the middle east 353The Middle East
Persia.
For the Six Dynasties, three missions are recorded from Persia (Po-ssu)
to Liang from 530 to 535, nine to Northern Wei from 437 to 522,
and two to Western Wei from 553 to 555.^1
Emperor Yang of Sui (r.605-618) took steps to open communications
with Persia, and sent a Commandant of Cavalry Fleet as Clouds to that
country. On the return of this envoy, the king of Persia, Chosroes II,
attached his own envoys to him to present regional objects to the Sui
court (Sui shu 83:15a-15b; T’ung-tien 193:21a; Ts’e-fu yüan kuei p.5023;
Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 339:53b).
In 638, envoys from king Yazdgard III of Persia to the T’ang court
presented a live ferret. It was 8-9 inches long and could enter hollows
and catch mice (Chiu T’ang shu 198:15b; Wen-h sien t’ung’kao 339:53b).
This was after the Arabs had invaded Persia in 633, and the Persians
had lost the battle of Khadisiya in 637.
In the 1st month (Feb./Mar.) of 647,^2 after its defeat at Nehavend
in 641, Persia offered regional objects and asked for help against the
Arabs. None was given. Yazdgard III fled and was assassinated in
Merv in 651 (Chiu T’ang shu 3:11a; 198:15b; Ts’e-fu yüan kuei p.5024;
Wen-hsien t’ung-k’ao 339:53b).
The Sassanid Kingdom of Persia had come to an end and the
Arabs were in possession, yet missions from Persia to the T’ang court
are recorded fairly regularly until 771, and then once again in 824.
Schafer^3 refers to these missions as coming from the ghost nation of
Persia. It has to be assumed that they were sent by holdouts against
the Arabs. One of these was FÊråz, a son of Yazdgard III, until he
fled to Ch’ang-an in 675. Thereafter, various tribes continued to
resist the Arabs (Chiu T’ang shu 198:15b), such as those in Khur§s§n
in northeastern Persia. In fact, a dynasty of Muslim Persians was
(^1) See my Six Dynasties, vol.II, p.104.
(^2) Ts’e-fu yüan kuei dates the reception of this mission Jan.30, 648, the New Year’s
Day.
(^3) Golden Peaches, p.244.