SASSANID DYNASTY

224 - 651

In 224 Ardashir I founded the third Iranian dynasty, the Sassanids, after defeating the Parthian king Artaban IV of the Arsacid dynasty. Artashir I Papakan was born in 190, son of Papak, Shah of Istakhrdat 220-224, great Shahanshah of Eran 224-239.

By the 3rd century. n. e. Iran was a state only nominally united under the rule of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty. In fact, it consisted of many scattered semi-independent, and at times independent regions, headed by kings from the local nobility, representatives of powerful aristocratic families. Constant civil strife, wars, and clashes have significantly weakened Iran. The military power of the Roman Empire and its active policy in the East forced the Parthians to cede a number of northern cities of Mesopotamia to it. The Arsacids were attacked in their own capital, which was repeatedly in the hands of imperial soldiers.

The new unification of Iran began from a different center. The province of Pars, located in the southwest, where the ancient Pasargadae, home of the Achaemenids, was located, played an important role in the history of Iran (Pars, or Fars, gave derivative words - Persian, Persian, Persia - adopted by the Greeks instead of the name "Iran").

The priest-magician of the temple of the goddess Anahit, Sasan, belonged to the royal family of Fars and occupied a prominent position. His son Papak was the ruler of Istakhr and had the title of king. The grandson of Sasan, the son of Papak Artashir, rose to prominence with the support of priestly circles and part of the family nobility. Gradually expanding his possessions at the expense of neighboring lands, he became so powerful that he defeated and overthrew the most prominent of the rulers of Pars. Artashira fought with his brothers for the sole seizure of power. He emerged victorious from this struggle. The desire for the unification of Iran led it to an inevitable clash with the Arsacids.

Beginning his career from the humble position of ruler of the fortress of Darabgerd, Artashir not only established a firm foot in Pars, but annexed the region of Isfahan and Kerman and finally invaded Khuzistan, immediately bordering Mesopotamia, and moved north. The Parthian army moved towards him. On April 20, 224, a decisive battle took place on the Hormizdagan plain between the last king of the Parthian dynasty, Artabanus V, and Artashir. The victory went to Artashir. However, in order to become the head of Iran, Artashir had to conquer 80 kings and seize their regions. But Fars (Pars) did not play the role of the central region of the state, although palaces were built here and magnificent rock reliefs remained. The capital, in accordance with the Arsacid tradition, became Seleucia and Ctesiphon, “cities” on the Tigris. Here, in the west, the most fertile regions were located, there were many cities, and trade roads connected Iran with Mediterranean harbors, with Armenia, Caucasian Albania, Georgia, Lazika, with the coast of the Persian Gulf and southern Arabia.

In 226, Artashir was solemnly crowned and took the title of king of kings (shahanshah). He consistently continued his conquests, subjugating Media with the city of Hamadan, the regions of Sakastan and Khorasan. Through persistent struggle, Adorbaigan (Azerbaijan) and a significant part of Armenia were captured. There is information that Margiana (Merv oasis), Sistan and Mekran were subordinate to him. Thus, the border of his state reached the lower reaches of the Amu Darya, where the regions of Khorezm were located. In the east, the limit was the Kabul River valley, so that part of the Kushan regions was part of Iran. This gave rise to the rulers of Khorasan, usually the senior princes of the Sassanian family, to add “king of the Kushan” to other titles. The Sassanids themselves called their state “The State of the Iranians (Aryans).”

Sassanid Army

The official name of the army adopted in the Sasanian state is the Army of Rostam (Rustam) - Rostam Spâh’e. It was formed under Ardashir I Papakan, the founders of the Sassanid dynasty. The Sassanid army was founded partly by reviving the Achaemenid military organization, introducing into it elements from the Parthian military organization, and adapting it to the requirements of the time. The history of the Sassanid army is divided into two periods, pre-reform from Ardashir I to Khosrow Anushirvan, and post-reform from the reign of Khosrow Anushirvan until the fall of the dynasty. The fundamental difference between the two periods is that while the army of the model created by Ardashir was essentially an irregular army, with personal squads of individual feudal lords, the post-reform army created by Khosrow Anushirvan was regular and professional.

“And if you want to know more about the Yarov clan, know that in the old years, in the Trojan centuries, this clan was great and glorious. And that first prince Arius was the brother of Troyan the Fireman. They were born from Dvoyan the Old-Timer, and this - from Odin the governor from the Bogumirov family. And this Arius the Old conquered and Semirechye, and Pyatirechye, and the land of Sin, and the land of Farsia, and Gretskolani, and the kingdom of Pontus.

And then there lived Prince Samo, the son of Troyan, who chained the Serpent Karanjel on the Black Mountain and threw him into the Black Sea, called the Pontic Sea by the Greeks. And this prince Sama had a son - the Grand Duke Svyatoyar, and he gave birth to the mighty Rus from Rudyana, the granddaughter of the Serpent. And that Prince Rus was fed by the birds Gamayun and Finist on Alatyr Mountain. And their descendants ruled in all the Aryan lands from sea to sea; Their tombs, made of white stone, still exist in the White Mountains near the walls of the Kiyar-city of Ant.

And so the children of Arius, a descendant of Bogumir, received this part of the land, the Borus and Lutich - on the shores of the Venedian Sea, the Golyads - in the Albian Mountains, the Karpeni - in the Carpathians, the Polyans and Northerners - on the Dnieper, the Budins on the Voronezh River, the Ants - on the Don -river. And the fair-haired Alans, descendants of Rus and Arius the Old, received as a gift the entire country of Alania on the White Mountains between Pontus and the Volyn Sea.

Then, at noon, those lands of the Aryans were conquered by King Alexander (Iran is ruled by the Seleucids 330-150 BC), the son of the Serpent of Gretzkolan, and he came and overthrew Prince Bus Kiysak from the kingdom of God Surya, called Bactria by the Greeks. And so the Greeks took possession of that land, and ruled in the lands of noon for a hundred years. But Prince Yarsak the Brave (Arshak I. Arsacid Dynasty 250 BC - 224 AD) and the clans of the Parns expelled them, and mixed that land with their blood, and so they returned the land of their fathers and grandfathers. And then the descendants of King Yar ruled in the Aryan land for five hundred years.

And so the Rus had seventy-two great princes from Bogumir to Bus. There were thirty kings of the Aryan lands in four hundred and fifty years, from Yarsak the Brave to Yarban. Yarban was overthrown by the cursed Yarsak of Saksani (Ardashir I), who crushed the rule of the Parns, who took possession of the Parsi kingdom five hundred and fifty years before the Nativity of Bus - our Life-Giver.

And from the family of those Aryans, twenty-six kings reigned in Alanya - from Veliyar to Bus Beloyar (born in 295), the son of King Dazhnya.

The fall of the Marabel star and the murder of Yarban - April 27, 224. Establishment of Yarsak of Saksaniyan on the Aryan throne (224 - 239).

And so it happened that at the end of five hundred years of rule of the Yarov clan, a star named Marabel fell behind the Holy Mountains. And those mountains shook, and abysses opened up, and the rivers flowed back, as at the end of the world. And where Marabel fell, the priest Papa-sak-Black Stone was found.
And this priest Papa-sak inserted a fragment of that stone into the ring, and put it on the Veles finger of his left hand, and thus gained power over the fire of Hell and the darkness of Navi.

And that priest and his wife Svayara had a son, whom they named, like the first king of Ariana, Yarsak the White. We called him Yarsak the Black, for he inherited Marabel - a stone, and his strength was not God’s, and his deeds were dark.
And that Yarsak from the Saksaniyan family found out that the serpent Karandzhel was languishing at the bottom of the sea, overthrown by the great Budai-sak, and chained in ancient times by the forefather Samo, the brightest of Budai’s disciples. And by the power of that Marabel-stone, the Black Yar opened the waters in the Black Sea, and walked along the bottom to the dragon’s prison, and broke its chains. And then, having subdued the Serpent, he received a gift from him - the Cross-Sword of Karanjel, which struck like lightning. And soon with that sword he defeated Yaraban from the family of the Old Aryan, who ruled in those years in the Aryan land. And the Black Sea shook from great storms, and the serpent Karangel appeared from the sea in a pillar of fire. And the great fire priest Papa-sak and his son Yarsak bowed to him; and they built the temple of the Ardent Fire. And so Yar of Saksaniyansky himself and his family began to assert the power of the sword with the power of the serpent, and he served them, as a priest serves his sovereigns. And from this Black Yar came a generation of Parsi kings, called Saksaniyans after the land of their family. And they began to glorify the Serpent Karanjel there, while the smoke from those victims spread like darkness across the Aryan land. This is how Karangel became the true ruler of the Parsi kingdom. And he entered the body of the high priest, who took the name Karandar, and his secret power was higher than the power of the king, for although he owned the Marabel stone, he himself was afraid of the power of Karanjdel. And then the kings of the Yarov clan, from midnight and from midday, went to war against the Saxanian clan and against the serpent that served them. And blood then flowed in rivers for seventy years, until the Light of Glory shone in the land of Ruskolan; and so the Sun of Righteousness rose over Russia, and Prince Dazhen-yar had a son and heir - Bus the light of the Beloyars. And the singer Zaryan composed a lamentation song about the death of Prince Yarban. And there was a funeral feast in front of a great crowd of people. And the memory of that king is still honored and mourned." Yarilin's book

Bas-relief depicting Artashir in the Naqshe-Rustam necropolis

The mythopoetic tradition dominant in Iranian culture dates back to the “Book of the Deeds of Artashir Papakan” (Kārnāmak-i Artašir-i Pāpakān), written, according to the instructions of the Armenian historian Moses Khorensky, in the 4th century. under Artashir's great-great-grandson, Shapur II. Using the culture's signature "hidden heir" motif, the Book of Deeds makes Papak Artashir's maternal grandfather and his father Sasan, supposedly the only surviving descendant of the original kings of Iran before Alexander. Sasan serves as a shepherd for Papak, the king of Pars, until his origin is revealed to him in three wonderful dreams, which also announce an extraordinary destiny for his offspring. Papak calls Sasan to him, and he tells about his origin and becomes the king's son-in-law. From the marriage of Sasan with the daughter of Papak, Artashir is born. The supreme ruler of Pars and Spahan (Pahl. Spāhān, plural from spāh “warrior” late. Ispahan). Then the Parthian Artavan (Artaban) appears. By his order, 15-year-old Artashir arrives at his court. At first, he occupies an exceptional place with the Shah, but then falls into disgrace, having argued on a hunt with the son of Artavan, and then flees to Pars with the Shah’s beloved maid, who heard the predictions of the court astrologers that the days are coming when Artashir is destined to acquire the farr of the king of kings Iran (from Avest. xvarnah-, special gift, grace of divine choice). She also steals signs of royal power for Artashir, and Farr follows them in the form of a beautiful ram. Artavan sets out in pursuit of him, but to no avail: learning on the way that the ram has caught up with Artashir, his advisers tell him that further pursuit is useless and that what was destined from above will come true. Having defeated Artavan, Artashir executes him and all the men of the Ashkanid (that is, Arsacid) house, except Artavan's two sons, who manage to escape to India, and marries his daughter. He then wages war against the Kurds, unsuccessful at first but ultimately victorious. What follows is a fabulous story about Artashir’s victory over the monstrous Worm, who lived with a certain farmer Haftobad, who thanks to this became invincible. All of Artashir’s military enterprises against him turned into failure, and even his life was under immediate threat. It turned out to be possible to defeat the monster by cunning, after which Artashir returns to his first capital Artashir-Khvarrah (“the most high gift, the grace of Artashir,” N. Firuzabad).. But soon Artashir’s life is exposed to a new threat. Artavan's surviving sons plot to take revenge on him and force their sister to give him a cup of poisoned drink. However, the cup falls out of her hand and breaks, and she herself confesses everything. In anger, Artashir gives the order to execute her along with her brothers, despite what she has already suffered from him. However, the wise mobedan-mobed (head of the Zoroastrian clergy) hides the queen and her son, who was given the name Shapur, until the latter was 7 years old. One day, a hunting incident inspires Artashir with bitter thoughts about his own lonely childlessness; upon returning to the palace, he convenes all the highest ranks of the state, and here the mobedan-mobed seeks from him the full forgiveness of the queen and recognition of Shapur as the son and heir of the Shahan Shah. Further, the story seems to be reflected in a mirror: Shapur falls in love with the daughter of Mihrak, the king, the sworn enemy of Artashir, and he has to hide this connection, as well as the son Ormazd born from her. However, the boy attracts his grandfather's attention with his bold behavior during a game of chovgan (polo) and, having learned the truth, Artashir recognizes his grandson. This version is repeated by Ferdowsi, with some variations. Thus, the genealogy of Sasan is traced in the “Shah-Name” to Artashir, nicknamed Bahman (“The Well-Minded”), the son of the hero Prince Isfandiyar and the grandson of Kay Gushtasp (Kavi Vishtaspa of the Avesta, the first, according to Zoroastrian historiography, to accept the teachings of Zarathushtra). Modern scientists identify this Artashir Bakhman with Artaxerxes I Achaemenides.

Zend-i Vohuman Yasht

It is also mentioned in the Pahlavi apocalyptic work “Zend-i Vohuman Yasht” (Interpretation on Yasht of Good Thoughts), where Ohrmazd shows his Prophet a tree with branches made of different metals, each of which denotes the reign of different kings: “And what was made of silver is the reign Kay Artashir, called Vohuman (later Bahman - K.P.), the son of Spendadat, the one who separates demons from people, scatters them and spreads the rule of piety throughout the whole world. And what was made of bronze is the reign of Artashir, the corrector and restorer of the world, and King Shapur, when he will establish the world created by Me, Ohrmazd; he will make prosperity prevail within the world, and the revelation of kindness will be obvious..." (chapter 2 17-18): it is noteworthy that the reign of the Arsacid ("Ashkanid") dynasty is here erected after the reign of the first Sassanids. In another Zoroastrian work “Jamasp Namak” (“Book of Jamasp”) Artashir is called “Bahman Babegan" (late pazend from “Papakan”). According to the Zoroastrian code “Denkard”, by order of Artashir the supreme high priest Tussar (or Tansar) collected the surviving lists of the books of the Avesta and, having studied them, established the canon of Mazdayasna, a religion according to the teachings of Zoroaster. Tusar's message to the king of Tabaristan is known, with an exhortation to recognize Artashir as the legitimate sovereign of Iran. However, the name Tusar is not in the ŠKZ, which does not mention priestly titles at the court of Artashir at all.

Agathia's version

The same version, in a somewhat caricatured form, is presented by the Byzantine historian Agathius, referring to anonymous opinions among the Persians (II, 27): Pabek, a shoemaker skilled in astrology, predicted that a certain warrior Sasan, who was visiting his house, would become the ancestor of the most glorious and happiest family, and brought him together with his wife. From this was born a son, Artaxars, and when he seized royal power, a fierce dispute broke out between Sasan and Pabek over who should be considered his father; in the end both agreed to consider Artaxar the son of Pabek, but born of the seed of Sasan.

The rise of the Sassanids is presented differently by Muslim authors (Ibn al-Athir, Tabari, Bal'ami), etc. from the Patriarch of Antioch Eutyches (d. 929). Parsa was ruled by the Bazrangid dynasty, to which Papak's wife belonged. Papak himself, the son of Sasan, was the owner of a small region near the capital of Pars Istakhr and the chief priest of the ancestral temple of Ardvisura Anahita. Artashir was the second son of Papak and was raised by the ruler of the city of Darabgird, who made him his heir. Following this, Papak carries out a coup in Pars and installs Shapur as king, however, after some time he gives royal power to Artashir. Having reigned in Pars, Artashir extended his power to some surrounding regions and, having defeated the last Parthian Shahan Shah Artavan, he proclaimed himself “king of kings.”

Inscriptions on coins

Silver coin of Ardashir

This version is fully confirmed by the inscriptions on the coins, as well as by the entire corpus of early Sasanian ceremonial inscriptions, primarily of Shapur I, son of Artashir, on the so-called. "Kaaba of Zoroaster" (ŠKZ). Coin series of the Bazrangids have been known since Seleucid times until the beginning of the 3rd century. according to R.H.; their original title was frataraka, c. II century BC it is replaced by the royal one (bgy X. MLK' “divine X. king” on the obverse, and BRH bgy Y MLK’ “son of the divine Y., king” on the reverse"). Papak’s coins are unknown to us; on ŠKZ he has the royal title, and Sasan has the title of “ruler” (MR'HY, parf. hwtwy).Several coins of his son Shapur are known, bearing on the obverse the image of Shapur himself in the same headdress (kulakh) of the Parsian kings as the Bazrangids; on the reverse - Papak in a specially shaped kulakh. In ŠKZ, Papak’s mother Denak is also mentioned (but it is not said whether she was Sasan’s wife), his wife Rutak and other sons, as well as daughter Denak, later, according to Zoroastrian custom, wife of Artashir. The year of the change of dynasty in Istakhr is calculated from the inscription on the votive column next to the statue of Shapur, son of Artashir, in Bishapur. According to the chronology of S. Taghizade, the date of death of Papak is 223.
Having established himself in Istakhr, Artashir waged war for some time with the Parsian dynasts, and then expanded the scope of his campaigns to Kerman and Seistan. As for the overthrow of the Parthian dynasty, according to Syrian sources and coin finds, the legal heir of the previous king Valarsh (Vologeses) IV (d. 208.) was Valarsh V, and after 5 years Artavan declared himself Shahanshah of Iran, but really ruled only in Media and North. Iran. In 215-218 Valarsh V fought an inconclusive war with Rome; silver tetradrachms with his name were issued in Seleucia until 223. The decisive battle between Artashir and Artavan took place, according to Tagizade, on April 28, 227 at Hormizdagan. In the same year, Artashir was crowned king of kings of Iran. However, at the same time, Artavan's son Artavazd minted coins until 539 of the Seleucid era (229/230). The main support of Artashir were the vassal kingdoms of Mesopotamia that were subordinate to him, and so on. Kerman and Mekran. In 231-232, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus marches on Iran; the campaign did not bring real results, and a new campaign followed in 234-235. Its beginning was successful for the Romans, but then Artashir reaches Antioch; in a letter sent by him with an embassy to Rome, he puts forward claims to territories “as far as Ionia and Caria,” citing the fact that they belonged to the Persians “from the time of their ancestors.”
Moses of Khoren also reports about the uprising of the noble Parthian family of Karens against Artashir. They turn to the Armenian king Khosrow for help, but the latter’s efforts are not supported by noble families in Iran, including the Suren family, to which Khosrow himself belonged, and the overthrown Artavan, and later, St. Gregory the Illuminator, Baptist of Armenia. Then Artashir exterminates the entire Karen clan, except for one boy, Perozmat, who was taken to the Kushan kingdom. In general, the deeds of Artashir in the east of Iran are less known than in the west.
According to Tabari, Artashir conquered Merv, Balkh, Khorezm, and the ambassadors of “the king of the Kushans, the king of Turan and Markuran” came to him in Pars to recognize his suzerainty. However, this is not confirmed by the data of ŠKZ, in which the king Aprenka, the king of Merv, the king of Kerman and the king of the Saks are mentioned at the court of Artashir. Apparently, they did not belong to the Sasan clan and were local dynasts.
According to ŠKZ, Artashir built three cities: Artashir-khnum, Veh-Artashir and the already mentioned Artashir-Khvarrah. Near the last city, following the ancient tradition of the Shahanshahs of Iran, he carved one of his investiture reliefs and a relief of the triumph over Artavan... In total, there are five reliefs of Artashir: the other two with scenes of his “divine investiture” were carved in Naqsh-i-Rustam, next to reliefs of the Achaemenids, and another at Darabgird, telling of a triumph over the Romans. A year before his death, Artashir made his son Shapur his co-ruler.

Yazdegerd II 439-457

Hormizd III 457-459

Poroz 457-484

Balash 484-488

Kavad I 488-531

Jamasp 496-499

Kavad I (secondary) 499-531

Khosrov I (Anoshirvan) 531-579

Varahran VI 590-591

Vistam I 591-595

Kavad II Shiros 628

Ardashir III 628-629

Shahvaraz 629

Boran 630-632

Khosrow III 632-633

Yazdegerd III 633-651

The Persian kingdom was conquered by the Arabs. Iezdegerd III fled to Central Asia, but died somewhere in the Merv region.

Book materials used: Sychev N.V. Book of Dynasties. M., 2008. p. 586-587.

The Sasanian state is a Persian state in the Middle and Near East, formed on the site of the Parthian kingdom. Sassanid Ardashir I pitched at -224. the city of the Parthian king Artaban IV and was crowned power in Iran (227). The successors of Ardashir I (Shapur I, Shapur II) united the fragmented Iranian lands and vast territories to the west and east of them. The period of Sassanid rule coincides with the highest flowering of Persian art. In a short time, the Sassanids managed to create. a strong power capable of resisting Rome. However, already in the 4th century. Internecine wars began in the Sassanid possessions, failures followed in the fight against Rome, and a number of eastern regions fell away. In the 5th century The Sassanids successfully repulsed the attacks of the united eastern See genealogical table "Sasanians ".

Early Sasanian state

In the spring of 227 AD. near Stakhr, the capital of Pars (Persia), King Artashir of Pars, the son of King Papak, who came from the clan of Sasan, was crowned in power in Iran. The coronation was preceded by a victory over the Parthian king Artabanus 5. Both events were captured for posterity on rock reliefs. Coins were minted with the new title of Artashir - “Worshipper of (Ahura-)Mazda, god, king of kings of Iran, descended from the gods.” Thus, a new dynasty, the Sassanids, finally came to power in Iran, uniting the country for four centuries.

Back in 208, the Parthian state split into two parts: some regions recognized Valarsh V as king, others recognized his brother Artabanus V. Somewhat later, the Roman emperor Caracalla joined the fight for Parthia. The process of the collapse of the Parthian state into a number of independent and semi-dependent kingdoms was a manifestation of the deep crisis of Mediterranean societies. Its manifestation was the seizure of power in Stakhr by Papak, a petty ruler and priest of one of the regions of Pars. After the death of Papak, his son Artashir undertook a series of victorious campaigns in neighboring regions. Having conquered them, he moved troops to Mesopotamia, where he received the support of the rulers of a number of small semi-independent states. The combined forces of the allies besieged Seleucia, which fell in 223. All these successes turned the new ruler of Pars into a formidable opponent of the Parthian king of kings, but in a decisive battle it was possible to defeat the army of Artabanus only with the help of Mesopotamian allies and the rulers of some “kingdoms” (shahrs) located on the territory of Iran, as well as representatives of some of the most noble Parthian families.

The Parthian dynasty was weakened by internal strife and failures in foreign policy, and the Sassanids were associated with one of the ancient religious centers of Iran. Meanwhile, the difficult economic situation of the country, its disintegration into a number of possessions, which weakened internal economic ties, and the almost complete cessation of international trade required a strong state power that could establish economic life in the country and the interests of both the nobility, whose incomes were falling, and trading cities. To create a strong government, it was necessary to control the economic “heart of Iran” - Mesapatamia.

In the 3rd century. the fate of the Sasanian state was decided on its western borders. Three years after the coronation, the new king of kings (shahanishah), Artashir 1, led the Persian army into Syria and Asia Minor.

The threat of a Persian invasion was so serious that in 232 the Roman army in Northern Mesopotamia was forced to be led by Emperor Alexander Severus. The Romans failed to reach the Iranian capital, but at the same time they achieved some successes in Armenia. Skirmishes on the border did not stop until 237. The Shahan Shah's son and heir Shapur, who commanded the Persian army, captured Hatra in Mesopotamia, but did not achieve a decisive victory. In 242, Emperor Gordian III again began military operations. For twenty years the provinces of Mesopotamia experienced the horror of foreign invasions. Not a single year from 242 to 260 was practically calm.

Judging by the solemn inscription of Shapur 1 (243-273) on the so-called Kaaba of Zoroaster in the area of ​​Naqsh-i Rustam, three wars with Rome brought success to Iran. The first war ended with the death of Emperor Gordian, the capture of noble Romans and a large number of Roman soldiers, and the payment of a significant tribute - 500 thousand denarii. Between 244-251 Persian troops conquered part of Armenia, as well as Adiabene (a region of ancient Assyria). The second war was again started by the Romans. Military operations took place in Syria. The army of Shapur 1 crushed numerous Roman legions and stormed the most important cities in Syria and eastern Asia Minor. The concluded peace was fragile: hostilities actually did not stop. The temporary success of Emperor Waleran in 257 was again replaced by defeats; On the western borders of the Romans, the barbarians were pushing back, and the plague raged in the eastern provinces for 15 years (251). At this difficult moment for Rome, “the fate of the East again sounded a terrible trumpet, announcing terrible dangers,” says the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus. Shapur attacked Carrhae (Harran) and Edussa in Northern Mesopotamia. The Romans finally realized that they were dealing with a great power. It was not just about the Mesopotamian border. The power of Rome in all the eastern provinces was under threat. The decisive battle of Edessa was lost by the Romans. Valerian himself, senators and other nobles were captured. Shapur in his inscription reports that the Iranian army took 36 cities and fortresses. The Roman Empire had never known such a defeat.

The successes of Shapur 1 in the west showed the strength and cohesion of the young state, or perhaps rather the weakness of Rome: Shapur 1 in the year of his death still had to endure the shame of defeat. In the 2nd-3rd centuries. The main trade route between West and East began to run directly from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Sea through the Syrian steppe in order to bypass the difficult passes in Transcaucasia and Armenia, where almost continuous wars raged. The neutral oasis of Palmyra (Tadmor) in the middle of the desert became an important transit point for international trade; a state grew here, under Queen Zenobia it laid claim to a great power position in the Middle East; however, it was destroyed by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. The Persian corps sent to help Zenobia was defeated. But this success of Rome did not violate the stability of the western borders of Iran.

As a result of these wars, significant territories were annexed to Iran, and by the 60s of the 3rd century. its borders extended from Lower Mesopotamia and Syria to the Indus, from the Greater Caucasus to the Oman Peninsula in Arabia. Shapur 1 claimed “ownership” of such lands as Sogd, Chach (Tashkent region) and the Kushan kingdom. The first round in the single combat between the two main powers of the Middle East and the Mediterranean - the Roman Empire and Sasanian Iran - was won by Iran. In the areas conquered by the Iranians, Zoroastrianism was established. Subsequently, relations between Iran and Rome more than once acquired tragic severity.

Starting from the middle of the 4th century. The main border that Iran had to hold was the eastern one. Here, as before in the west, the Sassanids began with major military successes. During the reign of Artashir 1, there was a gradual strengthening of the power of Iran based on an alliance with local dynasties, but even later semi-independent kingdoms continued to exist, ruled by the rulers of the old, pre-Sasanian dynasties. Probably for the first time between 245 and 248. Shahanshah Shapur 1 undertook a large campaign of conquest into the eastern lands. As a result, a new “royal” city of Nishapur was founded in the east of the Iranian plateau; At the mint of the ancient city of Merv, the gold “denars” of Shapur 1 were minted, and his son Narse received all the newly conquered eastern provinces as an inheritance. This inheritance was called “Sakastan, Turestan and Indus to the sea coast” and, judging by the inscriptions, was preserved at least until the 20s of the 4th century.

After campaigns to the east Shapur 1 and until the middle of the 4th century. The Sassanian kings hardly waged any serious wars in the east of their state: all their forces at that time were exhausted by the heavy struggle on the western borders. The first reliable report of the eastern war of Shapur 2 dates back to the beginning of 357. Shapur at this time was barely holding back the onslaught of “hostile tribes” trying to cross the border of Iran. He suffered heavy losses in a stubborn struggle and finally, in 358, concluded an “alliance treaty” with them. Then he became involved in wars in the west and received the opportunity for active military operations in the east only at the very end of the 60s of the 4th century, when he probably undertook a large campaign, finally crushing the Kushan kingdom. The territory of the Kushan kingdom was included in a new most important inheritance, called the “kingdom of Kushan” (Kushanshahr). It was owned by the Sasanian princes, who had the right to issue their own silver and gold coins. The nomadic Khionites, who at that time acted as allies of the Sassanids, took part in all these events.

At the beginning of the 5th century. the former Kushan lands are conquered by Kidara, the founder of the kingdom of the Kidarites. An alliance with the nomads helped him oust the Sasanian troops from Bactria. At the same time, a principality arose in these and neighboring territories, headed by representatives of the nomadic Hephthalite tribe. The Sassanids held only Merv, Herat and some other cities. The war with the Kidarites occurred around 442. By 449-450. refers to the victory over them by Shahanshah Ezdegerd 2 and the capture of Southern Bactria. However, in 457-459. in the internecine war between the Sassanids Hormizd and Peroz, the latter ceded Eastern Tokharistan (Bactria) to the Hephthalites in exchange for their help, along with the cultural and religious center of these lands - the city of Balkh. Since the 70s of the 5th century. Peroz waged persistent wars in the east against the Kidarites and Hephthalites, constantly suffering setbacks. In the last campaign (484), the Sasanian army was completely defeated by the Hephthalites. Peroz died in battle. The winners captured the king's harem, a convoy with the treasury and many prisoners. Iran was subject to heavy tribute, which the Sassanids paid to the Hephthalites until the 60s of the 6th century. However, unlike the Roman Empire, the Iranian state did not collapse under the pressure of barbarian tribes.

Social and governmental structure of Sasanian Iran

The early Sasanian period is characterized by the preservation of three main zones of the late Parthian era: the zone of self-governing cities (mainly in the west), the zone of semi-independent kingdoms and possessions (shahrs) - throughout Iran - and the zone of the royal domain (dastakert). However, this structure is gradually being broken.

The picture of the death of self-governing cities is perhaps the most graphic. They began to lose their governing bodies even under the Parthians, and the collapse of Parthia led to a weakening of economic ties and trade. After the unification of Iran under the rule of a new dynasty in areas that in the middle of the 3rd century. become the domain of the king of kings, the old cities are “founded” anew, receiving the names of Shahanshahs and, probably, losing self-government. The creator of the monarchy, Artashir 1, “founded” only three cities in the west of Iran, while his son Shapur 1, expanding the borders of Dastakert, “founded” 16 cities in both the west and the east of the country. From now on, they began to be governed by shahrabs - government officials who exercised both civil and military power in the cities and districts. The rural districts assigned to these cities came under the jurisdiction of the central administration.

Thus, instead of the self-governing cities of the Seleucid and Parthian eras, which, in addition to the central government, exercised control over significant territories, cities emerged in the Sasanian era as headquarters for central government. Instead of the “union” of the king and the cities, the expanding royal dastakert and the dying “free” cities are now characteristic. In the 3rd-4th centuries. The institution of Shahrabs becomes the most important in the system of Sasanian administration. However, this institution, the development of which is closely connected primarily with the expansion of the royal domain, apparently loses its significance already at the end of the 4th century.

By the time the Sassanids seized power in Iran, there was a large number of “allied” semi-dependent kingdoms and regions. Some of them were simply large estates, covering a number of rural communities, but the owners of the estates acted in them as small sovereigns. Already in the system of the Parthian state they were so independent that the fate of the kingdom sometimes depended on the political orientation of one or another king. The tendency of individual rulers towards separatism manifested itself in any difficult political situation. In essence, the transition of power in Iran from the Parthian dynasty to the Sasanian dynasty, which initially seized power in Pars, was a manifestation of precisely this trend, which was a feature of the process of feudalization of society.

The Sassanian period is characterized by gradually increasing centralization, however, the early Sassanian state initially represented only a federation of individual kingdoms and smaller possessions, which were in varying degrees of dependence on the central government, and were economically related to it in different ways. Early Sassanian inscriptions still mention former local semi-dependent "kings" in various regions of Transcaucasia, Iran, and Mesopotamia. However, already under Shapur 1 the independence of a number of shakhrs was destroyed. Some of the previously autonomous kingdoms began to be ruled by the sons of the king of kings of Iran. Only the kingdom of Elimaida in Western Iran lasted until the middle of the 4th century, and the kings of Elimaida, as well as the rulers of the Kushan lands conquered by the Sassanids, retained the right to issue their own coins.

The administration of important areas by the Sasanian princes, as well as the institution of Shahrabs, similar in function and arising as a result of the same situation, ceased to exist by the end of the 5th century. The rapid process of feudalization is indicated by the growing separatism of the rulers of individual shakhrs and smaller regions.

According to later Zoroastrian didactic works, the entire population of Iran was divided into four classes: priests, warriors, scribes and farmers. This division, going back to the religious ideas of the Avesta, naturally did not reflect the real class stratification of the Sasanian era, but was sanctified by religion and tradition. Many nobles and landowners belonged to warriors, government officials and courtiers were formally included in the class of scribes, Zoroastrian priests constituted a special class, and doctors, astorlogers, merchants, and artisans were included in the tax-paying class of farmers, as well as ordinary peasants. Zoroastrianism in its new, dogmatic form became the state religion under the Sassanids; priests (magi) were the mentors of the king of kings and queens, and concentrated legal proceedings and education in their hands.

Representatives of the Sassanid clan - Vaspukhrs, the highest rank of nobility - Vasurgi, as well as small landowners - Azats (literally "free") constituted the highest rank of Iranian society of the Sassanid era. The ruling princes, Shahrabs and other nobles, who made up the highest nobility, formed the Council of the King of Kings with voting rights according to the parochial system. Each nobleman had a specific place in the council chamber depending on his nobility. At the court of the Armenian Arsacids, whose customs were similar to those of the Sassanians, the nobility who had the right to sit on the royal council received distinctive signs of their rank (a throne, a pillow and an honorary headband - a diadem). The younger kings, in addition, sat on precious thrones, which were given to them by the Shahanshah for special distinctions. At court there was a very complex ceremony with a whole hierarchy of court positions.

The creation of the Sasanian Empire was an attempt to create a centralized empire, which (like Tang in China) would be based on early feudal social relations.

In the middle of the 3rd century. In Iran, there is a significant redistribution of the land fund. The royal destakert grew, gradually covering a significant part of the state's territory. The expansion of the royal lands was due to the reduction of the appanages of the large nobility and lands previously assigned to self-governing cities. However, at the same time, sources note large and ever-increasing grants of land from this fund to both the nobility and the temples. Land ownership of Zoroastrian temples in particular is growing. Shahanshahs grant temples not only lands, but also herds, gardens, vineyards, slaves, etc. From royal grants, as well as from gifts from the nobility for charitable purposes and the celebration of certain liturgies, very large estates were formed. The main income from this property went to the temples, and the donor received a very small percentage. In one of his inscriptions, Shapur 1 announced that he donated this percentage to the temples, which amounted annually to a thousand lambs, more than two tons of grain and a huge amount of wine.

Large tracts of land were still in the possession of free rural communities. Over time, this land fund also declined. Community lands were transferred to the conditional private ownership of the nobility, sometimes to large officials with the right to collect taxes and their own jurisdiction. Gradually, such lands became the actual property of the owners. The change in the nature of land ownership and the combination of owner's rights with political and judicial rights, typical of feudal society, can be clearly seen in the late Sasanian era.

Some large privately owned farms, especially in western Iran, used slaves, although there is no reliable evidence that slave labor was the basis of their economy. On the contrary, already by the 3rd century. There are data from sources about the partial emancipation of slaves and the provision of land for them to run their own farms. “Slave service” in such cases took from 1/3 to 1/10 of the slave’s time and was often specifically expressed in providing him with a certain amount of income from the plot that he cultivated, which gradually brought him closer in a social sense to an enslaved community member. Most often, slaves were used in crafts and households. In the early Sasanian period, the practice of settling prisoners of war on royal lands was also known; the same practice existed in large farms, and sometimes even large nobles became “slaves” of the temple (for various reasons). Their “slave service” consisted in the fact that they erected various buildings at their own expense.

Data on the taxation of the tax-paying population in Iran for the period of the 3rd-4th centuries. fragmentary and incomplete. The tax-paying population paid taxes depending on the harvest; there was no land registry. It is better known about the taxes that were collected from the “non-believers” - Jews and Christians living throughout Iran. The jurisdiction of the Zoroastrian priesthood did not extend to adherents of other religions - Jews, Christians, etc., who lived within the state in fairly significant numbers, especially in the western regions. People of other faiths were often persecuted by the Sassanian government. They were always ready for expulsions and relocations and acquired movable rather than immovable property. Therefore, Christians, Jews, and later Manichaeans made up a significant part of the craft and trading population.

International trade

International trade remained of great importance under the Sassanids. The most important routes crossing Iran were formed mainly by the beginning of the 1st century. AD A branch of the “royal road” from Herat (now in Afghanistan) went north to Merv and on to Samarkand, where this route probably merged with the Silk Road from China through the oases of East Turkestan. The region of Asia Minor and Syria was connected to the Silk Road by a land road along the Euphrates, leading to the harbors of the Persian Gulf, or by an ancient caravan road from Syria through Iran. Outside the control of Parthia and Sasanian Iran were the sea route to India (via the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf), which was reopened by the middle of the 1st century. AD

The main international goods were luxury goods - Chinese raw silk, trade in which was carried out through the mediation of Sogdian trading posts that spread along the Silk Road, as well as Indian goods that entered Iran mainly by land - precious stones, incense, opium, spices. Syrian Christians (Arameans) showed particular trading activity in both the Parthian and Sasanian periods, whose trading settlements existed not only in the cities of Mesopotamia, but also in the east of Iran, in Central Asia, and at a later time - right up to the borders of China.

Iran's international trade was primarily caravan trade; voyages of Iranian merchants in the Persian Gulf were irregular. Caravans from Mesopotamia delivered Syrian glass, Egyptian and Asia Minor silk fabrics, Syrian and Egyptian woolen fabrics, metal products, wine, and oil to the eastern regions of Iran. These goods were then transported, mainly by caravans of local merchants, to China and India. Before any trade agreement was concluded, it was necessary to establish the nature of the goods - “reliable” or “unreliable”. First of all, goods of international caravan trade were considered “unreliable”; they were exposed to such dangers as "sea", "fire", "enemies" and "power". Stronger than natural disasters were, of course, the dangers that depended on the “authorities”: endless duties that had to be paid at any borders and in any cities, a state monopoly on the sale of certain goods (primarily raw silk), military operations in the area of ​​​​caravan trade etc. In the era of the general economic crisis of the 3rd century. In the Middle East, caravan trade almost ceased. However, with the formation of the Sasanian state, it was soon established again. As before, the main product was silk; They paid taxes with silk fabrics, gave them as gifts to ambassadors and monarchs, bought allies, and paid soldiers.

As in the Parthian period, the Sassanian era is known for its large international trading markets. But international trade was closely linked to politics: copper and iron were considered “strategic goods”, and the Byzantine emperors forbade selling them to the Persians.

Religion of Iran

During the Sasanian period, Zoroastrianism became the state religion. Evidence of this is the new, Zoroastrian, royal title adopted by Artashir 1 after the coronation - “Worshipper of (Ahura-) Madze...” - and his founding of the “royal” (coronation) fire temple, which became a national sanctuary. At that time, Artashir concentrated in his hands not only civil and military, but also religious power. In the lists of his court there is no title of “high priest”, just as there is none in the lists of the court of his heir Shapur 1. Initially, the Zoroastrianism of the Sasanian monarchs was reflected in their official monuments only through title and symbols. Zoroastrianism of early Sasanian times was similar to its forms in Parthian times. In it, an undeniably significant role was played by the cult not only of Ahuramazda, but also of Anahita, at that time predominantly the goddess of war and victory, and the cult of the god Mithra. Somewhat later, the cult of Artashir 1 himself acquired great importance, whose temple in the Naqsh-i Rajab grotto was revered for a long time.

All this was the background to the activities of the first reformer of the Sasanian religion - the priest Kartir, whose career began, probably, in the last years of the reign of Artashir 1. Then he had the modest title of herbed - something like a teacher at the temple, introducing future priests to the Zoroastrian ritual. Kartir rose to prominence under Shapur 1, who entrusted him with the organization of Zoroastrian temples and priestly communities in Iran and in the conquered regions. Having taken a prominent position in the state, becoming the confessor of the grandson of Shapur 1, Varahran 2 (276-293), who took the throne of Iran with his active assistance, then the “lord” of the temple of Anahita in Stakhra, the family sanctuary of the Sasadins (both before and after him there were priests here the Shahanshahs of Iran themselves), then the only interpreter of the “will of the gods”, the arbiter of the destinies of the entire state, Kartir, already a very old man, was probably killed during the next coup d’etat.

His life and deeds in creating a state religion and organizing the church and the “confession of faith” proclaimed by him are set out in the inscriptions of Kartir himself, where he prays to the gods to give him the opportunity to explain to the “living” what the divine reward for the righteous consists of, so that the gods would reveal to him “being” of hell and heaven, so that with divine help Kartir would show “what divine works for the sake of, what exactly I have done throughout the country, for what purpose and how it was done, so that for them (i.e. for the “living”) everything these matters would become firmly established." Further, Kartir talks in detail about how, with the help of the gods, he (or rather, his “double”-soul) allegedly made a journey to the other world to the throne of Ahuramazda, accompanied by the personification of the Zoroastrian faith - the Most Noble Virgin. A feast is taking place at a certain golden throne, and here there are scales (on which the deity Rashnu weighs good and evil). Here are the souls of the righteous, who achieved this honor thanks to the performance of certain rituals and the confession of certain religious dogmas. From here, after having a ritual meal, these souls (including Karthir’s “double”) pass across the Chinwat Bridge to heaven.

Thus, Kartir considered himself a prophet like Zarathushtra. This is how the text of his inscriptions ends: “... and whoever sees and reads this inscription, let him become pious and just in relation to the gods and rulers. And also in these very prayers and dogmas, in religious matters and faith, which now established by me for the inhabitants of this earthly world, let him become more firm, and let others (prayers, deeds and faith) not profess... And let him know: there is heaven and there is hell, and the one who chose good, let him go to heaven, and the one who chose evil, let him be cast into hell. And the one who chose good and steadily follows the path of good, the mortal body of that person will achieve glory and prosperity, and his soul will achieve righteousness, which I, Kartir, have achieved ".

Carthir was not only the creator of the first canon of state religion, but even more of a politician. In his inscriptions, he writes about the main results of his activities to create a state religion.

Kartir carried out his reform in a very tense environment - at the court of Shapur 1, during his coronation, another prophet and creator of his own religion, Mani, was received, the propaganda of whose teachings was allowed throughout Iran. This was caused primarily by the fact that the Sassanid conquests opened up new ideological horizons for Iran: Christianity, Gnostic teachings, Neoplatonism, ancient Eastern cosmogonic ideas, various interpretations of Zoroastrianism, Judaism. It is possible that it was precisely the political calculation to create such a faith that could become popular everywhere that forced Shapur to accept Mani and allow the propaganda of his teachings. The principle of faith was, first of all, that it should be understandable “in any country, in any language.”

Just like in Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism, the teachings of Mani contained the idea of ​​the Last Judgment, the idea of ​​the coming of the Messiah; followers of Mani recognized Christ, Buddha, Zoroaster. According to Mani’s teachings, the main thing in a person is not even the soul, which, like the whole world, is generated by evil, but a “spark of God’s light,” and the task of a true righteous person is to contribute to its liberation. This can only be achieved through extreme asceticism. The main emphasis of Mani's teachings is extreme pessimism, denial of any active actions (except for preaching the teachings), isolation and isolation (a follower of the teachings, for example, should not do good to anyone who is “against sacred duty”). During Mani’s lifetime, twelve preachers of his ideas acted in the east of Iran; in Merv, also during Mani’s life, there was a large Manichaean community, and there were numerous communities in Mesopotamia.

The harmonious closed structure of communities of followers of the teachings of Mani, the mystery of mystical rituals, the study of “horoscope, fate and stars”, the glory of the Manichaeans as excellent doctors who knew the most powerful spells - all this attracted to them those who did not care about “knowledge of the essence of existence.” "

In the chaos of various faiths, sects and schools of the era of the fall of Hellenism, there was a search for a single “religious language”, an intense struggle that, at the cost of great sacrifices, prepared the ground for the success of the “great religions.” But it was Zoroastrianism, as a religion traditional for Iran, that could most likely take, in a revised form, the place of the ideological foundation of a centralized state, and therefore the passion for Manichaeism of Shapur1 and part of the Iranian nobility was only an episode. The Zoroastrian priests of Kartir also went to the newly conquered regions along with the Sasanian troops.

The fate of the “prophet” Mani was tragic. He was executed a few years after the death of his royal patron; his teaching was declared a most harmful heresy, and, despite some favorable circumstances for Manichaean, members of this sect were forced to act secretly.

In 484, the Syrian Church in Iran officially adopted the Nestorian creed, which was considered a heresy in Byzantine Orthodoxy, and broke with the Byzantine Church. In addition, in Iran and especially in Transcaucasia, the Monophysite interpretation of Christianity was widespread, which was also considered heretical in Byzantium. At the end of the 5th century. Nestorians and Monophysites were legalized by the Iranian government.

The enormous role of Kartir at the court of the first Sassanian monarchs led to the fact that the state quickly moved towards theocracy. The young Shahanshah Varahran 2 was completely under the influence of Kartir and his party, which even proclaimed the doctrine of the “ideal sovereign.” According to that doctrine, the sovereign must be religious, always trust his spiritual mentor, and act in accordance with the tenets of faith. But the coup of Nare (293) led, in particular, to the restoration of the dynastic cult - the rulers of Iran themselves again became the priest of Anahita, and in Pars on the relief in Nash-i Rustam Nars was crowned king by this goddess. The "Restoration" also summed up the intense struggle between various court groups and the priesthood that flared up around the concept of the power of the king of kings - the idea of ​​​​the unity of the "secular" and "spiritual" power of the shakhansha again prevailed.

The new reform of Zoroastrianism, undertaken by the country's chief priest (magupat) Aturpat Mihraspandan, was the result of these events and was also accompanied by various kinds of “miracles”. Its essence in the formulation of the Zoroastrian priests differed little from the Kartir reform: acting on the orders of Shapur 2, Aturpat “cleansed the filth and revived the ancient faith anew”, carrying out a new codification of the “Avesta”

Aturpat's reform primarily affected the Magustan - the Zoroastrian church. Several magupats from various regions of Iran appear at the court of the Shahanshahs, and Aturpat himself receives the title of magupat of the magupats (by analogy with the title “king of kings”). Due to a number of political reasons, it was the 4th century. the Sassanian Shahanshahs began to trace their genealogy to the ancient kings of the Achaemenid times "Dariy" and "Keyanid"

In the 4th century. A new type of Zoroastrian temples is spreading throughout Iran - pavilions open on all four sides (the so-called “four arches”), completely different from the traditional temples of the late Achaemenid and early Sasanian eras.

Late Sasanian power

In the 5th century In Iran, the establishment of early feudal socio-economic relations is completed and the political power of land magnates increases. It is only necessary to briefly mention the historical episode of the Mazdaki movement and the final rise of the centralized Sasanian monarchy

After the defeat of Shahanshah Peroz in the fight against the Hephthalites (484), his son Kavad remained their hostage. When Peroz's successor was blinded and deposed by the nobility, the conspirators elevated Kavad, who arrived with Hephthalite troops, to the throne. An intelligent and subtle politician, Kavad was clearly aware of the danger of becoming a puppet in the hands of powerful nobles. To weaken them, on the one hand, he organized court intrigues, and on the other, he wanted to use the demagogic slogans of the priest of one of the Zoroastrian temples, Mazdak, who at that time began to preach his teachings. There was relatively little new in it. The religion which Mazdak called for was, of course, Zoroastrianism, but with the addition of some ideas from the sermons of Mani and the heterodox schools of Zoroastrianism. In contrast to Manichaeism, however, Mazdak called for active action by believers for the final victory of the “kingdom of light” (in particular, the “strong and reasonable” royal power was recognized as a product of the “kingdom of light”). The true kingdom of “strength and reason,” according to this teaching, must be built on universal equality and equal distribution of life’s goods and must come in the near future. Apparently, Mazdak himself was primarily interested in questions of faith, the participation of Zoostrian priests in the Shahanshah, and the nature of the central government. But the new religious teaching in the conditions of feudalization of society, major screw-ups in foreign policy, famine, and crop failure became the ideological banner of an open uprising of peasants and the urban poor

By making Mazdak his closest advisor and granting him the title of high priest, Kavad wanted to use his authority and abstract appeals for the common good and equality to neutralize opposition at court and among the clergy. For him, this was a temporary political action aimed at weakening the position of large nobles, who by that time had turned into almost independent rulers in their lands, and gaining widespread support from the Azats and serving nobles. But soon the movement could no longer be squeezed into a controlled process. The slogan about equalizing property between rich and poor was only a “revolutionary interpretation” in the lower classes of Zoroastrian formulas about spiritual equality, but it was very popular, and Mazdak’s supporters temporarily gained undivided power in the country. The scope of the movement required the consolidation of the forces of the nobility. In 496, the royal council removed Kavad from the throne and imprisoned him. Kavad's brother was elevated to the throne of Iran. However, having escaped from prison, Kavad again received help from the Hephthalite sovereign, whose daughter he was married to, and in 499, with the support of Hephthalite troops, he again took the throne of Iran. But in the new circumstances, he could no longer support the Mazdakites. The broad taxation reforms announced by Kavad (implemented by his son Khosrow 1) separated small landowners from the extreme Mazdakites. Over the past century, the small landed aristocracy occupied key positions in both the army and the administration and could become a strong support for the central government. Kavad departs from the Mazdakits. In 528, after a dispute between the Zoroastrian priests and Mazdak, the latter was recognized as an “apostate from the righteous faith,” captured and executed. A cruel punishment awaited his followers.

With the suppression of the Mazdakit movement, the process of feudalization of Iran can be considered complete. The consolidation of the new socio-economic order, primarily in the interests of the small feudal nobility, was served by the strong centralized royal power established under the last Sassanids and aimed at suppressing the separatism of large feudal lords. As throughout the Middle East, the Middle Ages began in Iran as a result of internal processes.

The last conquests of the Sasanians. South Arabia

The further history of Sasanian Iran goes beyond the era of antiquity. Let's talk about it only briefly. The years of the reign of the last Sassanids seemed to be a time of unprecedented prosperity for the state. Kavad's son Khosrow 1 took decisive measures to streamline the entire state, military and tax system and seemed to have re-created a centralized empire. Around 570, the Persians conquered Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and secured dominance of the sea routes in the Red Sea.

The conquest of South Arabia brought into the orbit of world history another, until then almost completely isolated civilization.

Class society and the state arose independently in the southwest of Arabia in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. It was a civilization of South Arabian Semitic tribes (different in language from the Arabs), which spread in the 1st millennium BC. and to the territory of Africa (modern Ethiopia). Two factors determined the uniqueness of this culture: its position at the crossroads of trade routes connecting the Mediterranean with East Africa and India, and its great remoteness from all other states. High irrigation technology was developed here. The proximity of pastoral Arab tribes contributed to the emergence of exchange on the border of settled and nomadic zones. The incense produced here was of particular importance in the economy of South Arabia and was highly valued in all ancient countries. The incense culture yielded fabulous riches that earned Yemen the nickname “Happy Aavia.”

There were many states in ancient South Arabia. At the end of the 5th century. South Arabia is included in the struggle of the great powers - Byzantium and Iran - for dominance on trade routes from India and China; Christianity and Judaism become the banners of warring political factions, focusing on Byzantium and Iran. Aksum becomes the support of Byzantium, while Khymyar focuses on Iran. Fierce Himyar-Ethiopian wars of the 6th century. led to the collapse of the Khymyar state and the conquest of Yemen by Sasanian Iran.

Culture of Sasanian Iran

The reforms of Zoroastrianism carried out by Kartir have already been mentioned above. The introduction of the so-called Avestan alphabet, created specifically for recording Zoroastrian religious texts, dates back to the late Sasanian era. At the same time, a dictionary of Avestan words was created with their translation into Middle Persian.

Sassanian art appears suddenly. During the reign of the first five Shahanshahs, thirty huge rock reliefs were created in various regions of Pars. On them, as well as on coins, carved stones-seals and silver bowls, over the course of a decade, new for Iran canons of the “official portrait” of kings, nobles and priests, canons of images of the main Zoroastrian deities - Ahuramazda, Mithras and Anahita - were formed. In Sassanian art, the influence of the Caucasus, Central and Central Asia is noticeable, and its influence, in turn, is felt over a vast territory from the Atlantic to China. Some of the personifications of various Zoroastrian deities common in Achaemenid art were carried over into Sasanian art. Among them are winged bulls, winged and horned lions, griffins, lions attacking a bull, etc.

No less than the contribution of the Achaemenids was the contribution of the art of the Parthians and the Eastern Roman provinces. The reliefs of the Parthian era reflect, in essence, the same ideas as the reliefs of the Sasanian Shahanshahs: they also proclaimed the legitimacy of the dynasty and the victories of the kings.

The influence of the art of the Eastern Roman provinces was most clearly reflected in Bishapur, a city built by Shapur 1 with the hands of Roman prisoners. The mosaics that decorated the floor of the main hall of the palace were made in the Syrian-Roman style, their subjects are the same as those on the contemporary mosaics of Antioch. The surviving parts, apparently executed by Syrian artists, feature portraits of actors and theatrical masks, dancers, musicians, flowers, and fruits. Probably, the Persians wanted to depict one of the most significant Zorasterian holidays - the autumn festival of Mihragan, and, perhaps, that is why their choice leaned toward subjects associated in the West with the Dionysian cult. Some metal products and Sasanian seals also depict such “Western” characters as Erotes, Pegasi, and Sphinxes, which are included in Zoroastrian religious iconography.

From various sources, about a hundred names of various religious, literary and scientific works of the Sasanian era are known; Several dozen Sasanian books of various genres were translated into Arabic and then into New Persian in the Middle Ages. There is no doubt about the existence of an epic filled with quasi-historical names of kings, heroes and entire dynasties. This genre of literature was inextricably linked with religious writings, but apparently did not come into contact with real history, as evidenced by the fact that the genealogy of the dynasty did not extend beyond the immediate ancestors of Artashir 1.

Conclusion

The period of the reign of the Shahanshahs of the Sasanian dynasty in Iran (3rd-7th centuries), although it seems to be a brilliant era in the development of Iranian statehood and culture, is nevertheless rather monotonous as soon as it comes to specific historical events. This especially applies to the 3rd - early 4th centuries.

The most interesting people of this era are Kartir and Mani, prophets and statesmen who tried to influence the destinies of the country to one degree or another - each in their own way. And although they reveal to us the 3rd century. from the unexpected side - as an era of contrasts and contradictions, yet they alone do not yet fill with their, albeit very bright, characters, with their, albeit tragic, fate, the entire living history of this period; in the shadow of their loud religious polemics and fierce political struggle, many minor lesser-known characters, occasionally mentioned by one or another contemporary of the events, turned out to be hidden. The history of this period, especially the history of the 70-90s of the 3rd century. (after the victories of Shah Shapur 1 over the Roman Empire, the execution of Mani, the heyday of Kartir’s career), is still nothing more than a list of names of “kings and prophets”.

Literature:

Ancient world history. [Book 3] The Decline of Ancient Societies. Lukonin V.G. "Sassanian power in the 3rd-5th centuries." Moscow 1982

Iran in the 3rd century. New materials and experience of historical reconstruction. Lukonin V.G. Moscow 1979

Culture and economy of ancient Iran. Dandamaev M.A., Lukonin V.G. Moscow 1980.

Read further:

Sassanians(genealogical table).

Sassanid family(short essay with illustrations).

Yazdegerd I, [Yazgard] Shah of Iran in 399-421.

Vararan- Varahran (Bahram) V (421-438/9), Shah of Iran, son of Yazdegerd I.

Peroz(Firuz I), Shah of Iran from 459 to 484

SASSANIAN PERSIA

Sassanid Empire (pers.) - state, formed on the territory of modern Iraq and Iran as a result of the fall of the power of the Tabaristan Arsacid dynasty and the rise to power of the Persian Sassanid dynasty.

Existed from 224 to 651. The Sassanids themselves called their state Eranshahr (- Eranshahr) “The State of the Iranians (Aryans).”

The Sassanid dynasty was founded by Ardashir I Papakan after defeating the Parthian king Artaban V (Persian Ardavan) of the Arsacid dynasty. The last Sasanian Shahinshah (King of Kings) was Yazdegerd III (632-651), who was defeated in a 14-year struggle with the Arab Caliphate.

In the middle of the 7th century, the Sassanid Empire was destroyed and absorbed into the Arab Caliphate.

Ardashir (c. 180-241 AD) - the first Shahanshah of Iran in 224-241. from the Sassanid dynasty.

According to the Zoroastrian code “Denkard”, at the behest of Ardashir, the supreme high priest Tusar (or Tansar) collected the surviving lists of the books of the Avesta and, having studied them, established the canon of Mazdayasna, a religion according to the teachings of Zoroaster .

Tusar's message to the king of Tabaristan is known, with an exhortation to recognize Artashir as the legitimate sovereign of Iran.

Ardashir's high priest was Tansar, or Tosar (the Pahlavi letter allows for two readings). He bore the title Erbad, which under the Parthians was apparently used to designate the leading dignitaries of the Zoroastrian church. (Ordinary clerics were referred to throughout Sasanian times simply as "mog" - a word dating back to the ancient magician - "magician".) Tansar, as a supporter of Ardashir, had a difficult task to perform. After all, if the Arsacids, seizing power, claimed to be fighters for the faith against the infidel Seleucids, then the Sassanids should have justified the overthrow of their co-religionists. We can trace how they tried to achieve their goals from a letter that has come down to us, written by Tansar himself to Gushnasp, the ruler of Tabaristan in northern Iran. This area was difficult to conquer by force, and Tansar, on behalf of Ardashir, wrote a letter to Gushnasp to persuade him to voluntarily submit to the new government. The letter that has reached us is a response to one of Gushnasp’s letters. In it, Tansar answers numerous questions full of doubts and refutes one after another the criticisms expressed by the northern ruler. In the religious sphere, the ruler of Tabaristan Gushnasp accused Ardashir “of renouncing traditions, which may be true from a worldly point of view, but is not good for the cause of faith” (Tansar-name, 36). Tansar raises a double objection to this accusation. Firstly, he writes, not all the old orders are good, and since Ardashir “is more generously endowed with virtues than the previous rulers ... then his customs are better than the old ones.” Secondly, he argues, faith fell into such decline after the destruction caused by Alexander that under the Arsacids it was no longer possible to accurately know the old “laws and rituals,” and therefore faith “must be restored by a truthful and sensible person ... because before unless faith is interpreted intelligently, it has no solid foundation.” Ardashir thus claimed to have the full right to make such changes as he pleased, and these changes were equally approved by Tansar, regardless of whether they were innovations or a restoration of the old order.

The fact that some of his co-religionists bravely resisted Ardashir’s claims is evident from the protests of the ruler of Tabaristan, Gushnasp, against “excessive bloodshed that is committed on the orders of Ardashir among those who oppose his decisions and decrees” (Tansar-name, 39). To this Tansar replied that people had become wicked, and therefore they themselves should be blamed for executions and murders, and not the King of kings. “Bloodsheds among people of this kind, even seemingly excessive, we consider vital and healthy, life-giving, like rain for the earth... because in the future the foundations of the state and religion will be comprehensively strengthened by this...” (Tansar-name 40).

It remains unclear, however, exactly what religious events Ardashir, as Tansar admitted, carried out through bloodshed. There are several sources on the history of the early Sassanids, and one can find in them various measures by which Ardashir and the Persian priests could infringe and anger their Zoroastrian co-religionists. Thus, instead of the former brotherhood of local communities, a single Zoroastrian church was created under the direct and authoritarian control of Persia; this was accompanied by the establishment of a single canon of Avestan texts, approved and approved by Tansar himself. This event is described in the Pahlavi work Dinkard as follows: “His Majesty the King of Kings Ardashir, son of Papak, following Tansar as his religious leader, commanded that all the scattered teachings should be brought to the court. Tancap took the lead and chose those that were reliable, and excluded the rest from the canon. He issued the following decree: henceforth only those writings that are based on the religion of Mazda worship are correct, because from now on there is no lack of accurate knowledge regarding them” (Dinkard 412, 11-117; Zaehner, 1955, p. 8). Elsewhere in the same work, it is predicted that there will be no peace in the Iranian lands until “until they recognize him, Erbad Tansar, a spiritual leader, eloquent, truthful, and just. And when they recognize and submit to Tansar... these lands, if they wish, will find salvation instead of abandoning the Zoroastrian faith” (Dinkard 652, 9-17).

The king of Tabaristan refused to confirm the powers of Ardashir, and the latter decided to assert his power by force of arms. Thus begins the centuries-long war of Persia against the Tabasaran people.

In 226, Artashir was solemnly crowned and took the title of king of kings (shahanshah). However, in order to become the head of Iran, Artashir had to conquer 80 kings and seize their regions. The young state was born and grew up in wars. He consistently continued his conquests. In reality, Ardashir I captured Media, the territory of Iranian, or Southern, Azerbaijan, Sakastan (Sistan), Khorasan and the Merv oasis.

The head of the state was the Shahanshah, who belonged to the reigning Sassanid dynasty. Succession to the throne did not yet have strict laws, so the Shah sought to appoint his heir during his lifetime, but this did not save him from great difficulties during inheritance. The throne of the Shahanshah should and could only be occupied by a representative of the Sassanid clan. In other words, the Sassanid clan was considered royal. Family inheritance. The highest position in the state was occupied by shakhrdars - independent rulers of regions, kings subordinate to the Sassanids.

After the death of the Parthian king Artaban, his brother Valarsh from the Tabaristan Arsacid dynasty declares war on the Sassanians.

According to Movses Khorenatsi, during the reign of the Albanian king Valarsh, “...crowds of Khazir (Khazar) and Basil (Barsil), united, passed through the gates of Chor under the leadership of their king Vnasep Surkhap, crossed the river and scattered on this side of it (to the country of the Huns )". Valarsh came out to meet them at the head of a large army and, putting them to flight, pursued them to Chor, where he died “at the hands of powerful archers.”

After the death of Valarsh, the throne was occupied by his son, Khosrov, “in the third year of the reign of the Albanian king Artaban.” As is known, the last Albanian Artaban V, whom we are talking about here, proclaimed himself king in 213. Khosrow took the throne immediately after the death of his father Valarsh “in the third year” of the reign of Artaban V, as Khorenatsi emphasizes, i.e. in 216 G.

Khosrow (211-259) reigned for 48 years. After the fall of the Arsacid dynasty in 226, he waged successful wars with Artashir I Sassanid.

It follows that the first invasion of the Barsils with the Khazars into Albania, information about which was preserved by Movses Khorenatsi, apparently took place around 215/6, i.e. approximately 10 years before the moment when, according to Agafangel, under the same king Khosrow the Huns first appeared in Albania.

Are these not those “...crowds of Khazir (Khazars) and Basil (Barsil) who burst into Albania and settled in an area that went down in history as the country of the Huns (gunarin vilayat)”?

So, according to Agafangel, King Khosrow from the Tabaristan Arsacid dynasty, the next year after the death of the last king Artaban V (213 - 224) and the seizure of power in Iran by the founder of the new Sassanid dynasty Ardashir I (224 - 241), i.e., according to Apparently, around 225, “... the Albanians gathered troops, opened the Albanian gates and the Chora stronghold; he (Khosrow) led the army of the Huns (Gunnarin vilayat) in order to attack the occupied land by the Persians... Many strong and brave cavalry detachments of Albans, Lpins, Chilbs, Caspiians and others quickly arrived (to him) in support (place names of localities are indicated ) from those regions to avenge the blood of Artaban."

Ten years later, in 225, the Huns (i.e. the same Khazars and Barsils) reappeared in Transcaucasia, but this time as mercenaries of Khosrow in the coalition he created against the first Sassanian Shah Ardashir I (Agafangel).

In 259, in Caucasian Albania, the great son of the Albanian people, Khosrov from the Tabaristan dynasty, the founders of the Parthian state of the Arsacids, was killed by the hands of Anak from the Arsacid clan, whom he sheltered, in a conspiracy organized by Artashir Sassanid.

Anak, bribed by the Persian king, killed the Albanian king Khosrov and for this he himself paid with his life; his entire family was exterminated, except for his youngest son, whom his nurse, a Christian, managed to take to his homeland, Caesarea Cappadocia (Greece). There the boy was baptized with the name Gregory (the name of St. Gregory in paganism was Suren) and received a Christian upbringing. Having entered into marriage, he soon separated from his wife: she entered a monastery, and Gregory went to Rome and there entered the service of Khosrov’s son, Tiridates (286-342), wanting to make amends for his father’s guilt through diligent service. Tiridates regained his father's throne. For professing Christianity, Tiridates ordered Gregory to be thrown into a ditch so that he would die there from hunger. Here Gregory lived for 13-14 years, fed by a pious woman.

Khosrow gave his life for the freedom and independence of the Albanian people. This is confirmed by the nameless cemeteries scattered throughout Tabasaran with hastily placed unhewn slabs over the graves of uninvited “foreign guests”.

The successful development of Derbent in the Albanian (ancient) period was interrupted in the middle of the 3rd century AD by the campaign of the Persian king Shapur I. In one of the most significant ancient temples of Iran, a Sasanian inscription was discovered, which reports that “the horses and people of Shapur” reached Albanian gate, where Shapur, the king of kings, with horses and people, himself... caused destruction and fire......" The barbaric consequences of this campaign of the Persian king Shapur I left traces in the memory of my small Tabasaran people. mention of the city of Derbent and to this day my people remember the name of this barbarian and the city is called “Shagyur” - “Shapur”.

In the first decade of the 4th century. The Barsils (Khazars), under the leadership of their leader, named in the “History of Taron” by Zenob Gluck as “King of the North Tedrekhon”, again invaded Albania through the Derbent Pass, but on the Gargarey Plain (an area near the village of Garig-Gyargyarin Khirar) they were defeated by the Albanian king Trdat III (Agafangel, Khorenatsi).

Iran's foreign policy became particularly active under Shapur II (309-379), who waged stubborn wars with Rome and the Kushans, the actual allies of Rome. By the end of his reign, Shapur crushed the Kushan state, whose western possessions passed to the Sassanids.

Shapur II (date of birth unknown, d. 379) - King of Persia from 309. During his 70-year reign, he waged repeated wars with the Roman Empire, which ended with the annexation of many territories to the Sassanid state.

In the scientific literature, controversy has developed regarding the Kushans. That's who they are

such Kushans.

Burshag is one of the oldest villages in Agul, (Agul district) the highest mountain village, located at the foot of the Jufa-dag peak (3015 m) in the Kushan valley, the final settlement of which is Kushan-dere. Residents of the village of Burshag speak a very unique Kushan dialect of the Agul language. Together with the neighboring villages of Arsug and Khudig, located in the Kushan Valley, Burshag forms an original cultural, linguistic and geographical enclave, distinguishing them among the Aguls.

The territory of Burshag borders on three districts: Tabasaran, Kaitag and Dakhadaevsky. The close proximity to the Tabasarans and Dargins left its mark on the life, morals and customs of the Burshag people. Traditionally, residents of the village. Burshag had family ties not only with neighboring Agul villages, but often with Tabasarans and Dargins.

Information about the inhabitants of Kushan-dere - the Kushans, “RukIushans” (as the neighboring Tabasarans call them) is mentioned in ancient sources, in particular in the 10th century sources of Abu Hamid al-Garnati.

Iranshahr did not have lasting peace with its northern neighbors - the Huns, Khazars and Albanians. Iran by this time had captured the entire coastal part of the Caspian Sea, i.e. the great, ancient Caucasian Albania was divided into small marzbans. Under Shahinshah Bahram Gur in 425, the invasion of the Huns was repulsed.

The political situation at this time in the Caucasus is as follows: The main political line pursued by the Sasanian regime in Albania, as before, was to increase dependence on the empire and ensure the protection of the northern borders. The protection of the Caucasian passages was certainly important not only for Iran, but also for Byzantium. Taking this circumstance into account, Byzantium, back in 442, concluded a special agreement with Iran, according to which it undertook to annually pay the Sassanids a certain amount of “gold” for the protection of the Albanian pass.

And to strengthen the Derbend Pass, the Sassanids restored five rows of defensive walls stretching from the mountains to the sea and stationed guard detachments here. And at this time the Khazars were rushing to Albania, the Arabs were advancing from the south, carrying the new and all-conquering teaching of the Prophet Muhammad.

Tavaspars are mentioned in the “History of Yeghishe” in connection with events around 450, when the Armenian prince Vasak Syuni, who had gone over to the side of Iran, called for his side in the fight against the Huns for control of the “fortress at the gate of the Huns” in the wall blocking the passage through the Caucasus the ridge between the possessions of the Albanians and the Huns, “the Lipns and the Chilbs, the Wat, the Gav, the Gnivar and the Khyrsan, and the Hechmatak, and the Pasyk, and the Posykh, and the Pyukovan, and all the troops of Tavasparan, mountainous and flat, the entire inaccessible country of the mountains.”

The troops of Tavasparan did not go over to the side of the Armenian prince and Prince Vasak Syuni was defeated in Tavasparan.

In the village Askkan Yarak, Kondik have quite extensive cemeteries, where there are even Armenian burials. Here is the answer for you to fully disclose the theme of Tabasaran’s story.

The war with the Persians resumed in 459 under Shah Peroz. He sent the ruler of the Huns a slave instead of the promised princess as his wife. The deceived Hun leader killed some of the Iranian ambassadors, and mutilated the rest, sending them away with a stern warning. The war ended with a humiliating truce for Iran. Peroz violated it and invaded the Hunnic borders, but was defeated and died, but in the memory of his compatriots he remained “Brave”. His successor Wallash made peace with the Huns, pledging to pay them tribute for two years. Only 20 years later, as a result of the wars of 503-513, Iranshahr put an end to the Hunnic threat.

In 623, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641), having gathered a huge army, entered Albania, where he intended to spend the winter. Here is what Moses of Kalankatui wrote about this: “When the Greek army arrived in countless numbers, it camped near a fast stream, on the outskirts of the village of Kagankaituk. It trampled and devastated the beautiful vineyards and fields through which it passed. Heraclius himself leads the Roman army, and the war takes on a different character. The entire next year the emperor was busy preparing soldiers, and in April 623, instead of moving to Ctesiphon, expected by Khosrow, he began a campaign in Atur-patak-an to Ganzak (Kondik-Gvanzhikk), where he almost took captivity of Khosrow himself. From here he retreated to Albania and took its capital Partav. In the spring of 624, the Persians occupied the gorges leading from Albania to Iran, but Heraclius bypassed them by a longer route through the valleys. Shahrabaraz was on his heels, but the Romans brought them in misled by a deceptive maneuver and defeated, after which they retreated to winter quarters in Pont.,

In 627, Heraclius met with his new allies, the Khazars, and concluded an agreement with them. According to Moses of Kalankatui, “the Khazars with countless hordes carried out raids throughout our country (Albania-Tabasaran) at the command of Irakl.” Having invaded the country, the Khazars struck the first blow at Derbend. After a long siege, they destroyed its “wonderful walls, for the construction of which the Persian kings exhausted our country, mobilizing architects and seeking many different materials.” When taking the city, the Khazars treated its inhabitants so cruelly that panic began among the population of Albania (Tabasaran). A mass of people, abandoning their homes and property, rushed to the capital of the country, Partav, but the fear of “predatory wolves” was so great that the people began to seek shelter in the inaccessible mountains. However, the Khazars, having taken Partav and “having learned about what had happened, pursued the fleeing people and caught up with some of them.” As for the Sasanian Tabasaranshah in Albania (Tabasaran) Sema Vshtnis (protégé of Persia), he “took with him all his property and stole a lot from the country, escaped and fled to the Persian country.”

In 628, after the assassination of Khosrow II, his son Shiruya (Kawad II) came to power, who immediately freed all the prisoners held by order of his father in the palace prison, incl. and Catholicos Viro.

Kavad II - Shahinshah of Iran and an-Iran, from the Sassanid dynasty, ruled for several months in 628. Son of Khosrow II, by his wife Maria, a Byzantine princess. He took the throne, overthrowing his father Khosrow II, due to the fact that he decided to transfer the throne to his youngest son Mardanshah from his marriage to his beloved wife Shirin. Having ascended the throne, he stopped the war with Byzantium with the concession of almost all the lands that had once been conquered in the Middle East and Palestine. He was killed a year later, probably poisoned by Queen Shirin.

His death became the catalyst for riots and uprisings in Iran, which led to the weakening of the Sasanian Empire and, 23 years later, to its final fall. Returning after a 25-year exile to his homeland, defeated by the Khazars and abandoned to the mercy of the Marzban, he became the only real political force. To prevent the final collapse of the country, Viro, on the one hand, turns for help to Iran, which is drawn into the struggle for the throne, and on the other, in March-April 629, the son of the Khazar kagan Shat, who at one time led the Khazar campaign, arrives at the headquarters in Albania. However, the Khazars, realizing Viro's ambiguous policy, broke off the negotiations and subjected Albania to new, even more destructive raids. After consulting with influential people of the country and high-ranking officials, Viro again arrived at the Shata camp near Partawa. But poverty and disease caused by looting and destruction took their toll. In the words of Moses of Kalankatuy, Albania was captured by “three generals - Hunger, Sword and their assistant Death.” Thousands of people, incl. Catholicos Viro become victims of the epidemic. However, a little later, i.e. in 630, internal strife that began in the Turkic Kaganate and put an end to the dominance of the Turks in the North Caucasus also ended the dominance of the Khazars in Albania. This event, as well as the significant weakening of both warring parties as a result of the Iranian-Byzantine War, contributed to the restoration of Albania's political independence; The Mikhranid dynasty comes to power, the first representative of which was the ruler of Girdiman Varaz-Grigor (628-642), who received the title of Prince of Albania under Khosrow II.

Mikhranids - a dynasty of rulers in Caucasian Albania from the end of the 6th to the beginning of the 8th centuries. The Mikhranids, who were originally the rulers of the Gardaman region (it is possible that this village of Khiv is one of the oldest Tabasaran villages, the history of which is still little studied. According to data, on the site of the current village there was the city of Gardashan-Gerdeshan in the west of Caucasian Albania, in the first third 7th century, through the efforts of the Grand Duke Javanshir, they managed to actually recreate the Albanian kingdom. Mikhran came from the Tabaristan noble family of the Mikhranids, dating back to the Arsacids. The main representative of this dynasty was Javanshir Mikhrani (636 - 680).

In 628, Emperor Heraclius with his army comes to the Gardman region, baptizes Varaz Grigor and in every possible way contributes to the construction of churches throughout the country. Varaz Grigor is the first of the Mehranids to receive the title of Prince of all Albania. Weakened by the wars with Byzantium, Iran had great difficulty holding back the onslaught of the Arabs. Albanian troops led by Javanshir also take part in the battles with the Arabs. The Albanian historian Moses Kalankatuysky reports that Javanshir and his detachment have been participating in these wars against the Arabs for seven years and shows himself to be a brave warrior and a talented military leader. In 636, a very important battle for the Arabs took place between the Persians and the Arabs near the ancient capital of the Sassanids - Medain. Together with the 80,000-strong army from Atropatena, under the command of the Sasanian military leader Rustam, Javanshir and his detachment also participate in the battle. The Persian army is defeated, and Javanshir's detachment retreats to Atropatena. Having taken part in several more battles, Javanshir realizes that the days of the Sasanian power are numbered and in the same year he returns to his homeland in Albania. As the Albanian historian writes, “for seven years the brave Javanshir fought in these painful wars. Having received 11 serious wounds, he said goodbye to them” and “remembering the autocracy of the former Albanian kings, ... he decided not to subject his fate to anyone.” When in 639 the remnants of the Sasanian troops defeated by the Arabs invaded the country, Javanshir waged a protracted war with them. Historians note the courage he showed in these battles: “he personally defeated the famous Gegmazi, the leader of the army. He himself and his army, with swords in their hands, caused a terrible chaos among them (the Persians). Having taken from them many prisoners, horses, mules and much booty, they returned. In the mountains they collided again and on that day he achieved victory. The Persians, by cunning, capture the relatives of Javanshir and again invade Albania. In the end, Javanshir manages to finally defeat the Persians. These events took place in the village. Kondik (GVANZHIKK) Khiva district.

On the upper side with. Kondik area is called “Iran Dagrar” (Lakes of Iran), and the gorge is “Jevenzhin Gyar” (Jevenshir gorge). When trying to bypass the village of Kondik (Gvanzhikk) to go to the village. Zhuras (the village does not exist - destroyed in those years), the Albanian prince Dzhevanshir at the head of the Tabasaran met the Persians, where a bloody massacre took place. Blood flowed like a river, curdling in the flat terrain, creating lakes. The Persians were driven into this gorge. This area is still called “Iran Dagrar” - (Lakes of Iran)), and the gorge is called “Jevenzhin Gyar” - (Jevenshir Gorge).

After this, Javanshir marries the daughter of the Syunik prince. However, Javanshir is unable to maintain the independence of Albania for a long time. In 654, the Arabs under the command of Salman ibn Rabiy, the commander of Caliph Osman, invade Albania. Beyond Derbent, the Khazars block their path. When the Arabs leave Derbent, the population of the city locks the gates behind them, and “the Khazar Khakan met them with his cavalry,” and four thousand Arabs are killed. Under Caliph Ali, civil strife greatly weakened the caliphate, and Javanshir, taking advantage of this, stopped paying tribute to him. Albania's independence is now directly threatened by the Khazars and Byzantines. Javanshir is forced to look for ways of rapprochement with Byzantium. He exchanges letters with the Byzantine Emperor Constantine II and meets with him several times. Javanshir invites Constantine II to accept the Albanian people under his protection, and the Byzantine emperor accepts this offer with great joy. He sends Javanshir precious gifts from the Byzantine court, calling Javanshir the ruler of Gardman and the prince of Albania. As the Albanian historian writes: “He sent him magnificent gifts - silver thrones with carved gilded backs, gold-woven clothes, a sword sprinkled with pearls from his waist... He gave him from generation to generation all the villages and borders of the Agvan kings.” The policy of rapprochement with Byzantium at this time was obviously justified. Two years after the conclusion of the treaty with Byzantium, Albania was invaded by the Khazars. The Khazars reach Kura (Kyurar), where the united Albanian troops defeat them and force them to leave Albania. A few years later, the Khazars suddenly repeated their raid and this time reached the Araks. Javanshir is forced to negotiate with the Khazars. On the banks of the Kura River he meets with the Khazar ruler. The meeting ends with the conclusion of a peace treaty, according to which the Khazars return the prisoners, and Javanshir marries the daughter of the Khazar Khakan. The weakening of Byzantium in the fight against the Arabs allows Javanshir to get out of its dependence and, as the Albanian historian writes, “submit to the yoke of the ruler of the South.” In 667, he went to negotiate in the capital of the caliphate. The Caliph greets him with the solemnity appropriate to his rank and officially recognizes him as Prince of Albania. Three years after this, Javanshir receives an invitation from the Caliph to come to Damascus, this time as an intermediary in his negotiations with the Byzantine emperor. Javanshir brilliantly copes with the responsibilities of a mediator. Both contracting parties are satisfied with the results of the negotiations. After this, the caliph agrees with Javanshir's proposal to reduce the taxes that were imposed on Albania by one third. The Caliph subjugates the principality (Syunik?) to Javanshir and asks to take Atropatena under control.

Atropatena (or Media Atropatena, Lesser Media; - a historical region in the north-west of modern Iran. Approximately corresponds to the territory of the Iranian province of Azerbaijan. Part of the Parthian kingdom.

Javanshir refuses the last offer. The great son of the Albanian people, Jevanshir, dies in 669 from severe wounds inflicted on him by one of the participants in this conspiracy. Under him lived and worked the outstanding Albanian historian Moses Kalankatuysky, the author of “The History of the Country of Aluank”, dedicated to the history of Caucasian Albania.

From the message of Movses Kagankatvatsi himself it is known that he was a native of the Utik region, the village of Kalankatuyk, from which his name comes. Obviously, at the direction of Javanshir, he wrote the “History of Albania”, in which, in addition to the works of historians who preceded him, materials from the palace archives placed at his disposal were used. All the events that are described in the book took place in Tabasaran and Agul. This work preserves two interesting messages, which essentially leave no doubt about where Lpink was located. According to the first message, the Khazars, allegedly in order to avenge the death of Jivanshir, invaded Albania: “... the great prince of the Huns Alp-Ilituer... invaded the country of Aluank and began to devastate (the areas) at the foot of the great Caucasus Mountains and the settlement of Gavar Kapalak, like to avenge Juansher's blood. He himself, at the head of his large squad, flew through the valleys and, having crossed the Kura River, moved to the gavar of Uti, and began to drive people and cattle from that gavar, robbed and drove everyone away. Then they all (the Huns) returned and camped in a valley near the borders of Lpink.”

Iran under the Sassanids

The Parthian state was not a centralized state. Not only on the outskirts, but also in the indigenous Iranian regions sat semi-independent, and sometimes completely independent rulers, whom the late Middle Persian tradition calls katak-khvatayas (literally “household lords”). In the official title they were called shahs (kings), while the Parthian sovereign bore the title of shahanshah (i.e. king of kings). One of these shahs was the ruler of Pars (Persia), from where the Achaemenid dynasty once emerged. Local shahs (basilei) of the Persians are mentioned by Strabo, and numismatic material also speaks about them

In the 20s of the 3rd century, when the Parthian state was exhausted by the struggle with Rome and internal unrest, the then ruler of Pars Artashir (Artaxerxes of Roman sources), son of Papak and grandson of Sasan, rebelled and within a few years defeated and deprived of power the last Parthian ruler - Artabanus V. This happened in 227-229.

It was under him that Armenia, obviously the main part of Khorasan, and a number of regions of Mesopotamia, the center of the Parthian state, which became the main region of the Sassanid state, were included in the Sasanian state. It was Shapur who took the official title of “king of kings (shahanshah) of Iran and non-Iran,” while Artashir was simply called shahanshah.

The coming to power of the Sassanids initially meant nothing more than the replacement of one ruling Iranian dynasty by another. Both Parthia and Parsi belonged to Iran, and there were no significant ethnic differences between them. For quite a long time there were no major changes in the structure of the state; The noblest Iranian families (Surenov, Karenov, Mikhranids, etc.), which were known in Parthian times, still retained their importance.

In the Sasanian state, there was an official distinction between Iran (Eranshahr) and non-Iran (An-Iran). Initially, this implied an ethno-religious distinction between the Iranians (Persians, Parthians, Medes, etc.) who professed Zoroastrianism, and non-Iranian peoples and tribes who adhered to other cults. However, then (it is unclear when) such a distinction was violated, and all countries and regions that were part of the Sassanid power, including its center Mesopotamia, where the Persians did not make up the majority of the population, began to be classified as “Iran.”

It would be wrong to attribute to the Sassanids a “Persian” patriotism that was opposed to other Iranian regions. At that time, differences between individual Iranian languages ​​(Median, Persian, Parthian, etc.), of course, existed, but they were not too great, and these languages ​​themselves should perhaps be considered as dialects.

During the Sassanid era, there was a process of linguistic consolidation of Iranian ethnic groups, manifested in the spread of the Persian dialect (Parsik), which, having become the state language, was called Dari (i.e., court language) and supplanted a significant part of local dialects, as well as Greek and Aramaic, previously used in administration and culture.

Nevertheless, the Sassanid state remained a multi-ethnic state. Other ethnic groups besides the Aramaic (in Mesopotamia) existed in the north-west (Transcaucasia) and in the west, where Arab tribes lived. In ancient Elam (modern Khuzistan), the population spoke both in Sasanian times and later, at least until the 11th century, in a special language called Khuzistan (al-Khuziye, Khuzhik). Finally, in various regions of the Sasanian state, especially in Mesopotamia, as well as in Isfahan and some other cities, there was a Jewish population that enjoyed a certain administrative autonomy.

As noted, the borders of the Sasanian state were formed in their main outlines under the second Shahanshah - Shapur I. Subsequently, they underwent changes, but minor and temporary. In the west and north-west, changes in the boundaries of the Sassanian state were associated mainly with Roman (Byzantine)-Iranian relations, the essence and character of which the Sassanids inherited from the Parthian Arsacids. In addition, the situation in Transcaucasia was influenced in a certain way by the nomadic alliances of the southeast of Eastern Europe. In the southwest, in close proximity to the political center of the power, the Iranian-Roman (Byzantine) border was quite stable and passed near the lower and middle Euphrates, where the nomadic tribes of Arab tribes began. Of the two small Arab states of the Syrian Desert (Ghassanids and Lakhmids), the first was associated with Byzantium, the second with Iran.

The question of the eastern borders of the Sasanian state is more complicated. Here we have at our disposal no sources similar to the Byzantine ones. For III-IV, scientists have Sassanian inscriptions at their disposal, which quite clearly outline the eastern possessions of the Sassanids, but can they be completely trusted? It is known, for example, that in the inscription of Shapur I even Rome is called a tributary of Iran, but this never happened. Therefore, the statements of the inscriptions of the Sassanian shahs regarding their possessions in the east should be taken critically and, as far as possible, verified against other sources. The latter, however, are even more unreliable. This refers to the information of early Arab historians, gleaned from Sasanian historical works (“Khwaday-namak”). Their works also contain data on the Sassanids’ seizure of the territories of modern Afghanistan (formerly part of the Kushan Empire), as well as areas beyond the Amu Darya (Maverannahr of Arab times). Armenian writers also write about this. But this information is far from completely reliable. Apparently, the final conquest of the Kushan kingdom occurred in the 4th century. under Shapur II, and this led to the inclusion of Kushan possessions in the territory of modern Afghanistan and Pakistan into Iran. However, later, in the 5th century, there were constant wars with the Hephthalites, and then, in the 6th century, with the Turks, which also led to destabilization of the border, which is not captured in detail. Merv and its surroundings firmly became part of the Sasanian state already under Shapur I. The areas beyond the Amu Darya, apparently, were not captured by the Sassanids for any long period of time, although sometimes the Shahs made trips there

Thus, the Sasanian state was a vast empire inhabited by different peoples at different levels of social and economic development.

Paradoxically, the economy of Sasanian Iran has not been studied, apparently due to the lack of sources for this time. However, based on the reports of Arab geographers of the 9th-10th centuries, who sometimes touched upon the situation of the pre-Islamic era, and also taking into account a certain stability of economic forms for antiquity and the Middle Ages, it is possible to give a general picture of the economy, at least for the late Sassanian period.

In Iran at that time there were two main sectors of the economy - agricultural and nomadic, including numerous transitional forms.

The prevalence of both depended at that time solely on the specifics of natural conditions, which were very different within the Sasanian state. The sedentary population (who, of course, also engaged in cattle breeding as an auxiliary branch of the economy) prevailed in the political and economic center of the state - Sawad (modern Iraq). In this area, irrigated by the Euphrates and Tigris, as well as their tributaries, there has long been a well-established water supply network, on which agriculture was based. In vast areas of Iran (excluding Khuzistan, where the conditions for farming were basically identical to those that existed in Savad), agriculture coexisted with various forms of nomadic and semi-nomadic cattle breeding, prevailing in the oasis zones of Khorasan, Media, Fars, Azerbaijan and some other areas. Various grain crops were cultivated, primarily barley and wheat, and also (in Sawada) rice. In Savad and Southern Iran, the date palm was of great importance. Gardening and viticulture were widespread throughout. Sugar cane was cultivated in Khuzistan, Savad, Kerman, and Fars.

Nomadic and semi-nomadic populations lived in all regions of Iran. The difference from later times was not in the forms of economy, but in the fact that the nomads of the Sassanian period, excluding the western outskirts of the state, were ethnically Iranian. They were called at that time, and even later, Kurds. Apparently, the nomads under the Sassanids, as in the days of the Parthians, remained semi-independent of the central government. However, this situation in Iran persisted until the 30s of the 20th century.

The most important sphere of economic, political and cultural life of Sassanian Iran were cities. In previous eras (Seleucid and Parthian), the cities of Iran, especially its western part, were self-governing organisms similar to the ancient polis. In Sasanian times, cities were ruled by representatives of the central government - both the old ones, which lost self-government, and the new ones, founded by the Sasanian shahs. The latter built cities especially intensively in the 3rd-4th centuries. powers both in the west and in the east. The largest city was the capital, Tisbon (or Ctesiphon), inherited from Parthian times. Located on both banks of the Tigris (Dijli), it received the name al-Madain (“city”) from the Arabs. Ctesiphon proper was the eastern part of the city, while the western (the village of Seleucia) was called Veh-Artashir. The Sasanian capital, the study of which is complicated by the fact that later, under the Arabs, the materials from its structures were used to build Baghdad, was a large, populated city, with markets, craft quarters, royal palaces and buildings of the nobility. The royal parks were famous. Evidence of the construction technology of the era are the ruins of Taq-e kisra - the Sassanid palace. Under Shapur II, the city of Neyshapur arose in Khorasan, which later became the center of the eastern part of the Sasanian Empire.

In general, the Sassanian period was characterized by a flourishing of cities and urban life, which represents a sharp contrast with the situation in the territories bordering Iran to the west.

Not all cities of Sasanian Iran were of the same type. The term shakhristan ("city") in the Middle Persian language meant the center of the country, region (shahr); as such, the city could arise and exist mainly by the will of the Shahanshahs of Iran. In fact, there were real cities here, with a significant trading and craft population (mainly on important transit trade routes), and administrative centers-fortresses with small towns, the population of which was practically no different from the inhabitants of neighboring villages.

There are different points of view regarding the social system of Sasanian Iran in modern historiography. Until recently, the prevailing view in Soviet historiography was that the Sassanid period was the time of the formation of feudal society in Iran. In foreign historiography, the point of view also prevails about the existence of feudalism in Iran since the Achaemenid era (albeit in a slightly different understanding).

All these points of view arose even before a thorough scientific study of the original Sasanian monuments, especially legal ones. A recent study (A.G. Perikhanyan) showed that the Iranian society of the early Sasanian era differed little from the Parthian one. Both can be considered variants of ancient society in its broad sense as the predecessor of medieval (feudal) society.

However, it seems that the late Sassanian time, which came after the events of the 5th-6th centuries" (Mazdakite movement and reforms of Khosrow I, see below) is already characterized by the emergence of early feudal relations and the breakdown of ancient Iranian social institutions associated with archaic classes and agnatic groups. But here much is subject to additional study.

According to the rules of law that existed in Iran of the Parthian and Sassanian eras, the entire population was divided into two main categories: full members of communities ("citizens") and incomplete persons who did not belong to the community ("non-citizens"). Among the latter were slaves. The community (naf) was essentially an agnatic group. A.G. Perikhanyan translates this term as “civil group”, “civil community”. Agnatic groups (communities) were very different in their legal and, even more so, real social status. The “ordinary” representatives of the Nafs were Azats, i.e. occupied a privileged position in the state, but all “citizens” were called shahanshah baidak (lit. “slaves of the shahan-shah.”)

An important specific feature of the social structure of Iran at that time were the so-called estates (peshak). As the etymology of this term (literally “profession”) shows, we are talking about social structures that arose and developed from the social division of labor. In Western literature they tend to be considered a specifically Indo-European phenomenon, although similar institutions are also found among the ancient Georgians, Egyptians, Incas and other non-Indo-European peoples. These Iranian classes are in principle identical to the ancient Indian varnas. Initially, there were four classes in Iran: priests, warriors, farmers and artisans. Later, apparently, there was a process of fragmentation of these classes, which was reflected in late Sasanian sources. There were heads of estates (peshak-e sardaran), but their role for the Sasanian period is not entirely clear, although such heads of estates as mobedan mobed (head of the Zoroastrian clergy), vastrioshan salar (head of the farmers' estate) are known quite well. The former occupied an important position in the state hierarchy until the collapse of the Sasanian state, while the latter seems to have lost influence during the period of social reforms of the 6th century.

The role of slavery in Sasanian Iran is difficult to establish, but there is no reason to assert that the slave was the main producer of material wealth.

These were community members, initially members of the nafs, who later formed (apparently in the 6th century) into a special category - rams (common people). Later, the Arabs, in fact, adopted this concept, passing it on to the Arab ryot.

The process of transforming members of the nafs into the category of frames was extremely complex and occurred while maintaining the old class forms in official law. At the same time, the community elite stands out, which were called dekhkans (literally, also “community people”, “village residents”). During the period of the Mazdakite movement of the end of the 5th - first third of the 6th century. they undermined the importance of the ancient noble families of Iran, which previously dominated the state, and gradually took their place.

From the scant and contradictory evidence from sources, we can conclude that Iran at the turn of the 5th-6th centuries. was experiencing an acute social crisis. The dominance of the clan nobility and the Zoroastrian clergy, expressed in the existence of the above-mentioned class system, caused increasing discontent among the broadest sections of the population. All this resulted in a powerful social movement, which, after the name of its leader (Mazdak), is usually called Mazdakite. Mazdak was an Iranian (his father also had an Iranian name - Bamdad). Apparently, he belonged to the priestly class, but it was with the latter that he first came into confrontation.

In terms of its driving forces, the Mazdakite movement was complex; it included the widest sections of the population of Iran (and not only Iranians, but also the Arameans who predominated in the center of the power, as well as Jews). It is no coincidence that later sources, for example Ferdowsi, especially emphasize that among Mazdak’s adherents there were poor people who hoped to improve their situation. Expressing the interests of this part of the population, Mazdak put forward the slogan of property and social equality, a return in practice to the ancient communal order that had almost disappeared in Iran.

However, it seems that the leading role in the movement was played by farmers who sought to enter the wider public arena and displace the clan nobility. Mazdak himself, apparently, the further he went, the more he fell under the influence of the radical wing of the movement, but at the first stage the role of the latter, it seems, was not yet leading. That is why Shahan Shah Kobad accepted the teachings of Mazdak. The clan nobility (azims of Arabic sources) and the clergy responded with a palace coup. However, two years later, Kobad, with the help of the Hephthalites, as well as his supporters, primarily farmers of Iran, returned the throne. Repressions followed, which obviously contributed to the strengthening of the radical wing of the movement, and this no longer suited Kobad. He himself, apparently, became so confused in his relationships with different groups of Mazdakites that his son Khosrow seized the initiative. He enjoyed the support of the farmers (his mother was from among them), and also managed to win over the Zoroastrian clergy, who preferred an alliance with the farmers. In the end, Khosrow strangled the uprising, or rather, defeated its radical wing, led by Mazdak himself. The latter and his supporters were subjected to severe persecution and repression (they were buried alive in the ground). All this happened during Kobad’s lifetime (in 528-529).

As a result, the winners were the farmers, who received equal rights with the old clan nobility. A hundred years will pass, and it was the farmers during the period of the Arab conquest who would turn out to be the main layer of large and medium-sized landowners in Iran. It was the farmers of that time who can be considered as feudal lords and, moreover, as bearers of the era that began in the 7th century. feudal fragmentation, which allowed the Arabs to easily crush and conquer Iran.

The Zoroastrian clergy retained its strength. The old classes formally survived, although in reality only the clergy class, led by the mobedan mobed, continued to function. The military class, the stronghold of the clan nobility, was practically destroyed. The military and administrative reforms of Khosrow I strengthened this through legislation. The Shahanshah himself became the head of the military department, and the entire military machine of the state was subordinate to him. Representatives of farmers began to be actively recruited to serve in the army. The reforms of Khosrow I strengthened the power of the head of the state, but in practice it did not become absolute, which is proven by the uprising of Bahram Chubin (early 90s of the 6th century), and especially by the events of the 20s-30s of the 7th century. If in the first case we encounter an attempted coup, headed by a representative of one of the old noble families, then in the events after the assassination of Khosrow II Parviz (628), the role of new conditions that were formed in Iran in the process of promoting dekhkanism is visible.

Even in the initial period of the Sassanids (III-IV centuries), most of the vassal states, so typical of the Parthian period, were liquidated. The final period of state centralization falls again on the reign of Khosrow I. Under him, the state was divided into four large parts (bush): western, eastern, northern and southern. They also bore other names; for example, the northern bush was also called Khust-e Kapkokh (Caucasian) and bush-e Aturpatakan (after the name of the leading northern region of the state). The bushes were divided into marzpanstvos (in border areas) and ostans, which, in turn, consisted of tasujs. The consolidation of all power in the hands of the ruler of the bush, directly inflicted on the Shahanshah and appointed from especially trusted persons, should then strengthen the central power. This succeeded only for a while, and already from the end of the 6th century. a tendency towards the separation of stops and marzpanstvos began to appear.

The tax reform of Khosrow I was important, ensuring constant rates of land taxes in money (kharag) regardless of the harvest, but depending on the cultivated area and cultivated crops. In addition, a regular per capita tax (gesit) was established for the entire tax-paying population (ram). Its size depended on the property status.

As a result of the policy of the Shahanshahs, designed to strengthen the central government, the role of the Dabirs - the bureaucracy, which at times began to be considered as a special class - increased.

These and other reforms temporarily strengthened the state, but could not contain the centrifugal tendencies that arose in the new conditions of feudalization of Iranian society, which became the main reason for the weakening of the Sassanid state.

The foreign policy of the Sasanian state was based on relations with its immediate neighbors. Therefore, we do not know the facts of relations between the Sassanids and European states, although the main enemy of Iran, Rome (Byzantium), pursued an active policy in this part of the world. At the same time, Roman (Byzantine)-Iranian relations were always linked in one way or another with the policies of both sides towards the Arab principalities and tribes, Ethiopia, the small states of the Caucasus and the eastern neighbors of Iran (Kushan state, Hephthalites, Turks).

The Sassanids inherited the main aspects of foreign policy from the Parthians, and the main thing here was the struggle with Rome for the Syrian regions and Transcaucasia and with the Kushans for the regions of Eastern Iran and Central Asia. The war with Rome began already under the founder of the dynasty, and its first stage ended in 244 with the recognition of the double (to Rome and Iran) subordination of Armenia. Then Shapur I waged wars with the Kushans in the east. As a result of Shapur's next war in 260, the Roman emperor Valerian was defeated and captured. Shapur's relations with the Arabs were less successful. The ruler of Palmyra, Odaenathus, an ally of Rome, inflicted a number of defeats on the Persians. Later, the successes of Palmyra alarmed Rome, and Emperor Aurelian destroyed this state in 272. The successors of Shapur I continued his policy, but the defeats of the Persians in the wars with the emperors Carr and Galerius (283, 298) led to the loss of part of Mesopotamia and (under the treaty of 298) rights to Armenia, where Arsacid Trdat III established himself under the auspices of Rome.

Iran's foreign policy became particularly active under Shapur II (309-379), who waged stubborn wars with Rome and the Kushans, the actual allies of Rome. On the side of the latter were Armenia and some Arab rulers; the Persians were supported by Albania and the Chionites. The question of the latter remains controversial, but there seems to be reason to identify them with the Hephthalites - neighbors and rivals of the Kushan. Wars in the west proceeded with varying degrees of success and led to the devastation of Armenia and Mesopotamia. After the death of Shapur II, in 387, an agreement was concluded between Rome and Iran on the division of the Armenian kingdom, and in the east, Shapur, by the end of his reign, crushed the Kushan state, the western possessions of which passed to the Sassanids. This, however, led to a confrontation between the Sassanids and their recent allies, the Hephthalites, who for a long time became Iran's main enemy in the east.

After the division of Armenia, Roman-Iranian relations remained peaceful and even friendly for some time. Procopius of Caesarea notes that Emperor Arcadius, who ruled the Eastern Roman Empire, made Shah Yazdegerd I (399-421) epitropos (guardian) of his son. The situation changed under Bahram V Gur (421-438), who had to fight both Byzantium and the Hephthalites. In this situation, Bahram V pursued a policy of oppression of Christians in Syria and Transcaucasia, which led already under his successor Yazdegerd II to a powerful uprising in Armenia (451).

For Iran and Byzantium, Transcaucasia was also important as a barrier against the Hunnic tribes of Eastern Europe. The common danger from the latter sometimes led to united actions by both powers in the Caucasus, for example, to agreements on the joint protection of the Derbent and Daryal passes. But such relations were not stable; hostilities between Iran and Byzantium in Mesopotamia were a frequent occurrence throughout the 5th century. However, in the second half of the 5th century. The Sassanids' main focus was in the east, where Yazdegerd II and his successor Peroz fought a stubborn battle against the Hephthalites. Peroz was even captured by them (482). This was taken advantage of in Transcaucasia, where the uprising raised in Armenia in 483-484 was supported by the Georgian king Vakhtang and the Albanians. The uprising was suppressed by the usual method - attracting part of the local nobility to Iran's side, but military defeats in the east and other foreign policy complications contributed to the deepening of the social crisis in Iran, manifested in the Mazdak movement. Peroz's son, Kobad, spent many years as a hostage of the Hephthalites; Later, in the wars with Byzantium, this Shah (488-531) enjoyed their support.

The war between Iran and Byzantium was fought intermittently for more than thirty years, with varying success for both sides. Khosrow tried to capture Byzantine Syria and western Georgia, but was ultimately unsuccessful, and the peace of 561 maintained the previous borders between the powers. After this, the Empire and Iran dealt with their own problems, but in reality they were preparing a new war.

Khosrow in 563-567. defeated the Hephthalites, who fought against the emerging Turkic Khaganate. Byzantium, for its part, tried to “conclude an alliance with the Turks, for which the embassy of Zemarkh went to Altai in 568. It is known that on the way back, the Persians in the Kuban region ambushed the ambassadors, but they managed to avoid it with the help of local allies of Byzantium.

The greatest success of the Sassanids was the capture of Yemen and the displacement of the Ethiopians, allies of Byzantium. And then a new war with the Empire began (572), which did not end until the death of Khosrow I. Under Khosrow's successors, the Byzantine government entered into an alliance with the Turks in the east and the North Caucasian nomads in the Ciscaucasia. As a result, after a series of defeats by the Persian troops, peace was concluded in 591, unfavorable for Iran. The grandson of Khosrow I, Khosrow II Parviz, was able to stay on the throne with the support of Byzantium, while his opponent Bahram Chubin used the help of the Turks. Such peaceful intervals in Byzantine-Iranian relations were, however, exceptions caused by extraordinary circumstances, and both states remained bitter competitors in the struggle for hegemony in Western Asia. Khosrow II used the assassination of the Emperor of Mauritius by Phocas in 602 as a pretext to start a new major war with the Empire. This war continued until the assassination of Khosrow as a result of a court conspiracy in 628. Initially, the Persians won a number of victories, captured Syria, Phenicia, Palestine, the central part of Asia Minor, twice approached Constantinople and even captured Egypt. However, the Shahanshah's forces were exhausted, and he was unable to consolidate these successes. Emperor Heraclius entered into an alliance with the North Caucasian Khazars (according to al-Masudi) and other North Caucasian tribes, inflicted a number of defeats on the Persians, ravaged Transcaucasia together with the Khazars and threatened the center of Iran, its capital Ctesiphon. Khosrow's successor, his eldest son Kobad Shiruye, a participant in the conspiracy against his father, was forced to sue for peace. As a result of the war that lasted more than a quarter of a century, both powers were brought to extreme exhaustion and could not resist the young Arab state, whose main object of conquest they became.

The state religion of Sasanian Iran was Zoroastrianism, and this also shows the continuity between the Sasanian and Parthian states. It was under the Sassanids that the Avesta, a complex set of Zoroastrian texts from different times, was codified. This happened, obviously, in the III-IV centuries. (mainly through the efforts of Mobed Tansar).

Christian communities appeared within Iran as early as the Parthian period. Under the Sassanids, the number of Christians, especially in areas with an Aramaic population and in Khuzistan, grew, despite occasional periods of persecution. After the condemnation of Nestor's heresy at the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Nestorians fled to the borders of the Sasanian state, and the Nestorian church itself, as persecuted in Byzantium, enjoyed a certain patronage from the Shahanshahs.

Mesopotamia has long been a haven for Jewish communities. The Babylonian Talmud, one of two versions of this body of commentary on Judaism, was developed here.

In the eastern regions of Iran, Buddhism spread. Thus, the largest religions of that era met within Iran.

The consequence of the interaction of Zoroastrianism and Christianity (with some influence of other religions) was Manichaeism, associated with the activities of Mani (III century), according to legend, a scion of the Arsacid dynasty. Shapur I initially allowed Mani to preach, but he was later captured and tortured. However, Mani's followers spread throughout Iran, and from there to Central and Central Asia. Manichaeism influenced Mazdak and his followers.

In addition to the Avesta texts, significant religious Zoroastrian literature in the Middle Persian language arose under the Sassanids. This language was formed on the basis of the dialects of Parsi, but under the influence of the dialects of Media and Parthian and, as already said, for the first time in the history of Iranian languages ​​it became a truly literary language. However, its active use was somewhat hampered by the fact that when using graphic writing (based on the Aramaic script) in the Middle Persian language (Parsik, Pahlavi, Dari), some of the words were written in the form of Aramaic ideograms, which people who knew the letter were supposed to pronounce in Iranian. The number of such ideograms is quite large, and, most importantly, they denoted the most common verbs, conjunctions, etc. Such complexity of the letter naturally made it difficult to spread, and knowledge of the letter in Sasanian Iran was the lot of educated people - the clergy and scribes.

Nevertheless, by the end of Sasanian times, a significant literature had developed in the Middle Persian language, which included not only the Avesta and other Zoroastrian texts (Denkart, Bundahishn), but also real secular literature of various contents and origins. However, the content of Denkart and Bundahishn was not only religious. The Bundahishn, for example, included ancient Iranian myths about the legendary kings of Iran (Pishdadids, Kayanids, etc.), about the creation of the world, etc.

During the last period of the Sassanid reign, historical works appeared, which were called “Khvadai-namak” (“Books of the Lords”). They did not survive in the original, but their content was retold by early Arab historians (Tabari, Hamza al-Isfahani, etc.), who in turn used the Arabic translation of Ibn Muqaffa. Ferdowsi has a poetic presentation of some examples of “Khvadai-namak”. These works mainly contained the history of the Sasanian shahs, and the presentation was carried out according to the years of their reign. The previous history of the Iranians, legendary and semi-legendary (including information about the Achaemenids and Arsacids), was also given as a large preamble. The most valuable are the latest “Khvaday-namak”, dedicated to the Sassanids of the 5th - early 7th centuries.

There were other historical works, primarily of the biographies type (Artashir I, Mazdak, Bahram Chubin, etc.). Of these, the first has survived - “Karnamak-e Artakhshir-e Papakan” (“Book of the deeds of Artashir, son of Papak”), written around the beginning of the 7th century. This book recounts the legendary biography of the founder of the Sassanid dynasty. There is little historically reliable in it, but the work is valuable as a monument of the language and this genre of literature.

Under the Sassanids, fiction as such also arose. She fed on the richest Iranian epic, which was included in historical works and could provide plots for independent works. The cycle of Seistan legends about Rustam existed in Iran in different versions. One of them was subsequently included as an integral part of a unique anthology of Iranian epic in the mentioned “Khvaday-namak” and was preserved in the retelling of Ferdowsi and other New Persian poets. Another version of the legend (possibly of northwestern origin) is known to us from the retelling of the “father of Armenian history” Movses Khorenatsi. Fragments of Central Asian versions have also survived.

Works that came from India and other countries were processed on Iranian soil. An example is the book “Khazar Afsane” (“A Thousand Tales”), translated from one of the Indian languages ​​into Middle Persian. Later, its Arabic translation became the basis of the famous One Thousand and One Nights.

At the court of the Sasanian rulers there were performers of ancient tales (reproduced with musical accompaniment). The names are also known - Barbud, Sarkash and others (according to tradition - contemporaries of Khosrow I). During the Sasanian period, early versions of such books, already popular under the Arabs, appeared as “Sinbad-name”, “Kalila and Dimna”, etc.

In Iran at that time, correspondence and manuscript design reached a high level. Many samples were preserved in some areas (for example, in Pharma) as early as the 10th century, and they were seen by Arab scientists. According to the descriptions of the latter, such manuscripts contained not only texts, but also rich illustrations, including portraits of Sasanian rulers.

The law has undergone significant development. There were special schools of jurists who commented on legal acts taking into account the opinions of lawyers from different eras. One monument of this kind has survived - “Matagdan-e Khazar Datastan” (“Book of a Thousand Decisions”), compiled in the last years of the existence of the Sasanian state.

Scientific literature also appeared (medical, geographical, etc.). Under Khosrow I, Syrian and Greek doctors found refuge in Iran and founded a medical school in the city of Gundeshapur. Indian medical science also had a great influence on Persian medicine.

From the rich geographical literature of the Sasanian times, a small fragment has been preserved in the original - the treatise “Shahrastanikha-ye Eran” (“Cities of Iran”). Traces of the influence of the latter are visible in the example of “Armenian Geography” of the 7th century, as well as in the works of Arab geographers of the 9th-10th centuries. Middle Persian geographers knew ancient and Indian works, used them, but had their own system of geographical understanding of the world, which they divided into four parts: Khorbran - west, Khorasan - east, Bakhtar - north and Nimruz - south, unlike the Greeks, who had an idea of ​​three parts of the world (Europe, Asia and Libya). But Central Persian geographers borrowed from the Greeks the division into climates, which was later used by Arab geographers.

Sasanian Iran is associated with the improvement of the Indian game of chess and the invention of a new game, which later became popular in the East, backgammon.

Construction technology and architecture have reached a high level in Iran. This is evidenced by the ruins of the capital, Ctesiphon, and a number of monuments in Fars and other regions of Iran. One of the most majestic monuments of the Sassanids is located on our territory - these are the fortifications of Derbent, completed mainly in the 6th century.

The Sasanian shahs depicted their military deeds in reliefs, some of which have survived to this day. We find images of the rulers of Iran often combined with characters from Iranian epics. The famous image of the captive emperor Valerian in front of Shapur I, sitting on a horse, is indicative. On other reliefs there are images of close shahs (heads of the Zoroastrian clergy, wazirs, etc.). Silver coinage reached high art in Sasanian Iran, examples of which are in the form. bowls and other objects are in the collection of the State Hermitage and other museums. Highly artistic examples of the minting of gold and silver coins of almost all Sasanian shahs have been preserved. On the front side is the Shahanshah of Iran with an inscription like “worshipper (Ahura) M

As a result of the fall of power of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty and the rise to power of the Persian Sassanid dynasty. Existed from 224 to 651. Sometimes the term empire is used in relation to the Sassanid state. The Sassanid dynasty, having broken away from the Parthians, again created a Persian state that fought against Rome and Byzantium. The Sassanid kings took the title of Shahinshah - king of kings.

The ancient Iranian culture was most fully preserved in the province of Parsa. Under the Arsacids, when Parsa was ruled by various petty princes, its feudal fragmentation increased. In one of the principalities, Stakhr (Istakhr), the house of Bezrendzhi ruled. Sasan, a representative of a noble family, married to a princess from the house of Bezrendzhi, served as a priest in the temple of Anahita in Stakhra. He was succeeded by his son Papak, who used his position to elevate his son Ardashir, who became the founder of the Sassanid dynasty. This happened between 224 and 226 AD, after the last Parthian king Artaban V was defeated. Apparently, Ardashir I managed to restore the ancient borders of Iran, but the real expansion of the power began under his direct heir Shapur I, when the borders of the state advanced to the western regions of China and also included Transcaucasia and Punjab. Shapur I fought the Romans and even managed to capture the Roman Emperor Valerian. Since then, the Sassanids waged constant wars with Rome, and then with Byzantium.

Under the Sassanids, cities developed in Iran and the central government strengthened. At the same time, the official religion appeared - Zoroastrianism, a four-stage system of administrative division was established, and the stratification of society into four estates. During the Sassanid era, Christianity penetrated into Iran, which, however, was opposed by the Zoroastrian priesthood, and opposition religious movements such as Manichaeism and Mazdakism appeared.

The most famous Shah of the Sassanid dynasty was Khosrow I Anushirvan (lit. "with an immortal soul"; reigned 531–579), whose fame continued for many centuries after the fall of the Sassanid state. Khosrow I was a great reformer and had a great interest in science and philosophy, to such an extent that many ancient non-Iranian sources compared him to Plato's "philosopher king".

Continuous wars with Byzantium sowed the seeds for the subsequent decline of the Sassanids. The first major battle was lost to the Arabs at Qadisiya in 637. With the death of Yazdegerd III, the last of the Sassanids, in Khorasan in 651, the pre-Islamic period of Iranian history ended.

Kings of the Sassanid dynasty

Sassanians