The Amardians, widely referred to as the Amardi (and sometimes Mardi), were an ancient

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

tribe living along the mountainous region bordering the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

to the north, to whom the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

culture at Marlik is attributed. They are said to be related to, or the same tribe as, the Dahae and Sacae. That is to say, they were Scythian.

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis. They lived in the valleys in between the Susis and Persis, in what is now southwestern Iran. The southern Mardi are described by

Nearchus Nearchus or Nearchos (; – 300 BC) was one of the Greeks, Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus River, through the Persian Gulf and ending at t ...

as one of the four predatory mountain peoples of the southwest, along with the Susians, Uxii, and Elymaeans. Of these four nomadic groups, they were the only tribe linguistically

Etymology

The term ''Mardi'' comes from the Old Iranian word for "man" ( ; from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

''*mr̥tós'', "mortal"). Richard N. Frye believe that the name of the city of Amol is rooted in the word ''Amard'', which occurs as ''Amui'' in

Middle Persian Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...

. According to historical literature, Amol was the capital of Tapuria (modern-day Mazanderan), at least in the period starting from the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

to the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

Historical accounts

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

mentions the name ''Mardi'' several times. He places their location to the south of the Caspian Sea in what is now Gilan and Mazanderan, in northern

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. On his map, he mentions (and the Amardos river), the name attributed to the region of Sefidrud at the time.

mentions a tribe with a similar name as one of the ten to fifteen Persian tribes in Persis. They lived in the valleys in between the Susis and Persis, in what in now southwestern Iran. The southern Mardi are described by

as one of the four predatory mountain peoples of the southwest, along with the Susians, Uxii, and Elymaeans. Of these four nomadic groups, they were the only tribe linguistically

Gallery

Median Empire.jpg, Map of the Median Empire (600 BC), showing the relative locations of the Amardian tribe. Cup with a frieze of gazelles MET an62.84.R.jpg,

gold cup from Marlik, kept at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Gold cup kalardasht.jpg, The Hyrcanian Golden cup. Dated first half of first millennium. Excavated at Kelardasht,

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

. Hirschförmiges Rhyton aus Iran, Grabbeigaben, Marlik, 1200-800 v.C. (1).jpg, Deer stag Marlik Swastika iran.jpg, Golden necklace of three

Swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

s from Marlik, kept at the National Museum,

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

References

{{Clear Iranian nomads Historical Iranian peoples Nomadic groups in Eurasia History of Mazandaran province Iron Age Asia

Etymology

Historical accounts

Gallery

See also

Further reading

References