Ancient civilizations-2

Rise of Ardashīr I

At the beginning of the 3rd century ad, the Arsacid empire had been in existence for some 400 years. Its strength had been undermined, however, by repeated Roman invasions, and the empire became once more divided, this time between Vologeses VI (or V), who seems to have ruled at Ctesiphon, on the left bank of the middle Tigris in what is now Iraq, and Artabanus V, who was in control of Iran and whose authority at Susa, in southwestern Iran, is attested by an inscription from 215. (See also Mesopotamia, history of: The Sāsānian period.)

It was against Artabanus V that a challenger arose in Persis. Ardashīr I, son of Pāpak and a descendant of Sāsān, was the ruler of one of the several small states into which Persia had gradually been divided. His father had taken possession of the city and district of Istakhr (Estakhr), which had replaced the old residence city of Persepolis, a mass of ruins after its destruction by Alexander the Great in 330 bc. Pāpak was succeeded by his eldest son, who was soon killed in an accident, and in ad 208 Ardashīr replaced his brother. He first built for himself a stronghold at Gūr, named, for its founder, Ardashīr-Khwarrah (“Ardashīr’s Glory”), now Fīrūzābād, southeast of Shīrāz in Fārs. He subdued the neighbouring rulers and in the process disposed of his own remaining brothers. His seizure of such areas as Kermān, Eṣfahān, Elymais, and Mesene—to the east, north, and west of Fārs, respectively—led to war with Artabanus, his suzerain. The conflict between the two rivals lasted several years, during which time the Parthian forces were defeated in three battles. In the last of these, the battle on the plain of Hormizdagān (224), Artabanus was killed.

There is evidence to support the assumption that Ardashīr’s rise to power suffered several setbacks. Vologeses VI (or V) struck coins at Seleucia on the Tigris as late as ad 228/229 (the Seleucid year 539). Another Parthian prince, Artavasdes, a son of Artabanus V, known from coins on which he is portrayed with the distinguishing feature of a forked beard, seems to have exercised practical independence even after 228. Numismatic evidence further reflects the stages of Ardashīr’s struggle for undisputed leadership. He appears on his coins with four different types of crowns: as king of Fārs, as claimant to the throne before the battle at Hormizdagān, and as emperor with two distinctly different crowns. It has been suggested that this evidence points to two separate coronation ceremonies of Ardashīr as sovereign ruler, the second perhaps indicating that he may have lost the throne temporarily.

According to al-Ṭabarī, the Muslim historian (9th–10th century), Ardashīr, after having secured his position as a ruler in western Iran, embarked on an extensive military campaign in the east (227) and conquered Sakastan (modern Sīstān), Hyrcania (Gorgān), Margiana (Merv), Bactria (Balkh), and Chorasmia (Khwārezm). The inference that this campaign resulted in the defeat of the powerful Kushān empire is supported by the further statement of al-Ṭabarī that the king of the Kushān was among the eastern sovereigns, including the rulers of Tūrān (Quzdar, south of modern Quetta) and of Mokrān (Makran), whose surrender was received by Ardashīr. These military and political successes were further extended by Ardashīr when he took possession of the palace at Ctesiphon and assumed the title “king of kings of the Iranians” and, across the Tigris River, when he refounded and rebuilt the city of Seleucia under the new name Veh-Ardashīr, the “Good Deed of Ardashīr.”

The chronology of events in the early Sāsānian period was calculated by the German Orientalist Theodor Nöldeke in 1879, and his system of dating is still generally accepted. The discovery of fresh evidence in manuscript materials dealing with the life of Mani, a religious leader whose activities fall in the early Sāsānian period, led to a reassessment of Nöldeke’s calculations by another German, Walter Bruno Henning, by which the principal events are dated about two years earlier. Another alternative was proposed by the Iranian scholar Sayyid Hasan Taqizadeh, who preferred a sequence by which the same events are placed about six months later than the dates established by Nöldeke. Since the dating systems employed by the Sāsānians themselves were based on the regnal years of the individual kings, whose exact coronation dates are often subject to disputation, several details remain uncertain, and their definite solution has not been possible. A firmer basis of calculation is obtained when the ancient sources quote dates in terms of the Seleucid era, either according to the computation that prevailed in Babylonia, which started from 311 bc, or after the Syrian reckoning, beginning in 312 bc. See the table for dates of events of the early Sāsānian period as they can be established on direct numismatic or literary evidence in the differing chronological systems of Nöldeke, Henning, and Taqizadeh. The table of reign dates of the kings is based mainly on Nöldeke’s system.

Sasanian kings**Based mainly on T. Nöldeke's chronology. name reign years defeat of Artabanus V (Ardavan) 226 Ardashir I 224–241 Shapur I 241–272 Hormizd I 272–273 Bahram I 273–276 Bahram II 276–293 Bahram III 293 Narses 293–302 Hormizd II 302–309 Shapur II 309–379 Ardashir II 379–383 Shapur III 383–388 Bahram IV 388–399 Yazdegerd I 399–420 Bahram V Gur 420–438 Yazdegerd II 438–457 Hormizd III 457–459 Firuz 457–484 Balash 484–488 Kavadh (Qobad) I

(first reign) 488–496 Jamasb 496–499 Kavadh (second reign) 499–531 Khosrow I 531–579 Hormizd IV 579–590 Khosrow II Parviz

(first reign) 590 Bahram VI 590–591 Khosrow II Parviz (second reign) 591–628 Bestam (rebel in Media) 591–596 Kavadh (Qobad) II Shiruye (Siroes) 627–628 Ardashir III 628–630 Shahrbaräz 630 Purandokht 629–631 Hormizd V 631–632 Khosrow III 632–633 Yazdegerd III 633–651

Chronological systems of Nöldeke, Henning, and Taqizadeh event Nöldeke Henning Taqizadeh Ardashir's first year begins Sept. 27, 223 Sept. 26, 226 Ardashir's actual accession Sept. 26, 266 April 28, 244 April 6, 227 Shapur's first year begins Sept. 23, 239 Sept. 22, 241 Shapur's actual accession Sept. 22, 241 Shapur's coronation April 12, 240 April 9, 243 Shapur's death May 270 April 273 accession of Hormizd I Sept. 14, 272 Hormizd I's death June 271 April 274 accession of Bahram I Sept. 14, 273 death of Mani (about age 60) March 2, 274 Feb. 26, 277 death of Bahram I Sept. 274 July 277 accession of Bahram II Sept. 13, 276