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131-565: The Nasrid dynasty authority extended over to their Arab allies in Al-Bahrain and Al-Yamama . When Khosrow II deposed and executed Al-Nu'man III , the last Nasrid ruler, his Arab allies in Najd rose in arms and defeated the Sasanians at the battle of Dhi Qar , which led to the Sasanians losing their control over Eastern Arabia. The victory at Dhi Qar roused confidence and enthusiasm among

262-485: A utopian society. The Qarmatians' goal was to build a society based on reason and equality. The state was governed by a council of six with a chief who was primus inter pares . All property within the community was distributed evenly among all initiates. The Qarmatians were organized as an esoteric society but not as a secret one; their activities were public and openly propagated, but new members had to undergo an initiation ceremony involving seven stages. For much of

393-593: A church and monastery constructed near the palace in Ctesiphon, which was used to receive a portion of the treasury for the wages of the clergy and their vestments. The Arab Lakhmids/Nasrids , a client state located at al-Hira and its surroundings, could now openly convert to Nestorian Christianity without angering the Sasanian court. The Iranians and the Byzantines enjoyed good relations with each other for

524-459: A civil war and interregnum in the empire and the reversal of all Sasanian gains in the war against the Byzantines. In works of Persian literature such as the Ferdowsi 's Shahnameh and Nizami Ganjavi 's (1141–1209) Khosrow and Shirin , a famous tragic romance and a highly elaborated fictional version of Khosrow's life made him one of the greatest heroes of the culture, as much a lover as

655-596: A key role in the fall of the Sasanian Empire. The overthrow and death of Khosrow culminated in a chaotic civil war , with the most powerful members of the nobility gaining full autonomy and starting to create their own government. The hostilities between the Persian ( Parsig ) and Parthian ( Pahlav ) noble-families were also resumed, which split up the wealth of the nation. The civil war finally ended when Khosrow's eight year old grandson, Yazdegerd III , ascended

786-662: A king. Khosrow and Shirin tells the story of his love for the originally Aramean princess Shirin , who becomes his queen after a lengthy courtship strewn with mishaps and difficulties. "Khosrow" is the New Persian variant of his name used by scholars; his original name was Middle Persian , Husraw , itself derived from Avestan Haosrauuah ("he who has good fame"). The name is transliterated in Greek as Chosroes (Χοσρόης) and in Arabic as Kisra . His name in combination with

917-797: A letter in which Khosrow was asked to preach the religion of Islam. The account as transmitted by Muslim tradition reads: "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to Kisra, the great (leader/head) of the Persians. Peace be upon him, who seeks truth and expresses belief in Allah and in His Prophet and testifies that there is no god but Allah and that He has no partner, and who believes that Muhammad

1048-488: A new city there and named it "Batan Ardashir" after his father. Mazun stretched from Oman in the south to the Shatt al-Arab in the north, and included the archipelago of Bahrain; thus it is roughly coterminous with the modern definition of Eastern Arabia. It was subdivided into the three districts of Haggar ( Hofuf , Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir ( Al-Qatif , Saudi Arabia), and Mishmahig ( Muharraq , Bahrain), which included

1179-793: A provincial official located in Dilmun, Ilī-ippašra , to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are Akkadian . These letters hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon . Following the collapse of the Kassite dynasty, Mesopotamian documents make no mention of Dilmun, with the exception of Assyrian inscriptions dated to 1250 BC which proclaimed the Assyrian king to be "King of Dilmun and Meluhha ". Assyrian inscriptions at this time also recorded tribute from Dilmun. There are other Assyrian inscriptions during

1310-438: A resurrection of the ancient Achaemenid Empire . His two successors, Kavad II ( r.  628–628 ) and Ardashir III ( r.  628–630 ), refrained from using the title, seemingly in order distance themselves from him. Islamic tradition tells a story in which Khosrow II (in Arabic : كسرى Transliteration: Kisra) was a Persian king to whom Muhammad had sent a messenger, Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi , along with

1441-470: A revival of interest in the inscription, and controversy has arisen over its precise implications. It is now certain that Imru' al-Qais claimed the title "King of all the Arabs" and also claimed in the inscription to have campaigned successfully over the entire north and centre of the peninsula, as far as the border of Najran . Two years after his death, in the year 330, a revolt took place where Aws ibn Qallam

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1572-548: A structure of administration where according to legal principles, all would be treated straightforwardly as mard / zan ī šahr , i.e. "man/woman [citizen] of the country". Jews and (notably) Christians had accepted the concept of Iran and considered themselves part of the nation. During his reign there was constant conflict between Monophysite and Nestorian Christians. Khosrow favored the Monophysites, and ordered all his subjects to adhere to Monophysitism, perhaps under

1703-590: A unified and independent Arab kingdom and, following that dream, he seized many cities in the Arabian Peninsula . He then formed a large army and developed the Kingdom as a naval power, which consisted of a fleet of ships operating along the Bahraini coast. From this position he attacked the coastal cities of Iran - which at that time was in civil war, due to a dispute as to the succession - even raiding

1834-477: Is "very little information about who made up the people who lived in or around al-Hirah, and there is no reason to suppose that any connection between Nasrid leaders and Lakhm that may have existed in the third century was still present in the sixth, or that the Nasrids ruled over a homogeneous Lakhmid kingdom". This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the historical sources—mostly Byzantine —start dealing with

1965-456: Is 60 km (37 miles) inland and thus less likely to be the starting point for a trader's route, making the location within the archipelago of islands comprising the modern Kingdom of Bahrain , particularly the main island of Bahrain itself, another possibility. Various other identifications of the site have been attempted, with Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville choosing Qatif and Carsten Niebuhr preferring Kuwait. The island of Bahrain

2096-897: Is His servant and Prophet. Under the Command of Allah, I invite you to Him. He has sent me for the guidance of all people so that I may warn them all of His wrath and may present the unbelievers with an ultimatum. Embrace Islam so that you may remain safe (in this life and the next). And if you refuse to accept Islam, you will be responsible for the sins of the Magi ." Islamic tradition further states that Khosrow II tore up Muhammad's letter saying, "A pitiful slave among my subjects dares write his name before mine" and commanded Badhan , his vassal ruler of Yemen , to dispatch two valiant men to identify, seize and bring this man from Hijaz (Muhammad) to him. When Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi told Muhammad how Khosrow had torn his letter to pieces, Muhammad promised

2227-486: Is debate on his religious affinity. Theodor Nöldeke noted that Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr was not a Christian, while Irfan Shahîd noted a possible Christian affiliation, suggesting that Imru'al Qays' Christianity may have been "orthodox, heretical or of the Manichaean type ". Furthermore, Shahid asserts that the funerary inscription of Imru' al Qays ibn 'Amr lacks Christian formulas and symbols. Imru' al-Qais dreamt of

2358-482: Is in a barrel vault carved in a cliff. The ayvan is split into an upper and lower section; the upper section depicts a divine investiture scene, with the Zoroastrian divinities Ahura Mazda and Anahita each giving Khosrow a diadem . The lower section depicts Khosrow II on horseback, wearing full body armor, whilst holding a lance and shield. His head is encircled by a halo , which according to Howard-Johnston,

2489-490: Is most likely a representation of his xwarrah , i.e. kingly glory. On the left side panel, a boar hunt scene is depicted, portraying Khosrow on a boat whilst aiming a bow. On the right, there is a deer hunt scene. The relief, however, is unfinished, probably due to Khosrow's setback in the later stages of the war and his eventual downfall. Khosrow, during his second reign, added the ideogram GDH, meaning xwarrah ("royal splendor") on his coins. He combined this together with

2620-555: Is most likely wrong since Kavad's mother was a Byzantine princess named Maria . Khosrow married three times: first to Maria , a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Maurice , who bore him Kavad II . Then to Gordiya, the sister of Bahram Chobin , who bore him Javanshir . Then to Shirin , who bore him Mardanshah . Khosrow also had other children whom were named: Borandukht , Azarmidokht , Shahriyar and Farrukhzad Khosrow V . All these persons except Shahriyar would later become

2751-509: Is now the Iraqi city of Kufa. The Abbadid dynasty , which ruled the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus in the 11th century, was of Lakhmid descent. Poets described al-Hira as paradise on earth; an Arab poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty thus: "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of treatment". The ruins of al-Hirah are located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Kufa on

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2882-463: Is that the more formal name Bahri (lit. “belonging to the sea”) would have been misunderstood and so was opted against. The term "Gulf Arab" or " Khaleeji " refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia. However, today the term is often applied to the inhabitants of the GCC countries in the Arabian Peninsula . "Khaleeji" has evolved into a socio-political regional identity that distinguished

3013-458: Is the first and only Christian nobleman that is praised by courtly historiographers, due to his rejection of the enticements of Bahram Chobin. His decision to choose Khosrow over his native Armenia, gained him a place in the Shahnameh , the national epic of Iran. Smbat IV Bagratuni likewise led an illustrious career under Khosrow, rising to the office of frontier commander of Gorgan , possibly

3144-577: Is usually identified with the whole of the parallel Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges, with the narrow gap between these mountains constituting the tunnel. Dilmun, sometimes described as “the place where the sun rises” and “the Land of the Living”, is the scene of some versions of the Eridu Genesis , and the place where the deified Sumerian hero of the flood, Utnapishtim ( Ziusudra ), was taken by

3275-577: The Adur Gushnasp temple. In 626 Heraclius captured Lazistan ( Colchis ). Later that same year, Shahrbaraz advanced on Chalcedon on the Bosphoros and attempted to capture Constantinople with the help of Avar and Slavic allies. In this siege of Constantinople in 626 , the combined Sassanid, Slavic and Avar forces failed to capture the Byzantine capital city. The Avars did not have

3406-765: The Akkadian period (c. 2300 BC), but the trade probably started in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2600 BC). Some Meluhhan vessels may have sailed directly to Mesopotamian ports, but by the Isin-Larsa Period (c. 1900 BC), Dilmun monopolized the trade. The Bahrain National Museum assesses that its "Golden Age" lasted from c. 2200 BC to 1600 BC. In the Epic of Gilgamesh , Gilgamesh had to pass through Mount Mashu to reach Dilmun. Mount Mashu

3537-649: The Battle of Nineveh and advanced towards Ctesiphon . Khosrow II fled from his favorite residence, Dastagird (near Ctesiphon), without offering resistance. Heraclius then captured Dastagird and plundered it. After the capture of Dastagird, the son of Khosrow, Sheroe, was released by the feudal families of the Sasanian Empire , which included the Ispahbudhan spahbed Farrukh Hormizd and his two sons Rostam Farrokhzad and Farrukhzad . Shahrbaraz of

3668-489: The Byzantine Empire . He then tried to negotiate peace with Khosrow II by sending diplomats to his court. Khosrow, however, rejected their offer and said: "That kingdom belongs to me, and I shall enthrone Maurice's son, Theodosius, as emperor. [As for Heraclius], he went and took the rule without our order and now offers us our own treasure as gifts. But I shall not stop until I have him in my hands." Khosrow then had

3799-587: The Byzantines . However, when in 602 Emperor Maurice was murdered by his General Phocas (602–610), who usurped the Roman (Byzantine) throne, Khosrow launched an offensive against Constantinople: ostensibly to avenge Maurice's death, but his aim clearly included the annexation of as much Byzantine territory as was feasible. Khosrow II, along with Shahrbaraz and his other best generals, quickly captured Dara and Edessa in 604, and recaptured lost territory in

3930-650: The Gulf Arabic dialect, its influence reaches as far as Tunisia . Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of poetry, film, theater, and soap operas, is exported to neighbouring states. The Arab world's three largest broadcast networks ( Al Jazeera Network , Al Arabiya , and MBC Group ) are all located in Eastern Arabia as well. Islam is dominant in Eastern Arabia. The main sects are Sunni Islam , Ibadi Islam (dominant in Oman); and Shia Islam . Before

4061-625: The Mihran family, the Armenian faction represented by Varaztirots II Bagratuni , and finally Kanadbak of the Kanārangīyān family . On the night of 25 February, the night-watch of the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon , which would usually shout the name of the reigning shah, shouted the name of Sheroe instead, which indicated a coup d'état was taking place. Sheroe, with Aspad Gushnasp leading his army, captured Ctesiphon and imprisoned Khosrow II in

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4192-507: The Oxus river to the region of Ardabil in the west. He even campaigned in the east, where he subdued two Hephthalite princes of Transoxiana , Shaug and Pariowk. The date of Vistahm's uprising is uncertain. From his coinage, it is known that his rebellion lasted for seven years. The commonly accepted dates are ca. 590–596, but some scholars like J.D. Howard–Johnston and Parvaneh Pourshariati push its outbreak later, in 594/5, to coincide with

4323-527: The Oxus river , where he was received honorably by the Khagan of the Turks, who was most likely Birmudha—the same Turkic prince that Bahram Chobin had defeated and captured a few years earlier during his wars against the Turks. Bahram Chobin entered his service, and was appointed as a commander in the army, achieving further military accomplishments there. Bahram Chobin became a highly popular figure after saving

4454-613: The Turko - Hephthalites , who had raided as far as Spahan in central Iran. Smbat, with the aid of an Iranian prince named Datoyean, repelled the Turko-Hephthalites from Iran, and plundered their domains in eastern Khorasan , where Smbat is said to have killed their king in single combat. Khosrow then gave Smbat the honorific title Khosrow Shun ("the Joy or Satisfaction of Khosrow"), while his son Varaztirots II Bagratuni received

4585-606: The United Arab Emirates are the most commonly listed Gulf Arab states . Most of Saudi Arabia is not geographically a part of Eastern Arabia. In Arabic, Baḥrayn is the dual form of baḥr ( Arabic : بَحْر , lit.   'sea'), so al-Baḥrayn means "the Two Seas". However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute. The term appears five times in the Qur'an , but does not refer to

4716-452: The modern island —originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to the oases of al-Qatif and Hadjar (modern Al-Aḥsā). It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the archipelago in the Gulf of Bahrain , but it was probably after the 15th century. Today, Bahrain's "two seas" are instead generally taken to be the bay east and west of the coast, the seas north and south of

4847-476: The rebellion of Vistahm (590/1–596 or 594/5–600). With Khosrow's rule now restored, his aim was to now consolidate his grip over his realm, which included showing tolerance and support to his Christian subjects. His wife Shirin —a Christian from Khuzestan —was the most influential of his wives, playing an important role in the royal favour that the Mesopotamian Christians enjoyed. She had

4978-735: The 10th century the Qarmatians were the most powerful force in the Persian Gulf and Middle East, controlling the coast of Oman, and collecting tribute from the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad and from the rival Ismaili Fatimid caliph in Cairo , whom they did not recognize. The land they ruled over was extremely wealthy, with a huge slave-based economy. According to academic Yitzhak Nakash: The Qarmatian state had vast fruit and grain estates both on

5109-589: The 28th year of [Khosrow's] reign [618–19]. In 622, despite the major progress the Sasanians were making in the area of the Aegean Sea , the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius was able to take the field with a powerful force. In 624, he advanced into northern Adurbadagan , where he was welcomed by Farrukh Hormizd and his son Rostam Farrokhzad who had rebelled against Khosrow. Heraclius then began sacking several cities and temples, including

5240-566: The 7th century CE , the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of partially Christianized Arabs , Arab Zoroastrians , Jews and Aramaic -speaking agriculturalists. Some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian , Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of ancient Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, while Syriac functioned as a liturgical language . The Kingdom of Dilmun first appears in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to

5371-620: The Arab king's refusal to give him his daughter al-Ḥurqah in marriage and insulting Persian women. Afterwards the central government took over the defense of the western frontiers to the desert, and the buffer state of the Lakhmids vanished. This ultimately facilitated the Muslim Caliphs ' invasion and conquest of Lower Iraq , less than a decade after Khosrow's death. Toward the beginning of his reign, Khosrow II had good relations with

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5502-604: The Arabian Peninsula, only 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the ancient burial grounds of Dilmun on the island of Bahrain. Prior to Gerrha, the area belonged to the Dilmuni civilization. Gerrha itself was the center of an Arab kingdom from approximately 650 BC to circa 300 AD. The kingdom was attacked by Antiochus III the Great in 205-204 BC, though it seems to have survived. It is unknown exactly when Gerrha fell, but

5633-565: The Arabs seen as the beginning of a new era. The nature and identity of the Lakhmid Kingdom remains mostly unclear. The ruling Nasrid family emerges with " Amr of the Lakhm ", mentioned in the late 3rd-century Paikuli inscription among the vassals of the Sasanian Empire . From this, the term "Lakhmid" has been applied by historians to the Nasrids and their subjects, ruled from al-Hirah. However, as historian Greg Fisher points out, there

5764-585: The Armenian Vahewuni rebellion. As Vistahm began to threaten Media , Khosrow sent several armies against his uncle, but failed to achieve a decisive result: Vistahm and his followers retreated to the mountainous region of Gilan , while several Armenian contingents of the royal army rebelled and defected to Vistahm. Finally, Khosrow called upon the services of the Armenian Smbat Bagratuni , who engaged Vistahm near Qumis . During

5895-510: The Armenians would become partners of the new Iranian empire ruled by a Parthian dynastic family if he accepted his proposal to betray Khosrow II. Mushegh, however, rejected the offer. Bahram Chobin was then defeated at the Battle of Blarathon , forcing him to flee with 4,000 men eastwards. He marched towards Nishapur , where he defeated a pursuing army as well as an army led by a Karenid nobleman at Qumis . Constantly troubled, he crossed

6026-569: The Bahrain archipelago. The Christian name used for the region encompassing north-eastern Arabia was Beth Qatraye, which translates to "region of the Qataris " in Syriac . It included Bahrain , Tarout , Al-Khatt , Al-Aḥsā , and Qatar. By the 5th century, Beth Qatraye was a major center for Nestorian Christianity , which had come to dominate the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. Within

6157-597: The Byzantine Empire's territories, earning Khosrow II the epithet "the Victorious". A siege of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 626 was unsuccessful, and Heraclius , now allied with Turks , started a risky but successful counterattack deep into Persia's heartland. Dissatisfied with the war, the feudal families of the empire supported a coup in which Khosrow II was deposed and killed by his estranged son Sheroe, who took power as Kavad II . This led to

6288-483: The Byzantine Empire, Nestorians were persecuted as heretics, but as eastern Arabia was far enough from the empire's borders that Nestorianism flourished. Several notable Nestorian writers originated from Beth Qatraye, including Isaac of Nineveh , Dadisho Qatraya , Gabriel of Qatar and Ahob of Qatar. Christianity declined with the arrival of Islam in Eastern Arabia in 628. By 676, the bishops of Beth Qatraye had stopped attending synods; although Christianity persisted in

6419-497: The Byzantines would re-gain sovereignty over the cities of Amida , Carrhae , Dara and Martyropolis . Furthermore, Iran was required to stop intervening in the affairs of Iberia and Armenia , effectively ceding control of Lazistan to the Byzantines. In 591, Khosrow moved to Constantia and prepared to invade Bahram Chobin's territories in Mesopotamia, while Vistahm and Vinduyih were raising an army in Adurbadagan under

6550-856: The Byzantines, the Iranians worked together with the Byzantines to deal with the issue. After his victory, Khosrow rewarded his uncles with high positions: Vinduyih became treasurer and first minister and Vistahm received the post of spahbed of the East, encompassing Tabaristan and Khorasan , which was the traditional homeland of the Ispahbudhan. Soon, however, Khosrow changed his intentions: trying to disassociate himself from his father's murder, he decided to execute his uncles. The Sasanian monarchs' traditional mistrust of over-powerful magnates and Khosrow's personal resentment of Vinduyih's patronising manner certainly contributed to this decision. Vinduyih

6681-401: The Empire from across the Danube River . In 622/3, Rhodes and several other islands in the eastern Aegean fell to the Sasanians, threatening a naval assault on Constantinople. Such was the despair in Constantinople that Heraclius considered moving the government to Carthage in Africa. In ca. 606/607, Khosrow recalled Smbat IV Bagratuni from Sasanian Armenia and sent him to repel

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6812-401: The GCC inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula from the wider Arab world building on the perceived cultural homogeneity within the Gulf states and their shared history. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabia's Gulf coast share similar cultures and music styles, such as fijiri , sawt and liwa . The most noticeable cultural trait of Eastern Arabia's Gulf Arabs is their orientation and focus towards

6943-434: The Indus Valley city of Harappa were evidently used to seal bundles of merchandise, as clay seal impressions with cord or sack marks on the reverse side testify. A number of these Indus Valley seals have turned up at Ur and other Mesopotamian sites. The “Arabian Gulf” types of circular, stamped (rather than rolled) seals known from Dilmun appear at Lothal in Gujarat , India, as well as in Mesopotamia. These seals support

7074-493: The Indus region that are not native to Mesopotamia. Instances of all of these trade goods have been found. The importance of this trade is shown by the fact that the weights and measures used at Dilmun were in fact identical to those used by the Indus, and were not used in Southern Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian trade documents, lists of goods, and official inscriptions mentioning Meluhha supplement Harappan seals and archaeological finds. Literary references to trade with Meluhha date from

7205-625: The Iranians, our friend.... We have also taken over the royal throne in a lawful manner and have upset no Iranian customs.... We have so firmly decided not to take off the diadem that we even expected to rule over other worlds, if this were possible.... If you wish your welfare, think about what is to be done." Bahram Chobin, however, ignored his warning—a few days later, he reached the Nahrawan Canal near Ctesiphon, where he fought Khosrow's men, who were heavily outnumbered, but managed to hold Bahram Chobin's men back in several clashes. However, Khosrow's men eventually began losing their morale, and were in

7336-476: The Khagan from a conspiracy instigated by the latter's brother Byghu (conceivably an incorrect translation of yabghu ). Khosrow II, however, could not feel safe as long as Bahram Chobin lived, and succeeded in having him assassinated. The assassination was reportedly achieved through distribution of presents and bribes between the members of the Turkic royal family, notably the queen. What remained of Bahram Chobin's supporters went back to northern Iran and joined

7467-459: The Lakhmids in greater detail only from the late 5th century, as well as by the relative lack of archaeological work at al-Hirah. The Lakhmid Kingdom was founded and ruled by the Banu Lakhm tribe that emigrated from Yemen in the second century. The founder of the dynasty was 'Amr, whose son Imru' al-Qais I (not to be confused with the poet Imru' al-Qais who lived in the sixth century) is claimed to have converted to Christianity. However, there

7598-418: The Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of Egypt and Assyria ... With the waning of Seleucid Greek power, Tylos was incorporated into Characene , the state founded by Hyspaosines in 127 BC in modern-day Kuwait . A building inscription found in Bahrain indicates that Hyspoasines occupied

7729-441: The Persian Gulf trade route, the Parthians established garrisons on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. In the 3rd century AD, the Sasanians succeeded the Parthians and held the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Ardashir , the first ruler of the Sasanian dynasty, conquered Bahrain and northern Oman, and appointed his son, Shapur I , as the governor of eastern Arabia, the province of Mazun . Shapur constructed

7860-438: The Persian Gulf, are large plantations of cotton trees, from which are manufactured clothes called sindones , of different degrees of value, some being costly, others less expensive. The use of these is mostly confined to India, but extends also to Arabia.” The Greek historian, Theophrastus , states that much of the archipelago was covered in these cotton trees and noted that textiles were a major industry. According to him, Tylos

7991-445: The Phoenicians originated from Bahrain. This theory was accepted by the 19th-century German classicist Arnold Heeren who said that: "In the Greek geographers, for instance, we read of two islands, named Tyrus or Tylos , and Arad, Bahrain , which boasted that they were the mother country of the Phoenicians, and exhibited relics of Phoenician temples." The people of Tyre in particular have long maintained Persian Gulf origins, and

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8122-425: The Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon . The legitimacy of the House of Sasan was based on acceptance that the halo of kingship, the xwarrah , was given to the first Sasanian shah, Ardashir I ( r.  224–242 ) and his family following the latter's conquest of the Parthian Empire . This was now, however, disputed by Bahram Chobin, thus marking the first time in Sasanian history that a Parthian dynast challenged

8253-419: The Sasanian dynasty of a future competent ruler, and has been described as a "mad rampage" and "reckless". Three days later he ordered Mihr Hormozd to execute Khosrow. However, after the regicide of his father, Kavad also proceeded to have Mihr Hormozd killed. Khosrow's daughters Boran and Azarmidokht reportedly criticized and scolded Kavad for his barbaric actions, which made him filled with remorse. With

8384-438: The Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king ( shah ) of Iran , ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year. Khosrow II was the son of Hormizd IV (reigned 579–590), and the grandson of Khosrow I (reigned 531–579). He was the last king of Iran to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran , which began five years after his execution. He lost his throne, then recovered it with

8515-454: The Zoroastrian church, which was in a heavy decline during his reign. According to Richard N. Frye , the Zoroastrian church under Khosrow "was noted for its devotion to luxury more than its devotion to thought." Khosrow II's reign was considered a golden age in music . Before Khosrow II there were many other Sasanian kings that showed particular interest in music, like Khosrow I , Bahram Gur , and even Ardashir I . Notable musicians during

8646-433: The Zoroastrian priests, and also made Christianity greatly spread around the Sasanian Empire. During Khosrow's war with the Byzantines, Christian elites and organizations were incorporated into the Sasanian system, as part of his attempt to absorb the Byzantine realm into his expanded empire. The condition of the Christian nobility reached its pinnacle under Khosrow. Mushegh II Mamikonian , a prominent Armenian nakharar ,

8777-415: The annexation of the Lakhmid Kingdom was one of the main factors behind the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Sasanians were defeated in the Battle of Hira by Khalid ibn al-Walid . At that point, the city was abandoned and its materials were used to reconstruct Kufa , its exhausted twin city. According to the Arab historian Abu ʿUbaidah ( d.  824), Khosrow II

8908-417: The area was under Sassanid Persian control after 300 AD. Gerrha was described by Strabo as inhabited by Chaldean exiles from Babylon , who built their houses of salt and repaired them by the application of salt water. Pliny the Elder ( Natural History , 6.32) says it was 8 kilometres (5 mi) in circumference with towers built of square blocks of salt. Gerrha was destroyed by the Qarmatians at

9039-437: The area. Al Khamis Mosque , built during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Umar II , was one of the earliest mosques built in eastern Arabia. The expansion of Islam did not affect eastern Arabia's reliance on trade, and its prosperity continued to be dependent on markets in India and Mesopotamia. After Baghdad emerged as the seat of the caliph in 750 following the Abbasid Revolution , eastern Arabia greatly benefited from

9170-399: The battle, Vistahm was murdered by Pariowk at Khosrow's urging (or, according to an alternative account, by his wife Gordiya). Nevertheless, Vistahm's troops managed to repel the royal army at Qumis, and it required another expedition by Smbat in the next year to finally end the rebellion. In 600, Khosrow II executed Al-Nu'man III , King of the Lakhmids of Al-Hira , presumably because of

9301-456: The birthplace of the Sasanian kings, Fars Province . Imru' al-Qais escaped to Bahrain, taking his dream of a unified Arab nation with him, and then to Syria seeking the promised assistance from Constantius II which never materialized, so he stayed there until he died. When he died he was entombed at al-Nimarah in the Syrian desert. Imru' al-Qais' funerary inscription is written in an extremely difficult type of script. Recently there has been

9432-459: The city's increased demand for foreign goods, especially from China and South Asia. Eastern Arabia, and Bahrain more specifically, became a principal centre of knowledge for hundreds of years stretching from the early days of Islam in the 6th century to the 18th century. Philosophers of eastern Arabia were highly esteemed, such as the 13th-century mystic, Sheikh Maitham Al Bahrani (d. 1299). The mosque of Sheikh Maitham and his tomb can be visited in

9563-512: The conversation like that, he went back on-topic and asked them to come back to him the next day. When they did, he informed them that Khosrow II had been killed by his son. Badhan's men responded angrily, threatening Muhammad to tell Badhan what he is saying about Khosrow II. To that, he responded by encouraging them to write to Badhan and to also tell him that Islam and its power will reach all that Khosrow II has ever ruled over. A few days later, Badhan received confirmation from Persia that Khosrow II

9694-594: The destruction of Khosrow II stating, "Even so, Allah shall destroy his kingdom." Later, Badhan's men arrived in Medina and talked to Muhammad, ordering him to accompany them back to Khosrow II. Muhammad reportedly changed the subject, made it obvious he did not like their appearance, and responded by asking why they shave their beards and leave their mustaches to grow and be that large. When they said that's what their god orders them to do, he said his god orders him to cut his mustache and grow his beard. After he took control of

9825-549: The diplomats executed. In 613 and 614, General Shahrbaraz besieged and captured Damascus and Jerusalem , and the True Cross was carried away in triumph. Soon afterwards, Shahin marched through Anatolia , defeating the Byzantines numerous times; he conquered Egypt in 618. The Byzantines could offer but little resistance, as they were torn apart by internal dissensions, and pressed by the Avars and Slavs , who were invading

9956-619: The direction of the Hajar , are close to the sea ... Tuwwam has been dominated by a branch of the Quraysh ... From the time when Islam emerged in the 7th century until the early 16th century, the term Bahrain referred to the wider historical region of eastern Arabia stretching from Bubiyan Island to the Strait of Hormuz along the coast of the Persian Gulf . Eastern Arabians were amongst

10087-459: The end defeated by Bahram Chobin's forces. Khosrow, together with his two uncles, his wives, and a retinue of 30 nobles, thereafter fled to Byzantine territory, while Ctesiphon fell to Bahram Chobin. Bahram Chobin declared himself king of kings in the summer of 590, asserting that the first Sasanian king Ardashir I ( r.  224–242 ) had usurped the throne of the Arsacids , and that he now

10218-579: The end of Zoroaster's millennium, he was therefore hailed by many as the promised savior Kay Bahram Varjavand. Bahram was to re-establish the Arsacid Empire and commenced a new millennium of dynastic rule. He started minting coins, where he is on the front imitated as an exalted figure, bearded and wearing a crenellation -shaped crown with two crescents of the moon, whilst the reverse shows the traditional fire altar flanked by two attendants. Regardless, many nobles and priests still chose to side with

10349-462: The end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna , in the city of Uruk . The demonym "Dilmun" is used to describe a type of axe and the ethnicity of an official in these tablets. Dilmun was also mentioned in two letters, recovered from Nippur , which were dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II (c. 1370 BC), a king of the Kassite dynasty of Babylon . These letters were from

10480-452: The end of the 9th century, and all 300,000 inhabitants were killed. It was 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Persian Gulf near current day Hofuf . The researcher Abdulkhaliq Al Janbi argued in his book that Gerrha was most likely the ancient city of Hajar, located in modern-day Al-Ahsa , Saudi Arabia. Al Janbi's theory is the most widely accepted one by modern scholars, although there are some difficulties with this argument given that Al Ahsa

10611-699: The epithet "Parviz" is attested in Georgian as K‛asre Ambarvez ( Pseudo-Juansher , writing around the year 800) and in Armenian as Aprouēž Xosrov . Khosrow II was born in c.  570 ; he was the son of Hormizd IV and an unnamed noblewoman from the House of Ispahbudhan , one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran . Her brothers, Vinduyih and Vistahm , were to have a profound influence in Khosrow II's early life. Khosrow's paternal grandfather

10742-507: The first eleven years. This was apparent in their management of the issues that had risen in Armenia. In the 590s, many Armenian nobles and their supporters sought asylum in Iran to avoid being conscripted for Maurice's Balkan campaigns . The open borders between the two empires meant that nobles could freely immigrate to Iran and get promoted. However, when they showed signs of aspiring to fight

10873-463: The first millennium BC indicating Assyrian sovereignty over Dilmun; one of the sites discovered in Bahrain indicates that Sennacherib , king of Assyria (707–681 BC), attacked the northeastern Persian Gulf and captured Bahrain. The most recent reference to Dilmun came during the Neo-Babylonian dynasty. Neo-Babylonian administrative records, dated 567 BC, stated that Dilmun was controlled by

11004-505: The first to embrace Islam during the time of the Prophet Muhammad , who ruled eastern Arabia through one of his representatives, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadhrami . Eastern Arabia embraced Islam in 628 (the seventh year of Hijrah ; i.e. 7 AH ). During the time of Umar I, a companion of Muhammad, Abu Hurairah was the governor of eastern Arabia. Umar I also appointed Uthman ibn Abi al-As , another companion of Muhammad, as governor of

11135-474: The gods to live forever. Thorkild Jacobsen 's translation of the Eridu Genesis calls it " Mount Dilmun " and a “faraway, half-mythical place”. Dilmun is also described in the epic story of Enki and Ninhursag as the site at which the Creation occurred. Enki says to Ninhursag: For Dilmun, the land of my lady's heart, I will create long waterways, rivers and canals, whereby water will flow to quench

11266-479: The governor of Arbela in Mesopotamia sometime before his accession to the throne. In 590, Hormizd IV had his prominent general Bahram Chobin disgraced and dismissed. Bahram, infuriated by Hormizd's actions, responded by rebelling , and due to his noble status and great military knowledge, was joined by his soldiers and many others. He then appointed a new governor for Khorasan , and afterwards set out for

11397-573: The help of the Byzantine emperor Maurice , and, a decade later, went on to emulate the feats of the Achaemenids , conquering the rich Roman provinces of the Middle East; much of his reign was spent in wars with the Byzantine Empire and struggling against usurpers such as Bahram Chobin and Vistahm . Khosrow II began a war against the Byzantines in 602, ostensibly to avenge the murder of his ally Maurice. Persian forces captured much of

11528-483: The honorific name Javitean Khosrow ("Eternal Khosrow"). Sebeos describes the event as: He [Khosrow] ordered that a huge elephant be adorned and brought to the chamber. He commanded that [Smbat's son] Varaztirots' (who was called Javitean Khosrow by the king), be seated atop [the elephant]. And he ordered treasures scattered on the crowd. He wrote [to Smbat] a hrovartak [expressing] great satisfaction and summoned him to court with great honor and pomp. [Smbat] died in

11659-560: The house of a certain Mehr-Sepand (also known as Maraspand). Sheroe, who had now assumed the dynastic name of Kavad II, then ordered Aspad Gushnasp to lead the charge of accusations against the deposed shah. Khosrow, however, dismissed all accusations one by one. Kavad shortly proceeded to have all his brothers and half-brothers executed, including the heir Mardanshah, who was Khosrow's favourite son. The murder of all his brothers, "all well-educated, valiant, and chivalrous men", stripped

11790-434: The inexperienced and less dominant Khosrow II. In order to get the attention of the Byzantine emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), Khosrow II went to Syria , and sent a message to the Sasanian occupied city of Martyropolis to stop their resistance against the Byzantines, but with no avail. He then sent a message to Maurice, and requested his help to regain the Sasanian throne, which the Byzantine emperor agreed with; in return,

11921-503: The influence of Shirin and the royal physician Gabriel of Sinjar , who both supported this faith. Khosrow also dispensed money or gifts to Christian shrines. Khosrow's great tolerance to Christianity and friendship with the Christian Byzantines even made some Armenian writers think that Khosrow was a Christian. His positive policy toward Christians (which, however, was probably politically motivated) made him unpopular with

12052-476: The island, or the salt and fresh water present above and below the ground. In addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity. An alternate theory offered by al-Hasa was that the two seas were the Great Green Ocean and a peaceful lake on the mainland; still another provided by al-Jawahari

12183-693: The islands and in Hasa and Qatif. Nasiri Khusru, who visited Hasa in 1051, recounted that these estates were cultivated by some thirty thousand Ethiopian slaves. He mentions that the people of Hasa were exempt from taxes. Those impoverished or in debt could obtain a loan until they put their affairs in order. No interest was taken on loans, and token lead money was used for all local transactions. Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; Middle Persian : 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩 , romanized:  Husrō and Khosrau ), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz ( New Persian : خسرو پرویز , "Khosrow

12314-662: The islands. From the 3rd century BC to arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Eastern Arabia was controlled by two other Iranian dynasties: the Parthians and the Sasanians . By about 250 BC, the Seleucids lost their territories to the Parthians, an Iranian tribe from Central Asia . The Parthian Empire brought the Persian Gulf under their control and extended their influence as far as Oman. Because they needed to control

12445-497: The king of Babylon. The name "Dilmun" fell from use after the collapse of Neo-Babylon in 538 BC. It is not certain what happened to the civilization itself; discoveries of ruins under the Persian Gulf may be of Dilmun. There is both literary and archaeological evidence of extensive trade between Ancient Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley civilization (which most scholars identify with Meluhha ). Impressions of clay seals from

12576-467: The legitimacy of the Sasanian family by rebelling. Meanwhile, Hormizd tried to come to terms with his brothers-in-law Vistahm and Vinduyih, who according to the Syriac writer Joshua the Stylite , both "equally hated Hormizd". The two brothers overthrew Hormizd in a seemingly bloodless palace revolution. They had Hormizd blinded with a red-hot needle, and put Khosrow II on the throne. Sometime in

12707-590: The most vital and contested area of the Sasanian realm. As a reward for his accomplishments in the east, Smbat was appointed the leader of the military jurisdiction in the Caucasus. Furthermore, his aristocratic house–the Bagratunids –was made the pillar of Sasanian authority in the area. Khosrow also paid attention to the Zoroastrians, and had various fire temples constructed. However, this did not help

12838-654: The north, which made the Sasanian–Byzantine borders go back to the pre-591 frontier before Khosrow gave Maurice territory in return for military aid against Bahram Chobin . After having reclaimed lost territory, Khosrow withdrew from the battlefield and handed military operations to Shahrbaraz and Shahin Vahmanzadegan . The Sasanian armies then invaded and plundered Syria and Asia Minor , and in 608 advanced into Chalcedon . In 610, Heraclius revolted against Phocas and killed him, crowning himself as Emperor of

12969-406: The observation of the Byzantine commander John Mystacon , who was also raising an army in Armenia. After some time, Khosrow, along with the Byzantine commander of the south, Comentiolus , invaded Mesopotamia. During this invasion, Nisibis and Martyropolis quickly defected to them, and Bahram Chobin's commander Zatsparham was defeated and killed. One of Bahram Chobin's other commanders, Bryzacius,

13100-562: The other evidence of Dilmun being an influential trading center. What the commerce consisted of is less known; timber and precious woods, ivory , lapis lazuli , gold , luxury goods such as carnelian and glazed stone beads, pearls from the Persian Gulf, and shell and bone inlays were among the goods sent to Mesopotamia in exchange for silver , tin , woolen textiles, olive oil and grains. Copper ingots from Oman and bitumen , which occurred naturally in Mesopotamia, may have been exchanged for cotton textiles and domestic fowl, major products of

13231-540: The outskirts of Manama , near the district of Mahooz . At the end of the 3rd Hijri century, Abu Sa'id al-Jannabi led the Qarmatian Revolution , a rebellion by a messianic Ismaili sect originating in Kufa in present-day Iraq. Al-Jannabi took over the city of Hajr , Bahrain's capital at that time, and Al-Aḥsā, which he made the capital of his republic. Once in control of the state, he sought to create

13362-483: The patience or technology to conquer the city. On top of that, the Iranians, who were siege warfare experts, were unable to transport their troops and equipment to the other side of the Bosphorus where their Slavic and Avar allies were located, due to heavy guarding of the strait by the Byzantine navy . Furthermore, the walls of Constantinople were easily defended against the siege towers and engines. Another reason

13493-464: The region until the late 9th century. The dioceses of Beth Qatraye did not form an ecclesiastical province , except for a short period during the mid-to-late 7th century. They were instead subject to the Metropolitanate of Fars . Hafit { Tuwwam } abounds in palm trees; it lies in the direction of Hajar { Al-Aḥsā }, and the mosque is in the markets ... Dibba and Julfar , both in

13624-408: The reign of Khosrow II were Barbad (Khosrow's favorite court musician), Bamshad , Sarkash , and Nagisa . Khosrow restored the practice of erecting rock reliefs, after an absence of nearly three centuries, the last one being erected under Shapur III ( r.  383–388 ). At Taq-e Bostan , Khosrow mimicked and magnified the rock relief of Shapur III. His relief, known as the "Great Ayvan ",

13755-413: The ruling, lord of the peoples, prince of peace, salvation of men, among gods the good and eternally living man, among men the most esteemed god, the highly illustrious, the victor, the one who rises with the sun and who lends the night his eyesight, the one famed through his ancestors, the king who hates, the benefactor who engaged the Sasanians and saved the Iranians their kingship—to Bahram, the general of

13886-525: The same time a force of 8,000 Iranians under Vistahm and Vinduyih and 12,000 Armenians under Mushegh II Mamikonian invaded Adurbadagan. Bahram Chobin tried to disrupt the force by writing a letter to Mushegh II, the letter said: "As for you Armenians who demonstrate an unseasonable loyalty, did not the house of Sasan destroy your land and sovereignty? Why otherwise did your fathers rebel and extricate themselves from their service, fighting up until today for your country?" Bahram Chobin in his letter promised that

14017-567: The scale he envisaged, Tylos was very much part of the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was Greek (although Aramaic was in everyday use), while Zeus was worshipped in the form of the Arabian sun-god Shams . Tylos even became the site of Greek athletic contests. The name Tylos is thought to be a Hellenisation of the Semitic "Tilmun" (from Dilmun). The term "Tylos"

14148-471: The sea. Maritime -focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a sea-oriented society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries . The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as Gulf Arabic . Approximately 2 million Saudis (out of a population of 34 million) speak Gulf Arabic. Khaleeji entertainment is popular throughout the Arab world . Although performed in

14279-657: The similarity in the words "Tylos" and "Tyre" has been commented upon. Herodotus 's account (written c. 430 BC) refers to Phoenicians inhabiting the shores of the Persian Gulf: According to the Persians , who are best informed in history, the Phoenicians began the quarrel. These people, who had formerly dwelt in the far east and then to the shores of the Erythraean Sea , having migrated to

14410-545: The sixth century. Nevertheless, in 602, the last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir , was put to death by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II because of a false suspicion of treason, and the Lakhmid Kingdom was annexed. Coupled with increasing instability in Persia proper after the downfall of Khosrow in 628, these events heralded the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya in 636 and the Muslim conquest of Persia . Some believed that

14541-408: The summer of 590, the two brothers then had Hormizd killed, with at least the implicit approval of Khosrow II. Nevertheless, Bahram Chobin continued his march to Ctesiphon, now with the pretext of claiming to avenge Hormizd. Khosrow then took a carrot and stick attitude, and wrote a message to Bahram Chobin, stressing his rightful claim to the Sasanian kingship: "Khosrow, kings of kings, ruler over

14672-528: The support of the Iranian nobles, Kavad then made peace with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius , which made the Byzantines regain all their lost territories, their captured soldiers, a war indemnity , along with the True Cross and other relics that were lost in Jerusalem in 614. Due to Kavad's actions, his reign is seen as a turning point in Sasanian history, and has been argued by some scholars as playing

14803-560: The thirst of all beings and bring abundance to all that lives. Ninlil , the Sumerian goddess of air and southerly winds, had her home in Dilmun. However, in the early epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta , the main events, which center on Enmerkar 's construction of the ziggurats in Uruk and Eridu , are described as taking place in a world "before Dilmun had yet been settled". Gerrha

14934-401: The throne. The young king, however, inherited a disintegrating empire, which was dealt its last blow in 651 during the Arab conquest of Iran . Khosrow II, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism. Since the 5th-century, the Sasanian monarchs had been made aware of the significance of the religious minorities in the realm, and as a result tried to homogenize them into

15065-470: The west bank of the Euphrates . Eastern Arabia Eastern Arabia ( Arabic : ٱلْبَحْرَيْن , romanized :  Al-Baḥrayn ), is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain , Iraq , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia ( Eastern Province ), and the United Arab Emirates . The entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia

15196-408: The word abzōt ("he has increased"), making the full inscription thus read as: "Khosrow, he has increased the royal splendor" ( Khūsrōkhwarrah abzōt ). The title of King of Kings –missing since the reign of Peroz I ( r.  459–484 )–was also restored on his coins. According to Shayegan, Khosrow's adoption of the title was "undoubtedly a consequence of his Byzantine policy," and was signifying

15327-520: Was also famous for exporting engraved walking canes popular in Babylon . It is not known whether Bahrain was part of the Seleucid Empire , although the archaeological site at Qalat Al Bahrain has been proposed as a Seleucid base in the Persian Gulf. Alexander had planned to settle the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf with Greek colonists, and although it is not clear that this happened on

15458-483: Was an ancient city of Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf . More accurately, the ancient city of Gerrha has been determined to have existed near or under the present fort of Uqair , 80 kilometres (50 mi) northeast of Al-Aḥsā in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia . This site was first proposed by R E Cheesman in 1924. Gerrha and Uqair are archaeological sites on the eastern coast of

15589-467: Was angry with the king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, for refusing to give him his daughter in marriage, and therefore imprisoned him. Subsequently, Khosrow sent troops to recover the Nu'man family armor, but Hani ibn Mas'ud (Nu'man's friend) refused, and the Arab forces of the Sasanian Empire were defeated at the Battle of Dhi Qar , near al-Hirah, the capital of the Lakhmids, in 609. Hira stood just south of what

15720-534: Was captured in Mosil and had his nose and ears cut off, and was thereafter sent to Khosrow, where he was killed. Khosrow II and the Byzantine general Narses then penetrated deeper into Bahram's territory, seizing Dara and then Mardin in February, where Khosrow was re-proclaimed king. Shortly after this, Khosrow sent one of his Iranian supporters, Mahbodh, to capture Ctesiphon, which he managed to accomplish. At

15851-529: Was commonly used for the archipelago; Ptolemy 's Geographia when the inhabitants are referred to as "Thilouanoi" ("inhabitants of Tylos"). Some place names in Bahrain go back to the Tylos era; for instance, the residential suburb of Arad, located in Muharraq , is believed to originate from "Arados", the ancient Greek name for the island of Muharraq . The Greek historians Herodotus and Strabo both believed

15982-548: Was dead. As a consequence, he is said to have accepted Islam, and Muhammad kept him as a ruler over his people. The battles between Heraclius and Khosrow are depicted in a famous early Renaissance fresco by Piero della Francesca , part of the History of the True Cross cycle in the church of San Francesco, Arezzo . Many Persian miniature paintings depict events in his life, like his battles or his assassination. Khosrow

16113-713: Was killed and succeeded by the son of Imru' al-Qais, 'Amr. Thereafter, the Lakhmids' main rivals were the Ghassanids , who were vassals of the Sasanians' arch-enemy, the Roman Empire . The Lakhmid Kingdom could have been a major centre of the Church of the East , which was nurtured by the Sasanians, as it opposed the Chalcedonian Christianity of the Romans. The Lakhmids remained influential throughout

16244-558: Was known as " Bahrain " for a millennium. Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from the Shatt al-Arab to the mountains of Oman , was a place where people moved around, settled and married unconcerned by national borders. The people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea , as seafaring peoples . Nowadays, Eastern Arabia is a part of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf . The modern-day states of Bahrain , Iraq , Kuwait , Oman , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , and

16375-419: Was no more than a shepherd." Vistahm's revolt, like Bahrams's shortly before, found support and spread quickly. Local magnates as well as the remnants of Bahram Chobin's armies flocked to him, especially after he married Bahram's sister Gordiya . Vistahm repelled several loyalist efforts to subdue him, and he soon held sway in the entire eastern and northern quadrants of the Iranian realm, a domain stretching from

16506-504: Was referred to by the ancient Greeks as "Tylos" ( Ancient Greek : Τύλος ) and was known for its pearls. From the 6th to 3rd century BC Bahrain was part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire . The Greek admiral Nearchus is believed to have been the first of Alexander's commanders to visit the island, and he found a verdant land that was part of a wide trading network. He recorded: “In the island of Tylos, situated in

16637-529: Was restoring their rule. Bahram Chobin tried to support his cause with the Zoroastrian apocalyptic belief that by the end of Zoroaster 's millennium, chaos and destructive wars with the Hephthalites/Huns and the Romans occurs and then a savior would appear. Indeed, the Sasanians had misidentified Zoroaster's era with that of the Seleucids (312 BC), which put Bahram Chobin's life almost at

16768-661: Was soon put to death, according to a Syriac source captured while trying to flee to his brother in the East. At the news of his brother's murder, Vistahm rose in open revolt. According to Dinawari , Vistahm sent a letter to Khosrow announcing his claim to the throne through his Parthian ( Arsacid ) heritage: "You are not worthier to rule than I am. Indeed, I am more deserving on account of my descent from Darius, son of Darius , who fought Alexander . You Sasanians deceitfully gained superiority over us [the Arsacids] and usurped our right, and treated us with injustice. Your ancestor Sasan

16899-539: Was that the Persians and Slavs did not have a strong enough navy to skirt the sea walls and establish a channel of communication. The lack of supplies for the Avars eventually caused them to abandon the siege. As this maneuver failed, Shahrbaraz' forces were defeated, and he withdrew his army from Anatolia later in 628. Following the Third Perso-Turkic War in 627, Heraclius defeated the Iranian army at

17030-566: Was the famed Sasanian shah Khosrow I Anushirvan ( r.  531–579 ), whilst his paternal grandmother was the daughter of the khagan of the Khazars . Khosrow is first mentioned in the 580s, when he was at Partaw , the capital of Caucasian Albania . During his stay there, he served as the governor of the kingdom, and managed to put an end to the Kingdom of Iberia and make it into a Sasanian province . Furthermore, Khosrow II also served as

17161-416: Was the son of Hormizd IV , and an unnamed Ispahbudhan noblewoman who was the sister of Vistahm and Vinduyih . Khosrow also had two cousins from the Ispahbudhan family whom were named Mah-Adhur Gushnasp and Narsi . He had a brother-in-law named Hormuzan , a Sasanian nobleman from one of the seven Parthian clans , who later fought against the Arabs during the Muslim invasion of Persia . However, this

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