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DĀDARŠIŠ, Old Persian name derived from darš “to dare” (Kent, Old Persian, p. 189). Three men with this name are known.

The first was satrap of Bactria under Darius I (522-­486 b.c.e.). When Margians became rebellious Darius ordered this Dādaršiš, his servant, to quell the revolt. The Margians were defeated on 28 December 521 b.c.e. (DB 3.10-13; Kent, Old Persian, pp. 125-27). The second was an Armenian general under Darius I. Together with the Persian Vaumisa he crushed a revolt of Armenians after a series of encounters, the first of them fought at Zuzahya in Armenia on 20 May 521 b.c.e.; ten days later there was a second battle at the stronghold of Tigra, and finally, on 20 June 521, Dādaršiš and his troops decisively defeated the rebels at the fortress of Uyama (DB 2.29-49; Kent, Old Persian, pp. 121-24).

The third was Dadaršu, son of Bagazuštu, a Persian who lived in Babylonia. His officer, Mitradāta, is listed among witnesses to a contract drawn up in 420 b.c.e.; the transaction recorded was the rental by the Murašû firm of a field in the Nippur region belonging to the king, Darius II (424-05 b.c.e.), for a period of three years (Krückmann, no. 147).

Bibliography:

M. A, Dandamaev, A Political His­tory of the Achaemenid Empire, tr. W. J. Vogelsang, Leiden, 1989, pp. 85-86, 121-22, 125-26.

O. Krückmann, Neubabylonische Rechts- and Verwaltungstexte . . . , Texte and Materialien der Frau Professor Hilprecht Collection of Babylonian Antiq­uities im Eigentum der Universität Jena 2/3, Leipzig, 1933.

M. Mayrhofer, Die altpersischen Namen, Iranisches Personennamenbuch I/2, Vienna, 1979, p. 18 no. 24.

(Muhammad A. Dandamayev)

Originally Published: December 15, 1993

Last Updated: November 10, 2011

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