FIRST IRANIAN QUEEN REGNANT WHO RULED IRAN OVER SASSANID EMPIRE

Manouchehr Saadat Noury

 

INTRODUCTION:

A Queen Regnant is a female monarch, who holds all the imperial powers that a King would have, without regard to gender. This is in contrast with a Queen Consort, who is merely the spouse or the mother of a ruling King, and each one on her own has no official powers of the country. During the Sassanid Dynasty (224-651), Iran had two Queen Regnants, Pourandokht (PRD) and Azarmidokht (AZD), who ruled for about three years (629-632). In Ferdowsi's epic Book of Kings or Shahnameh, there is also a mythological reference to yet another Queen Regnant named Homa Shahrzad who ruled over 32 years. In this article, the information available on First Iranian Queen Regnants, PRD and AZD, are presented and discussed.

Iranian army of Sassanid Empire included women as fighters

 

THE STUTUS OF IRANIAN WOMEN IN SASSANID ERA:

In the Iranian tradition, women have always had special respect and equal treatment. Throughout history, researchers have come across references to the special role of women in the traditional Iranian society. According to Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer, [Iranian women used to participate in social affairs and fight in the battlefield]. It is also known that the Iranian army of Sassanid Empire included women as fighters, and Roman sources have described them a group of excellent fighters. There are, however, some reports indicating in Sassanid Empire women were not considered as independent individuals and were completely under the custody of the patriarch (in Persian: Pedar-Shahi, Pedar-Saalari) of their family. On the one hand, those reports are most unlikely because there is no ample evidence to support them. On the other hand, the study of Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, indicates that women in Iranian society were to some extent equal to men and enjoyed a number of legal and social freedoms. As is described in Din Kard, an ancient religious text, women could manage their property, could represent their husbands at court, could become judges, and could perform religious ceremonies. It should be also noted that due to the significant role (s) of women in the society, the ancient Iranian coins show the queen on one side of the coin.

CONDITIONS WHICH MADE PRD TO BE SELECTED AS A QUEEN:

Since the reign of Khosrow I or Khosrow Anoshirvan (ruled 531-579), each General (in Persian: Spahbod) or Governor (in Persian: Ostandaar) in Sassanid Empire regrettably considered his province as something like a hereditary fief or property. Such Generals or Governors were tempted more and more to play the part of kingmakers. For example, Bahram Chobin, and Farrukhan Shahrvaraz (Shiruyeh) made themselves kings with temporary success. The fatal example was set by Bahram Chobin and was followed by Shiruyeh with disastrous results for the unity and independence of the Empire. But the assassination of Shiruyeh in 629 convinced the nobles of the country that the game of assuming the throne was too dangerous, and one, which the country, devoted as it was to the Sassanian dynasty, was not likely to tolerate. It is documented when Shiruyeh and his son, Ardeshir, were also murdered, it seemed as if neither a man nor even a male child of the king's family survived the bloody rivalries for the throne to become the king, so the courtiers, though reluctantly, went for PRD, the daughter of Khosrow Parviz (591-628).

PRD AS A QUEEN REGNANT OF IRAN:

PRD started her ruling as the first Iranian queen regnant in Ctesiphon (in Persian: Tyssfoon) on May 20, 629 and tried to revive the sovereignty of Sassanid dynasty. The reign of PRD, whose name means [successor girl] and it is also synonymous to [a girl with a rosy face], become contemporary to Abu-Bakr and Omar caliphates. In ancient books and resources she is described as a wise, just, and a good-natured woman. PRD is quoted in a letter to her army writing, [A monarch, regardless of being a queen or a king, must defend his or her land and treat the people with justice].The outstanding characteristics of PRD were even undeniable to the first Iranian epic poet, Ferdowsi (935-1020). Despite his patriarchal attitudes, Ferdowsi, in his masterpiece of the Book of Kings or Shahnameh, noted PRD's justice and the welfare that farmers enjoyed during her reign. Sadly, after 16 months, when preparing for the deployment of her army to confront the invader Arabs, PRD got sick and passed away in Ctesiphon in 631.

HER SUCCESSOR:

AZD, the sister of PRD, ruled Iran as the second queen regnant from 631 to 632 when Hormuz V took over. There is not much information available on the life story of AZD. It is, however, reported that General Farrukh-Hormuzd (GFH) who was the governor of Khorassan, according to historian Tabari, or prince of Azarbaijan, according to Armenian sources, aspired to the crown and attempted to secure it by proposing a marriage to queen AZD who refused the proposal. GFH was the father of Rostam-e-Farrokh Zaad (590-636), who became the first Iranian famous commander-in-chief few years later.

TODAY, IRANIANS REMEMBER [PRD], [AZD], AND ALL THOSE WHO SERVED THE COUNTRY DURING A TURBULENT TIME, AND STOOD UP AGAINST INJUSTICE AND TYRANNY, AND WHO DIED OR SUFFERED FOR HUMAN DIGNITY, THE FREEDOM OF SPIRIT, AND A FREE CONSCIENCE.