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The Kingship of Khusro I and Imagination of “Anušag-Ruwān Justice” as a Fiction

Year 2020, Volume: 8, 593 - 612, 30.06.2020
https://doi.org/10.13113/CEDRUS.202030

Abstract

The glory of the Sasanian king Khusro I (531-579 A.D.) is known to the extent it is reflected in the texts of the Islamic period through the eyes of the Zoroastrian clergy. Many stories and narrations about him that have been reproduced around a certain fiction have reached the present day, thus it is difficult to distinguish from these stories or narrations between his real and fictional personalities. Although Zoroastrian and Islamic sources were more concerned with his personality and from personal curiosity, Christian sources were interested in his attitude in wars, especially in those areas where the Christian communities had settled. Based upon this historical reality, this study aims to investigate why the primary sources created personalities different from his own historical identity. In this context, it not only focus on why he became a famous and an ideal king, but also casts a light upon how he was perceived during the conflicts between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasanians. Moreover, this study discusses that the positive qualities of Khusro such as "fair" and "philosopher", as well as his most famous title, "immortal soul" (anušag-ruwān), are deliberately reproduced in Zoroastrian and Islamic literatures with certain political concerns.

References

  • Adontz – Garsoïan 1970 N. Adontz – N. Garsoïan, Armenia in the Period of Justinian: The Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System. Lisbon 1970.
  • Canepa 2009 M. Canepa, The Two Eyes of the Earth. Art and ritual of kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 2009.
  • Comfort 2009 A. Comfort, “Ancient Roads of Arzanene and the Conflict Between Rome and Persia”. Ed. S. Cöhce ve A. Çevik, I. Uluslararası Batman ve Çevresi Tarihi ve Kültürü Sempozyumu: Bildiriler, Cilt I, 15-17 Nisan 2008 (2009)190-211.
  • Daryaee 2010 T. Daryaee, “Ardaxşir and the Sasanians’ Rise to Power”. Anabasis; Studia Classica et Orientalia I (2010) 236-255.
  • Daryaee 2009 T. Daryaee, Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London; New York 2009.
  • Daryaee 2003 T. Daryaee, “The Ideal King in the Sasanian World: Ardaxšīr ī Pābagān or Xusrō Anōšagruwān?”. Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies 3/1 (2003) 33 45.
  • Daryaee 2002 T. Daryaee, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History. With English and Persian Translations and Commentary by T. Daryaee, California, 2002.
  • Dodgeon – Lieu 2002 M.H. Dodgeon – S. N. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History. Routledge 2002.
  • Ersoy 2015 T. Ersoy, “Antik İran Medeniyetinin hukuki Temelleri: Mâtîkân ê Hazâr Dâtastân ve Sâsânî Yasama Faaliyeti”. Tarih ve Uygarlık İstanbul Dergisi (2015) 43-57.
  • Fisher 2011 G. Fisher, Between Empires: Arabs, Romans, and Sasanians in Late Antiquity. OUP Oxford 2011.
  • Frendo 2009 D. Frendo, “The Politico-Religious Origins and Territorial Reach of the Byzantine-Iranian Conflict of 572-589”. Eds. S. Cöhce ve A. Çevik, I. Uluslararası Batman ve Çevresi Tarihi ve Kültürü Sempozyumu: Bildiriler Cilt I. 15-17 Nisan 2008, Batman (2009) 221-228.
  • Frendo 2004 D. Frendo, “Agathias' View of the Intellectual Attainments of Khusrau I: A Reconsideration of the Evidence”. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, New Series, Vol. 18 (2004) 97-110.
  • Frendo 1997 D. Frendo, “The Religious Factor in Byzantine-Iranian Relations”. Bulletin of the Asia Institute 11 (1997) 105-122.
  • Frye 1983 R. N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran. München 1983.
  • Gariboldi 2015 A. Gariboldi, “The Great" Restoration" of Husraw I”. Ed. C. Jullien, Husraw Ier Reconstructions D’un Règne: Sources et Documents. Studia Iranica. Cahier 53 (2015) 47-84.
  • Garsoïan 1989 N. G. Garsoïan, The Epic Histories Attributed to Pʻawstos Buzand:(Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ). (No. 8). Ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard 1989.
  • Göbl 1971 R. Göbl, Sasanian Numismatics. Tr. P. Severin, Braunschweig 1971.
  • Greatrex – Lieu 2002 G. Greatrex – S. N. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars. Routledge 2002.
  • Gyselen 2008 R. Gyselen, Great-Commander (vuzurg-framadār) and Court Counsellor (dar-andarzbed) in the Sasanian Empire (224-651): the Sigillographic Evidence. (Conferenze 19). Roma 2008.
  • Gyselen 2001 R. Gyselen, The Four Generals of the Sasanian Empire: Some sigillographic Evidence. Roma 2001.
  • Honigmann 1970 E. Honigmann, Bizans Devletinin Doğu Sınırı. Çev.: F. Işıltan. İstanbul 1970.
  • Humbach 1991 H. Humbach, The Gāthās of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, Introduction-Text and Translation. Heidelberg 1991.
  • Huyse 1998 Ph. Huyse, “Kerdir and the first Sasanians”. Ed. N. S. Williams, Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies, Part 1 (1998) 109-120.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2015 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, “Sasanian Propaganda in the Reign of Husraw Ānūšīrvān”. Ed. C. Jullien, Husraw Ier Reconstructions D’un Règne: Sources et Documents. Studia Iranica. Cahier 53 (2015) 257-284.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2012 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, “Eastern Sources on the Roman and Persian War in the Near East 540-545”. Ed. T. Bernheimer and A. Silverstein, Late Antiquity: Eastern Perspectives, Gibb Memorial Trust, Exeter, (2012): 42-56.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2011 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, Three Neglected Sources of Sasanian History: in the Reign of Khusraw Anushirvan. Paris 2011.
  • Lukonin 1983 V. G. Lukonin, “Political, Social and Administrative Institutions: Taxes and Trade”. Ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran 3/2 (1983) 681-746.
  • Rezakhani 2015 Kh. Rezakhani, “Mazdakism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism: In Search of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Late Antique Iran”. Iranian Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2015) 55–70.
  • Rubin 1995 Z. Rubin “The Reforms of Khusraw Anūshirwān”. Ed. A. Cameron, The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East III: States Resources and Armies. Princeton 1995 227-296.
  • Söylemez 2005 M. M. Söylemez, “The Jundishapur School, its history, structure, and functions”. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 22 (2) (2005) 1-27.
  • Wiesehöfer 2010 J. Wiesehöfer, “The Late Sasanian Near East”. Ed. C. F. Robinson, The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume I: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries. Cambridge (2010) 98–152.
  • Whitby 1994 M. Whitby, “The Persian King at War”. Ed. E. Dąbrowa, The Roman and Byzantine Army in the East. Kraków (1994) 227-264.
  • Yarshater 1983 E. Yarshater, “Mazdakism”. Ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. III (2), Cambridge (1983) 991–1024.
  • Yücel 2018 M. Yücel, Doğu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu’da Pers Varlığı (MS. 224-651). Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul 2018.
  • Zakeri 1995 M. Zakeri, Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: the Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Wiesbaden 1995.

I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı

Year 2020, Volume: 8, 593 - 612, 30.06.2020
https://doi.org/10.13113/CEDRUS.202030

Abstract

Sasani hükümdarı I. Hüsrev’in (MS 531-579) şöhreti, Zerdüşti din adamlarının gözünden İslami dönem metinlerine yansıdığı biçimiyle bilinir. Onun hakkında belli bir kurgu etrafında yeniden üretilen pek çok hikaye ve rivayet günümüze ulaşmıştır. Bu hikaye veya rivayetler arasında onun gerçek kişiliği ile kurmaca kişiliğini birbirinden ayırd etmek oldukça güçtür. Zerdüşti ve İslami kaynaklar daha çok onun kişiliği ve kişisel merakıyla ilgilenirken Hristiyan ve Doğu Roma kaynakları onun özellikle Hristiyan ahalinin ikamet ettiği mahallerde yaptığı savaşlarda gösterdiği tavırla ilgilenmişlerdi. Bundan hareketle bu çalışma temel kaynakların neden I. Hüsrev’in kendi tarihsel kişiliğinden farklı kişilikler ürettiğini anlamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, I. Hüsrev’in neden meşhur ve ideal bir hükümdar olarak kutsandığı ve Doğu Roma ile Sasani imparatorlukları arasındaki çatışmalarda nasıl algılandığı tartışılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada temel olarak, I. Hüsrev’e tahmil edilen “adil” veya “filozof” ve en meşhur unvanı olan “ölümsüz ruh” (anušag-ruwān) gibi olumlu vasıfların, gerek Zerdüşti gerekse İslami tarih yazımı tarafından belli politik kaygılarla bilinçli bir şekilde üretildiği ileri sürülmektedir.

References

  • Adontz – Garsoïan 1970 N. Adontz – N. Garsoïan, Armenia in the Period of Justinian: The Political Conditions Based on the Naxarar System. Lisbon 1970.
  • Canepa 2009 M. Canepa, The Two Eyes of the Earth. Art and ritual of kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London 2009.
  • Comfort 2009 A. Comfort, “Ancient Roads of Arzanene and the Conflict Between Rome and Persia”. Ed. S. Cöhce ve A. Çevik, I. Uluslararası Batman ve Çevresi Tarihi ve Kültürü Sempozyumu: Bildiriler, Cilt I, 15-17 Nisan 2008 (2009)190-211.
  • Daryaee 2010 T. Daryaee, “Ardaxşir and the Sasanians’ Rise to Power”. Anabasis; Studia Classica et Orientalia I (2010) 236-255.
  • Daryaee 2009 T. Daryaee, Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. London; New York 2009.
  • Daryaee 2003 T. Daryaee, “The Ideal King in the Sasanian World: Ardaxšīr ī Pābagān or Xusrō Anōšagruwān?”. Nāme-ye Irān-e Bāstān, The International Journal of Ancient Iranian Studies 3/1 (2003) 33 45.
  • Daryaee 2002 T. Daryaee, A Middle Persian Text on Late Antique Geography, Epic, and History. With English and Persian Translations and Commentary by T. Daryaee, California, 2002.
  • Dodgeon – Lieu 2002 M.H. Dodgeon – S. N. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars AD 226-363: A Documentary History. Routledge 2002.
  • Ersoy 2015 T. Ersoy, “Antik İran Medeniyetinin hukuki Temelleri: Mâtîkân ê Hazâr Dâtastân ve Sâsânî Yasama Faaliyeti”. Tarih ve Uygarlık İstanbul Dergisi (2015) 43-57.
  • Fisher 2011 G. Fisher, Between Empires: Arabs, Romans, and Sasanians in Late Antiquity. OUP Oxford 2011.
  • Frendo 2009 D. Frendo, “The Politico-Religious Origins and Territorial Reach of the Byzantine-Iranian Conflict of 572-589”. Eds. S. Cöhce ve A. Çevik, I. Uluslararası Batman ve Çevresi Tarihi ve Kültürü Sempozyumu: Bildiriler Cilt I. 15-17 Nisan 2008, Batman (2009) 221-228.
  • Frendo 2004 D. Frendo, “Agathias' View of the Intellectual Attainments of Khusrau I: A Reconsideration of the Evidence”. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, New Series, Vol. 18 (2004) 97-110.
  • Frendo 1997 D. Frendo, “The Religious Factor in Byzantine-Iranian Relations”. Bulletin of the Asia Institute 11 (1997) 105-122.
  • Frye 1983 R. N. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran. München 1983.
  • Gariboldi 2015 A. Gariboldi, “The Great" Restoration" of Husraw I”. Ed. C. Jullien, Husraw Ier Reconstructions D’un Règne: Sources et Documents. Studia Iranica. Cahier 53 (2015) 47-84.
  • Garsoïan 1989 N. G. Garsoïan, The Epic Histories Attributed to Pʻawstos Buzand:(Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ). (No. 8). Ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Distributed for the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard 1989.
  • Göbl 1971 R. Göbl, Sasanian Numismatics. Tr. P. Severin, Braunschweig 1971.
  • Greatrex – Lieu 2002 G. Greatrex – S. N. Lieu, The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars. Routledge 2002.
  • Gyselen 2008 R. Gyselen, Great-Commander (vuzurg-framadār) and Court Counsellor (dar-andarzbed) in the Sasanian Empire (224-651): the Sigillographic Evidence. (Conferenze 19). Roma 2008.
  • Gyselen 2001 R. Gyselen, The Four Generals of the Sasanian Empire: Some sigillographic Evidence. Roma 2001.
  • Honigmann 1970 E. Honigmann, Bizans Devletinin Doğu Sınırı. Çev.: F. Işıltan. İstanbul 1970.
  • Humbach 1991 H. Humbach, The Gāthās of Zarathushtra and the Other Old Avestan Texts, Part I, Introduction-Text and Translation. Heidelberg 1991.
  • Huyse 1998 Ph. Huyse, “Kerdir and the first Sasanians”. Ed. N. S. Williams, Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies, Part 1 (1998) 109-120.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2015 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, “Sasanian Propaganda in the Reign of Husraw Ānūšīrvān”. Ed. C. Jullien, Husraw Ier Reconstructions D’un Règne: Sources et Documents. Studia Iranica. Cahier 53 (2015) 257-284.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2012 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, “Eastern Sources on the Roman and Persian War in the Near East 540-545”. Ed. T. Bernheimer and A. Silverstein, Late Antiquity: Eastern Perspectives, Gibb Memorial Trust, Exeter, (2012): 42-56.
  • Jackson-Bonner 2011 M. R. Jackson-Bonner, Three Neglected Sources of Sasanian History: in the Reign of Khusraw Anushirvan. Paris 2011.
  • Lukonin 1983 V. G. Lukonin, “Political, Social and Administrative Institutions: Taxes and Trade”. Ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran 3/2 (1983) 681-746.
  • Rezakhani 2015 Kh. Rezakhani, “Mazdakism, Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism: In Search of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Late Antique Iran”. Iranian Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2015) 55–70.
  • Rubin 1995 Z. Rubin “The Reforms of Khusraw Anūshirwān”. Ed. A. Cameron, The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East III: States Resources and Armies. Princeton 1995 227-296.
  • Söylemez 2005 M. M. Söylemez, “The Jundishapur School, its history, structure, and functions”. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 22 (2) (2005) 1-27.
  • Wiesehöfer 2010 J. Wiesehöfer, “The Late Sasanian Near East”. Ed. C. F. Robinson, The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume I: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries. Cambridge (2010) 98–152.
  • Whitby 1994 M. Whitby, “The Persian King at War”. Ed. E. Dąbrowa, The Roman and Byzantine Army in the East. Kraków (1994) 227-264.
  • Yarshater 1983 E. Yarshater, “Mazdakism”. Ed. E. Yarshater, The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. III (2), Cambridge (1983) 991–1024.
  • Yücel 2018 M. Yücel, Doğu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu’da Pers Varlığı (MS. 224-651). Yayınlanmamış Doktora Tezi, İstanbul Üniversitesi, İstanbul 2018.
  • Zakeri 1995 M. Zakeri, Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: the Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Wiesbaden 1995.
There are 35 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Muhammet Yücel This is me 0000-0002-1936-0327

Publication Date June 30, 2020
Submission Date February 27, 2020
Published in Issue Year 2020 Volume: 8

Cite

APA Yücel, M. (2020). I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı. Cedrus, 8, 593-612. https://doi.org/10.13113/CEDRUS.202030
AMA Yücel M. I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı. Cedrus. June 2020;8:593-612. doi:10.13113/CEDRUS.202030
Chicago Yücel, Muhammet. “I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı Ve Bir Kurgu Olarak ‘Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti’nin İcadı”. Cedrus 8, June (June 2020): 593-612. https://doi.org/10.13113/CEDRUS.202030.
EndNote Yücel M (June 1, 2020) I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı. Cedrus 8 593–612.
IEEE M. Yücel, “I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak ‘Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti’nin İcadı”, Cedrus, vol. 8, pp. 593–612, 2020, doi: 10.13113/CEDRUS.202030.
ISNAD Yücel, Muhammet. “I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı Ve Bir Kurgu Olarak ‘Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti’nin İcadı”. Cedrus 8 (June 2020), 593-612. https://doi.org/10.13113/CEDRUS.202030.
JAMA Yücel M. I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı. Cedrus. 2020;8:593–612.
MLA Yücel, Muhammet. “I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı Ve Bir Kurgu Olarak ‘Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti’nin İcadı”. Cedrus, vol. 8, 2020, pp. 593-12, doi:10.13113/CEDRUS.202030.
Vancouver Yücel M. I. Hüsrev’in Hükümdarlığı ve Bir Kurgu Olarak “Anušag-Ruwān Adaleti”nin İcadı. Cedrus. 2020;8:593-612.

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