MMW 12 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Mazdak, Sasan, Papak
31 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Referred to this era as age of ignorance: tried to get rid of zoroastrianism for islam. Achaemenid empire (550-330 bc: founded by cyrus the great, stretched from greece to indus valley. Seleucid empire (312-63 bc: hellenistic empire, founded by soldier of alexander the great, big empire for a short time. Parthian empire (274 bc 224 ad: founded by central asian nomads. Sassanian empire (224-641 ad: claimed throne as successors of achaemenids, reestablish persian empire and zoroastrianism as a leading religion. Nomads founded this empire: not a lot of stuff written down. Maintains hellenistic local admin and used greek on coins. Used persian la(cid:374)guage a(cid:374)d pahla(cid:448)i s(cid:272)ript a(cid:374)d e(cid:373)perors adopted a(cid:272)hae(cid:373)e(cid:374)id title, (cid:862)ki(cid:374)g of. Decentralized power: lots of kings held together by the king of kings, romans capture capital 3 times without empire collapsing. Aristocrats maintain armies: some had their own coins. Central government derive wealth from tribute and silk road tolls.
