| Carmania Kārman | |
|---|---|
| Province of theMedianAchaemenid,Seleucid,Arsacid, andSasanian Empire | |
_-_Asiae-Tabula_IX.jpg) | |
| Capital | Arta/Jiroft[1] Sirgan/Sirkan |
| Historical era | Antiquity |
• Established | 6th century BC |
Carmania (Ancient Greek:Καρμανία,romanized: Karmanía,Old Persian:𐎣𐎼𐎶𐎴𐎠,romanized: Karmanā,[2]Middle Persian:Kirmān[3]) is a historical region that approximately corresponds to the current province ofKerman, Iran, and was aprovince of manyIranic empires such asMedes,Achaemenid,Seleucid,Parthian, andSasanian Empire. The region borderedPersia proper & thePersian Gulf in the west,[2]Makran & the Makran Sea in the south-east,[4]Parthia in the north (also known asAbarshahr),[4] andAria to the northeast.[4]
In theEarly Bronze Age, late third millennium BC, it is postulated that theJiroft culture developed and flourished in the region of Carmania.[2] However, little is known of the history of the region during the Late Bronze Age andEarly Iron Age.[2] The region was settled by Iranian tribes in the first half of the first millennium BC.[5]
Carmania was conquered byCyrus the Great, founder of theAchaemenid Empire, in the sixth century BC.[2] The 3rd century BCBabylonian writerBerossus detailed that Cyrus the Great grantedNabonidus, the lastKing of Babylon, Carmania as a vassal kingdom after the Achaemenid conquest of Babylonia in 539 BC.[6] According to the 5th century BC Greek historianCtesias, Cyrus, on his deathbed, appointed his sonBardiya as governor of theBactrians,Chorasmians, Parthians, and Carmanians.[7]Darius the Great later confiscated part of Nabonidus' land in Carmania.[6] During the reign of Darius I, theRoyal Road was built in Carmania,[2] and the region was administered as a sub-province of the province of Persia.[3] At a later date, Carmania came under the administration of a certain Karkiš, satrap (governor) of Gedrosia.[3] It has been suggested that, due to an anachronism on behalf of Ctesias, Carmania may have become a separate province by the time ofArtaxerxes II, in the late 5th century BC.[3]
By the time ofAlexander's conquest of Persia in 334 BC, Carmania was administered by a certain Aspastes, Satrap of Carmania,[8] and the southern part of the province had its own governor.[9] Aspastes acknowledged Alexander as king and was permitted to remain in office as satrap upon Alexander's conquest of the neighbouring province of Persia in 330 BC, however, Aspastes later plotted to rebel against Alexander whilst campaigning in the Indus Valley.[8] Upon Alexander's return from India, Aspastes met with Alexander in the province of Gedrosia in 326 BC, where he was executed.[8] To replace Aspastes, Alexander appointedSibyrtius as satrap of Carmania,[2] who was followed by the generalTlepolemus in the winter of 325/324 BC.[3] Whilst in Carmania, Alexander established the city ofAlexandria Carmania in early 324 BC where he settled his veterans,[2] and also erected a pillar on the coastline. Alexander also consolidated his empire during his stay in Carmania as he summoned a number of governors and generals accused of conspiring and misbehaving and executed them, such as Cleander, accused of extortion, in 324 BC.[10]
The partition of Alexander's empire amongst thediadochi upon his death took place in thePartition of Babylon of 323 BC, and thePartition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, both of which confirmed Tlepolemus' control of Carmania.[3] During theSecond War of the Diadochi, Tlepolemus rallied his soldiers to join withEumenes in the war againstCassander andAntigonus.[3] Antigonus' victory in the war against Eumenes in 315 BC allowed him to gain undisputed control of the Asian territories of the empire, but allowed Tlepolemus continued in his office as satrap of Carmania. The eruption of the Third War of the Diadochi in 314 BC and the subsequentBabylonian War in 311 BC, however, led Antigonus to be deprived of the western and eastern halves of the Asian territories of the empire, respectively, and Carmania came under the control ofSeleucus I Nicator in 309 BC, thus forming part of theSeleucid Empire. During theFourth Syrian War, in the spring of 217 BC,Antiochus III the Great rallied soldiers from Carmania who were put under the command of Aspasianus the Mede and Byttacus the Macedonian and took part in theBattle of Raphia againstPtolemaic Egypt, which resulted in Antiochus' defeat.[11] In 205 BC, Antiochus III, returning from India by way of Gedrosia, wintered in Carmania before continuing his march west.[12] Carmania remained a province within theSeleucid Empire until the mid 2nd century BC in which it was conquered by theArsacid Empire.[2]
Under the Arsacid Empire Carmania was a vassal kingdom. In 210 AD it was ruled by a certain Balash who was defeated and captured byArdashir, king of Persia, and the region was annexed to his domain.[13] Ardeshir rebelled in 212 AD and rallied soldiers from the region, using them in his campaigns against the Arsacid Empire.[3] He later appointed his son, Ardeshir, as governor of Carmania with the title of Kirmanshah, who continued to rule during the reign of Ardeshir's successor,Shapur I.[3] Ardeshir I also undertook military campaigns in Carmania after his victory over the Arsacid Empire and founded the city ofWeh-Ardeshir as an outpost on the trade route to India.[3] Other settlements such as the oasis town ofBam and city ofMahan, which was founded by Adar Mahan,marzban (governor) of Carmania,[3] were founded during the Sasanian period as part of the settlement of Carmania.[14] The region surrounding Bam suffered from banditry and repeated nomadic incursions.[14] Carmania was ruled by the futureBahram I in 270 AD.[15]
Early in his reign,Shapur II forcibly deported Arab tribes to Carmania and settled severalTagleb tribes in the vicinity of Bam, severalAbd-al-Qays andTamim clans southeast of Weh-Ardeshir and a number ofBakr bin Wa’el clans at Weh-Ardeshir.[16] During the reign ofShapur III, the region was governed byBahram who held the title of Kirmanshah, later ascending to the throne.[17] Bahram founded the town ofShiragan which served as the capital of the province for the remainder of the Sasanian period.[3] The province of Carmania had a singleamargar (chief fiscal officer) assigned to the whole province during Sasanian rule.[18] During theMuslim invasion of Iran, a Muslim army reached Jiroft in 640 AD.[3] A Muslim army invaded the island ofAbarkawan and defeated and killed themarzban of Carmania in 643 AD.[19] In 644 AD, upon the fall ofSpahan, a number of notables fled to Carmania and Muslim forces raided the towns of Shiragan and Bam.[20]Yazdegerd III fled to Carmania after the fall of Persia in 650 AD but alienated themarzban and retreated toSakastan ahead of a Muslim army that defeated and killed themarzban.[20] Mujashi ibn Mas'ud al-Sulami led the conquest of Carmania and some towns were taken by force whilst others surrendered.[21] Many people fled into the mountains, to Sakastan, Khorosan, Makran and overseas.[20]
Carmania was noted in Antiquity for its abundance of a number of mineral resources such as copper, salt, sulphur, ochre, orpiment and agate. The mines surrounding Carmana are also attested for the production of silver necessary for the minting of coinage. A mine near Carmana is known to have produced turquoise gems, but of lesser quality and number than the mines of Parthia.[22]Sissoo wood was also exported and was notably used in the construction of the palace of Darius I atSusa.[3]
Wines produced in Carmania proper, a cultivated and fertile area, were famous and, alongside other goods, were exported throughHormuz, the principal port within the region.[3] Effective road communications with the other provinces of the empire also facilitated trade and exportation of goods from within Carmania.[3] The region had economic relations with Mesopotamia during the reign ofKhosrow I in the 6th century AD.[23]
Carmanians (Ancient Greek:ΚαρμάνιοιKarmánioi,ΚαρμανιτοιKarmanitoi,[3] orΓερμάνιοιGermanioi,[24]Latin:Carmanii)[25] were the inhabitants of the region of Carmania during Antiquity, who were a warlike people who practised cannibalism, according toStrabo.[3] Under the Achaemenid Empire, the Carmanians had becomePersianised and Strabo noted the cultural and linguistic similarities the Carmanians shared with the neighbouring Persians.[24] Despite Persianisation, the Carmanians retained a number of unique traditions and social structure, as attested by the requirement of the presentation of the head of a slain enemy to the king in order to marry, as well as strict rites of passage distinct from Persian traditions.[24] Persians andElamites mixed in the region during the Achaemenid period and Elamites inhabited theZagros Mountains.[26]
Herodotus listed Carmanians amongst other Iranian tribes that had settled and abandoned nomadic life to take part in agriculture, as opposed to other tribes that had continued to practisenomadic pastoralism.[3] One such nomadic tribe was that of theSagartians who also inhabited Carmania.[27] The Sagartians and Isatichae inhabited desert Carmania.[28] According toPtolemy, Carmania was also home to the Pasargadai tribe.[29] Non-Iranians, known simply as the Turtle-eaters, inhabited the coast of Carmania at the time of Alexander the Great.[28]
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See alsoTaxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire(according toHerodotus) | ||
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