Chapter 10
MAGIANS
MAGIANS were a ruling minority in Sasanian Iraq but they were not
totally representative of the Persian population. Only Persians who
were in Iraq as part of the ruling institution-as administrators, sol-
diers, or landlords-seem to have been Magian. The Persian notables
who were settled at Nasibin by Shapiir 1I in the fourth century had
been Magians and their descendents were still Magians in the early
sixth century.s Magians inhabited the towns and villages of Adiabene
and Garmekan;9 they formed an important community at Hale in
Radhan; 10 and they lived in Hira and the surrounding countryside.ll
From Furat to Anbar, the Persian upper classes in the towns of the
Sawad and the dahiiqtn in the countryside were Magians. There were
Magians wherever Persian soldiers were stationed in Iraq, particularly
in the fortresses along the southwestern frontier, and the Persian armies
that defended Iraq during the Islamic conquest were Magian. Ano-
shagan, who led local forces in an unsuccessful attempt to defend part
of the Sawad after the Battle of Buwayb, was the son of a hirbadh.^12
The Persians who entrenched themselves at Jalula' after the fall of
Mada'in swore by the fires that they would not fIee.13 But not all
Persians were Magians. By the end of the Sasanian period, a growing
group of Christian Persian aristocrats emerged in Iraq. Nor were all
Magians Persians. Political or social ambition could result in conver-
sion to the religion of the ruling group.14 The general penetration of
Persian culture in Arabia resulted in the conversion of some Arabs to
Magianism, particularly in the tribe of T amIm.1S
8 J. B. Abbeloos, "Acta Mar J>:ardaghi," AB 9 (1890), 77; Scher, "Histoire nesto-
rienne," U(I), 157. The legend of 'Abd al-Masl) speaks of Magian shepherd boys at
Sinjar (Peeters, '''Abd al-Masih," pp. 295-96).
9 Budge, Rabban H6rmizd, I, 185; H, 280; Chabot, "Chastete," pp. 4,16-17,230,
239-40; idem, "Histoire de Jesus-Sabran," Nouvelles archives des missions scientifiques
et litteraires 7 (1897), 488, 509.
10 Scher, "Histoire nestor:~nne," H(l), 154.
11 Chabot, "Chastete," pp. 43, 261; Scher, "Histoire nestorienne," H(2), 549; Yaqiit,
Buldan, IV, 758.
12 Tabarl, Ta'rlkh, I, 2245.
13 Ibid., I, 2461.
14 Scher, "Histoire nestorienne," II(2), 467-68.
15 Ibn Rustah, A'laq, p. 217; Maqdisl, Kitab ai-bad' wa-t-ta'nkh (Paris, 1907), IV,
31.