What is Parthia (satrapy)?

Information about Parthia (satrapy)

Parthia (Old Persian Parthava), before it became the Parthian Empire, was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire. The borders of Parthia were the Kopet Dag mountain range in the north (today the border between Iran and Turkmenistan) and the Dasht-e-Kavir desert in the south. It bordered Media on the west, Hyrcania on the north west, Margiana on the north east, and Aria on the south east.

In 522/521 BCE, Parthia revolted against Persian rule, joining the Median rebel king Phraortes. The Persian satrap (governor), Hystaspes, stood his ground against the rebels at Vishpauzatish, where he repelled them on March 8, 521. After receiving reinforcements, he defeated the rebels and Parthia was pacified. The last satrap of Parthia was Phrataphernes, who surrendered to Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. He was later reappointed and is known to have also been a satrap of Hyrcania in 323.[1]

It later also became a satrapy of the Sassanid Empire.

References




Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire (Behistun and Daiva inscriptions)
Persia | Elam | Babylonia | Media | Sacae | Yauna | Macedon | Pamphylia | Paphlagonia | Cappadocia | Caria | Lydia | Thrace | Armenia | Cilicia | Taxila | Egypt | Gandara | Sattagydia | Gedrosia | Carmania | Maka | Drangiana | Arachosia | Bactria | Parthia | Aria | Chorasmia | Sogdia | Kush | Arabia | Hyrcania | Margu | Dahae | Libya | Eber-Nari
By district (Herodotus)
District I | District II | District III | District IV | District V | District VI | District VII | District VIII | District IX | District X | District XI | District XII | District XIII | District XIV | District XV | District XVI | District XVII | District XVIII | District XIX | District XX
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Provinces of the Sassanid Empire
Abarshahr | Adiabene | Albania | Arabistan | Aria | Armenia | Asuristan | Atropatene | Balasagan | Carmania | Hyrcania | Iberia | India | Kushanshahr | Machelonia | Maishan | Margiana | Mazun | Media | Mokran | Paratan | Parthia | Patishkhwagar | Persis | Sakastan | Susiana | Turan
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Parthia[1] was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
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See also the related deity Satrapes.
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires.
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Achaemenid Empire (Persian: هخامنشیان IPA: [haχɒmaneʃijɒn]) (559 BC–330 BC), or
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Medes were an ancient Iranian people, who lived in the north, western, and northwestern portions of present-day Iran, and roughly the areas of present day Kurdistan, Hamedan, Tehran, Azarbaijan, north of Esfahan and Zanjan.
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Hyrcania was an ancient kingdom located in the territories of present day Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea.

Nomenclature

The name "Hyrcania" is the name attested in Greek historiographic accounts.
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Margu (Greek Margiana) was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, mentioned in the Behistun inscriptions of ca. 515 BC by Darius Hystaspis. It was centered at Merv in modern Turkmenistan.
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aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer.
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Phraortes or Fravartish (Old Persian: ��������������[1] Fravartiš[2]; c.
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See also the related deity Satrapes.
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires.
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Hystaspes, Greek for[1] Old Persian ������������[2] Vištāspa[3] and Old Avestan Vištāspa
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Alexander III, the Great
Basileus of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt

Alexander fighting Persian king Darius III. From Alexander Mosaic, from Pompeii, Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
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Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: ساسانیان [sɒsɒnijɒn
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Achaemenid Empire (Persian: هخامنشیان IPA: [haχɒmaneʃijɒn]) (559 BC–330 BC), or
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BCE Zayandeh River Civilization Sialk civilization 7500–1000 Jiroft civilization (Aratta) Proto-Elamite civilization Bactria-Margiana Complex Elamite dynasties 2800–550 Kingdom of Mannai Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire Seleucid Empire Greco-Bactrian
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Sakas were the Scythians who lived in the eastern part of Central Asia. They are considered to be of north-eastern Iranian people by modern scholars.[1][2][3]
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Yauna (The old Persian name for the Greeks, derived from Iones, the name of the Greeks living along the coasts of Asia Minor) or Ionia, was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. The first mention of the Yauna is at the Behistun inscription.
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Macedonia was briefly a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire. It was added to the empire when general Mardonius conquered the territory in 492 BCE. It became an important base for further European conquest and also contained gold mines.
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Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus (modern day Antalya province, Side,Turkey).
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Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia and Pontus, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia) by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus.
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Cappadocia (from Old Persian Katpatuka) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire used by the Achaemenids to administer the regions beyond the Taurus Mountains and the Euphrates river.
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Caria (Greek: Καρία) was a region of Anatolia situated south of Ionia and west of Phrygia and Lycia. The eponymous inhabitants were known as Carians, and came to Caria before the Greeks.
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Lydia (known as Sparda by the Achaemenids) was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire, with Sardis as its capitol. Tabalus, appointed by Cyrus the Great was the first satrap (governor), however, his rule did not last long as the Lydians revolted.
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Thrace was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. It was conquered by general Mardonius, under the reign of Darius the Great. Herodotus places the Thracians, along with the Hellespontines and Mariandynians, in district III/b of the Achaemenid Empire.
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Persian Armenia corresponds to the Armenian territory controlled by Persia throughout history. The size of Persian Armenia varied over time.

Armenians and the Achaemenid Empire

After the fall of the Median empire In 550 B.C.
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Cilicia (modern Turkish name is Çukurova) was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, with its capitol at Tarsus. It was conquered sometime in the 540's by Cyrus the Great. Cilicia was a vassal, and although it had a vassal king had to pay a tribute of 360 horses and 500 talents of
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Taxila was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire. It was added to the during the reign of Darius the Great. The occupation did not last long, and there are no archaeological traces of western armies in the Punjab, although a claim that the Persians built something in the area was made
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Sattagydia (Old Persian Thataguš, country of the "hundred cows") was a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, perhaps corresponding to the mountains between Iran and Pakistan.
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Gedrosia was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire, corresponding to modern Iranian Baluchistan. The capitol of the satrapy was Pura which is probably identical to modern Bampûr, forty kilometers west of Irânshahr.
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Carmania was a satrapy (province) of the Achaemenid Empire as well as, later on, the Sassanid Empire. The region is equivalent to modern day Kermān Province in Iran. Nothing specific is known about the boundaries of Carmania, which may have fluctuated.
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