Sasanian Period

Darabgird is one of the ancient cities in Fars province. According to Iranian mythology, Darab Shah (Dariush, the Great) found the city in the Achaemenid period. But, due to the fact that 1.21% of total ceramics gathered from the city belongs to the Parthian era, we can accept that the city remained in use since Parthian period to the Islamic era. Data analysis shows that the city had a strong and intensive settlement during Sasanians, After the Arab conquest and the collapse of Pars province, some changes occurred in the function of urban spaces. Accordingly, the main settlement shifted to the north of the city. Apparently, the southern half of the city was abandoned in Islamic era. Finally, according to some other early Islamic cities, apparently in this period, the main settlement of the city shifted to outside of Sasanian city (in this case, north of the Sasanian fortifications) and we should survey this area to discover available evidences of this period. Unfortunately, this area is presently being used for agricultural purposes.

Dari apparently began to spread in Greater Khorasan only in the aftermath of the Arab invasions of Iran. As the official language of the Sasanian court, it would experience a substantial proliferation following the shift in power from Ctesiphon and Fars to eastern Iran, particularly Khorasan, which appeared as a safe haven for the king and the prominent court families during the first two decades of the invasions. The question then arises as to the relation between the spread of Dari in Khorasan and the resettlement of western and southern Iranian populations in the eastern part of the collapsing empire. Our inquiry into the Sasanian-Islamic transition in quest of the fire temples that persisted in the early Islamic centuries led to the conclusion in view of the fluctuating numbers of coeval sites that the earlier harsh attacks had apparently forced inhabitants of southern Iran in particular Fars and Ctesiphon to take refuge in Khorasan, the land of Adur Burzen-Mihr Fire. In their new home, these refugees would adopt two different modes of subsistence, thereby settlement, systems: sedentary rural life, and nomadic lifestyle involving periodic moves within a certain area. This dichotomous approach would guarantee their survival. Among the manifold results of the late Sasanian peace treaties between the dehgâns and the Arabs was the preservation of Iranian culture and language in Khorasan, where it contributed to several advances. Several years of efforts by Iranian immigrants to revive architectural and poetic styles in Khorasan proved that they were triumphant in the cultural battleground despite of losing the actual battle.