Spalahores, also spelled Spalohres or Spalahora, (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ; , (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , ; ruled circa 57-35 BCE), was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

king who ruled

Sakastan Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan ( ...

in the 1st-century BC.

Name

Spalahores's name is attested on his coins in the

forms () and (), and in the Kharosthi form (), which are derived from the

Saka 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 hist ...

name , meaning "commander of the army".

Career

Before his rise to kingship, he served as a commander of his predecessor, Vonones, who had minted coins with his name and that of another commander,

Spalirisos Spalirisos, also spelled Spalirises, ( Greek: , (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , ) was an Iranian king who ruled Arachosia in the 1st century BCE. Name Spalarisos's name is attested on his coins in the Greek form () and in the Kharosthi form ...

, who are both referred to as "brother of the king". Scholars such as R.C. Senior and

Khodadad Rezakhani Khodadad Rezakhani ( Persian: خداداد رضاخانی, born 1976) is an Iranian historian of late antique Central and West Asia. He has been associate research scholar at The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gul ...

consider Spalahores and Spalirisos to indeed be Vonones' brothers, while others such as K.W. Dobbins argue that it was an honorific title given to them, whom he considered to be

satraps. A major argument against the proposal of a blood relationship between Vonones and the two commanders was due to both of them having

names, contrary to Vonones'

Parthian Parthian may be: Historical * A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran * Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD) * Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language * Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...

name. Saghi Gazerani has suggested that after the

Arsacid The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conquer ...

re-conquest of Sakastan (sometime between 124–115 BC), which was given as a fiefdom to the Surenid general that led the expedition, the Surenids (who became independent after 88 BC) and Sakas became closely connected, presumably through alliances and intermarriages. Indeed, Parthians and Sakas are often mixed up in Indian literature. The mythological Iranian hero

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(who was from Sakastan), is mentioned in Iranian traditions as both Parthian and Saka, thus supporting this dual-identity. Spalahores' son and successor, Spalagadames, has been suggested by Rezakhani to be the same figure as the first Indo-Parthian king Gondophares ().

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{authority control Indo-Scythian kings 1st-century BC Iranian monarchs 1st-century BC Iranian people