Ardashir I Kushanshah
{{Short description|Ruler of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 233 to 245}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Ardashir I Kushanshah
| title =
| image = Coin of Ardashir Kushanshah, Marw mint.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = Coin of Ardashir I Kushanshah, Marw mint
| succession = Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom
| reign = 233–245
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| predecessor =
| successor = Peroz I Kushanshah
| spouse =
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| dynasty =
| father =
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| death_date = 245
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| religion = Zoroastrianism
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}}
Ardashir I Kushanshah was the first Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom from 233 to 245. He was succeeded by Peroz I Kushanshah.
Name
Ardashir is the Middle Persian form of the Old Persian Ṛtaxšira (also spelled Artaxšaçā, meaning "whose reign is through truth").{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654-655}}{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|1986|pp=371-376}} The Latin variant of the name is {{lang|la|Artaxerxes}}.{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654-655}} Three kings of the Achaemenid Empire were known to have the same name.{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654-655}}
Reign
Image:Map of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom.svg]]
"Kushano-Sasanian" is a historiographic term used by modern scholars when referring to a dynasty of monarchs who supplanted the Kushan Empire in the Tukharistan region, and ultimately in both Kabulistan and Gandhara as well.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=72}} According to the historian Khodadad Rezakhani, the dynasty was seemingly a young branch of the House of Sasan, and perhaps a offspring of one of the Sasanian King of Kings.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=72}} It was founded in 233 by Ardashir I Kushanshah after his appointment by the first Sasanian King of Kings, Ardashir I ({{reign|224|242}}).{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|pp=72-74, 77}}{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|1986|pp=371–376}} The Kushano-Sasanians, in the same manner as the Kushans, used the title of Kushanshah ("Kushan King"), thus demonstrating a continuum with their predecessors.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=72}}
The coins of Ardashir I Kushanshah had the Bactrian legend AP∆AÞΟPΟ KΟÞANΟ ÞAΟ, "Ardashir, the Kushan Shah".{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2017|p=204}} Some of his coins also had a Pahlavi legend on the reverse reading mzdysn bgy arthštr RBA kwšan MLK "The Mazda-worshipping lord Ardashir the Great Kushan Shah".{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2017|p=204}} The reverse of his Bactrian-written coins depicted the goddess Anahita, whilst the ones written in Pahlavi depicted Mithra.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=80}} Several of Ardashir I Kushanshah's coins have been found together with coins of the Kushan ruler Vasishka, suggesting a level of interaction between the two rulers.{{sfn|Daryaee|Rezakhani|2017|p=204}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
Sources
- {{cite encyclopedia | title = Artaxerxes | last = Schmitt | first = R. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artaxerxes-throne-name-of-several-persian-kings-of-the-achaemenid-dynasty | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6 | pages = 654–655 | year = 1986 }}
- {{cite book |first1=Touraj |last1=Daryaee|first2=Khodadad|last2=Rezakhani|editor1-last=Daryaee |editor1-first=Touraj |title=King of the Seven Climes: A History of the Ancient Iranian World (3000 BCE - 651 CE) |date=2017 |publisher=UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies |chapter=The Sasanian Empire|pages=1–236|isbn=9780692864401|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unTjswEACAAJ}}
- {{cite book|last1=Kia|first1=Mehrdad|title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1610693912|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5BHDAAAQBAJ&q=sasanians+rhodes}}
- {{cite book | title = ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity | year = 2017 | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | last = Rezakhani | first = Khodadad | chapter = East Iran in Late Antiquity| pages = 1–256 | isbn = 9781474400305 | jstor = 10.3366/j.ctt1g04zr8 }} {{registration required}}
- {{cite encyclopedia | article = Kushanshahs i. History | last = Vaissière | first = Étienne de La | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kushanshahs-01 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | year = 2016 }}
- {{cite encyclopedia | article = Ardašīr I i. History | last = Wiesehöfer | first = Joseph | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-i | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4 | pages = 371–376 | year = 1986 }}
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=Kushan Empire}}
{{s-ttl|title=Kushanshah of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom|years=233–245}}
{{s-aft|after=Peroz I Kushanshah}}
{{s-end}}
{{Kushanshahs of the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardashir 01 Kushanshah}}
Category:3rd-century monarchs in Asia