''Bānbishn'' was a

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle P ...

title meaning "queen", and was held by royal women in

Sasanian Iran The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

who were the king's daughters and sisters, and also by the consorts of the Sasanian princes that ruled parts of the country as governors. The full version of the title was ''bānbishnān bānbishn'' ("Queen of Queens").

Etymology

Although the

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ( ...

form of ''bānbishn'' is not found in any source, it was most likely spelled ''māna-pashnī'', matching the

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

''dəmąnō.paθnī'' ("mistress"), which is from Old Iranian ''dmāna-paθnī''. The word was later absorbed into the

Armenian language Armenian (Classical Armenian orthography, classical: , Armenian orthography reform, reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia ...

, where it was spelled ''bambishn''. The Sogdian version of the word is ''bāmbusht''.

History

In the Sasanian inscriptions, ''banbishn'' is the female equivalent of ''

shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

'' (king). The title is first attested in 262/3 in

Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht Shapur I's Ka'ba-ye Zartosht inscription (shortened as Shapur-KZ, ŠKZ, SKZ), also referred to as The Great Inscription of Shapur I, and ''Res Gestae Divi Saporis'' (RGDS), is a trilingual inscription made during the reign of the Sasanian king S ...

, being held by a certain Denak. Shapur I's daughter

Adur-Anahid Adur-Anahid ( pal, 𐭠𐭲𐭲𐭲𐭲 𐭦𐭩 𐭲𐭲𐭲𐭲𐭩𐭲) was a high-ranking 3rd-century Iranian noblewoman from the royal Sasanian family, who wielded the title of Queen of Queens ('' banbishnan banbishn''). She was a daughter of ...

held the title of ''bānbishnān bānbishn'' ("Queen of Queens"), which matched the title of shahanshah ("King of Kings"). Other titles related to ''banbishn'' were; ''shahr banbishn'' ("Queen of the empire"), held by Shapur I's wife Khwarranzem; ''sagan banbishn'' ("Queen of the

Sakas The Saka (Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who histor ...

") held by Shapurdukhtak, the wife of

Narseh Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and ...

; and ''Meshan banbishn'' ("Queen of

Meshan Meshan ( Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭩𐭱𐭠𐭭) was a province of the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of the Parthian vassal kingdom of Characene and reached north along the Shatt al-Arab river and then the lower Tigris to Madhar and possibly fur ...

"), held by another Denak, the wife of Shapur Meshanshah. The wife of

Yazdegerd II Yazdegerd II (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩), was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 438 to 457. He was the successor and son of Bahram V (). His reign was marked by wars against the Eastern Roma ...

(),

Denag Denag (fl. 459), was a Sasanian queen ('' banbishn''). She was the wife of the king ('' shah'') Yazdegerd II (), and functioned as queen regent in Ctesiphon during the civil war between her sons in 457-459. Life Her origins are unknown, though ...

, temporarily ruled as regent of the empire from its capital,

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...

during the dynastic struggle for the throne between her sons

Hormizd III Hormizd III ( pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣; New Persian: ), was the seventeenth king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire, ruling briefly from 457 to 459. He was the son and successor of Yazdegerd II (). His reign was marked by the rebellion of his ...

() and

Peroz I Peroz I ( pal, 𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭥𐭰, Pērōz) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II (), he disputed the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III (), eventually seizing the throne after ...

(), which displays that royal women could occupy political offices in the management of the country. Marriage was not restricted to Iranian women only− Bahram V Gor () reportedly married an

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n princess named Sapinud, whilst

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...

() married two

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

women of non-Iranian descent,

Shirin Shirin ( fa, شیرین; died 628) was a Christian wife of the Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') Khosrow II (). In the revolution after the death of Khosrow's father Hormizd IV, the General Bahram Chobin took power over the Persian empire. ...

and

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

. During the

Sasanian civil war of 628–632 The Sasanian civil war of 628–632, also known as the Sasanian Interregnum was a conflict that broke out after the execution of the Sasanian king Khosrau II between the nobles of different factions, notably the Parthian (''Pahlav'') faction, the ...

, two Sasanian queens,

Boran Boran (also spelled Buran, Middle Persian: ; New Persian: پوران‌دخت, ''Pūrāndokht'') was Sasanian queen (or ''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king (or '' shah'') Khos ...

() and

Azarmidokht Azarmidokht ( Middle Persian: ''Āzarmīgdukht''; New Persian: , ''Āzarmīdokht'') was Sasanian queen regnant (''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 631. She was the daughter of king ( shah) Khosrow II (). She was the second Sasanian queen; her s ...

(), both daughters of Khosrow II, ruled the empire for a brief period.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banbishn Titles in Iran Titles in Armenia Sogdian words and phrases Government of the Sasanian Empire Royal titles Persian words and phrases