Slavery in Iran
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A History of slavery in Iran during various ancient, medieval and modern periods is sparsely cataloged.
Contents |
[edit] Under the Achaemenides
In general, mass slavery as a whole has never been practiced by Persians, and in many cases the situation and lives of semi-slaves (prisoners of war) were, in fact, better than those of the commoner.[1]
Slavery was an existing institution in Egypt, Media and Babylonia before the rise of the Achaemenid empire.
On the whole, in the Achaemenid empire, there was only small number of slaves in relation to the number of free persons and moreover the word used to call a slave was utilized also to express general dependence.[2] Usually, captives were prisoners of war that were recruited from those that rebelled against Achaemenid rule.[3]
There were three categories of slaves in the lands conquered by Achaemenian Persia:[4]
1) Captives, transferred to new places, forming settlements of people in a state of slavery.
2) Slaves, mainly from among the captives, used in construction and agricultural work for the aristocracy.
3) Slaves in personal service
Modern historians handle the book of Herodotus with care and according to Pierre Briant: "It is hard to separate history from fairly tale in Herodotus".[5] Herodotus has mentioned enslavement with regards to rebels of the Lydians who revolted against Achaemenid rule and captured Sardis.[6] He has also mentioned slavery after the rebellion of Egypt in the city of Barce[7] during the time of Cambyses and the assassination of Persian Satrap in Egypt. He also mentions the defeat of Ionians, and their allies Eretria who supported the Ionians and subsequent enslavement of the rebels and supporting population.[8]
According to Dandamayev:[9]
| “ | The basis of agriculture was the labor of free farmers and tenants and in handicrafts the labor of free artisans, whose occupation was usually inherited within the family, likewise predominated. In these countries of the empire, slavery had already undergone important changes by the time of the emergence of the Persian state. Debt slavery was no longer common. The practice of pledging one’s person for debt, not to mention self-sale, had totally disappeared by the Persian period. In the case of nonpayment of a debt by the appointed deadline, the creditor could turn the children of the debtor into slaves. A creditor could arrest an insolvent debtor and confine him to debtor’s prison. However, the creditor could not sell a debtor into slavery to a third party. Usually the debtor paid off the loan by free work for the creditor, thereby retaining his freedom. | ” |
[edit] Under the Parthians
There is evidence from classical sources about practice of slavery under Parthian rule.[citation needed] Cicero in a letter to Atticus mentions a fugitive slave who had worked in the mines of the Parthian king. Slavery was not restricted to royal mines, and it was used on a large scale in agriculture, building and in the crafts.[citation needed] According to Diodorus Siculus, the vice-regent of Phraates II in Babylonia enslaved a large number of Babylonians and sent them to Media to be sold as booty.[citation needed] According to Plutarch, there were many slaves in the army of the Parthian general Surena.[10]
[edit] Under the Sassanids
Under this period Roman prisoners of war were used in farming in Babylonia, Shush and Persis.[11]
[edit] Sassanid Laws of Slavery
Some of the laws governing the ownership and treatment of slaves can be found in the collection of laws of the Sassanid period called Matikan-e-Hazar Datastan.[12] Principles that can be inferred from the laws include:
1) The slaves were captured foreigners who were non-Zoroastrians.
2) The ownership of the slave belonged to the man.
3) The owner had to treat the slave humanely; violence toward the slave was forbidden. In particular beating a slave woman was a crime.
4) If a non-Zoroastrian slave, such as a Christian slave, converted to Zoroastrianism, he or she could pay his or her price and attain freedom.
5) If a slave together with his or her foreign master embraced Zoroastrianism, he or she could pay his slave price and become free.
To free a slave (irrespective of his or her faith) was considered a good deed.[13] Slaves had some rights including keeping gifts to them and at least three days of rest in the month.[14] The law also protected slaves, including: No one may inflict upon slaves a fatal punishment for a single crime... Not even the king himself may slay anyone on the account of one crime.[15]
[edit] Modern Period
Slavery was formally abolished in Persia in 1929.[16]
[edit] References
- ^ Farazmand, Ali (1998) “Persian/Iranian Administrative Tradition”, in Jay M. Shafritz (Editor), International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, pp 1640-1645 - Excerpt: "Persians never practiced mass slavery, and in many cases the situations and lives of semi-slaves (prisoners of war) were in fact better than the common citizens of Persia." (pg 1642)
- ^ M. A. Dandamayev, BARDA and BARDADĀRĪ in Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ M. A. Dandamayev, BARDA and BARDADĀRĪ in Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ Ilya Gershevitch, William Bayne Fisher, The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol.II: The Median and Achaemenian periods, 964 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1985, ISBN 0-521-20091-1, 9780521200912, pp.136-137
- ^ Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 1195 pp., Eisenbrauns Publishers, 2006, ISBN 1-57506-120-1, 9781575061207.
- ^ Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 1195 pp., Eisenbrauns Publishers, 2006, ISBN 1-57506-120-1, 9781575061207, p.37
- ^ J. D. Fage, R. A. Oliver, The Cambridge History of Africa: From C.500 BC to AD1050, 858 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1979, ISBN 0-521-21592-7, 9780521215923 (see page 112)
- ^ David Sansone, Ancient Greek Civilization , 226 pp., Blackwell Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-631-23236-2, 9780631232360 (see page 85)
- ^ M. A. Dandamayev, BARDA and BARDADĀRĪ in Encyclopedia Iranica
- ^ Ehsan Yar-Shater, W. B. Fisher, The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods , 1488 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1983, ISBN 0-521-24693-8, 9780521246934 (see p.635)
- ^ Evgeniĭ Aleksandrovich Beliyayev, Arabs, Islam and the Arab Caliphate in the Early Middle Ages, 264 pp., Praeger Publishers, 1969 (see p.13)
- ^ K. D. Irani, Morris Silver, Social Justice in the Ancient World , 224 pp., Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, ISBN 0-313-29144-6, 9780313291449 (see p.87)
- ^ K. D. Irani, Morris Silver, Social Justice in the Ancient World , 224 pp., Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, ISBN 0-313-29144-6, 9780313291449 (see p.87)
- ^ K. D. Irani, Morris Silver, Social Justice in the Ancient World , 224 pp., Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, ISBN 0-313-29144-6, 9780313291449 (see p.87)
- ^ K. D. Irani, Morris Silver, Social Justice in the Ancient World , 224 pp., Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, ISBN 0-313-29144-6, 9780313291449 (see p.87)
- ^ W. A. Veenhoven, W. C. Ewing, S. P. Samenlevingen, Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1975, ISBN 90-247-1956-9, 9789024719563 (see page 449)
[edit] Further reading
Last number(s) indicate pages:
A. Perikhanian (1983). "Iranian Society and Law". In Ehsan Yar-Shater, William Bayne Fisher, and Ilya Gershevitch. The Cambridge History of Iran. 5: Institutions. Cambridge University Press. pp. 634–640. ISBN 0521246938.
Amir H. Mehryar, F. Mostafavi, & Homa Agha (2001-07-05). "Men and Family Planning in Iran" (PDF). The IUSSP XXIVth General Population Conference in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, August 18–24, 2001. pp. 4. http://iussp.org./Brazil2001/s20/S22_P05_Mehryar.pdf.
