the

PersiansGene R. Garthwaite

the

Persians

The Peoples of Asia

General Editor: Morris Rossabi

Each volume in this series comprises a complete history, from originsto the present, of the people under consideration. Written by leadingarchaeologists, historians, and anthropologists, the books areaddressed to a wide, multi-disciplinary readership, as well as to thegeneral reader.

Published

The ManchusPamela Kyle Crossley

The MongolsDavid Morgan

The AfghansWillem Vogelsang

In preparation

The TurksColin Heywood

The PhoeniciansJames Muhly

The Mughals of IndiaHarbans Mukhia

The PersiansGene R. Garthwaite

The JapaneseIrwin Scheiner

The ChineseArthur Waldron

the

PersiansGene R. Garthwaite

© 2005 by Gene R. Garthwaite

blackwell publishing350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia

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First published 2005 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Garthwaite, Gene R. (Gene Ralph), 1933–The Persians / Gene R. Garthwaite.

p. cm.—(Peoples of Asia)Includes index.ISBN 1-5578-6860-3 (alk. paper)

1. Iran—History. I. Title. II. Series.

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Contents

List of Figures viii

List of Dynastic Tables x

List of Maps xi

Acknowledgments xii

Dynastic Tables xiv

Maps xix

1 Persia: Place and Idea 1

2 The Achaemenians (c.550–331 bc) 22

3 Alexander (330–323 bc), the Seleucids (312–129 bc),

and the Parthians (247 bc – ad 224) 66

4 The Sasanians (c.224–651) 86

5 “Non-Iran”: Arabs, Turks, and Mongols in Iran 118

6 The Safavids (1501–1722) 157

7 The Qajars (1796–1926) 191

8 Iran, 1921–2003: Pahlavi and Islamic Republican Iran 221

Notes 282

Further Reading 286

Index 296

Figures

2.1 Cyrus’s tomb 312.2 Bisitun inscription 482.3 Apadana, Persepolis 512.4 Persepolis reliefs of procession of peoples bearing gifts 522.5 Rock-cut tomb at Naqsh-i Rustam 542.6 Persepolis reliefs of Persians and Medes 612.7 Achaemenian ruler, fire altar, and Ahura Mazda,

rock-cut tomb 633.1 Heracles at Bisitun 734.1 Investiture of Bahram I 884.2 Ardashir I receives the diadem 894.3 Khusrau I’s palace, Taq-i Kisra, at Ctesiphon 904.4 Shapur I’s triumph over Rome 914.5 Investiture of Ardashir II 1014.6 Dish with Khusrau I 1064.7 Khusrau II, Taq-i Bustan 1154.8 Dish with Shapur II on a lion hunt 1165.1 The Shahristan Bridge crosses the Zayandah river just

to the east of Isfahan 1195.2 Stucco mihrab (niche that indicates the direction

of prayer) and inscription 1295.3 Oljeitu’s tomb 1456.1 Ardabil carpet 1716.2 Masjid-i Shah, Isfahan 1766.3 Si-u-sih Bridge is named for its 33 arches 1786.4 Madrasah-yi Madar-i Shah, the theological school of

the mother of the shah 1817.1 Qajar rock-relief, Taq-i Bustan 1967.2 Nasir al-Din Shah on the Peacock Throne 1987.3 Shrine of Fatima, Qum 203

7.4 Gathering of ulema 2047.5 Central section of a contemporary copy of Fath

‘Ali Shah mural 2057.6 Two cigarette papers 2168.1 Riza Shah 2348.2 The Shahyad Tower, Tehran 2438.3 The poet Furugh Furrukhzad 2458.4 Postage stamp showing Muhammad Riza Shah and

the 12 component symbols of the White Revolution 2498.5 Postage stamp commemorating the centenary of the

birth of Riza Shah 2508.6 Poster showing Khomeini’s expulsion of the shah 2568.7 The Imamzadah (shrine) near Shahr-i Kurd has

revolutionary slogans painted on its walls 2588.8 Postage stamp showing a woman with a rifle barrel

and wearing the hijab, or Islamic dress 2658.9 Two wall murals in Tehran, Khomeini and the Mother

of Martyrs 2738.10 The cemetery near Junaqan, Chahar Mahal 277

Figures ix

Dynastic Tables

1 The Achaemenians xiv2 The Sasanians xv3 The Safavids xvi4 The Qajars xvii5 The Pahlavis and the Islamic Republic xviii

Maps

1 Iran’s geography xix2 Achaemenian Iran xx3 Sasanian Iran xxi4 Safavid Iran xxii5 Contemporary Iran xxiii

Acknowledgments

My fascination with Iran goes back a long time, and I am indebted to avery large number of individuals who first assisted me, especially to thelate Robert J. and Linda Braidwood, Patty Jo and Red Watson, the lateG. E. von Grunebaum, and Nikki Keddie.

I would like to thank Roy Mottahedeh and Stephen Dale, who gaveme the opportunity to try out my initial ideas for this book at seminarsat Harvard and Ohio State University. I owe special thanks to colleagueswho willingly read chapters at their various stages: Mangol Bayat, DavidMorgan, Bill Sumner, Touraj Darjaee, Drew Newman, Misagh Parsa,Morris Rossabi, and the late Charles Wood. In addition these colleaguesand others shared their unpublished work with me, and I would like tothank David Stronach and Edmund Herzig in particular. Others took thetime to meet with me; I am especially grateful to John Curtis and AmelieKuhrt. Thanks, too, to Ervand Abrahamian, Jim Bill, William Hanaway,and Shaul Bakhash for their assistance and insight.

Special thanks are due to Pamela Crossley for our many discussionsregarding rulership and Central Asia. Others at Dartmouth who havepatiently discussed aspects of this book with me and freely offered theirsupport include Gail Vernazza, Marysa Navarro, Dale Eickelman,Kamyar Abdi, Nahid Tabatabai, Virginia Close, Patsy Carter, FranOscadal, and my History and Dartmouth colleagues in general. My stu-dents at Dartmouth have contributed to this book, and as representa-tives of that large group, I thank David Ruedig, Drew Newman, BethBaron, and Justin Stearns. Thanks, too, to Ali Bakhtiar, Sheila Blair andJonathan Bloom, Sheila Canby, Richard Tapper, Sandy Morton, andnotably, Susan Reynolds. I should acknowledge, in particular, my col-leagues in Iran, Sekandar Amanolahi, Iraj Afshar, and Kaveh Bayat. LynnSmith could not have been a better editor, and I am grateful to her forher sharp eye and critical questions.

I am grateful to Susan and Jim Wright, and especially to all theBernsteins, Jane and Raph, John and Jennie, Dan and Claire, and Jeffand Yoshimi, for their generous support and unending encouragement.

Transliteration

There is no agreed-upon Persian transliteration. In The Persians I havefollowed common usage for well-known names and words; otherwise, Ihave followed the style of the International Journal of Middle EasternStudies, but omitting most diacritical marks.

Acknowledgments xiii

Dynastic Tables

Table 1 The Achaemenians

Cyrus II (the Great) (c.558–530 bc)Cambyses (530–522 bc)Gaumata (Bardiya) (522 bc)Darius I (522–486 bc)Xerxes I (486–465 bc)Artaxerxes I (465–424 bc)Xerxes II (424–423 bc)Darius II (423–404 bc)Artaxerxes II (404–359 bc)Artaxerxes III (359–338 bc)Arses (338–336 bc)Darius III (336–330 bc)

Table 2 The Sasanians

Ardashir I (ad 224–239)Shapur I (239/240–272)Hormizd I (272–273)Bahram I (273–276)Bahram II (276–293)Bahram III (293)Narseh (293–302)Hormizd II (302–309)Shapur II (309–379)Ardashir II (379–383)Shapur III (383–388)Bahram IV (388–399)Yazdgard I (399–421)Bahram V (Gur) (421–439)Yazdgard II (439–457)Hormizd III (457–459)Piruz (459–484)Valakhsh (484–488)Kavad I (488–496 and 499–531)Zamasp (496–498)Khusrau I (Anushirvan) (531–579)Hormizd IV (579–590)Khusrau II (590–628)Bahram VI (Chubin) (590–591)Kavad II (628)Ardashir III (628–630)Shahrbaraz (630)Khusrau III (630)Puran (630–631)Azarmigdukht (631)Hormizd V (631–632)Khusrau IV (631–633)Yazdgard III (633–651)

Dynastic Tables xv

Table 3 The Safavids

Shah Isma‘il I (1501–1524)Shah Tahmasp (1524–1576)Shah Isma‘il II (1576–1578)Shah Muhammad Khudabandah (1578–1588)Shah ‘Abbas I (the Great) (1588–1629)Shah Safi I (1629–1642)Shah ‘Abbas II (1642–1666)Shah Sulaiman I (Safi II) (1666–1694)Shah Sultan Husain (1694–1722)Shah Tahmasp II (1722–1732)Shah ‘Abbas III (1732–1749)

xvi Dynastic Tables

Table 4 The Qajars

Agha Muhammad (1779 –1797)Fath ‘Ali Shah (1797–1834)Muhammad Shah (1834–1848)Nasir al-Din Shah (1848–1896)Muzaffar al-Din Shah (1896–1907)Muhammad ‘Ali Shah (1907–1909)Ahmad Shah (1909–1925)

Dynastic Tables xvii

Table 5 The Pahlavis and the Islamic Republic

Riza Shah (1926–1941)Muhammad Riza Shah (1941–1979)Khomeini (1979–1989)Khamenei (1989– )

xviii Dynastic Tables

TURKEY

EGYPT

IRAQ IRAN

PAKISTAN

SAUDI ARABIA

Tabriz

Tehran

Isfahan

AFGHANISTAN

Karbala

SYRIA

LEBANON

JORDANISRAEL

KUWAIT

BAHRAIN

MountArarat6165

MountDamavand

5671

ZAGRO

S MO

UNTAINS

Tashkent

Samarkand

Persian Gulf

Dasht-e Kavir

Dasht-e Lut

ELBURZ MOUNTAINS

SyrDarya

Amu Darya

Capital city

Other important cityInternational boundaryMountain summit(height in metres)

Land over 1000m

Caspian Sea

Red Sea

Black Sea

CAUCASUS MO

UNTAINS

Baghdad

R.Tigris

R.Euphrates

Map 1 Iran’s geography

LYDIASardis

JerusalemSais

Memphis

Babylon

Pasargadae

CILICIA

Kingdom capital

Persian Empire c.558 BC

Territories Conquered by Cyrus II

Territories Conquered by Cambyses

Ancient coastlineAncient course of river

Persian Gulf

CaspianSea

ARMENIABlack Sea

(Amu D

arya)

KURDISTAN

LURISTAN

KHURASAN

SISTAN

FARS KERMAN

Nihavand

Susa

Bushir

Bishapur

Tall-i Malyan

Persepolis

Damascus

Gordian

Ur

750 km

500 miles

Oxus

Red Sea

Mediterranean Sea Ecbatana/Hamadan

Map 2 Achaemenian Iran

Principal routes of Silk Road

Other routes of Silk Road

ARABIA

Babylon

Ecbatana

Ctesiphon

Susa

Isfahan

Istakhr

Nisa SamarkandBukhara

Merv

Bisitun

Tashkent

DuraEuropus

Caspian

Persian Gulf Sea

Indian Ocean

Map 3 Sasanian Iran

GEORGIA

AZARBAIJAN

KHURASAN

KIRMAN

MAKRAN

DIYARBAKR

Otto

man

Em

pire

Mu

gh

a lEm

pir

e

Tabriz

Qazvin

RayyTehran

Hamadan

IsfahanKarbala

Najaf

Bushire

BAHRAIN I.

Bandar‘Abbas

Baghdad

Herat

Kabul

Merv

Bukhara

NisaBalkh

Ardabil

Lahijan

ZA

GR

OS

MT

S

R. Euphrates

R. Tigris

Amu Darya

MAZANDARAN

Mashhad

Shiraz

300 miles

500 km

ARM

ENIA

Chaldiran

‘ARA

BISTAN

KHUZISTANSISTAN

Qandahar

Caspian Sea

The Gulf

PARTHIA

R. In

dus

Map 4 Safavid Iran

TURKEY

SYRIA

IRAQ

SAUDI ARABIA KUWAIT

AFGHANISTAN

CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS

PAKISTAN

BALUCHISTAN

KHUSESTAN

Caspian Sea

The Gulf

Tabriz

QumHamadan

Kermanshah

Isfahan

Shiraz

KhorramshahrAbadan

Bushehr

Bandar‘Abbas

Shatt al-‘Arab

CAUCASIANREPUBLICS

Main airports

Main roads

International boundaries

Main railways

400 miles

600 km

Ardabil

Mashhad

Bandar Khomeini

Tehran

Map 5 Contemporary Iran

1

Persia: Place and Idea

Persia/Persians and Iran/Iranians

“Persia” is not easily located with any geographic specificity, nor can itspeople, the Persians, be easily categorized. In the end Persia and the Persians are as much metaphysical notions as a place or a people. Shouldit be Iran and the Iranians? Briefly, “Persia/Persians” is seldom usedtoday, except in the United Kingdom or when referring to ancientIran/Iranians – c. sixth century bc to the third century ad. Riza Shah(1926–1941) decreed in 1935 that Iran be used exclusively in official anddiplomatic correspondence. Iran was the term commonly used in Iranand by Iranians, except from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. Fol-lowing the Second World War, oil nationalization, the Musaddiq crisis,and subsequent greater sensitivity to Iranian nationalism, the designa-tion Iran/Iranian became widely used in the west. Until recently the useof Persia/Persians was often rejected among Iranians themselves.Iran/Iranian also had its own hegemonic dimension, especially from theexperience of some of Iran’s multi-ethnic population. The usage ofPersia/Persian, however, was revived by Iranian expatriates in the post-1979 era of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This common usage amongthem represents an attempt on their part to be spared the opprobriumof “Iran” and its recent association with revolution, “terrorism,”hostages, and “fundamentalism,” while Persia/Persian suggested to theman ancient glory and culture – a less threatening contemporary politicalidentity. Nevertheless, the political ramifications of either Persia or Irancannot be escaped. Above all, the history of Persia/Iran is the history ofthe interaction between place and the peoples who have lived and whocurrently live there.

Place

Usage of Persia or Iran and its geographical location depends not onlyupon context, but also upon historiographical traditions and their under-lying assumptions. Where is Persia/Iran? In the beginnings of recordedPersian history, Persia was the home region of the Achaemenian dynasty(c.550–331 bc), located in the southwestern part of the Zagros moun-tains and Iranian plateau. Persia was derived from Pars, or in Old PersianParsua, or today’s Fars province. (The Sasanian dynasty, c.224–641 ad,the fourth of the ancient Persian dynasties, came to power from theirhome in Fars, too.) The use of Persia, or the Greek Persis for the largerregion of what we know as Iran was a Greek concept that becomes reifiedin the west. Interestingly, the Achaemenians appear not to have had ageneral designation for the whole of their empire, but utilized existingregional names for specific parts of it. The designation “Iran,” was usedby the Greek historian, Erastothenes (third century bc) and derives fromthe Old Persian word ariya (Aryan). The Sasanians, however, called thecore of their empire Iranshahr (the empire of the Iranians) or Iranzamin(the land of Iran). Subsequent and modern usage derives from thisSasanian precedent. The boundaries of these ancient empires fluctuatedand reflected the ability of their dynasts to defend or expand them. Thegreatest territory of any Persian empire was that established by theAchaemenians and extended from the Mediterranean to Central Asia,while the Sasanian empire, the next largest in extent, stretched fromMesopotamia to Central Asia.

Geography

Political history compounds the problem of locating Iran. In terms ofgeography, there is the specific place of the Iranian plateau that extendsfrom Mesopotamian lowlands to the Amu Darya (Oxus river) and southto the Indian Ocean. The western border is defined by that great moun-tain chain known as the Zagros, some 2,000 kilometers in length, thatseparates the Iranian plateau from the lowlands of Mesopotamia. TheZagros chain meets the Caucasus mountains in the north with the Alburzmountains to the north and east. The northern border of the Iranianplateau continues from the Zagros and the Alborz, across the Syr Daryato the Amu Darya, Transoxiana and to the Hindu Kush, where it turnssouth to the Indus Valley to the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Oman, and PersianGulf. Although the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and plains are notencompassed by the Iranian plateau, they were vital to it, as were Central

2 Persia: Place and Idea

Asia and the Indus Valley. Like so much of the history of such a vast,strategic region, geographic designations relate to political factorsand to historic patterns of hegemony. At the start of the twenty-firstcentury, this extensive region – some 2,300,000 square kilometers! –comprises the modern states of Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, southernTurkmenistan, and the western half of Pakistan. The ancient empiresof the Achaemenians, Seleucids, Parthians, and Sasanians centeredon the plateau and often extended far beyond it to the west and to the east.

Topography, too, defines the Iranian plateau, with its extremes of tem-perature, elevation, and precipitation, giving the region a unity. Theplateau is characterized by eroded high deserts and steppes roughly 3,000meters above sea level, far higher mountain ranges, and great salt basinsand lakes formed largely by seasonal rivers that disappear into them.There are great and often stark topographical variations that changedramatically according to the light and by season. Temperatures areextreme, very hot in summer and cold in winter, bitterly so at higherelevations. Similarly, precipitation ranges from 10 centimeters to 250 centimeters (in the lowlands just to the south of the Caspian Sea) perannum. The Iranian plateau is quite barren, often starkly so, and thisbarrenness is the result of both climatic and cultural conditions. For mostof the region, precipitation is sparse and falls mainly in late autumn,winter, and early spring. Precipitation is affected by altitude, and falls assnow at higher elevations. Its slow melt there during the relatively coolsummer months provides runoff for agriculture and pastoralism. Perhaps10 percent of the region is arable and another 15 percent is suitable forpastoral nomadism. Pastoral nomadism, with the constant problem ofover-grazing by sheep and goats, and political instability, are probablythe prime factors, in addition to climactic limitations, for the region’sbarrenness. Agriculture without irrigation is possible at higher eleva-tions, though for a shorter season of growth, and in those regions wherethere is more certain rainfall, especially in the provinces of Azerbaijan,Gilan, Mazanderan, and northern Khorasan. In such places, too, andalong rivers, open parkland forest is still to be found. Where there iswater, produce is abundant.

Economic and Social Adaptation

Regardless of where Iran as a place is located, love of the land long pre-dates modern nationalism, indeed begins with the Achaemenians. Theland with its expanse, variety, and beauty is never far from thought.

Persia: Place and Idea 3

The topographical and climatic conditions of the Iranian plateau haveshaped its economy and have helped to define its history. The westernedge of the plateau, the foothills and lower elevations of the Zagrosmountains, were areas where the domestication of cereal grains such aswheat and barley and of sheep and goats – still critical to the wholeregion in the twenty-first century – first began to occur some 20,000years ago. Archaeological sites in western Iran, northern Iraq, and south-western Turkey provide the evidence for this critical process. The mate-rial culture – shards, flints, obsidian, bones, architecture – from thesesites also reveal trade in objects and ideas over great distances. From thebeginnings of this process of domestication of plants and animals andwith continuing technological and social changes throughout the MiddleEast, important economic, demographic, social, and cultural develop-ments resulted in larger-scale agriculture in Mesopotamia. Complexcommunities developed there. In these complex communities, citiesemerged along with administrative organizations, social and cultural dis-tinctions, religion and ideas, and writing. In addition to Mesopotamia,Central Asia, that vast area to the east, was also important in shapingIranian history. According to recent archaeological excavations andanalysis complex communities developed there also.

The most important long-term factor in Persian history was humanadaptation to the Iranian plateau with the development of agriculture,pastoralism, pastoral nomadism, and urban communities. Agriculturewas – and continued to be – focused on production of cereal grains andthen fibers, initially wool and flax. The raising of sheep and goats par-alleled the domestication of wheat and barley. And there is early evidencefor transhumance, that is, seasonal movement from lowlands to uplandpastures, where snow melt provided water and grass throughout thesummer for sheep and goats. Transhumance, and longer-range pastoralnomadism, represented further specialization and dependence on flocks.Cereal production, however, was part of the pastoral economy. Pas-toralists probably represented more of a difference in emphasis fromagriculturists, who were more dependent on fields than pastures. Pre-sumably, differences in social organization and culture between agricul-turists and pastoral nomads emerged, although both probably shared akin basis for production and organization.

Pastoral nomads played and continued to play a significant role inPersian history beyond their critical economic one in the form ofsocial–political federations tied to the pastoral economy of access to andprotection of pasture and water. Federations formed into confederationsfor military purposes and for the achievement of political and economic

4 Persia: Place and Idea