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Between Shiruya and Yazdjurd
there were about eight rulers in a period of four or five years,
and these included two women-Buran and Azarmidukht, both daughters
of Chosroes Parwez. The first of these, Buran, proved a wise and
virtuous monarch but lacked the strong hand that was needed to arrest
the decline in imperial affairs. She was crowned during the lifetime
of the Holy Prophet, who, when he heard of her coronation, made
his famous remark: "A nation will never prosper that
entrusts its affairs to a woman!" 1
We will not go into a description of all
the countries which comprised the geographical domain of the Persian
Empire, but will confine ourselves to Iraq. Iraq then was not a
sovereign State; it was substantially less than that. It was not
merely a province; it was considerably more than that. Iraq was
a land-one of the lands of the Persian Empire; and in its western
and southern parts it was an Arab land.
The Arabs had been known in Iraq since the
days of Bukht Nassar, 2 but did not then
enjoy any power in the land. It was not until the early part of
the Christian era, when a fresh migration of Arab tribes came to
Iraq from the Yemen, that they began to command authority and influence.
One of the great chiefs of these migrating Arabs, a man by the name
of Malik bin Fahm, proclaimed himself king and began to rule over
the western part of Iraq. Two generations after him the throne passed
to Amr bin Adi, of the tribe of Lakhm, who started the Lakhmid Dynasty
which was also at times called the House of Munzir. The kings of
this dynasty ruled for many generations as vassals of the Persian
Emperor.
The last of the House of Munzir was Numan
bin Mundhir, who committed an act of disloyalty against Chosroes
Parwez for which he was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried
out in style-he was trampled to death by an elephant! This led to
a revolt by the Arabs of Iraq, which was soon crushed by the Emperor,
and with this abortive revolt ended the House of Munzir.
Chosroes then appointed a new king, Iyas
bin Qubaisa of the tribe of Tayy, to rule over Iraq. For some years
the new king enjoyed a reasonable degree of autonomy. Then most
of his authority was taken away and Persian generals and administrators
took over the entire government of the land. Iyas remained a titular
king.
A land of culture, wealth and abundance,
Iraq was the most prized possession of the Persian Empire. To the
Arabs from the barren wastes of Arabia it was a green jewel, a land
flowing with milk and honey. Its two mighty rivers, the Euphrates
and the Tigris, were the greatest known rivers of the time-west
of the Indus and north of the Nile. But these rivers did not then
flow as they flow now, nor were the cities of Iraq then its cities
of today. Kufa and Basra did not exist (they were founded in 17
Hijri). Baghdad was a small though much-frequented market town on
the west bank of the Tigris. The then glorious cities of Ctesiphon
and Hira are now turned to dust. Ctesiphon was the capital-a mighty
metropolis and the seat of glory of the Persian Empire. Reportedly
built by Ardsheer bin Babak (also, known as Ardsheer Babakan and
Artaxerxes, the founder of the Sasanid Dynasty) it sprawled on both
sides of the Tigris and was known to the Muslims as Madain, literally
the Cities, for it consisted of several cities in one. 3
Hira was the capital of the Arab Lakhmid Dynasty. Situated on the
west bank of the Euphrates, it was a glittering, throbbing city
with many citadels. 4 And there was Uballa,
the main port of the Persian Empire which was visited by ships from
India and China and other maritime countries of the East. Uballa
was also the capital of the military district of Dast Meisan. 5
1. Masudi: Tanbeeh, p. 90; Ibn Qutaiba:
p. 666.
2. Nebuchadnezzar, Seventh-Sixth Century
BC.
3. According to some sources, Ctesiphon existed
before Ardsheer and was used by the Parthians as a winter residence.
4. The site of Hira is 12 miles south-east
of Nejef and half a mile south of the present Abu Sukheir. Nothing
remains of the ancient city except some traces of the White Palace
which stood at the northern end of Hira. According to Gibbon (Vol.
5, p. 299), Hira was founded in 190 AD.
5. Uballa stood where the part of modern
Basra known as Ashar stands today.
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