Non-Zoroastrian Women in Sasanian Court and Their Influence on Minority-Religion Policies in Iran (original) (raw)

By rising of the Sassanids, this empire attempted to create gradually a central government dominated by the integrity of religion and government, hence, despite of existence of an emerging religion such as Manichaeism, Zoroastrianism dominated in this government. Considering the attitude towards religious minorities during the Sassanid Empire, although there was some laxity during the reign of emperors such as Shapour the First, oppression and rigor was reported in certain periods of this dynasty which to some extent were provoked by Zoroastrian priests. On the other hand, based on the evidence from written historical references, despite of stressing on Zoroastrianism, the Sassanid emperors had some Jewish and Christian women in their seraglio. In the present study, it was assumed that most of these women were involved in the power. The main question was that who were these non-Zoroastrian women of the Sassanid court and did they play any role in the government’s policies towards th...