Succeeding to the Parthians, Sassanian Dynasty Unified Persia

TENTATIVE CHRONOLOGY ON THE EASTWARD EXTENTION OF SASSANIAN PERSIAN CULTURE

from the standpoint of numismatic archaeology

TAKASHI OKAZAKI

Succeeding to the Parthians, Sassanian dynasty unified Persia and ruled a territory that extended to the Indus river and Central Asia eastwards, and to an- cient Mesopotamia area and Armenia westwards, holding thus a central position in the relations between both Eastern and Western Worlds. Besides, by introduc- ing hellenistic culture into the early Iranian traditions, the Sassanians built up an original and very dynamic culture. Sassanian culture spread in the West, from Byzantium to the Franc kingdom and, in the East, crossed the Pamir and flowed into China. Some attention is paid to the fact that, on one hand, among the materials preserved in our Shosoin (Nara, Japan) some finds excavated, tradi- tion says, from the Tomb of Empeeror Ankan and, on the other hand, some finds among those discovered recently in Okinoshima island, Fukuoka prefecture (Japan), are similar to the glass implements uncovered in a Sassanian tombs at Derhaman sites, Mazanderan in Iran. In Sassanian period, great number of silver coins were minted and used even for land-taxing, moreover, they spread out of Sassanian territory extending, to the West, in Arabia and Mediterranean sea area and, to the East, passing through Central Asia, they flowed into China, and, as well as Byzantine gold coinage, became the standard coins (archetype) of the trade between East and West. That state of things has been largely confirmed by recent archaeological investigations, conducted respectively in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia of USSR and in China. Concerning the discoveries of Sassanian silver coins in those areas there are the reports and research works of British Explorer Sir Aurel Stein, french scholors of archaeological mission in afghanistan and of Mr. Hsia Nai 夏鼎, Mr. Huang Wen Pi 黄文弼, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and, on the basis of those data, I have also written some reports. In Pakistan, Sassanian coins are very numerous in Gandhara, Swat and Taxila, but, East of Punjab and the Indus river, they suddenly become scarce. In Afghanistan, they are distributed on almost the whole territory; the materials

49 provided by Mr. R. Curiel and D. Schlumberger's reports, have increased further, owing to the investigations of Kyoto University conducted by Prof. S. Mizuno. The coins, discovered in various places of Central Asia of USSR, by Mrs. O. I. Smirnova and others, are now on classification; we are given many enligthen- ments, concerning the distribution of Sassanian coins in that area, by Mr. B. I. Marshak of the Ermitage Museum, and thus, the repartition of Sassanian coins in the countries lying East of Sassanian territory can have been fortunately connected in a range. After this paper, a list of the place-names where Sassanians coins and almost contemporary coins have been discovered in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia of USSR, and China, has been added. Now, if we try to classify the sites containing Sassanian coins that extended from Persia, over Central Asia and spread in the Far East, we are able to notice that the eastward current did not occur at one time but in repeated waves.

I Discovery of a hoard of Shahpuhr II (310-379), Artakhsher (379-383) and Shahpuhr III (383-388) silver coins. In Afghanistan, a hoard of Sassanian silver coins of the three periods above mentionned, has been discovered at Tepe-Maranjan (1933) and Fondukistan (1940) sites. In china, the finds from Kara-Khoja site, in Uighur Self-Govern- ing District, of Sinkiang, present exactly the same combination. The reign of Shahpuhr II lasted about 70 years; during the first half, Kushan kingdom was powerful but Shahpuhr II soon conquered it and ruled with the Royal Sassanians of Balkh and their strength extended from Gandhara as far as Central Asia. This extension appears also strongly through the silver coins of Shahpuhr II and Shahpuhr III, discovered in Taxila. At about the same time, in China, it was the "Five northern barbarians and the 16 kingdoms" age (五胡十六国), Lu-

Kuang (呂光) who, in 386, asserted his independance from the Former Ch'in

(前秦), established in Kao-Chang (396) and built Hou-Liang (後凉) kingdom in Shinkiang. Kara-Khoja is the ruins of the castle town of Kao-Chang (高昌); Astana cemetery, situated North of Kao-Chang, has been investigated by Sir A. Stein, and the sixth block of Astana is thougth to be a tomb of the second part of the fourth century. The coins discovered at Kara-Khoja ruin may be related to this period. The materials above mentionned are represented, for each kind, by several tens or hundreds of coins, and at Tepe-Maranjan site, they were accompagnied by Kushano-Sassanid gold coins. The reigns of these three kings correspond to the late Kushan period (late Kushan, Kushano-Sassanid); Sas- sanian Persia recognized the autonomy of Kushan but, the cultural and economi- cal influence of Sassanian dynasty can be observed first of all in Kushano-Sassanid

50 TENTATIVE CHRONOLOGY ON THE EASTWARD EXTENTION OF SASSANIAN PERSIAN CULTURE coins. At the beginning of the 5th century, Kidara Kushan raised, selected Balkh as its first capital and later, changed for Peshawar, so we think that the hoard of Shahpuhr II, Artakhsher II and Shahpuhr III coins, must be dated from just before or after the rise of Kidara, and in either way, from the late 4th century to the first part of the 5th century.

II Silver coins of Peroz period (457-483).

During Peroz's period, the Hephthalite superseded the Kidara-Kushan. Peroz, who became a prisonner when figthing against the Hephthalite, paid a heavy ransom and sent his son Kavadh (488-531) as a hostage. The Hephtha- lite established their capital in Pa Ti Yen Cheng (抜底延城), the actual Ghur, and their influence extended over Gandhara and Zungaria in the North, and, in the East, from Central Asia to Khotan and Kashgar. Hephthalite coins are imitated from Sassanian coins and peroz's coins have been discovered in the actual Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia of USSR and in China, all countries that were involved, at that time, in the influence area of the Hephtahlites. Table 1. Place-names of the sites where are unearthed Early Sassanian Coins

At the same time in China, it was the period of Northern and Southern dy- nasties. In 1964, a stone reliquary of Buddha's bones has been discovered in the ruined stupa of a buddhist temple located in Ting-Hsien (定県) prefecture, Ho-pei province. This reliquary contained 4 silver coins of Yazdegird (438-457) and 41 silver coins of Peroz. Among Peroz coins, the chronological repartition is as follows: 1st year of Peroz's reign (1 coin), 6th year (4coins), 9th year (6 coins), 4th year (1 coin); the 14th year of Peroz's reign corresponds to AD. 470. On the reliquary, an inscription of the 5th year of Tai Ho (太和) of the Northern

Wei dynasty (北魏) is written, and we can see in the Wei shu (魏書), chronicle of the Wei, that, during the second half of the 5th century, the Northern Wei

51 and Persia attempted to have frequent relations. In 1960, 3 coins of Peroz period have been uncovered in a tomb dated from the 4th year of Chien Wu (建武) of Nan-Chi dynasty (南斉), and located in Ying-Te hsien (英徳県) prefecture, Kwang-Tung province, which, was at that time, part of the territory of the Sou- thern dynasty. During the second half of the 5th century, Sassanian silver coins, passing through the Hephthalite territory, penetrated into China. Among the Tun Huang manuscripts (British Museum. S. 4528) brought by Sir A. Stein, the Karunikaraja-Prajnaparamita Sutra of 2nd year of Chien-Ming (建明) of Nor- thern Wei dynasty (AD. 531), contains a record of "thousand silver coins" that we are able to regard as Sassanian silver coins.

III Silver coins of Khusrau I (531-579), Hormazd (579-590) and Khusrau II (590-628) periods.

Khusrau I, allied with the Western Turks (西突厥), defeated the Hephtha- lite in 573 and recovered national strength. During Khusrau II period, the Sassanians hold a territory that laid from Egypt to Central Asia and Sassanian silver coins were put into circulation in great quantity. Silver coins of Khusrau I and Khusrau II flowed into China from Central Asia: silver coins of Khusrau I period have been discovered in the tombs no. 1 and 3 of Astana site in Sinkiang and in a tomb dated from the 3rd year of Kai-Huang

(開皇) of Sui dynasty (A.D. 584), situated in Shen-hsien (陝県) prefecture, Honan province; Hormazd IV silver coins have been discovered at Astana site, in the same tombs no.1 and 3; Khusrau II silver coins have been uncovered in Sinkiang, at Astana and Yarkhoto and in tombs of T'ang period, such as those of

Si-an (西安) in Shen-si province (陝西省), and Tai-yuan (太原) in Shan-si province (山西省). In the "T'ang chronicle of Western territories" vol. 11 (大唐西域記), written by the chinese pilgrim Hsuan-tsang (玄奘), it is noticed, in the chapter treating of Persia, that "big silver coins are used as currency" and that "household taxing amounts to four silver coins per person"; this record certainly alludes to the slab silver coins of Khusrau II period. According to the biography of the buddhist priest Hsuan-tsang (大慈恩寺三蔵法師伝), on his way to India, Hsuan- tsang received from the king of Kao-chang (Kara-Khoja) one hundred of gold Ryo (unit of old chinese coinage), thirty thousand silver coins and five hundred rolls of damask and silk cloth taking those presents, he made use of them for his westward travel expenses. Considered from the materials discovered in the old cemeteries of Astana and Yarkhoto, those silver coins must be regarded as Sassanian silver coins. Hsuan-tsang presented the silks and the silver coins he

52 TENTATIVE CHRONOLOGY ON THE EASTWARD EXTENTION OF SASSANIAN PERSIAN CULTURE

had received from the King of Kao-chang to the buddhist temples of Nagarahara

(那掲羅曷図) and Gandhara (健駄羅国). At Nagarahara (Hadda sites in Afg- hanistan) and Gandhara (near the actual Peshawar in Pakistan), Sassanian coins and especially those of Khusrau II period have been discovered in great quantity; these discoveries show that Sassanian coins played literally the role of international currency along the Silk Road of that time. As to the silks, the most part is of chinese origin but there is no doubt that some are of persian production.

IV Silver coins of Yazdegerd III period (632-651).

Silver coins of Yazdegerd III, last king of Sassanian dynasty, have been discovered in Sinkiang at Astana cemetery, in the tomb M 302 (T'ang period- 4th year of Yung-hue (永徽) -AD. 653). In 637, Bagdad was captured by the Arabian armies and Yazdegerd, defeated at Nehavend in 641, sought refuge abroad but he was murdered at Merv. In T'ang China, Yazdegerd was known

as Yi-su-ho (伊嗣侯) and the embassy he sent in 647 (21st year of Chen-kuan

貞観) was his last effort for the restoration of his homeland. His son Peroz (Pei Lu See 卑路斯), during the Hsien-shang Period of T'ang dynasty, escaped and

took refuge in Chang-An (長安) where he died. Peroz's son, Narses, leaved for the West as the head of his restoration army, but he turned back again to Chang- An without succeeding: the dream of revival of Sassanian dynasty was definitely broken. The coins of Yazdegerd period are the last coins of Sassanian dynasty but, during the early stage of Arabian conquest, late Sassanian coins were still in use, and imitations of which, the Arab-sassanian coins, were minted. These coins are distributed, in China, from Sinkiang province to Chang-An. Following the exile of the Royal Sassanian Court, many Persian people leaved to China and transmitted their own culture as described in books like the works of Prof. Harada and Prof. Ishida's "Spring in Chang-An" (長安の春). As stated above, the results of archaeological investigations conducted in recent years, particularly as to the distribution of Sassanian coins, show that along the Silk Road, the esatward extension of Sassanian Persian culture came down the fourth century, and though there were some interruptions, it lasted until the fall of Sassanian Persia. From the 4th century up to the 7th century, coins distribution extends eastwards more and more, and reaches its very summit during Khursau II period. This distribution shows that Sassanian silver coins, revolving around Persia, played a role as international currency in India, China and Mediterranean Sea. with Byzantine gold coins. For the Western world, this route was "the Silk

53 Road" but, for the East, it was "the Silver and Gold Road".

REFERENCES 1. Arthur Christensen: L'Iran sous les Sassanides. Copenhagen. 1944. 2. Roman Ghirshman: Iran. Paris. 1954. Roman Ghirshman: Parthians and Sassanians. London. 1962. 3. F. D. J. Paruck: Sassanian Coins, Bombay. 1924. 4. J. de Morgan: Manuel de Numismatique Orientale. Paris. 1923. 5. Sir J. Marshall: Taxila, 3 vols. Cambridge. 1951. 6. J. Hackin: Repartition des monnaies anciennes en Afghanistan. J. A. Paris. 1935. 7. R. Ghirshman: Begram. (M. D. A. F. A. Tome XII). Le Caire. 1946. 8. R. Curiel et D. Schlumberger: Tresors monetiques d'Afghanistan. (M. D. A. F. A. Tome XIV) 1953. 9. O. Codrington: Coins collected by Sir A. Mcmahon K. C. I. E. in Seistan (J. R. A. Calcutta) 1911. 10. J. Barthoux: Les Fouilles de Hadda (MDAFA Tome IV) 1933. 11. E. Herzfeld: Kushano-Sassanian Coins (M. A. S. I. n. 38 Calcutta). 1930. 12. Sir A. Stein: Innermost Asia. Vol. 3. London. 1921. 13. Hsia Nai: Persian Sassanian Coins recently discovered in China. (Academia Sinica) Peking. 1961. 14. Hsia Nai: Sassanian Coins newly discovered at Hsining, Chinghai. (Academia Sinica, Science Press) Peking 1961. 15. Hsia Nai: Recent Discoveries of Persian Sassanian silver coins at Tu Ning Fan in Sinkiang. (Archaeology) 1966-4. 16. Huang Wen Pi: Archaeological Journal of Tu-Lu-Fan (Turfan), 1954, Peking 1958. 17. A. Y. Yakubovsky and others. Translated by K. Kato: A quest of the Treasures in the Western Territoties. 1969. 18. M. Ishida: A Spring in Chang-An. Tokyo, 1967. 19. K. Enoki: On the publication of both T'ang China and Persian Documents dealing with the Royal Line of Late Sassanian dynasty (Studies on Northern Asia. 1) Tokyo, 1942. 20. G. Ito: A Linguistic interpretation of the Pahlavi text of the Sino-Pahlavi tombs inscription unearthed at Sian (Kao-Gu-Xhue-Pao, 1964-2). 21. Y. Koyama: The Treasures of desert and steppes. Kadokawa-Shinsho, Tokyo, 1963. 22. S. Fukai: Study of Iranian Art and Archaeology-Glassware and Metalworks. Yoshi- kawa-Kobunkan, Tokyo, 1968. 23. N. Yamada and others, Persia and T'ang Empire. Heibonsha. Tokyo, 1961. 24. T. Okazaki: Sassanian Silver Coins and their repartition in China, with reference to the pilgrimage of Hsuan Tsang. (The Society for Western and Southern Asiatic Studies-14), Kyoto, 1965. 25. T. Okazaki: Re-examination of the Astana finds, with special Reference to the finds by Sir A. Stein. (Ars Buddhica-19) Tokyo, 1953.

54 TENTATIVE CHRONOLOGY ON THE EASTWARD EXTENTION OF SASSANIAN PERSIAN CULTURE

Table 2. Reign and Coinages of Sassanian Persian Kings

V: Golden Coin, R: Silver Coin, E: Copper Coin.

Table 3. Abbreviations of Periodicals and Publications mentioned in the article and the appendix. A. B. I. A Annual bibliography of indian archaeology A. R. A. S. I. Annual report of archaological survey of India J. A. Journal asiatique J. A. S. B. Journal of Asiatic Society, Bengal J. R. A. S Journal of Royal Asiatic Society

55 KT Kaogu Tunshun 考古通訊

KG Kao-gu (Archaeology) 考古 KX Kaogu Xuebao 考古学報 M. D. A. F. A. Memoir de delegatian archeologique francaise en Afghanistan M. I. A Materialy i issledovaniya po Arkheologii Soyuza Sovietsikikh Sotsyalistiches- kikh Republik (Material Report of Archaeological Survey of USSR.) WW Wen-wu 文物