Vahman-Ardashir or Bahman-Ardashir, also known as Forat Meshan (also spelled as Mayshan, Maysan, Meshun and Maishan), was an ancient town and sub-district in the Sasanian province 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 ...

, which is situated in present-day southern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

History

According to the two

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

historians Hamza Isfahani and

Ibn al-Faqih Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani ( fa, احمد بن محمد ابن الفقيه الهمذانی) (fl. 902) was a 10th-century Persian historian and geographer, famous for his ''Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan'' ("Concise Book of Lands ...

, Vahman-Ardashir was constructed (or re-built) by the first king of the Sasanian Empire, Ardashir I (r. 224–242), while some other sources such as al-Tabari, gives the legendary Iranian king Kay Bahman credit for the foundation of the town. However, mention of this town first appears in 544, when the Nestorian bishop of Vahman-Ardashir is appointed as the metropolitan of Meshan. According to

Ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh ( ar, ابوالقاسم عبیدالله ابن خرداذبه; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking Persian bureaucrat and ...

, Vahman-Ardashir, along with Meshan (a sub-district named after the province), Dastimeshan, and Abar-Kavadh, formed the four sub-districts of a district named Shad Bahman (also spelled Vahman), which also known as "the Tigris district". An estuary named Bahmanshir, is known to be derived from the name of Vahman-Ardashir. In 635, during the

Muslim conquest of Persia The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion. Th ...

, Vahman-Ardashir was seized by the Arab military officer

Utbah ibn Ghazwan Utba ibn Ghazwan al-Mazini ( ar, عُتبة بن غَزْوان المازني, ʿUtba ibn Ghazwān al-Māzinī) (–638) was a well-known companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the seventh person to convert to Islam and participated in ...

. The town would later be involved in revolts by the

Zanj Zanj ( ar, زَنْج, adj. , ''Zanjī''; fa, زنگی, Zangi) was a name used by medieval Muslim geographers to refer to both a certain portion of Southeast Africa (primarily the Swahili Coast) and to its Bantu inhabitants. This word is al ...

in 689–690, 695, and during the height of the power of the Zanj, known as the

Zanj Rebellion The Zanj Rebellion ( ar, ثورة الزنج ) was a major revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate, which took place from 869 until 883. Begun near the city of Basra in present-day southern Iraq and led by one Ali ibn Muhammad, the insurrection invol ...

, which lasted from 869 to 883. During the 13th-century, Vahman-Ardashir was destroyed.

Sources

* * * {{coord missing, Iraq Sasanian cities Former populated places in Iraq