Editing Ardashir I (section)

=== Early years until his uprising and gaining power ===
[[Image:Sasanian province of Pars.png|thumb|250px|right|Map of [[Fars province|Pars]].]]
According to [[Al-Tabari]]'s report, Ardashir was born in a village named "Tirudeh" in the country "Khir" around [[Istakhr]], Pars in an established family. His grandfather, [[Sasan]], was the trustee of the Temple of [[Anahita]] in Istakhr and his grandmother was [[Rambehesht]] from [[Bazrangi]] House. Al-Tabari added that when Ardashir was seven years old, [[Papak]], Ardashir's father, asked [[Gochihr]], local [[shah]] in Pars, to send Ardashir to Tiri, commander of Fort Darabgard, for raising, which Gochihr did. After Tiri's death, Ardashir took over for him and became the commander of Fort Darabgard.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book|title="Bābak", Encyclopædia Iranica|last=Frye}}</ref><ref name=":08">{{Cite book|title="Ardašīr I i. History". In Encyclopædia Iranica|last=Wiesehöfer}}</ref>

According to the current sources, Papak was the priest of the Fire Temple of Anahita. He managed to assemble local Persian warriors who believed in the deity.<ref name=":52">{{Cite book|title=The Sasanian Empire|last=Daryaee}}</ref> At the time, [[Vologases V]]'s reign was disrupted due to the invasion of [[Septimius Severus]], [[Roman emperor]], on [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=":08"/> It is probable that Vologases defeated Papak after he rebelled and forced him to submit to [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] rule for a while. It is not probable that Papak's kingdom was beyond the Persian land.<ref name=":15" />

According to [[Arabic]]-[[Persian language|Persian]] sources, Ardashir started his uprising when he was the commander of Fort Darabgard in eastern Pars. The oldest [[Archaeology|archaeological]] proofs of the period of Ardashir's reign are acquired from ''Ardashir-Khwarrah'' (Gor or current [[Firuzabad, Fars|Firuzabad]]) in south border of Pars. Therefore, Ardashir rose up in his war in ''Ardashir-Khwarrah'', far from the fortress of local Persian shahs in Istakhr and farther from the Parthian Empire. The beginning of Ardashir's uprising may be related to his first [[Epigraphy|inscription]] in Firuzabad; in the inscription, he is shown acquiring the royal ring from [[Ahura Mazda]] in front of his henchmen.<ref name=":2"/> Ardashir began the procedure of extending his reign by killing some local kings and taking their domains. According to Al-Tabari's report, Ardashir then asked Papak to stand against Gochihr and start a rebellion. Papak did it and rebelled against Gochihr and killed him.<ref name=":08"/> Daryaee believes that Papak was a local governor who dreamed of conquering Istakhr and was eventually able to achieve it by the help of his older son Shapur; that means in contrast to Al-Tabari's report, it was not Ardashir's request and order that caused Papak's rebellion against Gochihr, governor of Istakhr, and it can be implied from the common coins of Papak and Shapur.<ref name=":03"/> Later, Papak wrote a letter to [[Artabanus IV of Parthia|Artabanus IV]] and requested permission to appoint Shapur instead of the "overthrown" Gochihr in power; in response, Artabanus announced Papak and Ardashir outlaws.<ref name=":32">{{Cite book|title=Persia During the Sasanians|last=Christensen}}</ref> Although Artabanus had defeated the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], he faced the problem of the defiance of [[Vologases VI]], who had minted coins in his own name between 221 and 222; and this shows that no powerful emperor controlled the Parthian Empire then. During the time that Artabanus was dealing with a more important challenge, he could not pay much attention to the rise of a newcomer in Pars.<ref name=":52"/> After a while, Papak died in an unknown date and Shapur ascended to the throne; afterward, the contest and fight started between the two brothers (Shapur and Ardashir), but Shapur died in an accidental way. According to sources, Shapur stopped at a ruin while assaulting Darabgard and a stone suddenly separated from the ceiling and hit his head and Shapur succumbed immediately. After the incident, the brothers relinquished the Persian throne and crown to Ardashir, who became the Persian Shah thereafter.<ref name=":33"/><ref name=":32" /> Ardashir and his followers could be considered the main suspects of Shapur's mysterious death, since they "benefitted from the accidental death"; but the accusation is not provable.<ref name="Daryaee"/>

Papak's picture has been drawn on both Shapur's coins and later Ardashir's; in the picture of the Papak drawn on Shapur's coins, he wears a wig dissimilar to normal Parthian and local Persian shahs and only Shapur has worn a royal wig. According to royal reports, it was Papak who overthrew Gochihr and appointed Shapur instead of him. Ardashir refused to accept Shapur's appointment and removed his brother and whoever stood against him and then minted coins with his face drawn on them and Papak's behind them. Papak's picture on Ardashir-Papak coins, wears a wig similar to those of local Persian shahs in contrast to his picture in Shapur-Papak coins.<ref name=":03"/> According to the descriptions given on Papak's pictures on the coins, it is probable that the determining role of Ardashir depicted in leading the rebellion against the central government is the product of later historical studies. It is probable that Papak had united most of Pars under his rule by the time;<ref name=":33"/><ref name=":08"/> since his picture exists on Ardashir's coins too.<ref name=":08"/>
[[File:Ghal'eh_Dokhtar2.jpg|thumb|440x440px|Ghaleh Dokhtar, or "The Maiden's Castle", Iran, built by Ardashir I in AD 209, before he was finally able to defeat the Parthian empire.]]
In the procedure of extending his domain and power, Ardashir made many Parthian-dependent local shahs and landlords follow him. In the first phase of rebellion, Ardashir challenged the Parthians' central power by actions like minting coins and constructing new cities. After all, a sight of victory was not imaginable for Ardashir without a public dissatisfaction and interest in rebellion against the Parthians.<ref name=":08"/> For example, according to sources, the governor of a land northeast of [[Ctesiphon]] called "[[Beth Garmai]]" in [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and its center was today [[Kirkuk]], along with Sharat, who was the governor of [[Adiabene]], aided Ardashir in his rebellion against the Parthians.<ref name="Frye"/><ref>{{Cite book|title=Ancient Persian History|last=Frye}}</ref> In order to consolidate his power, Ardashir killed some of the important figures in Darabgard; then he invaded [[Kerman]] and took it too and took control of whole Pars, including the [[Persian Gulf]] shores. At that time, Ardashir constructed a palace and [[fire temple]] in Gor (current [[Firuzabad County|Firuzabad]]) that its ruins still remain and is called the [[Palace of Ardashir]]. He appointed one of his sons named Ardashir as the governor of Kerman. Artabanus, the Parthian emperor, ordered the governor of [[Susa]] to attack Ardashir, suppress his rebellion and send him to Ctesiphon. After Ardashir killed and terminated [[Shadh-Shapur]], the governor of [[Isfahan|Spahan]], after fighting him, headed towards [[Khuzestan province|Khuzestan]] and killed the governor of Susa too and added his domain to the lands under his rule. Then he invaded [[Characene]] State in the mouth of [[Tigris]] and took it and added it to his kingdom.<ref name=":32" />

Eventually, in Ardashir's contest with Artabanus in the [[Battle of Hormozdgan]] on April 28, 224, Artabanus was killed by Ardashir and the Parthian dynasty was overthrown with his death. The year of the occurrence of the battle is confirmed by [[Shapur I]]'s inscription in [[Bishapur]]. The extended report of the Battle of Hormozdgan is probably made for the Sasanian's formal history. If the mentioned assumption is right, the writing may have been the main source of Al-Tabari's History.<ref name=":08"/> After Artabanus's death, Ardashir's quest for extending his kingdom did not end. In a procedure, the large landlord Parthian houses, either submitted to Ardashir (willingly or unwillingly) or were conquered by him.<ref name=":33"/><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/pages/chronology-1|title=Iranica Online}}</ref>
[[File:Ardeshir_Babakan_and_Ahuramazda_Photo_From_Sahand_Ace.jpg|left|thumb|Ardashir I is receiving the Kingship's ring from [[Ahuramazda]] at [[Naqsh-e Rajab]].]]
The subsequent sources emphasized on the Sasanians' hatred of everything adapted from the Parthians. The existence of such a mentality in Ardashir is understandable; but even he was forced to establish his newborn government on Parthian foundations by the help of other remarkable Iranian houses, who were either affiliated with the Parthians or nursed by them. However, no change is seen in that hatred of the Parthians in the next generations of Sasanian emperors either. Therefore, it can be deduced that the Parthians enforced a more hard and tyrannical domination than presumed on their submitted shahs and that might have been the reason that facilitated Ardashir's conquest.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Numismatics|last=Sellwood}}</ref>