PARTHIAN KINGDOM –STATE OF IRANIANS-ZOROASTRIANS IN IRAN AND CENTRAL ASIA

This article is about the Parthian migrations and wars. The ancestors of the Parthians were the Dakh tribes, who came from the Southern Urals. They were an eastern Iranian nomadic people. The aridization of the steppe climate forced the roofs to shift from the Southern Urals to the region of Khorezm and the border with the Achaemenid Empire. The Daha were subjects and allies of the Achaemenids. During Alexander the Great's campaign to Iran and Central Asia, the dachas were allies of Darius III and Spitamenes. The Daha acted as opponents of the Seleucid state and raided Hyrcania and the Parthians. The first Arshakids were bearers of steppe traditions in the administration of Iranian provinces. The first ruler of Parthia was the satrap Andragoras, who was of Hellenistic origin. The young men who came to Parthia and Hyrcania did not practice Zoroastrianism. They had to suffer defeats as a result of the eastern campaigns of Seleucus II Callinicus and Antiochus III. During these invasions of the Seleucid troops, the dachas had to fall into the possession of the Apasiaks, with whom they had an alliance. The Parthians became vassals of Antiochus III and took part in the Third Syrian War against the Ptolemies. Parthien was home to a Seleucid satrap and a Seleucid mint. The last great threat to the Parthian state was the campaign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The first Arshakid rulers did not have the title of king and minted coins of lesser value than the Seleucids. The defeat of Antiochus IV Eppianus in the war with the Medes and the Elmeians led to the fact that the power of the Seleucids weakened. It was Mithridates I who was the first Parthian king. From the time of Mithridates I until the end of the reign of the Arshakid dynasty, the ruling kings of kings called themselves Philellins. However, Parthia was superficially Hellenized. Greek epithets were used only by the monarchs themselves on coins. We can talk about some Hellenization of the dynasty in the 1st century BC – 1st century AD. The Parthian kings knew Greek Koine and read Greek literary works. Features of Greek culture disappear in the 2nd century AD. The Parthians themselves were not barbarians and had their own developed culture. Unfortunately, works in the Parthian language were created only at the end of the existence of the Parthian kingdom. At the beginning of the existence of the Parthian state, the Parthians used the Greek Koine in coinage, and the Aramaic script for the Pahlavi and Parthian languages. Aramaic was the official language of Mesopotamia. The Parthians were religiously tolerant and allowed Margians, Hellenes, Arabs and Arameans to worship their gods. In Mesopotamia, Greeks were assimilated by the local Aramaic-speaking population in the 2nd century BC – 1st century AD. The Parthian kingdom cannot be called a Hellenistic state. The state status of the Greek Koine did not affect the appearance and habits of the Parthian population. The ruling classes of the Parthian state remembered their nomadic origins. The Parthians renewed Zoroastrianism, giving it a new impetus. Phraates I conquered the lands of the Mardis. Phraates I and Mithridates I reached an understanding with the Iranian settled population. Parny adopted Zoroastrianism and inherited the imperial ideology. In 161 BC, Parthiena officially passed to Mithridates I and he proclaimed himself king. In 155, the Parthians occupied Media, and a little later they defeated the Seleucid king Demetrius II Nicator. Mithridates I died repelling the invasion of the Sakas from the east. Phraates II inflicted the final defeat on the Seleucids in 130 BC after defeating the army of Antiochus VII Sidets. However, in the east he was defeated by the Sakas and died fighting them. In the 20- ies of the 2nd century BC the Parthians established final control over Mesopotamia and this was the time of the building of the Parthian empire. During the reign of Mithridates II, contact was established with the Han Empire in the east. In the west, ties were established with the Roman Empire. Mithridates II claimed the Seleucid inheritance and wanted to conquer Syria. He was the suzerain of the Armenian kings. The death of Mithridates II led to a series of strife in Parthia, which enabled the Armenian king Tigranes II to establish his suzerainty over Corduena, Adiabena and Atropatena, and took the region of 70 valleys from the Parthians. Armenians also captured Seleucid Syria and Phoenicia. The strengthening of the Armenians led to their conflict with the Romans and as a result Tigranes II lost his conquests in Syria. In the fight against the Romans, the Armenians asked the Parthians for help, but they preferred neutrality. Phraates III fought against the Armenians, and even after Tigran II Great Armenia was not the hegemon of the region. In the 50-ies of 1st century B.C. in Syria and Mesopotamia, the interests of the Romans and Parthians clashed. The first significant Roman-Parthian conflict was the campaign of Marcus Licinius Crassus in Mesopotamia in 53 BC. The Romans underestimated their opponent and were defeated in the Battle of Carrhae. Despite this brilliant victory, the Parthians were unable to expand their influence on Syria and Cilicia due to the presence of Roman troops there. Gaius Julius Caesar had a war plan against the Parthians, but this was prevented by the civil war in the Roman Republic. In the 30-ies of 1st century BC the war with the Parthian kingdom was carried out by Mark Antony, but without much success. He himself had to retreat from Atropatena and Armenia. Under Phraates IV, the Parthians reached the peak of their power and interfered in the affairs of the Judean kingdom. However, after Octavian Augustus came to power in the Roman Republic and transformed the republic into an empire, the Romans already interfered in Armenian and Parthian affairs. During the reign of kings Artabanus III, Gothars II and Vologes I, internal strife continued in the Parthian state and the Romans supported their claimants to the Parthian throne and put their proteges to rule Armenia, which the Parthians considered their sphere of influence. Only the Randey Treaty of 63 AD secured the Armenian throne for the Parthian prince Tiridates, but he ruled Armenia as a vassal of the Romans. Vologes I adhered to the agreement with the Romans, and this was further facilitated by the invasion of the lands of the Parthian vassals by Alan troops. During another conflict in the Parthian kingdom, Marcus Ulpius Trajan in the 10-ies of the 2nd century AD made a series of invasions of Parthia and its vassals and reached the Persian Gulf. However, the successes of the Romans were temporary and they were forced to retreat. The Romans also managed to achieve some success in campaigns against the Parthians under the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus and Caracalla. The Romans managed to capture the capital of Parthia, the city of Ctesiphon, several times. They did not manage to penetrate as far into the Parthian kingdom as Marcus Ulpius Trajan. The Parthians managed to inflict a significant defeat on the Romans in the Battle of Nizibis. However, the confrontation with the Roman Empire greatly exhausted the Parthian kingdom. Already in the 10-ies of the 3rd century AD the power of the Parthian king weakened significantly and individual rulers of Media and Persia could allow themselves to be lords in their possessions. The Parthian kingdom collapsed in the 20-ies of the 3rd AD century after the defeat of Artaban IV by the Persian king Ardashir I Papakan from the Sassanid family. The Parthians learned from the Greeks elements of Greek culture such as koine and Greek theatrical productions. Iranian religious beliefs spread. In Margiana, there was a cult of the Margiana goddess. Zoroastrianism was revived under the Parthians. There were fire temples in important Parthian cities.Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion in Parthia. Buddhism spread among the Parthian population of Margiana. The most revered gods were Ahura Mazda, Ardvisura Anahita, Mitra. The Hellenistic influence was reflected in the images of Nika and the cult of the royal dynasty, the cult of the Kabirs-Dioscuri. Local and Syrian gods were revered in Mesopotamia. The Parthian conquest led to the assimilation of the Greek colonists of this region by the local Semitic population. Iranian cultural traditions were manifested in the culture of Elimaida and Khatra. On the territory of Mesopotamia, the agents of Western cultural influence were Palmyra colonists. Nanaya was a continuation of the Mesopotamian cult of the goddess Ishtar.The architectural appearance of cities and buildings of Parthian cities and fortresses had a syncretic appearance. Achaemenid, local Central Asian and Hellenistic features were present. Parthia played the role of an intermediary in the trade between the Roman Empire and India with China.