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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - PERSIAN EMPIRE
LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
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CAROLINE E. KENNEDY - CAROLINA KENNEDIA_____________________
JULY 23, 2007
RE: Persian Empire
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※Persia§ redirects here. For other uses, see Persia (disambiguation).
See also: History of Iran
History of Iran [hide]
Empires of Persia ﹞ Kings of Persia
BCE
Jiroft civilization (Aratta?) 3000每5th cent.
Proto-Elamite civilization 3500每2800
Elamite dynasties 2800每550
Kingdom of Mannai 10th每7th cent.
Median Empire 728每550
Achaemenid Empire 550每330
Seleucid Empire 330每150
Parthian Empire 248每CE 224
CE
Sassanid Empire 224每651
Patriarchal Caliphate 637每651
Umayyad Caliphate 661-750
Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258
Tahirid dynasty 821每873
Alavid dynasty 864每928
Sajid dynasty 889/890-929
Saffarid dynasty 861每1003
Samanid dynasty 875每999
Ziyarid dynasty 928每1043
Buwayhid dynasty 934每1055
Sallarids 942每979
Ghaznavid Empire 963每1187
Ghori dynasty 1149每1212
Seljukid Empire 1037每1194
Khwarezmid dynasty 1077每1231
Ilkhanate 1256每1353
Muzaffarid dynasty 1314每1393
Chupanid dyansty 1337每1357
Jalayerid dynasty 1339每1432
Timurid Empire 1370每1506
Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1407每1468
Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378每1508
Safavid dynasty 1501每1722*
Hotaki Ghilzai dynasty 1722每1729
Afsharid dynasty 1736每1802
Zand dynasty 1750每1794
Qajar dynasty 1781每1925
Pahlavi dynasty 1925每1979
Islamic Revolution 1979
Provisional Government 1979每1980
Islamic Republic of Iran since 1980
* or 1736
Timeline
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The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The Persian empire has become what we know today as Persia or more commonly, Iran. The most widespread entity considered to have been a Persian Empire was the Achaemenid Empire (550每330 BC) 〞 famous in antiquity as the foe of the classical Greek states 〞 a united Iranian kingdom that originated in the region now known as Pars province of Iran. It was formed under Cyrus the Great, who overthrew the empire of the Medes, and conquered much of the Middle East, including the territories of the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, and the Lydians. Cyrus' son, Cambyses, continued Cyrus' conquests by conquering Egypt.
Most of the successive states in Greater Iran prior to March 1935 are collectively called the Persian Empire by Western historians.
Virtually all the successor empires of Persia were major regional and some major international powers in their day.
Contents [hide]
1 Naming dispute
2 History
2.1 Achaemenid Empire (550 BC每330 BC)
2.2 Hellenistic Persia (330 BC每250 BC )
2.3 Parthian Empire (250 BC每AD 226)
2.4 Sassanid Empire (226每651)
2.5 Fall of Persian empire
2.6 Turkic rule (1037每1219)
2.7 Mongols and their successors (1219每1500)
2.8 Safavid Dynasty (1500每1722)
2.9 Persia and Europe (1722每1914)
2.10 World War I and the interbellum (1914每1935)
3 Timeline
4 Persia in fiction
5 See also
6 References
7 Notes
8 Further reading
9 External links
Naming dispute
Main article: Iran naming dispute
Persia has long been used by the West to describe the nation of Iran, its people, and its ancient empires. It derives from the ancient Greek name for Iran's maritime province, called Fars in the modern Persian language, Pars in Middle Persian and P芋rsa (��������) in Old Persian[1], a word meaning "above reproach"[citation needed]. Persis is the Hellenized form of Pars, and through the Latinized word Persia, the other European nations came to use this word for the region. This area was the core of the original Persian Empire.
Most foreigners referred to the entire country as Persia until March 21, 1935, when Reza Shah Pahlavi formally asked the international community to call the country Iran〞a name that the people of Persia, themselves, used to refer to their country. An analogy would be demanding Germany be called Deutschland.
History
Achaemenid Empire (550 BC每330 BC)
Main article: Achaemenid Empire
Cyrus the Great, founder of Persian Empire and first charter of human rights.
Apadana Hall, Persepolis: Angra Mainyu kills the primeval bull, whose seed is rescued by Mah, the moon, as the source for all other animals.The earliest known record of the Persians comes from an Assyrian inscription from c. 844 BC that calls them the Parsu (Parsuash, Parsumash) and mentions them in the region of Lake Urmia alongside another group, the Madai (Medes). For the next two centuries, the Persians and Medes were at times tributary to the Assyrians. The region of Parsuash was annexed by Sargon of Assyria around 719 BC. Eventually the Medes came to rule an independent Median Empire, and the Persians were subject to them.
The Achaemenids were the first to create a centralized state in Persia, founded by Achaemenes (Hakhamanish), chieftain of the Persians around 700 BC.
Around 653 BC, the Medes came under the domination of the Scythians, and Teispes, the son of Achaemenes, seems to have led the nomadic Persians to settle in southern Iran around this time 〞 eventually establishing the first organized Persian state in the important region of Anshan as the Elamite kingdom was permanently destroyed by the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal (640 BC). The kingdom of Anshan and its successors continued to use Elamite as an official language for quite some time after this, although the new dynasts spoke Persian, an Indo-Iranian tongue.
Teispes' descendants may have branched off into two lines, one line ruling in Anshan, while the other ruled the rest of Persia. Cyrus II the Great united the separate kingdoms around 559 BC. At this time, the Persians were still tributary to the Median Empire ruled by Astyages. Cyrus rallied the Persians together, and in 550 BC defeated the forces of Astyages, who was then captured by his own nobles and turned over to the triumphant Cyrus, now Shah of a unified Persian kingdom. As Persia assumed control over the rest of Media and their large empire, Cyrus led the united Medes and Persians to still more conquest. He took Lydia in Asia Minor, and carried his arms eastward into central Asia. Finally in 539 BC, Cyrus marched triumphantly into the ancient city of Babylon. After this victory, he set the standards of a benevolent conqueror by issuing the Cyrus Cylinder, the first charter of human rights. Cyrus was killed in 530 BC during a battle against the Massagetae or Sakas.
Darius I of Persia.
Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent.Cyrus' son, Cambyses II, annexed Egypt to the Achaemenid Empire. The empire then reached its greatest extent under Darius I. He led conquering armies into the Indus River valley and into Thrace in Europe. A punitive raid against Greece was halted at the Battle of Marathon. His son Xerxes I tried to subdue the Greeks, but his army was defeated at the Battle of Plataea 479 BC.
The Achaemenid Empire was the largest and most powerful empire the world had yet seen. More importantly, it was well managed and organized. Darius divided his realm into about twenty satrapies (provinces) supervised by satraps, or governors, many of whom had personal ties to the Shah. He instituted a systematic tribute to tax each province. He took the advanced postal system of the Assyrians and expanded it. Also taken from the Assyrians was the usage of secret agents of the king, known as the King's Eyes and Ears, keeping him informed.
Darius improved the famous Royal Road and other ancient trade routes, thereby connecting far reaches of the empire. He may have moved the administration center from Fars itself to Susa, near Babylon and closer to the center of the realm. The Persians allowed local cultures to survive, following the precedent set by Cyrus the Great. This was not only good for the empire's subjects, but ultimately benefited the Achaemenids, since the conquered peoples felt no need to revolt.
Persian and Median soldiers with Farvahar in center.It may have been during the Achaemenid period that Zoroastrianism reached South-Western Iran, where it came to be accepted by the rulers and through them became a defining element of Persian culture. The religion was not only accompanied by a formalization of the concepts and divinities of the traditional (Indo-)Iranian pantheon but also introduced several novel ideas, including that of free will, which is arguably Zoroaster's greatest contribution to religious philosophy. Under the patronage of the Achaemenid kings, and later as the de-facto religion of the state, Zoroastrianism would reach all corners of the empire. In turn, Zoroastrianism would be subject to the first sycretic influences, in particular from the Semitic lands to the west, from which the divinities of the religion would gain astral and planetary aspects and from where the temple cult originates. It was also during the Achaemenid era that the sacerdotal Magi would exert their influence on the religion, introducing many of the practices that are today identified as typically Zoroastrian, but also introducing doctrinal modifications that are today considered to be revocations of the original teachings of the prophet.
The Achaemenid Empire united people and kingdoms from every major civilization in south west Asia. For the first time in history, people from very different cultures were in contact with one another under one ruler.
Hellenistic Persia (330 BC每250 BC )
Main article: Seleucid Empire
The Achaemenid dynasty never managed to realise the conquest of the Greeks, but kept their threat at a minor level, often by encouraging their internal fighting. However, the Achaemenid Empire's weakness was exposed to the Greeks in 401 BC, when a rebel prince, Cyrus the Younger, hired 14,000 Greek mercenaries to help secure his claim to the imperial throne (see Xenophon, Anabasis). This demonstrated the military problems of the Achaemenid forces when dealing with an effective phalanx of spearmen.
Philip II of Macedon managed to unify most of Greece under his control, and decided to take advantage of Achaemenid weakness when, after the death of Artaxerxes III Ochus in 338, the Persian Empire had no strong leader. On Philip's death in 336, his son and heir continued the attack on the Empire. He turned out to be one of the most effective generals in history. The Achaemenid monarch, Darius III was an aged man with a reputation for bravery gained in his youth, but in the event was no match for Alexander. The greatest empire of the time collapsed in only eight years.
Alexander landed in Asia Minor in 334 BC. His armies quickly swept through Lydia, Phoenicia, and Egypt, before defeating Darius III at Gaugamela (331) and capturing the capital at Susa. The last Achaemenid resistance was at the "Persian Gates" between Susa and near the royal palace at Persepolis. The Achaemenid Empire was now in Alexander's hands.
Map of Alexander's empire.Along his route of conquest, Alexander founded many colony cities, often named "Alexandria". For the next several centuries, these cities served to greatly extend Greek, or Hellenistic, culture in Persia.
Alexander's empire broke up shortly after his death, and Alexander's general, Seleucus I Nicator, tried to take control of Persia, Mesopotamia, and later Syria and Asia Minor. His ruling family is known as the Seleucid Dynasty. However he was killed in 281 BC by Ptolemy Keraunos before he could conquer Greece and Macedonia.
Greek colonization continued until around 250 BC; Greek language, philosophy, and art came with the colonists. Throughout Alexander's former empire, Greek became the common tongue of diplomacy and literature. Trade with China had begun in Achaemenid times along the so-called Silk Road; but during the Hellenistic period it began in earnest. The overland trade brought about some fascinating cultural exchanges. Buddhism came in from India, while Zoroastrianism traveled west to influence Judaism. Incredible statues of the Buddha in classical Greek styles have been found in Persia and Afghanistan, illustrating the mix of cultures that occurred around this time (See Greco-Buddhism), although it is possible that Greco-Buddhist art dates from Achaemenid times when Greek artists worked for the Persians.
Although recently discovered cuneiform evidence (e.g., the Babylonian Chronicles from the Hellenistic Period) show how much continuity there was in the Eastern civilization, it can not be denied that the Seleucid kingdom began to decline after about a century. The eastern provinces of Bactria and Parthia broke off in 238 BC. King Antiochus III's military leadership kept Parthia from overrunning Persia itself, but when he tried to intervene in Greece, his successes alarmed the burgeoning Roman Republic. Roman legions began to attack the kingdom. At the same time, the Seleucids had to contend with the revolt of the Maccabees in Judea and the expansion of the Kushan Empire to the east. The empire fell apart and was conquered by Parthia and Rome.
Parthian Empire (250 BC每AD 226)
Main article: Parthia
The Parthian Empire.
Metallic statue of a Parthian prince (thought to be Surena), AD 100, kept at The National Museum of Iran, Tehran.Its rulers, the Arsacid dynasty, belonged to an Iranian tribe that had settled there during the time of Alexander. They declared their independence from the Seleucids in 238 BC, but their attempts to unify Iran were thwarted until after Mithridates I advent to the Parthian throne in about 170 BC.
The Parthian Confederacy shared a border with Rome along the upper Euphrates River. The two polities became major rivals, especially over control of Armenia. Heavily-armoured Parthian cavalry (cataphracts) supported by mounted archers proved a match for Roman legions, as in the Battle of Carrhae in which the Parthian General Surena defeated Marcus Licinius Crassus of Rome. Wars were very frequent, with Mesopotamia serving as the battleground. The family of the Persian Empire now goes by the name of Rahbar.
During the Parthian period, Hellenistic customs partially gave way to a resurgence of Persian culture. However, the empire lacked political unity. The administration was shared between Seven Parthian clans who constituted the Dahae Confederation, each of these clans governed a province of the empire. Suren-Pahlav C
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