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Pahla (purple) in Parthian regions (shaded)

The Parthians (Latin: Parthi, Old Persian: Parθava; Persian: Pehlewan/Pahlawan/Pahlewan) were a people in the Greater region of Western and Central Asia, who spoke a Northwest Iranian language. They are often associated with the Arsacid dynasty ([اشکانیان] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |d= (help))[1], which was named after its founder Arsaces I (also Araš, Aršaka or Aškān, in English also Arsak I.). With the founding of the Arsacid dynasty, the foundation was also laid for the Parthian Empire, whose population was now referred to as "Parthians" after their new homeland (Parthia)[2].

However, the Parthian people survived the Arsacid Empire, as various Parthian noble families remained of great importance in both the succeeding Sasanian Empire and later Islamic Iran[3]. With the Islamic conquest of Iran, the formerly Parthian regions gradually became increasingly culturally and linguistically heterogeneous over time, as was the case in the region of Pahla.

History

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Parthian Empire

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Main article: Parthian Empire

According to some ancient authors, the founding of the Parthian Empire goes back to the Parni, who themselves were part of the tribal confederation of the Dahae, who were settled in present-day Turkmenistan. They are said to have succeeded in driving out the Seleucids from the satrapy of Parthia. The trail of the Parni is lost in the following period. For the new kingdom founded by the dynasty of the Arsacids, the name Parthia (Old Persian Parθava, Parthian Parθaw, Middle Iranian Pahlaw) became common, and its inhabitants were known as Parthians.

In the following years, the Arsacid rulers succeeded in becoming the dominant power in the Iranian highlands and adjacent areas, particularly in Mesopotamia, through constant wars against the Seleucids and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The Parthian Empire was characterized by numerous regional sub-kingdoms, some of which had previously been Seleucid vassal states, such as Armenia and Media Atropatene, while others re-emerged during the decline and dissolution of the Seleucid Empire in the "Upper Satrapies", such as Persis, Elymais, Characene, Adiabene, Osroene, Gordyene, or under the Arsacid overlordship, the kingdom of Hatra. The core territories of the empire were Babylonia with the capital city of Ctesiphon, and the Greater Media region, called Pahla (the post-Islamic core region of the Parthians), or the later province of Jibal in the Caliphate. This led to conflicts with the Romans and Central Asian peoples, as well as to division of the empire. There are only sparse accounts of the events in the east of the empire, where an Indo-Parthian Kingdom was formed. Armenia remained predominantly a Roman client kingdom, but a branch of the Arsacids managed to establish themselves as rulers under Roman suzerainty.

Internal power struggles, the ongoing Roman expansion, which could be partly successfully fought, and alleged conflicts with the steppe peoples of the Saka (Scythians) and Kushan weakened the Parthian Empire. Ardashir I from the House of Sasanids, who ruled as a vassal of the Arsacids in Persis, took advantage of the internal strife of the Parthians and organized a rebellion. With the conquest of the cities in the Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia, he ended the rule of the Arsacid dynasty.

Sasanian Empire

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In the Sasanian Empire, founded by Ardashir I, the Parthian noble families still held great influence. In fact, the inner structure of the empire did not change much. The noble families provided soldiers for the Sasanian army, but also generals (Spahbod) who enjoyed a chivalric rank and bore the title Pahlav.[4] One of the most prominent supporters of the House of Sasan were the Parthian houses of Suran and Ispahbudan, who had supported Ardashir I in his rebellion against Ardavan IV[5].

During the Sasanid conflicts with the Byzantines, Farrukh Hormizd from the Parthian House of Ispahbudhan, together with Shahrbaraz from the Parthian House of Mihran, rebelled. They overthrew Khosrow II with Kavadh II, which led to a division of the Sasanid Empire into a Parthian (pehlewanig) faction in the north and a Persian (parsig) one in the south.[6]

The following situation in the face of the Islamic invasion is described by al-Athir as follows:[7]

At this time, the population was divided into two groups: The fahlawaj (i.e. Pahlawig, Parthians) supported Rustam, while the people of Fars (ahl-i fars, Persians) supported Firuzan.

— Pardi 2023: 138

The situation in the 7th century is further attested to by Tabari, who mentions the political alliances between the Parthians and Persians:[7]

The cavalry of Fars allied their forces with those of the Fahluj (fahlawaj), the inhabitants of al-Jibal.

— Pardi 2023: 138

With Tabari's reports on the military mobilization in the Sassanid Empire to counter the Islamic invasion, it becomes clear what the ethnic composition looked like towards the end of the Sasanid Empire.[8] For the Parthian mobilization, Tabari lists 30,000 men between al-Bab and Hulwan, and 60,000 men between Hulwan and Khorasan. He also adds 60,000 men to the Persian mobilization between Sistan and Fars, as well as Fars and Hulwan or Jibal/Pahla.[8]

Islamic Conquest

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Siyavakhsh, grandson of the famous Bahram Chobin, who ruled in Rey, ended the civil war between the Parthian and Persian factions by assassinating Farruch Hormizd. It was then decided with the wuzurgan (meaning "the Elders") to appoint Yazdegerd III as the king of the Sasanid Empire.[9][10]

At the same time, the Arabs invaded the weakened Sasanid Empire under the banner of Islam. Prominent Parthians fought in battles such as the Battle of al-Qādisīya and the Battle of Nehawend. At Ayn al-Tamr, Mihran Bahram-i Chubin from the House of Mihran organized a resistance with the help of Christian Arabs, who were ultimately defeated by the Muslim army. Rostam Farrokhzad from the House of Ispahbudhan led several battles against the Muslim Arabs. He sent Bahman Jaduya who managed to hold off the Muslim army for three years in the Battle of the Bridge. After being recalled by the Sasanid King Yazdegerd III from Ctesiphon, Rostam Farrokhzad fought alongside figures such as Javanshir, Piruz Nahavandi, Hormuzan, and Piruz Khosrow in Qādisīyah against the Muslims, where he fell in battle.

After the Battle of Nahavand in 642, the Sasanid Empire disintegrated, along with the administrative structures that had survived since the Arsacid era. The Parthian noble families scattered throughout different regions of Iran or disappeared altogether. Piruz Nahavandi, who had served under Rostam Farrokhzad, was captured by the Muslim army and served as a slave to Caliph Omar, whom he murdered while he was praying.

Following the Islamic conquest, Parthian identity declined, while Persian identity was able to assert itself thanks to the Persian language. The terms Parthian, pahlaw, pahlawan, pahlawi, and others were transliterated into the Arabic script as fahla, fahlawi, and so on. However, with the historical elevation of Persian language to the state and court language using the new and diacritically extensible Arabic alphabet under the Samanids of the 9th century, it became possible to represent historical designations with a p-sound, so that essential terms such as [پدر‎] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |DMG= (help) or [پنج‎] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |DMG= (help) continued to exist in their traditional pronunciation form.[11]

The Region of Pahla (Fahla)

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Main article: Pahla

After the collapse of the Sasanid Empire, various Islamic historians refer to the region of Fahla (pahla, meaning Parthia in English) and define the area through their definitions. According to Mehrdad Ghodrat-Dizaji of Urmia University,[12] the following historians and geographers give various extents for the region of fahla:

In today's context, this corresponds to the regions that still speak a Northwestern Iranian language. This area includes the current Azari regions (Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Zanjan), the Kurdish regions of Iran (Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Hamadan), Lorestan and the former Median regions of Isfahan, Rey, and Qazvin. In historical understanding, the region of fahla corresponds to the former province of Media (including Atropatene) or the Arabic re-designation Jibal and Azerbaijan.

The Fahlaviyat

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In Fahlaviyat, the terms Parthian and Pahlaw have been preserved,[13] which today refers to a collection of lyrical texts originating from the region of Pahla (fahla). These texts show strong Parthian influences,[14], but also contain elements of Old Azeri, Kurdish, and the Persian dialects spoken in the aforementioned regions, which exhibit a strong northwestern Iranian character. Among the authors or books of this poetry collection are:

Cities and regions

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Further remnants of the word Pahlaw can be found in cities such as Pahleh in Ilam, Bahleh in West Azerbaijan, and Palu in Elazığ, which are located in areas where the Parthians had a strong influence. Ghodrat-Dizaji suggests that during the early Islamic period in Iran, the region of Khorasan, which was the homeland of the Parthians, was no longer inhabited by Parthians, as this region is not included in the fahla definition of Islamic historians and geographers. Lazard confirms this assumption by referring to early Sasanian military colonies in the east of the empire.[15]

The westward migration of the Parthians and their settlement in western and northern Iran led either to assimilation of the local (Median) population or to a strong Parthian influence on these peoples. Today, the former core regions of the Parthians are inhabited by northwestern Iranian peoples whose languages are close to Parthian

The misassociation of Middle Persian

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The term pahlavi or pahlawi is still used in linguistics today with varying meanings. It is now used for both Middle Persian, whose self-designation was Pārsīg, and for Middle Iranian, but also recalls old Parthian roots in the form of Pahlawani. The later designation of Middle Persian (Sasanid) by historians as pahlavi caused confusion in the academic world, as the connotation of pahla originally meant Parthian. This error is due to the fact that during the Sasanid period until the 5th century AD, Parthian, or pahlawi, was spoken at the court, and therefore the language of the Sasanid kings was known as pahlawi. With the change of this tradition - Middle Persian replaced Parthian - and the assumption that the spoken language was still pahlawi, the mistake was made in the Middle Ages that Sasanid Persian was pahlawi[16]. Today, the term (zaban-e) parsi-ye miyane (Middle Persian) is used predominantly in Iran for Sasanid Persian, and pahlawi and pahlawani are used for Parthian[16]. Ferdinand Hennerbichler deals with this problem.[17] The Kurdish scholar Mehrdad Izady argues that Zakariya al-Qazwini's works have not been translated into Western languages. In his work Al-Mu‘jam, the existing dialects of Pahlawani are treated, which would include the groups of Awrami, Gurani, and Dimili.[18] The areas of the mentioned languages include the fahla region and also the Arsacid Armenian region.

Parthian noble families

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The seven houses of the Parthians, which exerted great influence on the politics of the Sasanian Empire during their reign, are as follows:[19]

Parthian personalities

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In the Parthian Empire

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See also: List of Parthian kings
  • Arsaces I, (Iranian: Araš, also known as Aškan, Ashkan), founder of the Arsacid dynasty.
  • Mithridates I, (Iranian: Mehrdad I.), expanded the Parthian Empire with the conquest of Media, Persis, Mesopotamia, and parts of the Greco-Bactrian realm.
  • Mithridates II (Iranian: Mehrdad II), the first King of Kings (Shahanshah) since the Achaemenids; ruled over the Parthian Empire.
  • Artabanus IV (Iranian: Ardawan), successfully fought against the Romans but was overthrown by Ardashir.

In the Sasanid Empire

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  • Suren Pahlav, a nobleman from the House of Suren who served under the Sasanid king Bahram V.
  • Bahram Chobin, a famous Spahbod from the House of Mihran who overthrew Khosrow II and ruled the Sasanid Empire for one year as a usurper with the regnal name Bahram VI. He successfully fought against the Byzantines and was appointed Spahbod of Atropatene and Media. In the east, he successfully fought the Gokturks in the Khorasan region and conquered Balkh and Bukhara.
  • Shahrbaraz, a Spahbod who possibly originated from the House of Mihran. He led successful campaigns against the Byzantines and ruled as a usurper for a short time in 630.
  • Farrukh Hormizd, a Spahbod from the House of Ispahbudhan who briefly divided the Sasanid Empire into a Parthian (pahlawanig) and Persian (parsig) faction.
  • Mihran Bahram-i Chubin, son of Bahram Chobin from the House of Mihran, who mobilized Christian Arabs during the battle of Ayn al-Tamr. Little is known about his fate.
  • Siyavakhsh, son of Mihran Bahram-i Chubin, an aristocrat from the House of Mihran who ended the civil war in the Sasanid Empire by assassinating Farrukh Hormizd. He died in the war against Farrukhzad and his Arab allies al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin in Rey.
  • Farrukhzad, an aristocrat from the House of Ispahbudhan and son of Farrukh Hormizd. He founded the Bavand dynasty after the Muslim invasion of Tabaristan. After escaping the Muslim army, he allied with Muslim commander Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin and killed Siyavakhsh, who had murdered his father. In order to set an example, al-Nu’man destroyed the aristocratic quarter of Rey, which Farrochsad later rebuilt.
  • Rostam Farrokhzad, a nobleman and Spahbod from the House of Ispahbudhan who ruled over Atropatene and Khorasan. He rebelled with his father Farrukh Hormizd against Khosrow II and belonged to the Parthian (pahlawanig) faction. After the civil war in the Sasanid Empire, he played an important role in the fight against the Muslim invaders and died in the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. Rostam was immortalized as an epic hero in the work Shāhnāme by Ferdowsi.
  • Piruz Nahavandi (also known as Piruzān or Abū-Lū'ūlah by the Arabs), a soldier from the Parthian city of Nehavand. He served under the command of Rostam Farrokhzad. Captured, he was held as a slave by the Caliph Omar. He succeeded in assassinating the Caliph who had led the expansion against the Sasanid Empire.

Parthian Language

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Main article: Parthian language

The Parthian language had great significance in the Sassanian Empire. It was used as the language of the royal court. The Sassanian King Shapur I had his inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht written in Parthian, along with Middle Persian and Greek.[20] According to Livshits, the Parthian language was used in the Sassanian Empire until the 5th century AD.[21] Rika Gyselen believes that in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, Parthian lost its status as the language of the empire and was therefore displaced in common usage. The Middle Persian language, which gained importance towards the end of the Sassanian period, replaced the Parthian court language. Jost Gippert suggests that besides the Imperial Parthian, the language existed in various dialects in the Parthian territories.[22]

Parthian Art

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Main article: Parthian art

References

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  1. ^ Fritz Wolff: Glossar zu Firdosis Schahname. Edited by the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft in collaboration with the German Oriental Society, Berlin 1935; reprint: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, Hildesheim 1965 (and Tehran 1377/1998) with (included) supplement volume Verskonkordanz der Schahname-Ausgaben von Macan, Vullers und Mohl, ISBN 964-5960-55-X, p. VII.
  2. ^ See Josef Wiesehöfer: Die Geschichte Irans von den Achaimeniden bis in frühislamische Zeit. In: Wilfried Seipel (ed.): 7000 Jahre persische Kunst. Meisterwerke aus dem Iranischen Nationalmuseum in Teheran: Eine Ausstellung des Kunsthistorischen Museums Wien und des Iranischen Nationalmuseums in Teheran. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85497-018-8, pp. 55–74, here: p. 67.
  3. ^ Pardi 2023: 72
  4. ^ New-[پهلو‎] Error: {{Langx}}: invalid parameter: |DMG= (help); cf. Junker/Alavi: Persisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Leipzig/Teheran 1970, p. 138.
  5. ^ Pardi 2023: 72-73
  6. ^ SASANIAN DYNASTY. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. July 2005.
  7. ^ a b Pardi 2023: 138
  8. ^ a b Pardi 2023: 138-140
  9. ^ Aḥmad Tafazzoli: BOZORGĀN. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. IV, Fasc. 4, p. 427.
  10. ^ Parvaneh Pourshariati: Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. I. B. Tauris, London 2008, p. 58.
  11. ^ See also Rudaki and Firdausi, the first significant poets of the modern Persian language.
  12. ^ Mehrdad Ghodrat-Dizaji: Remarks on the Location of the Province of Parthia in the Sasanian Period. In: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Elizabeth J. Pendleton, Michael Alram, Touraj Daryaee (Eds.): The Parthian and Sasanian Empires – Adaption and Expansion. Oxbow Books, Oxford/Philadelphia 2016, pp. 42–46 (Digital version).
  13. ^ FAHLAVĪYĀT. In: Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. IX, Fasc. 2, pp. 158–162.
  14. ^ Ghodrat-Dizaji 2012: 111
  15. ^ Rika Gyselen: The Parthian Language in Early Sasanian Times. In: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Elizabeth J. Pendleton, Michael Alram, Touraj Daryaee (eds.): The Parthian and Sasanian Empires – Adaptation and Expansion. Oxbow Books, Oxford / Philadelphia 2016, pp. 61-68.
  16. ^ a b Piroz 2021
  17. ^ Ferdinand Hennerbichler: Die Kurden. Mosonmagyaróvár 2004, p. 205.
  18. ^ Mehrdad R. Izady in: Ferdinand Hennerbichler: Die Kurden. Mosonmagyaróvár 2004, p. 205.
  19. ^ Parvaneh Pourshariati: Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. I.B. Tauris, London 2008, p. ?.
  20. ^ Rika Gyselen: The Parthian Language in Early Sasanian Times. In: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Elizabeth J. Pendleton, Michael Alram, Touraj Daryaee (eds.): The Parthian and Sasanian Empires – Adaption and Expansion. Oxbow Books, Oxford / Philadelphia 2016, pp. 61–68.
  21. ^ V. A. Livshits, E. S. Xurshudjan: Le titre mrtpty sur un sceau parthe et l’arménien mardpet. In: Studia Iranica. vol. 18, 1989, pp. 169–191, here p. 170.
  22. ^ Jost Gippert: Die historische Entwicklung der Zaza-Sprache. In: Ware. Pêseroka Zon u Kulturê Ma: Dımıli-Kırmanc-Zaza. vol. 10, 1996, pp. 148–154.

Sources

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  • Malcolm A. R. Colledge: The Parthians (= Ancient Peoples and Places. Band 59). Thames and Hudson, London 1967.
  • Malcolm A. R. Colledge: Parthian Art. London 1977.
  • Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart (Hrsg.): The Age of the Parthians. The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), London 2007.
  • Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Elizabeth J. Pendleton, Michael Alram, Touraj Daryaee (Hrsg.): The Parthian and Sasanian Empires – Adaption and Expansion. Proceedings of a Conference held in Vienna, 14–16 June 2012. Oxbow Books, Oxford / Philadelphia 2016.
  • Uwe Ellerbrock, Sylvia Winkelmann: Die Parther. Die vergessene Großmacht. 2. Auflage. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Darmstadt 2016, ISBN 978-3-8053-4828-7.
  • V. A. Livshits, E. S. Xurshudjan: Le titre mrtpty sur un sceau parthe et l’arménien mardpet. In: Studia Iranica. Band 18, 1989, S. 169–191.
  • Parvaneh Pourshariati: Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire. The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. I. B. Tauris, London 2008, ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
  • Alireza Shapur Shahbazi: Sasanian Dynasty. In: Encyclopædia Iranica. online edition, Juli 2005.
  • Josef Wiesehöfer (Hrsg.): Das Partherreich und seine Zeugnisse – The Arsacid Empire: Sources and Documentation. Colloquium Eutin 1996 (= Historia Einzelschriften. Band 122). Stuttgart 1998.
  • Varan Pardi: Parthavname - Das parthisch-mithraistische Narrativ, Druck und Distribution durch epubli, ISBN 9783757540425, Pax, 2023.
  • Piroz: On the Parthian People In: parthava.org. online edition, October 2021.
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