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Balāsagān (an
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 ...
toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
meaning "country of Balas";
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
: ''Bałasakan'', the inhabitants known as '' Bałasičkʻ,''
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: ''Balāsajān''/''Balāšajān''), also known as Bazgan, was a region located in the area of the Kura and Aras rivers, adjacent to 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 south, it bordered
Atropatene Atropatene (; ; ), also known as Media Atropatene, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian kingdom established in by the Persian satrap Atropates (). The kingdom, centered in present-day Azerbaijan (Iran), Azerbaijan region in northwestern Ira ...
/ Adurbadagan and Gilan. It roughly corresponded to the
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
province of Paytakaran, albeit extending farther into the north. It has been suggested that under the
Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
the region extended as far as the stronghold of Derbent, albeit this remains disputed. The heartland of Balasagan was the ''Dasht i-Bałasakan'' ("Balasagan plain") which corresponds to the Mughan plain. During the late Sasanian era, Balasagan was included in the northern quadrant (''kust'') of Adurbadagan.


History


Pre-Islamic period

The region is first attested as a Sasanian province in the SKZ inscription of
Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
() separately from
Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus, mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...
, which indicates that it was its own political entity even if it was virtually subject to Albania. In the inscription, Shapur I's considers Balasagan and the rest of the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
as part of Iran, and only regards the Roman territories of
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
and
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
as part of Aneran. The powerful 3rd-century Zoroastrian high priest Kartir, however, considers Balasagan and the rest of the Caucasus as belonging to Aneran. What was precisely seen as Aneran is not certain. According to the medieval Persian geographer
Ibn Khordadbeh Abu'l-Qasim Ubaydallah ibn Abdallah ibn Khordadbeh (; 820/825–913), commonly known as Ibn Khordadbeh (also spelled Ibn Khurradadhbih; ), was a high-ranking bureaucrat and geographer of Persian descent in the Abbasid Caliphate. He is the aut ...
(d. 912), the ruler of Balasagan was among the leaders who was acknowledged with the title of king by the first Sasanian monarch
Ardashir I Ardashir I (), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire, the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last Par ...
(), which suggests that Balasagan was a direct vassal of Iran. According to the modern historian Robert H. Hewsen, the Sasanians took Balasagan from their Albanian vassals in the 5th-century (or possibly as early as 387). Administration-wise, Balasagan was part of Adurbadagan. Nothing is known about the Kingdom of Balasagan; its main hub may have been at the fortress of Khursan. The Sasanians formed districts such as Spandaran-Peroz, Hormizd-Peroz, At'sibagawan, and (probably) Alewan in order to consolidate the area under a more centralized administration. In , Sanesan, the king of Maskut, occupied a portion of Balasagan, while at least acknowledging the suzerainty of the Sasanians. During the reign of Yazdegerd II (), the king of Balasagan, Heran, took part in the Sasanian efforts to crush the 450–451 Armenian rebellion of Vardan Mamikonian. However, he himself revolted later on, massacring a Sasanian army in Albania, and raiding Iberian, Armenian and Albanian lands. He was killed under the orders of Yazdegerd II.


Islamic period

Balasagan was conquered in by an Arab army led by Salman ibn Rabi'a, who forced some Kurds of the region to pay ''
jizya Jizya (), or jizyah, is a type of taxation levied on non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Sharia, Islamic law. The Quran and hadiths mention jizya without specifying its rate or amount,Sabet, Amr (2006), ''The American Journal of Islamic Soc ...
'' (poll tax). Furthermore, one of the accords of the peace treaty concluded between the Arab commander Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and the ''
marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱𐭰𐭠𐭭𐭯 transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱 ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the Middle Persian suffix: 𐭡𐭭𐭯 ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ...
'' (
margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...
) of Adurbadagan was that the Arabs were to protect the locals against the Kurds of Balasagan and the Sabalan mountains. The name of Balasagan rarely appears in classical Arabic chronicles, being replaced with Mughan. Balasagan notably appears in the work of the 10th-century Arab traveller Abu Dulaf al-Yanbu'i, who in his ''al-Risala al-thania'', reports of his journey in the region.


Religion

During the reign of
Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...
(), the catholicos of Iberia and Albania, Gregory, attempted to convert the people of Balasagan to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. Regardless, pockets of local paganism still remained in the country, notably in Mughan. In bishop Eliya, who was sent as a missionary to the area, reports of inhabitants worshipping a god named Yazd, who lived in an oak tree called "king of the forest"; the bushes that encircled the tree were called "children of Yazd." The locals alleged that they had inherited the worship of Yazd from their ancestors. 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 ...
, the term ''yazd'' simply means god, which demonstrates influence from
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
, which must have taken place in the Sasanian era.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * {{coord missing, Dagestan Provinces of the Sasanian Empire History of Dagestan Historical geography of Azerbaijan Historical geography of Iran Caucasian Albania 224 establishments States and territories established in the 220s 651 disestablishments History of Talysh