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

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

: 𐡃𐡀𐡓𐡉𐡅 ''d’ryw'') was the first

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

, most likely invested with kingship of the region by his overlord, the Parthian monarch

Phraates II Phraates II (also spelled Frahad II; ''Frahāt'') was king of the Parthian Empire from 132 BC to 127 BC. He was the son and successor of Mithridates I (). Because he was still very young when he came to the throne, his mother Rinnu initially ru ...

() 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 Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

''daraya-vahauš'', the name of the prominent

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

King of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...

Darius the Great Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

(). Darayan I, unlike his predecessors—the fratarakas—used the title of

shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

("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 Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

'', 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 Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

s under Darayan I was a continual of the one under the fratarakas. On the obverse, the king is wearing a soft cap ('' bashlyk'') with a crescent. On the reverse, the king is facing a fire temple with the

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

supreme deity

Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda (; ; or , ),The former is the New Persian rendering of the Avestan form, while the latter derives from Middle Persian. also known as Horomazes (),, is the only creator deity and Sky deity, god of the sky in the ancient Iranian ...

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 Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written an ...

: 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 monarchs in Asia Kings of Persis