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Spahan, also known as Parthau was a
Sasanian 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 last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
province in
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...
, that lay within central Iran, almost corresponding to the present-day Isfahan Province in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.


Etymology

''Spahān'' is attested in various
Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...
seals and inscriptions, including that of
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 monotheisti ...
priest
Kartir Kartir (also spelled Karder, Karter and Kerdir; Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭫𐭲𐭩𐭫 ''Kardīr'') was a powerful and influential Zoroastrian priest during the reigns of four Sasanian kings in the 3rd-century. His name is cited in the inscriptions ...
. The present-day name (Isfahan) is the Arabicized form of ''Ispahan'' (unlike Middle Persian,
New Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thr ...
does not allow initial consonant clusters such as ''sp''Strazny, P. (2005). Encyclopedia of linguistics (p. 325). New York: Fitzroy Dearborn.). The region appears with the abbreviation ''GD'' (''Gay'', Southern
Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
) on
Sasanian 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 last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
numismatics. In
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
's
Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'',  "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...
it appears as ''Aspadana'', translating to "place of gathering for the army". It is believed that ''Spahān'' derives from ''spādānām'' 'the armies',
Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...
plural of ''spāda'' (from which derives ''spāh'' 'army' in Middle Persian). The province is called Parthau on
Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht Shapur I's Ka'ba-ye Zartosht inscription (shortened as Shapur-KZ, ŠKZ, SKZ), also referred to as The Great Inscription of Shapur I, and ''Res Gestae Divi Saporis'' (RGDS), is a trilingual inscription made during the reign of the Sasanian king S ...
.


History

Spahan became a part of the Sasanian Empire in 224, after
Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new ...
(r. r. 224–242) seized its capital and killed its ruler,
Shadh-Shapur Shadh-Shapur was an Iranian king who ruled Spahan and its surroundings as a vassal of the Parthian Empire in the early 3rd-century. In 224, the Sasanian king Ardashir I Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , ...
. During the reign of Ardashir's son and successor
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
(r. 240-270), a certain Varzin was appointed as the governor of the province. In 642, the
battle of Spahan The Battle of SpahanParvaneh Pourshariati, ''The Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire'', 247. was fought between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sasanian Empire in 642. The Arabs were victorious during the battle, where they reportedly killed ...
took place, where it was fought between the Rashidun Arabs and the Sasanians. The Arabs were victorious during the battle, where they reportedly killed the prominent Mihran commander
Shahrvaraz Jadhuyih Shahrvaraz Jadhuyih ( fa, شهربراز جادویه) was a Sasanian military officer from the Mihran family. He was related to Shahrbaraz, the Sasanian ''spahbed'' and briefly ''shahanshah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that w ...
. After the battle, the Arabs made peace with Fadhusfan, the governor of the city. According to an Arab historian, many civilians were killed or enslaved after the battle.''ISFAHAN vi. MEDIEVAL PERIOD'', Hossein Kamaly, Encyclopaedia Iranica
/ref>


References


Sources

* * * * {{Sasanian Provinces Provinces of the Sasanian Empire 224 establishments States and territories established in the 220s