Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 PhD Student of History of Iran in the Islamic Period, Qazvin, Iran.
2 Associate Professor , Faculty of History, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
Abstract
Keywords
Main Subjects
Introduction
Studying the history of the Persian Gulf in ancient times means studying the history of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, the Iranian plateau, and the Arabian Peninsula from the fourth millennium BC to the rise of Islam. The cultural and socio-political dynamics of these three lands have affected the history of the Persian Gulf. The inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings refer to the history of connections between Iran and the Arabs, which dates back to before that dynasty (Sharp, 1967: 37-39).
Research Literature
In the 20th century, especially after the Second World War, many scholars have investigated the relations between Iranians and Arabs in the ancient period. However, contrary to expectations, they have not studied the relations between the Sassanids and the Arabs in the Persian Gulf. One of the most important of these studies is the book titled “The Arabs near the Borders of Eastern Rome and Iran in the 4th to 6th centuries CE” authored by Nina Pigulevskaya. In the third chapter of the book titled “The Country of the Arabs under the Domination of Iran (The Lakhmids)”, the author examined the relations between the Sassanid Empire and the Lakhmid government but did not specifically mention the Persian Gulf (Pigulevskaya, 1993: 141-255).
Discussion
Investigating the socio-political and cultural evolutions of the Persian Gulf has certain complications because this shallow sea has been very important and has been the center of notable incidents throughout history. Due to the presence of Arabs on the southern coasts and Iranians on the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf and its special regional situation, different views have been raised about the relations of the residents of its coastal areas, which doubles the necessity of research on this issue.
The primary sources that furnish us with information regarding the catalog of names of coastal states along the Persian Gulf draw heavily from the inscriptions of Darius and Xerxes, regarded as official documents of the Achaemenid government, and the writings of Herodotus. The names of these states are meticulously documented across six inscriptions, with five belonging to Darius I and one to Xerxes. Eastern sources provide a valuable window into specific facets of the cities and ports within Iran and Mesopotamia during the third century BC. Babylonian and Syriac sources, in particular, illuminate aspects of historical knowledge hitherto obscured. By comparing and contrasting Greek-Roman sources with indigenous and Eastern accounts, we gain a clearer understanding of the historical trajectory of the city of Babylon, which later ceded its prominence to the cities of Seleucia and Nusaybin. The History of the city of Kirkuk is primarily elucidated through the “History of Karka de Beth Selok,” a work authored by an anonymous Syriac historian (Pigoluskaya, 1988: 35-36).
Furthermore, it is worth noting that Iranians, particularly Persians, held familiarity with the shores of the Persian Gulf long before the Achaemenids ascended to power. Many Iranian tribes were regarded as indigenous to this region. The thriving port of “Liyan”, situated near present-day Bushehr, featured prominently as one of the pivotal Elamite ports. This port was also used during the reign of Cyrus the Great. The significance of the port of Liyan was such that the Iranian king constructed a splendid palace in its vicinity, the remnants of which still endure near Borazjan (Sarfaraz, 1996: 215-218).
Recent surveys along the southern shores of the Persian Gulf have yielded a significant number of archaeological sites dating back to the Parthian period, all of which have been meticulously identified and documented. Among these sites, particularly in Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), three sites stand out in terms of their importance. The archaeological evidence strongly suggests that all three of these sites served as crucial and substantial commercial ports during their respective historical periods.
One of these pivotal sites is the Sohar port. Situated approximately four kilometers south of Sohar lies a substantial ancient mound, likely corresponding to the ancient site of Omana. The discovery of pottery artifacts at this site points to extensive connections between Omana and other sites in regions such as Pakistan and Iran, notably Minab, Jiroft, Tepe Yahya, Dahan-e Gholaman, and Qalehno. Scholars, drawing from the cultural artifacts recovered at this site, have postulated that it may indeed represent the historical Omana port.
The significance of Sohar cannot be overstated, as it stands as one of the foremost ancient sites in Oman, strategically positioned along the coast of the Oman Sea and proximate to the Strait of Hormuz. However, the precise geographical location of Omana remains a subject of contention. The debate revolves around whether Omana was situated on the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf, under Iranian control, or on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf. Resolving this historical geographical enigma necessitates a comprehensive survey of the Persian Gulf’s coastlines (Khosrozadeh, 2012: 50-51).
Undoubtedly, in the longstanding rivalry between the Iranian and Roman empires, the control of Mesopotamia and the routes leading to the Persian Gulf, along with the surveillance of both land and sea routes traversing east and west, held a position of paramount significance. Consequently, a substantial portion of the conflicts involving the Sassanid Persians and the Romans, and then the Eastern Roman Empire, revolved around their strategic interests in Mesopotamia and the coastal regions of the Persian Gulf (Allah Yari, 2005: 45).
The Palmyra state represented the final remnant of the states of the northern Arabian peninsula that endured from the Parthian period. The obliteration of these smaller states at the hands of the Roman and Sassanid empires ultimately gave rise to a multitude of tribes (Allah Yari, 2014: 77).
Regrettably, historical records provide limited insights into the interactions between Iran and the Arab populations during the period extending from Bahram I to Shapur II. However, it was during the reign of Shapur II that the adverse climatic conditions in Arabia catalyzed a substantial influx of Arab migration towards the favorable regions of Iran.
Conclusion
It appears that from the sixth century BC to the seventh century AD, the Persian Gulf region was a dynamic and densely populated area under the dominion of Iranian dynasties. This influence primarily manifested itself in political rather than cultural terms. The longstanding competition between the ports and islands of the Persian Gulf and those of the Mediterranean Sea, which had its origins in the third millennium BC, entered a new phase with the ascendancy of the Medes and Persians in the seventh century BC. Cyrus II established the city of Arabāya in the northern Arabian Peninsula, and Darius I included the Arabāya Peninsula as part of the territory of Persia in his inscriptions. Recognizing the strategic significance of maritime trade, Darius dispatched Scylax of Caryanda to survey the shores of the Arabian Peninsula. For the Iranians residing in the coastal areas of the Persian Gulf, who possessed a long-standing tradition of seafaring, the importance of maritime commerce was self-evident. The advent of the Sassanids ushered in a transformative era in the Persian Gulf, marked by unprecedented prosperity. During this period, it can be asserted that the Persian Gulf region asserted its dominance over the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, owing to its proximity to the imperial centers of the Iranian empires.
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