Ardashir I
(redirected from Ardeshir I)Ardashir I
Ardashir I
(Artashir Papakan). Born circa 180; died Aug. 22, 239 (according to different data, 241). Founder and first king of the Iranian Sassanid dynasty.
Sasan, the grandfather of Ardashir I, was evidently a priest in the chief temple at Istakhr, the capital of Fars (Persis). Ardashir served the administrator of Darabgird (a fortress in Fars), who was a vassal of the Parthian king Artabanus V (209–224). Around the year 200, Ardashir became ruler of this fortress, and he soon brought under his power all of Fars, Kerman, and Gayy (modern Isfahan). Supported by the aristocracy and the priesthood, Ardashir then proceeded against Artabanus V. On April 28, 224, he inflicted a decisive defeat on Artabanus at the Plain of Hormizdagan, and after this battle the Parthian kingdom ceased to exist. Ardashir was crowned with the title Shah in-Shah (“king of kings”) in 226/227. His struggle with Rome over Mesopotamia and Armenia, as well as the wars which he waged in the east, led to a considerable enlargement of the territory controlled by the Sassanid state.
V. A. LIVSHITS