Gold coin of Andragoras. Obv:Bearded ruler wearing the
tiara. Rev': Greek legend ΑΝΔΡΑΓΟΡΟΥ ("of Andragoras"). Quadriga driven by
Nike, together with an armed warrior.
The background of Andragoras is obscure. His name may have been a
Greek translation of the
Old PersianNarisanka and
Avestannairya-sanha- (one of the messengers of
Ahura Mazda).[1][2] A Greek inscription from
Hyrcania (
Gurgan) written before 266 BC makes mention of a certain Andragoras of lesser status who was presumably the same person before he was appointed satrap.[3] The name of Andragoras is uncommon, and the only other reportage of the name is in the Greek
papyri from
Ptolemaic Egypt, thus the identification of the two is not far-fetched.[3] Andragoras was later appointed governor of the frontier province of Parthia, which had been merged with the neighboring province of Hyrcania since the conquest of the
Achaemenid Empire by the Macedonian ruler
Alexander the Great in 330 BC.[4]
Parthia was during this period constantly receiving new waves of Iranian migrants from
Central Asia, most notably the
Parni led by
Arsaces I.[5][6][1] Around 245 BC, Andragoras proclaimed his independence from the Seleucid monarch
Seleucus II Callinicus (
r. 246 – 225 BC), and made his governorate an independent kingdom.[7] Following the secession of Parthia and Hyrcania from the Seleucid Empire and the resultant loss of Seleucid military support, Andragoras had difficulty in maintaining his borders, and about 238 BC—under the command of Arsaces I, the Parni
invaded Parthia and seized control of Astabene (Astawa) from Andragoras, the northern region of that territory, the administrative capital of which was
Kuchan.[8] A short while later the Parni seized the rest of Parthia from Andragoras, killing him in the process. Hyrcania was shortly conquered by the Parni as well.[9]
Bickerman, Elias J. (1983), "The Seleucid Period", in
Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, Oxford: Cambridge University Press, pp. 3–20
Bivar, A.D.H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, Oxford: Cambridge University Press, pp. 21–99
Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh (2007), "The Iranian Revival in the Parthian Period", in
Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh; Stewart, Sarah (eds.), The Age of the Parthians: The Ideas of Iran, vol. 2, London & New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., in association with the London Middle East Institute at SOAS and the British Museum, pp. 7–25,
ISBN978-1-84511-406-0
Rezakhani, Khodadad (2013). "Arsacid, Elymaean, and Persid Coinage". In Potts, Daniel T. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0199733309.
Sinisi, Fabrizio (2012). "The Coinage of the Parthians". In
Metcalf, William E. (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage. Oxford University Press.
ISBN978-0195305746.