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Dārayavahuš I Haxāmanišyah 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐏐𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁𐎡𐎹 | |
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| Born | c. 550 BCE Persian Empire |
| Died | October 486 BCE Persian Empire |
| Nationality | Persian |
Dārayavahuš I Haxāmanišyah (c. 550 BCE – October 486 BCE) was the ruler of the Persian Empire from 522 to 486 BCE.[1]
Rise to power[edit | edit source]
Seven months into Bardiya's reign, the nobleman Hutānah organized a conspiracy with Dārayavahuš to assassinate Bardiya. Dārayavahuš then split with the other conspirators and took power for himself. He created the Behistun inscription, which called Bardiya an impostor. According to the inscription, Bardiya had already died before the Egyptian campaign, but the court official Gaumata impersonated him.[1]
Reign[edit | edit source]
Rebellions[edit | edit source]
A series of rebellions began at the start of Dārayavahuš's reign in response to the high tribute and conscription imposed on conquered peoples. Nidintubēl of Babylon declared himself the son of Nabûnaʾid, the last king of independent Babylon. In late 522 BCE, the Persians defeated the rebellion and executed its leaders. At the same time, rebellions began all across the empire, encompassing Egypt, Elam, Media, Parthia, and Central Asia. Dadaršiš, the satrap of Bactria, put down a rebellion in Margiana and killed 55,000 people.[1]
Vahyazdāta now claimed to be Bardiya and gained popular support. He took control of the Persian homeland and the eastern Iranian provinces and fought against Dārayavahuš for six months before being defeated and executed. After a failed rebellion in Elam, Martiya led another Elamite rebellion, and Fravartiš rebelled in Media. Dārayavahuš personally led the expedition against the Medes and defeated them in 521 BCE. A long revolt also occurred in Armenia, and Babylon rebelled a second time.[1]
After defeating the rebellions, Dārayavahuš restored the old borders of the empire. Between 518 and 512 BCE, he conquered Macedon and Thrace.[1]
Wars with Greece[edit | edit source]
See main article: Greco-Persian Wars
Administrative reforms[edit | edit source]
In 519 BCE, Dārayavahuš reorganized the empire into large satrapies and installed Persians as satraps to replace the native rulers who existed under Kūruš and Kambūjiyah. However, non-Persians could still be judges and local officials. Satraps lost their military power and could only have a small number of bodyguards during peacetime. They oversaw the courts and administration and collected taxes. The highest official besides the king was the commander of the king's bodyguard. Officials from the central government known as the "king's eyes and ears" spied on people across the empire.[1]
Economic reforms[edit | edit source]
Dārayavahuš I established the daric, an 8.4g gold coin, as the state currency. One daric was equal to 20 silver shekels, each of which weighed 5.6g. Satraps and autonomous cities could mint silver coins, but only the king could mint gold coins. All satrapies had to pay a fixed amount of taxes based on the area and productivity of farmland. Persians paid taxes in kind, while other peoples paid in silver. The annual tax burden for the empire was around 232 tonnes of silver per year. Peoples on the edge of the empire, such as Arabia, Egrisi, Kush, paid fixed amounts of tribute in kind but did not pay taxes in money.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Grigory Bongard-Levin, Boris Piotrovsky (1988). Ancient Civilisations of East and West. https://archive.org/details/ancientciveastwest/mode/1up.