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Administrative Divisions Of The Sasanian Empire
The administrative divisions of the Sasanian Empire were administrative divisions of the state organisation of the Sasanian Empire. Administration On his coinage, the first Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') Ardashir I (), introduces himself as King of Kings of a realm that he identified as ''Eran''. His son and successor Shapur I () calls himself King of Kings of ''Eran'' and ''Aneran'' in his SKZ inscription. According to the inscription, ''Eran'' was made up of the following provinces (''shahr'' in Middle Persian): A similar list is mentioned in the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht of the 3rd-century Zoroastrian priest Kartir. The provinces of the late Sasanian realm are listed in the ''Bundahishn'' and ''Vendidad''. Provinces were split into smaller administrative divisions, particularly the ''khwarrah'' (same origin as the Iranian/Zoroastrian concept '' khwarrah'', "glory/fortune"), ''rostag'' or ''tasug'' (districts), and ''dehs'' (villages). These divisions were not always used a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Administrative Division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, independent sovereign state (country) is divided. Such a unit usually has an administrative authority with the power to take administrative or policy decisions for its area. Usually, the countries have several levels of administrative divisions. The common names for the principal (largest) administrative divisions are: states (i.e. "subnational states", rather than sovereign states), provinces, lands, oblasts, governorates, cantons, prefectures, counties, regions, departments, and emirates. These, in turn, are often subdivided into smaller administrative units known by names such as circuits, counties, ''comarcas'', raions, '' județe'', or districts, which are further subdivided into the municipalities, communes or communities consti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adurbadagan
Adurbadagan (Middle Persian: ''Ādurbādagān/Āδarbāyagān'', Parthian: ''Āturpātākān'') was a Sasanian province located in northern Iran, almost corresponded to the present-day Iranian Azerbaijan. Governed by a ''marzban'' ("margrave"), it functioned as an important frontier (and later religious) region against the neighbouring country of Armenia. The capital of the province was Ganzak. Etymology ''Ādurbādagān'' is the Middle Persian spelling of the Parthian ''Āturpātākān'', which is derived from the name of the former satrap of the area, Atropates (Āturpāt). It is attested in Georgian as ''Adarbadagan'' and in Armenian as ''Atrpatakan''. Geography While Middle Persian texts are vague and incomprehensible about the geography of Adurbadagan, New Persian and Arabic texts are more clear. According to the 9th-century Persian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh, the following cities were part of the province; Ardabil, Bagavan, Balwankirgh, Barza, Barzand, Ghabrawan, Ganzak, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margiana
Margiana ( el, ''Margianḗ'', Old Persian: ''Marguš'', Middle Persian: ''Marv'') is a historical region centred on the oasis of Merv and was a minor satrapy within the Achaemenid satrapy of Bactria, and a province within its successors, the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian empires. It was located in the valley of the Murghab River which has its sources in the mountains of Afghanistan, and passes through Murghab District in modern Afghanistan, and then reaches the oasis of Merv in modern Turkmenistan. Margiana bordered Parthia to the south-west, Aria in the south, Bactria in the east and Sogdia in the north. History Ancient period Historians currently disagree as to the exact history of Margiana prior to the Achaemenid conquest. It is considered part of a Bronze Age civilisation, the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (short BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation. Some historians have argued that a kingdom was established and an urban society had begun to develop surr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyrcania
Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea in modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan, bound in the south by the Alborz mountain range and the Kopet Dag in the east. The region served as a satrapy (province) of the Median Empire, a sub-province of the Achaemenid Empire, and a province within its successors, the Seleucid, Arsacid and Sasanian empires. Hyrcania bordered Parthia to the east (later known as Abarshahr), Dihistan to the north, Media to the south and Mardia to the west. Etymology ''Hyrcania'' () is the Greek name for the region, a borrowing from the Old Persian ''Verkâna'' as recorded in Darius the Great's Behistun Inscription (522 BC), as well as in other Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions. ''Verkā'' means "wolf" in Old Iranian, cf. Avestan ''vəhrkō'', Gilak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Media (region)
Media ( peo, 𐎶𐎠𐎭, Māda, Middle Persian: ''Mād'') is a region of north-western Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Medes. During the Achaemenid period, it comprised present-day Azerbaijan, Iranian Kurdistan and western Tabaristan. As a satrapy under Achaemenid rule, it would eventually encompass a wider region, stretching to southern Dagestan in the north. However, after the wars of Alexander the Great, the northern parts were separated due to the Partition of Babylon and became known as ''Atropatene'', while the remaining region became known as ''Lesser Media''. History Under the Medes In 678 BC, Deioces united the Median tribes of Media and made the first Iranian Empire. His grandson Cyaxares managed to unite all Iranian tribes of Ancient Iran and made his empire a major power. When Cyaxares died he was succeeded by his son, Astyages, who was the last king of the Median Empire. Under the Achaemenids In 553 BC, Cyrus the Grea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alborz
The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs northeast and merges into the smaller Aladagh Mountains and borders in the northeast on the parallel mountain ridge Kopet Dag in the northern parts of Khorasan. All these mountains are part of the much larger Alpide belt. This mountain range is divided into the Western, Central, and Eastern Alborz Mountains. The Western Alborz Range (usually called the Talysh) runs south-southeastward almost along the western coast of the Caspian Sea. The Central Alborz (the Alborz Mountains in the strictest sense) runs from west to east along the entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea, while the Eastern Alborz Range runs in a northeasterly direction, toward the northern parts of the Khorasan region, southeast of the Caspian Sea. Mount Damavand, the highest m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Padishkhwargar
Padishkhwārgar was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity, which almost corresponded to the present-day provinces of Mazandaran and Gilan. The province bordered Adurbadagan and Balasagan in the west, Gurgan in the east, and Spahan in south. The main cities of the province were Amol and Rasht. The province functioned as some kind of vassal kingdom, being mostly ruled by princes from different royal families, who bore the title of Padashwargarshah ("Shah of Padishkhwargar"). Name The name "Padishkhwargar" is the ''Bundahishn'' variation of its name. On Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht the province is called Parishwar, whilst Islamic sources refer the region as Tabaristan, which derives from Middle Persian ''Tapurstān'' (). History During the rise of the Sasanian dynasty, Padishkhwargar was ruled by a certain Gushnasp, who aided his suzerain the Parthian ruler Artabanus V () in his struggle with the first Sasanian king (''shah'') Ardashir I () over the contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darial Gorge
The Darial Gorge ( ka, დარიალის ხეობა, ''Darialis Kheoba''; russian: Дарьяльское ущелье; os, Арвыком, ''Arvykom''; inh, Даьра Аьле, ''Dära Äle''; Chechen: Теркан чӀаж, ''Terkan ch'azh'') is a river gorge on the border between Russia and Georgia. It is at the east base of Mount Kazbek, south of present-day Vladikavkaz. The gorge was carved by the river Terek, and is approximately long. The steep granite walls of the gorge can be as much as tall in some places. In history The ''Darial'' originates from ''Dar-i Alān'' () meaning "Gate of the Alans" in Persian. The Alans held the lands north of the pass in the first centuries AD. It has been fortified in ancient times by the Romans and Persians; the fortification was variously known as the Iberian Gates or the Caucasian Gates. The pass is mentioned in the Georgian annals under the names of Darialani; Strabo calls it ''Porta Caucasica'' and ''Porta Cuma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a natural barrier between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Mount Elbrus in Russia, Europe's highest mountain, is situated in the Western Caucasus. On the southern side, the Lesser Caucasus includes the Javakheti Plateau and the Armenian highlands, part of which is in Turkey. The Caucasus is divided into the North Caucasus and South Caucasus, although the Western Caucasus also exists as a distinct geographic space within the North Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus mountain range in the north is mostly shared by Russia and Georgia as well as the northernmost parts of Azerbaijan. The Lesser Caucasus mountain range in the south is occupied by several independent states, mostly by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, but also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balasagan
Balāsagān (an Iranian toponym meaning "country of Balas"; Armenian: ''Bałasakan'', Arabic: ''Balāsajān''/''Balāšajān''), also known as Bazgan, was a region located in the area of the Kura and Aras rivers, adjacent to the Caspian Sea. To the south, it bordered Atropatene/Adurbadagan and Gilan. It roughly corresponded to the Armenian province of Paytakaran, albeit extending farther into the north. It has been suggested that under the Sasanians the region extended as far as the stronghold of Derbent, albeit this remains disputed. The heartland of Balasagan was the ''Dasht i-Bałasakan'' ("Balasagan plain") which corresponds to the Mughan plain. During the late Sasanian era, Balasagan was included in the northern quadrant (''kust'') of Adurbadagan. History Pre-Islamic period The region is first attested as a Sasanian province in the SKZ inscription of Shapur I () separately from Caucasian Albania, which indicates that it was its own political entity even if it was virtua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caucasian Albania (Sasanian Province)
Caucasian Albania (Middle Persian: ''Arān, Ardān'', Armenian: ''Ałuank'') was a kingdom in the Caucasus, which was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire from 252 to 636. History In 252/3 Albania, along with Iberia and Armenia, was conquered and annexed by the Sasanian king Shapur I (). Albania retained its monarchy, although the king had no real power and most civil, religious, and military authority lay with the Sasanian ''marzban'' ("margrave") of the territory. In 297 the Treaty of Nisibis stipulated the reestablishment of the Roman protectorate over Iberia, but Albania remained an integral part of the Sasanian Empire. In the middle of the 4th century the king of Albania, Urnayr, arrived in Armenia and was baptized by Gregory the Illuminator, but Christianity spread in Albania slowly, and the Albanian king remained loyal to the Sasanians. After the partition of Armenia between Byzantium and Iran (387), Albania with Sasanian help was able to seize from Armenia the entir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Machelonia
The Machelones ( ka, მახელონები) (Machelônes, Machelonoi; ) were a Colchian tribe located to the far south of the Phasis (modern-day Rioni River, western Georgia). There are several references to them in Classical sources. This group may be the Machorones of Pliny (NH 6.4.11) who placed them between the Ophis (modern Of, Turkey) and Prytanis rivers.Edwards, Robert W. (1988), The Vale of Kola: A Final Preliminary Report on the Marchlands of Northeast Turkey, pp. 129-131. ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', Vol. 42. The 1st century AD writer Lucian also comments about the Machlyai and their ruler, but the account seems to be entirely fictional. Ptolemy, in the early 2nd century AD, mentions the town of Mechlessos on the border of Colchis, but adds nothing substantive. His contemporary author, Arrian, lists on a west to east orientation the Sannoi, Drilae, Machelonoi, Heniochoi, Zudreitai, and Lazoi (''Perip''. 1 1.1-2). Writing in the early 3rd century about an eve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
