Shahin

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Shahin's campaigns 611 to 616

Shahin ( Sahen , that means "falcon"; † 626 ) was a late antique Persian spahbod (general).

Life

Almost nothing is known about his early life. Shahin served the Persian Great King Chosrau II in his war that began in 603 against Ostrom , where he initially operated very successfully. In 608 or 609 he made his breakthrough on the Armenian front, where he occupied Theodosiopolis . In 611 his troops advanced into Asia Minor , Caesarea in Cappadocia was occupied and Persian troops crossed the country. However, their control of Asia Minor was rather superficial, even if the appearance of Persian troops in Chalcedon (614 and 615), opposite the capital Constantinople , caused unrest among the Romans. As early as 613 he was able to unite his troops with those of General Shahrbaraz , who was a rival of Shahin, before the Roman counter-offensive in Armenia under General Philippikos Shahin in 614 forced a strategic retreat.

In 615 he conducted peace talks with Emperor Herakleios , which were unsuccessful. When Herakleios went on the offensive against the Persians in 622, Shahin tried in vain to destroy his troops: he and other Persian generals defeated Herakleios in 625 after the emperor had acted skillfully and misled the Persian troops several times.

In 626 there was a siege of Constantinople . Shahin's task was to bind Herakleios' troops and, if possible, destroy them, while Shahrbaraz was to conquer the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire with the help of the allied Avars (and their Slav subjects). However, the Roman fleet prevented the Persians from crossing over to the European shore, and the Avars, in turn, could not overcome the strong fortifications of Constantinople and finally withdrew. Shahin and his army (which may have been up to 50,000 strong) were probably subject to a Roman army led by Herakleios' brother Theodoros in July 626 (probably near Satala ). Shortly afterwards he passed away. Chosrau, who mistrusted his generals more and more (and not without good reason), is said to have been so beside himself that he had the general's corpse prepared in the most cruel manner.

The following year Herakleios finally defeated the Persians, who had to ask for peace in 628.

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Ferdinand Justi: Iranian name book . Marburg 1895, pp. 274f.
  2. ↑ For the historical context, see the remarks in the article Roman-Persian Wars . See also Kaegi, Heraclius , especially p. 65ff.
  3. ↑ On the following: Kaegi, Heraclius , p. 122ff.
  4. ↑ See Kaegi, Heraclius , p. 129ff.
  5. ↑ Kaegi, Heraclius , pp. 132-133 (with references).
  6. ↑ Martindale, PLRE IIIb , p. 1141. Sources according to which he died before 626 are based on a misinterpretation: ibid., P. 1140.
personal data
SURNAME Shahin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Persian general
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century
DATE OF DEATH 626