Political role in Persian Dynasties

Political role in Persian Dynasties

 

 

The Achaemenian era truly began with the successful rebellion in 558 BC by Cyrus the Great against his father-in-law Astyages, the ruler of the Medians. Under the Achaemenians, Zoroatrianism joined forces with the secular world of the Persian empire. The inscriptions left by the Achaemenians show a religion that through diffusion, adaptation and priestly elaborations developed syncretisticlly i.e. through the combination or reconciliation of differing religious beliefs or practices. The old traditions were creeping back into the religion and due to contact with other religious worlds that were alien to the Iranian traditions (the civilizations of Elam and Mesopotamia), new features were being incorporated. Although Zoroastrianism was a rebellion against the pre-existent polytheistic religion, some of the old deities from the mythological and naturalist era were readmitted into the practice of the religion.

 

 We can trace the evidence of these later incorporations in the inscriptions left by the Achaemenians. The ancestor of Cyrus, Aryaramnes, referred to Ahura Mazda as God on a tabernacle discovered in Hamadan in 1920. Aryaramnes inscribed thus: "The country which I possess was bestowed upon me by Ahura Mazda. By the grace of Ahura Mazda I am the monarch of this country. I pray that Ahura Mazda may help me." Similar inscriptions by Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great, refer to their allegiance with Ahura Mazda. Darius I has said, "I worshipped Ahura Mazda. I am the King by Grace of Ahura Mazda." 

 Even Xerxes, Darius' son, following his father's beliefs, praises Ahura Mazda and says "where previously Daivas were worshipped. I destroyed Daivas and proclaimed that Daivas shall not be worshipped." During his military exploits Xerxes incorporated part of Egypt into his kingdom and on the western side marched into Greece. This brought in several foreign influences and Zoroastrian theologians had to make compromises to assimilate several non-Zoroastrian divinities. Thus, Artaxerses II broke the tradition of exceptional praise to Ahura Mazda. At Persepolis he inscribed, "by the will of Ahura Mazda, Anahita and Mithra, I built this palace. May Ahura Mazda, Mithra and Anahita protect me from the evil." The cult of Mithra goes back before Zoroaster's time in Iran, but it is disputed whether Zoroaster accepted or denied Mithra. Yet, in contrast to his predecessors Cyrus and Darius, Ataxerxes II incorporated Mithra in the pantheon of deities, a long time after the birth of Zoroaster.[1]

 

 Religion and Kingship are intimate relation in the Achaeminian. Religion and kingship are two brothers, and neither can dispense with the other. Religion is the foundation of kingship, and kingship protects religion. For whatever lacks a foundation must perish, and whatever lacks a protector disappears.[2]

 

Ideally the Religion and royalty are so intimately connected as to be inseparable: 'Religion is royalty, and royalty is the Religion,' but this is only an ideal state of affairs, and the aphorism in any case needs qualifying. Certainly the royal power is constantly extolled in the Dinkard,[3] but whereas the Religion, being the manifestation of God's essential wisdom, cannot be corrupted, royal power can, for power, divorced from wisdom, is characteristic of Ahriman, not of Ohrmazd. Religion is, or ought to be, the source from which the royal power springs, and royalty should consider its first duty to be the defense of the faith. This is wholly logical, for the duty of the royal power is to ensure the tranquility of its subjects and to add to their prosperity; for Zoroastrianism, alone among the religions known to the Iranians, regarded productivity as being synonymous with virtue so far at least as the material world was concerned. once the royal power is firmly based on the Good Religion, and the Religion is protected by the King, a just society will arise; 'the Empire will prosper, the common people will be freed from fear and enjoy a good life, science will advance, culture will be looked after, good manners will be further refined, and men will be generous, just, and grateful; many a virtue will they practice, and perfect will their goodness be'. The Good Religion, indeed, gives its authoritative approval to the 'furtherance and refinement of legitimate prosperity, display, music, and [worldly] pleasure'. All these are natural to kings, and the Good Religion is the foundation on which kingship is built.[4]

 

In order to justify the authority of the Great King in the various lands that had been conquered, they were made into a King with divine authority too. Just as Ahura Mazda is the greatest of the Gods, the Great King became the King of Kings. 

 The King claimed to have a special relationship with the supreme God. He was King by virtue of God's will. Having conquered foreign lands, Iranian interpretations of the gods of other peoples were introduced, thus allowing for the syncretistic influence on Zoroastrianism. It is paradoxes that while these Zoroastrian rulers would not impose their religious beliefs on the peoples they had captured; those very peoples were to change Zoroastrianism drastically.

 

 The Sasanian state was also ruled by the king of kings, a title which had become almost hallowed in Iran by traditions of over a millennium. the ruler of the house of Sasan succeeded one another rapidly in the last half-century before the Arab conquests, but tradition was strong enough to maintain a prince of the royal family as the sole candidate for the had been not only splendid in richness, and in some ways glamorous, but also a center of power and authority.[5]

 

Zoroastrianism being a state religion gave its ministers the highest place in the hierarchy, the priest had become of great importance in the Empire. Public matters were settled in accordance with their advice and predictions. "Among the Persians," this author says, "nothing is considered lawful and just unless it has been approved by a Magus[6]"

 

The chief business of the priests was the service of the temples. Whereas the Achaemenians had no temples, to the astonishment of the Greeks, the Sassanians built oratories or fire-temples, in which they worshipped fire, the symbol of Ahura Mazda. The other important job is education. The priests alone did teaching. We cannot say it was extended to the middle class and the people. But the nobles learned to read, write, reckon, and play polo, and also chess when this game was introduced from India in the reign of Chosroes I, and their chief occupation was fencing.

 

Sport was not the business of the priests; so it was the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic which was especially reserved to them. It is probable that the Mobeds. It is probable that the Mobeds taught the wealthier townsmen, the merchants.[7]

 

Culture of Sassanid was made by the learned from the priests. Their thought about the dualistic conflict view of Zoroastrianism was prevailed.

The normal functions of a judge seem to have been reserved for the priests, who were the sole depositories of legal science.[8]

 

It means that public justice is decided by the doctrine of Zoroastrianism.

 

Zoroastrianism was tied with Kingship in the Achaemenian and played role in political and opinion leader and educators in the Sassanian. So they were the political leaders in both Persia.

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[1] Kersi B. Shroff , Zoroastrianism under the Achaemenids , presented in September 1996 during the series of adult discussion classes held by the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington (ZAMWI) at the Mobed's Residence in Vienna, Virginia.

[2] Robert C. Zaehner, the Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1961), pp. 19-29. See also William Montgomery Watt, Islam and the Integration of Society ( Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1961), p. 284

[3] religious writings a large Pahlavi book called “Dinkard” – It is written in that form of Pahlavi language, which was current in the Sassanian times (226-641 A.D) and thereafter. It is an extraordinary treatise containing enormous information on the doctrines, tenets, traditions, history and the scriptural and other writings of the Mazdayasni Daena as imbibed in, and observed by, the ancient Iranians. The particular contents relevant for our present purpose consist of three different versions of each of the 17 Haas formulating the five ‘Gathas’. These are set out under three different headings: “Sudgar Nask” “Varsht – maansar-Nask” and “Baga Nask”.

[4] Robert C. Zaehner, “op cit”, pp. 296-297

[5] Frye, Richard Nelson, The golden age of Persia: the Arabs in the East (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988) p 7

[6] Zoroastrian priests in Persian empires

[7] Huart, Clement, “op cit”, pp 152~154

[8] Ibid, p 158