Hyrcania
Hyrcania Gurgān | |
---|---|
Province of the Arsacid, and Sasanian Empire | |
548 BC–651 AD | |
Achaemenid Empire, with Province of Hyrcania | |
Capital | Zadracarta (548 BC–225 AD) Gurgān (225–651 AD) |
Historical era | Antiquity |
• Established | 548 BC |
• Fall of the Sasanian Empire | 651 AD |
Today part of |
Hyrcania (
The region served as a
Etymology
Hyrcania (Ὑρκανία) is the
Another archaic name, Dahistān (not to be confused with dehestan – a modern Iranian word for "district" or "county") is sometimes used interchangeably with Hyrcania. Dahistān refers, strictly speaking to the "place of the Dahae": an extinct people who lived immediately north of Hyrcania, as early as the 5th century BC.[4]
History
Pre-Hellenistic Period
Hyrcania formed part of the Median Empire by 600 BC, and according to Nicolaus Damascenus, was administered as a satrapy by the time of the last Median king, Astyages, who appointed a certain Artasyras as satrap (governor).[5] Upon the fall of the Median Empire, the region willingly submitted to the Achaemenid Empire and was occupied by Cyrus the Great in 549-548 BC,[6] and for a time Artasyras continued as satrap under Cyrus,[7] prior to his replacement by Astyages himself.[5] According to Ctesias, Astyages' grandson Megabernes also served as satrap of Hyrcania.[5] Hyrcanians gave their name to the Hyrcanian plain in the middle Hermus valley in Lydia where they were settled, most likely during the reign of Cyrus the Great, as part of a policy to establish military colonies in Asia Minor.[8] Under the Achaemenid Empire, Hyrcania served as a sub-province of the satrapy of Parthia, which was also known as the satrapy of Parthia and Hyrcania.[5] At times, Cadusia may have been administered as part of Hyrcania.[9] Fortifications to protect Hyrcania against nomadic incursions were constructed during the Achaemenid period.[10]
Following
By the time of
Hellenistic Period
Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his empire was divided amongst the
Seleucus' son,
Following the Battle of Mount Labus in 209 BC, Antiochus III invaded Hyrcania and seized the cities of Tambrax and Syrinx,[14] forcing Arsaces II, who was permitted to continue his rule over Hyrcania and Parthia, to become a vassal of the Seleucid Empire.[26] During the siege of Syrinx, when the wall was breached, the garrison slaughtered the Greek inhabitants and attempted to flee.[27] Arsaces II may have reasserted his independence in 189 BC, following Antiochus' defeat at the hands of the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC.[28] During the reign of Antiochus IV, in the late 2nd century BC, Hyrcania still formed part of the Seleucid Empire.[29] After Mithridates' conquest of Media in 148 BC, Hyrcanians launched an unsuccessful revolt, which was crushed by Mithridates shortly afterwards.[30] Hyrcania served as a royal retreat and Mithridates retired there in 141 BC.[14] In 139 BC, Demetrius II launched an invasion of the Arsacid Empire only to be defeated and captured, following which he was provided a princely residence in Hyrcania and married to Rhodogune, daughter of Mithridates.[30] In 129 BC, the Saka tribes invaded and pillaged Hyrcania, alongside other eastern provinces, and defeated and killed two successive Arsacid kings.[31] Soon after his ascension to the throne in 124 BC, Mithridates II, recovered Hyrcania and re-established Arsacid control.[32]
Post-Hellenistic period
Under the Arsacid Empire, the Great Wall of Gorgan, a series of forts and outposts with the plains of Hyrcania, was constructed to aid in the defence of Hyrcania against raids undertaken by the neighbouring Dahae tribes.[37] At the beginning of the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63, a rebellion erupted in Hyrcania and rebels sent envoys to Emperor Nero requesting aid.[38] The rebellion raged until 60 AD when Vologases I hastily concluded a peace treaty with the rebels to allow him to deal with the threat posed by the Romans.[39] However, the peace treaty did not last and the Hyrcanians launched another revolt that continued until at least 75 AD.[30] In 75 AD, the Hyrcanian rebels allied with nomadic Alan tribes and granted them safe passage through Hyrcania into Media, allowing the Alans to pillage Media and Armenia.[30] In the time of the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius (138–161), Hyrcania had made itself independent and was not considered part of the Arsacid Empire.[40] Hyrcania is mentioned as Li-chien (or Li-kan, 黎幹) in the 2nd century AD Book of Han.[41]
Hyrcania was annexed to the Sasanian Empire in 225 AD by
During the reign of
Religion
Hyrcania, and the rest of Iran in Antiquity, was dominated by
Literary references
In
Nec tibi diva parens generis nec Dardanus auctor,
perfide, sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens
Caucasus Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres. (IV.365-7)
"You had neither a goddess for a parent, nor was Dardanus the author of your race, faithless one, but the horrible Caucasus produced you from hard crags, and Hyrcanian tigers nursed you."
Following its geographical listing by Isidore of Seville in the early 7th century Etymologiae (a standard Mediaeval textbook), the name of Hyrcania became known and taught as far off as Ireland, where it was included in poems such as Cú-cen-máthair by Luccreth moccu Chiara (665 AD), the Auraicept na n-Éces, and Lebor Gabála Érenn (11th century).
Hyrcania is mentioned in the short story "Rinconete y Cortadillo" by Miguel de Cervantes, and constitutes one of his exemplary stories which were published in 1613. Cervantes uses this reference to portray the illiteracy of Juliana la Cariharta, a member of Monipodio's guild. She is intending to make reference to Ocaña, a provincial town in Toledo, Spain; but she has misheard it and does not realise the difference.
The comic book heroine Red Sonja is described as coming from Hyrkania, an imaginary locale bordering an inland sea based loosely on Hyrcania and set in Robert E. Howard's fictional Hyborian Age. Howard's Conan the Barbarian also has various adventures set in this locale, including as a pirate on the inland sea.
List of governors
Although the below list is incomplete, they are the known governors of Hyrcania.
- Artasyras
- Astyages
- Megabernes
- Ochus (c. 425-423 BC)
- Idernes (423 BC-?)
- Terituchmes
- Phrataphernes (?-330 BC)
- Amminapes (330 BC)
- Autophradates (330-324 BC)
- Phrataphernes (324-321 BC)
- Philip (321-318 BC)
- Eudemus (318-317 BC)
- Nicanor (315-310 BC)
- Andragoras (?-238 BC)
- Artabanus (?-10 AD)
- Ardawan
- Gotarzes(46-47 AD)
- Vistahm (591-596 AD)
- Smbat Bagratuni (596-602 AD)
See also
- Hyrcanian forests
- Gorgan
- Gonbad-e Kavus
- Golestan Province
- Mazandaran
- Gilan
- Name of Georgia (country)
- Amol
- Sari
References
- ^ Woodhouse (1910), p. 1013
- ^ a b c d e Lendering (1996)
- ^ Sherwin-White & Kuhrt (1993), p. 81
- ^ François de Blois & Willem Vogelsang, 2011, "Dahae", Encyclopedia Iranica (23 May 2015).
- ^ a b c d Jacobs (2006)
- ^ Dandamayev (1993), pp. 516-521
- ^ Dandamayev (1986), p. 652
- ^ a b Ramsay (1890), p. 124
- ^ Schmitt (1990), p. 612
- ^ Lendering (2005)
- ^ Rawlinson (1867)
- ^ a b Lendering (2000)
- ^ Ramsay (1890), p. 125
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bivar (2002), pp. 151-153
- ^ a b c Frye (1983), p. 112
- ^ Brunner (2004)
- ^ Walbank (2015)
- ^ Lendering (2004)
- ^ Dandamayev (1987), p. 29
- ^ a b c d Badian (2015)
- ^ Lendering (1999)
- ^ Lendering (2002)
- ^ Frye (1985), p. 26
- ^ Frye (1983), p. 208
- ^ Schippmann (1986), pp. 525-536
- ^ Debevoise (1938), p. 18
- ^ Boyce & Grenet (1991), p. 30
- ^ Frye (1963), p. 173
- ^ Strootman (2015)
- ^ a b c d e f g Rawlinson (1873)
- ^ Yarshater (1983), p. 54
- ^ Yarshater (1983), p. 55
- ^ Frye (1983), p. 237
- ^ Nasrollahzadeh (2011), pp. 157-175
- ^ Verstandig (2008), pp. 251-252
- ^ Boyce et al. (2001), pp. 31-39
- ^ Jakubiak (2008)
- ^ Frye (1983), p. 283
- ^ Tacitus, Annals XV.2
- ^ Frye (1983), p. 243
- ^ Pulleyblank (1991); Anthony François Paulus Hulsewé (ed.), China in Central Asia: The Early Stage: 125 BC - AD 23, an annotated translation of Chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty, with an introduction by M.A.N.Loewe. Volume 14 of Sinica Leidensia, Leiden, Brill Archive, 1979, p.118.
- ^ a b Kiani (2002), pp. 148-151
- ^ Pourshariati (2008), p. 49
- ^ Pourshariati (2008), pp. 66-67
- ^ Shahbazi (2003)
- ^ Toumanoff (1989), pp. 928-929
- ^ Perry et al. (1994), pp. 297-312
- ^ Schippmann (1999), pp. 631-632
- ^ Pourshariati (2008), p. 112
- ^ Shahbazi (1989), pp. 180-182
- ^ Toumanoff (1988), pp. 419-422
- ^ Garsoian (2005)
- ^ Choksy (2015)
- ^ Sims-Williams (1988), p. 823
- ^ Chabot, 285
- ^ Bruce (1990), p. 117
- ^ a b Sarshar (2014), p. 15
- ^ Humphreys, P., Kahrom, E. (1999). Lion and Gazelle: The Mammals and Birds of Iran. Images Publishing, Avon.
- ISBN 978-1-85043-946-2.
- ^ Shakespeare 1.4.622
- OCLC 35919304.
Sources
- Badian, Ernst (2015). "PHRATAPHERNES". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Bivar, A. D. H. (2002). "GORGĀN v. Pre-Islamic history". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Boyce, Mary; Grenet, Frantz; Beck, Roger (1991). A History of Zoroastrianism: Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule. Vol. 3.
- Boyce, Mary; Bivar, A. D. H.; Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2001). "GŌDARZ". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Bruce, Frederick Fyvie (1990). The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary.
- Brunner, C. J. (2004). "IRAN v. PEOPLES OF IRAN (2) Pre-Islamic". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Chabot, Jean-Baptiste (1902). Synodicon orientale ou recueil de synodes nestoriens (PDF). Paris: Imprimerie Nationale.
- Choksy, Jamsheed K. (2015). "ZOROASTRIANISM ii. Historical Review: from the Arab Conquest to Modern Times". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Dandamayev, M. A. (1986). "ARTASYRAS". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Dandamayev, M. A. (1987). "AUTOPHRADATES". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Dandamayev, M. A. (1993). "CYRUS iii. Cyrus II The Great". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Debevoise, Neilson Carel (1938). A Political History of Parthia. Literary Licensing, LLC. ISBN 9781258469610.
- Frye, Richard N. (1963). The Heritage of Persia: The pre-Islamic History of One of the World's Great Civilizations.
- Frye, Richard N. (1983). The History of Ancient Iran.
- Frye, Richard N. (1985). "ANDRAGORAS". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Garsoian, N. (2005). "SMBAT BAGRATUNI". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Jacobs, Bruno (2006). "ACHAEMENID SATRAPIES". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Jakubiak, Krzysztof (2008). "ARSACIDS viii. Military Architecture Of Parthia". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Kiani, Muhammad Yusof (2002). "GORGĀN iv. Archeology". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Lendering, Jona (1996). "Hyrcania". Livius.
- Lendering, Jona (1999). "Peithon (1)". Livius.
- Lendering, Jona (2000). "Phraortes". Livius.
- Lendering, Jona (2002). "Nicanor". Livius.
- Lendering, Jona (2004). "Amminapes". Livius.
- Lendering, Jona (2005). "Wall of Alexander". Livius.
- Nasrollahzadeh, Cyrus (2011). "Inscriptional Literature: A Review of Parthian Inscription of Sare Pol-e Zohab". Journal of Language Researches. 2. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2016-12-30.
- Perry, John R.; Shahbazi, A. Shapur; Kettenhofen, Erich (1994). "DEPORTATIONS". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781845116453.
- Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1991). "CH'IEN HAN SHU". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- ISBN 9781108014533.
- Rawlinson, George (1867). The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 5: Persia.
- Rawlinson, George (1873). The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6: Parthia.
- Sarshar, Houman (2014). The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion and Culture of a Community in the Islamic World. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781780768885.
- Schippmann, K. (1986). "ARSACIDS ii. The Arsacid dynasty". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Schippmann, K. (1999). "FĪRŪZ". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (1990). "CADUSII". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Shahbazi, A. Shapur (1989). "BESṬĀM O BENDŌY". BESṬĀM O BENDŌY – Encyclopaedia Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2013-09-22. Retrieved 2017-01-01.
- Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2003). "YAZDEGERD I". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Shakespeare, William (2013). Bevington, David (ed.). Henry VI, Part 3. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2016-12-30.
- Sherwin-White, Susan M.; Kuhrt, Amélie (1993). From Samarkhand to Sardis: A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520081833.
- Sims-Williams, N. (1988). "BARŠABBĀ". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Strootman, Rolf (2015). "SELEUCID EMPIRE". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Tacitus (1876). Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb, ed. Annals.
- Toumanoff, C. (1988). "BAGRATIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Toumanoff, C. (1989). "AMATUNI". Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- Verstandig, A. (2001). Histoire de L'Empire Parthe (-250-227).
- Walbank, Frank W. (2015). "Alexander the Great". Encyclopædia Britannica.
- Woodhouse, S. C. (1910). English-Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language. Archived from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2016-12-30.
- Yarshater, E. (1983). "Introduction". The Cambridge History of Iran: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian periods (1). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521200929.