TheParni (/ˈpɑːrnaɪ/;Ancient Greek:Πάρνοι,Parnoi),Aparni (/əˈpɑːrnaɪ/; Ἄπαρνοι,Aparnoi) orParnians were anEast Iranian people[1][2] who lived around theOchus[3][2][4] (Ancient Greek:ὯχοςOkhos) (Tejen) River, southeast of theCaspian Sea. It is believed that their original homeland may have been what is now southern Russia, from where they emigrated with otherScythian tribes.[2] The Parni were one of the three tribes of theDahae confederacy.
In the middle of the 3rd century BCE, the Parni invadedParthia, "drove away the Greeksatraps, who had then only just acquired independence, and founded a new dynasty",[5] that of theArsacids.
There is no unambiguous evidence of the Parni in nativeIranian language sources,cf.[2] and all references to these people come from Greek and Latin accounts. In these accounts, which are not necessarily contemporaneous, it is difficult to unambiguously identify references to the Parni due to inconsistency of Greek/Latin naming and transliteration, and/or the similarity to names of other tribes such as the Sparni or Apartani and the Eparnoi or Asparioi. It may also be that the Parni are related to one or more of these other tribes, and that "their original homeland may have been southern Russia from where they emigrated with otherScythian tribes."[2]
The location of the Parni Dahae immediately south-east of theCaspian Sea was derived from byStrabo'sGeographica (Book 11, 1st century BCE). The ethnonym of the Dahae was the root of the later placename Dahestan or Dihistan – a region straddling the present regions ofTurkmenistan andIran. So little is known of the Dahae, including the Parni, that – in the words ofA. D. H. Bivar – even the location and name of their capital city "if indeed they possessed one" is unknown.[6] A later archaeological site in the region, known asDehistan/Mishrian, is located in theBalkan Region of Turkmenistan.
The language[c] of the Parni is not directly attested but is assumed to be one of the eastern substrates of the subsequently recordedParthian language, which the Parni eventually adopted. To the "incoming Parni may be ascribed a form of speech showing a strong east Iranian element, resulting from their proximity on the steppe to east IranianSakas."[6] Through the influence of the Parthians inArmenia, traces of the Parni language survive as "loan-words inArmenian."[2]
The language of the Parni "was described byJustin as 'midway between Scythian andMedian [and] contained features of both'"[7] (41.1.10). Justin's late (3rd century) opinion is "no doubt slightly exaggerated,"[6] and is in any case of questionable veracity given the ambiguity of names.[2]
In 247 BCE,Andragoras, theSeleucid governor (satrap) ofParthia ("roughly westernKhurasan"[8]) proclaimed independence from the Seleucids, when—following the death ofAntiochus II—Ptolemy III seized control of the Seleucid capital atAntioch, and "so left the future of the Seleucid dynasty for a moment in question."[9]
Meanwhile, "a man calledArsaces, of Scythian or Bactrian[a] origin, [was] elected leader of the Parni tribes."[4] Following the secession of Parthia from the Seleucid Empire and the resultant loss of Seleucid military support, Andragoras had difficulty in maintaining his borders, and about 238 BCE—under the command of "Arsaces and his brotherTiridates"[4][10]—theParni invaded[11] Parthia and seized control of Astabene (Astawa), the northern region of that territory, the administrative capital of which was Kabuchan (Kuchan in the vulgate).
A short while later, the Parni seized the rest of Parthia from Andragoras, killing him in the process. Although an initialpunitive expedition by the Seleucids underSeleucus II was not successful, the Seleucids underAntiochus III recaptured Arsacid-controlled territory following theBattle of Mount Labus in 209 BCE from Arsaces' (or Tiridates'[b]) successor,Arsaces II. Arsaces II sued for peace and accepted vassal status,[10] and it was not until Arsaces II's grandson (or grand-nephew)Phraates I, that the Arsacids/Parni would again begin to assert their independence.[12]
For the historiographers upon whose documentation the reconstruction of early Arsacid history depends, the Parni had by then become indistinguishable from the Parthians.
The seizure of Astabene in 238 BCE nominally marks the beginning of theArsacid era, which is named after Arsaces, and the name adopted by all Parthian kings.[7] The Arsacid dynasts laid claim to descent fromArtaxerxes II. Beginning from Astabene and Parthia (which would subsequently be extended southwards to include much of present-daySistan), the Arsacids gradually subjugated many of the neighboring kingdoms, most of which were thereafter controlled as vassalries. Beginning with the successful revolt - in 224 CE - of an erstwhile vassal ofStakhr namedArdashir (in Greek again "Arsaces"/"Artaxerxes"[13]), the Arsacid/Parthian hegemony began to yield to aSassanid/Persian one.
The name "Parni" reappears in Sassanid-era documents to identify one of the seven Parthian feudal families allied with the Sassanid court. However, this family is not attested from Arsacid times, and the claim to the "Parni" name is (like four of the six other families) "in all probability not in accordance with reality." "It may be that [...] members of them made up their own genealogies in order to emphasize the antiquity of their families."[14]
It has been suggested[15] that the Parnau Hills (Paran Koh) bear the name of the Parni.