State and aristocracy in the Sasanian Empire
This thesis aims to consider the competing visions of Sasanian Iran advanced by Arthur Christensen in âL'Iran sous les Sassanides' (1944) and Parvaneh Pourshariati in âDecline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire' (2008), discuss the relevant evidence in relation to their arguments, and to suggest our own theory of how the Sasanian Empire operated. Christensen argued for the strength of the Sasanian monarchy and the subservience of the aristocracy to the kings, whilst Pourshariati's thesis stressed Sasanian royal weakness and the relative power of the aristocracy. These theses are incompatible, offering fundamentally different conceptions of the natures of the Sasanian monarchy and aristocracy, and how they interacted with each other. Firstly, this thesis critiques the models established by Christensen and Pourshariati, especially their failure to acknowledge evidence at variance with their thesis, and their lack of discussion concerning how the aristocracy perceived their relationship with the monarchy. We then turn to our own discussion of the evidence relating to the Sasanian monarchy and royal power, and the cultural outlook of the aristocracy, with reference to the above theories, so as to understand how
Bagot, David John
Sasanian ; Iran ; Sassanian ; Sassanid ; Monarchy ; Aristocracy ; State ; Persia ; DS286.B2 ; Sassanids ; Iran--History--Sassanian Empire--226-651 ; Monarchy--Iran--History--To 1500 ; Aristocracy (Political science)--Iran--History--To 1500 ; Christensen ; Arthur ; 1875-1945. Iran sous les Sassanides ; Pourshariati ; Parvaneh. Decline and fall of the Sasanian empire
State and aristocracy in the Sasanian Empire. This thesis aims to consider the competing visions of Sasanian Iran advanced by Arthur Christensen in âL'Iran sous les Sassanides' (1944) and Parvaneh Pourshariati in âDecline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire' (2008), discuss the relevant evidence in relation to their arguments, and to suggest our own theory of how the Sasanian Empire operated. Christensen argued for the strength of the Sasanian monarchy and the subservience of the aristocracy to the kings, whilst Pourshariati's thesis stressed Sasanian royal weakness and the relative power of the aristocracy. These theses are incompatible, offering fundamentally different conceptions of the natures of the Sasanian monarchy and aristocracy, and how they interacted with each other. Firstly, this thesis critiques the models established by Christensen and Pourshariati, especially their failure to acknowledge evidence at variance with their thesis, and their lack of discussion concerning how the aristocracy perceived their relationship with the monarchy. We then turn to our own discussion of the evidence relating to the Sasanian monarchy and royal power, and the cultural outlook of the aristocracy, with reference to the above theories, so as to understand how
state aristocracy sasanian_empire aim_consider compete vision sasanian iran advance iran person decline_fall sasanian_empire person discuss relevant evidence relation argument suggest theory sasanian_empire operate argue strength sasanian monarchy subservience aristocracy king whilst stress sasanian royal weakness relative power aristocracy thesis incompatible offer fundamentally_different conception_nature sasanian monarchy aristocracy interact other firstly critique model establish especially failure acknowledge evidence variance lack discussion_concern aristocracy perceive relationship monarchy turn discussion evidence_relate sasanian monarchy royal_power cultural outlook aristocracy reference theory