Editing Ardashir I (section)

{{Short description|Founder and Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire from 180 to 242}}{{Page numbers needed|date=February 2025}}{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Ardashir I<br />{{lang|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥}}
| title        = [[List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire|King of Kings of Iranians]]
| image        = Dinar of Ardashir I (cropped).jpg
| caption      = [[Gold dinar]] of Ardashir I, 230 AD
| succession   = [[King of Persis]]
| reign        = 211/2–224
| predecessor  = [[Shapur (son of Pabag)|Shapur]]
| successor    = Office abolished 
| succession1  = [[List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire|Shahanshah]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]
| reign1       = 224–242
| reg-type1    = {{nowrap|Co-ruler}}
| regent1      = [[Shapur I]] (240–242)
| coronation1  = 226<br />[[Ctesiphon]]
| predecessor1 = [[Artabanus IV of Parthia|Artabanus IV]] <small>([[Parthian Empire]])</small>
| successor1   = [[Shapur I]]
| spouse       = [[Denag (sister of Ardashir I)|Denag]]<br />[[Murrod]]
| issue        = [[Shapur I]]
| royal house  = [[House of Sasan]]
| father       = [[Pabag]] or [[Sasan]]
| mother       = [[Rodag]]
| birth_date   = 180
| birth_place  = Tiruda, [[Banavan, Fars|Khir]], Pars
| death_date   = February 242 (aged 62-61)
| death_place  = 
| place of burial = 
| dynasty      = 
| religion     = [[Zoroastrianism]]
}}

'''Ardashir I''' ({{langx|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥|Arda(x)šēr}}), also known as '''Ardashir the Unifier'''<ref>"Sasanian Dynasty", A. Shapur Shahbazi, ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', (July 20, 2005).[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty <nowiki>[1]</nowiki>]</ref> (180–242 AD), was the founder of the [[Sasanian Empire]], the last empire of ancient Iran. He was also '''Ardashir V''' of the [[Kings of Persis]], until he founded the new empire. After defeating the last [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] [[King of Kings|shahanshah]] [[Artabanus IV of Parthia|Artabanus IV]] on the [[Battle of Hormozdgan|Hormozdgan]] plain in 224, he overthrew the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid dynasty]] and established the [[Sasanian dynasty]]. Afterwards, Ardashir called himself ''shahanshah'' and began conquering the land that he called ''[[Iran (word)|Eranshahr]]'', the realm of the [[Arya (Iran)|Iranians]].<ref name=":52"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Political History of Ērānšahr|last=Daryaee}}</ref>

There are various historical reports about Ardashir's lineage and ancestry. According to [[al-Tabari]]'s ''[[History of the Prophets and Kings]]'', Ardashir was son of [[Papak]], son of [[Sasan]]. Another narrative recorded in [[Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan|''Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan'']] and [[Ferdowsi|Ferdowsi's]] ''[[Shahnameh]]'' states that Ardashir was born from the marriage of Sasan, a descendant of [[Darius III]], with the daughter of Papak, a local governor in [[Fars province|Pars]].

According to al-Tabari's report, Ardashir was born in the outskirts of [[Istakhr]], Pars. Al-Tabari adds that Ardashir was sent to the lord of Fort Darabgard when he was seven years old. After the lord's death, Ardashir succeeded him and became the commander of Fort Darabgard. Afterwards, Papak overthrew the local Persian [[shah]] named [[Gochihr]] and appointed his son, [[Shapur (Frataraka)|Shapur]], instead of him. Shapur and his father, Papak, suddenly died and Ardashir became the ruler of Pars. Tension rose between Ardashir and the Parthian empire, and eventually on April 28, 224, Ardashir faced the army of Artabanus IV in the Hormozdgan plain, where the Parthian shahanshah was defeated and killed in battle.

According to the royal reports, it was Papak who overthrew Gochihr, the local Persian shah, and appointed his son, Shapur, instead of him; Ardashir refused to accept Shapur's appointment and removed his brother and whosoever stood against him and then minted coins with his face drawn on and his father, Papak's behind. It is probable that the determining role that is stated about Ardashir in leading the rebellion against the central government is the product of the later historical studies. Papak had probably united most of Pars under his rule by then.

Ardashir had an outstanding role in developing the royal ideology. He tried to show himself as a worshiper of [[Ahura Mazda|Mazda]] and a descendant of the gods who possesses [[khvarenah|''khvarenah'']], the divine royal glory attributed to kings in Zoroastrianism. In order to legitimize his rule and delegitimize that of the Parthians, he claimed descent from mythical Iranian shahs and presented himself as a continuator of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]], the creators of the first Persian empire, although the current belief is that the early Sasanians did not know much about the history of the Achaemenids. On the other hand, some historians believe that the first Sasanian shahanshahs were familiar with the Achaemenids and their successors deliberately turned to the legendary [[Kayanian dynasty|Kayanians]]. They knowingly ignored the Achaemenids in order to attribute their past to the Kayanians; and that was where they applied holy [[historiography]].

In order to remark his victories, Ardashir carved [[petroglyph]]s in [[Firuzabad County|Firuzabad]] (the city of Gor or Ardashir-Khwarrah), [[Naqsh-e Rajab]] and [[Naqsh-e Rustam]]. In his petroglyph in Naqsh-e Rustam, Ardashir and Ahura Mazda are opposite to each other on horsebacks and the corpses of Artabanus and [[Angra Mainyu|Ahriman]] are visualized under the hooves of the horses of Ardashir and Ahura Mazda. It can be deduced from the picture that Ardashir assumed or wished for others to assume that his rule over the land that was called "Iran" in the [[Epigraphy|inscriptions]] was designated by the lord. The word "Iran" was previously used in ''[[Avesta]]'' and as "the name of the mythical land of the [[Indo-Iranians|Aryans]]". In Ardashir's period, the title "Iran" was chosen for the region under the Sasanian rule. The idea of "Iran" was accepted for both the [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] and non-Zoroastrian societies in the whole kingdom and the [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]]' collective memory continued and lived on in the various stages and different layers of the Iranian society until the modern period today. What is clear is that the concept of "Iran" previously had a religious and ethnic application and then ended up creating its political face and the concept of a geographical collection of lands.