شاهنشاهی ساسانی

by Touraj Daryaee, مرتضی ثاقب‌فر (Translator)

این اثر ترجمه فارسی کتابی است که برای مخاطبان انگلیسی‌زبان نوشته شده است. فکر نوشتن این کتاب از هنگامی که نگارنده آن – دکتر تورج دریایی – دانشجوی دوره دکترا در دانشگاه کالیفرنیا – لوس‌آنجلس بوده است، شکل می‌گیرد. هنگامی که بدانیم صدها کتاب در باره تاریخ روم باستان نوشته شده ولی یک کتاب به زبان انگلیسی در باره تاریخ و تمدن ساسانی وجود نداشت و این انگیزه‌ای شد برای نگارش کتاب شاهنشاهی ساسانی. نویسنده کتاب بر این اعتقاد است که برای درک تاریخ یک قوم باید آن را در تمامیت و جامعیتش درک کرد: تاریخ، زبان، دین، جامعه و غیره. از این‌رو کتاب شاهنشاهی ساسانی رویکردی کلی به تمدن ساسانی دارد.

Genres: History, Iran, Nonfiction, Middle East, Ancient History, Politics, Ancient

246 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2007

About the author

Touraj Daryaee holds the Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies and Culture and is the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Reviews

[فؤاد · Rating 3 out of 5]

قبلاً توی کتاب پروانه پورشریعتی خونده بودم طوایف پارت بودن که کنترل بخش بزرگی از ایران رو در دست داشتن، و فروپاشی ساسانی‌ها ناشی از به هم خوردن اتحاد پارس‌ها با این طوایف پارت بود. قباد و انوشیروان سعی کردن با اصلاحات سیاسی قدرت این طوایف رو کم کنن و در عوض «سیستمی» دولتی برای مدیریت کشور برپا کنن. اما این اصلاحات شکست خورد و نتیجه‌ش شد این که پارت‌های ناراضی با فاتحان عرب علیه ساسانی‌ها هم‌پیمان شدن و بعد از فتوحات اسلامی بر مناطق تحت تسلط خودشون ابقا شدن. همین عامل پیروزی سریع عرب‌ها بود.

این کتاب اما دیدگاه دیگه‌ای داشت. به نظر این کتاب اتفاقاً اصلاحات قباد و انوشیروان موفقیت‌آمیز بود. قدرت از دست اشراف (که این کتاب اشاره‌ای به پارتی یا غیرپارتی بودنشون نداره) دراومد و به «سیستم» منتقل شد که از دهقان‌ها تشکیل می‌شد، یعنی طبقهٔ متوسط، زمینداران کوچک. نویسنده می‌گه این سیستم به قدری کارآمد بود که برای مدیریت کشور به حضور شاه نیازی نداشت و در دوران‌های فاجعه که مدعیان سلطنت با هم می‌جنگیدن یا اصلاً شاهی بر سر کار نبود، امورات کشور به خوبی می‌گذشت. عرب‌ها چون به کارآمدی این سیستم پی بردن، بعد از فتوحات همین رو به کار گرفتن. دهقان‌ها به این ترتیب شدن وارثان سنت ساسانی، و معروف‌ترین این دهقان‌ها کسی نبود جز فردوسی.

[Aroosha Dehghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

بار اول این کتاب رو خوندم با این دید که بتونم پاسخ پرسش‌هام رو پیدا کنم.
این بار خوندم تا بتونم پرسش‌های تازه‌ای پیدا کنم.
حالا فکر می‌کنم یکی از ویژگی‌های منحصر به فرد این کتاب (و بسیاری از نوشته‌های تورج دریایی) همینه که در کنار پاسخ دادن به پرسش‌ها می‌تونه مخاطب رو به سوی پرسش‌های جدیدی راهنمایی کنه و وادارش کنه دنبال پاسخ بگرده.
این کتاب ارجاعات بسیار دقیقی داره. ترجمه‌ش هم خوبه. فقط نمی‌دونم چرا ثاقب‌فر ترتیب فصل‌ها رو جابه‌جا کرده.
من ترجمه‌ی فرزان روز رو هم خوندم. اون رو بیشتر می‌پسندم اما در گودریدز نبود که بتونم ثبتش کنم. در هر حالت، هر دو ترجمه قابل قبوله.
دانش تاریخیتون در هر پله‌ای که باشه، این کتاب براتون مفید خواهد بود.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب در بخش های مجزا جنبه های مختلف شاهنشاهی ساسانی را مورد بررسی قرار داده است جنبه هایی مثل تاریخ سیاسی، دین، اقتصاد، اجتماع، سازمان اداری و زبان.
برای من که مفید بود و یاد گرفتم. فصلهای اول کتاب خیلی روانتر بود چون در مورد به تخت نشینی شاه ها، جنگها، خلاصه وضع کشور و کشورگشاییها بحث شده بود. هر چه جلوتر میرفتی و جنبه های دیگر بررسی میشد جذابیت متن کمتر می‌شد و خواندنش روان پیش نمیرفت شاید دلیلش این بود که حجم زیادی از اطلاعات تاریخی با ارجاع های متعدد در حجم کم گنجانده شده بود یا اینکه به عنوان مثال تفاوت وظیفه موبد با مغ در جامعه ساسانی نسبت به چگونگی به تخت نشینی بهرام گور برای من جذابیت کمتری دارد؟
خلاصه برای فهم و درک حداقلیِ این دوره از تاریخ و شروع مطالعه در این زمینه کتاب عالی ای است.

[Fadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before people decide to read this book, they need to understand a few things regarding Sasanian studies and the historiography of Iranian history. The overwhleming majority of the available literature is based on the writings of ancient and modern Roman historians and their persepective while the internal works are in dead languages such as Avestan, a dialect closely related to Vedic Sanskrit, Middle Persian and Syriac Aramaic, or translated into modern, foreign languages such as Persian and Arabic. Daryaee's goal here is to provide an overview of the Sasanian monarchy and the administration of the empire, not an extensive encyclopedia on Iran and An-Iran (Iranian and barbarian lands). After all, that's what Encyclopedia Iranica is for.

The title is a bit of a misnomer due to the fact that he doesn't offer comprehensive coverage of the actual rise and fall of the House of Sasan. Daryaee informs us of who was in power during the rise and fall and the circumstances at the time and touches on it a few times throughout the book. The division of the book into five chapters contains overlapping themes and information at times, demonstrating the strength of the shahs, the influence of the clerical class and the social castes. Interestingly, he raises the point of the rulers claiming to be divine and descendants of the deities from the foundations epics. This trend seems to have entered Iranian political ideology with the conquests of Alexander and the Hellenic notion of divine kingship. Certainly, Shapur I provided proof of his dynasties claims with his superhuman feats, no one else in human history could brag about having killed a Roman emperor, making one tributary and imprisoning a third. These feats are gloriously depicted on rock reliefs around the empire to leave no doubts about the power of these god-kings. Neither is the notion of glory a natural product, the rulers invoked that name and image in the cities they built and named in order to reinforce their link to their illustrious Kayanid ancestors and harken back to the sacred Avesta scripture which cites the "glory of the Aryans".

We are reminded of the strength of the Sasanians who became rivals and equals to the Romans as opposed to their Parthian predecessors who failed to prevent the capital, Ctesiphon, from being captured or sacked by the Romans on multiple occasions and even being incorporated as a province briefly under Trajan. Again, this was demonstrated by Shapur who blitzed through the Mesopotamian borderlands, capturing and sacking Antioch and deported the Greek, Roman and Syrian citizens to his purpose built city, Weh-Andiog-Shapur ("Shapur's better Antioch", while Khusro II invaded and captured Egypt, the Levant and Anatolia to avenge his benefactor, Maurice, who'd aided him in retaking the throne. Weh-andiog-Shapur (later to be known as Gundishapur) is noteworthy for the fact that it produced many skilled Christian doctors who would go on to train their Muslim students in Baghdad.

As opposed to Rome, Iran had a greater range of religous diversity which included indigenous Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Judaism and Manichaenism. While the border provinces were influenced to varying degrees by Buddhism, Hinduism and Semitic paganism, Zoroastrianism was the state sanctioned faith and its tool of choice for consolidating their rule, similar to their counterparts in Rome. Christianity underwent periods of persecution due to antagonisation by the Zoroastrian clerics and state suspicion as a result of the Edict of Milan but Manichaenism was destroyed after a short period of support by Shapur I. However, we see this change 410 AD when Yazdgerd I chaired the first council of the autonomous (and soon-to-be independent) patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. This turning point meant that the state chose to cooperate with their subjects and employ them as envoys to the Christian West and reduce sectarian strife. By the 7th century, Khusro II had Christian philosophers such as Paul the Persian in his court and the patriarch Isho-yabh serving as ambassador to the Romans. Despite the Church of the East's position in Iranian society and Daryaee's own emphasis, he makes the basic mistake of labelling it as the "Nestorian Church" or "Christian Persian" and at times, it feels as if he is purposely masking its composition and implying that the prominent Christians were mostly the Roman citizens deported by Shapur and their descendants. For example, in the final chapter on the economy of the empire, he discusses the various guilds and gives the Middle Persian term and its Syriac equivalent before proceeding to mention that certain guild masters were Christians because the Roman deportees were artisans and engineers. Why would he give us the Syriac term for "guild" if the "Nestorians" are deemed irrelevant in this matter? And what does he believe they did throughout the four centuries of Sasanian rule other than being priests, bishops and patriarchs? Disappointingly, Daryaee emphasises the Roman deportee community and their contribution to Iranian society far more than the Church of the East and the indigenous Christians of the empire, whether they were Assyrians, Persians, Arabs or Soghdians.

The insight into Zoroastrian ritual laws, cosmological foundation epics and apocalyptic texts are quite surprising and fascinating to read given that we don't know much beyond the deities Ohrmazd, Anahid and Mihr. Zoroastrian views towards the two genders and their place in society, the environment and life and death is quite different to the Western world as is the caste system comprised of four layers. While priests and warriors dominate it like in the West, farmers outweigh merchants, the latter of which are looked down upon terribly given their contribution to society. Perhaps this was a result of the greater tax levels that farmers contributed and their influence religion had. Cultivating the land was a sacred duty while allowing it to idle was a sin, a belief which means the Christian, Jewish and Manichaen Soghdians embraced commerce similar to how Jews in Europe only engaged in certain trades.

Overall, the book is a great starting point for readers interested in Iranian history and well worth the read. The sources provide further reading and Daryaee has contributed his fair share with more books in this series and articles on Academia.

[Matin Pyron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative yet it's a short read and I'm a little ashamed because The Sasanian empire lasted for almost 400 years so it literally means you cannot summarise this fabulous dynasty which defeated 3 Roman emperors to merely 250 pages!!!
not fair though

[Tahmineh Baradaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

ازنکات کمتر خوانده وشنیده برای من ، دید منفی زرتشتیان نسبت به پیشه وران و کسبه درآن عهد است . وبرعکس دیدمثبت آنها نسبت به آبادکردن زمین و بالطبع کشاورزی و کشاورزان است . پس اقلیتهای مذهبی دوره ساسانی بیشتر به تجارت و پیشه وری می پرداختند و تجاروپیشه وران به ادیان غیرزرتشتی مسیحیت ، یهودیت وبعدها اسلام اقبال داشتند.
تعدد زوجات ، توصیه به ازدواج دختران از نه سالگی و پسران از پانزده سالگی و..بعضی قوانین مشابه اسلام هم جالب بود. زنها هم در دوره ساسانی چندان محترم و برخوردارنبوده اند مگر زنان خاندان پادشاهی و بزرگان .

همزمانی حکومت شاهزادگان ساسانی در بعضی نقاط ایران پهناور با فاتحان عرب هم برایم جالب بود و تساهل ساسانیان نسبت به صنعتگران و هنرمندان مناطق فتح شده .

نکات تاریخی جالب زیادی درکتاب هست که شاید محل اختلاف باشد .

[Kaveh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book written in a very smooth prose.
The book is broken down into different parts which makes its plot super simple and easy to refer back to when needed.
Brief yet comprehensive.
Amazing work

[Sherwin]

It is a classic -maybe too classic book on Sassanid empire. You must read it, but does not make you astonished...

[Saleh Rostami · Rating 5 out of 5]

یک کتاب دقیق و البته مقدمه‌گونه در باره شاهنشاهی ساسانی. کتاب پر از ارجاعات دقیق و منابعی است که بعد خوندن میشه رفت سمتشون.

کتاب کلی سوال در ذهن مخاطب ایجاد میکنه. خوبی دریایی این هست که سعی میکنه تاریخش صرفا تاریخ و داستان شاهان و روابط سیاسی نباشه و به دین، اقتصاد، باورها و فرهنگ دوره ساسانی بپردازه.

[Atena · Rating 4 out of 5]

نمی‌دونم چه حسی به کتابی که مجبور شدم تک تک فصلاش رو امتحان بدم دارم.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book caught my eye while wandering around my local university library. What interested me is that there are relatively few English language discussions of Sassanid Persia and, despite my interest in Byzantine history, I can't say that I'm very well-versed in Sassanian history. Part of the reason for that, of course, is that our knowledge of Sasanian history is incomplete at best and that, as the author of this book points out, the special studies needed to write Sasanian history are neither common nor easy to acquire.

This book provides a good introduction to Sasanian studies by providing a good historical sketch from the earliest Sasanian king to the last as well as good introductory discussion of religion, language, social structures and economics for this period. The discussion is informative and useful, especially for the non-specialist such as myself. The difficulties with the sources makes this discussion feel incomplete, but that is likely because of the large number of gaps in our knowledge, rather than, necessarily, the fault of the author.

Understandible, the author has an awkward relationship with Byzantines sources for Persia, given the tendency of many scholars to privilege this evidence both because the Byzantines are rather closer culturally to Western scholars and because these Byzantine materials are more accessible than the Persian ones to most scholars. There is value in letting the Persian evidence speak for itself, but, sometimes, the result feels like it could use another perspective. Furthermore, there is a slight anti-Christian undertone to the discussion which can be distracting.

On the whole, this is a useful book and worth reading. The style is readable, but, occasionally, some scholarly indignation can distract the reader from the material.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sasanian Empire (now modern Iran and many other nearby areas) has been on my list for quite some time. I have read about the Persian empire in roundabout ways, mostly associated with other readings on the Roman or Byzantine Empire. Not enough to really get a firm understanding of this area, its people, or its time.

I enjoyed this book because it was a new beginning for me. The problem was that it really caught me off guard with the Persian names and words. The book covers Sasanian history, economy, religion, and its people who made up its empire. Many religions and terms were quite new to me and required a some looking up. I did like the discussion on Zoroastrianism since this was the first text that spent a large quantity of its material on.

I should have started with an earlier text, say one that ends with the Macedonian rule to the start of this book. I think this is a good point for me to get started though.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daryaee's attention to detail provides nuggets of evidence on the nature of Sasanian culture, with both the great and the disturbing presented impartially. He shows, for example, that for Sasanian patriarchs, biology was obviously destiny, especially for women. Death rates were high, reproduction was essential, and most Sasanian-era women lived under an “obligation of successorship.” Their primary duty was providing successors for their families, and girls who refused to get married or bear children could be killed for treason. To maximize the chances for progeny, the preferred age of marriage for a girl was nine. If her husband proved impotent, she was expected to have sex with a relative to provide an heir. If the wife died without producing a son, that duty could fall to a daughter (pages 60, 62).

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Well written and very clear and well documented. Map provided chronology of Sasanian Emperors listed. Very enlightening. It was everything I expected and more.
The author breaks each chapter into areas of study i.e. political/society/religious/language,texts and economy, administration. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this particular field of study. Very enjoyable read.

[A.J. McMahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an historical resource, this book is pretty good, but it is such a dry academic read that I can only give it three stars. It doesn't seem to have too much competition out there, though, so the reader who is interested in this period of history has few options. This book is pretty good as far as it goes: it is very well researched, a scholarly work of impeccable thoroughness, and it rises to become interesting in parts.

[Vahid · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great work of history with fascinating facts and information on an understudied period. Unfortunately, it fails to present the information in an engaging way making it very difficult to read. The lack of a story line made it a rather dry read.

[Michal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and diverse! Could use some graphics and a bit more info on architecture.

[Armin Hashemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتابی بسیار خوب و جدید درباره ساسانیان است که با دیدی بی طرفانه و غیر مارکسیستی نوشته شده.

[Gabriel Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, slightly weak

This book fills an important gap in western historiography. There is far too little written about the Sasanian Empire, and what original sources there are,are usually written by their enemies. Yet this was a fascinating realm and the King of Kings was the only person that the Roman Emperor would regard as an equal. This is a thorough and learned overview of different aspects of the Sasanian Empire and its history, people's, religion and culture. So why only three stars? Because occasionally the book is confusing and is not clear what King did what, with reforms attributed to different Kings. There are occasional spelling errors, which grate and which should have been picked up. And the language occasionally reads very strangely, as if through a bad translation or (what is likely the case) as if the author is not quite doesn't in English but did not pass the manuscript through an editor. Still, I liked it and recommend it.

[Martina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Been reading this since last year (but not updated this on GR) the very worst scientific read I ever read. Chaotic, unstructured, full-absolutely packed-with transcribed terms that are either explained all the 400 times it occurred in the book (sharestan, Azadan) or not at all. The transcribation is not consequent… a very horrible read, why did no one edit this?! Because of it’s messy nature it took me this long to finish it and forgot half of what it mentioned, while I need a lot of this info for a historical story I am working on….

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daryaee seeks to present the history of the Sassanian Empire as more than just a static antagonist of Rome. He focuses on the diversity of people, languages, religions, economic activities and military opponents. He similarly tracks the regional diversity within such a large empire and the role it played in influencing/being influenced by the Hellenic traditions to its west, the Semitic ones to its south and the Buddhist/Hindu ones to its east. All in all, a great introduction to the empire’s history, if occasionally bogged down in terminology.

[Siddharth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to really get into it.

I even had to start a pot of notes. But once I did, it turned into a deep and somewhat rewarding dive into Sasanian history. This isn't your typical rise-and-fall narrative. Instead, it tells about the inner workings of the empire: its administration, religious dynamics, languages, and cultural foundations. A detailed and immersive read for anyone curious about the machinery behind one of antiquity's great empires.

[Waqar Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is very little literature on the Sassanian Empire especially in English language. This is the first of its kind book on the Sassanid empire and I have to applaud the author Touraj Daryaee for bringing forward this remarkable work.

[Robert Kenyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solis basic survey of Sassanid history.

[Erfun Bakhtiari Azad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief yet detailed summary of a long lost Empire.

[Arian Beic-Khorasani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty solid study of Sassanian iran and defo a good book that goes over it in detail. Still I wish there was a bit more on the sassanians the book feels slightly brief

[محمد مهدی یان · Rating 4 out of 5]

بعد از مدت ها، لذت زمین نگذاشتن کتاب رو با این کتاب تجربه کردم!

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Fantastic history book about an incredibly fascinating period of Iranian history. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Iran.