|
Hun Invasion Of Persia
The Hunnic invasion of the Sasanian Empire was a 395 AD invasion by the Huns, which coincided with an invasion of the neighbouring Roman provinces. Background In 395 the Huns, led by led by commanders Basiq and Kursich, crossed the Don and turning southeast crossed the Caucasus. Initially, the Huns invaded the Roman regions of Sophene, Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Syria, capturing and enslaving Roman subjects. The Huns then besieged the Roman fortress of Ziatha, burning it and killing and enslaving its inhabitants. The two contingents then proceeded into Persia proper. Invasion Basiq and Kursich led two detachments down the Euphrates, threatening the capital Ctesiphon. Upon hearing that the Sasanian army was marching against them, the Huns retreated. However, one group was overtaken, and some were killed. The Sasanians took nearly all of the booty, and freed 18,000 captives. The other group of Huns successfully retreated through the Derbent Pass. Aftermath Years later, the Sasanian E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city, located on the eastern bank of the Tigris, about southeast of present-day Baghdad. Ctesiphon served as a royal capital of the empires in the Parthian and Sasanian eras for over eight hundred years. Ctesiphon was capital of the Sasanian Empire from 226–637 until the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651 AD. Ctesiphon developed into a rich commercial metropolis, merging with the surrounding cities along both shores of the river, including the Hellenistic city of Seleucia. Ctesiphon and its environs were therefore sometimes referred to as "The Cities" (Aramaic: ''Mahuza'', ar, المدائن, '' al-Mada'in''). In the late sixth and early seventh century, it was listed as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hunnic Empire
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part of Scythia at the time; the Huns' arrival is associated with the migration westward of an Iranian people, the Alans. By 370 AD, the Huns had arrived on the Volga, and by 430, they had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe, conquering the Goths and many other Germanic peoples living outside of Roman borders and causing many others to flee into Roman territory. The Huns, especially under their King Attila, made frequent and devastating raids into the Eastern Roman Empire. In 451, they invaded the Western Roman province of Gaul, where they fought a combined army of Romans and Visigoths at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, and in 452, they invaded Italy. After the death of Attila in 453, the Huns ceased to be a major thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named after the Sasanian dynasty, House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651 AD, making it the longest-lived List of monarchs of Persia, Persian imperial dynasty. The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire (after 395 the Byzantine Empire).Norman A. Stillman ''The Jews of Arab Lands'' pp 22 Jewish Publication Society, 1979 International Congress of Byzantine Studies ''Proceedings of the 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, 21–26 August 2006, Volumes 1–3'' pp 29. Ashgate Pub Co, 2006 The empire was founded by Ardashir I, an Iranian ruler who rose to po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basiq
Basich or Basikh ( gr, Βασίχ, fl. 395) was a Hun military commander who co-led an invasion of Persia in 395 AD together with Kursich. Etymology Otto Maenchen-Helfen took the ending -''ich'' for the Turkic diminutive -''iq''; he proposed that Basich came from ''basiq'', meaning "little captain". Omeljan Pritsak instead understood there to be a suffix -''siġ'', meaning "like something"; he derived Basich from Turkic ''*bars-siġ'' with loss of the -r- and degemination, giving a meaning "feline-like". Gerhard Doerfer takes the name as having a Hunnish origin, but has criticized both Turkic explanations as relying on unproductive suffixes that are not easily proven to have existed. Biography The sources identify Basich and Kursich as "royal Huns". They are the first Huns definitively named in ancient sources. He was probably the chieftain of a Hunnish tribe, though it is not excluded that he and Kursich were two kings ruling in a dual-monarchy, similar to that of the Huns' pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kursich
Kursich () was a Hun general and royal family member. He led a Hunnish army in the Hunnic invasion of Persia in 395 AD. The Huns started to seriously threaten the Eastern Roman Empire in 395, crossing over the Caucasus mountains in the summer of that year. The following winter, another Hunnic force pillaged Thrace and threatened Dalmatia. The Huns then invaded Armenia, Persia and the Asian Roman provinces. Kursich and another commander, Basich, led two armies down the Euphrates, up to threatening the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. One army was defeated by the Persians, while the other successfully retreated by Derbent Pass. Priscus recorded that Kursich later came to Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ... to make an alliance. Maenchen-Helfen suggested that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bahram IV
Bahram IV (also spelled Wahram IV or Warahran IV; pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 388 to 399. He was likely the son and successor of Shapur III (). Before his accession to the throne, Bahram served as governor of the southeastern province of Kirman. There he bore the title of (meaning "king of Kirman"), which would serve as the name of the city he later founded in western Iran. His reign as was largely uneventful. In Armenia, he deposed his insubordinate vassal Khosrov IV and installed the latter's brother Vramshapuh on the Armenian throne. In 395, the Huns invaded the countryside around the Euphrates and the Tigris, but were repelled. It was under Bahram IV that the use of mint signatures became regular, with several new mints established in his empire. Like his father, Bahram IV was killed by the nobility; he was succeeded by his brother Yazdegerd I. He is notable for being portrayed on two seals, one during his tenure as ; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don (river)
The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its basin is between the Dnieper basin to the west, the lower Volga basin immediately to the east, and the Oka basin (tributary of the Volga) to the north. Native to much of the basin were Slavic nomads. The Don rises in the town of Novomoskovsk southeast of Tula (in turn south of Moscow), and flows 1,870 kilometres to the Sea of Azov. The river's upper half ribbles (meanders subtly) south; however, its lower half consists of a great eastern curve, including Voronezh, making its final stretch, an estuary, run west south-west. The main city on the river is Rostov-on-Don. Its main tributary is the Seversky Donets, centred on the mid-eastern end of Ukraine, thus the other country in the overall basin. To the east of a series of three ... [...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] |
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. Etymology The Ancient Greek form ''Euphrátēs'' ( grc, Εὐφράτης, as if from Greek εὖ "good" and φράζω "I announce or declare") was adapted from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 ''Ufrātu'', itself from Elamite language, Elamite 𒌑𒅁𒊏𒌅𒅖 ''ú-ip-ra-tu-iš''. The Elamite name is ultimately derived from a name spelt in cuneiform as 𒌓𒄒𒉣 , which read as Sumerian language, Sumerian is "Buranuna" and read as Akkadian language, Akkadian is "Purattu"; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derbent Pass
The defense lines (or ''"limes"'') of the Sasanians were part of their military strategy and tactics. They were networks of fortifications, walls, and/or ditches built opposite the territory of the enemies. These defense lines are known from tradition and archaeological evidence. The fortress systems of the Western, Arabian, and Central Asian fronts were of both defensive and offensive functions. Mesopotamia The rivers Euphrates, Great Zab, and Little Zab acted as natural defenses for Mesopotamia (Asorestan). Sasanian development of irrigation systems in Mesopotamia further acted as water defense lines, notably the criss-crossing trunk canals in Khuzestan and the northern extension of the Nahrawan Canal, known as the ''Cut of Khusrau'', which made the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon virtually impregnable in late Sasanian period. In the early period of the Sasanian Empire, a number of buffer states existed between Persia and the Roman Empire, which played a major role in Roman-Persi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination. Yazdegerd I's largely-uneventful reign is seen in Sasanian history as a period of renewal. Although he was periodically known as "the Sinner" in native sources, Yazdegerd was more competent than his recent predecessors. He enjoyed cordial relations with the Eastern Roman Empire and was entrusted by Arcadius with the guardianship of the latter's son Theodosius. Yazdegerd I is known for his friendly relations with Jews and the Christians of the Church of the East, which he acknowledged in 410. Because of this, he was praised by Jews and Christians as the new Cyrus the Great (, king of the Iranian Achaemenid Empire who liberated the Jews from captivity in Babylon). The king's religious, peaceful policies were disliked by the nobility and Zoroastri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th-century Conflicts
The 4th century (per the Julian calendar and Anno Domini/Common era) was the time period which lasted from 301 ( CCCI) through 400 ( CD). In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great, who became the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity. Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over the current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor. The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I. As the century progressed after his death, it became increasingly apparent that the empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus. The two emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
