mard o mard

{{short description|Single combat in Ancient Persia.}}

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File:Sasanian silver bowl. Smirnoff Collection.jpg

Mard ō mard (Middle Persian; literally "man to man") was an ancient Iranian tradition of single combat, the Sasanian Empire being most known for using it. During a battle, the Sasanian troops would use taunts and war cries to provoke the enemy into a single duel with a Sasanian champion. The tradition meant much to the Sasanians—in 421, during Bahram V's war against the Romans in 421–422, Ardazanes, a member of the "Immortals", was in a single duel killed by the Roman comes Areobindus, which contributed to Bahram V's acceptance of the defeat in the war and making peace with the Romans.{{cite book |last1=Rawlinson |first1=George |title=The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, Vol 7. (of 7): The Sassanian the History, Geography and Antiquities of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia and Sassanian or New Persian Empire |publisher=Library of Alexandria |isbn=978-1-4655-0672-6 |pages=442–443 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSXIrk-6hpkC&pg=PT442 |language=en}}{{cite journal |last1=Charles |first1=Michael |title=The Sassanian immortals |journal=Iranica Antiqua |date=1 January 2011 |volume=46 |pages=289–313 |doi=10.2143/IA.46.0.2084423}}

In Sasanian art several mard o mard depictions are preserved in rock-reliefs in Naqsh-e Rostam and in a cameo of Shapur I and Valerian.{{cite web |title=ARMY i. Pre-Islamic Iran – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/army-i |website=www.iranicaonline.org |access-date=25 February 2020}}

Single combats have been narrated in Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") of Ferdowsi, a notable example being those of the story of Davazdah Rokh ("Twelve Combats").