrinking in numbers and there were especial
needs to inform and protect the now subaltern community. They still
give us insights to the legal mentality of the Zoroastrian priests and
the concern with purity and pollution, the rights of men, women and
children.

Cultural texts

The texts which tell us much about the cultural life and social norms
of the Sasanian period are mainly short works. They include a variety
of subjects such as the different types of food, games, ideas of beauty,

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 Languages and textual remains 115

giving speeches, table manners, and how to write properly. The most
interesting is the text of Xusrō ud Rēdag (King Khusro and the Page),
in which the many courtly ideals of the “good living” such as best
meats, fowl, deserts, wines are mentioned. The page recounts his
training not only as a chef, but also as a calligrapher, his athletic prow-
ess, as a master polo player and horseman, his religious upbringing,
and his morality, which suggests an ideal Zoroastrian man in late
antiquity.
The text also mentions Indian and other board games such as
chess which is the subject of another small work in Middle Persian
known as Wizārišn Čatrang ud Nēw-ardaxšı¯r (Explanation of the Game
of Chess and Backgammon). Here the reason for the invention of
these games and rules are given which are put in a Zoroastrian per-
spective and cosmological setting.46 Sūr ¯ı Suxwan (Banquet Speech) is
another text which sets out to describe the old Near Eastern banquet
etiquette and the list of people who sit before the royal table, from
the King of Kings (šāhān šāh), to the Grand Wazı̄r (wuzurg-framadār),
and lower ranks.47 There is also a text on how to write properly Abar
Ēwēnag ¯ı Nāmag Nibēsišnı¯h (On the Manner of Book/Letter Writing).
These remains suggest the sophistication of the Persian culture and
society, where every aspect of life was discussed and standards were
established.

Farhang or Dictionaries

There are two dictionaries that have survived which have different
functions. The Farhang ¯ı Pahlawı¯g is mainly concerned with the under-
standing of the difficult words which were written with the Aramaic
ideogram. The authors took pains to show the Middle Persian word
in question in its usual ideographic and its simple representation. For
example the word for “night” was written with the Aramaic ideogram
LYLYA which was read as Middle Persian šab. Now to demonstrate
that this word stood for night, the author wrote the word without the
ideogram as šb next to the ideogram. The glossary also demonstrates
the Ancient Near Eastern tradition in the way the subject headings
are discussed, based on cosmology, waters, fruits, metals, etc. A more
recent recession of this glossary exists which approaches the words
alphabetically.48 The other major dictionary or glossary is the Farhang
¯ı Ōı¯m-ēwag which is a dictionary of Avestan words. In the preface the
author states that the work is intended to understand the Zand (Middle
Persian translation of the Avesta).49

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 116 Sasanian Persia

CHRISTIAN AND MANICHAEAN LITERATURE IN

MIDDLE PERSIAN

A relatively large number of Christians appear to have lived in Persia

by the late Sasanian period which was the result of first the influx of
Christian captives and their settlement into the empire, along with later
conversions. Second, Mesopotamia had a large number of Christians,
and also then the Persian (Syriac Persian) Christian community who
were able to attract converts from the royal family, became subjects
of martyrologies and hagiographies of late antiquity.50 The Christians
were also active in translating the Christian texts, especially the New
Testement, into Middle Persian where such specimens exist. The Zabūr
or Psalms are translations of these Biblical texts into Middle Persian.51
These texts are the non-Zoroastrian Middle Persian texts that survive,
with the exception of a few Christian funerary monuments. They were
probably done for and by the Nestorian community, using the Syraic
translations of the Bible. There is also evidence of translation of the
Book of Enoch and other Christian apocryphal works, as well as other
hymns which suggest the importance and number of the Christian
community in Persia.
The last group of texts in the Middle Persian language are the prod-
uct of the Manichaean religious life who were an important commu-
nity in the Near East and the eastern Mediterranean region in the late
antiquity. A large corpus survives, but most of the texts are fragmen-
tary in nature and few are complete. These texts are usually called
Manichaean Middle Persian texts as much for their language. They
are quite varied in topic and parallel the Zoroastrian texts in content
matter. The most important Manichaean Middle Persian text is the
Šābuhragān which was written by Mani for his patron Shabuhr I. This
text summarizes the teachings of Mani in the language that was the
court language of the Sasanian empire, although the text is difficult,
esoteric and apocalyptic.52 There are other fragments and texts in
Middle Persian which may be called Manichaean hagiography and
martyrology. There are also sermons and addresses by Manichaean
leaders (the Elect) after Mani’s death to the adherents.

PARTHIAN, SOGDIAN, KHOTANESE, AND BACTRIAN

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

From the beginning of the Sasanian period, Parthian was one of the
major languages that was used for imperial inscriptions, in addition

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 Languages and textual remains 117

to that of Middle Persian and Greek. We could guess that indeed

Parthian remained spoken and written in the east, the homeland of
the Parthains. This is evident by the new discoveries of a number of
graffiti found at Lāx-Mazār close to the City of Birjand which have
remained unpublished in a Western language.53 Parthian literature,
be it oral or written, made an impact on the Middle Persian literature
in the form of two important texts mentioned, the Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān
and Draxt ¯ı Āsūrı¯g, where their vocabulary betray their Parthian origin.
Still other Persian poetic texts such as the famous, Vı¯s u Rāmı¯n, also
demonstrate its Parthian origin, which also survives in the Georgian
version as well.54 But the most prodigious type of Parthian literature
during the Sasanian period was written by the Manicheaens from
the third century onwards. Most of these texts are fragmentary and
were found in this century which took the attention of the great Iranist
W.B. Henning,55 along with his outstanding pupil, Mary Boyce.56 W.
Sundermann has been the leader in the past decades in dealing with
Manichaean material.57
As for Sogdian, whose homeland is further east of Parthain, again
the Manichaean material gives us the greater amount of evidence, but
Buddhist and Christian material also exists. These texts were written
in three different scripts which consisted of the “Samarqand type” and
was in use in the Sasanian period. The second script which Sogdian
was written with was the Palmyrene script which the Manichaeans
adopted, and we find stories such of as the “Pearlborer,” and “The
Three Fishes,” having had their origins in India, from Sanskrit litera-
ture.58 The third is the Estrangelo script used for the Christian texts.
The majority of the Sogdian Christian texts are translations from
Syriac originals and are parts of the new Testament (Matthew, Luke,
John, I. Corinthians and Galatians), as well as later Sogdian material
which was written from the second to the fifth centuries CE.59 The
Buddhist texts are numerous, of which the most famous is the Sūtra
of the Cause and Effects of Action (’krtyh ’n ’nt ptwry pwstk).60 What is most
interesting in Sogdian is a fragment of the Rustam epic which differs
from what has remained in the Middle Persian and Persian tales of this
hero in the Šāhnāme.61
Khotanese which was the language of the Saka, the homeland of
Rustam, unfortunately gives little information on the Sasanian empire.
The script is a daunting script to learn and is akin to devānagrı¯. The
longest work is the Book of Zambasta62 and this work along with most
others are Buddhist, some being translations of Buddhist Sanskrit
texts.63 There is also a medical text and other translation of Sanskrit
texts which are really concerned with the Indic world. While less was

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 118 Sasanian Persia

known about Bactrian, mainly on legends on coins, and some inscrip-

tions,64 we are fortunate that recently Nicholas Sims-Williams has
published a series on leather documents written in Bactrian, mainly
dating from the Sasanian and the early Islamic period.65 The script
used for Bactrian is the Greek alphabet, probably due to the fact that
this was the location where Greeks came and settled after Alexander
the Great’s conquest. There were other languages of which we have
still less information, such as Kharazmian whose language is mainly
ascertained from Arabic and some Persian texts written in the Islamic
period in that region.66

FOREIGN INFLUENCES

The Middle Persian texts, however religious in nature, were not

immune to outside influence. In the fourth book of the Dēnkard (Acts
of Religion), we find the influence of Greek, specifically Aristotelian
ideas,67 where the author(s) tell us that they studied Greek and Indic
texts on medicine, geography and other sciences. The narrative of
the texts are diverse and demonstrate this foreign influence. In the
Gizistag Abālı̄š (The Accursed Abālı̄š) we find a kind of analogical
argumentation which does not appear to be Zoroastrian in origin.
Even more obvious is the Škand ı̄ Gūmānı̄g Wı̄zār (Doubt Dispelling
Explanation), where the mode of argumentation is analytical, resem-
bling those who used the method of ‘Ilm al-kalam in the early Islamic
period.68 Thus not only the content, but also the style of these texts
were subject to foreign influence. Still, overwhelmingly, the subject
matter is religious and the texts provide commentaries and expla-
nation of the Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta. The Pazand texts,
are Middle Persian texts written in the Avestan script which made it
much easier to read. Some of the Pazand texts are simply the render-
ing of the Middle Persian texts in the Avestan script, but there are
many more that are original and provide important information on
the folk belief/popular religion of the Zoroastrians and popular belief
in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, they have been neglected by the
philologists and have been seen as of little use. Since most are com-
posed after the Arab Muslim conquest, they are not directly related
to our topic.
The intellectual life in the Sasanian period has received much less
attention than other fields and this is because what has remained of
the Middle Persian texts are religious texts and difficult to under-
stand. Still, from the surviving material we know that the Sasanian

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 Languages and textual remains 119

empire was a meeting ground of Hellenic, Mesopotamian, and Indian

scientific and philosophical ideas. While on the surface it appears that
the Zoroastrian priests were anti-Hellenic, this anti-Hellenism was not
the dictum in regard to learning. The Dēnkard is an important text
which supports this evidence. In the fourth book of Dēnkard in regard
to the Avesta, we read that during the reign of Shabuhr I texts on medi-
cine, astronomy, movement, logic and other crafts and skills which
existed in India and Rome and other lands were gathered and a copy
of them were made.69 As to the nature of these texts, we do have some
ideas. For example in another part of Book four of Dēnkard the name
of the texts are given, these being the Indian Kāla Kośa (Treasury of
Astronomy), and (Middle Persian) Magistı¯g of Ptolemy.70 This suggests
that the Avesta incorporated foreign learning and was not only a reli-
gious text. Second, the Persians were familiar with Indian and Greek
writings from the third century CE onwards. This is important because
while this period has been seen as a time of anti-Hellenism and phobia
against foreign influences, we can see that learning and science was
not subject to this antagonism.
There is other evidence for the dissemination of Greek knowl-
edge in the Sasanian empire, specifically through Greek and the
Syrian Christians whose presence in the city of Weh-andı¯ōg-šābuhr
(Gundēšābuhr) is well known. This city, which was built during the
reign of Šābuhr I, was composed of the Syriac speaking Christians of
the city of Antioch who established the famous medical center there. It
was in this place that Greek medical books were translated into Syriac
in the sixth century CE by Sargis, while Indian medical treatise also
reached this location.71 Thus, the Sasanians made possible the meet-
ing of Greek and Indian sciences and their absorbtion in Persia. Also
Aristotelian texts and other Greek texts dealing with (Middle Persian)
bawišn ud vināhišn “on coming to be and passing away,” (Middle Persian)
Jatag-wihı¯rı¯h “change of form,” (Middle Persian) nibēg ¯ı zamı¯g paymānı¯h
“measurement of the earth,” i.e., geometry were written.72 Books on
logic were written by Paul the Persian, and Priscianus Lydus, who
wrote a book on Aristotelian physics, theory of the soul, meteorology,
and biology when they were expelled by Justinian in the sixth century
CE and found their way to the Persian court.73 After Šābuhr I’s redac-
tion of the Avesta and the entering of foreign teachings, the time of
Xusrō I may be seen as the second major period of influence. Perhaps
this second period of intense contact was felt more and had a stron-
ger impact on Mazdean learning, since it coincided with the writing
of the Middle Persian text of which we have access to the surviving
portions.

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 120 Sasanian Persia

Persian knowledge of Indian learning is known, mainly in the field

of philosophy, and astronomy. Books on logic called (Middle Persian)
tark (Sanskrit) tarka were translated from Sanskrit into Middle Persian.74
Indian influence on astronomy (Middle Persian) āwyākrn (Sanskrit)
vyākarana is well known. One can state that Persia was a conduit for
the transmission of knowledge between the Hellenic and Indic world
in late antiquity and consequently it became a meeting ground of old
and new ideas. All of this would be inherited by the Muslim civiliza-
tion which transmitted these ideas to the West when it had forgotten
its own philosophical and scientific tradition.
The elements which made the deepest influence from India on Persia
were, however literature and the arts. As part of education (Middle
Persia) frahang we know that certain games such as chess (Middle
Persian) Čatrang (Sanskrit) caturanga, which was based on the composi-
tion of the Indian army consisting of four divisions, were played in
the Sasanian period and came to Persia.75 Other Indian board games
such as (Middle Persian) haštpāy (Sanskrit) as..tāpada, as well as back-
gammon which was Persianized (Middle Persian) nēw-ardaxšı¯r were
known to have come to Persia during the reign of Khusro I as part of
the great number of works which were transmitted in the sixth cen-
tury.76 These included such texts as the pañcatantra which according
to tradition was translated into Middle Persian by the famous physi-
cian named Borzoye.77 While the Middle Persian version is now lost,
the Syriac translation made from the Middle Persian in 570 CE exists
under the name Kalilag ud Damnag, this being the name of the two main
player “jackals,” in the Sanskrit text, Karataka u Damanaka. This text
was also translated from Middle Persian into Arabic by Abdullah ibn
al-Muqaffa in the eighth century CE, also known in Persian as the
Dāstānhā-ye Bı¯dpāy (The Fables of Pilpay). This is the version which
was first translated from Sanskrit into Middle Persian and then to
Arabic and then into Persian.78 These stories were taken from another
Indian text called the Hitopadesa “Book of Good Counsel.” This book
was part of the Indian genre known as nı¯ti-śāstra “mirror for Princes,”
which also existed in Persia, and in Middle Persian was known as
ēwēn-nāmag “book of manners.”
As mentioned earlier, astrology79 played a prominent part in the
society where its importance can be seen from the number of terms
used for those professions such as star-gōwišnı¯h “star-telling,” axtar-āmar
“zodiac-teller,” stār-hangār “star-reckoner,” and hangām-šnāsag “time-
knower.” The Sasanian king we are told consulted fortune tellers or
astrologers as to find out about the future and the courses of action
which should be taken. The best example is found in the Ardashir

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 Languages and textual remains 121

Romance, Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān, where Pābag has a series

of dreams about the progenitor of the house, i.e., Sāsān. One night
Pabag had a dream that the sun shone from the head of Sāsān, the
second night he saw Sāsān sitting on a white elephant and everyone
in the empire was paying homage to him, and a third night he dreamt
that the three sacred Zoroastrian fires were shining on Sāsān’s house.
Pabag had to ask the “dream interpreters” xwamn-wizārān to tell him
the meaning of his dreams.80
As for the nobility we know that some of the basic learnings were
acquired in frahangestān “House of Culture” which included memoriz-
ing the sacred utterances, scribship and calligraphy, horsemanship,
jousting, polo, playing musical instruments, singing, poetry, danc-
ing, astrology and being master of playing board games.81 Naturally
the warriors were trained in the art of combat as well as other sports,
which not only including shooting, but also horse racing and jousting.
In fact it is in Persia that we find some of the earliest reliefs of jousting
scenes and the art of one-to-one combat. These are all familiar to the
Medieval European world, where their Persian equivalent, i.e., the
knights (Middle Persian) āzādān did the same, except much earlier.

TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES

In the Middle Persian texts we come across word compounds which

appear to define technical religious and scientific terminology and
which were foreign to Persian. These terms are also another evidence
for the translation of foreign works in Middle Persian. Some Syriac
and Greek words which were translated in Middle Persian are as fol-
lows: dašnēzādagān for Syriac banyā yāminā “righteous ones,” gēhān ¯ı
kōdak for Greek mikros kosmos “microcosom;” xrad-dōšagı¯h for Greek
philosophia “Philosophy,” and zamı¯g-paymānı¯h for geōmetria “geometry.”82
This among other evidence suggests a vibrant translation campaign
by the Sasanian scholars to understand the world and their neighbors
which is contrary to the common view of the Sasanian world which is
that it was static and reactionary to non-Zoroastrian ideas.
In conclusion one can observe that what remains of Middle Persian
texts and Sasanian literature is only a fraction of what existed. The
reason for this loss is mainly due to the fact that it was translated into
Arabic, especially the wisdom literature, above all to instruct the Caliph
on how to rule and how to deal with his subjects. What remained
of Middle Persian texts was because of the diligence of a number of
priests who wanted to keep the tradition alive and give answers to

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 122 Sasanian Persia

their dwindling community in the face of conversion and loss of status

and wealth in the new Islamic empire which stretched from China to
Spain. Thus, what was important for religion was copied by the priests
from generation to generation, and the burden of time destroyed other
parts of it, along with fires and bigoted amirs who had forgotten that
the Zoroastrians were also people of the book.

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 Chapter 5

The Economy and

Administration of Iranshahr
THE ADMINISTRATION AND ADMINISTRATORS OF
THE EMPIRE

The organization of the provinces of the Sasanian Empire is not com-

pletely clear, since many of the sources contradict each other. This is
the product of two phenomena. The first has to do with the layers of
reforms, meaning that the early Sasanian system was complemented
by the reforms of Kavad, and then of Khusro I in the sixth century
CE. The second problem has to do with the very nature of the sources
which give ample description of the Sasanian administration. Since
most of the information comes from the Islamic period, one should be
hesitant and cautious in using this information, because the descrip-
tion seems to be closer to the Abbasid administrative division of the
eastern caliphate than to the late Sasanian period.1
For the Middle Persian sources, the most important text is The pro-
vincial capitals of Iran (Shahrestānı¯hāı¯ Ērānshahr) redacted at the time of
the caliphate of al-Mans.ur (754–775 CE.), but may be based on an
authentic Sasanian source.2 Many of the administrative offices and
officers are also mentioned in the The Book of a Thousand Judgments
(Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān) which was redacted in the reign of Khusro
II (590–628 CE.). More importantly, there are administrative seals and
coins which represent primary sources. They are invaluable in provid-
ing the basis for the reconstruction of the administrative system and
thanks to the important works of R. Gyselen, they have cleared up
much of the situation in late Sasanian period.3 The literary sources
should be used whenever possible to corroborate or question the epi-
graphic evidence. However, the seal corpus is incomplete, and only
with the future discovery of more seals will we have a better grasp of
the situation in the sixth and seventh centuries CE.

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 124 Sasanian Persia

The administrative and military division of the empire has steadily

become understandable. The quadripartition of the late Sasanian
empire, that is, its division into four regions, is accepted by all. The
textual sources give ample evidence in regard to the quadriparti-
tion. This is not only stated in the Middle Persian sources, but also in
Armenian sources, such as Moses Xorenats‘i.4 Within this scheme of
quadripartition, there are still contradictions. For example, Xorenats‘i
places Fars and Sistan in the k‘usti nemrog, while Tha’alibı̄ places
Sistan in the quarter of the East (kust ¯ı Xorāsān), and Fars in the
(kust ¯ı nēmrōz).5 The reason for the differences may lie in the nature
and times of the various reforms and divisions. There seems to be no
hint of a quadripartition with regard to the secular administration
since there are no administrative seals to support this notion. Militarily
and religiously, there was a quadripartition, where a General
(spāhbed) was in charge of each kust “quarter.”6 Religiously, the kust
was under the control of a rad “spiritual master.”7 Before the reforms
of Kavad and Khusro I in the late fifth and sixth centuries CE, the
General of the Iranians (Ērān-spāhbed) controlled the military of the
whole empire, but later his power was to be broken up among four
spāhbeds.
Some numismatic evidence also points to the quadripartition of
the empire under Kavad I. The reverse side of Sasanian coins usually
notes the date when the coin was struck and the place or mint signa-
ture. There are many Sasanian and Arab-Sasanian mint signatures
which have not been attributed for certain. Recently, Gurnet8 has pro-
posed to read the Sasanian mint signature DYNAW which had been
attributed to the city of Denavar, as DYW-AO, along with three other
signatures that have been found, DYW-AT, DYW-AS, and DWY-
KR. In regard to DYW-AO, due to the confusing nature of the Middle
Persian alphabet, a letter at times could be read several ways. The first
three letters, DYW have been suggested to be the abbreviation for
divan (dēwān), thus Perso-Arabic divan, meaning “government office,”
and the next two letters acting as suffixes for the region. Gurnet sug-
gests AO for the south west, AT standing for the quarter of north
west, perhaps standing for Adurbadagan; AS for the Capital, perhaps
for Asurestan; and KR for the south east, standing for Kerman.9 By
identifying AO with the south west the scheme of the quadripartition
becomes questionable, but the real question is what does AO stand
for. Gurnet does not give a definitive answer to this anomaly, and
indeed one can read the suffix as AN, thus DYWAN, but another
suggestion may be more suitable. In Middle Persian, initial aleph
can also be read as h.et and O is written with waw, thus it can also be

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 Economy and administration 125

read as w. Here one can suggest the reading XW for Khurasan, thus
DYWXW “Divan of Khurasan,” the north east.
These coins were minted during the reign of Kavad I, which exactly
corresponds with the beginning of the administrative reforms.10 Thus
the literary sources can be complemented by the coins, both point-
ing to the fact that there was indeed a civilian and military quadri-
partition. The quadripartition was perhaps a reaction to the military
setbacks experienced by Kavad I. The incursions from the east by the
Hephthalites, as well as the Byzantine frontier wars in the west, and
the Arab raids into the empire from the south made it crucial that the
empire be able to deal with problems on several fronts. This may have
been the cause behind the division of the military power into the hands
of four generals, who would thus be able to deal with the invasions and
wars. Here we have a division of four quarters, much like the divisions
in late Eastern Roman empire, where there was a Praefectura praetorio per
Orientem “prefecture of the East,” Praefectura praetorio per Illyricum “pre-
fecture of Greece and the Balkans,” Praefectura praetorio Illyrici, Italiae et
Africae “prefecture of Italy and Latin Africa,” and Praefectura praetorio
Galliarum “prefecture of Roman Britain and the Iberian Peninsula,”11
which is interesting. Thus we have the old Sasanian divisions of
the third and fourth centuries, followed by the quadripartition and
later divisions by Khusro I and Khusro II in the sixth and seventh
centuries.
Provinces in the third century inscriptions appear as Shahr (Middle
Persian štry), while the districts were also known as shahr and a capital
city was known as shahrestan. The shahr was administered by the shahr-
dar, who was probably a local king in the third century. They were rul-
ers of these provinces who were appointed by the King of Kings.12 The
districts or shahrs were under the command of a shahrab and a mowbed.
The mowbed dealt with property rights and other legal affairs which is
attested by the function of the mowbed of Ardashir-xwarrah, one of the
districts of Fars.13 There was also an “accountant” (āmārgar) who dealt
with the financial aspects of one or several districts.
Now we will turn to the administrative division of the districts.
The shahr or district was further divided into rustags, which perhaps
consisted of several villages, and the smallest unit was the deh or vil-
lage, which was headed by a dehgan.14 This division is apparent from
a late Middle Persian inscription, where a certain Khordad, son of
Hormuzd-Afarid who was a Christian, recalls his home in this order:
1) mān ¯ı Ērān-shahr, 2) rusta čālakān, 3) deh Khisht: “from the dwell-
ing of Iranshahr, from the rusta of Chalagan, from the deh of Khisht.15
In Sirat Anushirvan preserved in Ibn Miskawayh’s Tajarib al-Umam, the

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 126 Sasanian Persia

same order is preserved, where Khusro I enumerates the administra-

tive units in the following order: 1) bilad “region/country,” 2) kura,
3) rustaq, and 4) qarya which is equivalent to deh.16
In the early Islamic period some of these terms seem to have been
confused and used interchangeably. For example the rusta, Arabic
rustaq, was at times thought to be equivalent to a tasug, Arabic T.assuj
or a nah.iya.17 There are, however, several accounts that corroborate
the survival of the same terms in the above manner in the Sasanian
period as well as the early Islamic period. Bal’ami, retrojecting to the
beginning of the Sasanian dynasty, states that Ardaxšı̄r came from the
shahr of Istakhr, from the land (bilad) of Fars. He mentions that Istakhr
had a rusta, and there was a deh. Thus we have the exact division of
the Sasanian epigraphic information, 1) shahr, 2) rusta, 3) deh.18 This
may represent the correct division which stayed on in the early Islamic
period as well.19 This is corroborated by other sources, such as Tarikh
Qom which records that the city of Qom was made of seven dehs which
were joined together.20
Other divisions included the royal lands, the ostan which was headed
by the ostandar. This is in correspondence with Armenia, where the
ostan was the royal land and in the Marzpanate period (428–652 CE.);
some territories were divided into ostan, and the ostan into gawars.21
The shahr and deh contained temples which were under the control of
the Mogwed.22 Another division was the tasug over which we know that
a “judge” (dādwar) had authority by the seventh century,23 and that
the mowbed of the district (shahr) had power over the dādwar who had
power over the tasug.24 Tasug, a loan word into Arabic, tassoj, has been
suggested to be a fourth of a rustag. Its meaning is relatively clear, from
Middle Persian tasum “fourth.” The question is that this tasug was the
fourth of what part of a territory/unit of division? Morony has sug-
gested that the shahr or districts were divided into sub-districts around
small towns or villages, and that this was called a tasug, Arabic .tassoj.25
One has to ask if there was a difference between these toponyms or
not. According to the Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān (MHD100, 5–7), while
the shahr was under the jurisdiction of a mowbed, the tasug was under the
jurisdiction of a dādwar.

IMPORTANT OFFICIALS/ADMINISTRATORS AND

THEIR FUNCTIONS

There are several seals which relate several offices/officials for the
empire. They are as follows:

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 Economy and administration 127

• shahrāb
• mow
• mowbed
• driyōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar
• handarzbed
• dādwar
• āmārgar
• dibı¯r and kārframān.

Shahrab: “provincial governor”

The provincial governors were the ones who administered the great
provinces of the kingdom. In the early Persian history (Achaemenid
period), the shahrab was the head of the domain or guardian of the king-
dom. In the Parthian period, the office is also attested in an inscription
found at Susa and it seems that the title had already declined since the
Acheamenid period. Henning is correct in stating that “the area he (the
satrap) now governed was small, scarcely more than a town with its sur-
roundings.”26 In the third century inscriptions, the decline of this office
from the Achaemenid period is evident, where in the inscription of
Shabuhr I at Ka’ba-i Zardosht a list of shahrabs is given, for example that
of Hamadan, Niriz, and Weh-Andew-Shabuhr. The shahrab is listed in
the seventh position, after the “commander” (framādār) and before the
dizbed “garrison commander.”27 In the Paikuli inscriptions, the shahrab
is mentioned in the eleventh rank after the “lord of the house” (kadag-
xwadāy)28 and before (āmārgar) “accountant.”29 In the fourth century
inscription of Shabuhr II (311 CE) in the list of the retinue of the king
of Sistan, the shahrab is placed after the mow “priest,” and before the
(dibı¯r) “scribe.”30 This inscription shows the important position of the
office within the province, where it is only subordinate to the MLK’
“king,” handarzbed “councilor,” and mow, and above the (dibı¯r) “scribe,”
(āzādān) “free men,” (frēstag) “messenger,” and (sardār) “chief.”31
This may show the resurgence of the office and its importance in the
later Sasanian period. The seal of the shahrab portrays the person in
jeweled cap with pearls, which shows the importance of the office.32

Mow: “priest”

The mow functioned within the religious and state apparatus. The
sheer number of seals with this title attests to the importance of this

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 128 Sasanian Persia

office for the bureaucracy of the state as well as the temple economy
and the size of the religious body in Sasanian Persia. We do have evi-
dence of a mow serving a province as early as the fourth century, where
one accompanied the king of Sistan.33 The mow was the lowest rank
of “priesthood,” who functioned in various capacities in the districts,
cities, villages, and temples. He seems to have been in charge of con-
trolling economic transactions. On a large jar with a cursive inscrip-
tion (late Sasanian) a mow is said to have been imprisoned because of
lying,34 and committing (wināh) “sin,” which was a legal term adopted
from religious terminology,35 perhaps lying in regards to the amount
or worth of the commodity stored in the jar.

Mowbed: “chief priest”

The title is apparent in the third century, where Kerdir is called an

Ohrmazd mowbed “the mowbed of Ohrmazd,” under Hormizd I. He
later achieved the added title of (Kerdir ¯ı boxt-ruwān-wahrām ¯ı ohrmazd
mowbed) “Kerdir, mowbed of the blessed Wahram and Ohrmazd.”36
The assumption of many of the titles which appear later for Kerdir at
one time, show the beginning of these titles under his control. They
include (hamshahr mowbed ud dādwar), “the Chief priest and Judge of
all the empire,” and (ēwēnbed) “master of ceremony.”37 By the fourth
century, the office of mowbed had become important and was placed
in the list of offices below (hazārbed) “chilarch,” and above (shahr-āmār-
dibı¯r) “secretary of Finances.” This growth in power perhaps had to do
with the growing strength of the Mazdean priestly organization and its
hierarchy. It seems that the mow and mowbed were the ones who were
involved in the administrative aspects of the empire and the province
in large numbers. There are seals of the mowbed for subdistricts, fire
temples, and cities, which show the degree of their involvement and
status.
It appears that by the late Sasanian period the mowbed dealt with
documents and they were signed by him, which was only part of his
duty. There was “The Book Regarding the Duties of the Mowbeds”
(xwēš-nāmag ¯ı mawbedān nibišt) which spelled out their duties and func-
tion.38 The mowbeds functioned in several main capacities. The mowbed
along with the shahrab administered a shahr or district. Since we do pos-
sess a seals for the mowbed of cities,39 we can assume that all districts had
a mowbed in charge. While the seal for the mowbedan mowbed is absent,
from the mention of this title in many textual sources we may assume
that ultimately such a person also had authority over the mowbeds.

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 Economy and administration 129

This title seems to have been attested as early as the fourth century in
the Syriac sources, where there was a rēšā de maupatē “head of the
mowbeds.”40
Their growing authority and status is also attested by late Roman
sources. For example in the sixth century, Agathias states that “nowa-
days, however, the Magi are the object of extreme awe and veneration,
all public business being conducted at their discretion and in accor-
dance with their prognostications, and no litigant or party to a private
dispute fails to come under their jurisdiction. Indeed nothing receives
the stamp of legality in the eyes of the Persians unless it is ratified by
one of the Magi.”41 They were not only active in administration, but
seem to have gained even more power. The Syriac sources even report
that mowbeds at some time were able to rule over a province, such as
that of Adiabene, and others were in charge of the court. This idea is
also supported by Syriac reports that in the early Sasanian period, the
mowbeds and marzbans were put in charge of provinces.42 This may be a
retrojection to the past, but it also may reflect the way the an-Iran “non-
Iranian” provinces were controlled, since we hear from the Armenian
sources that the Sasanians put in charge of Armenia along with the
hazarapet, a chief mow, i.e., mowbed, who functioned as the judge of the
land.43 Ełishe also reports that the Sasanians governed their empire
by the religion of mow.44 In the Middle Persian writings, an interesting
passage states that the mowbed was in charge of an awestam which can
be translated as “province,” which was larger than a rustag and smaller
than a kust.45

Driyōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar: “advocate and judge of

the poor.”

One comes across this title mainly by viewing the seal corpus, the
Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, and the Armenian sources. According to the
Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān (93.7) at the time of Kavad, official seals were
introduced for the mowbed and the āmārgar, and the seal of the dādwar
was made by the order of Khusro I. There was a mowbed for the entire
province of Fars, and the title of the mowbed was changed to driyōšān
jādaggōw ud dādwar “Advocate of Poor and Judge.” This office seems
to be concerned with social, legal, and religious spheres. From seals
we know that there were dādwars “judges” functioning in the prov-
ince, but for the jādaggōw, there is no evidence that it was a separate
office. It was during the time of Khusro I that the dādwar was given a
seal, and functioned in districts and cities.46 The textual evidence may

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 130 Sasanian Persia

shed some light on the problem, because we do come across the title
jādag-gōwān “advocates,” which is explained as (ayār) “helper,” and
(panāhı¯h) giving “protection.”47 Its sense is not clear, and it may have
had the function of intercessor on behalf of people or a cause.48 In the
Zoroastrian world, the jādag-gōwān are thought to be placed with the
peace-seekers in heaven.49 De Menasce was one of the first to com-
ment on the function of the office and to show that this office belonged
to the mowbed of Fars.50 Now we have as many as sixteen seals with
this title. The sheer number of the seals with this title makes Shaked’s
assumption implausible that this office belonged only to the mowbeds of
Fars.51 For Fars, there is a seal for the driyōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar who
administered the various subdistricts, such as Bishabuhr, Istakhr, and
Ardashir-xwarrah.52 Also a driyōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar was in charge of
three districts at the same time, those of Darabgerd, Bishabuhr, and
Weh-az-Amid-Kavad.53
Shaked has shown the moral authority of this mowbed, which seems
to be concerned with the welfare of the poor as attested in the Middle
Persian texts: “The seventh is (jādag-gōwı¯h) advocacy. It is this: One
who speaks a word on behalf of a widowed woman, a hungry child,
fires, cattle, sheep and other helpless creatures, specifically for the sake
of his own soul.”54 Clearly, this official must have had some functions
relevant to the title as opposed to other mowbeds, such as administra-
tion of money received in charity for the poor and the needy.55 From
the title it is clear that the religious authority (mowbed) had gained legal
authority as well, which is paralleled with the title of St. Nerses in
Armenia: jatagov amenayn zrkeloc “intercessor for all the deprived.”56
The driyōšān jādaggōw ud dādwar was perhaps the overseer of
charitable foundations to help the poor and the needy.57 This was a
religious duty which the powerful should keep as their duty (Dēnkard
VI.142):

The powerful means are not harmful to that man or to (other) people.
In whatever comes about he is driyōšān jādag-gōw advocate for the poor
and does good to them. He praises the poor and acts in such a manner
that (his) wealth and riches are open to all men, and that they hold them
as their own and are confident.58

On the local level the mow may have been in charge of the religious
endowments, which were set up by people pad ruwan for the sake of the
soul. This is similar with the Catholic foundations and of course ties in
with the Islamic institution of waqf or religious endowments which had
the same function in the early Islamic era.59

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 Economy and administration 131

Handarzbed: “councillor”

The handarzbed served in various capacities or as an advisor to per-

sons of rank. In the Persepolis Middle Persian inscription, in the early
fourth century we encounter the title Sistan handarzbed “chief councillor
of Sistan,” second only to the king of Sistan, and above the mow and
the Shahrab of Zarang.60 Thus from early on, he seems to have had an
important function within the court apparatus, whose function may
have been more concerned with advice, acting as an advisor and deal-
ing with moral causes. We possess a seal of the handarzbed of Ardashir-
xwarrah,61 which makes it probable that there were other handarzbedān
functioning for other districts. Alternatively, there could have been
one handarzbed administrating several districts at the same time.
The dar handarzbed “court councilor,” was an advisor to the king and
was part of the court retinue, who according to the Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r
¯ı Pāpagān (X.7) accompanied the mowbadan mowbed “chief mowbed,”
ērān spāhbed “chief of the army,” puštaspān sardār “chief of cavalry,”
dibı¯rān mahist “chief scribe,” and was placed before the wāspuhragān
“grandees/specials.” The mowān handarzbed gave advice in legal mat-
ters pertaining to marital questions Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān (57.12;
59.10; 98.3). The mowān handarzbed had reached an important posi-
tion by the end of the Sasanian period, perhaps because of the grow-
ing power of the religious hierarchy. In one Middle Persian text Abar
Stāyēnı¯dārı¯h ¯ı Sūr Āfrı¯n (157.9–14), he is listed after the following offices:
šāhān šāh “King of Kings,” pus ¯ı wāspuhr ¯ı šāhān “principal son among
the princes,” wuzurg framādār “grand minister,” the spāhbeds “military
commanders” of Khurasan “northeast,” xwarwarān “northwest,” and
nēmrōz “southeast,” followed by the dādwarān ¯ı dādwar “chief judge.”
Below him are the mowān handarzbed, and the hazārbed “chilarch.”62
The mowān handarzbed was the councilor to the mowbedān and as an
explanation or Pahlavi version of the Yasna, mowān handarzbed is glossed
as the teacher of the mowān. In the Perso-Islamic literature, the men of
religion are placed in the first rank and divided into four divisions, the
last being the mo’alimān, i.e, the hērbedān “teacher-priests.”63 We also
have a seal for this office, as well as the mowān handarzbed of Sistan. The
handarzbed ¯ı wāspuhragān “councillor to the grandees/specials” had
authority within the king’s demesne.64 There was also a handarzbed for
the queen at the time of Shabuhr I, bānūgān handarzbed, and a handarz-
bed ¯ı aswāragān, “the councillor for the cavalry.”65
In the Armenian History of Lazar P‘arpec‘i, it is reported that the movan
anderjapet was sent to a fortress in Nēw-Shabuhr where Armenian
priests were held captive. He was to take them to a deserted spot to

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 132 Sasanian Persia

torture them, but more probably to try to change their mind in religious
matters. More importantly, the text states that the movan anderjapet was
under the authority of the movpetan-movpet, i.e., mowbedān mowbed.66 A
Middle Persian text states that the mowan handarzbed and the mowbedān
mowbed were set over the dādwarān who held sway over the rustag, the
mowbedān who held sway over an awestām “district,” and radān “spiri-
tual masters,” over a kust “quarter.”67 The mowān handarzbed according
to the Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān was in charge of establishing guardian-
ship, and administrating foundations for the soul (pad ruwān).68

Dādwar: “judge”

The judge had to have legal schooling, and they were drawn from the
mowbedān. The dādwar also had a superior, who had the title of shahr
dādwarān dādwar “Supreme judge of the province.”69 This is also evi-
dent from the Syriac text The Life of the Patriarch Mār Abā (540–552 CE)
where a certain Mār Qardag held two titles, that of ēwēnbed/āyēnbed
“master of ceremonies,” and shahr dādwar “judge of the empire.” This
has been suggested to be the combination or conflation of two titles,
the shahr dādwar and dādwarān dādwar “chief judge.” The fact that a
chief judge existed is attested by al-Mas’ūdı̄, who stated that the chief
judge, Qadı¯ al-Qodat, probably a claque on (dādwrān dādwar) was the
head of all mowbeds.70 Thus the legal apparatus seems to have been
under the control of the religious hierarchy. As stated earlier, the
Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān (100,11–15) states that the dādwar was under
the authority of the mowbed. There are only a few seals found with this
title, thus we do not know how prevalent the office was from the sigillo-
graphic evidence. This perhaps means that by the sixth century CE, the
mowbed had taken over the function of judges. According to the Middle
Persian texts, the dādwar dealt with a variety of cases, such as prop-
erty rights, records and confessions, attended to complaints, broke
seals and retained unclaimed property.71 They had to be well versed
in the Zoroastrian law and there were a series of texts which gave
them recourse to past legal precepts. For example in case of appeals,
he would have had “The Book of Appeals” (Mustawar-nāmag nibišt) in
order to refer back to past cases.72

Āmārgar: “accountant”

From the sigillographic evidence it appears that the āmārgar “accoun-

tant,” and the dādwar “judge” controlled economic, administrative,

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 Economy and administration 133

and legal processes. Whole provinces had an accountant, which is

manifest from a seal found at Qasr ı̄ Abū Nasr (D209) which sup-
plies the “Accountant of Fars,” (pārs āmārgar).73 In addition, there
were accountants who held power over one or more shahrs within a
province. One example is the āmārgār of Istakhr and Darabgerd,74
and the other the āmārgar of (B164) “Ardashir-xwarrah, Bishabuhr,
and Nēw-Darāb.” An āmārgar’s jurisdiction could be changed,
as is evident from other seals such as (Z3 Gyselen) “Istakhr and
Bishabuhr and Weh-az-Amid-Kavad.” Beside the accountant for
the provinces and the districts there were also a “court accountant”
dar-āmārgar and an accountant in charge of the finances of the empire,
Ērān-āmārgar.75

Dibı̄r: “scribe” and Kārframān/Kārdārn (MHD A38.16–18)

The dibı¯rān scribes were the ones who had the knowledge of read-
ing and writing for different occasions and matters. A short Middle
Persian text title “On the Manner of Writing Letter/Book” (abar ēwēnag
¯ı nāmag nibēsišnı¯h) spells out how letters should be written to people of
different ranks such as the lords (xwadāyān), and rulers (pādixšāyān); for
inquring about someone’s torment (bēš-pursišnı¯h) and providing hap-
piness (hunsandı¯h) to people who have lost loved ones; and what forms
of salutations should be used, and how to end the letters.76 To learn
these matters they attended the dibı¯ristān, where from them they were
employed in the court and the provincial administration. According
to the Islamic sources, those scribes who were selected to serve at the
court were required not to associate with many people outside. This
may be why we hear of several strange scripts which according to Ibn
Nadim were used for writing secretive matters, i.e., the secret script
(rāz-dibı¯rı¯h). Those of lesser knowledge were considered as kārframānān
or kārdārān to enhance their skills.77

SASANIAN ECONOMY AND AGRICULTURE

The main mode of production and source of income and livelihood

was farming and agriculture. Crops included cereals such as barley,
rye, millet, legumes, forage, fibers for spinning, fruits such as grapes,
figs, dates, and nuts, and vegetables,78 as well a rice cultivation,
apricot and olive trees. The Sasanians were very much interested
in the development of agriculture and we know that there was an

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 134 Sasanian Persia

expansion of agriculture and cultivable lands in Xuzestān and Iraq.

Frye is correct to note that the characteristics of land tenure or “feudal”
make up in the Near East is somewhat different from that of the
European Feudalism. This is confirmed by the archaeological
evidence from southwestern Ērānshahr where there are no villages
along castles or fortifications.79 This is because there were several
different types of land-tenure such as “state lands,” “endowment
land,” “land with collective ownership,” and one should also men-
tion “land as charitable endowment.” But what was more important
than land ownership was the issue of water control, making the devel-
opment and ownership of qanāts much more important.80 The care
and building of qanāts tell us the importance in which the Sasanians
gave to agricultural development,81 especially for the arid and hilly
regions. Some qanāts were several kilometers long and designed
to bring water to large settlements.82 Unlike the feudal society of
Medieval Europe, water was a much more important commod-
ity in Sasanian Persia and its source and control are discussed in
legal texts. Chapter 22 of the Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān is an expo-
sition on the use of qanāts/katas which describes the sharing of and
laws cases in regards to disputes among individuals and those who
share a qanāt.83
Xūzestān and Iraq were the two important provinces where the
agricultural land was in use. Xūzestān was the richest in terms of fertil-
ity of the soil and abundance of water, and it had constructed irriga-
tion systems to assured its utmost use. Here rice, sugarcane, orchard
and other crops were grown and exported. This in turn ensured its
highest taxability by the government, generating money for the royal
coffers.84 Thus the development of irrigation in Ērānshahr can tell us
much about state reaction to agricultural development and its control.
Evidence from the Susania plain suggests that smaller irrigation canals
gave way to larger ones which cost more money and were more labor
intensive.85
The highlands were affected by lumbering activity by the pastoral
nomads in this region and government schemes for intense irrigation
and damn building were to have major effects on the ecology of the
region.86 Because of this level of centralization, the Sasanians were
able to tax the nomads and hillside residents of the empire,87 a sector
of the society that has been a constant obstacle to governments in Iran
since time immemorial which was only to be controlled during the
Pahlavi era.

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 Economy and administration 135

CITIES

The urbanization project by the Parthians and then the Sasanians

brought about an influx of population from other parts of the
Iranian Plateau as well as through forced migration from the Near
East.88 Not only later Islamic sources, but also Middle Persian
sources attest to the intense interest in the city-building projects of the
Persian kings. The Shahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānshahr (The Provincial Capitals of
Ērānshahr)89 which is a Middle Persian text naming cities throughout
Central Asia, the Iranian Plateau, Mesopotamia, and the Near East,
gives us a good view of this Persian campaign. Many of the shahrestāns
which may be translated as “provincial capitals” or major cities are
said to have been built by the Sasanian kings, or rebuilt by them,
thus receiving the king’s names.90 Persian Muslim historians, such as
Hamza al-Isfahānı̄ also supply a long list of cities built by the vari-
ous Sasanian kings of kings which corroborates the Shahrestānı¯hā
¯ı Ērānshahr.91
The archaeological evidence from southwestern Ērān provides
evidence of decline in rural settlement and of migration to the cities
in such places as Iraq,92 Xūzestān,93 and the Deh Lurān plain further
north.94 Neely’s statement that the population increase and urbaniza-
tion was a direct result of planned expansion and growth promoted
by the Sasanian government95 seems to be accurate for most of the
provinces which were developed. The prerogative for such a move
was also probably based on the commercial viability of the new sites
and their location close to the roads where economic activity was
rampant.96
This urbanization was done for several important reasons which
for one meant that in order for the Sasanians to benefit from taxes,
they needed to develop textile, glass, metalwork and other crafts and
industries which needed a large workforce which were stationed by
them in the cities. The capture of the Roman engineers and skilled
workers and craftsmen and their deportation into newly built or older
cities brought in new workforces which could augment the shortage
of population and train the Persian population. This massive move-
ment into the cities is not only demonstrated by the textual sources,
but also the archaeological work done so far.97 The naming of many
cities with the suffix of Ērān or with xwarrah suggested the ideological
tendencies of the Sasanians as well, where they were used in naming
or renaming cities. This harkened back to the Avestan airyan@#m xvar@#nō
“the glory of the Aryans” connected with the concept of kingship,98
and the direct control of the cities by the King of Kings.99 Then the

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 136 Sasanian Persia

process of urbanization had economical as well as political significance

for the Sasanian period.
In order to build new cities and populate the regions, the Sasanians
needed to invest in the economy, specifically agriculture in order to
feed its burgeoning population. Since agriculture was a main mode
of production one needs to view landholding patterns in the Sasanian
Empire. From the various sources we can state that there were several
types of landholding. Private ownership of a small farm is one type
of landholding which became increasingly difficult to maintain, espe-
cially with the development of the second type of landholding, i.e.,
communal ownership. Those involved in communal ownership were
of the same religious attitude. For example Jews owned villages in Iraq
which employed slave labor to yield its produce. They as well as oth-
ers had the right to own slaves and sell the town and its surrounding
plot of land which they owned. This communal religious ownership
of land applies to the Christians when monasteries and churches in
Mesopotamia had the same arrangement and used slave labor.100

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Early Sasanian economic interest is manifested through several major

activities. The first factor in the development of Sasanian economy is
the control of the Persian Gulf. This we know was done from the time
of Ardaxšı̄r I onwards where ports were established on the Persian
and Arab side of the Persian Gulf.101 We are told that once Ardaxšı̄r
had defeated Ardawān and controlled the plateau, he made incur-
sions into Oman, Bahrain, and Yamamma, defeating Sanatruq, the
king of Bahrain.102 The reason for the establishment of forts along the
coast, however, is not clear, since it is implausible that a Sasanian navy
would have been present at these forts. Still, they could have acted
as hospices or storage. Arabic sources state that during the Sasanian
period the Persians controlled the shores and strands of the sea, while
the Arabs lived in the mountains and deserts.103 We have very little
information on the Sasanian navy and it does not appear to have been
a major force. The sources, however, mention the Sasanian navy
several times, once during the time of Ardaxšı̄r, and again during the
time of Khusro I.
In the Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān we are faced with one of these
ports which is called Boxt-Ardaxšı¯r (modern Būšı̄hr) which among other
evidence demonstrates the importance of the Persian Gulf for the
early Sasanians.104 The importance of this port is that Boxt-Ardaxšı¯r was

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 Economy and administration 137

linked to Kāzerūn and Šērāz inland by road where commodities were

sent for export to other regions. Also its closeness to the center of Persis,
i.e, Šērāz must have made it an important port.105 Another important
port was Sı̄rāf which was connected by road to Fērūz-Abād and also to
Šērāz, where pottery sherds and coins are among other finds suggest-
ing a Sasanian port.106 Other ports included the site of Hormuz at the
straight of Hormuz, which was connected to the northeast, via Lulfar
to Sirjan.107 Also the port of Guzeran or Kujaran-Ardešı̄r was located
near Bandar ı̄ Lengeh which again had a role in trade and met the
needs of the city of Dārāb in Persis.108 Also one can mention the island
of Khārg which appears to have been a late Sasanian settlement in the
fourth century CE, 37 miles northwest of Būšı̄hr.109
These ports were probably an important center for trade, where
not only commodities were brought to its ports and taken to the inland
cities, but also as a stopping place for the cargo going from Mesopotamia
to Asia, East Africa and back.110 We know that in the early Islamic
period the houses that were built at the port of Sı̄rāf were made from
a wood called Sāj which was brought from India and Zanzibār which
points to the import and export of commodities from Asia and East
Africa.111 Sasanian coin finds at Sı̄rāf demonstrate the occupation of
the site from the Sasanian period as well.112 It should be mentioned,
however, that it appears that this control of the seas was not actively
pursued by the Sasanian navy or the state, but rather the Persian mer-
chants dominated the trade without state heavy state intervention.
The Sasanians were competing with the Byzantines and disputing
trade as far as Sri Lanka, where it appears there was a Sasanian colony
in Malaysia which was composed of merchants.113 Persian horses were
shipped to Ceylon,114 and a Persian colony was established at that
island, where ships came from Persia to its port.115 Sasanian control of
the Sind region is also apparent from the recent coin finds which are
copies of the Pērōz type, and suggests fifth century presence and/or
influence.116 The Persians built other ports to expand their trade, in
such places as Muscat in Oman during the sixth century,117 where the
importance of this port for Persian traders continued into the Islamic
period, as the ships sailing from India to Aden stopped at this port.118
At Sūhār, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in the Sea of Oman,
there appears to have been a Sasanian fort which may have partici-
pated in trade, as well as at Dama and Jurrafār.119 There was a Persian
outpost at Ghanam in the Strait of Hormuz which may have overseen
shipping and those who wanted to enter the Persian Gulf.120 The same
can be said for Banbhore in Sind, at Kilwa on the east coast of Africa,
where few Sasanian-Islamic wares were found.121 In the Umm al-Ma

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 138 Sasanian Persia

region there is also evidence of Sasanian presence, where green-glazed

pots from Iraq were found.122 There is also evidence of Sasanian mate-
rial at Salihiyah near Khawran in Ras al-Khaimah.123 The presence
of the Persians at these ports suggests that there was a campaign in
controlling the shipping close to these outposts.
By the sixth century it appears that the Persians were not only bent
on controlling the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian Sea, but also looked
further east which brought them into conflict with Rome. Silk appears
to have been an important commodity which the Romans wanted. It
seems they were bent on circumventing the Persian traders to get a
cheaper price for both silk and other commodities. Consequently, the
Byzantines had to seek the aid of the Christian Ethiopians, who were
expelled by the Yemenis with the backing of the Sasanians from the
region.124
We also have information about Sasanian trade with China125,
where imported objects, such as T’ang dynasty export wares, and other
items from Rome, were found at the port of Sı̄rāf.126 This trade with
China was conducted through two avenues, one through the famous
Silk Road about which we have much information and the other, the
sea route. It should be mentioned that the rate of trade from these two
trading avenues were at a different rate and intensity depending on
the time period. That is the rate of trade was not constant on either
route and it tended to fluctuate. Ammianus Marcellinus tells us that
in the fourth century “all along the coast [of the Persian Gulf] is a
throng of cities and villages, and many ships sail to and fro.”127 This
maritime trade became more important because of the political situa-
tion, and hence Persis ports became increasingly central to this trade.
From these ports, Persian traders went to China for silk, since the
Romans also decided to do the same. The Persian merchants, we are
told, did not sit idly by but established their centers in China as well.
With the establishment of ports and Persian colonies in east Asia,
the Romans were not able to do much, even if Justinian in the sixth
century had made the Ethiopians, who engaged in trade, help him.
But we are told that it was “impossible for the Ethiopians to buy silk
from the Indians, for the Persian merchants always locate themselves
at the very harbors where the Indian ships first put in (since they
inhabit the adjoining country), and are accustomed to buy the whole
cargoes.”128
Off the coast of China there are finds of Sasanian coins which
again suggest the maritime trade between this region and Persia. At
least three sites where Sasanian coins were found in southeast China
by the sea make it probable that ships from the Persian Gulf came

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 Economy and administration 139

there. These are the sites of Kukogng, Yngdak, and Suikai which had
connections with trade in the Persian Gulf.129 Many of the coins belong
to the late fifth through seventh centuries,130 which again attest to the
importance of the Persian Gulf in the Late Sasanian period. The date
of the coins demonstrate that they were deposited in the Ch’i period
(497–501) at Kukgong and Yngdak which is a coastal province.131 In
return we also have finds of Sasanian coins in the southeast coastal
region of China which also attest to this exchange.132 Although their
number is small we may suggest that these coins came through the
sea trade. Kavad I’s coins were found in the maritime province of
Guangdong, where their mint signatures are from Persis and adjoining
regions which appear to have come via the sea route.133 The Presence
of Persian colonies in China has also been confirmed by the existence
of fire-temples belonging to Zoroastrians found in the Chang’an
region in southern China.134
Land trade is much better documented and the Silk Road should
be mentioned, because it connected the east to the west where Persia
became the nexus or middle region of this international road. The
various taxes and tolls placed on commodities going from east to west
would certainly have benefited the royal treasury which would keep
up good roads along with lucrative tolls. Morony has mentioned that
we may see the creation of new settlements not only in the campaign
of the Sasanians to create new cities and to populate the region but
also a shift from remote, less well accessed locations, to locations which
lay on the trade routes concentrating on the commercial economy.135
The one product that was in demand in the Roman Empire and the
trade of which the Sasanian tried to control, was silk. The Sasanians
created workshops at Susa, Gundē Shabuhr, and Šuštar to rival the
Chinese and the Syro-Phoenician workshops, by importing raw silk
yarn136 and creating designs which were to be imitated in Egypt and
into the Islamic period.137
The large finds of Sasanian silver coins from the end of the fifth
and sixth centuries in China suggests intense trade by the Sasanians
with the east and was part of what has been called “diplomatic
commerce.”138 The important merchants on the Silk Road were the
Sogdians who are known as silk merchants and controlled the trade
in Central Asia. Although they were active in trading, the change in
the monetary policies coincides with Sasanians’ economic involve-
ment with the Chinese. Its precise beginning was in the sixth
century, and based on the coinage, we can see a new stage in the
economic development and trade in Central Asia, specifically in
Sogdiana.139

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 140 Sasanian Persia

The other important point is that rather than engaging in commerce

and the purchase of goods from Syria where some of its products such
as glass was in demand, the Sasanians had decided that by deporting
the skilled workers of the region and their settlement into the newly
developed imperial cities they would be able to compete against the
Romans.140 There seems to have been a steady exchange and com-
merce in late antiquity between the Sasanians and the Romans, but
the Perso-Roman rivalry must have brought pressures on various
trade routes. For example, Armenia was a scene of rivalry between
the two sides which was also a market where trade and exchange
took place. Procopious states that Persarmenia (Eastern Armenian
under Sasanian control after the middle of the fifth century CE) was an
important trading center for the Sasanians and the Romans to trade
in Indian and Iberian products.141
Now, depending on the political problems in Armenia, Mesopotamia
became an important route and increased the volume of trade. Of
course during the heated wars in the late sixth and early seventh cen-
turies these routes must have been reduced significantly which in turn
would have made Arabia a very important route, which probably
had far reaching consequences for the development of the Arabian
economy and Islam as well. The two empires had made various
treaties and their economic interests became more important and
the rivalry more intense as time went by. By the sixth century the
Codex Justinianus (IV 63/4) mentions that both Roman and Persian
merchants must trade in pre-designated areas by the two empires and
that each side may not travel into the other empire or go very far.142
This scheme was devised in order to keep the secrets (economic) of
the state and consequently made the Persian merchants stay in Persia
and travel east as far as China and for the Roman merchants to stay
in the Roman empire and use other subjects such as the Ethiopians
to make way to the east via the waterways. The heavy tariffs and
tolls placed by both sides, sometimes as high as ten percent at certain
regions, where the meeting of merchants were agreed upon,143 made
regions, that were not under Roman and Persian control, such as the
market place at ash-Shihr on the southern Arabian coast, much more
popular.144

THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY

As for the domestic economy, we can rely on the seals and bullae
which give some insight into the Sasanian administrative institu-

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 Economy and administration 141

tions.145 These sources can tell us about the Sasanian bureaucracy,

administrative organization and divisions and, for example, the level
of involvement by the priests,146 the scope and degree of economic
activity, who was in charge of these activities, and where they took
place.147 In terms of economic activity we can tell that there was a
vibrant domestic exchange based on the placement of bullae and seal
finds in the empire with the name of one of the cities or districts of
the province of Persis. Four major storehouses of bullae have been
found, namely those at Taxt ı̄ Suleymān, Qasr ı̄ Abū Nasr, Āq Tepe,
and Dvin, from which we can draw certain assumptions. In Āq Tepe,
sealing with the name of Kermān and Ardashir-xwarrah from Persis
have been found which should persuade us that Persis had economic
relations with the far reaches of the empire, and only Persis can claim
this position, because of the numerous seals and bullae found with
names belonging to its cities. At Dvin, again sealings from Ardashir-
xwarrah have been found. This fact tells us that commodities were
brought from Persis, with either Persis acting as a port or from where
the merchandise began its route.148 The bullae were used to seal pack-
ages destined for caravan or maritime trade which is supported by
later historical evidence.149 It is also important to note that bullae
finds in East Asia, especially in Mantai in Sri Lanka, attest to Persian
economic activity as well.150
The nature of trade but also who engaged in it is important as
well. Trade was conducted by companies and religious communities
who combined their resources and formed partnerships. The term
used for joint-partnership in the Middle Persian legal texts is hambāyı¯h
which really meant holder of a common share whose joint investment
would have brought a better return and a larger purchasing power.
These joint-partnerships were probably based on religious asso-
ciation as well, where Zoroastrians created their own hambāyı¯h, but
may have dealt with other religious groups outside of their regional
reach. In regards to this form of ownership which was common in
the late Sasanian period, not only the Madiyān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, but
also the fifth book of Ishoboxt which was composed in Syriac, is
devoted to the principal of company or joint-partnership.151 We are
well informed in regard to the legal aspects of trade and business
agreements. Drafts of agreements were drafted, signed and sealed
and a copy was kept at the local office of registry dēwān. These agree-
ments were legally binding and depending on the violation cases of
transgression were taken before a lesser magistrate, dādwar ¯ı keh, or
a higher magistrate, dādwar ¯ı meh, who were certainly high ranking
priests.152

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 142 Sasanian Persia

THE PERSIAN WĀZĀR/BAZAAR: THE MARKET PLACE

The principal economic activity in the cities was performed by the

merchants (wāzārgānān) who were from the hutuxšān estate. Commerce
(wāzārgānı¯h) was conducted in the bazaar (wāzār) which today is still the
economic center of both small and large cities in Persia. Like today, it
appears that each group of artisans occupied a specific section (Persian
rāste) of the bazaar. This information is gained from the Dēnkard (VIII
Chapter 38), where a specific rule existed “about the series of shops
in the bazaar belonging to various artisans” (abar ān ¯ı kirrōkkārān ēk ēk
rastag ¯ı wāzār).153 A list of various professions who occupied a section of
the bazaar included the blacksmith (āhengar), iron molder (āhen-paykar),
silver-smith (asēmgar), silver-molder (asēm-paykar), roof-maker (āškōb-
kardār), string-maker (bandkār), those who worked with mortar (spice
maker?) (čārūgar), iron-smith (čēlāngar), tailor (darzı¯g), and dress-maker
(wastarg-kardār), porcelin pot-maker (dōsēngar or jāmı¯g-paz), carpen-
ter (durgar), washerman (gāzar), shoekmaker (kafšgar), shoemaker of a
kind of shoe made of strings (surgar), potter (kulwārgar), baker (nānbāg),
book-painter (nibēgān-nigār), painter in general (nigārgar), cup-maker
(payālgar), tanner (pōstgar), ironsmith (pōlāwad-paykar), dyer (rangraz),
various builders (rāzān), barber (wars-wirāy), tent-maker (wiyāngar),
cooks in the sense of making sweets and other finger foods in the bazzar
(xwāhlı¯gar), tablecloth maker(?) (xwāngar), goldsmith (zarı¯gar), and sad-
dler (zēngar).154
There were various other professions, but we are not sure if they
were in the bazaar or not. Each artisan (kirrōg) guild was lead by a head
of the guild (kirrōgbed/Syriac qārūbed). As some of the skilled workers
were either settled people from Syria or Roman prisoners, we find
that some of the guild masters were Christian. These included Posi
and Barāz who served in this function.155 Of course many of the better
craftsmen were settled in the royal workshops who produced com-
modities for the King of Kings and his family. The activity and the
prices of the bazaar were overlooked by a head of the bazaar (wāzārbed)
who probably represented the artisan class. The office was already in
existence in the third century CE, since he is mentioned in the court of
Shabuhr I.156 It was in these centers where local products were pro-
duced and commodities from other provinces as well as some of the
foreign products entered the cities via the caravans (kārwān). These
caravans which went into other cities of the empire or farther were
lead by a caravan leader (sārtwā) who was either hired by the merchant
or in joint business with him.157

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 Economy and administration 143

THE MERCHANTS

While there were Zoroastrian merchants as far as China trading in

the markets, the merchants were looked down upon, below the three
traditional classes of priests, warriors and farmers. This is apparent by
looking at the structure of the section in relation to the various duties
of men in the Middle Persian text, Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad (Chapters. 30–31).
In question 30 it is asked what are the responsibilities of the priests,
the warriors and the farmers: one to hold the religion, the other to
strike the enemy and keep the empire safe and the last class to culti-
vate the land. The merchants curiously are treated separately in the
next question (32) and are spoken of negatively: “The function of the
workers is this: that they would not engage in a work with which they
are not familiar and do well and with precision what they know, and
receive a fair wage.”158 This maybe one reason why the Sogdians and
Christians, be they Persians or Roman and Germanic war prisoners
who were settled in the empire, engaged in trade in Persia more than
the Zoroastrians.
The third important activity has to do with the predatory activities
of the Sasanians. From the time of Ardaxšı̄r I, the Sasanians attempted
to exert their influence in Syria and the neighboring region which
were not under their permanent control. This was done to plunder the
cities, which included not only their monetary wealth, but also their
intellectual and scientific expertise and bring it back to their empire.
This will be a constant feature of Sasanian activity throughout its life-
time, where cities west of the Euphrates were attacked, their wealth
taken and in many instances, their population were deported. These
predatory tactics also were used to receive money from the Romans.
This of course was done if a Sasanian army was victorious against
the Romans, where they had to pay a ransom to escape. During the
rule of Shabuhr I in the third century, after the death of Emperor
Gordian and the defeat of the Roman forces, Philiph who had been
chosen as the new Emperor agreed to pay some 500,000 denārs.159
In the fourth century, the defense of the Caspian Gates became an
issue for both the Romans and the Persians. When Jovian ceded ter-
ritory to the Sasanian in 363 CE which was again renewed in the fifth
century by Theodosius II, the Romans also agreed to pay an annual
sum to keep up the fortresses to the Persians.160 While the Sasanians
were strong, their appeal to the Romans for monetary aid to guard the
Caspian Gates was acknowledged. For example during the reign of the
Roman emperor Zeno in the late fifth century, Pērōz was able to con-
vince him to support his activity against the Hephthalites, which was

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 144 Sasanian Persia

continued during the reign of Kawad I in the sixth century. This aid
was, however, dependent upon the strength of the Sasanians and
Roman problems with other neighbors in the north, because during
the reign of Walāxš (484–488) the Romans stopped paying.161 Once
this aid, which was based on an earlier treaty, was suspended, it gave the
Persians the pretext to attack and plunder Syria as Kawad I did in 502
CE, receiving 1,000 lbs. of gold and, for the next seven years, an annual
payment of 500 lbs. of gold.162 When Khusro I came to the throne,
in his second year of rule, he made a peace treaty with the Romans
in 532 CE which is known as the “Endless Peace” which according to
Procopius (*Bell. 1.22.3–5 and 16–18) in return the Romans had to
pay 11,000 lbs. of gold. This peace lasted for only eight years and as a
result the Persians were able to exhort another 2,000 lbs. for the truce
of 545 CE and another 2,600 lbs. in 557 CE.163 This scenario continued
into the seventh century and more gold was taken from the Romans,
although never with any regularity.
The question that arises is what the Sasanians did with the gold,
since drahms, which are silver coins were the dominant coinage in cir-
culation and they struck very little gold coinage which was mainly for
ceremonial or commemorational purposes. One can guess that the
treasury of the King of Kings was filled with gold, of which the empire
saw very little, if any. So we can conclude that there was a steady
influx of gold into the empire beginning from the third to the seventh
century. Further, the Romans only were willing to pay to an adversary
when they felt that they were not able to defeat them or were preoc-
cupied with another enemy. This scheme suggests the strength of the
Sasanian military throughout its existence.

MONETARY PRODUCTION

While the barter system was in use at the local levels in villages and
the like, the Sasanians brought about a standardization of weights and
the minting of coinage which was directed from above and under the
control of the imperial administration. The units and types of coins
struck by the Sasanian government were the gold dēnār, silver drahm,
one-sixth silver dang and copper coins pašı¯z made of copper and used
for local daily transaction. While the increase in the usage of copper
and bronze coinage in certain parts of the empire attest to the increase
in trade and governmental control,164 the silver coinage was much
more prevalent. The use of copper coinage certainly should tell us that
during the Sasanian period, especially in the latter Sasanian period

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 Economy and administration 145

there was a move towards a monetary economy. Among these coins

the most widely minted and attested in documents is the silver drahm
which in weight was about 4.25 grams. From the time of Ardaxšı̄r I
we find coins with this uniform weight which typologically vary. On
the obverse we find the portrait of the King of Kings along with a
name and title, such as “Ardaxšı̄r King of Kings of Ērān whose race
(is) from the Gods.” On the reverse of the coinage is a fire-alter some-
times alone and sometimes with two attendants flanking the fire. Until
the late fifth century CE the coins did not indicate their place where
the coins were minted which makes it difficult to gauge the number of
mints and amount of minting at each location. While there are more
than 100 mint-marks known, no more than 20 mints were producing
the majority of them in the Sasanian empire.165 This of course can not
be said for the early Sasanian period, and, for example, there may
have been three different mints in operation, mainly in Fars and the
capital.166
With the striking of the mint-marks on the reverse and the date in
which they were struck (the date indicates during the rule of which
monarch the coin was struck), we begin to have an idea of the regular-
ity of the mints and which were most productive and stable. Certainly
those which were close to economic centers such as the province of
Persis had a huge output which supported the Persian Gulf trade,167
while the mints of Media had far less output. The other time when
mints went into over production was during wars. For example during
the reign of Khusro II (590–628 CE) there was a huge amount of coin-
age production which was used to finance the long war with Rome.
Even though the weight of the coinage fell towards the end of Khusro’s
reign, he kept minting coins to finance his activity.
The silver drahms were so well known that places as far as India imi-
tated Sasanian coinage which attests to the economic power and/or
prestige of the Sasanian empire in the eyes of their neighbors. It is
important that although we do not have an agreement between the
Romans and Sasanians in terms of what types of coins should be struck,
the Romans used gold as the metal of choice for minting, while the
Sasanians used silver. This may have been a tacit agreement between
the two empires, where Sasanian silver would be acknowledged as
the silver coin of choice as is apparent from its use as far as western
China. The purity of the coins also give us some ideas about the mines
and where the coins were minted. For example, we know the coins
that were produced in the northeast had a higher purity level than the
other regions and so their silver must have come from the mines of this
region. In fact it is this region that Islamic sources attest to having the

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 146 Sasanian Persia

largest silver mines extracted by the dynasties which came after the
Sasanians. For example among the names which are connected with
silver mines, none one can match Panjshı̄r located in Khurasan which
is a located in modern day northeastern Afghanistan. The analysis of
the silver there has demonstrated that the silver had exceptionally low
gold content, exceptionally low copper content, and abnormally high
bismuth content.168 Presumably much wood was needed to smelt the
ore and could have been a reason for the widespread deforestation in
eastern Persia and Central Asia.169 Agapius states that the Zoroastrians
mājūs were active in the silver mines in Khurasan as well attesting to
the importance of this region for silver ore to mint coins.170 This is
especially significant in the face of medieval textual reports which
attest to the lack of silver mines throughout the Sasanian empire. How
else would the mints of Fars have been able to generate a steady output
of drahms?
According to the Chinese chronicle Ko-Ku-Yao, steel was also pro-
duced in Sasanian Persia which was then exported to China.171 The
Romans considered “Persian Steel” to be secondary in quality only
to “Indian Steel.”172 This is also confirmed by the Sasanians them-
selves in the Middle Persian texts where a good Indian sword made
of steel is mentioned. In the Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān, Ardaxšı̄r
fights with šamšēr ¯ı hindı¯g “Indian sword” which was taken from the
Parthian royal treasury.173 While the tree supply may have been
exhausted in Khurasan for smelting silver, in Adūrbādagān we find
iron smelting sites in the Qarādāg ranges close to modern day Tabrı̄z,
but also near Rašt and Massula, in Qazvı̄n. The abundant availabil-
ity of iron which is suggested by scholars,174 can be found in many
regions of Persia.175 Textile industry, specifically carpet making was
also known in Persia.176 From the Achaemenid period we are told
that the Persians had carpets (Greek, psilotapis) which were used by
the king, and in the seventh century when Heraclius sacked Khusro
II’s royal treasury in 628 CE, carpets (tapis) are mentioned, which
may have given rise to the Byzantine Greek word for carpet weaver
(tapi-dyphos) from the Persian.177

RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS

The Zoroastrian institution of charitable foundations functioned in

the same way, where the temple owned cultivable lands and slaves and
others worked on it. Based on the Sasanian legal texts we know that a
host of people from different classes and prerogatives worked on the

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 Economy and administration 147

massive Zoroastrian temples, which were owned by the clerical class

or established by individuals as charitable foundations for the sake of
one’s soul (pad ruwān). We know that foreign slaves (anshahrı¯g) caught
in wars were used for menial labor and to work on the fields. The term
used for slaves or servants in these temples is ātaxš-bandag “temple-
servant” who did not necessarily need to be a slave and could have
been an individual who dedicated part of his or her time as a pious act
to cleanse his or her soul or to render service as part of a debt. This and
other financial aid kept the priests and the retinue needed to run the
temple employed and afloat which although Zoroastrian in character
was deeply influenced by the Mesopotamian temple economies of the
Near East before it. There was a spiritual side to this communal land-
holding and temple economy, as well, which becomes more apparent
during the late Sasanian period.
In the Middle Persian encyclopedic work, Dēnkart VI, we have
evidence of monastic life, if we can use a Christian term here, for
two priests (hērbed) which is applauded by our author who also gives
us some of the flavor of communal monastic life for Zoroastrian
Persia.178 We should remember that the cultivation of the land is very
important religiously as well, where according to the fourth chapter
of the Middle Persian text, Dādestān ¯ı Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad, a list of the times
when the earth is most happy or content and the answers given very
much reflects the mentality of the Zoroastrian community in Sasanian
Persia. The earth would be happy if livestock is on it, the land which
has not been cultivated to become cultivated, when a barren land
becomes thriving or cultivated. But in relation of temple estates there
is also mention that the earth would be content if a fire-temple is built
on it.179
This form of communal ownership of land also made sure that the
progeny of the one who had set up such a foundation would continue
to benefit from the inheritance spiritually and financially as well. Also,
communal ownership appeased the problems associated with inheri-
tance and the problems with taxation and landholding patterns.180
The lands that were not owned by a religious community were mainly
owned by aristocracy who acted as absentee landowners living in the
cities and employed the dehgāns “landed gentry,” to manage their
estate.181 People worked as share-cropers who turned over a portion of
their yield as tax to the provincial or governmental authority, another
portion to the landowner and kept the rest. Before the reforms of the
sixth century CE, those who leased land did so in return for a fixed
annual sum of their produce, but after the reforms, a fixed land tax was
applied per unit area.182 After the reforms of the sixth century, the state

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 148 Sasanian Persia

was able to have a more reliable and systematic income. Land was
distributed and the power of the large landed aristocracy was checked
by the empowerment of the small landowners who sometimes had
functioned as absentee land owners, i.e., the dehqāns. This was achieved
since the taxes were levied based on the amount of land and the kind
of produce that was grown on it, where in times of drought and disas-
ter the state was willing to remit taxes.183 This system brought finan-
cial stability to the empire for a while, but there were basic problems
which would create a “feudal” society in late Sasanian Persia. This was
because while the aristocracy was bent on controlling their land and
exacting as much income from the peasants who worked on it, if the
local officials could be bribed, the laws set by the king and court would
have been symbolic at best. Further, the dehqāns were the new land
owning elite who were emerging which was more loyal to the govern-
ment as far as it gave them wealth and power against the communal
and large land owning aristocracy. The margraves (marzbāns) held
power over their own domain and when the government was weak
were able to become semi-independent and, by using the nomads as a
local military force, create another “feudal state” within a larger state.
As has been suggested it is quite possible that the chiefs of the nomadic
tribes were given land by the marzbāns as fiefs, while the cavalry sol-
diers were given land in return for service,184 making them attached to
a region and locality. Only those who held a communal ownership of
land tended to remain unaffected, even into the early Islamic period.

CONCLUSION

While we are dependent on the few Sasanian imperial inscriptions

and coins in the first centuries, by the end of fifth century CE we
also find bullae and seals as well as texts which help us understand
late Sasanian administration. One can conclude that as the empire
became established a larger chancery and administration developed.
The Zoroastrian priests became of the administration throughout the
empire. The system seems to have responded well to the challenges
which arose for the administrative system. With the reforms of Kavad
I and Khusro I, a major reform took place which is much known,
not only through the Sasanian sources and material culture, but also
through Islamic sources. This system was adopted and adapted in
the Islamic period, where many functions and offices continued into
Medieval Iran.

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 Economy and administration 149

On the other hand Sasanians were able to create a new economic

network in the Near East which supplanted the Arsacid economic
activity. The Sasanians, however, took an aggressive approach in con-
trolling the waterways and land routes to ensure safety for the trad-
ers and in return were able to excise taxes from them. Investment in
dams and water projects also demonstrates the state’s concern with
the well-being of its population. The influx of foreign skilled workers
at the royal workshops also brought new ways of production from that
of the existing bazaars in the cities where local trade took place. We
are ill informed about the local economic activity of the Sasanians, but
the use of copper coinage in large numbers suggests a move towards
a monetary economy within the empire which was not the case in the
Arsacid period. Trade wars with the Romans were kept up in order
to keep the Persian traders in healthy competition with the foreign
traders. The Sasanian Empire was blessed in that it was the middle
kingdom between China and Rome, and so it held the key to trade.
With the intensification of the wars with the Eastern Roman Empire,
there seems to have been a decline in trade, as well as less investment
in water projects, hence a decline in the economic output and natu-
rally, lower state income. What we can see is that at the end of the
Sasanian period there is a general economic decline, but what the
Muslims inherited from the Sasanian Persians was an already exist-
ing economic system that was revived by the Muslims and continued
under the Caliphate.

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ch5.indd 150 11/25/2008 4:01:07 PM
 Notes

CHAPTER 1: THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF IRAN

AND AN-IRAN

1 The basic outline of Sasanian history is based on Al-Tabarı̄, Ta’rı¯kh al-

rusul wa-al-mulūk, ed. M.J. de Goeje, Leiden, 1879–1901. The English
translation with copious notation is by C.E. Bosworth, The History of
Al-Tabarı¯, vol. V, The Sasanids, the Byzantines, the Lakmids, and Yemen,
State University of New York Press, 1999. Secondary sources, M.
Morony, “Sasanids,” The Encycleopaedia of Islam, 1998; A. Christensen,
L’Iran sous les Sassanides, Copenhagen, 1944; R.N. Frye, The History of
Ancient Iran, C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, 1983,
pp. 281–340; ibid., “The Political History of Iran Under the Sasanians,”
The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, vol. 3(1), 1983, pp. 116–
180; K. Schippmann, Grundzüge der Geschichte des sasanidischen Reiches,
Darmstadt, 1990; J. Wiesehöfer, Ancient Persia from 550 BC to 650 AD,
I.B.Tauris Publishers, London and New York, 1996, pp. 151–222;
Z. Rubin, “The Sasanid Monarchy,” The Cambridge Ancient History,
vol. 14, 2000, pp. 638–661. For a comprehensive overview and impor-
tant notices on Sasanian and Roman empire in a comparative perspec-
tive see J. Howard-Johnston, “The Two Great Powers in Late Antiquity:
a Comparison,” The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, vol. III, ed.
A. Cameron, The Darwin Press, Inc., New Jersey, pp. 157–226. For
the map of the Sasnian Empire, see E. Kettenhofen, Das Sasanidenreich,
TAVO, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1993.
2 For the latest treatment of the Fratarakas see A. Panaino, “The bagān
of the Fratarakas: Gods or ‘divine’ Kings?,” Religious Themes and Texts
of pre-Islamic Iran and Central Asia: Studies in Honour of Professor Gherardo
Gnoli on the Occasion of his 65th birthday on 6 December 2002, eds. C. Cereti,
M. Maggi, E. Provasi, Wiesbaden, 2002, pp. 283–306.
3 Dio’s Roman History, Book LXXX.3, 1–2 mentions that Ardashir was
victorious in three battles against the Arsacids; Herodian, Book VI.2, 6–7.

Notes.indd 151 11/26/2008 6:24:52 PM

 152 Notes

4 K. Schippmann, Grunzüge der Sasanidische Reich, 1986, p. 70.

5 Agathias, The Histories, Book 2.27, p. 61. For Pabag and his relationship
to Ardashir see R.N. Frye, “Zoroastrian Incest,” Orientalia Iosephi Tucci
Memoriae Dicata, eds. G. Gnoli and L. Lanciotti, Istituto Italiano per il
Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Roma, 1985, pp. 445–455; also M. Shaki,
“Sasan ke bud?,” Iranshenasi, vol. 2, no. 1, Spring 1990, pp. 78–80.
6 For a study on the cult of Anahid see M.L. Chaumont, “Le culte de
la déesse Anāhitā (Anahit) dans la religion des monarques d’Iran et
d’Arménie au Ier siècle de notre ère,” Journal Asiatique, Vol. 253, 1965,
pp. 168–171; and her “Le culte de Anāhitā à Stakhr et les premiers
Sassanides,” Revue de l’Histoire des Religions, Vol. 153, 1958, pp. 154–175.
Tabarı̄ also gives further information, The History of Al-Tabarı¯, translated
by C.E. Bosworth, 1999, p. 4.
7 A. Piras, “Mesopotamian Sacred Marriage and Pre-Islamic Iran,”
Melammu Symposia IV, eds. A. Panaino and A. Piras, Milano, 2004,
p. 251.
8 V.G. Lukonin, Tamddun-e Irān-e Sasanı¯, translated from Russian into
Persian by I. Ridā, Scientific and Cultural Publication Company,Tehran,
1987, pp. 268–269
9 E. Herzfeld, Iran in the Ancient East, Hacker Art Books, New York, reprint
1988, p. 309.
10 Herodian, Book VI. 2, 2.
11 R.G. Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs, From the Bronze Age to the Coming of
Islam, Routledge, London and New York, 2001, pp. 27–28.
12 G. Widengren, “The Establishment of the Sasanian dynasty in the light
of new evidence,” La Persia nel Medioevo, Academia Nazionale dei Lincei,
Roma, 1971, pp. 711–782; J. Wiesehöfer, “Ardašı̄r I,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater, vol. II, 1987, pp. 371–376.
13 Armenia was of course independent of Rome and was able to defeat
Ardashir, Dio Cassius, Dio’s Roman History, Book LXXX, 3, 3.
14 Dio Cassius, Dio’s Roman History, Book LXXX, 3, p. 483.
15 Herodian, Book VI. 2, 4. Roman sources of course make Alexander
Severus the victor over Ardashir, Eutropius, Breviarium, Book VIII.23,
translated with an introduction and commentary by H.W. Bird,
Liverpool University Press, 1993.
16 The wars between Ardashir and Alexander are described in Herodian,
Book VI. and VI.5. For the Persian and Roman wars in this period
see E. Winter and B. Dignas, Rom und das Perserreich, Zwei Weltmächte
zwischen Konfrontation und Koexistenz, Berlin, 2001, pp. 39–40.
17 For a detailed study of the Perso-Roman wars of the third century see,
E. Kettenhofen, Die römisch-persischen Kriege des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. Nach
der Inscrift Šāpuhrs I. An der Ka’be-ye Zartošt (ŠKZ), Beihefte zum TAVO,
Reihe B., Geisteswissenschaften, Nr. 55, Wiesbaden, 1982. In this cam-
paign Shabuhr I, the son of Ardashir was a main actor, p. 19, Winter and
Dignas, ibid., p. 40.

Notes.indd 152 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 Notes 153

18 D.S. Potter, The Roman Empire at Bay (AD 180–395), Routledge, London
and New York, 2004, p. 217.
19 For Ardashir’s reliefs showing him at the battle of Hormozgan and other
reliefs see W. Hinz, Altiranische Funde und Forschungen, Walter de Gruyter
and Co., Berlin, 1969, pp. 127–134; G. Herrmann, The Iranian Revival,
Elsevier, Phaidon, 1977, pp. 87–90.
20 G. Gnoli, The Idea of Iran, an Essay on Its Origin, Serie Orientale Roma
LXII, Rome, 1989.
21 See the “Symposium: Iranian Cultural Identity,” published in Iranian
Studies, vol. 26, nos. 1–2, 1993, pp. 139–168.
22 Herodian, Book VI. 2, 2–3; Dio Cassius LXXX 4, 1–2; Zonaras XII,
15.
23 Ph. Gignoux, Les Quatre inscriptions du mage Kirdı¯r, textes et concordances,
Association pour l’avancement des études iraniennes, Leuven, 1991,
p. 71.
24 M. Alram, “The Beginning of Sasanian Coinage,” Bulletin of the Asia
Institute, vol. 13, 1999, pp. 67–76.
25 For Sasanian coins see R. Göbl, Sasanidische Numismatik, Klinkhardt and
Biermann, Braunschweig, 1968; M. Alram, Iranische Personennamenbuch,
Nomia Propria Iranica in Nummis, vol. 4, ed. M. Mayrhofer and R. Schmitt,
Vienna, 1986.
26 A. Panaino has emphasized the human character of the Sasanian king
and his lack of divine attributes, see “Astral Characters of Kingship in
the Sasanian and Byzantine World,” La Persia e Bisanzio, Accademia
Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma, 2004, p. 558.
27 V.A. Livshits, “New Parthian Documents from South Turkemenistan,”
Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, vol. 25, 1977, p. 176.
28 M. Schwartz, “*Sasm, Sesen, St. Sisinnios, Sesengen Barpharangès, and
... ‘Semanglof,’” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 10, 1996, pp. 253–257;
ibid., “Sesen: a Durable East Mediterranean God in Iran,” Proceedings of
the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies held in Cambridge, 11th to 15th
September 1995, Part 1, Old and Middle Iranian Studies, ed. N. Sims-
Williams, Wiesbaden, 1998, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, pp. 9–13.
29 R.N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran, München, 1983, p. 200.
30 In Shabuhr’s inscription at Ka’be-ye Zardosht (ŠKZ 25/20/46), Sasan
is called: s’s’n ZY MR‘HY; Sāsān ¯ı xwadāy “Sasan the Lord.” While the
Middle Persian text xwadāy stands for Lord in the political sense, there
are instances where it also accompanies Ohrmazd, thus giving the
word a spiritual sense. For xwadāy see R. Shayegan, “The Evolution of
the Concept of Xwadāy ‘God’,” Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae,
Vol. 51, Nos. 1–2, 1998, pp. 31–54. The tradition of deification of the
ruler/king which became important with Alexander under Egyptian
influence may have influenced the Persians as well. See T. Daryaee,
“Laghab-e Pahlavı̄-ye ‘čihr az yazdān’ va Šāhanšāhı̄-ye Sasanı̄,”
Nāme-ye Farhangestān, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2000, pp. 28–32; ibid., “Notes on

Notes.indd 153 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 154 Notes

Early Sasanian Titulature,” Journal of the Society for Ancient Numismatics,

vol. 21, 2002, pp. 41–44. There is much similarity between the Sasanians
and the Seleucids since the latter dynasts represented themselves to
their subjects as descended from a god (theos) and more importantly
god-made-manifest (epiphanes), F.E. Peters, The Harvest of Hellenism,
A History of the Near East from Alexander the Great to the Triumph of Christianity,
Barnes and Noble, New York, 1970 (reprint 1996), p. 232; P.O.
Skjærvø has made the observation earlier that these ideas were already
current during the time of the kings of Persis, “The Joy of the Cup:
A Pre-Sasanian Middle Persian Inscription on a Silver Bowl,” Bulletin
of the Asia Institute, vol. 11, 1997, pp.93–104. Also it must be noted that
while Ardashir and other early Sasanians called themselves bay “god”
or “lord,” written in the ideographic form ∋lh, in such Middle Persian
texts as the Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān, Ohrmazd also bares this title as ohrmazd
bay. This also suggests the Sasanian belief in their own divinity.
31 T. Daryaee, “Notes on Early Sasanian Titulature,” Journal of the Society
for Ancient Numismatics, vol. 21, 2002, p. 42.
32 A. Gariboldi, “Astral Symbology on Iranian Coinage,” East and West,
vol. 54, 2004, p. 32.
33 According to a later source, when the king died a council would choose
the next king and the Chief Priest (Persian mowbed ¯ı mowbedan) had to
agree with the decision, M. Minovi, Nāma-ye Tansar, Tehran, 1352,
p. 88; and for the English translation see M. Boyce, The Letter of Tansar,
Rome, 1968, p. 62.
34 Roman sources are divided as to the cause of death of Gordian.
Oracaula Sibyllina XIII, 13–20 predicts Gordian’s downfall as a betrayal;
Aurelius Victor, liber de Caesaribus 27, 7–8: 7 states that he was a victim
of intrigues of his Praetorian Perfect, Marcus Philippus; Festus,
Breviarium 22 mentions that Gordian was returning, victorious from his
war against the Persians when he was murdered by Philip. For all these
sources see M.H. Dodgeon and S.N.C. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier
and the Persian Wars, A Documentary History, Routledge, London and New
York, 1991, pp. 36–45. For details see Kettenhofen, op. cit., p. 31–37.
35 Potter, op. cit., p. 236.
36 Potter, op. cit., p. 236.
37 ŠKZ 5/4/9.
38 Zonaras XII, 19; Evagrius, Historia Ecclesiastica V, 7 which talks only
about Armenia, see Dodgeon and Lieu, op. cit., pp. 45–46.
39 The concept of lie (druγ) is antithetical to the ancient Persian ethics and
the idea of order and righteousness (aša), see M. Boyce, Zoroastrianism,
Its Antiquity and Constant Vigour, Columbia Lectures on Iranian Studies,
Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, California, 1992, pp. 56–57.
40 ŠKZ 12/9/11.
41 ŠKZ 6/4/10. For the campaign see Kettenhofen, op. cit., pp. 38–46.
42 Potter, op. cit., p. 237.

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 Notes 155

43 In regard to the idea that the Sasanians may have claimed Syria, that is
the cities of Carrhae, Edessa and Nisibis by ancestral (Arsacid) rights see
Z. Rubin, “The Roman Empire in the Res Gestae Divi Saporis,” Ancient
Iran and the Mediterranean World, ed. E. Da˛browa, Electrum 2, Jagiellonian
University Press, Kraków, 1998, pp. 183–185.
44 For the details (including maps) of the campaign and the cities taken by
Shabuhr I see Kettenhofen, op. cit., pp. 97–126; ŠKZ 15/11/24–25.
45 For the Perso-Roman wars of the third century see, E. Kettenhofen,
Die römisch-persischen Kriege des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr. Nach der Inscrift
Šāpuhrs I. An der Ka’be-ye Zartošt (ŠKZ), Beihefte zum TAVO, Reihe B.,
Geisteswissenschaften, Nr. 55, Wiesbaden, 1982.
46 For example Lactantius, de mortibus persecutorum 5; Eusebius, Historia
ecclesiastics, VII, 13, and especially Orosius, adversus paganos, see Dodgeon
and Lieu, op. cit., pp. 58–65.
47 For the issue of borders and frontiers between Rome and Persia see
H. Elton, Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Indiana University Press,
Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1996, pp. 97–99.
48 Agathangelos, History of the Armenians, Translation and Commentary
by R.W. Thomson, State University of New York Press, Albany, 1976,
p. 35.
49 The Kephalaia of the Teacher, ed. I. Gardner, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1995,
15.28, p. 21.
50 For a list of the functionaries at the Sasanian court in the third century
see R.N. Frye, “Notes on the early Sassanian State and Church,” Studi
Orientalistici in onore di Giorgio Levi Della Vida, Rome, 1956, pp. 314–335.
51 Agathias IV, 24, 5.
52 For the role of the priests in the Sasanian period see Sh. Shaked,
“Administrative Functions of Priests in the Sasanian Period,” Proceedings
of the First European Conference of Iranian Studies, 1990, pp. 261–273.
53 J.K. Choksy, “A Sasanian Monarch, His Queen, Crown Prince and
Deities: The Coinage of Wahram II,” American Journal of Numismatics, vol.
I, 1989, pp. 117–137.
54 A.Sh. Shahbazi, “Studies in Sasanian Prosopography: III Barm-i Dilak:
Symbolism of Offering Flowers,” The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia,
ed. V. Sarkhosh, et al., I.B.Tauris, London, 1998, pp. 58–66.
55 The only detailed study of the concept of bazm and the idea of its signifi-
cance is that by A.S. Melikian-Chirvani, “The Iranian bazm in Early
Persian Sources,” Banquets d’Orient, ed. R. Gyselen, Res Orientales IV,
Bures-sur-Yvette, 1992, pp. 95–120.
56 N. Garsoïan, The Epic Histories: Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘, p. 515; for
feasting under Šāpuhr II see Chapter IV.XVI, p. 146.
57 Either a mistake for Cusii, the Kushans, see Dodgeon and Lieu, op. cit.,
p. 373.
58 Panegyrici Latini, III/11, 17, 2, Dodgeon and Lieu, op. cit., p. 112.
59 Die Chronik von Arbela, 8,66, ed. P. Kawerau, Peeters, Louvan, 1985.

Notes.indd 155 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 156 Notes

60 Most sources claim that while Carus was successful, he was struck by
lightning. For example see Eutropis, Breviarium, IX, 18, 1.
61 Agathias also provides the same title for Wahram III, IV, 24, 6–8.
62 P.O. Skjærvø and H. Humbach, The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli,
Wiesbaden, 1983, p. 44 (Parthian: line 18).
63 S. Mori contends that the Paikuli inscription is basically relating the tra-
ditional Near Eastern story of how a king achieves supremacy with the
aid of the gods in the epic form. He also believes that the early Islamic
texts, such as Al-Tabarı̄ are of little use for the history of the Sasanian
period, “The narrative structure of the Paikuli Inscription,” Orient,
vol. 30–31, 1995, pp. 182–193. I wonder if then we should again rely
solely on the Greco-Roman sources if our historical inscriptions and the
Sasanian royal chronicle are of little use for understanding Sasanian
history!
64 Paikuli, Skjærvø, op. cit., p. 44: line 18.
65 A.Sh. Shahbazi, “Narse’s Relief at Naqš-i Rustam,” Archäologische
Mitteilungen aus Iran, vol. 16, 1983, pp. 255–268.
66 Lactantius, de mortibus persecutorum, 9, 6–8 provides an insight into
Galerius’ invasion via Armenia and his capture of Narseh’s belongings,
Dodgeon and Lieu, op. cit., p. 125.
67 Petrus Patricuius, frag. 14, FGH IV, p. 189, Dodgeon and Lieu, op. cit.,
p. 133.
68 Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘, The Epic Histories Attributed to P‘awstos Buzand,
translated and Commentary by N.G. Garsoïan, Cambridge, 1989,
Epic Histories IV.50,59.
69 Armazd, Anahı̄t, and Vahagn, who are Ohrmazd, Anahid, and
Wahram. This fact demonstrates that the Armenians did not see these
deities as specifically Iranian, Agathangelos, pp. 51–53. These deities
are also equated with Zeus, Artemis, and Heracles.
70 J.R. Russell, Zoroastrianism in Armenia, Harvard Iranian Series, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1987.
71 Meskewiyeh, 1369; 135.
72 Šahrestānı¯hā-i Ērānšahr, 43, ed. T. Daryaee, Costa Mesa, 2002.
73 R.N. Frye, “The Sasanian System of Walls for Defense,” Studies in Memory
of Gaston Wiet, ed. M. Rosen-Ayalon, Jerusalem, 1977 (reprinted) Islamic
Iran and Central Asia (7th-12th Centuries), Variorum Reprints, London,
1979, pp. 8–11; and H. Mahamedi, “Wall as a System of Frontier
Defense during the Sasanid Period,” Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad: The Spirit of Wisdom,
Essays in Memory of Ahmad Tafazzolı¯, ed. T. Daryaee and M. Omidsalar,
Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2004, pp. 156–158.
74 Al-Tabarı̄, p. 56.
75 R. Hoyland, op. cit., p. 28.
76 Ammianus Marcellinus, Book XVII.5.1.
77 Ammianus Marcellinus XX.7.9.
78 Die Chronik von Arbela 1985, 85.

Notes.indd 156 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 Notes 157

79 Ammianus Marcellinus XVII.5.1.

80 M. Azarnoush, The Sasanian Manor House at Hājı¯ābād, Iran, Casa Editrice
Le Lettere, Fierenze, 1994, p. 14.
81 Shabuhr II’s Persepolis inscription, Ps-I.3, M. Back, Die Sassanidischen
Staatsinschriften, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1978, pp. 490–492.
82 Ammianus Marcellinus, XXIII.6.14.
83 Tabarı̄ 1999, 65.
84 N. Schindel, Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum, Shapur II.-Kawad I, 3/1 and
3/2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien,
2004, 26.
85 Ammianus Marcellinus XVIII.9.
86 Libanius, Selected Orations, vol. I, translated by A.F. Norman, Cambridge
University Press, London 1969 (reprint 2003), xviii.254–255.
87 G.W. Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1978, pp. 123–124.
88 Libanius xviii.263.
89 Ammianus Marcellinus XXV.3.6 : Libanius xviii.269–270.
90 Eutropius, Breviarium X.16.
91 Ammianus Marcellinus XXV.7.13.
92 Ammianus Marcellinus XXV.7.9.
93 For Shabuhr II’s wars see Winter and Dignas, op. cit., pp. 51–54;
Chronicon Paschale 554.
94 Ammianus Marcellinus xxiii.3.5; xxiv.7.8.
95 Ammianus Marcellinus xxv.7.12.
96 Buzandaran Patmut‘iwnk‘, Epic Histories V.vii.
97 Epic Histories IV.lv.
98 Epic Histories IV.lviii.
99 Ammianus Marcellinus xxvii.12.15.
100 Garsoïan 1997; 90–91.
101 Epic Histories IV.xliv.
102 Garsoïan 1997; 91.
103 R.N. Frye, “Iran under the Sasanians,” The Cambridge History of Iran,
vol. 3(1), ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge University Press, Massachusetts,
1983, p. 132.
104 M. Back, op. cit., pp. 490–491.
105 The building of Kermānšah associated with Wahram IV, Nöldeke,
op. cit., p. 102, ff. 2.
106 Tabarı̄ has Ardashir II killing many of the grandees and the nobility;
Shabuhr III is killed by the same noble families (Arabic ahl al-buyūtāt),
and Wahram IV is killed by an unnamed group, Nöldeke, op. cit., pp.
100–103, which was probably the court and nobility or the army.
107 Tabarı̄, pp. 68–69.
108 Nöldeke, op. cit., p. 103, ff.1.
109 For Maruthas’ mission to Persia and Yazdgerd’s killing of some
Zoroastrian priests see Socrates Scholasticus, Chapter VIII.7.9.

Notes.indd 157 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 158 Notes

110 Labourt, Le Christianisme dans l’empire perse, pp. 87–109; Asmussen,

“Christians in Iran,” The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Vol.
3(2), 1983, pp. 940.
111 Agathias Scholasticus, The Histories, Book IV.26.8. For the treatment of
the Sasanians by Agathias see A. Cameron, “Agathias on the Sassanians,”
Dumberton Oaks Papers, vol. 22–23, 1969–1970, pp. 126–127.
112 B. Gheiby, Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān, Pahlavi Literature Series, Nemudar
Publication, Bielefeld, 1999, p. 21(64); for its occurrance in the Dēnkard
(DkM, 600.12) see M. Shaki, “Observations on the Ayādgār ı̄ Zarrēn,”
Archiv Orientálni, vol. 54, 1986, p. 265.
113 Procopius, I.ii.1–10.
114 Cyril of Scythopolis Vit. Euthym 10 (18.5–19.9) in G. Greatrex and
S.N.C. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, Part II
(AD 363–630), Routledge, London and New York, 2002, p. 37.
115 Conf. Peroz (AMS IV.258–259); Socrates Scholasticus HE VII.18
(363.2–365.24), Greatrex and Lieu, pp. 38–39.
116 Nöldeke, op. cit., p. 136.
117 Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn: A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, edited and translated by
C. Cereti, Istituto Italiano per il medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1995,
p. 152.
118 Priscus, frg. 41.1.1–3–27, Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., p. 57.
119 For the inscription of Mihr-Narseh see, Back, op. cit., p. 498; L. Bier,
“Notes on Mihr Narseh’s Bridge near Firuzabad,” Archäologische
Mitteilungen aus Iran, Vol. 19, 1986, 263–268; for Mihr-Narseh’s com-
mitment to Zoroastrianism and service to fire-temples, namely those of
Ardāwahišt and Abzōn-Ardashir see Madigān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, edited
and translated by A. Perikhanian, The Book of a Thousand Judgments,
Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 1997, A39.11–17; A40.3–5.
120 Elishē, History of Vardan and the Armenian War, Translated and Commentary
by Robert W. Thomson, Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1982, pp. 77–80. The History of Łazar P‘arpets‘i also cov-
ers these events, translated and commentary by Robert W. Thomson,
Occasional Papers and Proceedings. Columbia University, Program in
Armenian Studies, Georgia, 1991.
121 Elishē, pp. 178–179.
122 T. Daryaee, “National History or Keyanid History? The Nature of
Sasanid Zoroastrian Historiography,” Iranian Studies, vol. 28, nos. 3–4,
1995, pp. 129–141.
123 The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, translated with note and introduc-
tion by F. Trombley and J.W. Watt, Liverpool University, Press, 2000,
pp. 9–10.
124 T. Daryaee, “Ardašı̄r Mowbed-e Mowbedān: Yek Tashih dar Matn-e
Bundahiš,” Iranshenasi, 2001, pp. 145–146.
125 For the fifth century relations see Winter and Dignas, op. cit., pp. 54–57;
The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p. 9–10.

Notes.indd 158 11/26/2008 6:25:05 PM

 Notes 159

126 Łazar P‘arpets‘i, 136.

127 Sebeos reports that seven of Peroz’s sons were killed with him, Chapter
8.67, p. 5.
128 For Peroz’s campaign in the east see Procopius, History of the Wars,
Book I.i–iv.
129 Nöldeke, op. cit., p. 151, ff. 1.
130 For a detailed study of the administrative seals and the functionaries see
R. Gyselen, La geographie administrative de l’Empire sassanides, Paris, 1989.
131 Procopius, History of the Wars, Book I.v.1–2. Also Agathias, The Histories,
“He was even reputed to have made a law that wives should be held in
common,” Book 4.7, p. 130.
132 H. Gaube in his essay has suggested that Mazdak was a fictional
character, “Mazdak: Historical Reality or Invention?,” Studia Iranica,
vol. 11, 1982, pp. 111–122.
133 P. Crone, “Kavād’s Heresy and Mazdak’s Revolt,” Iran, vol. 29, 1992,
p. 30. On an ostracon found at Erk-kala from Turkmenia it is writ-
ten: “He gave a doubtful oath, but a mowbed should not tell lies, and he
died ...” A.B. Nititin, “Middle Persian Ostraca from South
Turkmenistan,” East and West, vol. 42, no. 1, 1992, pp. 105–106.
134 Agathias, The Histories, Book 4.28, p. 131.
135 M.J. Kister, “Al-Hı̄ra, some notes on its relations with Arabia,” Arabica,
vol. xi, 1967, pp. 143–169.
136 M. Shaki, “An Appraisal of Encyclopaedia Iranica, vols. II and
III,”Archiv Orientálni, Vol. 59, p. 406; and a review of the evidence
T. Daryaee, “Modafe’ Darvı̄šān va Dāvar dar Zamān-e Sasanı̄ān,”
Tafazzolı¯ Memorial Volume, ed. A. Ashraf Sadeghi, Sokhan Publishers,
Tehran, 2001, pp. 179–188.
137 F. Gurnet, “Deux notes à propos du monnayage de Khusro II,” Revue
belge de Numismatique, 140, 1994, p. 36–37.
138 Z. Rubin, “The Reforms of Khusrō Anūshirwān,” in The Byzantine and
Early Islamic Near East, States, Resources and Armies, vol. III, ed. A. Cameron,
Princeton, 1995, pp. 227–296.
139 Sebeos, Chapter 9.70, p. 10.
140 Procopius, 1.7.1.
141 Zachariah of Mytilene. HE VII.3 (22.15–22), Greatrex and Lieu,
op. cit., p. 63.
142 Theophanes A.M. 5996 (145.24–146.15), Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit.,
p. 67.
143 Procopius, I.14.34–55, Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., pp. 89–91.
144 J.C. Wilkinson, “The Julanda of Oman,” The Journal of Oman Studies,
vol. I, 1975, pp. 98–99.
145 E.H. Schafer, “Iranian Merchants in T’ang Dynasty Tales,” University of
California Publications in Semitic Philology, vol. 11, 1951, pp. 403–422.
146 For information on Kāwūs and his discontent with Khusro’s attempt to
seize the throne see Z. Mara’šı̄, Tārı¯kh-e Tabarestān va Rōyān va Māzandarān,

Notes.indd 159 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 160 Notes

ed. B. Dorn, Geschicte von Tabristan, Rujan und Masanderan, St. Petersburg,
1850, reprint Gostareh Publishers, Tehran, 1363, pp. 201–206.
147 Shahnameh, translated by R. Levy, p. 321.
148 Shahnameh, p. 321.
149 For the function of the dehgāns see A. Tafazzolı̄, Sasanian Society,
Bibliotheca Persica Press, New York, 2000, pp. 38–58.
150 R.N. Frye, “The Sasanian System of Walls for Defense,” Studies in Memory
of Gaston Wiet, Jerusalem, 1977, pp. 7–15.
151 T. Daryaee, “Mind, Body, and the Cosmos: The Game of Chess and
Backgammon in Ancient Persia,” Iranian Studies, vol. 34, no. 4, 2001,
pp. 218–312.
152 Agathias actually portrays Khusro’s encounter with the philosophers
quite negatively, The Histories, Book 2.3.
153 On the Persian military tactics and capabilities see Maurice’s Strategikon,
Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy, translated by G.T. Dennis,
University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1984, pp. 113–115. Also
for the Iranian material see A. Tafazzolı̄, “Un chapitre du Dēnkard sur
les guerriers,” Au carrefour des religions: Mélanges offerts á Philippe Gignoux, Res
Orientales VII, Peeters, Leuven, 1995, pp. 297–302. An old but useful
treatment of Persian military tactics is by K. Inostrantsev, Motal’ātı¯ dar-
bare-ye Sasanı¯ān, BTNK, Tehran, 1348, pp.49–89.
154 Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., pp. 96–97.
155 Procopius, II.2–3.
156 Malalas 18.87 (405.65–479.23–480.5), and other notices Greatrex and
Lieu, op. cit., pp. 103–107.
157 Theophanes (of Byzantium) 1 (FHG IV.270), Greatrex and Lieu,
op. cit., pp. 135–136.
158 Theophanes (Byzantium) 4 (FHG IV.271), Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit.,
p. 150.
159 For the sixth century relations see Winter and Dignas, op. cit.,
pp. 57–65.
160 These coins may be his and not that of Khusro II if we are to accept
Bundahišn’s account, bestowing these titles to Khusro I.
161 Theophylact Simocatta, Book iii.17.1
162 Sebeos, Chapter 10.73, p. 14.
163 Theophylact Simocatta, Book iv.1.1.
164 Theophylact Simocatta, Book iv.9–10.
165 Theophylact Simocatta, Book iv.12.8. For a different version of the
content of the letter sent by Khusro to Maurice see Sebeos, Chapter
11.76, pp. 18–19.
166 It is known that he has coins with the year 6, but Paruck states that he
had also seen a year 10 coin which may be correct, since every time
Khusro II defeated his enemies, changes took place on his coins, see
T. Daryaee, “Religio-Political Propaganda on the Coins of Xusro II,”
American Journal of Numismatics, vol. 7, 1997, 141–154

Notes.indd 160 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 Notes 161

167 Narratio de rebus Armeniae, 109–13 (p. 41), Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit.,
pp. 186–187.
168 M. Morony, “Syria Under the Persians 610–629,” Proceedings of the Second
Symposium on the History of Bilād al-Shām During the Early Islamic Period up to
40 AH/640 AD, ed. M.A. Bakhit, Amman, 1987, pp. 87–95.
169 R. Altheim-Stiehl, “The Sasanians in Egypt – Some Evidence of
Historical Interest,” Bulletin de la société d’archéologie Copte, vol. 31,
1992, p. 87, 92; on the papyrological evidence see E. Venetis,
“The Sassanid Occupation of Egypt (7th Cent. AD) According to
Some Pahlavi Papyri Abstracts,” Greco-Arabica, vols. 9–10, 2004,
pp. 403–412.
170 Antiochus Strategos, in F.C. Conybeare, “Antiochus Strategos’ Account
of the Sack of Jerusalem in AD 614,” in English Historical Review, vol. 25,
1910, pp. 502–517. Also see Chronicon Paschale, for the events of 614,
p. 156.
171 For events in Byzantinum see A.N. Stratos, Byzantium in the Seventh Century,
vol. I, Amsterdam, 1968.
172 Theophanes A.M. 6114, 307.19–308.25; Movsēs Daskhuranst‘i II.10
(130.3–132.5), Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., pp. 200–2003, and for other
sources see N. Garsoïan, “Byzantium and the Sasanians,” The Cambridge
History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Vol. 3(1), Cambridge University Press,
1983, p. 592.
173 J.M. Fiey, “The Last Byzantine Campaign into Persia and Its Influence on
the Attitude of the Local Populations Towards the Muslim Conquerors
7–16 H./628 AD,” Proceedings of the Second Symposium on the History of Bilād
al-Shām During the Early Islamic Period up to 40 AH/640 AD, ed. M.A. Bakhit,
Amman, 1987, p. 97.
174 Some sources state that Khusro II had fallen ill in Ctesiphon and was
dying, Theophanes A.M. 6118 (325.10–327.16), Greatrex and Lieu,
op. cit., p. 223.
175 For the latest study see A. Soudavar, The Aura of the Kings: Legitimacy and
Divine Sanction in Iranian Kingship, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2003.
176 There are illusions to his opulence in the a short Middle Persian text,
Māh Frawardı¯n Rōz ¯ı Hordād, passage 27, translated by S. Kiyā, where
eighteen amazing things were beheld by Khusro.
177 According to Sebeos, Chapter 46.149, p. 115 after the capture of
Jerusalem, Khusro assembled the Christian bishops in his court and
presided over their disputation.
178 Sebeos, Chapter 13.85, p. 29.
179 For a treatment of Kavad II and his career see H.M. Malek, “The
Coinage of the Sasanian King Kavād II (AD 628),” The Numismatic
Chronicle, vol. 155, 1995, pp. 119–129.
180 Chronicon anyonymum ad a.d. 1234 pertinens, 100, Greatrex and Lieu,
op. cit., p. 225.
181 Chronicon 724, 147.18–24, Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., p. 226.

Notes.indd 161 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 162 Notes

182 Sebeos, Chapter 40.129, p. 88.

183 Chronicle of Seert, 93, PO 13.556, Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit., p. 227.
184 H.M. Malek and V. Sarkhos Curtis, “History and Coinage of the
Sasanian Queen Bōrān (AD 629–631),” The Numismatic Chronicle,
vol. 158, 1998, p. 113–129.
185 T. Daryaee, “The Coinage of Queen Bōrān and its Significance in
Sasanian Imperial Ideology,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 13, 1999,
pp. 77–83.
186 For a detailed study of Queen Bōrān see H. Emrani, The Political Life
of Queen Bōrān: Her Rise to Power and Factors that Legitimized her Rule, MA
Thesis, California State University, Fullerton, 2005.
187 For the seventh century relations see Winter and Dignas, op. cit.,
pp. 67–71; The Khuzistan Chronicle, 29, Greatrex and Lieu, op. cit.,
p. 237.
188 For this period in Sasanian history see, T. Daryaee, Fall of the Sasanian
Empire and the end of Late Antiquity: Continuity and Change in the Province of
Persis, PhD Thesis, UCLA, 1999.
189 For the importance of the dehqāns in the late Sasanian and early Islamic
period see, A. Tafazzolı̄, Sasanian Society, Ehsan Yarshater Distinguished
Lecture Series, Bibliotheca Persica Press, New York, 2000, pp. 38–58.
190 For a chronology of events and rulers see T. Daryaee, Soghūt-e Sasanı¯ān
(The Fall of Sasanians), Nashr-e Tarı̄kh-e Irān, 2004, pp. 59–79.
191 Sebeos, Chapter 42.136, p. 98.
192 J. Harmatta, “The middle Persian-Chinese Bilingual Inscription from
Hsian and the Chinese-Sasanian Relations,” La Persia nel Medioevo,
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma, 1971, p. 374.
193 A. Forte, “On the Identity of Aluohan (616–710) A Persian Aristocrat
at the Chinese Court,” La Persia e l’Asia Centrale da Alessandro al X secolo,
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma, 1996, p. 190.
194 C. Guocan, “Tang Qianling shirenxiang ji qi xianming de yanjiu,”
Wenwu jikan, vol. 2, 1980, p. 1988; Forte, ibid., p. 191.
195 The classical work on Chinese-Persian relations in this period is that
of B. Laufer, Sino-Iranica: Chinese Contributions to the History of Civilization
in Ancient Iran, with Special Reference to the History of Cultivated Plants and
Products, Field Museum of Natural History, Publication 201,
Anthropological Series, vol. 15, no. 3, Chicago, 1919; also see E.H.
Schafer, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, A Study of T’ang Exotics, University
of California Press, 1963, pp. 10–25; For a more general treatment
see J. Gernet, A History of Chinese Civilization, Cambridge University
Press, 1982, pp. 282–287. The latest work is by M. Compareti,
“The Last Sasanians in China,” Eurasian Studies, vol. II, no. 2, 2003,
pp. 197–213.
196 C.G. Cereti, “Again on Wahram ı̄ Warzāwand,” La Persia e l’Asia Centrale
da Alessandro al X secolo, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma, 1996,
pp. 629–639.

Notes.indd 162 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 Notes 163

197 Harmatta, ibid., p. 375; Forte, op. cit., pp. 193–194.

198 C.E. Bosworth, “The Heritage of Rulership in Early Islamic Iran and
the Search for Dynastic Connections with the Past,” Iranian Studies, vol.
xi, 1978, pp. 7–34.

CHAPTER 2: THE SOCIETY OF IRANSHAHR

1 A. Bausani, I Persiani, Florence, 1962.

2 For the city building program of the Sasanians see N.V. Pigulevskaïa,
Les villes de l’état iranien aux époques parthe et sassanide, Paris, 1963.
3 G. Gnoli, The Idea of Iran: An Essay on its Origin, Istituto Italiao per il Medio
ed Estremo Oriente, Rome, 1989, p. 148.
4 Ibid., p. 131.
5 S.N.C. Lieu, “Captives, Refugees, and Exiles: A Study of Cross-
Frontier Civilian Movements and Contacts between Rome and Persia
from Valerian to Jovian,” The Defense of the Roman and Byzantine East,
Proceedings of a colloquium held at the University of Sheffield in April 1986, ed.
P. Freeman and D. Kennedy, part ii, British Institute of Archaeology
at Ankara, Monograph No. 8, BAR International Series 297, 1986,
pp. 473–508.
6 Ibn Balxı̄, Fārsnāme, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, Cambridge
University Press, 1921, p.168.
7 See C. Cereti, Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn, A Zoroastrian Apocalypse, Istituto
Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Rome 1995, 7.9 and com-
mentary, p. 206.
8 A. de Jong, “Sub Specie Maiestatis: Reflections on Sasanian Court
Rituals,” Zoroastrian Ritual in Context, ed. M. Stausberg, Brill, Leiden,
2004, p. 356.
9 Ibid., p. 358.
10 F.M. Kotwal and Ph.G. Kreyenbroek with contributions by J.R.
Russell, The Hērbedestān and Nērangestān, vol. I, II, Studia Iranica –
Cahier 10, Paris, 1992–95. See also Modi, 335 ff.
11 R. Gyselen, “Note de glyptique sassanide les cachets personnels de
l’ohrmazd-mogbed,” Études irano-aryennes offertes á Gilbert Lazard, ed.
C.-H de Fouchécour and Ph.Gignoux, Association pour l’avancement
des études iraniennes, Paris, 1989, p .186.
12 Ph. Kreyenbroek, “On the Concept of Spiritual Authority in
Zoroastrianism,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 17, 1994,
pp. 1–15.
13 The Šāyest nē-Šāyest states that whenever a zarduxšttom dies abroad a here-
tic is born, Chapter IX, p. 111, edited and translated by K. Mazdāpour,
Cultural Studies and Research Institute, Tehran, 1369.
14 Šāyest Nē-Šāyest, p. 95.
15 Šāyest Nē-Šāyest, p. 181.

Notes.indd 163 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 164 Notes

16 Mēnō-ye Xrad, chapter 30, edited and translated by A. Tafazzolı̄, Tus

Publishers, Tehran, 1364, p. 48.
17 A.B. Nikitin, “Middle Persian Ostraca from South Turkmenistan,”East
and West, vol. 42, no. 1, 1992, pp. 105–107.
18 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 9, see D. Monchi-Zadeh, “Khusrov ut Rētak,”
Monumentum Georg Morgenstierne, vol. II, E.J. Brill, 1982, p. 64.
19 In a short text named Gizistag Abāliš, one day the main character of the
text is hungry and thirsty and goes to a fire-temple (ātaxš-kādag) to receive
help and to perform his prayer, H.F. Chacha, Gajastak Abalish, Bombay,
1936.
20 Sh. Shaked, Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages, 1979
21 M. Shaki, “The Filet of Nobility,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, vol. 4.
22 For a review of the material in regard to asceticism in the Zoroastrian
tradition see T. Daryaee, “Sasanian Persia,” Iranian Studies, 1998,
pp. 444–445.
23 Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad, chapter 58, p. 77.
24 A. Tafazzolı̄ “Un chapitre du Dēnkard sur les guerriers,” Au carrefour des
religions: Mélanges offerts á Philippe Gignoux, Res Orientales VII, Peeters,
Leuven, 1995, pp. 297–302.
25 Al-Tabarı̄, 1999, pp. 262.
26 Al-Tabarı̄, 1999, pp. 262–263. Shahbazi has noted that by comparing
the list of weapons in al-Tabarı̄ and that of the Wı̄dēwdād 14.9 we can
see that this text may have gone through changes in the Sasanian period,
since the list is very similar, Sh. A. Shahbazi, “Army,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, vol. II, 1987, p. 497.
27 Shahbazi, ibid., p. 497. See Procopius
28 Ammianus Mercelinus, 25.1.14, Shahbazi, ibid., p. 497.
29 Al-Tabarı̄, 1999, p. 36.
30 Al-Tabarı̄, 1999, p. 118.
31 Maurice’s Strategicon, also K. Inostrantsev, “Fūnūn-e jangı̄-ye sāsānı̄,”
in Motale’atı¯ darbāre-ye sāsānı¯yān (Etudes sassanides), Tehran, 1348,
pp. 49–89.
32 V.F. Piacentini, “Ardashı̄r ı̄ Pāpakān and the wars against the Arabs:
Working hypothesis on the Sasanian hold of the Gulf,” Proceedings of the
Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 15, 1985, pp. 57–85.
33 Al-Tabari, 1999, p. 240.
34 Ibn Hišam, Sı¯rat rasūl Allāh, translated by A. Guillaume, Karachi, 1955,
pp. 41–43.
35 A. Tafazzolı̄, “A List of Trades and Crafts in the Sasanian Period,”
Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, vol. 7, 1974, pp. 191–196. Dēnkard
VIII supplies a short section of navigation which is supposed to
have been part of the eighteenth Nask of the lost Avesta (Sakātom).
See Ch. A’zamı̄-Sansari, “Sanadı̄ az ayyı̄n-e nāvbarı̄ dar asr-e
sāsānı̄,” Mehr o dād o bahār, ed. A.K. Balazadeh, Tehran, 1377,
pp. 33–37.

Notes.indd 164 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 Notes 165

36 M. Grignaschi, “Quelques specimens de la litterature sassanide con-

serves dans les bibliotheques d’Istanbul,” Journal Asiatique, 1966, p. 1ff.
p. 24, p. 42n. 76; Shahbazi, Encyclopaedia p. 498.
37 Al-Tabarı̄, pp. 96–97.
38 Mēnō-ye Xrad, Chapter 30, p. 48.
39 M. Shaki, “Class System III. In the Parthian and Sasanian Period,”
Encyclopaedia Iranica, p. 654.
40 Mēnō-ye Xrad, Chapter 31, pp. 48–49.
41 In the Islamic sources which are based on royal documents, the war-
riors were sometimes placed above the priests, see Miskawayhi, Tajarib
al-Umam (Experience of Nations), edited and translated into Persian by
A. Emami, Soroush Press, Tehran, 1980, p. 120.
42 R. Foltz, “When Was Central Asia Zoroastrian?,” The Mankind Quarterly,
Vol. XXXVIII, No. 3, 1998, pp. 189–200.
43 R.N. Frye, “The Fate of Zoroastrians in Eastern Iran,” Au Carrefour
des Réligions: Mélanges offerts à Philippe Gignoux, ed. R. Gyselen, Peeters,
Leuven, 1995, pp. 67–68.
44 Madı¯ yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 1, p.3. M. Shaki, “Class System III. In the
Parthian and Sasanian Period,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, p. 654.
45 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 62, pp. 76–77.
46 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 62, pp. 76–77.
47 For cooking see J. Amouzegār, “Cooking,” Encyclopaedia Iranica and her
further comments in Persian “Namūnah-hā’ı̄ az honar-e khwalı̄garı̄
dar farhang-e kohan-e Irān,” Kelk, vols. 85–88, April-July 1997,
pp. 162–166. The mention of xwahlı¯gar also appears in the Middle
Persian text Sūr Āfrı¯n, passage 18.
48 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 63, p. 77.
49 V. Sarkhosh Curtis, “Minstrels in Ancient Iran,” The Art and Archaeology
of Ancient Persia, New Light on the Parthian and Sasanian Empires, eds.
V. Sarkhosh Curtis, et al., I.B.Tauris Publishers, London and New
York, 1998, pp. 182–187.
50 Bundahišn, Chapter IX, Bahār’s edition, Tūs Publication, Tehran, xxxx
under the sub-heading “On the Manner of Voices,” p. 93.
51 For the Manichaean material see Ch.J. Brunner, “Liturgical Chant
and Hymnody among the Manicheans of Central Asia,” Zeitschrift
der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. 130, no. 2, 1980,
pp. 342–368.
52 A. de Jong, Ibid., p. 358.
53 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 58, p. 75.
54 Ph. Gignoux, “Matériaux pour une histoire du vin dans l’iran ancien,”
Matériaux pour l’histoire économique du monde iranien, ed. R. Gyselen and
M. Szuppe, Paris, 1999, pp. 43–44.
55 Ph. Gignoux
56 D.N. MacKenzie, “Shapur’s Shooting,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, vol. 41, 1978, pp. 499–511.

Notes.indd 165 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 166 Notes

57 A. Sh. Shahbazi, “Studies in Sasanian Prosopography: III Barm-i Dilak:

Symbolism of Offering Flowers,” The Art and Archaeology of Ancient Persia,
ed. V.S. Curtis et. al, I.B.Tauris, 1998, pp. 58–66.
58 For these titles under their heading in Encyclopaedia Iranica see,
T. Daryaee, “Sasanian Persia,” Iranian Studies, 1998, pp. 453–456.
59 A. Tafazzoli, Sasanian Society, Bibliotheca Persica Press, New York,
2000, pp. 21–22.
60 Tafazzoli, ibid., p. 30.
61 Tafazzoli, ibid., p. 23 and 29.
62 Handarz ¯ı Adurbād ¯ı Mahrspandān, passage 58 and 129; Tafazzoli, ibid.,
p. 27.
63 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 10, p. 64.
64 Abar Ēwēbag Nāmag Nibēsišnı¯h, pp. 141–143.
65 For the latest edition of these letters see D. Weber, Ostraca, Papyri
und Pergamente, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum, Part III Pahlavi
Inscriptions, London, 1992.
66 Tafazzoli, op. cit., pp. 31–33.
67 Tafazzoli, op. cit., p. 33.
68 Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 2, p. 34; Shaki, “Documents,” p. 459.
69 M. Shaki, “Documents,” p. 459.
70 Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 2, p. 38; Shaki, “Documents,” p. 459.
71 M. Shaki, “Commerce iii,” Encyclopaedia Iranica,
72 Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 1, p. 78.
73 Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 2, p. 13; Shaki, “Documents,” p. 459.
74 Tafazzoli, p. 34.
75 R.N. Frye, “The Persepolis Middle Persian Inscriptions from the time of
Shapur II,” Acta Orientalia, vol. xxx, 1966, p. 84; Back, op. cit., p.
76 G. Le Strange, The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate, Barnes and Noble, New
York, 1966, p. 203.
77 The Classic work on Christians of the Sasanian empire is now J.M. Fiey,
Communautés syriaques en Iran et Irak des origines à 1532, London, 1979.
78 R. Gyselen, La Géographie administrative de l’empire Sassanide, Les témoignages
sigillographiques, Res Orientales I, E. Peeters, Leuven, 1989, p. 72.
79 For a collection of stories see S. Brock and S. Harvey, “Persian Martyrs,”
Holy Women of the Syrian Orient, 1998, pp. 67.
80 A. Forte, “Edict of 638 Allowing the Diffusion of Christianity in
China,” in P. Pelliot, L’Inscription nestorienne de Si-Ngan-Fou, edited with
Supplements by A. Forte, Scuola di Studi sull’Asia Orientale, Kyoto
and Collège de France, Institut des Hautes Éudes Chionises, Paris,
1996, pp. 353–355 and pp. 361–362.
81 T. Daryaee, “Dı̄dgāhhā-ye mowbedān va šāhanšāhı̄-ye Sāsānı̄ darbare-
ye Iranšahr,” Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient
Iranian Studies, vol. 3, no. 2, 2003–2004, pp. 19–28.
82 For the study of concept of driyōšı̄h see G. Itō, “From the Dēnkard,”
Monumentum H.S. Nyberg, vol. I, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1975, pp. 423–434.

Notes.indd 166 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 Notes 167

83 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag; 41.16; for a perliminary treatment of the poor

see; Shaki, “Darwish,” Encyclopaedia Iranica; and T. Daryaee, “Modāfe’
darwišān wa dāvar,” Taffazoli Memorial Volume, Tehran, 1380, pp.
179–189.
84 M. Shaki, “Class System iii. Parthian and Sasanian Period,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, p. 73.
85 Sh. Shaked, Dēnkard, pp. 58–59.
86 The Pahlavi Texts, ed. J. Asana, p. 71; Shaki, “Drı̄st-Dēnān,” Ma’ārif,
p. 29.
87 Pahlavi Vendidad, 3.41; Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, 33.19. (See also Dēnkard Madan
II.723 and West translation, p. 78.)
88 Shaki, Mazdak, ff.142.
89 For the influence of this institution on the Waqf, see M. Macuch,
“Sasanidische Institutionen in früh-Islamischer Zeit,” Transtion Periods in
Iranian History, L’association pour l’avancement des études iraniennes,
Paris, pp. 178–179.
90 See Gizistag Abāliš, Question 3.
91 M. Macuch, “Barda and Bardadārı̄ ii,” Encyclopaedia Iranica; M. Shaki,
“Class System,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, www.iranica.com
92 For a good introduction to women in the Sasanian period see J. Rose,
“Three Queens, Two Wives, and a Goddess: Roles and Images of
Women in Sasanian Iran,” Women in the Medival Islamic World, ed.
G. Hambly, 1998, pp. 29–54.
93 A. de Jong, “Women and ritual in Medieval Zoroastrianism,” Ātaš-e
Dorun (The Fire Within), J.A. Sourushian Memorial Volume, ed. C. Cereti,
2003, p. 147.
94 Ibid., p. 150.
95 A. de Jong, “Jeh the Primal Whore? Observations on Zoroastrian
Misogyny,” Female Stereotypes in Religious Traditions, eds. R. Kloppenborg
and W.J. Hanegraaff, Studies in the History of Religions, vol. 66,
Leiden, 1995, pp. 15–41.
96 Bahār, pp. 83–84.
97 Note the modern Persian idiom, “bē sar o pā,” meaning “without
head-cover and foot cover.”
98 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, 45.2–4, p. 213.
99 Until recently there were small huts which exist in Kermān in Zoroastrian
villages which suggest the existence of dašt~nest~n.
100 For references see M. Shaki, “Drı̄st-Dēnān,” Ma’ārif, pp. 42–43.
101 M. Shaki, “Sasanian Matrimonial Relations,” Archív Orientalní, vol. 39,
1971, pp. 322–345.
102 Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, p. 105; Shaki, p. 445.
103 M. Shaki, “The Concept of Obligated Successorship in the Mādiyān ı̄
Hazār Dādestān,” Hommages et Opera Minor Monumentum H.S. Nyberg, Acta
Iranica, vol. ii, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1975, p. 229.
104 Riwāyat ¯ı Ēmēd ¯ı Ašawahištān, Chapter 7; Sad-dar Nasr, Chapter 92.

Notes.indd 167 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 168 Notes

105 The Pahlavi Rivāyat of Ādurfarnbag, Chapter 14.

106 M. Shaki, “Pahlavica,”A Green Leaf: Papers in Honour of Prof. J. Asmussen, Acta
Iranica 28, Leiden, 1988, pp. 96–98; ibid., “Family Law,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, vol. IX, Bibliotheca Persica, New York, 1999, p. 185.
107 Rivāyat ¯ı Ēmēd ¯ı Ašawahištān, Chapter 30; Shaki, ibid., “Family Law,”
p. 185.
108 Shaki, op. cit., “Divorce,” p. 445.
109 Shaki, op. cit., “Divorce,” p. 444.
110 Mādyān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān; pt. 1, p. 33; M. Shaki, “The Sasanian
Matrimonial Relations,” Archiv Orientalni, vol. 39, 1971, p. 337; Shaki,
op. cit., “Family Law,” p. 187.
111 Mādyān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, pt. 1, p. 73; Nērangestān, fol. 7r) Shaki, op. cit.,
“Family Law,” p. 188.
112 Rivāyat ¯ı Ēmēd ¯ı Ašawahı¯štān, Chapter 42; Mādayān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān,
pt. 1, p. 73 Šāyest nē-Šāyest, I, p. 2); Shaki, “Family Law,” p. 189.
113 Nērangestān, fol. 6v; Shaki, op. cit., “Family Law,” p. 189.
114 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 96, pp. 81–82.
115 Andarz ¯ı Anōšag Ruwān Ādūrbād ¯ı Maharsapandān, passage 50.
116 Andarz ¯ı Anōšag Ruwān Ādūrbād ¯ı Maharsapandān, passage 111.
117 Fragments, passage 9, p. 249.
118 Handarz ¯ı Anōšag Ruwān Ādurbād Mārspandān, passage 11.
119 Fragment, p. 11, p.290.
120 Wāžag ē-Čand ¯ı Ādurbād ¯ı Mārspandān, passage 48.
121 Handarz ¯ı Anōšag Ruwān Ādurbād Mārspandān, passage 152.
122 Mēno-ye Xrad, chapter 7, p. 22.
123 The relevant texts have been collected in Persian by B. Gheybi,
“Došnā-e Zardosht,” Khorde Maqālāt, Part 5, No. 38, pp. 335–353.
124 With some modifications see Sanjana, The Dēnkard, edited and trans-
lated by D.P. Sanjana, vol. xvi, Kegan Paul, trench, Trubner and Co.,
London, 1917, p. 30. Modern Parsi commentators also have considered
the more ambiguous attestations of sodomy as concerning homosexual
activity.
125 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, Text p. 24, p. 202.
126 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, Text p. 44, p. 213.
127 For a collection of texts and discussion of homosexuality see B. Gheiby,
“Došnām-e Zardosht,” Khorde Maqālāt, Part 5, No. 38, Nemudar
Publications, Bielefeld, 2000, pp. 335–353.
128 See E.W. West, “The meaning of Khvētūk-das,” Pahlavi Texts, Part II,
Oxford University Press, 1882, pp. 389–430. Contra see D.P. Sanjana,
Sanjana, D.P. “The Alleged Practice of Consanguineous Marriages in
Ancient Iran,” The Collected Works of the Late Dastur Darab Peshotan Sanjana,
British India Press, Bombay, 1932, pp. 462–499.
129 J.P. de Menasce, Le troisième livre du Dēnkart, Paris, 1973, pp. 85–86.
All the evidence for this practice has been assembled by O. Bucci, “Il
matrimonio fra consanguinei (khvētūdās) nella tradizione giuridica

Notes.indd 168 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 Notes 169

delle genti iraniche,” Apollinaris, vol. 51, 1978, pp. 291–319. Also see
the important work by R.N. Frye, “Zoroastrian Incest,” Orientalia
Iosephi Tucci Memoriae Dicata, eds. G. Gnoli and L. Lanciotti, Istituto
Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Roma, 1985, pp. 445–455.
130 J. de Menasce, “La conqête de l’iranisme et la récupération des mages
hellénisés,” Annuaire de l’École Partique de Hautes Études, 1956–1957, 7;
Gnoli, op. cit., p. 172.
131 Madı¯yāh ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, A15.2, p. 273; Shaki, op. cit., “Family Law,”
p. 187.
132 Madı¯yāh ¯ı Hazār Dādestān, 73.1–2.
133 Ayādgār ¯ı ZarIran, edited and translated into Persian by B. Gheybi,
Nemudar Press, Bielefeld, 1999, transctiption p. 9, tranlsation p. 27,
Middle Persian text p. 16.
134 R. Kent, Old Persian Grammar, Text, Lexicon, American Oriental Society,
New Haven, Connecticut, Column III 32.2.70–78, p. 124.
135 P.O. Skjærvø, The Sasanian Inscription of Paikuli, passage 58, p. 54.
136 The Zoroastrian priest ruled that bathhouses that were in open air
would be better since the sun would cleanse the pollution. Until recently
in Yazd this type of bath was also known, K. Mazdapur, “Garmabe-ye
bastani-ye Iran (Ancient Iranian Bathhouses),” Farhang, vol. 9, no. 3,
1996, p. 319.
137 RHA, Question 19, pp. 145–146.
138 H.-P. Schmidt, “The Incorruptibility of the Sinner’s Corpse,” Studien
zur Indologie und Iranistik, vol. 19, 1994, pp. 247–268.
139 Sh. Meskūb, Sōg ¯ı Sı¯yāwaš, Khwārazmı̄ Publishers, Tehran, 1350
(Dēnkard XXXIII.11 p. 27.
140 Tārı¯x-e Buxārā, p. 28.
141 Athār al-Baghı¯ya, E. Sachau, 235, pp. 10–11.
142 Ancient Art from the Shumei Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, 1996, pp. 142–143. For further comments see J. Lerner, “Central
Asians in Sixth-Century China: A Zoroastrian Funerary Rite,” Iranica
Antiqua, Vol. 30, 1995, pp. 179–190.
143 J. K. Choksy, Purity and Pollution in Zoroastrianism: Triumph Over Evil, Texas
University Press, Austin, 1989.

CHAPTER 3: RELIGIONS OF THE EMPIRE:

ZOROASTRIANS, MANICHAEANS, JEWS AND
CHRISTIANS

1 It may be possible to see the royal insignia of the Sasanians which is

shown on their coins and other places on a coin of Autophradates I,
which suggests a connection or borrowing. See D. Sellwood, “Minor
States in Southern Iran,” The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater,
vol. 3(1), pp. 299–321; see plate 10, pict. 5.

Notes.indd 169 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 170 Notes

2 M. Back, Die Sassanidischen Staatsinschriften, Acta Iranica 18, E.J. Brill,

Leiden, 1978, p. 281.
3 M. Shaki, “The Dēnkard Account of the History of the Zoroastrian
Scriptures,” Archív Orientalní, vol. 49, 1981, p. 115.
4 For contemporary material relating Ardashir promoting Zoroastrianism
see M. Walburg, Die fruehen sasanidischen Koenige als Vertreter un Foerderer der
zarathustrischen religion, Frankfurt-Bern, 1982.
5 Nāme-ye Tansar, ed. M. Minovi, Kharazmi Publishers, Tehran, 1311;
M. Boyce, The Letter of Tansar, Rome, 1965.
6 S. Adhami, “A Question of Legitimacy: The Case of Ardašir I (Dēnkard
IV),” Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 46, 2003, pp. 226–227.
7 For points of tension between the Zoroastrian Church and the Sasanian
State see Ph. Gignoux, “Church-State Relations in the Sasanian
Period,” Monarchies and Socio-Religious Traditions in the Ancient Near East,
ed. H.I.H Prince T. Mikasa, Wiesbaden, 1984, pp. 72–80.
8 M. Macuch, “The Talmudic Expression “Servant of the Fire” in the
Light of Pahlavi Legal Sources,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam,
vol. 26, 2002, p. 125.
9 A. Hintze, “The Avesta in the Parthian Period,” in Das Partherreich und
seine Zeugnisse, Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, 1998, pp. 157–158.
10 The Cult of Mithra/Mihr in Persia was also popular, most probably as
a mystery cult which is mentioned in textual and iconographic sources.
For the cult itself see C. Colpe, “Mithra-Verehrung, Mithras-Kult und
die Existenz iranischer Myserien,” Mithraic Studies, vol. II, Manchester,
1975, pp. 378–405. For convincing argument in regard to the existence
of the cult of Mithra/Mihr see P. Callieri, “On the Diffusion of Mithra
Images in Saanian Iran: New Evidence from a Seal in the British
Museum,” East and West, vol. 40, nos. 1–4, 1990, pp. 88–89.
11 For this interrelation see A. Henrichs, “Mani and the Babylonian
Baptists: A Historical Confrontation,” pp. 23–59.
12 For the text and translation see, D.N. MacKenzie, “Mani’s
Shabuhragān,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1979,
pp. 500–534; “Mani’s Shabuhragān II,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, 1979, pp. 288–310.
13 For the English reader one can find translations of many texts and frag-
ments of the Manichaean religion in specific categories in Klimkite, The
Silk Road.
14 J. Neusner, “How Much Iranian in Jewish Babylonia?,” Journal of the
American Oriental Society, vol. 95, no. 2, 1975, p. 189.
15 B. Sarkārāti, “Akhbār-e Tārı̄khı̄ dar Āthār ı̄ Mānavı̄: Mānı̄ wa Šāpūr,”
Sāyehā-ye Šekār Šode, Našr Qatre, Tehran, 1378, p. 185.
16 B. Sarkārāti, “Akhbār-e Tārı̄khı̄ dar Āthār ı̄ Mānavı̄: Mānı̄ wa Bahrām,”
Sāyehā-ye Šekār Šode, Našr Qatre, Tehran, 1378, p. 204.
17 “W.B. Henning, “Mani’s Last Journey,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, vol. x, part 4, 1942, pp. 948–949.

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 Notes 171

18 W.B. Henning, “Mani’s Last Journey,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, vol. x, part 4, 1942, pp. 946–950; Sarkārāti, ibid., pp. 206–207.
19 For the subject of Persian interest in biography which was very
much a characteristic of the Persian historical tradition see A.
Momigliano, “Persian Historiography, Greek Historiography, and
Jewish Historiography,” The Classical Foundations of Modern Historiography,
University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London, 1990,
pp. 5–28.
20 For a challenge to this old view and a fresh look at the state of
Zoroastrianism in the Sasanian period see Sh. Shaked, Dualism in
Transformation: Varieties of Religion in Sasanian Iran, Jordan Lectures
in Comparative Religion, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, 1994; and a critical response by M. Boyce, “On
the Orthodoxy of Sasanian Zoroastrianism,” Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, vol. lix, part 1, 1996, pp. 11–28.
21 Ph. Huyse, “Kerdir and the first Sasanians,” Proceedings of the Third
European Conference of Iranian Studies, ed. N. Sims-Williams, Part 1,
Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1998, p. 118.
22 D.N. MacKenzie, The Sasanian Rock Reliefs at Naqsh-i Rustam, Iranische
Denkmäler, 1989, paragraph 17, p. 59.
23 For a review of literature on this word see W. Sundermann who inter-
prets the word as magi-codex see, “Review of H. Humbach and P.O.
Skjærvø, The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli,” Kratylos, Kritisches Berichts
und Rezensionsorgan für Indogermanische und Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft,
vol. 28, 1993 [1994], p. 88.
24 The best translation of this difficult passage in the Dēnkard is by M. Shaki,
“The Dēnkard Account of the History of the Zoroastrian Scriptures,”
Archiv Orientalni, vol. 49, 1981, pp. 114–125.
25 KZ 9–10, Back, pp. 414–415.
26 T.D. Barnes, “Constantine and the Christians of Persia,” The Journal of
Roman Studies, vol. lxxv, 1985, pp. 131–132.
27 S.P. Brock, “Christians in the Sasanian Empire: A Case of Divided
Loyalties,” Studies in Church History, vol. 18, 1982, p. 8.
28 For Shabuhr I’s incursion into Syria and its effect on the Christianization
of Ērānšahr and the persecution of the Christians in the fourth century
see the conclusions reached by M.L. Chaumont, La Christianisation
de l’empire iranien des origins aux grandes persecutions du IVe siècle, Peeters,
Louven, 1988, pp. 157–160.
29 Šahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānšahr, passages 10, 47.
30 J. Neusner, “Jews in Iran,” The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3(2), ed.
E. Yarshater, Cambridge University Press, 1983, p. 915.
31 S. Munk, Notice sur Rabbi Saadia Gaon et sa version arabe d’saïe et sur une ver-
sion persane manuscrite de la Bibliothèque Royale, Paris, 1838; Sh. Shaked,
“Middle Persian Translations of the Bible,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. iv,
Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and New York, 1990, p. 207.

Notes.indd 171 11/26/2008 6:25:06 PM

 172 Notes

32 Shaked, ibid., p. 206.

33 M. Rostovtzeff, Drua Europos and its Art, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1938,
pp. 112–113.
34 Neusner, op. cit., p. 890.
35 N. Sims-Williams, “Sogdian Translations of the Bible,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, vol. iv, Routledge and Kegan Paul, New York and London,
1990, p. 207.
36 A. Netzer, “Some Notes on the Characterization of Cyrus the Great in
the Jewish and Judeo-Persian Writings,” Acta Iranica, Hommage Universel,
E.J. Brill, 1974, p. 35.
37 J. P. Asmussen, “Judeo-Persian Translations of the Bible,” Encyclopaedia
Iranica, vol. iv, Routledge and Kegan Paul, New York and London,
1990, p. 268.
38 For an excellent study of Kerdir’s journey see P.O. Skjærvø, “Kirdir’s
Vision: Translation and Analysis,” Archaeologische Mitteilungen aus Iran,
vol. 16, 1983, pp. 269–306.
39 F. Grenet, “Pour une nouvelle visite à la “vision de Kerdir,”” Studia
Asiatica, vol. 3, no. 1–2, 2002, p. 6.
40 Grenet, p. 18.
41 M. Schwartz, “Kerdir’s Clairvoyants: Extra-Iranian and Gathic
Persepectives,” p. 6. I would like to thank M. Schwartz for giving me
the unpublished manuscript.
42 F. Vahman, Ardā Wiraz Nāmag, The Iranian ‘Divina Commedia’,” Curzon
Press, London and Malmo, 1986, p. 85.
43 Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn, edited and translated by M.T. Rashid Mohassel,
Tehran, 1370, p. 2; Carlo Cereti, Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn, Rome, 1995,
3.6.
44 S.H. Nyberg, Religionen des Alten Iran, Osnabrück, Otto Zeller, 1966.
In the preface to the 1966 edition of the book, Nyberg discusses the
Nazi reaction to his work in 1939, especially W. Wüst, in Archiv für
Religionswissenschaft, vol. xxxvi, 1939–1940, pp. 248–249. At that time
he was denounced by an array of people, from Nazi Orientalists to
W.B. Henning, the great Middle Iranian scholar who had fled Nazi
Germany. For a study of the various reactions see J.R. Russell, “Kartı̄r
and Mānı̄: a shamanistic model of their conflict,” Iranica Varia: Papers in
honor of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1990, pp. 180–193. For
a recent survey of this type of journey in Iran see, Ph. Gignoux, “‘Corps
osseux et ême osseuse’: essai sur le chamanisme dans l’Iran ancient,”
Journal Asiatique, vol. 267, 1979, pp. 41–79.
45 An excellent article dealing with this issue is that of W. Hinz, “Mani
and Kardēr,” La Persia nel Medievo, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei,
Roma, 1971, pp. 485–499; also P.O. Skjærvø, “Iranian Elements in
Manichaeism,” Au Carrefour des Religions. Mélanges offerts à Philippe Gignoux,
Res Orientales VII, 1995, pp. 263–284.
46 Paikuli, pargraph 19, p. 35.

Notes.indd 172 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 Notes 173

47 Čı¯dag ¯ı Andarz ¯ı Pōryōtkēšān, passage IX.

48 On this concept see Sh. Shaked, “From Iran to Islam: Notes on Some
Themes in Transmission,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 4,
1984, pp. 39–40. Similar notions are present in the Persian litera-
ture, for example see Nāme-ye Tansar, p. 53; Šāhnāme, Moscow Edition,
vol. viii, lns. 558–561.
49 The Classical work on Zurvan is by R.C. Zaehner’s Zurvan, A Zoroastrian
Dilemma, Biblio and Tannen, New York, 1955 (reprint 1972).
50 Sh. Shaked, “The Myth of Zurvan: Cosmogony and Eschatology,”
Messiah and Christos, Studies in the Jewish Origins of Christianity Presented
to David Flusser on the Occasion of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, ed. I.
Gruenwald, et al., J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), Tübingen, 1992,
pp. 229–240.
51 Ammianus Marcellinus, XVII. 5,1f.
52 H. Scharfe, “Sacred Kingship, Warlords, and Nobility,” in Ritual, State
and History in South India, Essays in Honour of J.C. Heesterman, ed. A.W. Van
den Hoek, et. al., E.J. Brill, Leiden, New York, Cologne, p. 312.
53 M. Shaki, “The Dēnkard Account of the History of the Zoroastrian
Scriptures,” Archív Orientálni, vol. 49, 1981, pp. 117–119.
54 M. Shaki, “Some Basic Tenets of the Eclectic Metaphysics of the
Dēnkart,” Archív Orientálni, vol. 38, 1970, pp. 277–312.
55 Sh. Shaked, “First Man, First King, Notes on Semitic-Iranian
Syncretism and Iranian Mythological Transformations,” Gilgul, Essays
on Transformation, Revolution and Permanence in the History of Religions Dedicated
to R.J. Zwi Werblowsky, eds. Sh. Shaked, et. al., E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1987,
pp. 238–256; T. Daryaee, “The Sect of Gayomartiya,” J.A. Sourushian
Memorial Volume, ed. C. Cereti, (forthcoming 2000); Daryaee, “Clay king
or Mountain king,” Hanns-Peter Schmidt Festshcrift, ed. S. Adhami, Mazda
Publishers, 2003, pp. 339–349.
56 Shaked, ibid., pp. 246–247, although I would assign more influence to
the early Islamic period, still Jewish influence should not be denied.
57 Shaki, Dēnkard Account, 1981, p. 117–119.
58 Ardā Wiraz Nāmag, Edited and Translated by F. Vahman, Curzon Press,
London and Malmo, 1986, text, p. 79, translation, p. 191.
59 The Supplementary Texts to the Šāyest nē-Šāyest, edited and translated by
F.M.P. Kotwal, Kobenhavn, 1969, XIII.17, pp. 46–47.
60 Šāyest nē Šāyest, Cultural and Research Institute, Tehran, 1990, edited
and translated by K. Mazdapour, chapter 15.16–17. It is curious then
that when it came to hell, the Zoroastrian tradition holds it to be dark,
cold and full of stench, where no one burns.
61 M. Boyce, “On Mithra, Lord of Fire,” Monumentum H.S. Nyberg,
vol. I, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1975, pp. 71–72.
62 M. Schwartz, “Saugand Xurdan, ‘To take an oath’ not *‘to drink
sulpher’,” Études irano-aryennes offertes à Gilbert Lazard, ed. C.-H. de
Fouchécour and Ph. Gignoux, Paris, 1989, pp. 293–296.

Notes.indd 173 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 174 Notes

63 Sh. Shaked, “Esoteric Trends in Zoroastrianism,” Proceedings of the Israel

Academy of Sciences and Humanities, vol. 3, 1969, pp. 175–222. Others have
objected that there is nothing esoteric or mystic in the Zoroastrian reli-
gion, but one may argue with the definition of esotericism and mysticism
and what it meant, as James Russell argues, being part of every religion,
“On Mysticism and Esotericism among the Zoroastrians,” Iranian Studies,
vol. 26, nos. 1–2, 1993, pp. 73–74. If Wı̄rāz partakes in the drinking of the
drink which gives him visions into the netherworld, or Kerdir is able to do
this by going through the proper initiation to see the gods and heaven and
hell, one would be hard pressed to deny any esoteric or mystical trends
in Zoroastrianism. Probably only the very righteous and exemplary
Zoroastrians were given the opportunity to make this journey.
64 M. Shaki, “The Social Doctrine of Mazdak in the Light of Middle
Persian Evidence,” Archív Orientálni, vol. 46, 1978, p. 306.
65 P. Crone, “Kawād’s Heresy and Mazdak’s Revolt”, Iran, vol 29, 1991,
p. 25.
66 Wāzag-ē Čand ¯ı Adurbād ¯ı Māraspandān, passage 6.
67 A. Bausani, “Two Unsuccessful Prophets: Mani and Mazdak,” Religion
in Iran. From Zoroaster to Baha’ullah, Bibliotheca Persica Press, New York,
2000, p. 101.
68 M. Shaki, “Drist-Dēnān,” Ma’ārif, for the best general study of Mazdak
and the history of his movement see E. Yarshater, “Mazdakism,” The
Cambridge History of Iran, vol. III (2), Cambridge, Massachusets, 1983, pp.
991–1024; also see P. Crone, “Kavad’s Heresy and Mazdak’s Revolt,”
Iran, vol. 29, 1991, pp. 21–42; M. Morony, “Mazdak,” The Encylcopaedia
of Islam, vol. vi, 1991, pp. 449–452.
69 Dēnkard III 653–654 as translated by Shaki, “The Social Doctrine of
Mazdak,” pp. 294–295.
70 Ibid., p. 295.
71 Ibid., p. 298.
72 Ibid., 299.
73 Wāzag-ē Čand ¯ı Adurbād ¯ı Māraspandān, passage 13.
74 M. Shaki, “The Cosmological and Cosmological Teachings of Mazdak,”
Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce, Acta Iranica 25, E.J. Brill, Leiden,
1985, pp. 527–543.
75 Shaki, “Social Doctrine,” op. cit., p. 297.
76 M. Shaki, “A Signal Catalogue of Sasanian Seals and Bullae,” Archív
Orientálni, vol. 57, 1989, pp. 167–168; T. Daryaee, “Modafe’ Darvı̄šān va
Dādvar,” Yādnāme-ye Doktor Ahmad-e Tafazzolı̄, Sokhan Publishers,
1379, pp. 179–188.
77 M. Macuch, “Sasanidische Institutionen in früh-Islamischer Zeit,”
Transition Periods in Iranian History, L’Association pour l’avancement
de études iraniennes, Paris, 1987, pp. 178–179; Macuch, “Charitable
Foundations. i. In the Sasanian Period,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1991,
pp. 380–382.

Notes.indd 174 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 Notes 175

78 Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn, edited and translated by C. Cereti, chapter II,

pp. 133–134, p. 150.
79 Shaki, “The Dēnkard Account,” pp. 118–121.
80 T. Daryaee, “Sasanian Persia,” Iranian Studies, vol. 31, no. 3–4, 1998,
p. 442.
81 For the three schools of thought or legal schools see, K. Mazdapur,
“Chāštehā, Se Nahle-ye Feghhı̄ dar Rōzegār-e Sasanı̄,” Yād-e Bahār,
Tehran, 1376, pp. 383–412.
82 See the comments by Mazdāpur in Šāyest nē Šāyest, A Pahlawı¯ Text, 1990,
p. 86.
83 Mazdāpur, ibid., p. 93; Bundahiš, edited and translated by M. Bahār, Tūs
Publishers, 1369, p. 134; Pahlavi Vendidad, Fragard I.15.
84 As to the possibility of a hierarchy, such as the pope and the archbishops,
Kreyenbroeck has shown that it may be quite unlikely that a rigid system
existed, “On the Concept of Spiritual Authority in Zoroastrianism,”
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 17, 1994, pp. 1–15. I tend to think
that indeed there was not a hierarchy as a whole, but rather each group
had their own teacher and leader, like Mazdak, Sēn, and the priests at
Ray whose leader was called the “great priest.”
85 M.M. Malayeri, Farhang-e Iranı¯-ye Pēš az Islam wa Asar-e ān dar Tamaddun-e
Islāmı¯ wa Adabı¯yāt-e Arabı¯, Tus Publishers, Tehran, 1374, p. 52; Arabic
texts mention other centers of priestly activity and theological disscus-
sion in the Islamic period, such as the Qla’ye jas located at Arrajan, i.e.
Weh-az-amid-kawad, at the eastern border of Persis, ibid., p. 54.
86 B.T. Anklesaria, Pahlavi Vendidād, Bombay, 1949, chapter I.15.
87 M. Molé, “Le Problème des sectes Zoroastriennes dans les livres
Pehlevis,” Oriens, vol. 13–14, 1960–1961, pp. 12–14.
88 Sh. Shaked, Dualism in Transformation, Varieties of Religion in Sasanian
Iran, Jordan Lectures 1991, School of Oriental and African Studies,
University of London, 1994, p. 97.
89 T. Daryaee, “Apocalypse Now: Zoroastrian Reflections on the Early
Islamic Centuries,” Medieval Encounters, vol. 4, no. 3, 1998, pp. 188–202.
90 Andarz ¯ı Dānāgān ō Māzdēsnān, passage 2.
91 Wāzag-ē Čand ¯ı Adurbād ¯ı Māraspandān, passage 72.
92 Husraw ud Rēdag, passage 9.
93 R. Gyselen, Sceaux magiques en Iran sassanide, Studia Iranica, cahier 17,
Paris, 1995.
94 K.E. Kanga, “King Faridun and a Few of His Amulets and Charms,”
K.R. Cama Memorial Volume, Essays on Iranian Subjects in Honor of
Mr. Kharshedji Rustamji Cama On the Occasion of his seventieth birth-day, ed.
J.J. Modi, Bombay, Fort Printing Press, Bombay, 1900, pp. 141–145.
95 E. Pirart, Kayān Yasn, l’origine avestique des dynasties mythiques d’Iran,
Barcelona, Editorial Ausa, 1992, p. 7.
96 M. Molé, La légende de Zoroastre, Paris, 1967; J. Amuzegar and A. Tafazzolı̄,
Osture-ye Zendegı¯-ye Zartošt, Našr Āvı̄šan, Tehran, 1372, pp. 55–110.

Notes.indd 175 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 176 Notes

97 Dēnkard VII, vii.36.

98 P. Callieri, “In the Land of the Magi. Demons and Magic in the
Everyday Life of Pre-Islamic Iran,” Démons et merveilles d’orient, ed.
R. Gyselen, Res Orientales XIII, Peeters, Leuven, 2001. p. 24.
99 J. Naveh and Sh. Shaked, Amulets and Magic Bowls, Aramaic Incantations of
Late Antiquity, The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem,
1998, p. 13; M. Morony, “Magic and Society in Late Sasanian Iraq,”
presented at a symposium on Prayer, Magic, and the Stars in the Ancient and
Late Antique World, March 3–5, 2000 at the University of Washington,
Seattle. I should like to thank Professor Morony for giving me an unpub-
lished draft of the article.
100 For seal amulets and their Mediterranean and Near Eastern influence
on the Sasanian period see, M. Magistro, “Alcuni Aspetti della Glittica
Sacro-Magica Sasanide: Il ‘Cavaliere Nimbato,’” Studia Iranica, vol. 29,
2000, pp. 167–194.
101 M. Bahār, op. cit., pp. 120–121.
102 For a complete list of demons in the Zoroastrian tradition see
A. Christensen, Essai sur la démonolgie iranienne, DVS, Historisk-filologiske
meddeleleser, XXVIII/1, København, 1941.
103 P.O. Skjærvø, “A Seal-Amulet of the Sasanian Era: Imagery and
Topology, the Inscription, and Technical Comments,” Bulletin of the Asia
Institute, vol. 6, p. 50.
104 Sh. Shaked, “The Pahlavi Amulet and Sasanian Courts of Law,” Bulletin
of the Asia Institute, vol. 7, p. 166.
105 Dēnkard VII, translated by W. E. West, in Pahlavi Texts, part V, Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1897 (reprint 1994), chapter I.12.
106 Ibid., IV.36.
107 Ibid., IV.42.
108 Ibid., IV.45. What is interesting here is that their bodies are buried and
this would bring pollution to the earth which is a sin in the Zoroastrian
religion. The passage, however, goes on to tell us that demons were not
to be present in the bodily form.
109 Tārı¯kh-e Bukhāra, p. 28.
110 Ancient Art from the Shumei Family Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, 1996, P. 144.
111 A. Bērūnı̄, Athār al-Baghiya, ed. E. Sachau, Leipzig, 1878, p. 235.

CHAPTER 4: LANGUAGES AND TEXTUAL REMAINS

OF THE CITIZENS

1 For a survey of Fahlavı̄yāt and Bābā-Tāher’s poetry see, Bābā-

Tāher-Nāme, ed. P. Azkā’ı̄, Tūs Publishers, Tehran, 1375.
2 Zabān-e Fārsı¯ dar Āzarbāyejān, ed. I. Afshar, Tehran, 1368.

Notes.indd 176 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 Notes 177

3 The late Y.M. Nawabı̄ who was a native of the region has done much
work on Shirazi Persian, see his Opera Minora, ed. M. Tavoossi, Navid
Publications, Shiraz, 1998.
4 Qur’an-e Quds, ed. A. Ravāghı̄, 2 vols., Tehran, 1377.
5 P. O. Skjærvø, “Thematic and linguistic parallels in the Achaemenian
and Sassanian inscriptions,” Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce, Acta
Iranica 25, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1985, pp. 593–603; P. Huyse, “Noch ein-
mal zu Parallelen zwischen Achaemeniden-und Sāsanideninschriften,”
AMI, vol. 23, 1990, pp. 177–183.
6 S. Mori, “The Narrative Structure of the Paikuli Inscription,” Orient,
vol. xxx–xxxi, 1995, pp. 182–193. Skjærvø does not deny the total
historicity of these inscriptions but still holds the same view as Mori in
that here we have the terms of the presentation of the material, “con-
flation of epic tales and historical accounts,” ibid., “Royalty in Early
Iranian Literature,” Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian
Studies, Part 1, Old and Middle Iranian Studies, ed. N. Sims-Williams,
Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1998, p. 106.
7 As translted by R.N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran, appendix 4,
p. 372.
8 D.N. MacKenzie, “Shapur’s Shooting,” The Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and Africa Studies, vol. 41, 1978, p. 503; R. Bašāš Kanzaq, “Katibe-ye
Hājjı̄ābād dar Arse-ye Tārı̄kh wa Ostūre,” Zabān, Katibe wa Motūn-e
Kohan, Sāzmān-e Mirath-e Farhangı̄, 1375, pp. 43–56.
9 P.O. Skjærvø, p. 54.
10 Ibid., p. 66.
11 For the latest work on the knowledge of the Sasanians about the
Achaemenids see A. Sh. Shahbazi, “Early Sasanians’ Claim to
Achaemenid Heritage,” Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal
of Ancient Iranian Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2001, pp. 61–74.
12 W.B. Henning, “The Inscription of Firuzabad,” Asia Major, vol. 4,
1954, p. 101.
13 F. de Blois, “The Middle Persian Inscription from Constantinople:
Sasanian or Post-Sasanian,” Studia Iranica, vol. 19, 1990, pp. 20–16.
14 E.W. West, “The Pahlavi Inscriptions at Kanheri,” Indian Antiquary,
1880, pp. 265–268.
15 J. Harmatta, “The middle Persian-Chinese Bilingual Inscription from
Hsian and the Chinese-Sāsānian Relations,” La Persia nel Medioevo,
Roma, 1971, pp. 363–376.
16 For a complete list see A. Tafazzolı̄, Tārı¯x-e Adabiyāt-e Irān Pēš az Islām,
Soxan Publishers, 1376, pp. 102–104.
17 O. Hansen, Die mittelpersischen Papyri, Abh. PAW, Berlin, 1938;
D. Weber, Ostraca, Papyri und Pergamente, Corpus Inscriptionum
Iranicarum, London, 1992; E. Venetis, “The Sasanian occupation of
Egypt (7th cent. AD) according to some Pahlavi papyri abstracts,” Graeco-
Arabica, vol. 9, 2001 (forthcoming).

Notes.indd 177 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 178 Notes

18 For a survey of Middle Persian literature see E. West, “Pahlavi Literature,”

Grundriss der Iranischen Philologie, II/2, pp. 75–129 J.C. Tavadia, Die mit-
telpersiche Sprache und Literature der Zarathustrier, Leipzig, 1956; M. Boyce,
“Middle Persian Literature,” Handbuch der Orientalistik, Iranistik, Literatur,
Lieferung 1, E.J. Brill, Leiden/Cologne, 1968, pp. 32–66; A. Tafazzolı̄,
Tārı¯x-e Adabiyāt-e Irān Pēš az Islām, Soxan Publishers, 1376; C.G. Cereti,
La letteratura Pahlavi. Introduzione ai testi con riferimenti alla storia degli studi e
alla tradizione manoscritta, Mimesis, Milan, 2001.
19 B. Utas, “Non-Religious Book Pahlavi Literature as a Source on the
History of Central Asia,” Studies in the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic
Central Asia, ed. J. Harmatta, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1979,
pp. 119–128.
20 The latest translation is in Persian by the late M. Bahār, Bundahiš-e
Farnbag-e Dādagı¯, Tūs Publishers, Tehran, 1369. For the English version
see B.T. Anklesaria, Zand-Ākāsı¯h, Iranian or Greater Bundahišn, Bombay
1956. One should note that the Indian version of this text has some
ommissions and additions which are interesting in terms of animal
classification and ethnography, see R. Behzādı̄, Bundahiš-e Hindı¯,
Tehran, 1368.
21 The only complete translation exists in English by D.D.P. Sanjana,
The Dēnkard, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., London,
1916.
22 For a survey of literature and content on the Dēnkard see, Ph. Gignoux,
“La composition du Dēnkard et le contenu du livre V,” Tafazzoli
Memorial Volume, ed. A.A. Sadeghi, Sokhan Publishers, Tehran, 2001,
pp. 29–38.
23 J. de Menasce, Le Troisième Livre du Dēnkard, Travaux de l’Institut
d’Etudes Iraniennes de l’Université de Paris III no. 5, Paris, 1973.
24 Dēnkard, Madan edition 470.7; Similar notions are present in the Persian
literature. For example see Nāme-ye Tansar, p. 53; Šāhnāme, Moscow
Edition, vol. viii, lns. 558–561.
25 E.W. West Pahlavi Texts, Part V, Oxford University Press, 1892 (reprint
by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1994); J. Amuzegār and A.
Tafazzolı̄, Dēnkard V, Cahiers de Studia Iranica, Peeters, Luven, 2001.
26 Sh. Shaked, Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages, Caravan Press, Boulder,
Colorado, 1979.
27 M. Molé, La Légende de Zoroastre selon les textes pehlevis, Paris, 1967; and
J. Āmuzegār and A. Tafazzolı̄, Ostūre-ye Zendegı¯-ye Zartošt, Tehran,
1376.
28 For Books eight and nine, see E.W. West, Pahlavi Texts, Part IV, Oxford
University Press, 1892 (reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi,
1994).
29 M.T. Rashid, Gozı¯dehāye Zāsdpram, Mohassel, Tehran, 1366; Ph.
Gignoux and A. Tafazzolı̄, Anthologie de Zādspram, Studia Iranica, Cahier
13, Paris, 1993.

Notes.indd 178 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 Notes 179

30 E.W. West and A. Tafazzolı̄, Mēnō-ye Xrad, Tus Publishers, Tehran,

1364.
31 Tafazzoli, Adabı¯yāt, pp. 153–155.
32 M. Navābı̄, Manzūme-ye Draxt-e Āsūrı¯k, Tehran, 1346; C.J. Brunner,
“The Fable of the Babylonian Tree,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies,
vol. xxxix, 1980, pp. 191–202; 291–302.
33 J.P. de Menasce, Škand-Gumānı¯k Vičār, Fribourg-Suisse, 1945.
34 H.F. Chacha, Gajastak Abalish, Bombay, 1936; and in Persian, I.Mirzā-ye
Nāzir, Matı¯kān ¯ı Gujastak Abālı¯š, Hērmand Publishers, Tehran, 1375.
35 F. Vahman, Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, The Iranian ‘Divina Commedia’, Curzon
Press, London and Malmo, 1986.
36 T. Daryaee, “Kerdı̄r’s Naqsh-i Rajab Inscription,” Nāme-ye Irān-e
Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies, vol. 1, no. 1, 2001,
pp. 3–10.
37 G. Messina, Ayātkār ¯ı Zāmāspı¯k, Roma,1939.
38 Shaked, Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages, Caravan Press, Boulder, Colorado,
1979.
39 M. Grignaschi, “Quelques spécimens de la literature sassanide,” Journal
Asiatique, 1966, pp. 16–45.
40 G. Gnoli in many studies has emphasized Sı̄stān as the location of
Zoroaster’s ministry, see his two-book length study, Zoroaster’s Time
and Homeland, IsMEO, Napoli, 1980; idem.,“Zoroaster in History,”
Bibliotheca Persica, 2000.
41 T. Daryaee, Šahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānšahr, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa,
2002.
42 D. Monchi-Zadeh, Die Geschichte Zarēr’s, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis,
Uppsala, 1981; and for the Persian translation see, B. Gheiby, Ayādgār
¯ı Zarērān, Nemudar Publications, Bielefeld, 1999.
43 E.K. Antia, Kārnāmak-I Artakhshı¯r Pāpakān, Bombay, 1900; S. Hedāyat,
Kārnāme-ye ardašı¯r ¯ı bābakān, Amir Kabir Publishers, Tehran, 1332.
44 A. Perikhanian, The Book of A Thousand Judgment, Mazda Publishers,
Costa Mesa, 2000.
45 J.C. Tavadia, Šāyest nē-Šāyest, A Pahlavi Text on Religious Customs, de
Gruyter and Com.B.H., Hamburg, 1930. The Persian translation
is by K. Mazdapour, Šāyest nā-Šāyest, Cultural Studies and Research
Institute, Tehran, 1990.
46 A. Panaino, La Novella Degli Scacchi e Della Tavola Reale, Mimesis, Milano,
1999; T. Daryaee, “Mind, Body, and the Cosmos: The Game of Chess
and Backgammon in Ancient Persia,” Iranian Studies, 2002, pp. 281–313.
47 J.C. Tavadia, “Sūr Saxvan: Or a Dinner Speech in Middle Persian,”
Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, vol. 29, 1935, pp. 1–99.
48 S.H. Nyberg and B. Utas, Frahang ¯ı Pahlavı¯k, Wiesbaden, 1988.
49 H. Jamaspji Asa and M. Haug, An Old Pahlavi-Pazand Glossary, Bombay
and London, 1870. H. Reichelt, Der Frahang I Oı¯m, WZKM, Wien,
1900.

Notes.indd 179 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 180 Notes

50 S. Brock and S. Harvey, “Persian Martyrs,” Holy Women of the Syrian

Orient, 1998, pp. 63–99.
51 F.C. Andreas and K. Barr, Bruchstücke einer Pehlevi-Übersetzung der Psalmen
SPAW, Phil.-hist. Kl., 1933.
52 D.N. MacKenzie, “Mani’s Šāburagan,” The Bulletin of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, XLII, 1979, and XLIII, 1980, and in Persian
N. Omrānı̄, Šāpuragān, Aštād Publishers, Tehran, 1379.
53 R.L. Khānı̄kı̄ and R. Bashāš, Sang Negāre-ye Lāx-Mazār, Mı̄rās-e
Farhangı̄, Tehran, 1373.
54 V. Minorsky, “Vı̄s u Rāmı̄n, a Parthian Romance,” Bulletin of the School
of Oriental and African Studies, vol. XI, 1946, pp. 741–763; XII, 1947, pp.
20–35; XVI, 1954, pp. 91–92.
55 See the many articles of Henning reprinted in W.B. Henning – Selected
Papers, Acta Iranica, vols. V and VI, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1977.
56 M. Boyce, The Manichaean hymn-cycles in Parthian, Oxford, 1954, and
her A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, Tehran-Liege,
Acta Iranica 9, 1975 and for a survey her “The Manicaean Literature
in Middle Iranian,” Handbuch der Orientalistik, Iranistik II, Literature I,
Leiden, 1968, pp. 67–76.
57 W. Sundermann, Mitteliranische manichäisches Texte kirchengeschichtlichen
Inhalts, Berliner Turfantexte XI, Berlin, 1981; idem., Ein manichäisch-
soghdisches Parabelbuch, 1985; idem., Der Sermon vom Licht-Nous: eine Lehrschrift
des östlichen Manichäismus, Edition der parthischen und soghdischen Version,
1992; idem., Der Sermon von der Seele: eine Lehrschrift des östlichen Manichäismus:
Edition der parthischen und soghdischen Version, with an introduction by Peter
Zierne, Die türkischen Fragmente des Sermons von der Seele. c1997.
58 W.B. Henning, “Sogdian Tales,” Bulletin of the Schools of Oriental and
Africa Studies, vol. XI, 1946, pp. 713–740.
59 M. Schwartz, Studies in the texts of the Christian Sogdians, Ph.D. dissertation
of the University of California, Berkeley, California, 1967; N. Sims-
Williams, Christian Sogdian MS C2. Sogdian and English. The Christian
Sogdian Manuscript C2, translated and with commentary, Berlin, 1985.
60 D.N. MacKenzie, The “Sūtra of the Causes and Effects of Actions” in Sogdian,
London, 1970. For a survey of these texts see J. Dresden, “Sogdian
Language and Literature,” The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3(2),
Cambridge, 1983, pp. 1222–1224.
61 N. Sims-Williams, in “The Sogdian Fragments of the British Library,”
The Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 18, 1976, pp. 43–82.
62 R.E. Emmerick, The Book of Zambasta, London, 1968.
63 H.W. Bailey, Khotanese Texts, 6 vols., Cambridge, 1945–1967.
64 E. Benveniste, “Inscriptions de Bactriane,” Journal Asiatique, 1961,
pp. 133–152; I. Gershevitch, “Bactrian Inscriptions and Manuscripts,”
Indogermanische Forschungen, LXXI, 1967, pp. 27–57.
65 N. Sims-William, Bactrian Documents, Legal and Economic Documents, vol. I,
Oxford University Press, 2000.

Notes.indd 180 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 Notes 181

66 W.B. Henning, “The Choresmian Documents,” Asia Major, vol. XI,

1965, pp. 66–79; ibid., A fragment of a Khwarezmian dictionary, ed. By D.N.
MacKenzie, Tehran University Press, 1971.
67 M. Shaki, “Some Tenants of the Eclectic Metaphysics of the Dēnkard,”
Archiv Orientalni, vol. 38, 1970, pp. 277–312.
68 T. Daryaee, “The Zoroastrian Sect of Gayomartiya,” Arbab Jamsheed
Sourushian Memorial Volume, ed. C. Cereti, 2003, pp.131–137.
69 M. Shaki, “The Dēnkard Account of the History of the Zoroastrian
Scriptures,” Archiv Orientální, 1981, vol. 49, p. 119.
70 Ibid., p. 123. H.W. Bailey, Zoroastrian Problems in the Ninth-Century Books,
Oxford, 1971, p. 86.
71 Ibid., p. 81.
72 Bailey, ibid., pp. 81–82; 87–92; M. Shaki, “Some Basic Tenents of the
Eclectic Metaphysics of the Dēnkart,” Archiv Orientální, vol. 38, 1970,
pp. 277–312.
73 The evidence has been gathered by the impressive work of D. Gutas,
Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in
Baghdad and Early ‘Abbāsid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th centuries), Routledge,
New York, 1998, p. 26. Also see the excellent article by J. Walker,
“The Limits of Late Antiquity: Philosophy between Rome and Iran,”
The Ancient World, vol. 33, 2002, pp. 45–69.
74 Baiely, op. cit., p. 86.
75 B. Utas, “Chess I. The History of Chess in Persia,” Encyclopaedia Iranica,
ed. E. Yarshater, vol. v, 1992, p. 395.
76 On the board games and their significance for the Sasanian period
see, T. Daryaee, “Chess, Backgammon and the Cosmos in Ancient
Persia,” Iranian Studies, vol. 33, 2002, pp. 281–313.
77 F. de Blois, Burzōy’s Voyage to India and the Origin of the Book of Kalı¯lah wa
Dimnah, London, 1990.
78 Dāstānh -ye Bı¯dpāy, translated by M.b.A. al-Buxārı̄, ed. by P.N. Xānları̄
and M. Rošan, Xārazmı̄ Publishers, Tehran, 1369.
79 D.N. MacKenzie, “Zoroastrian astrology in the Bundahišn,” Bulletin of
the School of Oriental and African Studies, vol. XXVII, part 3, 1964, p. 171f.
80 S. Hedāyat, Kārnāme-ye ardašı¯r¯ı bābakān, Amir Kabir Publishers, Tehran,
1332, pp. 170–171; S.H. Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi, Otto Harrasowitz,
p. 2.
81 See the Middle Persian text D. Monchi-Zadeh, “Xusrōv ut Rētak,”
Monumentom Morgenstierne, vol. II, Acta Iranica, vol. 22, pp. 47–
91; and more generally see W. Knauth, Das altiranische Fürstenideal von
Xenophon bis Ferdousi, nach d. antiken u. einheim, Steiner, Wiesbade,
1975.
82 For a list of Middle Persian words used for Syriac, Greek, and Arabic
terms see Rezā’ı̄ Bāgh-Bı̄dı̄ “Sassanian Neologisms and Their Influence
on Dari Persian,” Nāme-ye farhangestān, vol. 15, No. 3, pp. 148–149.

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 182 Notes

CHAPTER 5: THE ECONOMY AND ADMINISTRATION

OF IRANSHAHR

1 M. Morony, “Continuity and Change in the Administrative Geography

of Late Sasanian and Early Islamic al-‘Iraq,” IRAN, Journal of the
British Institute of Persian Studies, vol. XX, 1982, p. 1.
2 R. Gyselen, “Les données de géographie administrative dans le
shahrestānı̄hā-ı̄ Ērān,” Studia Iranica, tome 17, fasc. 2, 1988, p. 206.
3 R. Gyselen, La Géographie administrative de l’empire Sassanide, Les témoignages
sigillographiques, Paris, 1989, and also her Nouveaux matériaux pour la
géographie historique de l’empire Sassanide: Sceaux administratifs de la collection
Ahmad Saeedi, Paris, 2002.
4 J. Marquart, Ērānshahr nach der Geographie des Ps. Moses Xorenac‘i,
Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin, 1901, p. 16.
5 Abu Mans.ūr Abd al-Malik ibn Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Tha‘alibi,
Gharar Axbar al-mulâk al-Fars wa Sayrhum, ed. H. Zotenberg, Paris, 1990,
p. 393.
6 Gignoux basically disagrees with this division, “Le Spāhbed des
Sassanides,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, 13, 1990, pp.1–14.
Gignoux has now changed his position.
7 G. Kreyenbroek, “The Zoroastrian Priesthood,” Transition Periods in
Iranian History, Actes du symposium de Fribourg-en-Brisgau (22–24
Mai 1985), Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, p. 152.
8 F. Gurnet, “Deux notes á propos du monnayage de Khusro II,” Revue
belge de Numismatique, tome CXL, 1994, pp. 36–37.
9 KR certainly stands for Kermān where it appears on the mint
GNCKR, which has been proposed to stand for ganj Kerman “treasury
of Kermān,” see M.I. Mochiri, Garmikirmān: A Sasanian and Early
Islamic Mint in Kirmān Province, NC, 145, 1985, pp. 109–122.
10 Gurnet, op. cit., p. 37.
11 G. Ostrogorsky, History of the Byzantine State, Rutgers University Press,
Revised Edition, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1969, pp. 97–98; J. F.
Haldon, Byzantium in the Seventh Century, Cambridge, 1990, p. 35.
12 V. Lukonin, “Administrative division of Parthian and Sasanian Period,”
The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1995, p. 701.
13 Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān 100.4–5.
14 Lukonin believes that the rustag was a rural district and its villages
were the deh, p. 727; Piacentini states that rustāq indicated a lesser
administrative area with a rural character (though more rarely it
might also have designated a village or a small rural area including
one or more villages), V. F. Piacentini, “Madı̄na/Shahr, Qarya? Deh,
Nāhiya/Rustāq The City as Political-Administrative Institution: the
Continuity of a Sasanian Model,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam,
vol. 17, 1994, p. 92.

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 Notes 183

15 F. De Blois, “The Middle-Persian Inscription From Constantinople:

Sasanian or post-Sasanian,” Studia Iranica, Tome 19, 1990, Fasc. 2,
pp. 209–218.
16 Piacentini, op. cit., p. 96.
17 Dı̄nāwarı̄, Axbār at-T.iwāl, p. 228; Morony, 1984, op. cit., p. 129; others
believe that a T.assūj was divided into rasōtāq, and the rasōtāq into
T.assūj, R.N. Frye, The Golden Age of Persia, p. 10.
18 Tārı¯x Bala’mı¯, pp. 874–875.
19 Bal’amı̄ says that a letter from Ardawān, the last Parthian king to Ardaxšı̄r
states that: “you are a man from the rusta of Staxr, your father Babak
was a man from the rusta, it was not large enough for you to come to a
shahr, that according to him you would take over Staxr,” p. 880; T.abarı̄
(I, 814) states that Ardaxšı̄r was from the qarya of Tı̄rūdeh, belonging
to the rustāq of Khı̄r, in the kūra of Istakhr of the balad of Fars.
20 Tārı¯x Qom, ed. S.J. Moddares, Tūs Publication, Tehran, 1982, p. 23.
21 N. Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian, The Political Conditions Based
on the Naxarar System, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1970,
p. 238.
22 Lukonin, op. cit., p. 727.
23 Madı¯gān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān 100.5–7.
24 Madı¯gān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān 100.5–7.
25 M. Morony, Iraq After the Muslim Conquest, Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey, 1984, p. 129.
26 W.B. Henning, “A New Parthian Inscription,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland, parts 3 and 4, 1953, p. 134.
27 R.N. Frye, “Notes on the early Sassanian State and Church,” Estratto
de Studi Orientalistici in onore di Giorgio Levi ella Vida, vol. 1, Roma, Istituto
per l’oriente, Viale D. Lubin, 2, 1956, pp. 331 and 335.
28 This kadag-xwadāy is not an ordinary “master of the house” and must
have been of a noble house to be positioned before the shahrab. I owe
this suggestion to Hanns-Peter Schmidt.
29 H. Humbach and P.O. Skjærvø The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli,
Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1983, paragraph 32.
30 Back, op. cit., p. 483.
31 R.N. Frye, “The Persepolis Middle Persian Inscriptions from the Time
of Shapur II,” Acta Orientalia, XXX, 1966, p. 85.
32 Gyselen, La géographie, 1989, p. 28.
33 R.N. Frye, op. cit., 1966, p.85.
34 A.B. Nikitin, “Middle Persian Ostraca from South Turkmenistan,”
East and West, IsMEO, vol. 42, No. 1, March 1992, pp. 105.
35 M. Shaki, “Dād,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. VI, 1994, p. 544.
36 W. B. Henning, “Notes on the Inscription of Šāpūr,” Professor Jackson
Memorial Volume, p. 53; F. Grenet, “Observations sur les titres de
Kirdı̄r,” Studia Iranica, tome 19, 1990, fasc. 1, p. 94.
37 R. Gyselen, “Note de glyptique sassanide les cachets personnels de

Notes.indd 183 11/26/2008 6:25:07 PM

 184 Notes

l’ohrmazd-mogbed,” études irano-aryennes offertes á Gilbert Lazard, ed.

C.-H de Fouchécour and Ph. Gignoux, Association pour l’avancement
des études iraniennes, Paris, 1989, p. 186.
38 Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān 26.15.
39 R. Gyselen, “Les sceaux des mages de l’Iran sassanide,” Au carrefour des
religions Mélanges offerts á Philippe Gignoux, ed. R. Gyselen, Res Orientales,
vol. VII, Groupe pour l’Žtude de la civilisation du moyen-orient,
Bures-sur-Yvette, 1995, p. 123.
40 M. Morony, “Mobadh,” Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden, 1987, p. 576.
41 Agathias, The Histories, II.26.5.
42 S. Shaked, “Administrative Functions of Priests in the Sasanian
Period,” Proceedings of the First European Conference of Iranian Studies, Rome,
1990, p. 268.
43 N. G. Garsoïan, History of Ancient and Medieval Armenia, Chapter III
“The Marzpanate (428–652),” ed. R. Hovannisian, 1984, unpublished
manuscript, p. 4.
44 Ełishe, History of Vardan and the Armenian War, Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, England, 1982, p. 60.
45 Vichitakiha-i Zadsparam, Bombay, 1964, XXXIII.5, p. 87; Ph. Gignoux
and A. Tafazzoli, Anthologie de Zādspram, Association pour l’avancement
des Études Iraniennes, Paris, 1993, pp. 114–115.
46 M. Shaki, “Dādwar, Dādwarı̄h,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. VI, 1994,
p. 557.
47 J. de Menasce, “Le protecteur des pauvres dans l’Iran sasanide,”
Mélanges Henri Massé, Tehran 1963, p. 283.
48 Pahlavi Rivayats 196; Sad-dar Nasr XXII.3.
49 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, XIX.15.
50 J. de Menasce, op. cit., pp. 282–287.
51 Ph. Gignoux, “Problémes d’interprétation historique et philologique
des titres et noms propres sasanides,” Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum
Hungaricae, XXIV, vol. 1–4, 1976, p. 105.
52 Gyselen, op. cit., 1989, p. 31.
53 Ibid., p. 59.
54 S. Shaked, “Some Legal and Administrative Terms,” Monumentum H.S.
Nyberg II, Acta Iranica, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1975, p. 215.
55 Shaked believes that the title was a complimentary one, designating
the mowbeds of Fars in particular, ibid., pp. 215–216.
56 N.G. Garsoian, “Protecteur des pauvres,” Revue des études arméniennes,
tome XV, 1981, p. 24; J.R. Russell, “Advocacy of the Poor: The
Maligned Sasanian Order,” Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute,
Bombay, 1986, p. 136.
57 For driyōš see W. Sundermann, “Commendatio pauperum,”
Altorientalische Forschungen, IV, Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1976,
pp. 179–191; also M. Shaki, “An Appraisal of Encyclopaedia Iranica,
vols II, and III,” Archív Orientalní, 59, 1991, p. 406.

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 Notes 185

58 S. Shaked, The Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages, Westview Press, Boulder,

Colorado, 1979, p. 57; see also passage 23, p. 13; passage 35, p. 15;
passage 91, p. 37.
59 J.P. de Menasce, Feux et fondations pieuses dans le droit sassanide, Paris,
1964, pp. 59–62; M. Macuch, “Sasanidische Institutionen in Früh-
Islamischer Zeit,” Transition Periods in Iranian History, L’association pour
l’avancement des études iraniennes, 1987, pp. 178–179.
60 Frye, op. cit., 1973, pp. 84–85.
61 Gyselen, La géographie administrative de l’empire sassanide, p. 33.
62 Pahlavi Texts, ed. J.M. Jamasp-Asana, 1913, p. 157; J.C. Tavadia, “Sūr
Saxvan, A Dinner Speech in Middle Persian,” Journal of Cama Oriental
Institute, vol. 29, 1935, 42f. and 63f.
63 Tansar-nāme, ed. M. Minovı̄, Tehran, 1932, p. 57 and 143.
64 M.L. Chaumont, “Andarzbad,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. II, 1987,
p. 22.
65 Shabuhr I, Ka‘ba-ye Zardošt, line 33, Chaumont, op. cit., p. 22.
66 History of Łazar P‘arpec‘i, Scholars Press, Atlanta Georgia, 1991, 88.50
and 98.
67 Zādspram, p. 88.
68 A. Périkhanian, “Notes sur le lexique iranien et arménien,” Revue des
Études Arméniennes, Nouvelle série, Tome V, Paris, 1968, p. 21.
69 Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān 110.148.
70 Muruj al-dhahab, p. 240; it should be mentioned that due to the corrupt
nature of the pasage qād.i al-qud.at may stand for mowbedān mowbed.
71 For the complete list of his responsibilities see M. Shaki, “Dādwar,
Dādwarı̄h,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. VI. 1984, p. 558.
72 Madı¯yān ¯ı Hazār Dādestān A5.11
73 Frye, op. cit., 1973, p. 63.
74 Gyselen, op. cit., 1989, p. 112.
75 Gyselen, op. cit., pp. 35–36.
76 R.C. Zaehner, “Nāmak-nipēsı̄šnih,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies, vol. 9, 1937–1939, pp. 93–109.
77 Tafazzolı̄, Sasanian Society, p. 27. For further observation on the
dibı¯rān see the chapter on Society in this book.
78 R. Gyselen, “Economy IV. In the Sasanian Period,” Encyclopaedia Iranica,
ed. E. Yarshater, 1997, pp. 104–105.
79 Wenke, 1987, p. 255; for Iraq see Adamns, 1965, 73.
80 R.N. Frye, “Feudalism in Iran,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam,
vol. 9, 1987, p. 14.
81 de Menasce and Macuch, 1993, p. 649.
82 Wenke, 1987, p. 255.
83 J. de Menasce, “Textes pehlevis sur les Qanats,” Acta Orientalia, vol. 30,
1966, reprint in Études Iraniennes, Studia Iranica Cahier, p. 146.
84 R.J. Wenke, “Western Iran in the Partho-Sasanian Period: The Imperial
Transformation,” ed. F. Hole, The Archaeology of Western Iran, Settlement

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 186 Notes

and Society from Prehistory to the Islamic Conquest, Smithsonian Institution

Press, Washington, D.C., and London, 1987, p. 253.
85 Wenke, 1987, p. 255.
86 Ibid., p. 253.
87 Wenke, 1987, p. 262.
88 For a good discussion of this building activity during this period see
N.V. Pigulevskaïa, Les villes de l’état iranien aux époques parthe et sassanide,
Paris, 1963.
89 A Catalogue of the Provincial Capitals of the Ērānshahr, J. Markwart, ed.
G. Messina, Pontificio Istituto Biblico, Rome, 1931; T. Daryaee, The
Shahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānshahr, Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2002.
90 For example, Weh-Ardaxšı̄r: Ardashir-xwarrah; Ērān-Xwarrah-
Shabuhr; Bishabuhr; Weh-Andı̄og-Shabuhr.
91 The building of these cities have been ascribed to Ardaxšı̄r I: Wahišt-
Ardešı̄r; Rām-Ardešı̄r; Rām-Mehrz-Ardešı̄r; Būd-Ardašı̄r; Batn-
Ardašı̄r; Anša-Ardašı̄r; Bahman-Ardašı̄r; Ardašı̄r-Xorrah; Mēlı̄-
Ardašı̄r; Harmšı̄r; Hujastan-Wājār (this would be Wāzār, since he
mentions that this city was the center of the traders and businessmen);
Beh-Ardašı̄r, Kitab ta’rı¯kh sinı¯ mulūk al-ard. wa’l-anbiyā’, ed. S.H.
Taqizadeh, Berlin, 1921, p. 44.
92 R.McC. Adams, Land Behind Baghdad: A History of Settlement on the Diyalal
Plain, Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1965, pp. 115–116.
93 Wenke, p. 256.
94 J.A. Neely, “Sasanian and Early Islamic Water-Control and Irrigations
Systems on the Deh Luran Plain, Iran,” ed. T.E. Downing and
M. Gibson, Irrigation’s Impact on Society, University of Arizona Press,
Tuscon, 1974, p. 30.
95 Neely, Ibid., p. 39.
96 M. Morony, “Land Use and Settlement Patterns in Late Sasanian and
Early Islamic Iraq,” The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, Land Use
and Settlement Patterns, eds. G.R.D. King and A. Cameron, vol. II, The
Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1994, p. 227.
97 Wenke, 1987, p. 259.
98 Gnoli, op. cit., p. 131.
99 Gnoli, op. cit., 157.
100 M. Morony, “Landholding in Seventh-Century Iraq: Late Sasanian
and Early Islamic Patterns,” The Islamic Middle East, 700–1900: Studies
in Economic and Social History, ed. A.L. Udovitch, The Darwin Press,
Princeton, New Jersey, 1981, p. 164.
101 A. Williamson, “Persian Gulf Commerce in the Sassanian Period and
the First Two Centuries of Islam,” Bāstān Chenāsı¯ wa Honar-e Iran,”
vol. 9–10, 1972, pp. 97–109: M. Kervran, “Forteresses, entrepôts et
commerce: une historie à suivre depuis les rois sassanides jusqu’ aux
princes d’ormuz,” Itinéraires d’orient, hommages à claude cahen, eds. R. Curiel
and R. Gyselen, Res Orientales, vol. VI, 1994, pp. 325–350.

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 Notes 187

102 Dinawarı̄, p. 44; Hoyland, Arabia and the Arabs from the Bronze Age to the
coming of Islam, Routledge, New York and London, 2001, pp. 27–28.
103 S.M. Awtab, Kitāb ansāb al-‘arab, Bibliothèque Nationale, Ms. Arabe
5019, 271r.; Hoyland, ibid., p. 28.
104 V.F. Piacentini, “Ardashı̄r I Pāpakān and the wars against the Arabs:
Working hypothesis on the Sasanian hold on the Gulf,” Proceedings of the
Seminar for Arabian Studies, vol. 15, London, 1985, pp. 57–78.
105 R. Boucharlat and J.F. Salles, “The History and Archaeology of the Gulf
from 5th century BC to the 7th century AD: a review of the evidence,”
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arab Studies, vol. 11, London, 1981, p. 66.
106 V.F. Piacentini, Merchants-Merchandise and Miliatry Power in the Persian Gulf
(Sūriyān/Shahriyāj-Sı¯rāf), Atti Della Academia Nazionale Dei Lincei,
Roma, 1992, p. 117.
107 Boucharlat and Salles, op. cit., p. 66,
108 B. de Cardi, “A Sasanian Outpost in Northern Oman,” Antiquity,
vol. XLVI, no. 184, 1972, p. 306.
109 Boucharlat and Salles, op. cit., p. 71; R. Ghirshman, “The Island of
Kharg,” Iranian Oil Operating Companies, 1960, p. 10.
110 For Sasanian presence in Eastern Africa see “Kilwa: a Preliminary
Report,” Azania, The Journal of the British Institute of History and Archaeology
of East Africa, vol. I, 1996, p. 7.
111 Istakhrı̄, Masalik wa Mamalik, ed. I. Afšār, p. 113.
112 For Sasanian presence at Sı̄rāf see D. Whitehouse and A. Williamson,
“Sasanian Maritime Trade,” Iran, vol. XI, 1973, p. 35; D. Huff,
“Archaeology IV. Sasanian,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1989, p. 303: N.M.
Lowick, The Coins and Monumental Inscriptions, The British Institute of
Persian Studies, Siraf XV, 1985, pp. 11–16.
113 D. Whitehouse, “Maritime Trade in the Arabian Sea: The 9th and 10th
Centuries AD,” South Asian Archaeology, ed. M. Taddei, vol. 2, 1977,p. 868.
114 J. Kröger, “Sasanian Iran and India: Questions of Interaction,” South
Asian Archaeology, ed. H. Härtel, 1979, p. 447.
115 Kosma aigyptiou monachou Christianika topographi. The Christian Topography
of Cosmas, An Egyptian Monk, The Kakluyt Society, Burt Franklin, New
York, p. 365.
116 B. Senior, “Some new coins from Sind,” Oriental Numismatic Society,
No. 149, Summer 1996, p. 6. I would like to thank William B. Warden
for bringing this fact to my attention and pictures of other similar coins
found in the Sind area.
117 H.M. al-Naboodah, “The Commercial activity of Bahrain and Oman
in the early Middle Ages,” Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies,
vol. 22, London, 1992, p. 81.
118 B. Spuler, “Trade in the Eastern Islamic Countries in the Early
Centuries,” Islam and the Trade in Asia, 1970, p. 14.
119 J. C. Wilkinson, “Sūhār in the Early Islamic Period: The Written
Evidence,” South Asian Archaeology, 1973, ed. E. Taeddi, vol. 2, p. 888.

Notes.indd 187 11/26/2008 6:25:08 PM

 188 Notes

120 B. de Cardi, “A Sasanian Outpost in Northern Oman,” Antiquity, vol.

XLVI, no. 184, Dec. 1972, p. 308; D.T. Potts, “A Sasanian Lead Horse
from North Eastern Arabia,” Iranica Antiqua, vol. XXVIII, 1993, p. 197.
121 D. Whitehouse, “Maritime Trade in the Arabian Sea: The 9th and
10th Centuries AD,” South Asian Archaeology, ed. M. Taddei, vol. 2, 1977,
pp. 874–879.
122 B. de Cardi, “The British Archaeological Expedition to Qatar 1973–
1974,” Antiquity, vol. XLVIII, No. 191, Sept. 1974, p. 199.
123 B. de Cardi, “Archaeological Survey in N. Trucial States,” East and West,
IsMEO’ vol. 21, No. 3–4, Sept.-Dec. 1971, pp. 260, 268.
124 Spuler, ibid., pp. 81–82.
125 For Persians in China see E.H. Schafter, “Iranian Merchants in T’ang
Dynasty Tales,” University of California Publications in Semitic Philology,
vol. xi, 1951, pp. 403–422.
126 D. Whitehouse, “Chinese Stoneware from Siraf: The Earliest Finds,”
South Asian Archaeology, 1971, pp. 241–243.
127 Ammianus Marcellinus, XXIII, 6, 11.
128 Procopius, I.xx.12.
129 H. Nai, “A Survery of Sasanian Silver Coins Found in China,” K’ao Ku
‘Hsüeh Pao, No. 1, 1974, pp. 93, 107.
130 Nai, ibid., p. 95; P.D. Curtin, Cross-Cultural Trade in World History,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1984, p. 101.
131 H. Nai, Studies in Chinese Archaeology, The Institute of Arcaheological
Academia Sinica, Peking, 1961, p. 171.
132 F. Thierry, “Sur les monnaies sassanides trouvées en chine,” Circulations
des monnaies, des marchandises et des biens, ed. R. Gyselen, Res Orientales,
vol. V, Bures-sur-Yvette, 1993, see map on p. 90.
133 J.E. Cribb, “Far East,” A Survey of Numismaic Research, 1978–1984, eds.
M. Price, E. Besly, D. Macdowall, M. Jones, and A. Oddy, vol. II,
London, 1986, p. 814.
134 R.C. Houston, “A Note on Two Coin Hoards Reported in Kao Ku,” The
American Numismatic Society Museum Notes, vol. 20, 1975, pp. 158–159.
135 M. Morony, “Land Use and Settlement Patterns in Late Sasanian and
Early Islamic Iraq,” The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, Land Use
and Settlement Patterns, eds. G.R.D. King and A. Cameron, vol. II, The
Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1994, p. 227.
136 N.N. Chegini and A.V. Nikitin, “Sasanian Iran – Economy, Society,
Arts and Crafts,” History of Civilizations of Central Asia, vol. III, ed. B.A.
Litvinsky et. al., UNESCO Publishing, Paris, 1996, p. 43.
137 One can view the Sasanian influence on silk cloth patterns as far as
Egypt, see O.P. Harper, The Royal Hunter, New York, 1978.
138 Thierry, pp. 125–128.
139 B.I. Marshak and N.N. Negmatov, “Sogdiana,” History of Civlizations of
Central Asia, vol. III, ed. B.A. Litvinsky et. al., UNESCO Publishing,
Paris, 1996, P. 234.

Notes.indd 188 11/26/2008 6:25:08 PM

 Notes 189

140 M. Morony, “Trade and Exchange: The Sasanian World to Islam,” The
Late Antiquity and Early Islam Workshop, Trade and Exchange AD. 565–770,
unpublished draft, p. 7.
141 Procopius, The History of the Wars, London and New York, 1914,
pp. 480–481; Morony, Trade, p. 11.
142 Morony, Trade, p. 11.
143 Menander Protector in Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Excerpta de
legationibus, ed. C. de Boor, i, 180.
144 Morony, Trade, p. 12.
145 R. Göbl was one of the first scholars to classify the seals and sealings
based on typology, Der Sāsānidische Siegelkanon, Braunschweig, 1973.
146 R.N. Frye, “Sassanian Clay Sealings in the Baghdad Museum,” Sumer,
vol. 26, 1970, p. 240; “Methodology in Iranian History,” Neue Methodologie
in der Iranistik, ed. R.N. Frye, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1974, p.
68; R. Gyselen, La géographie administrative de l’empire sassanide, les témoignages
siglloraphiques, Centre National pour la Recherce Scientifique et de
l’Associaton pour l’Avancement des Etudes Iraniennes, Paris, 1989.
147 Ph. Gignoux, “Sceaux chértiens d’époque sasanide,” Iranica Antiqua, vol.
XV, 1980, pp. 299–314. For a through bibliography see Ph. Gignoux
and R. Gyselen, Sceaux sasanides de diverses collections privées, Éditions
Peeters, Leuven, 1982; Ibid., Bulles et sceax sassanides de diverses collections,
Studia Iranica – Cahier 4, Association pour l’avanement des études
iraniennes, Paris, 1987.
148 V.G. Lukonin, pp. 742–743.
149 R.N. Frye, “Sasanian Seal Inscriptions,” Beiträge zur Alten Geschichte und
deren Nachleben, Festschrift für Franz Altheim zum 6.10.1968, eds. R. Stiehl
und H.E. Stier, Zweiter Band, Walter de Gruyter and Co., Berlin, 1970,
pp. 79, 84.
150 R.N. Frye, “Commerce III. In the Parthian and Sasanian Periods,”
Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater, vol. VI, Mazda Publishers, Costa
Mesa, p. 62.
151 N.V. Peegulevskaya, “Economic Relations in Iran during the IV–VI
Centuries AD.,” Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, No. 38, 1956,
p. 67.
152 J.K. Choksy, “Loan and Sales Contracts in Ancient and Early Medieval
Iran,” Indo-Iranian Journal, vol. 31, 1988, p. 210.
153 Dēnkard, Madan edition,, 757.10 translated by Tafazzolı̄, “A List of
Trades and Crafts in the Sassanian Period,” Archaeologische Mitteilungen
aus Iran, vol. 7, 1974, p. 192.
154 Tafazzolı̄, ibid., pp. 193–196.
155 Tafazzolzı̄, op. cit., p. 192.
156 ŠKZ 35; Back, op. cit., p. 366.
157 Tafazzolı̄, op. cit., p. 195.
158 Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad, pp. 48–49.
159 ŠKZ 5/4/10, Back, p. 293.

Notes.indd 189 11/26/2008 6:25:08 PM

 190 Notes

160 R.C. Blockley, “Subsidies and Diplomacy: Rome and Persian in Late
Antiquity,” Phoenix, vol. 39, no. 1, 1985, pp. 63–64.
161 Ibid., p. 67.
162 Ibid., p. 68.
163 Ibid., p. 70–71.
164 Wenke states that the widespread use of bronze coinage in the Susania
plain, 1987, p. 271.
165 R. Göbl, “Sasanian Numismatics,” The Cambridge History of Iran, ed.
E. Yarshater, vol. 3(2), 1983, p. 332.
166 C. Reider, “Legend Variations of the Coins of Ardashir the Great,”
Oriental Numismatic Society, No. 147, Winter 1996, pp. 10–11.
167 T. Daryaee, “The Persian Gulf Trade in Late Antiquity,” Journal of
World History, vol. 14, no. 1, 2003, pp. 1–16.
168 Cowell and Lowick, “Silver from the Panjhı̄r,” Khurasan, Bates’ notes
given to me by M. Bates.
169 See Holst, Samanid.bib, who holds for wood-fuel supplies, Emily
Savage-Smith made comment that lack of fuel at the mine site would
have made smelting more expensive there rather than transport of ore
elsewhere to be smelted.
170 Agapius, Kitāb al-’Unwan, Pat. Or. VIII, 1911.
171 B. Laufer, Sino-Iranica, p. 515.
172 R.J. Forbes, op. cit., pp. 409 ff.
173 Kārnāmg ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān, Nyberg’s edition in his reader, 6.7, 1964.
174 M. Maczek, estimates that Persia contains thirteen million tons of iron,
“Der Erzbergbau im Iran,” p. 198.
175 H.E. Wulff, The Traditional Crafts of Persia, The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 1966, p. 7.
176 S. Parhām, “Tārı̄kh-e khoan-e farš-bāfı̄-e Fars,” (The ancient
history of carpet weaving in Fars), AYANDEH, vol. 7, No. 4, 1981,
pp. 262–263.
177 Wulff, Ibid., p. 213.
178 M. Shaki saw this passage as a fabrication based on the Christian monas-
tic model, “Darvı̄š,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, while M.-L. Chaumont saw
genunie Zoroastrian ascetism, “Vestiges d’un courant ascétique dans le
zoroastrisme sassanide d’apres le Vie livre du Dēnkart,” Revue de l’histoire
des religions, CLVI, no. 1, 1959, pp. 1–24; also my comments “Sasanian
Persia,” Iranian Studies, vol. 31, Nos. 3–4, 1998, pp. 444–445.
179 Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad, , 1364, p. 18.
180 Morony, Landholding, p. 146.
181 Morony, Landholding, p. 150.
182 Morony, Landholding, p. 163.
183 Z. Rubin, “Reforms of Khusro Anūshirwān,” The Byzantine and Early
Islamic Near East, States, Resources and Armies, vol. III, ed. A. Cameron,
Darwin Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995, p. 291.
184 Rubin, ibid., p. 293–294.

Notes.indd 190 11/26/2008 6:25:08 PM

 Bibliography

JOURNALS AND REFERENCE WORKS

AAH Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae

Aas Artibus Asiae
AION Annali dell’Istiuto Universitario Orientale di Napoli
AMI Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran
AOH Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
ArO Archív Orientalní
BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
CHI The Cambridge History of Iran
EIr Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater
EW East and West
Farh Farhang
GIrPH Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, ed. B. Geiger and E. Kuhn,
Strassburg 1895–1901
Hdo Handbuch der Orientalistik, ed. B. Spuler, Leiden-Cologne
IIJ Indo-Iranian Journal
IrAnt Iranica Antiqua
JA Journal Asiatique
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JCOI Journal of the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute
JSAI Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
NFar Nāme-ye Farhangestān
NIB Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān
NS Numismatic Chronicle
RSO Rivista degli Studi Orientali
StIr Studia Iranica
TAVO Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients
ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft

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PRIMARY TEXTUAL SOURCES

An invaluable collection of primary sources for the Sasanian–Roman relations

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Bib.indd 216 11/25/2008 4:02:56 PM
 Index

Abādı¯h ud Sāhagı¯hāı̄ Sı¯stān 113 air-playing 50

Abāliš 110 Alexander Severus, Emperor (222–235
Abar Ēwēnag ¯ı Nāmag Nibēsišnı¯h (On CE) 3, 4, 6, 152n. 15
the Manner of Book/Letter Alexander the Great 1, 2, 6, 70, 85, 99,
Writing) 115 118, 153n. 30
Abar Madan ¯ı Wahram ¯ı Warzāwand (On al-Mahdi (Abbasid Caliph) 91
the Coming of the Miraculous al-Mans.ur (754–775 CE.) 123
Wahram) 38 al-Mas’ūdı̄ 132
Abbasid (caliphate) xvi al-Nu’man III ibn al-Mundir (king of
Abd al-Qays 17 al-Hira) 33
Abdullah ibn al-Muqaffa 120 Al-Tabarı̄ 18, 45, 46, 156n. 63
abortion 60 Ammianus Marcellinus xix, 17, 45, 46
absentee land owners 147–8 Anahı̄t 156n. 69
accountants 53–4, 127, 129, 132–3 Anahid (Anahita) (deity) 3, 13, 34, 69,
Achaemenids 1, 3, 24, 64, 79, 105, 106 70, 72, 81, 106, 156n. 69
Achaemenid inscriptions 103 Anāhit 19
Acts of Simeon 78 andarz texts 112
administration 123–6 Andigan family 10
administrators 123–6, 126–33 an-Ērān 5, 13
Adurbad i Mahrspandan (priest) 20, 21, Antiochus Strategos 33
84–6, 87 apocalyptic texts 111
Adur Farrobay 45, 47 Aramaic language 99, 100
Adur-Farrobay, king of Meshan 12 Aramaic script 103
Adur-Narseh 16 Arcadius, Emperor (383–408 CE) 22
Advocate and Judge of the Poor 127, archery 51
129, 130 Ardā Wirāz Nāmag (The Book of
Afsharids 105 Righteous Wirāz) 60, 63, 111
Agapius 146 Ardashir I 2–6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 20,
Agathias 21, 129 40, 46, 47, 69–70, 71, 75, 81, 100,
Secret History xix 105, 112, 114, 152n. 15, 152n. 17,
agriculture 133–4 154n. 30
Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) 79 Ardashir II (379–383 CE) 20, 106, 157n.
Ahreman (evil spirit) 5, 63, 73, 82, 83 106
Ahura Mazda see Ohrmazd Ardashir III 35

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 218 Index

Ardashir/Ardaxšahr (Persis king) 2 bazm (royal banquet) 11, 50, 59

Ardashir-Anahid, Queen 59 Bazrangid family 3
Ardawan (Artabanus IV) 2, 3, 4, 5, 70, Belisarius, General 28
75, 114, 136, 183n. 19 Bible 79, 116
Ardaxšı̄r I xix, 71, 99, 126, 136, 143, bilad (region/country) 126
145, 146, 183n.19, 186n. 93 Biruni 66
Armazd 156n. 69 board games 120, 121
Armenian feudal clans 19 Book of Enoch 116
armor-playing 50 Book of Good Counsel (Hitopadesa) 120
army 45 Book of Manners (ēwēn-nāmag) 120
arrow-playing 50 Book of Righteous Wiraz (Ardā Wiraz
Arsacids 2, 31 Nāmag) 85
Aršak II (350–367 CE) 19 Book Regarding the Duties of the
Artashes, King 23 Mowbeds (xwēš-nāmag ¯ı mawbedān
Artaxerxes II 2, 3, 34 nibišt) 128
artisan class 48 Borzoye 120
Aspacures 19 bottle-juggling 50
Assyrian wine 51 Boyce, Mary 117
astrology 120, 121 branding 64
Autophradates I 169n. 1 Bridge, battle of (34 CE) 37
Avarair, battle of (451 CE) 24 Buddhism 49, 74, 77, 96, 97
Avesta 5, 6, 9, 14, 20, 24, 26, 44, 51, 63, Bundahišn (The Book of Primal
77, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 90, 91, 97, Creation) 59, 61, 91, 94, 109, 113
103, 113, 114, 118, 119 Buran, Queen 35–6, 56, 59
Commentarie on 109–10 bureaucracy 9–10
awestām 129, 132
Ayādgār ¯ı Zarērān (The Testament of calligraphy 121
Zarer) 22, 64, 113, 117, 154n. 30 Caracalla 3
āzādā 45 Carus 12, 156n. 60
Azari language 101 castle lord 52
Azarmigduxt, Queen 36 Catholicos xx
cavalry 45
Babak 183n. 19 chain-playing 50
Bārbad 50 chancery of Warriors 46
Baba Taher language 101 chase 51–2
Babylonian language 99 chief of cavalry 52
Babylonian Talmud 100, 110 chief of prison 52
Bacche 113 chief physician 52
Bactrian language 101, 116–18 chief scribe 52
Bactrian literature 116–18 chief usher 52
Bal’ami 126 Chilarch 52
Balash (Walāxš) (Vologases VI) (484– Chionites 17
488 CE) 3, 25 Christian literature 116
ball-playing 50 Christian Nestorianism 27
Banquet Speech 115 Christianity xviii, xix, 48, 49, 55–6, 66,
Barāz 142 77–8, 97, 110
Bardesanes of Edessa 74 cither-player 50
Basarangian wine 51 cities 135
bazaar 142 class division 42–50

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 Index 219

Classical Persian (1000 CE) period 102 dress 60

Classical Sanskrit 103 drinks 51
club-playing 50 driyōšān 56, 57
Commander of the Royal Guard 46
Commentarie on the Avesta 109–10 economy 133–4
Constantine, Emperor 14, 16, 77 Elagabalus, Emperor (218–222 CE) 3
Constantius (337–338 CE) 17 Elamites 64, 99
cook 50 elephant corps 46
copiers of the scripture 54 Elisaeus 79
corpses, disposing of 66 Ełishe 129
councillor 52, 127, 131 epic texts 113–14
court 9–10, 50–2 Ērān (Iranians) 5
cultural texts 114–15 Eternal Peace 30
cup-juggling 50 ethical dualism xvi
cupbearer 52 eunuch 52
Eutropius 18
Dādestān ¯ı Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad 43, 47, 48, 147
dagger-playing 50 fahlaviyāt language 101
Dahag (Persian) 93 Farhang 115
dancing 121 farmers 47
Dante: Divina 111 Fatalists 110
Dara, King 114 Ferdowsi 29
darı¯gbed 52 fire, cult of 4
Darius I 12, 65, 114 fire temples 13, 71–2, 44, 47, 76
Darius III 105 Firouzabad 5
darvish 57 flute-player 50
daštānestān 167n. 99 food 50–2
Dāstānhā-ye Bı̄dpāy (The Fables of foot soldiers 45
Pilpay) 120 foreign influences 118–20
Daylamites 30, 41 fortune tellers 120
death ceremonies 65 fratarakā 2
debate texts 110–11 fratricide 34–6
deh 125, 126, 182n. 14 Fredon/Feraidun 93
dehgan 29, 32, 54–5, 125 Frye 134
deification of the ruler/king 153n. 30
De Menasce 130 Galerius 13
Denag 24 games 120
Dēnkard (Acts of Religion) 44, 45, 63, Gaozong, T’ang Emperor 37
64, 70, 77, 81, 83, 86–9, 91, 93, gate keeper 52
109, 112, 114, 118, 119, 142, 147 Gathas of Zoroaster 82
dictionaries 115 gender 59–64
didactic texts 112 General of the Empire 45
Diocletian, Emperor 12 geographical texts 113–14
divination 80 Germanic languages 102
divorce 61 Gilani tribe 41
domestic economy 140 Gizistag Abālı¯š (The Accursed
Drastamat (eunuch) 19 Abālı̄š) 110, 118, 164n. 19
Draxt ¯ı Āsūrı¯g (The Assyrian Tree) 110, Gnostic tradition xx
117 Gordian 6, 154n. 34

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 220 Index

Goths 102 Iran 56

Gozihr (local ruler of Istakhr) 3 Islam 49, 110
grandees 52
grape wine 51 Jamasp 111, 112
Greco-Macedonians 1–2 Jāmāsp Nā 112, 113
Greek language 99, 100, 101 javelin-playing 50
Grumbates, King 17, 18 Jawan-mardan 57
guild master 49 Jāwı¯dān xrad (Eternity of Wisdom) 112
Gulinduxt 55 jēh (female demon) 59
Gupta Empire (320–500 CE) 17 Jews xx, 20, 77–9, 97, 100, 110
Jošnasbandah 36
Hamza al-Isfahānı̄ 135 jousting 51, 121
hand-drum-player 50 Jovian, Emperor 18, 19
harp-player 50 judge 126, 127, 129, 132
Hellenistic Age 1 Juggling 50
Henning, W.B. 117 Julian, Roman Emperor 18
Hephthalites 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 46, 87, Justin II, Emperor 31
125 Justinian 28, 30, 31, 119
Heraclius, Emperor 33, 35
Hesiod: Theogony 111 Ka’be-ye Zardosht in Persis 7
Hinduism 74, 96, 97 kadag-xwadāy 183n. 28
History of Lazar P’arpec’i 131 Kāla Kośa (Treasury of Astronomy) 119
homosexuality 63, 168n. 124 Kalilag ud Damnag 120
hoop-springing 50 Karapans 93
Hormizd I (270–271 CE) 10, 11, 76, 81, Karataka u Damanaka 120
84, 128 Karen 10, 19
Hormizd II (302–309 CE) 15, 16 Kārframān/Kārdārn 127, 133
Hormizd III (457–459 CE) 24 Kārnāmag ¯ı Ardaxšı¯r ¯ı Pābagān (The Book
Hormizd IV (579–590 CE) 31–2 of the Deeds of Ardashir, the
Hormizd V 36 son of Pabag) 105, 114, 121, 136,
Hormizdduxtag 15 146
Hormuzd-Afarid 125 Kavad I (488–496, 499–531 CE) 25,
horse racing 121 26–8, 32, 37, 41, 45, 47, 54, 58, 88,
horsemanship 121 89, 112, 123, 124, 125, 129, 139,
House of Culture 121 144, 148
Humban (Elamite deity) 1 Kavad II (Šērōe) 34–5
Huns 21 Kavis 93
hunt 51–2 Kawus 28, 29
husbandmen 47 Kay Wištāsp 22
hymn-singers 51 Kerdir (Zoroastrian priest) 5, 9, 10, 11,
12, 14, 64, 74, 75–7, 80–1, 100,
Ibn Balkhi 41 103, 111, 128
Ibn Miskawayh: Tajarib al-Umam 112, Kermān 182n. 9
125 Kermani 41
Ibn Nadim 133 Khandaq i Shapur (Ditch of Shabuhr) 17
‘Ilm al-kalam 118 Kharazmian 118
incantation bowls 94 Khordad (deity) 65, 125
Indic languages 103 Khotanese language and
infantry 46 literature 116–18

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 Index 221

Khusro I 22, 27, 28–30, 31, 32, 35, Mar Isho-Yab 36

37, 38, 41, 42, 45, 46, 47, 51, 54, Mār Qardag 132
89–90, 109, 112, 123, 124, 125, Marcion 74
126, 129, 136, 144, 148, 160n. 160 Marcus Philippus (Praetorian
Khusro II (590–628 CE) 30, 32–3, 34, Perfect) 154n. 34
35, 45, 46, 50, 56, 106, 107, 112, mard i juwan 57
123, 125, 145, 146, 160n. 160 Mardānšāh 35
Khusro III 36 Marduk (Mesopotamian deity) 1
Khusro IV 36 market place 142
Khwashnawaz 25 marriage 60–1, 62–3
Kidarites 17, 21, 24 Maryam, Eastern Roman princess 34
knights 121 marzbans 129
Ko-Ku-Yao 146 Marzpanate period (428–652 CE) 23,
kura 126 126
kurd 40–1 masmoγān (Zoroastrian priest) 91
Kurdish language 101 master of ceremonies 52
Kurdish people 40, 101 master of servants 52
kust 129 Maurice, Emperor 31, 32, 33, 46
Mazda worshippers (Mazdakites) xix,
languages 99–103 2, 14, 21, 28, 87
Latin 101 Mazdak (priest) 26–9, 87, 88, 92
Law Book of Yišoboxt 110 Maznian Dews 93
legal scribes 54 Mehran (Persian general) 28, 110, 143
legal texts 114 Mēnōg ¯ı Xrad 63, 65, 82
Letter of Tansar 71 menstruation 60, 64
letter-writing, formulaic system 53–4 merchants 48, 143
levirate marriage 60, 87 Meružan Arcruni 19
local rulers 52 Meshan/Mesene 71
long-necked-lute-player 50 Middle Persian 99–100, 121
Luri 101 inscriptions 103–7
lyre-player 50 language (Pahlavi) 102
texts 104, 107–15
Mādıyānı¯ Hazār Dādestān (The Exposition Mihragan festivals 42
of One Thousand Judgments) 114, Mihr-Narseh 23, 82, 105, 106
123, 126, 129, 132, 134, 141 Mithra/Mihr (deity) 3, 20, 34, 72, 73,
Magi 2, 129 83, 106, 170n. 10
magic 94 money 144–6
Ma’mun, Caliph 110 monkey-playing (kabı¯g-wāzı¯g) 50
Mani xx, 9, 10, 14, 72–5, 80, 81, 82, 83, Moses Xorenats’i 124
86, 116 mourning rituals 65–6
Manichaean Elect 48 mow (‘priest’) 127–8, 129–30
Manichaean Hearers 48 mowbed (‘chief priest’) 125–30
Manichaean literature 116 Muhammad, Prophet 49
Manichaean Middle Persian texts 116 Mušeł Mamikonean 19
Manichaean texts 103 musical instruments 50, 121
Manichaeism xx, 14, 49, 73, 110 musician/minstrel 50, 121
männerbund 57 Mu’tazila 110
Manūčihr 83
Mār Abā (540–552 CE) 132 Nadir Shah 105

Index.indd 221 11/26/2008 6:40:29 PM

 222 Index

nah.iya 126 Peroz II 36

Nakisā 50 Perozdukht 95
Naqsh-i Rajab 5, 10 Persian language 101, 102, 103
Naqsh-i Rustam 5, 10, 13 Pesūs (evil demoness) 73
Narseh, King 10–13, 15, 23, 38, 52, 65, Philip the Arab 7, 154n. 34
80, 100, 104–6 Philiph, Emperor 143
nasks 86 philosophy texts 110–11
navy 46 Phokas 33
naxarar 16, 24 Phraortes 65
Neo-Elamite (language) 101 Piruz 46, 56
Nestorian church 55 poetry 121
New Testement 116 pole-and-shield-playing 50
New Year (Nowruz) festival 42 pole-climbing 50
‘next-of-kin marriages’ 64, 87 pollution 65
Nı̄hāvand, battle of 37 polo 121
nı¯ti-s´āstra (‘mirror for Princes’) 120 Posi 142
nobles 52 priests 43
nomadism 39–41 princes of royal blood 52, 102
Priscianus Lydus 119
officials 126–33 ‘Prison of Oblivion’ 27
Ohrmazd (Ahura Mazda) 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, Probus, Emperor 12
14, 16, 20, 34, 42, 58, 59, 69, 72, Procopius 27, 144
73, 80–3, 91, 106, 154n. 30, Secret History xix
156n. 69 professions 120
Old Persian language 99, 102, 103 Protector of the Poor and Judge 58
ordeals by heat 85–6 provincial governor 127
ordering of the courtiers and the nobil- Psalms 103, 116
ity 52 Ptolemy: Magistı¯g 119
ostan 126 punishment 58, 64–7
ostandar 126 purity 65
Ottoman millet system 20 Pus ¯ı Dāneš Kāmag (The Youth in Desire
of Knowledge) 110
Pabag 3, 4, 70, 114, 121
Pahlavi (Middle Persian texts) 104, Qadisiyya, battle of 37
107–15 qanāts 134
Pahlavi Anti-Demonic Law 91 qarya 126
Pahlavi language 102 Qur’an 101
Pahlavı¯ Rivāyat 110
palace superintendent 52 Ram-Hormizd 10
pañcatantra 120 rankings 52
Pandean flute-player 50 religions 69–97, 146–7
Pap (367–374 CE) 19 Reš-galūt (Jewish leader) xx
P’aranjem, Queen of Siwnik 19 riding 51
Parthian language 99, 101, 116–18 rope-dancing 50
Parthian literature 116–18 rope-walking 50
Paul the Persian 119 royal tax collectors 54
Pazand texts 103, 118 rusta 126
Peroz (459–484 CE) 24, 25, 37–8, rustag 125, 129, 182n.14
143 Rustam 37

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 Index 223

rustāq 126, 182n. 14 Shahrwaraz (Persian general) 33, 35

Shaked 130
Šābuhr I 99, 119 Shaki 56, 110
Šābuhragān 73, 74, 116 Shapur II 18, 19
Šāhā n šāh 41–2 Shirin 34, 50, 55
Šāhānme-ye Ferdowsı¯ 113 Shishindokht 78
Šāhnāme 117 shooting 121
Šahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Iranšahr (The Provincial Silk Road 12, 38, 139
Capitals of Iranshahr) 40, 113 singing 121
Sanatruq, king of Bahrain 136 Sirat Anushirvan 125
Sargis 119 Sistan 71, 124
Sasa 6 Sistani language 101
Sāsān 121 Siyāwaxš (Persian hero) 96
Sasan 2, 5, 6 Škand ¯ı Gūmānı¯g Wı¯zār (Doubt Dispelling
Satrapies of the Persian Empire 1 Explanation) 110, 118
satraps 52 škōh 57
Sauromaces 19 slavery 58–9
Šāyest nē Šāyest (Licit and Illicit) 90, 114, Slavic-speaking people 102
163n. 13 snake-charming 50
scribes 53–5, 121, 127, 133 sodomy 63–4, 168n. 124
scripts 53 Sog i Siyawash 96
seal-amulets 94–5 Sogdian language and literature
seals xviii, xxi, 26, 53, 54, 55, 59, 74, 92, 116–18
94, 107, 123–4, 126–33, 141, 148 Spenta Mainiuu (Amhaspandān) 82
Sebeos 31 stablemaster 52
Seleucus (312–308 BCE) 2 star-reckoner 120
Seleukos the scribe 105 star-telling 120
Sēn 90–1 string instrument 51
Sesen (Semitic god) 6 Sufı̄sm 88
sexuality 59–64 Sundermann, W. 117
Sgodian language 101 Suren family 10, 18
Shabuhr I (240–270 CE) 3–5, 6–8, 9, Sūtra of the Cause and Effects of Action (’krtyh
10, 13, 14, 15–21, 22, 40, 46, ’n ’nt ptwry pwstk) 117
52, 70, 71, 72, 74, 76, 77, 79, 81, sweet-meats 51
83, 105, 116, 127, 131, 142, sword bearers 52
152n. 17 Syriac 101
Shabuhr II (309–379 CE) 16, 17, 19, 20,
21, 78, 82, 84, 105, 106, 127 Tabarı̄ xvii, xviii, 46, 157n. 106
Shabuhr III (383–388 CE) 20, 105, 106, Taghlib tribe 17
157n. 106 Talmud 78, 79
Shabuhr Sakan-Shah, the King of Tamim 17
Sistan 102, 105 Taq-ı̄ Bustan 20, 34, 45, 46, 52, 105,
Shabuhrdukht 71 106
Shabuhrdukhtag, Queen 11, 59 Tarikh Qom 126
Shahin, General 33 Tārı¯x-e Sı¯stān (History of Sı̄stān) 113
Shahnameh 6, 28, 29 Tartus 12
shahr 125, 126 tasug 126
Shahrestānı¯hā ¯ı Ērānshahr (The Provincial Tati language 101
Capitals of Ērānshahr) 78, 123, 135 Tatrus 104

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 224 Index

Tha’alibı̄ 124 Wa’il 17

Theodoret 79 Walakhash/Balash 4
Theodosius II 22, 143 Walāxš (484–488) 144
Tiberius, Emperor 31 waqf 130
‘timeknower’ 120 Waraz family 10
Tiran, King 19 warriors 45
Tirdat (Tirdates IV) 8, 12, 13, 15, 16, wāzār 142
19 Weh-Ardaxšı̄r 186n. 92
Tosar/Tansar (priest) 14, 70, 72, 91 Weh-shabuhr (priest) 109
trade 136–40 Wı¯dēwdād 60
translation techniques 121–2 Windoe 32
treasurer 52 wine 51
Treaty of Nisbis 13 Wiraz 63, 80, 111
Turkic language 101, 102 Wishtasp 113
Wistahm 32, 33
Umar, Caliph 37 Wištāsp, King 111
urbanism 39–41 Wiwahvant 83
Wizārišn Čatrang ud Nēw-ardaxšı¯r
Vahagn 15, 19, 156n. 69 (Explanation of the Game of Chess
Vahan Mamikonean 19 and Backgammon) 115
Valens, Emperor 18, 19 Wı¯zı¯dagı¯hā ¯ı Zādsparam (The Selections
Valerian, Emperor 8 of Zādsparam) 110
viceroy 52 women 49, 59–64
vina-player 50 wuzurgān 45
vina-voice 50
Vı¯s u Rāmı¯n 117 Xosrov, King 8
visionary texts 111 Xusrō I xvii, xix, 119
Vitiges, Gothic king 31 Xusro II 106
voices 50 Xusrōud Re¯dag (King Khusro and the
Vramshapuh 23 Page) 50, 115
Xwadāynāmag (‘Book of Lords’ or ‘Book
Wahan Mamikonian (Armenian of Kings’) xvii
prince) 15 Xwārazmian 101
Wahram (421–438 CE) 12, 22, 23, 38,
65, 104–5, 156n. 69 Yatha Ahu Vairiio prayer 95
Wahram I (271–274 CE) 9, 10, 14, Yazdgerd I (399–420 CE) 21–2, 24, 25,
74–5, 80 66, 78
Wahram II (274–293 CE) 10, 11, 12, Yazdgerd II (438–457 CE) 23, 24, 66,
52, 59 79, 82
Wahram III (King of the Sakas) 11, 12 Yazdgerd III 36, 37–8, 56
Wahram IV (388–399 CE) 20, 157n.
105, 157n. 106 Zabūr texts 103, 16
Wahram V (Gur) 22–5, 47, 56, 66, 78, Zādaspram 62
82 Zamasp, King 27
Wahram Chubin (Sasanian Zand 109, 115
General) 31–2 zand 91
Wahram Shabuhrk, king of Zand ¯ı Wahman Yasn (The Commentary
Persarmenia 20, 22 of the Wahman Yasn) 111, 112
Wahriz 47 Zardosht 87

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 Index 225

Zarmihr Sokhra of the Karen clan 25 Zoroastrianism xviii, xix, xx, 4, 9, 14,
Zeno, Emperor 25, 143 24
Zik (Persian) 19 post-Kerdir 81–4
zodiac-teller 120 Zurvan 73, 81–2
Zohhak 93 Zurvandad 82
Zoroaster 95, 109, 111 Zurvanism 73, 82

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