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The
Medes
Ancient Media consisted of Azarbaijan (Atropatene), Kordestan, the region
around Hamedan, the areas of lake Hoz-e Soltan and the Salt Lake (Daryacha
- ye Namak), the regions of the Qara - su and Qomrud Rivers, the northern
part of the Kavir Plain, Isfahan (Paraitekene), Kermanshah and Lorestan.
The vassal countries of the Median Empire included Pars, Armenia, a part
of Assyria (Harran and northern Mesopotamia), Ilam, Drangiana (Sistan,
Kerman, part of Makran and western Afghanistan as far as Qandahar),
Parthia, Hyrkania ( Gorgan), Areia, possibly Khwarazm and probably Soghd.
In the year 647 - 3 B.C. the Medes, the Cimmerians and the Mannaeans
revolted against Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria, under the leadership of
Kashtaritu (Khshathrita). It is probable that Kashtaritu is the same
person whom Herodotus calls Phraortes, the son of Deioces (Dayukku).
Kashtaritu ruled the year 652 B.C. From 652 until 625 the Medes were ruled
by the Scythians or Sakas. In 615 the tribes of Media united under
the leadership of Cyxares (Huvakhshathra), attacked the Assyrian Empire
and entered Kerkuk (Arrapkha). In the year 612 B.C. the Medes together
with the Babylonians occupied Nineveh, and with the occupation of Hrran in
610 B.C. the Assyrian Empire fell. Cyxares then occupied the western part
of Asia Minor, and Media came to possess a common border with Lydia. The
ensuing war between these two powers continued several years until the
occurrence of a solar eclipse in 585 B.C., which caused the two sides to
cease fighting. A peace was concluded through the mediation of the kings
of Babylonia and Cilicia according to which the Halys Rivers was
determined as the border between Media and Lydia. After Cyxares his son
Astyges (Arshtivaiga;
553 - 550 B.C.) becames king. Cyrus II, the Achaemenid, revolted against
him and in 550 captured Ecbatana, thus bringing the Median Empire to an
end.
The Achaemenids (559 - 330 B.C.)
The Achaemenid Empire included the following regions: Pars of Parsa, which
probably included Kerman (Carmania or Karmana); Media; Lydia of Sardis (Sparda);
Cappadocia (Katpatuka); Ionia (Yavna); the land of
<<the Scythians from the other side of the sea>> (Saka
paradarya), located on the northern plains of the Black Sea; There (Skudra);
the land of <<the Ionians wearing the Petasos cap>> (Yavna
takabara), which was probably the region of Phrygia near the Dardanelles
(the Hellespont); Caria (Karka); Armenia as far as the Black Sea; the
lands of the Kushaya (Abyssinia); Lybia (Putaya); Egypt (Mudraya); Arabia
(Arabaya); Babylonia (Babaitush); <<the Assyria on the other side of
the river (the Euphrates)>>, which included Syria, Phoenicia,
Palestine and Cyprus; the lands of the Saka homavrga (Amorges); the Indus
valley (Hindush); the lands of <<the Sakas with the pointed hats (or
helmets)>> (Tigrakhoda or Orthokoybantioi); Qandahar (Gandhara or
Parvparaesenna: << the land on that side of the mountain>>);
Sattagydia (Thatagush); Makran; Arachosia (Harahuvatish: the valley of the
Helmand River as far as Qandahar): Drangyana (Zaranka);
Choresmia (Khvarazmish); Sogdiana; Bactria (Bakhtrish), which also
included the area of Marv (Margu); Haraiva; Parthava; Hyrkania; the areas
bordering on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea; and Ilam
(Huvaza or Huza = Khuzestan). Cyrus II the Achaemenid revolted against
Astyges (Arshtivaiga) in 553 B.C. and in 550 B.C. took him prisoner. In
547 Cyrus occupied Sardis and captured Croesus, the King of Lydia, and
then proceeded to occupy the other parts of Asia Minor. In 539 - 8 B.C. he
conquered Babylonia and gave permission to the Jews to return to
Palestine, their homeland. Then he turned to the conquest of the northern
and eastern regions of Iran, and in 530 - 29 B.C. in a war with tribes to
the east or northeast he was killed. In 525 Cambyses II conquered Egypt.
In 519 B.C. Darius attacked the lands of the Sakas to the east and in 513
those of the European Sakas. In the year 331 B.C. Darius III was
decisively defeated by Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela,
from whence he fled to Bactria. In 330 he was killed by Bessus, and thus
the Achaemenid Empire was brought to an end.
The Seleucids (312 - 6 B.C.)
The Seleucid Empire at the time of its founder, Seleucus Nicator, included
the greater part of both the Achaemenid Empire and the territories of
Alexander. Seleucus ruled over all of Iran. Babylonia, Assyria, Syria,
Phoenicia, Palestine, Asia Minor (with the exception of Armenia, Pontus,
Paphlagnia and Bithynia) and Alexander's European territories. Atropatene
(Azarbaijan) was independent, and Chandragopta, the King of India, had
founded a kingdom to the east of the Indus River, the capital of which was
Pataliputra (Patna). The different nationalities possessing a variety of
cultures and traditions within this extensive Seleucid Empire made the
continuation of its existence more difficult. For this reason the
Seleucids continued Alexander's policy of Hellenizing the conquered
territoties. Greek and Macedonian immigrants were settled in many of the
cities of Iran, which were then given Greek names. Thus the city of Rhgae
(Rey), for example, was called Europus, today's Nahavand was called
Laodicea (the Arabic Ladhiqiyya), and Haraiara (Harat) was called
Alexandria. Sometimes new cities were also built. These steps, however,
did not produce the desired result and in the third century B.C. the
Seleucid Empire was attacked from both within and without. In the year 255
B.C. Bactria achieved independence under the leadership of Diodotus, from
the years 250 to 248 - 7 B.C. the province of Parthia gained its
independence, and at the same time to the west the Seleucids lost the
province of Cappadocia. Some of these lost territories were recaptured by
Antiochus III; but he was forced to recognize officially the independence
of Pergamum, Bactria and Parthia. As a result of the Treaty of Apamea in
188 B.C. all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains was lost by the
Seleucids. In the year 145 B.C. Ptolemy VI captured Lebanon and Palestine
from them and in 140 B.C. the Parthians occupied Babylonia and southern
Mesopotamia. The last Seleucid kings ruled only in Syria and a part of
Mesopotamia. The city of Seleucia on the Tigris River, founded in the year
312 B.C. by seleuces I, was for a time the capital was Antioch, located on
the Orontes River.
Source:
Historical Atlas of Iran, University of Tehran,
Institute of Geography
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