Traces of Bahrām Čubin in Greek, Armenian, Arabic and Persian historiographical sources
26 Apr 2016-Vol. 4, pp 13-23
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined four historical sources originally written in Greek, Armenian, Arabic and Persian regarding Bahrām Cubin and gave light on their respective styles, tendencies and religious and historical affiliations.
Abstract: In this article I will examine four historiographical sources originally written in Greek, Armenian, Arabic and Persian regarding Bahrām Cubin. Given that the sources represent four distinct historiographical traditions they will give light on their respective styles, tendencies and religious and historical affiliations.
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20 May 2020
50 citations
11 citations
TL;DR: The correspondence of March 590, from the Iranian shah Khosrow II Parviz (r. 591-628) and addressed to the Byzantine emperor Maurice as discussed by the authors , exhibits a particular style, focused on the ideological oppositions of order and disorder and legitimacy and usurpation.
Abstract:
The Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta (fl. 620s) records an exchange of letters with the Sasanian Empire. The correspondence of March 590, from the Iranian shah Khosrow II Parviz (r. 591–628) and addressed to the Byzantine emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), exhibits a particular style, focused on the ideological oppositions of order and disorder and legitimacy and usurpation. This paper suggests that Khosrow’s claims to his kingdom made use of a discourse of catastrophic motifs that reflected common Sasanian apocalyptic beliefs. Thus, the chaotic situation provoked by the inversion of the rightful order elicited, from a Zoroastrian perspective, a response that stressed the dualistic nuance of demonic anarchy in order to stigmatize the risk of deposition. For these reasons, apocalyptic doctrines and royal propaganda share a common language: a political discourse based on the justification of kingship and the demonization of the enemy.
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131 citations
Book•
15 Apr 2008
TL;DR: Pourshariati as mentioned in this paper proposes a convincing contemporary answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam.
Abstract: "Decline and Fall of the Sasanians" has already been praised as one of the most intellectually exciting books about ancient Persia to have been published for years. It proposes a convincing contemporary answer to an ages-old mystery and conundrum: why, in the seventh century CE, did the seemingly powerful and secure Sasanian empire of Persia succumb so quickly and disastrously to the all-conquering Arab armies of Islam? Offering an impressive appraisal of the Sasanians' nemesis at the hands of the Arab forces which scythed all before them, the author suggests a bold solution to the enigma. On the face of it, the collapse of the Sasanians - given their strength and imperial power in the earlier part of the century - looks startling and inexplicable. But Professor Pourshariati explains their fall in terms of an earlier corrosion and decline, and as a result of their own internal weaknesses. The decentralised dynastic system of the Sasanian empire, whose backbone was a Sasanian-Parthian alliance, contained the seeds of its own destruction. This confederacy soon became unstable, and its degeneration sealed the fate of a doomed dynasty.
84 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: In this article, the authors of the 1999 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize in Middle Eastern Studies presented a ground-breaking work on a subject that has been almost totally neglected.
Abstract: Winner of the 1999 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize in Middle Eastern Studies Described by the BKFS reviewer as "A ground-breaking work on a subject that has been almost totally neglected" "Why write history in Persian?" Persian historical writing has received little attention as compared with Arabic, especially as seen in the early (pre-Mongol) period Within the larger context of the development of Islamic historiography from the tenth through the twelfth centuries, the case of Persian historical writing demands special attention Discussions tend to concentrate on its sources in pre-Islamic Persian and in Arabic works, while the reasons for its emergence, its connections with Iranian and Arabic models, its political and cultural functions, and its reception, have been virtually ignored This study answers these questions and addresses issues relating to the motivation for writing the works in question; its purpose; the role of the author, patrons and audiences; the choice of language and the reasons for that choice; the place of historical writing in the broader debate over the suitability of Persian for scholarly writing
79 citations
20 May 2020
50 citations