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ARDASHIR
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ARDASHIR , the See also:modern See also:form of the See also:Persian royal name See also:ARTAXERXES (q.v.), "he whose See also:empire is excellent." After the three Achaemenian See also:kings of this name, it occurs in See also:Armenia, in the shortened form Artaxias (Armenian, Artashes or Artaxes), and among the dynasts of See also:Persia who maintained their See also:independence during the See also:Parthian See also:period (see See also:PERSIS). One of these, (1) Artaxerxes or ARDASHIR I. (in his See also:Greek See also:inscriptions he calls himself Artaxares, and the same form occurs in See also:Agathias ii. 25, iv. 24), became the founder of the New-Persian or See also:Sassanian empire. Of his reign we have only very scanty See also:information, as the Greek and See also:Roman authors mention only his victory over the Parthians and his See also:wars with See also:Rome. A trustworthy tradition about the origin of his See also:power, from Persian See also:sources, has been preserved by the Arabic historian See also:Tabari (Th. See also:Noldeke, Geschichle der Perser and Araber zur Zell der Sasaniden, aus der arabischen Chronik See also:des Tabari, 1879). He was the second son of Papak (Babek), the offspring of Sassan (Sasan), after whom the See also:dynasty is named. Papak had made himself See also: When he had conquered a See also:great See also:part of Persis and Carmania, the Parthian king See also:Artabanus
ARDASHIR
IV. interfered. But he was defeated in three battles and at last killed (A.D. 226). Ardashir now considered himself See also:sovereign of the whole empire of the Parthians and called himself " King of Kings of the Iranians." But his aspirations went farther. In Persis the traditions of the Achaemenian empire had always been alive, as the name of Ardashir himself shows, and with them the See also:national See also:religion of Zoroaster. Ardashir, who was a zealous worshipper of Ahuramazda and in intimate connexion with the magian priests, established the orthodox Zoroastrian creed as the See also:official religion of his new See also:kingdom, persecuted the infidels, and tried to restore the old Persian empire, which under the Achaemenids had extended over the whole of See also:Asia from the See also:Aegean See also:Sea to the See also:Indus. At the same See also:time he put down the See also:local dynasts and tried to create a strong concentrated power. His empire is thus quite different in See also:character from the Parthian kingdom of the Arsacids, which had no national and religious basis but leant towards See also:Hellenism, and whose organization had always been very loose. Ardashir extirpated the whole See also:race of the Arsacids, with the exception of those princes who had found See also:refuge in Armenia, and in many wars, in which, however, as the Persian tradition shows, he occasionally suffered heavy defeats, he succeeded in subjugating the greater part of See also:Iran, Susiana and Babylonia. The Parthian See also:capital See also:Ctesiphon (q.v.) remained the See also:principal See also:residence of the Sassanian kingdom, by the See also:side of the national See also:metropolis Istakhr, which was too far out of the way to become the centre of See also:administration. Opposite to Ctesiphon, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Tigris, Ardashir restored See also:Seleucia under the name of Weh-Ardashir. The See also:attempt to conquer See also:Mesopotamia, Armenia and See also:Cappadocia led to a war with Rome, in which he was repelled by See also: 233). Before his death (A.D. 241) Ardashir associated with himself on the See also:throne his son Shapur, who successfully continued his See also:work. Under the tombs of See also:Darius I. at Persepolis, on the See also:surface of the See also:rock, Ardashir has sculptured his See also:image and that of the See also:god Ahuramazda (Ormuzd or See also:Ormazd). Both are on horseback; the god is giving the diadem to the king. Under the See also:horse of the king lies a defeated enemy, the Parthian king Artaban; under the horse of Ormuzd, the See also:devil See also:Ahriman, with two See also:snakes rising from his See also:head. In the bilingual inscription (Greek and See also:Pahlavi), Ardashir I. calls himself "the Mazdayasnian [i.e. "worshipper of Ahuramazda "] god Artaxares, king of the kings of the Arianes (Iranians), of godly origin, son of the god Papak the king. (See See also:Sir R. See also:Ker See also:Porter, Travels (1821-1822), i. 548 See also:foil.; Flandin et Coate, Voyage en Perse, iv. 182; F. Stolze and J. C. Andreas, Persepolis, pl. 116; See also:Marcel Dieulafoy, L'See also:Art See also:antique de la Perse, 1884-1889, V. pl. 14). A similar inscription and See also:sculpture is on a rock near Gur (See also:Firuzabad) in Persia. On his coins he has the same titles (in Pahlavi). We see that he, like his See also:father and his successors, were worshipped as gods, probably as incarnations of a secondary deity of the Persian creed. Like the See also:history of the founder of the Achaemenian empire, that of Ardashir has from the beginning been overgrown with legends; like See also:Cyrus he is the son of a shepherd, his future greatness is predicted by dreams and visions, and by the calculations of astronomers he becomes a servant at the See also:court of King Artabanus and then flies to Persia and begins the See also:rebellion; he fights with the great See also:dragon, the enemy of god, &c. A Pahlavi See also:text, which contains this See also:legend, has been translated by Noldeke (Geschichte des Artachshir i Papakan, 1879). On the same tradition the See also:account of Firdousi in the Shahnama is based; it occurs also, with some See also:variations, in Agathias ii. 26 f. Another work, which contained religious and moral admonitions which were put into the mouth of the king; has not come down to us. On the other See also:hand the See also:genealogy of Ardashir has of course been connected with the Achaemenids, on whose behalf he exacts vengeance from the Parthians, and with the legendary kings of old Iran. (2) ARDASHIR II. (379-383). Under the reign of his See also:brother Shapur II. he had been See also:governor {king) of Adiabene, where he persecuted the Christians. After Shapur's death, he was raised to the throne by the magnates, although more than seventy years old. Having tried to make himself See also:independent from the court, and having executed some of the grandees, he was deposed after a reign of four years. (3) ARDASIIR III. (628-630), son of See also:Kavadh II., was raised to the throne as a boy of seven years, but was killed two years afterwards by his See also:general, Shahrbaraz. (ED. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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