The Persian Story of Shīr Farrokhzādān and the Forced Migration of Arabs from Misikhē (al-Anbār) under Sasanid King Shapur I (240–271)

Abstract

The Muˁdjam al-buldān (Reference-Book on Countries and Settlements), a mediaeval geographical encyclopaedia by Yāḳūt (1178–1129), contains a story in which Sasanid king Shapur ‘Piercer of the Shoulders’ moved Arabs from the region of al-Anbār (near present-day al-Fallujah), built there the town of Pērōz-Shāhpūhr (Peroz-Shapur) and appointed a certain Shīr Farrokhzādān as its governor. There are grounds to believe that the story in question was a part of a family history which descendants of Shīr Farrokhzādān kept through centuries, including in Islamic times. Yāḳūt quotes the story on the authority of Abū-l-Faḍl al-Ṣūlī who wrote at the end on the 9th or in the first half of the 10th century and was, by the criteria of mediaeval Islamic literature, a fairly early writer. The fact that story goes back to Sasanid times and is related by a relatively early writer seems to indicate its general reliability in the presentation of the events. However, the story also shows that it was re-worked in the Arabic cultural milieu. Shapur I, who actually built Misikhē (Pērōz-Shāhpūhr), is replaced by King Shapur II ‘Piercer of the Shoulders’ (307/8–379/80), probably because the latter, known by his fierce struggle against Arabic tribes, seemed to Arab story-tellers to be the one who would cause the forced migration in question rather than anyone else.

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