Eran (term)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ērān is a name that emerged in the 3rd century for areas in which people who speak the Iranian language live ; it is therefore not congruent with the name for the modern state of Iran . Ērān is in contrast to Anērān , the land of non-Iranians . They are both religiously and politically used terms, as Anērān was equated in this sense with the enemy of Iran and Zoroastrianism .

In ancient Persia , the terms Airya and Anairya already appear in the Avesta . Ērān ud Anērān ( Iran and non-Iran ) were only coined by the kings of the Sassanid Empire in late antiquity . While Anērān is only attested in the time of Shapur I , Ērān was already used by his father Ardaschir I in inscriptions and on coins. The late ancient Persian kings claimed to have united the entire civilized world under their rule in their empire Ērānšāhr . This did not mean that Anērān had to be subjugated, but it was meant to recognize the suzerainty of ārān . This political ideology served not least to underpin the Sassanid kings' claim to rule. Sahan saw eran ud aneran ( king of the kings of Ērān and Anērān ) remained the title of the Sassanid kings in the following years.

In addition to this strong domination ideological distinction existed real next Eran in the West Hrom / Rum ( Roman Empire ) and the North East in Transoxania Turan the country hostile nomads ( Iranian Huns and since the middle of the 6th century, the Göktürks ), which had to fight the Persian kings .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Article Anērān , in: Encyclopædia Iranica
  2. ↑ Cf. also in general Matthew P. Canepa: The Two Eyes of the Earth. Art and Ritual of Kingship between Rome and Sasanian Iran. Berkeley 2009, p. 53ff.
  3. ↑ On the history of Eastern Iran in the Sassanid period and the related nomadic invaders see Khodadad Rezakhani: ReOrienting the Sasanians. East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh 2017.