''Chapar Khaneh'' ( fa, چاپارخانه, , ) is the Persian-language term that refers to the
postal service system used throughout the
Achaemenid Empire. It was created by
Cyrus the Great and later developed by
Darius the Great as the royal method of communication throughout the empire. Each ''Chapar Khaneh'' was a station mainly located along the
Royal Road
The Royal Road was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt by the Persian king Darius the Great (Darius I) of the first (Achaemenid) Persian Empire in the 5th century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication on the western ...
, an ancient highway that was reorganized and rebuilt by Darius I, which stretched from
Sardis
Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
in modern-day
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
to
Susa in modern-day
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, connecting most of the major cities of the Achaemenid Empire.
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
' description of the Royal Road and the various ''Chapar Khanehs'' along it is as follows:
:''"Now the true account of the road in question is the following: Royal stations exist along its whole length, and excellent
caravanserais; and throughout, it traverses an inhabited tract, and is free from danger. In
Lydia and
Phrygia there are twenty stations within a distance Of 94½
parasangs. On leaving Phrygia the
Halys has to be crossed; and here are gates through which you must needs pass ere you can traverse the stream. A strong force guards this post. When you have made the passage, and are come into
Cappadocia
Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde.
According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Re ...
, 28 stations and 104 parasangs bring you to the borders of
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, where the road passes through two sets of gates, at each of which there is a guard posted. Leaving these behind, you go on through Cilicia, where you find three stations in a distance of 15½ parasangs. The boundary between Cilicia and
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
is the river
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
, which it is necessary to cross in boats. In Armenia the resting-places are 15 in number, and the distance is 56½ parasangs. There is one place where a guard is posted. Four large streams intersect this district, all of which have to be crossed by means of boats. The first of these is the
Tigris
The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
; the second and the third have both of them the same name, though they are not only different rivers, but do not even run from the same place. For the one which I have called the first of the two has its source in Armenia, while the other flows afterwards out of the country of the
Matienians. The fourth of the streams is called the Gyndes, and this is the river which
Cyrus dispersed by digging for it three hundred and sixty channels. Leaving Armenia and entering the Matienian country, you have four stations; these passed you find yourself in
Cissia, where eleven stations and 42½ parasangs bring you to another navigable stream, the
Choaspes, on the banks of which the city of
Susa is built. Thus the entire number of the stations is raised to one hundred and eleven; and so many are in fact the resting-places that one finds between
Sardis
Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
and Susa."''
The ''Chapars'' were express couriers who were provided with fresh supplies and horses at each station along the way, allowing them to quickly complete their way without having to procure supplies on their own or wait for their horse to rest.
See also
*
Angarium
The Angarium (Latin; from Greek ) was the institution of the royal mounted couriers in ancient Persia. The messengers, called (), alternated in stations that had a day's ride distance along the Royal Road. The riders were exclusively in the servi ...
*
Angarum
Angarum was the name of the royal riding post in the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid period. In book 8, paragraph 98 of The Persian Wars, the historian Herodotus talks about the couriers: "Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian mes ...
References
{{Reflist
Achaemenid Empire
Postal systems
Iranian inventions