Darayan I (also spelled Darew I, Darev I and Darius I;

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: 𐡃𐡀𐡓𐡉𐡅 ''d’ryw'') was the first

king of Persis The Kings of Persis, also known as the Darayanids, were a series of Persian kings, who ruled the region of Persis in southwestern Iran, from the 2nd century BCE to 224 CE. They ruled as sub-kings of the Parthian Empire, until they toppled them a ...

, most likely invested with kingship of the region by his overlord, the Parthian monarch Phraates II () sometime after 132 BC. Although Darayan I's name was usually read as "Darew" by numismatics, an engraving of his name on a silver bowl has led to his name being read as "Darayan" by most recent studies. The name is derived from Old Persian ''daraya-vahauš'', the name of the prominent

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

King of Kings Darius the Great (). Darayan I, unlike his predecessors—the

frataraka Frataraka (Aramaic: ''Prtkr’'', "governor", or more specifically "sub-satrapal governor") is an ancient Persian title, interpreted variously as “leader, governor, forerunner”. It is an epithet or title of a series of rulers in Persis fr ...

s—used the title of

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

("king"), and laid foundations to a new dynasty, which may be labelled the Darayanids. The title for "king" he uses on his coinage is '' malik'', whilst the legend on the reverse is ''d’ryw mlk’'' ("Darius the King"). The reason behind his adoption of the title of Darayan was seemingly because he felt strong enough to do so, and in spite of the difficulties that he and his successors faced, they did not renounce the title until the fall of the kingdom. The style of the silver

drachma The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, fr ...

s under Darayan I was a continual of the one under the fratarakas. On the obverse, the king is wearing a soft cap (''

bashlyk A bashlyk, also spelled bashlik ( krc, Başlıq, Adyghe: ''Shkharkhon,'' Abkhaz: ''qtarpá'', Chechen: ''Ċukkuiy,'' Ossetic: ''Kaskæ'' crh, Başlıq, Tatar: Başlıq, Turkish: Başlık; "baş" - head, "-lıq" (''Tatar'') / "-lık" (''Turki ...

'') with a crescent. On the reverse, the king is facing a fire temple with the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ...

supreme deity Ahura Mazda above, and holding a scepter, and on the other side of the temple an eagle mounted on a pedestal. The reverse has an inscription in the

Aramaic script The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: 𐡃𐡀𐡓𐡉𐡅 𐡌𐡋𐡊 ''d’ryw mlk’'' ("Darius the King"). Parthian influence was notable on the coinage of Darayan I and his successors. Darayan I was succeeded by Wadfradad III.

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* . * * * * * * {{Kings of Persis 2nd-century BC Iranian people History of Fars Province 2nd-century BC rulers in Asia Kings of Persis