User:HistoryofIran/Sasan

Sasan

New Persian and Arabic texts
There are various different sources regarding the relationship between Pabag, Sasan, and the first Sasanian monarch Ardashir I ((r. 224 – 242)). According to the Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") by the medieval Persian poet Ferdowsi (d. 1020), Sasan was a descendant of the mythological Kayanian rulers Dara II, Dara I, Kay Bahman, Esfandiyar and Vishtaspa. The claim of Sasan belonging to the Kayanian family was designed in order to justify that Ardashir was descended from the ancient Kayanian kings, who reflected memories of the Achaemenids.

Dara II, the last Kayanian king to rule before Alexander, is partly based on the last Achaemenid King of Kings, Darius III ((r. 336 – 330)), whose empire was indeed conquered by Alexander's forces. A son of Dara II named Sasan (called "the elder") fled to India and lived there in exile until his death. He was survived by a son who was likewise named Sasan (called "the younger"), "which continued in the family for four generations". A descendant of the family, likewise named Sasan, worked for Pabag, who was a local ruler in Pars. Pabag's daughter married Sasan and bore him a son named Ardashir. Following this, Sasan is no longer mentioned. The Shahnameh thus indicates that the ancestors of Sasan resided in India following Alexander's conquests. This report has been used by scholars to point out Sasan's Indo-Parthian connection.

According to the medieval Iranian historian Al-Tabari (d. 923), Pabag was the son of Sasan and a princess named Rambihisht, who was from the Bazrangid family, a dynasty of rulers in Pars. He presents Pabag as the father of Ardashir. Like Ferdowsi in his Shahnameh, Al-Tabari also describes Sasan as a foreigner in Pars, however, unlike him, he does not mention Sasan's place of origins.

Middle Persian texts
The Middle Persian text Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan ("Book of the Deeds of Ardashir, son of Pabag"), says the following regarding the ancestry of Ardashir: "Ardashir, the Kayanian, son of Pabag from the parentage of Sasan and from the lineage of King Dara". Another Middle Persian text, the Bundahishn, however, gives the genealogy of Ardashir as following: "Ardashir son of Pabag whose mother (was) the daughter of Sasan son of Weh-afrid". This demonstrates the inconsistencies between Middle Persian texts regarding the origins of the Sasanian dynasty. Both sources regard Pabag as the father of Ardashir, whilst Sasan is presented as the latter's grandfather or ancestor.

Roman and Armenian texts
In Roman and Armenian sources, a different account appears. According to the Roman historians Agathias and George Syncellus, Sasan was the biological father of Ardashir, whilst Pabag was his stepfather. The Armenian writers Movses Khorenatsi and Agathangelos likewise call Sasan the father of Ardashir. However, they do not make any mention of Pabag. A Greek variant of Agathangelos' work calls Ardashir "son of Sasanus, which is the origin of the Sasanian name of the Persian kings descended from him".

Sasanian inscriptions and coinage
Ardashir, on his coin engravings and inscription on Naqsh-e Rostam, claims to be the son of "divine Pabag, the king". His son and successor, Shapur I ((r. 240 – 270)), on his inscriptions at Naqsh-e Rajab and Ka'ba-ye Zartosht, calls himself as a son of Ardashir I and grandson of Pabag. Although various figures named "Sasan" are mentioned in the inscription, none of them are associated with the House of Sasan. The Paikuli inscription of Shapur I's son Narseh ((r. 293 – 303)), however, makes direct references to the House of Sasan, such as the phrase "since the gods gave glory and rulership to the family of Sasan", which indicates that Narseh saw Sasan as his ancestor.

Conclusions in modern scholarship
The modern historian Marek Jan Olbrycht suggests that Sasan was an Indo-Parthian prince who married a Persian princess and gave birth to Ardashir. In order to not be seen as a foreign dynasty, however, Ardashir and Shapur I minimized the role of Sasan. Pabag was seemingly the father-in-law and possibly adoptive father of Ardashir.