Sasanian Feudalism in North-East Iran (according to Bandian Site and Recently -Founded Sasanian Sites in Dargaz Plain)

Document Type : جغرافیای تاریخی خراسان بزرگ

Abstract

Our understanding of Sassanid feudalism, as a socio-political system which is based on relatively large landowners, have often been based on the writings of historians of the first centuries of Islam, and the archaeological data in this field have been very limited. This paper with purpose of recognition of socio-political system at Dargaz plain in the Sassanid era and understanding of the role of Bandian site in this system, attempts to provide some evidence about the Sassanid feudalism in the northeastern areas via the data obtained from archaeological field studies in the Dargaz plain. This paper is basic in terms of purpose, its methodology is based on field studies, and data collection method is documentary and literature-based. So to reach the purpose of this study, Bandian site and artifacts obtained from its excavations were analyzed and compared with some other Sassanid sites in the Dargaz plain. Accordingly, due to few and not so high-quality administrative evidence, lack of fortifications, higher quality and quantity of distribution of cultural materials in these sites, and the form and spatial location of these sites as a collection of integrated and compact architectural works that have been located among the agricultural nuclei independently from their surrounding historical contexts, this article presents three other Sassanid sites in Dargaz plain as parity sites to Bandian and the settlements of the second-class feudal lords of the Sassanid period (=Dehqān).

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