Sasanian Persia

1.

Sasanian Persia

2.

A double empire
• Mesopotamia
– Irrigated plateau steadily improved by the state
– Multi-ethnic population
– Aramaic lingua franca shared with Roman Syria
– Multiple religions, especially Jews, Christians and
Mandaeans.
• Iran
– Highland territory
– Military manpower
– Dominance of pre-Sasanian aristocratic houses
– Great fire shrines: centres of the Zoroastrian clergy

3.

Hierarchy
• A blood nobility

4.

Eranshahr
• Centre of the seven ‘climes’
• A homeland of Zoroaster
• Bifurcation of eran and aneran
• March of time towards endless peace
• Individuals can contribute to their own xweshkarih
based around Yasna, the codes of purity and morality
• Shahs do this on a grander scale with the expansion of
agriculture, social justice and the reception of tribute.

5.

Wars with Rome
• Shapur I’s invasions of Cappadocia
• Shapur II’s war with Julian and the surrender of Nisibis.
• But not permanent annexation: not an Achaemenid
memory or primarily a source of booty
• A source of prestige: confirms the xwarrah of the shah
before the gods. Shows the Romans in ‘tribute and
servitude’ (paz bad ud bandagih)
• But failure to match their achievements can allow
priests and aristocrats to overthrow a weak shah,
especially those who attempt centralising reform.

6.

Naqsh-i-Rustam

7.

Shapur I and Ahura Mazda

8.

Vahram II and his priests

9.

Kartir’s inscription
And in kingdom after kingdom and place after place throughout the whole empire the services of Ahura Mazda
and the Yazads became preeminent, and great dignity came to the Mazdayasnian religion and the magi in the
empire, and the Yazads and water and fire and small cattle in the empire attained great satisfaction, while
Ahriman and the devs were punished and rebuked, and the teachings of Ahriman and the devs departed from the
empire and were abandoned. And Jews, Sramans (Buddhists), (10) Brahmins, Nasoreans (Orthodox Christians),
(Gnostic) Christians, Maktak (Baptisers), and Zandiks (Manichaeans) in the empire were smitten, and destruction
of idols and scattering of the stores of the devs and god-seats and nests was abandoned. And in kingdom after
kingdom and place after place many divine services in magnificence and many Warharan fires were established,
and many magi became happy and prosperous, and many fires and magi were imperially installed. And in
documents and imperial rescripts and records, under Varahran, King of Kings, son of Varahran, (11) which were
made, in was recorded, "Kartir, Varahran's Soul-Savior, Ahura Mazda's Magus-master."
And from earliest times onward for the sake of the Yazads and noble lords and for my own soul's sake, I, Kartir, saw
much trouble and toil. And I made prosperous many fires and magi in the empire of Iran. And I also, by command
of the King of Kings, put in order those magi and fires which were for the territory outside Iran, wherever the
horses and men of the King of Kings arrived --…. And Shahpuhr, King of Kings, with his own horses and men visited
with pillaging, firing, and havoc. (13) …
And I made prominent and reverend the Mazdayasnian religion and magi who were correct within the empire,
while heretical and unstable men, who within the magus-estate in matters of the Mazdayasnian religion and
divine services did not observe orders, these I punished with corporal punishment (14), …. And by the provision of
the Yazads and the King of Kings and by my efforts many Warharan fires were established in the empire of Iran,
and many kin marriages were made, and many people who had become unfaithful (to their vows), became faithful
again. There were also many who had come to follow the doctrines of the devs, and by my efforts they forsook
those doctrines of the devs and accepted instead the doctrines of (15) the Yazads.

10.

11.

12.

Religious toleration?
Mani and Shapur I
• ‘The prophet of Babel’s land’
• Persis and Babylon, instead of eran and
aneran.
• Blend of religions: Christianity, Zoroastrianism,
Buddhism
• The freedom of mankind from an evil Creator
• Missionaries go to Egypt, Palmyra, Afghanistan
and Kashmir

13.

Mani’s fate under Vahram II
• ‘The lovers of fire fettered the righteous one’
• ‘What good are you, who neither hunts nor
fights?’
• The Zoroastrian priests imagined as the new
Jews

14.

The fifth century: Attempts at reform
• Replacement of sub-kings with government
marzbans
• Centralisation of silver plate production (a
vehicle of propaganda)
• Increasing monetisation
• Increasing bureaucracy, reflected in seals
• Kayanid mythology
• Patronage of Christians under Yazdegard I

15.

Conservative backlash
But still a pattern of assassination of shahs who
attempt to centralise
Yazdegard’s relationship with Christians and
foreigners resented. Recalcitrant Christians
refuse to stop proselytism and religious
vandalism and prompt persecutions, which in
turn leads to war with Rome.

16.

Khusrau I

17.

Takht-i-Sulaiman

18.

Reforms of Khusrau I:
The context
• Victory of Hephthalites over Peroz (480s)
– Kavad pushed into war with Rome in early sixth
century. The first of a series of fourth century
wars.
– But no longer reliant on his military aristocracy
– Kavad’s religious freedom: his sponsorship of the
prophet Mazdak.

19.

Reform of the economy and military
• Full monetisation allows a professional army
to replace levies tied to land
• Tax assessment done by land area rather than
annual crop production (allows financial
planning): land tax and poll tax
• New military nobility (dehqans) also given a
role as tax officials
• Barbarian manpower in armies (Turks;
Daylamites)

20.

Historical Production under Khusrau I
• Image of Ardashir in the Letter of Tansar
• Khusrau and the Page
• Xwaday-Namag Shahnameh

21.

Christians and Zoroastrians I
• Under Vahram II, persecution of Christians as
members of a non-Zoroastrian minority
• Under Shapur II, persecution of a small group
of clergy and court Christians when the
catholicos refuses to collect an additional tax
from Christians

22.

Christians and Zoroastrians II
• Under Yazdegard, tension between patronage
of the bishops and the behaviour of eastern
priests.
• Acts of Abda of Hormizd-Ardashir: the shah
criticises Christians for their lack of obedience
to their betters, rather than just their
vandalism or their false belief

23.

Christians and Zoroastrians III
• A period of ‘anarchy’ and the abolition of clerical celibacy
• Aba: converted Zoroastrian who visits the Roman world (Nisibis,
Alexandria, Athens)
• Magians accuse him of converting Persians in the east and being a friend
to the emperor.
-Bans converts from eating ‘the meat of murmur’
-Refuses to accept judgements of mobads in Christian courts
-Bans incestuous marriage
Magi organise his exile and try to have him murdered when he continues to
ordain clergy, but Khusrau intervenes to protect him because the Christians
are now ‘an innumerable multitude of great use to the government’
Magi insinuate Aba’s involvement in rebellion of Nush-Zad, but Khusrau
makes it clear that insurgents will be killed irrespective of their religious
allegiance.