Abarshahr ( Persian : اَبَرشهر) or Nishapur ( Persian : نیشاپور) was a Sasanian satrapy (province) in Late Antiquity , that lay within the kust of Khorasan . The province bordered Media in the west, Hyrcania in the north west, Margiana in the north east, and Harev in the south east. The governor of Abarshahr is attested to have held the unique title of kanarang , distinguished from the title of marzban given to governors of frontier provinces. Abarshahr came to be known as one of the nicknames of the city of Nishapur which was considered to be the capital city of the province of Abarshahr during the Sassanian period and later on.
33-508: Several etymologies have been put forward as to the origin of the name of the province. During the Middle Ages, for example, Arab geographers stated that the name meant "cloud city". It has also been interpreted to mean "upper country". A more recent etymology that suggests that Abarshahr derives from Aparn-xšahr , "land of the Aparni " is considered the most accurate. The province was formed during
66-544: A new dynasty", that of the Arsacids . There is no unambiguous evidence of the Parni in native Iranian language sources, and all references to these people come from Greek and Latin accounts. In these accounts, which are not necessarily contemporaneous, it is difficult to unambiguously identify references to the Parni due to inconsistency of Greek/Latin naming and transliteration, and/or the similarity to names of other tribes such as
99-702: Is derived from the Scythian endonym [Skuδa] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) , meaning lit. ' archers ' which was derived from the Proto-Indo-European root skewd- , itself meaning lit. ' shooter, archer ' . This name was semantically similar to the endonym of the Sauromatians, *Saᵘrumata , meaning "armed with throwing darts and arrows." From this earlier term [Skuδa] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help )
132-472: Is located in the Balkan Region of Turkmenistan. The language of the Parni is not directly attested but is assumed to be one of the eastern substrates of the subsequently recorded Parthian language , which the Parni eventually adopted. To the "incoming Parni may be ascribed a form of speech showing a strong east Iranian element, resulting from their proximity on the steppe to east Iranian Sakas ." Through
165-627: Is named after Arsaces, and the name adopted by all Parthian kings. The Arsacid dynasts laid claim to descent from Artaxerxes II . Beginning from Astabene and Parthia (which would subsequently be extended southwards to include much of present-day Sistan ), the Arsacids gradually subjugated many of the neighboring kingdoms, most of which were thereafter controlled as vassalries. Beginning with the successful revolt - in 224 CE - of an erstwhile vassal of Stakhr named Ardashir (in Greek again "Arsaces"/"Artaxerxes" ),
198-616: The Ochus ( Ancient Greek : Ὧχος Okhos ) ( Tejen ) River, southeast of the Caspian Sea . It is believed that their original homeland may have been what is now southern Russia, from where they emigrated with other Scythian tribes. The Parni were one of the three tribes of the Dahae confederacy. In the middle of the 3rd century BCE, the Parni invaded Parthia , "drove away the Greek satraps , who had then only just acquired independence, and founded
231-679: The Pontic Scythians , were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC from Central Asia to the Pontic Steppe in modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia , where they remained established from the 7th century BC until the 3rd century BC. Skilled in mounted warfare , the Scythians replaced the Agathyrsi and the Cimmerians as
264-558: The Seleucid governor ( satrap ) of Parthia ("roughly western Khurasan " ) proclaimed independence from the Seleucids, when—following the death of Antiochus II — Ptolemy III seized control of the Seleucid capital at Antioch , and "so left the future of the Seleucid dynasty for a moment in question." Meanwhile, "a man called Arsaces , of Scythian or Bactrian origin, [was] elected leader of
297-478: The "Animal Style" art, which had until then been considered to be markers of the Scythians proper. This broad use of the term "Scythian" has however been criticised for lumping together various heterogeneous populations belonging to different cultures, and therefore leading to several errors in the coverage of the various warrior-nomadic cultures of the Iron Age-period Eurasian Steppe. Therefore,
330-564: The 260s. It is suggested that Ardavan, as a Manichean member of the Parthian elite, helped Mar Ammo to preach amongst the Parthian nobility and spread Manichaeism. In 629, during the Sasanian civil war of 628-632 , Abarshahr was briefly ruled by the Sasanian usurper Khosrow III . In 651, the last Sasanian king Yazdegerd III was murdered by under the orders of his own general, Mahoe Suri , which marked
363-529: The 3rd century AD, last remnants of the Scythians were overwhelmed by the Goths , and by the early Middle Ages , the Scythians were assimilated and absorbed by the various successive populations who had moved into the Pontic Steppe. After the Scythians' disappearance, authors of the ancient, mediaeval, and early modern periods used their name to refer to various populations of the steppes unrelated to them. The name
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#1732852148034396-654: The Arsacid/Parthian hegemony began to yield to a Sassanid/Persian one. The name "Parni" reappears in Sassanid-era documents to identify one of the seven Parthian feudal families allied with the Sassanid court. However, this family is not attested from Arsacid times, and the claim to the "Parni" name is (like four of the six other families) "in all probability not in accordance with reality." "It may be that [...] members of them made up their own genealogies in order to emphasize
429-448: The Dahae was the root of the later placename Dahestan or Dihistan – a region straddling the present regions of Turkmenistan and Iran . So little is known of the Dahae, including the Parni, that – in the words of A. D. H. Bivar – even the location and name of their capital city "if indeed they possessed one" is unknown. A later archaeological site in the region, known as Dehistan/Mishrian ,
462-762: The Eurasian steppe and forest steppe extending from Central Europe to the limits of the Chinese Zhou Empire, and of which the Pontic Scythians proper were only one section. These various peoples shared the use of the "Scythian triad," that is of distinctive weapons, horse harnesses and the "Animal Style" art. The term "Scytho-Siberian" has itself in turn also been criticised since it is sometimes used broadly to include all Iron Age equestrian nomads, including those who were not part of any Scythian or Saka. The scholars Nicola Di Cosmo and Andrzej Rozwadowski instead prefer
495-565: The Greek plural-forming suffix -τοι was added to the name. The name of the 5th century BC king Scyles ( Ancient Greek : Σκυλης , romanized : Skulēs ) represented this later form, Skula . The name "Scythians" was initially used by ancient authors to designate specifically the Iranic people who lived in the Pontic Steppe between the Danube and the Don rivers. In modern archaeology,
528-515: The Parni tribes." Following the secession of Parthia from the Seleucid Empire and the resultant loss of Seleucid military support, Andragoras had difficulty in maintaining his borders, and about 238 BCE—under the command of "Arsaces and his brother Tiridates " —the Parni invaded Parthia and seized control of Astabene (Astawa), the northern region of that territory, the administrative capital of which
561-556: The Saka of Central Asia. Early modern scholars tended to follow the lead of the Hellenistic authors in extending the name "Scythians" into a general catch-all term for the various equestrian warrior-nomadic cultures of the Iron Age-period Eurasian Steppe following the discovery in the 1930s in the eastern parts of the Eurasian steppe of items forming the "Scythian triad," consisting of distinctive weapons, horse harnesses, and objects decorated in
594-573: The Sparni or Apartani and the Eparnoi or Asparioi. It may also be that the Parni are related to one or more of these other tribes, and that "their original homeland may have been southern Russia from where they emigrated with other Scythian tribes." The location of the Parni Dahae immediately south-east of the Caspian Sea was derived from by Strabo 's Geographica (Book 11, 1st century BCE). The ethnonym of
627-437: The administrative capital of Abarshahr, close to the temple of Adur Burzen-Mihr, home to one of three "Great Fires" held sacred by Zoroastrians . Nishapur was considered a more secure location than the former capital of the province, Tus , against raids from nomadic tribes. Mar Ammo , a disciple of Mani , founder of Manichaeism , led a mission to Abarshahr accompanied by the Parthian prince Ardavan and several others during
660-2159: The antiquity of their families." It has been suggested that the Parnau Hills ( Paran Koh ) bear the name of the Parni. Scythian West Asia (7th–6th centuries BC) Akkadian (in West Asia) Median (in West Asia) Phrygian (in West Asia) Urartian (in West Asia) Thracian (in Pontic Steppe) Ancient Greek (in Pontic Steppe) Proto-Slavic language (in Pontic Steppe) Ancient Mesopotamian religion (in West Asia) Urartian religion (in West Asia) Phrygian religion (in West Asia) Ancient Iranic religion (in West Asia) Thracian religion (in Pontic Steppe) Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Scythians ( / ˈ s ɪ θ i ə n / or / ˈ s ɪ ð i ə n / ) or Scyths ( / ˈ s ɪ θ / , but note Scytho- ( / ˈ s aɪ θ ʊ / ) in composition) and sometimes also referred to as
693-450: The city . Sawar then tried to make peace with Abdullah, and told him that he would open the gates of Nishapur if the latter pardoned him. Abdullah agreed, however, when the gates were opened, he entered the gate with his army, and started to plunder the city and killing citizens, until Kanadbak said to him: "O amir, once you have been victorious and triumphant forgiveness is a higher [virtue] than revenge and retribution." Abdullah then did as
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#1732852148034726-624: The dominant power on the western Eurasian Steppe in the 8th century BC. In the 7th century BC, the Scythians crossed the Caucasus Mountains and frequently raided West Asia along with the Cimmerians. After being expelled from West Asia by the Medes , the Scythians retreated back into the Pontic Steppe in the 6th century BC, and were later conquered by the Sarmatians in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BC. By
759-641: The end of the Sasanian dynasty. However, Abarshahr continued to be under the rule of the kanarang, who was no longer under the suzerainty of the Sasanians. However, this was soon to end: in 652, Abarshahr was invaded by the Arab military general Abdullah ibn Aamir , who made a treaty with the kanarang, Kanadbak . In the treaty Kanadbak agreed to pay tribute to the Arabs while still remaining in control of his territories in Tus. However, at
792-583: The influence of the Parthians in Armenia , traces of the Parni language survive as "loan-words in Armenian ." The language of the Parni "was described by Justin as 'midway between Scythian and Median [and] contained features of both'" (41.1.10). Justin's late (3rd century) opinion is "no doubt slightly exaggerated," and is in any case of questionable veracity given the ambiguity of names. In 247 BCE, Andragoras ,
825-410: The latter said and restored the city to Kanadbak, who continued to rule as a Rashidun vassal. 36°12′N 58°48′E / 36.20°N 58.8°E / 36.20; 58.8 Parni The Parni ( / ˈ p ɑːr n aɪ / ; Ancient Greek : Πάρνοι , Parnoi ), Aparni ( / ə ˈ p ɑːr n aɪ / ; Ἄπαρνοι, Aparnoi ) or Parnians were an East Iranian people who lived around
858-537: The narrow use of the term "Scythian" as denoting specifically the people who dominated the Pontic Steppe between the 7th and 3rd centuries BC is preferred by Scythologists such as Askold Ivantchik . Within this broad use, the Scythians proper who lived in the Pontic Steppes are sometimes referred to as Pontic Scythians . Modern-day anthropologists instead prefer using the term "Scytho-Siberians" to denote this larger cultural grouping of nomadic peoples living in
891-478: The reign of Shapur I as part of his efforts to establish greater centralisation in the empire, and was made up of the vassal kingdom of Satarop , who had declared fealty to Shapur's father, Ardashir I , after his victory over the last Parthian king, Artabanus V , at the Battle of Hormozdgān in 224 AD. The city of Nishapur ( Middle Persian : Nēw-S̲h̲āhpūr "good city of Shapur) was founded or rebuilt by Shapur I as
924-647: The same time, the Karenids of Nishapur under Burzin Shah and Sawar Karin, were threatening both Kanadbak and Abdullah, and managed to reclaim territory in Khorasan, which included cities such as Nishapur which was once under their control. Abdullah then promised Kanadbak to give him back his lost territory, in return for help against the Karenid rebels. They then started pillaging the surroundings of Nishapur, and fought heavily to capture
957-559: The term "Scythians" is used in its original narrow sense as a name strictly for the Iranic people who lived in the Pontic and Crimean Steppes, between the Danube and Don rivers, from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. By the Hellenistic period, authors such as Hecataeus of Miletus however sometimes extended the designation "Scythians" indiscriminately to all steppe nomads and forest steppe populations living in Europe and Asia, and used it to also designate
990-485: The use of the term "Early Nomadic" for the broad designation of the Iron Age horse-riding nomads. While the ancient Persians used the name Saka to designate all the steppe nomads and specifically referred to the Pontic Scythians as Sakā tayaiy paradraya ( 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹 ; lit. ' the Saka who dwell beyond the (Black) Sea ' ), the name "Saka" is used in modern scholarship to designate
1023-488: Was Kabuchan ( Kuchan in the vulgate). A short while later, the Parni seized the rest of Parthia from Andragoras, killing him in the process. Although an initial punitive expedition by the Seleucids under Seleucus II was not successful, the Seleucids under Antiochus III recaptured Arsacid-controlled territory following the Battle of Mount Labus in 209 BCE from Arsaces' (or Tiridates' ) successor, Arsaces II . Arsaces II sued for peace and accepted vassal status, and it
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1056-487: Was derived: The Urartian name for the Scythians might have been Išqigulu ( 𒆳𒅖𒆥𒄖𒇻 ). Due to a sound change from /δ/ ( / ð / ) to / l / commonly attested in East Iranic language family to which Scythian belonged, the name [Skuδa] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) evolved into Skula , which was recorded in ancient Greek as Skōlotoi ( Σκωλοτοι ), in which
1089-513: Was not until Arsaces II's grandson (or grand-nephew) Phraates I , that the Arsacids/Parni would again begin to assert their independence. For the historiographers upon whose documentation the reconstruction of early Arsacid history depends, the Parni had by then become indistinguishable from the Parthians. The seizure of Astabene in 238 BCE nominally marks the beginning of the Arsacid era, which
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