Farn-Sasan

The main part of the name "Sasan" was popular in the Indo-Parthian realm. The etymology of the name is uncertain; according to scholars David Neil MacKenzie and V.A. Livshits the name is derived from Old Iranian *Sāsāna ("defeating enemy").[1] It was the name of a local Zoroastrian deity venerated in Indo-Parthia and Khwarazm.[1]

Farn-Sasan gained control of the Indo-Parthian throne sometime in 210. The identity of his predecessor is unknown; it may have been Pacores.[2] Farn-Sasan is not mentioned in any literary sources, and is only solely known through his coins, which have the inscription; "Farn-Sasan, son of Adur-Sasan, grandson of Tirdat, son of the grandson of Sanabares, the King of Kings."[2][lower-alpha 1] With this inscription, Farn-Sasan tried to legitimize his rule by linking himself with his great-grandfather Sanabares, who was the last prominent Indo-Parthian king.[4] Although the title of King of Kings is put after the name of Sanabares, Farn-Sasan in reality refers himself as King of Kings, which was the traditional titulature of the Achaemenid and Parthian rulers.[5][1]

Coin of the Sasanian monarch Ardashir I (r. 224–242), minted at Hamadan between 226–230

Neither Adur-Sasan nor Tirdat is known to have ruled, which implies that Farn-Sasan was seemingly from a cadet branch of the dynasty.[3] On the obverse of his coins, he is portrayed with a cap. On the reverse, a fire altar is depicted, with an inscription circled around it.[6] Farn-Sasan is the only king known to show a fire altar on coins originating from Sakastan. Around the same time, another king issued coins with a similar fire-altar depicted on it, which was the Sasanian ruler Ardashir I (r. 224–242), who around the same time was extending his domains into the east.[7] It is uncertain if Farn-Sasan copied the iconography of Ardashir I's reverse coins, or vice versa.[5] The resemblance of the coinage of Farn-Sasan and the Sasanian Ardashir I, including the shared name Sasan—a name popular in the Indo-Parthian realm—suggests that the Sasanians and Indo-Parthians possibly shared a common ancestry.[8][1] Modern historians regard them as rivals and claimants to the title of King of Kings.[9] The Iranologist Khodadad Rezakhani argues that Farn-Sasan was a superior of Ardashir I, and that the latter was only able to declare himself Kings of Kings after he defeated Farn-Sasan in 226, which marked the end of Indo-Parthian rule.[10][11]

• Daryaee, Touraj; Rezakhani, Khodadad (2016). From Oxus to Euphrates: The World of Late Antique Iran. H&S Media. pp. 1–126. ISBN 9781780835778.
• Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2016). "Dynastic Connections in the Arsacid Empire and the Origins of the House of Sāsān". In Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh; Pendleton, Elizabeth J.; Alram, Michael; Daryaee, Touraj (eds.). The Parthian and Early Sasanian Empires: Adaptation and Expansion. Oxbow Books. ISBN 9781785702082.
• Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–256. ISBN 9781474400305.