The Mannaeans were one of the ancient peoples who inhabited present-day Iranian Azerbaijan between the 10th and 7th centuries BCE, and they are mentioned in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. The Mannaeans bordered the Assyrians and the state of Urartu. They were not an Indo-European people, nor were they subject to the control of neighboring empires.
According to the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, the Medes are descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah. The Medes were an Aryan (Indo-European) people who spoke an Indo-European language. These peoples migrated from the eastern Black Sea at the beginning of the second millennium BCE into the regions stretching from Kurdistan to India, although their migration to India is dated to around 1600 BCE. The Medes originally inhabited the region of Bukhara and Samarkand, gradually pushing southward until they reached present-day Kurdistan. There, in the mountains they chose as their new homeland, they found copper, iron, lead, gold, silver, marble, and precious stones. Being hardy and simple in their way of life, they began to cultivate the plains and foothills, living a prosperous life there.
The first mention of the Medes in Assyrian records dates back to the time of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III in 835 BCE, marking the first contact between the Medes and the Assyrians, who were then busy expanding their empire. Geographically, the homeland of the Medes included modern-day Tehran, Hamadan, Isfahan, Azerbaijan, and the Carduchia region. The Greek historian Herodotus notes that the Medes were composed of six main tribes: the Busae, Paretaceni, Struchates, Arizanti, Budii, and Magi, and Herodotus applied the name “Aryans” to these Median tribes.
On the other hand, Dr. Ziyar mentions in his book, Iran: A Revolution in Recovery, that by 1500 BCE, two main tribes of Aryans migrated from the Volga River north of the Caspian Sea and settled in Iran: the Persians and the Medes. The Medes settled in the northwest and established the Kingdom of Media, while the other group settled in the south in a region later named “Persis” by the Greeks, from which the name Persia is derived. Meanwhile, the historian Muhammad Amin Zaki suggests a high probability that this group was formed from several tribes, such as the Lullubi, Gutians, Kurti, Juti, Guti, Kassites, Subarians, Khaldians, Mitanni, Hurrians, and Nairi. Ibn Khaldun states that the Kurds are descended from the Medes. Hasan Pirnia, in his book Tarikh-e Iran-e Bastan (History of Ancient Iran), states that the Medes were an Aryan people and the ancestors of the Kurds, noting that their language is the same as that of the Mukriani Kurds; in his book Love and Sovereignty, he states that the language of the Medes was Kurdish. Additionally, Mardokh points out that the first ruler of the Medes was “Aramas,” known to the Greeks as “Deioces.” Domergue states that the Medes existed more than 2,000 years BCE, established many empires and kingdoms, and were renowned for their wars, fame, and superiority since 700 BCE. The Greek historian Ctesias records that ten rulers successively governed the Median Empire, the last of whom was Astyages, and that the empire lasted for 350 years. Through this evidence, the long historical existence of the Kurds is confirmed.
We can conclude from the foregoing that the Kurdish people descend from two groups of peoples: the first group is the Mannaeans, who inhabited Kurdistan since the dawn of history and whom the Kurdish historian Muhammad Amin Zaki calls the “Zagros Mountain Peoples,” who were not Indo-European. These indigenous peoples of the region blended with Aryan (Indo-European) tribes, such as the Medes, which constitute the second group forming the Kurdish people who migrated from the eastern Black Sea to Kurdistan and settled alongside its indigenous inhabitants. This population was settled rather than nomadic, anchored in its geographic territory and relying on agriculture and livestock breeding for its livelihood.
The Median Empire stands out as one of the great empires of ancient history established on the land of present-day Kurdistan, playing a major role in the rise of human civilization in the region known to the ancient Greeks as “Mesopotamia,” a term applied to the lands situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The area of present-day Kurdistan has shrunk significantly compared to the lands that once constituted the Median Empire.
The center of this great empire was located in the present-day Iranian city of Hamadan, which lies within the homeland of the Faylis. From this, we understand that the Faylis are the founders of this empire—the greatest and largest empire in the region at that time—and that the Fayli community are the descendants of the Medes. Thus, the roots of the Faylis in the region (in both modern-day Iraq and Iran) run as deep as history itself.
Boundaries and Capital of the Empire
Media was bounded on the east by Afghanistan (indeed, parts of Afghanistan were part of Media), on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, on the north by the regions of Kadus beyond the Aras River, and on the south by the Persian Gulf. The Median Empire included Persia, Armenia, Assyria, Elam, Hyrcania, parts of Pakistan on the Indian Ocean, and northeastern Syria. Peoples such as the Surmed, Hurrians, Urartians, and Mitanni lived under its rule.
The capital, Ghamazan (meaning “gathering place” in Kurdish), was sometimes referred to as Ecbatana—a name given to it by the Greeks and recorded in Greek sources. Writers such as Xenophon and Herodotus refer to it by this name, and its location lies near the modern Iranian city of Hamadan. The name Hamadan is derived from the name of the Median capital (other sources mention that the modern city of Hamadan is itself the ancient Median city of Ecbatana). Archaeologists successfully located and excavated it; it is a massive city distinguished by its rare, high, and thick defensive walls arranged in seven concentric tiers surrounding the city. Each outer wall was higher than the one inside it.
The Rise of the Median Empire
Median tribes began to coalesce to establish their first recognized empire around 708 BCE. They chose a man who served as a mayor in a Median village named Diyaoku (Kiyqobad) (727–675 BCE), whom the Greeks called Deioces, to be their king. This choice was made because Deioces was renowned for his wisdom and fair judgment in settling disputes, as the Median tribes frequently turned to him to solve their social and economic problems. Deioces was the first known elected Median ruler (as the Medes elected their kings, according to Herodotus). Deioces chose Ecbatana to be the capital of his kingdom (which is present-day Hamadan and means “the meeting place,” while other sources note it is located near modern Hamadan), fortifying it to resist any foreign invasion. At Ecbatana—situated at the crossroads of a picturesque valley fertilized by melting snow from mountain peaks—Deioces established his capital and adorned it with a royal palace overlooking the city, covering an area of approximately 1.73 square kilometers.
Deioces began unifying the kingdom, which comprised a vast region inhabited by Kurdish tribes—the Busae, Arizanti, Paretaceni, Budii, Magi, and Mitanni—and initiated a program to unite all the inhabitants of Media against the continuous onslaught of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (745–606 BCE). King Deioces was assassinated by the Assyrians, who conspired against him by inviting him to a banquet where he was killed.
Following Deioces, King Khashtariti (675–653 BCE), known in Akkadian as Khshatrita and called Phraortes by the Greek historian Herodotus, assumed power. He began his reign with a policy of accommodation and appeasement toward the Assyrian government. This policy helped him increase his influence among the Aryan peoples, as new Aryan tribes arrived from the east and joined the Medes. Khashtariti turned his attention toward the Achaemenid Persian tribes, leading a military campaign to subjugate their kingdom; he succeeded in bringing the Persians under Median rule, thereby uniting the Medes and Persians. Furthermore, the exhaustion of the Urartians and Mannaeans by Sargon’s continuous campaigns and invasions helped the Medes expand westward and incorporate these groups into their burgeoning kingdom with the aid of the Cimmerians in 670 BCE. These positive developments prompted the Medes to withhold the tribute they had long been forced to pay to the Assyrians. Afterward, the Median king launched a major military offensive against Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, but died during the siege, leaving unfulfilled his dream of expanding his empire and removing the Assyrian threat from his people.
Following the death of Phraortes, the young Ouvakhshatra or Cyaxares (Kaykavus) (632–585 BCE), who was the grandson of King Deioces, assumed power in 632 BCE. He continued his father’s policies in dealing with the kingdom’s neighbors and succeeded in realizing his dream of forging the most powerful empire ruling the region, imposing its terms on others. King Cyaxares began working to rally Median youth and various Median tribes, taking advantage of the difficulties facing the Scythians as their vast empire made administration and governance difficult, stretching as far as Palestine. He also reorganized the army on a new basis, dividing them into archers, spearmen, and cavalry. When the peoples groaning under Scythian rule revolted, Cyaxares exploited the Scythians’ vulnerabilities, declared an uprising, and successfully liberated his country from them.
The Median king sent ambassadors to the Babylonian king Nabopolassar to declare his friendship and propose an alliance against their common enemy, the Assyrian Empire. Relations between the Median and Babylonian empires deepened and solidified, especially after Nebuchadnezzar, the son of the Babylonian Nabopolassar, fell in love with the Median king’s daughter, Amytis (Amitza), while accompanying his father on a visit to the Median kingdom. He married her and built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for her, finding that the flat landscape of Babylon did not suit Amytis because her homeland, Media, possessed enchanting natural beauty; thus, he wanted to recreate a similarly stunning environment for her. The Median and Babylonian kingdoms concluded political agreements and military alliances to ward off the threats posed by Assyrian ambitions. The constant threat posed by the Assyrians to both the Median and Babylonian states, alongside the suffering of the peoples under Assyrian rule, drove the two nations to ally to destroy the Assyrian Empire. The repeated incursions of the Scythians into the Assyrian Empire contributed to weakening the Assyrians. Cyaxares prepared his army to attack Nineveh, but just as he was preparing to execute his plan, news reached him that the Scythians had swept down from the Caucasus to attack his kingdom, forcing him to return to Media to counter the Scythian threat. The Scythians ravaged Asia and destroyed everything in their path until they reached the borders of Egypt. Herodotus claims the Scythians stayed in the region for twenty-eight years, while other historians assert they remained for no more than seven years.
Subsequently, the Median and Babylonian states launched a major offensive against the Assyrians. The Medes attacked the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, from the east, while the Babylonians attacked from the south. After fierce fighting, Nineveh fell in March 612 BCE to the Medes and Babylonians. The Assyrian king, an ally of the Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik, fled to Harran to escape death and bide his time for a comeback and revenge against the Medes; however, the Medes cut off his path to power by attacking Harran and killing him there.
As for the Scythians, Median King Cyaxares lured them into a trap by inviting their tribal chieftains to a banquet held in their honor, after which he had them killed. Following this incident, the Scythians had no choice but to leave the region and return to their homeland.
Following the collapse of the Assyrian kingdom and the capture of Nineveh, the Medes and Babylonians partitioned the remnants of Assyria. Thus, the Babylonian kingdom expanded to the borders of Egypt, while the Medes retained the Upper Tigris and Euphrates regions, extending their borders to the Black Sea. King Cyaxares did not stop there; he sought to extend his control over all of Asia Minor, where the Lydian Kingdom, centered on the capital Sardis, was located. The conflict between the Medes and the Lydians lasted for six years. Through the mediation of Babylonian King Nabopolassar, Cyaxares concluded a peace treaty with the Lydian king Alyattes in 608 BCE. According to this treaty, the Halys River (Kızılırmak), which flows into the Black Sea near modern-day Ankara, was marked as the boundary between the two kingdoms. Following this treaty, relations among the three kingdoms—Median, Babylonian, and Lydian—were characterized by peace and calm during the reign of King Cyaxares, lasting until his death in 595 BCE. Other accounts suggest that the war between the Medes and Lydians ended due to a solar eclipse during the fighting, which both sides interpreted as a sign of divine wrath over their warfare, prompting them to make peace.
The Median state was strong under Cyaxares, fostering security in and around Mesopotamia, where peoples lived in peace and stability, free from Assyrian aggression. Historians note that the Median campaign against the Assyrians was not driven by greed or expansionism, but by revenge and the desire to halt Assyrian atrocities. The Median victory served the interests of all Middle Eastern peoples at the time, given that Assyrian policy was marked by violence, murder, cruelty, and destruction toward regional populations. The Assyrians viewed humans as creatures created solely for war, holding human life in little regard. Because women did not participate in wars, society viewed them with disdain, particularly those who bore female children. Similarly, mentally or physically disabled children were neglected or eliminated. The Assyrians were the ones who instituted the veil for women, confining them as captives of the home, where their labor was restricted to serving men, the household, and childbearing.
Following the death of King Cyaxares, his son and heir, Astyages, assumed leadership of the Median Empire. He remained committed to the treaty his father had concluded with the Lydians in 608 BCE, strengthening ties with the Lydian king Alyattes through a royal marriage with his daughter, and doing the same with Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar (son and heir of Nabopolassar) by giving him his sister in marriage. Thus, his political ties with the Lydians and Babylonians were consolidated, and the region enjoyed a peaceful era devoid of notable turmoil during his reign. However, King Astyages lacked the strength and political stature of his predecessor, resulting in weak governance that increased the influence of powerful tribal leaders within the country.
The Collapse of the Median Empire
After Astyages ruled the Median Empire for thirty-five years, Cyrus (Kurosh / Cyrus the Great) revolted against him in 560 BCE. Herodotus mentions in Book I (Clio 107) that after the Magi priests interpreted Astyages’s dream concerning his daughter Mandane, he preferred to marry her off to Cambyses the Persian rather than to a Median noble, hoping to thwart any future attempts by his own nobility to depose him. Herodotus continues that Mandane bore a son to Cambyses whom she named Cyrus. Cyrus grew up among the Median people and was raised by them. When he reached adulthood, he overthrew his grandfather Astyages with the help of a Median commander named Harpagus, proclaiming himself king over both the Medes and the Persians.
On the other hand, the historian Ctesias states that there was no familial relation connecting Cyrus to the Median king. Meanwhile, Xenophon shares a view similar to Herodotus, stating that Cyrus was the son of the Median Mandane and the Persian Cambyses, and adding that he spent his childhood and youth among the Medes under the care of his grandfather Astyages until he reached maturity. Archaeological discoveries indicate that Cyrus belonged to the Achaemenid family and that his father was a king; cuneiform inscriptions on one tablet read, “Son of Cambyses, the mighty king,” followed by “I, Cyrus, the Achaemenid king.” There is also indication that he ruled the kingdom of Susiane after overthrowing Astyages and toppling the Median Empire. Using his disciplined and organized army, Cyrus successfully conquered Assyria and Babylon, then advanced westward to engage in fierce battles with the Lydians led by King Croesus, the son of King Alyattes.
The Medes played a decisive role in the survival and resilience of the Achaemenid Empire against its enemies. This importance is clearly visible in the Behistun Inscriptions of Darius, as well as in pottery artifacts recovered from Godin Tepe in Kurdistan, Yorgan Tepe (the Nuzi site near Malayer), and among the precious artifacts discovered in the Oxus Treasures dating back to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE.
Median Uprisings After the Fall of Their Empire
Following the collapse of the Median Empire, numerous uprisings were launched by the Medes to liberate their country from foreign occupation.
The Uprising of Gaumata (522 BCE): Led by Gaumata and directed against the Achaemenid king Darius I, this revolt enjoyed the support and participation of the Median people. However, it failed after the plans were leaked to the Achaemenid king by a Median woman. Despite its failure, the uprising forced Darius I to institute reforms that improved living conditions for the populace.
The Uprising of Xshathrita: Led by a descendant of the Median king Cyaxares, this revolt aimed to re-establish the Median Empire, but it ultimately failed like its predecessor. Xshathrita was defeated in his final battle at a place named Kundura and fled to modern-day Rayy, but the Achaemenid army pursued and captured him. The Achaemenid king subjected him to a gruesome execution: his ears and nose were cut off, his eyes gouged out, and his tongue severed; he was then bound to a tree in Ecbatana and shot with arrows until he died. King Darius recorded this brutal execution on the Behistun Inscriptions as one of his crowning triumphs—a monument that remains visible today.
The Uprising of Satritakhma: Led by Satritakhma, this rebellion likewise failed. The cause of failure was betrayal by certain Medes who captured him and handed him over to King Darius in Hawler (Erbil). He met the same fate as his predecessor: torture, mutilation of his nose, tongue, and ears, and subsequent execution.
Media Under Alexander the Great
Following the victory of Alexander the Great—whose army was composed of Macedonians and Greeks—over the Achaemenid king, Kurdistan fell under Macedonian-Greek control. After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE, Kurdistan, Iraq, Syria, and Iran fell to the share of one of his generals, Seleucus. It can be said that Alexander the Great was not a chauvinist; he was flexible in his treatment of the conquered peoples and did not seek to destroy the culture, language, or civilization of the Middle Eastern peoples when he arrived among them. Instead, he forged a blended civilization bearing the name Hellenistic (derived from “Hellen,” the mythical ancestress of the Greeks, and “East” in Greek).
Regarding the land of Media, Alexander appointed a Median governor named Exodates in 350 BCE, and later, in 348 BCE, appointed another Median as governor of Media named Atropates. During this era, one of the grandest and most famous weddings in history took place: Alexander the Great hosted a massive nuptial ceremony for himself and a hundred of his commanders, marrying them to eastern women. Alexander married the Median woman Roxana, his close commander Seleucus married the Persian woman Apama, and other military leaders similarly married eastern women. Over time, the land of Media—or the kingdom governed by Atropates—became known as Azerbaijan.
Sources
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January 3, 2007
Note: This text is translated from the original Arabic version… Read the Arabic version:Click here
