Dmitriy E. Mishin

The article studies Zoroastrian Arabs in pre-Islamic Arabia and their place in the region’s religious history.

The article reconsiders the date of the Battle of Dhū Ḳār. Based on new evidence, it places the Arab victory over Khusraw II’s forces in the summer of 602 and refines the chronology of the Sasanian governors of al-Hira.

The article reconstructs the history of Banū Tamīm from the third to the first half of the sixth century and its relations with the Sasanian state, Lakhmids and Kindites.

This article deals with an episode of the early mediaeval empires’ struggle for domination over Arabia, namely, an attempt of direct intervention which the Sasanids undertook in the middle of the 6th century with the help of Abū-l-Ǧabr, a prince from the South Arabic (Qaḥṭānite) tribal confederation, who had fled to them. Abū-l-Ǧabr’s initiative arose out of an internal struggle which broke among the Kindites after those of them who had advanced to the North-East of Arabia in the process of the conquests of the 5th and early 6th centuries were defeated by Sasanids and Laḫmids and retreated to Hadramawt. This period of the Kindites’ history is insufficiently explored, especially as compared to earlier times. This article presents an attempt to reconstruct the course and chronology of those events. For the Sasanids, Abū-l-Ǧabr’s initiative was a chance to set foot in Southern Arabia, especially valuable after the intensification of their struggle with Abraha, the Abissinian ruler of Yemen, in the middle of the 6th century.

The article examines Arab raids on the southern frontiers of the Sasanian Empire at the beginning of Shapur II’s reign.

The article examines possible external causes of Arab raids on the Sasanian Empire’s southern frontier early in Shapur II’s reign.

Hawdha Ibn ‘Alī al-Ḥanafī, chieftain of the Arabic tribe of Banū Ḥanīfa, is a notorious person in the history of Arabia of the late 6th and the early 7th cent. This article is an attempt to re-construct his political biography. It can be traced fr om the late 6th century when Hawdha, probably pursuant to an agreement with the Lakhmids, protected Sasanid caravans as they travelled through Yemama wh ere Banū Ḥanīfa dwelt. An important turning point took place when one of those caravans was captured and plundered by Arabs from the Banū Tamīm tribal confederation. Hawdha gave shelter to the caravan men and the guards and then took them to Ctesiphon. Sasanid king Chosroes II (591–628) bestowed Hawdha with a crown and a brocade garment. This probably means that Hawdha was appointed a local king, vassal of the Sasanids. Later on, Hawdha acted on behalf of the Sasanids. He was involved in the massacre of the Banū Tamīm at al-Mushaḳḳar (end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century) and then provided Chosroes II with information on the affairs in Arabia and protected Sasanid caravans. After the dethronement of Chosroes II in February 628 Hawdha began to establish ties with Byzantium, yet that was interrupted by his death in 629 or 630.

This article is an attempt to re-construct the political biography of Iyās Ibn Ḳabīṣa, one of the chieftains of the Arabic tribe of Ṭayyiʾ, who was at the service of the Sasanids in the late 6th and the early 7th centuries. In the mid-6th century Banū Ṭayyiʾ were included into the sphere of influence of the Lakhmids, the rulers of al-Ḥīra and vassals of the Sasanids. Iyās quickly made his way up and in 578/9 was the interim governor of al-Ḥīra while the Sasanid king was busy selecting a new Lakhmid ruler. Later on, Iyās was involved in war against Byzantium at the north-western borders of the Sasanid empire. An important episode of Iyās’ career took place in 591 when Iyās and his fellow tribesmen assisted Sasanid king Chosroes II (591–628) in fleeing from the rebellious general Warahrān Chūbīn. Apparently as a reward Chosroes appointed Iyās his governor of ʿAyn al-Tamr. Iyās, formally inferior to the Lakhmid king in rank, behaved rather independently and even could threaten the latter with an armed clash. Following the dismissal of al-Nuʿmān III, the last Lakhmid king (579–601), Chosroes appointed Iyās governor of al-Ḥīra (602). Iyās was able to consolidate his power, but in the same year lost the battle of dhū Ḳār. Fearing punishment, he misinformed Chosroes about the outcome of the battle and fled. Chosroes dismissed Iyās and discontinued the practice of appointing Arab rulers of al-Ḥīra.

In the 2nd and 3rd century A.D. the rulers of the city of Hatra (Northern Irak) bore the titles of kings of ʿrb, where ʿrb denoted lands between Euphrates and Tigris rather than Arabs. However, Arabs dwelt in those places too and preserved memories of tribes from the Ḳuḍāʿa confederation staying there. The course of Hatra’s history was largely determined by Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211)’ two failed attempts to capture it, in 198 and 199. Considering the Roman threat, the rulers of Hatra applied to Parthian Arsacids for protection. Parthian king Valgash (Vologeses) V (190/91–207) granted the ruler of Hatra his protection. The rulers of Hatra became vassals of the Arsacids and had to assist them, including by military force. Due to that, the ruler of Hatra fought in 225 on the Parthians’ side against the Sasanids, who, in their turn, attempted to capture the city, yet, with no success. After the Arsacids’ downfall, the rulers of Hatra became allies of Rome. Then the Sasanids undertook another campaign against Hatra and finally took it (240). Shapur, son of Ardashir I, the founder of the Sasanid empire, took part in that campaign. Since Shapur was then co-ruler of Ardashir, the capture of Hatra is often described in Oriental sources as an achievement of his reign.

Theophanes the Confessor’s statement that following Constantine the Great’s victory over Licinius (324) Roman troops defeated Persians who had seized Amida is usually considered as actually describing events which took place in mid-330-es. This, however, does not seem supported by the extant evidence. On the contrary, a study of the sources suggests that in 324 Sasanid troops, capitalizing on the struggle between Constantine and Licinius, invaded Mesopotamia and took Amida, but in the spring of the following year Roman forces under the nominal command of Caesar Constantius defeated them. Doubts as to the reliability of Theophanes’ account arise from the fact that the author of the original text erroneously described Narseh, who commanded the Sasanid troops, as a son of the Sasanid king. That Narseh is probably not identifiable with either Narseus of Rufus Festus, or Narseh, brother of Sasanid king Shāhpūhr II (307/8–379/80), mentioned by mediaeval Armenian writers. Reasons which are usually put forward against the reliability of Theophanes’ account do not appear decisive, for Constantius might have obtained the title of Persicus because of his repulse of a Sasanid offensive in 338 and his fortification of Amida was caused by the Persians’ repeated raids and is not necessarily connected to Narseh’s campaign.

This work continues the study initiated in the article “Hatra, Sasanids, and Arabs: Political History”. It focuses on references to the fall of the city of Hatra in Arabic verses and legends. A comparison of those references to the data of antique sources allows to supplement the picture of events. The war which led to the fall of Hatra (240 A.D.) began with an invasion of the region of Shahrazur by Arabs from the Ḳuḍāʿa tribal confederation. Although Muslim writers claim that the king of Hatra subsequently made an attack upon Southern Mesopotamia (Sawād) and captured a woman from the Sasanid family, those assertions appear false. Sasanid king Ardashir I Pabagan (225–240) put the blame for the invasion upon the king of Hatra, from whose possessions the Ḳuḍāʿites had arrived, and moved his troops against that city. After a month (or some more time) of siege, the Sasanian troops took Hatra employing a stratagem. That was reflected in a legendary story of a failed romance between Ardashir’s son Shapur (or a Sasanid general) and the Hatraean princess, who gave the city over to the enemies. As an extraordinary event, the fall of Hatra took root in the historical memory of the inhabitants of the Euphrates region and is mentioned by poets related to those places.

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.

This article is a continuation of the study initiated in the article ‘The Persian Story of Shīr Farrokhzādān and the Forced Migration of the Arabs from Misikhē (al-Anbār) under Sasanid King Shapur I (240–271)’. A close examination of the story of Shīr Farrokhzādān within the historical context allows to make the following observations and conclusions. The migration of the Arabs from the region of Misikhē was the result of their struggle against the Sasanids, who won and built a fortress at Misikhē. King Shapur I considered those Arabs to be dangerous, and so, he parted them and settled them in different places under the power of his governors or, perhaps, Arabic ruler Djadhīma who is described in some sources as a vassal of the Sasanids. Those events took place before the enthronement of Shapur I, during the Sasanids’ initial expansion in the Euphrates region (225 to 240). The Sasanids’ strategic aim appears to have initially consisted in ensuring the security of their new capital, Wēh-Ardashīr, against attacks of hostile Arabic tribes rather than in establishing a barrier on the Romans’ way. However, after firmly setting foot in the Euphrates region the Sasanids used the way up the Euphrates’ course, to attack Roman possessions, in particular in campaigns involving the taking of Dura-Europos (239) and Antioch (241).

This work is a historical analysis of the references to Sasanids and Arabs in Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius’ 14th poem, a panegyric to Constantine the Great, composed in the mid-320-es. The mention of the Parthian putting aside his arrows is a reference to the end of the war against Sasanid king Shāhpūhr II, waged in 324–325. The same war seems to be behind Optatianus’ words on the Mede rushing to a ‘love contest’ by which exchange of gifts, a standard diplomatic practice and a sui generis competition in courtesy, is probably meant. So, Optatianus appears to mean that the Sasanid king began negotiations and sent an embassy with gifts. The statement that Persians wish to recognize Constantine as their sovereign and give him their royal power and possessions is ambiguous. Optatianus may refer to Hurmuzd, a Sasanid prince who fled to the Romans and became a general at their service. Alternatively, Optatianus may reproduce the then existing belief that following the war of 324–25 king Shāhpūhr became a tributary of Rome. A reference to Arabs seems to be connected to the Roman rulers’ policy to attract Arabic tribes of border regions, especially those on the Euphrates, and use those tribes in their struggle against the Sasanids.