Anciant civilization of Persia

[Nick]

Sorry Friends Although this topic has nothing to do with Afghans, but a friend of our Khalsawarrior has requested a new topic regarding Caste System in Iran. So Please guys welcome to join, read, discuss, and share your knowledge. If nothing else lol at least agreements or disagreements.

It would be interesting to know about caste system in Iran. From what I had read, Indian sub-continent was the only place where the Aryans practiced the caste system. And a group of scholars even use this 'fact' to argue that the the Caste System was already prevalent in India, in the Harappan culture that is before the Aryans arrived. Otherwise how is it that the Aryans only practiced it in India although their offshoots spread far and wide? But then again, I could be wrong. So please open a thread if you can and post links as well. Look forward to it.

From history we do know that tribalism may have existed during the rule of Median and Archeamanids but slowly disappeared or transferred into Caste. Because it was in the form of Caste System that a group can remain strong over another. This was native to Iran, Elamid/Akkadians/Assyrians etc etc all depended on Caste system just as in India. Where as in tribal nation no tribe has right over another tribe.
During era of Dirus the nomads with him who did ruled Iran were tribal but what happen later was the fact that Pars was the first region of the world that actually had the most mobiled Army, well organized Empire the world has ever seen. We have seen many empires in the world, majority had to do with ruling local areas but the Medians changed the whole Idea of how an Empire should be.
Empire, itself is a very big tribal confederation. If you think about it Tribal confederacy unites the numbers of tribes of the surrounding regions or those who agree of sharing same idealogy, or enemy. That's when a confederacy is made we have Abdaliate as being the most famous, where it has tribes such as the Sakas that some who joined and some who didn't.

The matter to when a confederacy like this was developed or how it turned into Myths or blood relationships is a another issues, my point is that Median Empire was the true Empire from which the world continues to copy. Because Medians were so smart to create a uniqe political system that can only work in the tribal world (He changed the idea of tribal unity into grouping of States and Races ruled by a Monarch) And yet many parts of Western Iranian were not tribal many had Caste system specially the native Iranians as I mentioned them above, these Mede-Nomads introduced something that even locals who suffered under Caste system as something normal and took pride for it just as modern "Demoracy" introduced to Chinese people, who are dying to gain such system installed.



Comparing Modern Afghanistan with Iran. You see Afghanistan by nature is a tribal land as it has always been and something coming into Afghanistan would be sacked into "Afghanization" as you may have noticed to what happend to Mongols and many invaders including Greeks who acted like Afghans or created something uniqe, but not so much to change the Afghan nature itself. Same thing with Iran because Iran was the opposite of Afghanistan. Iran by nature as I will point again was not tribal, and just be some invading Nomads ie MEDES or Darius it doesn't mean all of Iran were to be tribal, if that was the case then it would be hard for any empire to subdue Iran. May I not right?

That's why it was easy for Medes, Archeamanids, Greeks, Romans, Afghans, Arabs, and Turks to subdue its people. Conquring of tribal nation is easy, you come swipe and leave, but to stay, ask for remedy, subduing tribes of that nation is not an Easy task. Because you have to deal with Each tribe seperately, the story of Arabian land, Afghan Land, Nepali Land and North American is all Same as I have given above. Its hard to subdue the whole tribes of a tribal nation. Therefore the notion of tribalism is and always be resistance to outsiders.

Lets get back to Caste System, The Caste system was always practiced in Iran before Darius, it was well practiced by Elamids and also known to Akkadians and those rulers of Pars (Persia) the documents well known from 4000-1000 BCE that mentioned many times in Pars/Elam, that Iran had Caste system same way as India. In Iran there was Athara, Rathestha, Rastrya Fsoyant and Hoiti, Which is same as India's Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vasisha and Shudra.

Therefore having to give you examples of these caste groups dear Khalsawarrior you are more then welcome to research on these names, also please let me know if you need further explanation if you need source make sure you "quote" in regards to something specific.

[KhalsaWarrior]

Thank you Nick. I am going through the material that you have posted in this thread. I will definitely come back with more questions!

[Selina]

lexander had planned to unite the Persians with his own people in one great nation; and, perhaps, it is this more than anything else which accounts for their ready submission to his sway. With his death, however, his mighty schemes fell to pieces. There was civil war among his generals, until finally one of them, Seleucus, succeeded to the strictly Persian part of the empire. He ruled the Persians as a conquered and inferior people to be domineered over by Greek troops and Greek satraps. The proud Persians mast have welcomed gladly the change of dominion, when the Parthians overthrew the Greek rule about 250 B.C. The Parthians, though they came from the deserts of central Asia and knew little of the outer world, were a strong and shrewd people. They recognized the superior civilization of their new subjects, and treated them with much liberality and even distinction, allowing them to be ruled by their own native kings. Thus the two nations dwelt together very amicably. Through the whole period of the Parthian empire, extending over four centuries, there was no Persian revolt. During this time Greece fell from power, and Rome became mistress of the world. The Parthians alone, trusting in their deadly deserts and their peculiar mode of warfare, maintained the independence of their domain against Roman conquest. The beginning of the Christian era came and passed; and the new religion, spreading swiftly over the world, entered Persia also. Finally the Parthian empire began to crumble to pieces. The Parthian race seems to have become weak and corrupt. Province after province asserted its freedom, and hardly an effort was made to put down the various rebellions. Persia began to dream of her ancient greatness; mere independence could not satisfy her re-aroused ambition. There must be some deep and rare vitality in the Persian race. History knows no parallel to their case, when a nation was so stirred by the memory of its own famous history as to rise after hundreds of years of complete submission and win its place a second time among the great peoples of the world. Greece has made a similar attempt in our own times; but we all know how hopelessly she would have been crushed by the Turks in 1898 had not the generous interference of Europe saved her, and given her the shadow of a place among the nations.