Editing Satrap

{{Short description|Ruler of a province in ancient Persia}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Achaemenid Satrap Asia Minor end of 6th century BCE.jpg|thumb|The [[Herakleia head]], probable portrait of a [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian (Achaemenid) Empire]] Satrap of [[Asia Minor]], end of 6th century BCE, probably under [[Darius I]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cahn |first1=Herbert A. |last2= Gerin |first2= Dominique |title=Themistocles at Magnesia |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |volume=148 |date=1988 |pages=13–20 |jstor= 42668124 }}</ref>]] 
A '''satrap''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|æ|t|r|ə|p}}) was a governor of the [[province]]s of the ancient [[Median kingdom|Median]] and [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian (Achaemenid) Empire]]s and in several of their successors, such as in the [[Sasanian Empire]] and the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] empires.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satrap |title=Satrap | work= Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher= Merriam-Webster |access-date=2012-01-26}}</ref> A '''satrapy''' is the territory governed by a satrap.

A satrap served as a [[viceroy]] to the king, though with considerable autonomy. The word came to suggest tyranny or ostentatious splendour,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title= satrap | encyclopedia= [[Oxford English Dictionary]]| date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Trollope |first1= Anthony |title=The Eustace Diamonds |date=12 May 2011 |publisher= Oxford University Press| place= Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-162041-6 |page=626 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cTntq2avq3gC&dq=satrap+came+to+suggest+tyranny,+or+ostentatious+splendour.&pg=PA626 |access-date=28 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref> and its modern usage is a [[pejorative]] and refers to any subordinate or local ruler, usually with unfavourable connotations of corruption.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=satrap |encyclopedia= Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage |editor-last=Butterfield |editor-first= Jeremy |page=724 |date=2015 |edition=4 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-966135-0}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word {{lang|en|[[wikt:satrap|satrap]]}} is derived via Latin {{lang|la|satrapes}} from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{Transliteration|grc|satrápes}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|σατράπης}}), itself borrowed from an [[Old Iranian languages|Old Iranian]] {{Transliteration|ira|*khshathra-pa}}.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url= https://iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-xii |title= Greece xii. Persian Loanwords and Names in Greek |access-date=2024-02-25| encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Iranica| year= 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240225060634/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-xii |archive-date=2024-02-25 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Old Persian]], which was the native language of the Achaemenids, it is recorded as {{Transliteration|peo|khshathapavan}} ({{wikt-lang|peo|𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎱𐎠𐎺𐎠}}, literally "protector of the province"). The [[Median language|Median]] form is reconstructed as {{Transliteration|xme|*khshathrapavan-}}.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/6560686|title=[Towards the Discussion on the Language of the Scythians: The Transition of OIr *xš- &gt; *s- and its Reflection in the Ancient Greek] К дискуссии о языке скифов: переход др.ир. *xš- &gt; *s- и его отражение в древнегреческом|first=Mikhail|last=Bukharin|journal=Проблемы Истории, Филологии, Культуры. 2013. 2. В честь 60-летия В.Д. Кузнецова. С. 263–285.|archive-date=30 October 2021|access-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211030120051/https://www.academia.edu/6560686|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its [[Sanskrit]] cognate is {{Transliteration|sa|kshatrapa}} ({{wikt-lang|sa|क्षत्रप}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kshatrapa, Kṣatrapa, Kshatra-pa: 8 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/kshatrapa |website=Wisdom Library|date=28 February 2018 }}</ref> The [[Biblical Hebrew]] form is {{Transliteration|he|aḥashdarpan}} {{lang|he|[[:wikt:אחשדרפן|אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפָּן]]|rtl=yes}}, as found in Esther 3:12.<ref>{{bibleverse|Esther|3:12|JPS}} The Bible (Jewish Publication Society, 1917)</ref><ref>{{strong-number|'ăḥašdarpᵊnîm (H323)|H|323}} in [[Strong's Concordance]]</ref>

In the [[Parthian language|Parthian]] (language of the [[Arsacid Empire]]) and [[Middle Persian]] (the language of the [[Sassanian Empire]]), it is recorded in the forms {{Transliteration|xpr|šahrab}} and {{Transliteration|pal|šasab}}, respectively.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title= šasab| first= David Neil | last= MacKenzie| author-link= David Neil MacKenzie| encyclopedia= A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary| year= 1971| publisher= | isbn= | page= }}</ref>

In [[Persian language|modern Persian]] the descendant of {{Transliteration|xme|*khshathrapavan}} is {{Transliteration|fa|shahrbān}} ({{lang|fa|شهربان|rtl=yes}}), but the components have undergone [[semantic shift]] so the word now means "town keeper" ({{Transliteration|fa|shahr}} {{wikt-lang|fa|شهر|rtl=yes}} meaning "town" + {{Transliteration|fa|bān}} {{wikt-lang|fa|بان|rtl=yes}} meaning "keeper").{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2024}}

===Medo-Persian===
[[File:Map of Achaemenid Imperial Satraps (English Version).png|thumb|350px|Satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[File:Karaburun Elmali dignitary 470 BCE.jpg|thumb|A dignitary of [[Asia Minor]] in Achaemenid style, {{Circa|475 BC}}; Karaburun tomb near [[Elmalı]], [[Lycia]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=André-Salvini |first1=Béatrice |title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24731-4 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC&pg=PA46 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Although the first large-scale use of satrapies, or provinces, originates from the inception of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] under [[Cyrus the Great]], beginning at around 530{{nbsp}}BCE, provincial organization actually originated during the [[Medes|Median]] era from at least 648{{nbsp}}BCE.

Up to the time of the conquest of [[Medes|Media]] by Cyrus the Great, emperors ruled the lands they conquered through [[client king]]s and governors. The main difference was that in Persian culture the concept of kingship was indivisible from divinity: divine authority validated the [[divine right of kings]]. The twenty-six satraps established by Cyrus were never kings, but [[viceroy]]s ruling in the king's name. However, in political reality many took advantage of any opportunity to carve out an independent power base for themselves. [[Darius I|Darius the Great]] gave the satrapies a definitive organization, increased their number to thirty-six, and fixed their annual tribute ([[Behistun inscription]]).

[[File:IONIA, Magnesia ad Maeandrum. Themistokles. Circa 465-459 BC.jpg|thumb|left|Coin of [[Themistocles]], a former Athenian general, as [[Achaemenid Empire]] Satrap of [[Magnesia on the Meander|Magnesia]], {{Circa|465–459 BC}}]]
The satrap was in charge of the land that he owned as an administrator, and found himself surrounded by an all-but-royal court; he collected the taxes, controlled the local officials and the subject tribes and cities, and was the supreme judge of the province before whose "chair" (''Nehemiah''{{nbsp}}3:7) every civil and criminal case could be brought. He was responsible for the safety of the roads (cf.{{nbsp}}Xenophon), and had to put down brigands and rebels.

He was assisted by a council of Persians, to which also provincials were admitted and which was controlled by a royal secretary and emissaries of the king, especially the "eye of the king", who made an annual inspection and exercised permanent control.

[[File:CILICIA, Mallos. Tiribazos. Satrap of Lydia, 388-380 BC.jpg|thumb|Coinage of [[Tiribazos]], Satrap of [[Lydia (satrapy)|Achaemenid Lydia]], 388–380 BC]]
There were further checks on the power of each satrap: besides his secretarial scribe, his chief financial official (Old Persian ''ganzabara'') and the general in charge of the regular army of his province and of the fortresses were independent of him and periodically reported directly to the ''shah'', in person. The satrap was allowed to have troops in his own service.

The great satrapies (provinces) were often divided into smaller districts, the governors of which were also called satraps and (by Greco-Roman authors) also called ''hyparchs'' (actually ''Hyparkhos'' in Greek, 'vice-regents').<ref>Tuplin, Christopher, [https://www.academia.edu/4251207/The%20administration%20of%20the%20Achaemenid%20Empire "The Administration of the Achaemenid Empire"]. In I. Carradice (ed.), ''Coinage and Administration in the Athenian and Persian Empires'' (1987; Oxford: BAR), 109-166.</ref> The distribution of the great satrapies was changed repeatedly, and often two of them were given to the same man.
[[File:Achaemenid Satrap Autophradates with visitors Payava tomb.jpg|thumb|Achaemenid Satrap [[Autophradates]] receiving visitors, on the [[Tomb of Payava]], {{circa|380 BC}}]]

As the provinces were the result of consecutive conquests (the homeland had a special status, exempt from provincial tribute), both primary and sub-satrapies were often defined by former states and/or ethno-religious identity. One of the keys to the Achaemenid success was their open attitude to the culture and religion of the conquered people, so the Persian culture was the one most affected as the Great King endeavoured to meld elements from all his subjects into a new imperial style, especially at his capital, [[Persepolis]].

[[File:Satrap sarcophagus banquet scene.jpg|thumb|left|Banquet scene of a Satrap, on the "Sarcophagus of the Satrap", [[Sidon]], 4th century BC]]
Whenever central authority in the empire weakened, the satrap often enjoyed practical independence, especially as it became customary to appoint him also as general-in-chief of the army district, contrary to the original rule. "When his office became hereditary, the threat to the central authority could not be ignored" (Olmstead). Rebellions of satraps became frequent from the middle of the 5th{{nbsp}}century BCE. [[Darius I]] struggled with widespread rebellions in the satrapies, and under [[Artaxerxes II]] occasionally the greater parts of [[Asia Minor]] and Syria were in open rebellion ([[Revolt of the Satraps]]).

The last great rebellions were put down by [[Artaxerxes III]].

===Seleucid===
{{Further|Partition of Babylon|Partition of Triparadisus}}
[[File:Diadochi satraps babylon.png|thumb|right|The satraps appointed by Alexander the Great during his campaign]]
[[Image:Baydad.jpg|thumb|left|[[Bagadates I]] (Minted 290–280 BC), the first indigenous satrap to be appointed by the [[Seleucid Empire]]<ref>{{cite book| first= Otto |last= Mørkholm| title= Early Hellenistic Coinage: From the Accession of Alexander to the Peace of Apamea| publisher= Cambridge University Press| year= 1991| page= 73f| isbn= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| first1= John |last1= Curtis| first2= Nigel | last2= Tallis | first3= Béatrice |last3= André-Salvini| title= Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia| year= 2005 |at=pp. 258–59, fig. 454, Silver tetradrachm of Bagadates}}</ref>]]
The satrapic administration and title were retained—even for Greco-Macedonian incumbents—by [[Alexander the Great]], who conquered the Achaemenid Empire, and by his successors, the [[Diadochi]] (and their dynasties) who carved it up, especially in the [[Seleucid Empire]], where the satrap generally was designated as ''[[strategos]]'' (in other words, military generals); but their provinces were much smaller than under the Persians. They would ultimately be replaced by conquering empires, especially the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]].

===Parthian and Sassanian===
In the [[Parthian Empire]], the king's power rested on the support of noble families, who ruled large estates and supplied soldiers and tribute to the king. City-states within the empire enjoyed a degree of self-government, and paid tribute to the king. Administration of the [[Sassanid Empire]] was considerably more centralized than that of the Parthian Empire; the semi-independent kingdoms and self-governing city states of the Parthian Empire were replaced with a system of "royal cities" which served as the seats of centrally appointed governors called ''shahrabs'' as well as the location of military garrisons. ''Shahrabs'' ruled both the city and the surrounding rural districts. Exceptionally, the [[Byzantine Empire]] also adopted the title "satrap" for the semi-autonomous princes that governed one of its [[Roman Armenia|Armenian provinces]], the ''Satrapiae''.

===Indian===
{{Main|Northern Satraps|Western Satraps}}
[[File:Nahapana.jpg|thumb|Coin of "[[Western satraps|Western Satrap]]" [[Nahapana]], {{circa|120 CE}}]]
The Western Satraps or Kshatrapas (35–405 CE) of the [[Indian subcontinent]] were [[Indo-Scythian|Saka]] rulers in the western and central part of the [[Sindh]] region of [[Pakistan]], and the [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] and [[Malwa]] regions of western [[India]]. They were contemporaneous with the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]]s, who ruled the northern part of the subcontinent from the area of [[Peshawar]] and were possibly their overlords, and with the [[Satavahana]], who ruled in central India to their south and east and the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] state to their immediate west.

==See also==
*[[Taxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire]]
*[[Orontid dynasty]]
*[[Suzerainty]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book |last=Ashley |first=James R. |title=The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare Under Philip II and Alexander the Great, 359–323 B.C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTmXOFX-wioC&pg=PA385 |orig-date=First published 1998 |year=2004 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=978-0-7864-1918-0 |pages=385–391 |chapter=Appendix H: Kings and Satraps}}
* Jacobs, Bruno (1994). ''Die Satrapienverwaltung im Perserreich zur Zeit Darius’ III.'' Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Beihefte, vol. B 87. Wiesbaden: Reichert, {{ISBN|3-88226-818-2}}.
* Klinkott, Hilmar (2000). ''Die Satrapienregister der Alexander- und Diadochenzeit.'' [[Historia (classical antiquity history journal)|Historia]] Einzelschriften, vol. 145. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner, {{ISBN|3-515-07701-4}}.
* Klinkott, Hilmar (2005). ''Der Satrap. Ein achaimenidischer Amtsträger und seine Handlungsspielräume.'' Oikumene. Studien zur antiken Weltgeschichte, vol. 1. Frankfurt: Verlag Antike, {{ISBN|3-938032-02-2}}
*A. T. Olmstead, ''History of the Persian Empire,'' 1948.
*Pauly-Wissowa (comprehensive encyclopaedia on Antiquity; in German).
* Petit, Thierry (1990). ''Satrapes et Satrapies dans l’empire achéménide de Cyrus le Grand à Xerxès Ier.'' Bibliothèque de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres de l’Université de Liège, vol. 254. Genève: Droz, {{ISBN|2-251-66254-5}}.
*Robert Dick Wilson. ''The Book of Daniel: A Discussion of the Historical Questions'', 1917. Available on home.earthlink.net.
*Rüdiger Schmitt, "Der Titel 'Satrap{{'"}}, in ''Studies Palmer'' ed. Meid (1976), 373–390.
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Satrap}}.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
*[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/darius-the-great/sources/the-satrapies-herodotus/ Livius.org: Satraps and satrapies]

{{Achaemenid Provinces}}
{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities}}
{{Achaemenid rulers}}
{{Hellenistic satraps}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Satraps| ]]
[[Category:Positions of subnational authority]]
[[Category:Achaemenid Empire]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]
[[Category:Gubernatorial titles]]
[[Category:Iranian inventions]]