View source for Meshan

{{Short description|Province of the Sasanian Empire}}
{{about|the Sasanian province|the earlier kingdom|Characene|the church province|Maishan (East Syriac ecclesiastical province)}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|native_name            = Meshan
|conventional_long_name = 
|common_name            = Meshan
|subdivision            = [[Template:Sasanian Provinces|Province]]
|nation                 = the [[Sassanian Empire]]
|era                    = [[Late Antiquity]]
|capital                = [[Karkh Meshan]]<br/><small>(224–410)</small><br/>[[Vahman-Ardashir]]<br><small>(410–637)</small>
|title_leader           = 
|image_map              = Sasanian Iraq.png
|image_map_caption      = Map of Meshan and its surrounding provinces
|life_span              = 
|year_start             = 224
|event_start            = [[Battle of Hormizdegan|Sasanian conquest]]
|year_end               = 637
|event_end              = [[Muslim conquest of Persia#First invasion of Mesopotamia (633)|Rashidun conquest]]
|p1                     = Characene
|flag_p1                = Karte Charakene.png
|s1                     = Rashidun Caliphate
|flag_s1                = Mohammad adil-Rashidun-empire-at-its-peak-close.PNG
|today                  = [[Iraq]]<br>[[Kuwait]]
}}
'''Meshan''' ([[Middle Persian]]: 𐭬𐭩𐭱𐭠𐭭) was a province of the [[Sasanian Empire]]. It consisted of the [[Parthia]]n vassal kingdom of [[Characene]] and reached north along the [[Shatt al-Arab]] river and then the lower [[Tigris river|Tigris]] to Madhar and possibly further. Its inhabitants included [[Babylonians]], [[Arabs]], [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]], and even some Indians and [[Ethnic Malays|Malays]] (the Malays may have been slaves brought from the Indian sub-continent). The province was very fertile, the best place for barley according to [[Strabo]], and contained many date palms. It was also an important trading province along the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3(2): The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Periods, ed. Ehsan Yarshater (NY: Cambridge UP, 1983), 754-757.</ref>

==History==
In, the first ruler of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian dynasty]], [[Ardashir I]] (r. 224–242) after having conquered his native province, [[Fars province|Pars]], invaded Meshan, killing its ruler, Bandu. Ardashir had a city named Karkh Meshan rebuilt, and had it renamed as Astarabad-Ardashir. According to a fragmentary [[Manicheanism|Manichean]] account found in [[Turfan]], Mihr-šāh, a brother of the Sasnian king [[Shapur I]] (r. 240–270), ruled as the vassal-king of Meshan. According to this [[Manicheanism|Manichean]] account, Mihr-šāh was visited and converted by [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] himself – some scholars, however, doubt the accuracy of this source.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sundermann |first1=Werner |title=Manicheism v. Missionary Activity and Technique |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-iv-missionary-activity-and-technique- |website=Encyclopedia Iranica |access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Boyce |first1=Mary |title=Textes et Mémoires Vol. II: A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian |date=1975 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-03902-3 |pages=37–38 |edition=Bibliothèque Pahlavi}}</ref> Ardashir also built (or rebuilt) a town named [[Vahman-Ardashir]], also known as Forat Meshan. A son of Shapur I, [[Shapur Mishanshah]], is confirmed to have ruled Meshan from an unknown date until his death in 260, and was probably succeeded by his wife [[Denag]].

According to the inscription of king [[Narseh]] (r. 293–302), known as the [[Paikuli inscription]], Meshan was ruled by an Iranian aristocrat named Adurfarrobay, who would later rebel against Narseh and support a claimant to the Sasanian throne, [[Bahram III]].

During the 5th century, Vahman-Ardashir had seemingly succeeded Karkh Meshan as the capital of Meshan, due to its mention as the chief city of Meshan by [[Syriac language|Syriac]] sources.

The port of [[Ubulla|Obolla]] (Apologos) was located in this province.<ref>{{cite web |title=OBOLLA – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/obolla |website=iranicaonline.org |access-date=22 May 2019}}</ref>

==Population==
Like most of the other western Sasanian provinces such as [[Asoristan]], Meshan was a province with various ethnic groups; The [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]], the Mesenian Arabs, and the nomadic Arabs, formed the [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] population of the province along with [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]] and [[Palmyrene dialect|Palmyrene]] merchants. [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]] had also begun to settle in the province, along with the [[Jat people|Zutt]], who had been deported from India. Other Indian{{clarify|date=May 2017}} groups such as the [[Ethnic Malays|Malays]] may also have been deported to Meshan, either as captives or recruited sailors.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = BAHMAN-ARDAŠĪR | last = Morony | first = M. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahman-ardasir-or-forat-maysan-town-and-subdistrict-in-maysan-in-lower-iraq | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 5 | pages = 494 | location = | work = | year = 1988 | isbn = }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = The Encyclopedia of Islam, Volume 5 | last = Houtsma | first = Martijn Theodoor |  authorlink = Martijn Theodoor Houtsma | encyclopedia = The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V | publisher = Brill | location = | year = 1993 | isbn = 90-04-09791-0 | pages = 1–578 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Va6oSxzojzoC&q=false}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = ʿARAB i. Arabs and Iran in the pre-Islamic period | last = Bosworth | first = C. E. | authorlink = C. E. Bosworth | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arab-i | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 2 | pages = 201–203 | location = | work = | year = 1986 | isbn = }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = CHARACENE and CHARAX  | last = Hansman | first = John | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/characene-and-charax-spasinou-in-pre-islamic-times | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. V, Fasc. 4 | pages = 363–365 | location = | work = | year = 1991 | isbn = }}
* {{cite book|author1=Fisher, William Bayne |author2=Yarshater, Ehsan |title=The Cambridge History of Iran: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7IHmyKcPtYC&q=papa&pg=PA931 | isbn=978-0-521-24693-4 | year=1983 | publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

{{Sasanian Provinces}}

{{coord missing|Iraq}}

[[Category:Provinces of the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:224 establishments]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 220s]]