Pirooz The Last Sassanid Shahanshah in China

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   PIROOZ IN CHINA
 Defeated
Persian army takes refuge

By;
Frank Wong

August 11, 2000

Abstract:
In 651 A.D., the Persian Emperor Yazdgerd III was captured and murdered
after the Arab invasion of Iran in what is today's
Turkmenistan. His son, Pirooz survived and fled east to China. Here's an account
from Chinese historians.

 I read the story of Pirooz written in
a formal and ancient aristocratic Chinese language. It was quite tough, but with
the help of my Chinese friends and associates I got through it. It was written
by Prince Nah-shieh (Narseh), who was the son of Prince Pirooz, who was the son
of King Yazdgerd III-- the last Sasanid king of Persia. Narseh was a Chinese
general stationed in the Tang Chinese military garrisons in what are today's
Afghanistan, Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan.

In 751 A.D., the Chinese lost a
decisive battle to the Arabs at Talas (now in Uzbekistan), and they retreated
from their colonies in Central Asia. All the garrisons shut down, and the armies
fled back into China. Many Persians and Sogdians followed the Chinese back into
China and abandoned their homes in Central Asia in wake of the Muslim Arabic
invasions. Some Sogdians came as widows who then married Chinese soldiers along
with their orphaned children.

Narseh recounts in his diary of how
his father set foot in China around the 660s A.D. Pirooz was only a little boy
when the Arabs beheaded his father. Pirooz, scared and was awaiting the help of
Chinese armies. He had written to his sister who was the wife of the Chinese
emperor. With the Arab armies in sight, he waited no longer. They decided to
cross the Pamirs. Their families along with other noble Persian clans and the
soldiers crossed the treacherous snowy mountains. Many of the imperial treasures
were either abandoned or lost. Recently, Chinese research teams recovered some
of the lost items. They are now housed in various museums in Beijing or Taiwan.

Pirooz finally made it to China. In
the Chinese capital, he encountered long-established Persian, Sogdian, and
Bactrian merchant communities in China. He was accompanied into the imperial
palace. Going through the long and beautiful halls. At last, he saw the Chinese
emperor seated on a high golden throne wearing golden boots and robes. The
little boy Pirooz knelt and prostrated before the emperor. The emperor then
picked up the boy Pirooz and embraced and kissed him on the cheeks. He said:
"You've come a long way. Have no more fears. For you are my brother and
this is your new home." With tears in his eyes, Pirooz knelt again and
thanked the emperor. The emperor then allowed Pirooz and his people to settle in
38 villages and rebuild their communities. They were allowed to set up a mini
royal court in exile.

Pirooz learned Kung Fu (martial arts)
and grew up to be a general in the emperor's court. Chinese armies still held
military garrisons in areas of what are today's Tajikistan, Afghanistan and
parts of Uzbekistan. The Chinese emperor never allowed Pirooz to be stationed
there because he knew that he would immediately cause trouble with the Arabs.
However, Pirooz financed most of the garrisons there with his own money. When
the Chinese emperor died, Pirooz and his son Narseh were allowed to be stationed
on western border garrisons by the new Chinese emperor. Immediately, they
started to clash with the Umayyad Arabs. They solicited the aid of Turkish
tribes and fought border skirmishes against the Arabs.

Pirooz died sometime around 700 A.D.
He was buried facing west. People in China today still don't know where his
resting place is located. Some say that he was buried atop the Pamir mountains
so that he could be close to the spirit of his father and where he got killed by
the Arabs. But, in the diary, Narseh says:

Pirooz requested only a simple
burial and the Chinese emperor approved. The entire exiled court was in
attendance along with the Chinese emperor. The Chinese emperor held Peroz's
shaking hands. Pirooz looked west and said: "I have done what I could for
my homeland (Persia) and I have no regrets." Then, he looked east and said:
"I am grateful to China, my new homeland." Then he looked at his
immediate family and all the Persians in attendance and said: "Contribute
your talents and devote it to the emperor. We are no longer Persians. We are now
Chinese." Then, he died peacefully. A beautiful horse was made to gallop
around his coffin 33 times before burial, because this was the number of
military victories he had during his lifetime. Pirooz was a great Chinese
general and great Persian prince devoted and loyal to his people.

Narseh's daughters and sons all
married into Chinese royalty and aristocracy. This was the case with all the
noble Persian exiles in China. The great spirit of Persia is now in China, and
all the Chinese people appreciate it. This was the story of Pirooz, and how he
ended up in China.

I have studied another topic
regarding the similar features often seen in both Persian and Chinese art. I
know that the style was brought into Persia by Chinese artisans during Mongol (Ilkhan
Period) in the 13th cent. A.D. When Kublai Khan conquered China, he "kicked
out" and sent away all the former army, government officials, tax
collectors, engineers, scientists, artisans, musicians and court doctors of the
defeated Chinese Sung Dynasty. All these Chinese were sent to Hulagu Khan's (Kublai's
brother) court in Persia. Kublai didn't trust the native Chinese, so he
eliminated the elite and sent them away to distant parts of the Mongol empire.
In return, he transported many soldiers from Turkestan (Central Asia), tax
collectors, scientists and government officials (from both Turkestan and
Persia), Armenian and Jewish merchants all into China to serve his court. The
story of Marco Polo is a vivid example.

While in Persia, the Chinese
officials and soldiers served their Mongol masters well. The Ismaili castles
were very well fortified and the Mongol horsemen did not know how to break
through the thick walls. They were only accustomed to lightning sieges and quick
attack. Thus, they had to use Chinese siege machines and engineers along with
Chinese foot infantrymen. The Chinese general Kuo Kan helped the Mongols very
much in Persia. He then went to put down rebellions in Georgia. Then, his armies
were crucial for the Mongol destruction in Syria and Iraq. Only recently, they
found the grave of General Kuo Kan in Azerbaijan where his armies reportedly
retired and settled.

The Chinese had intimate relations
with Persia since the Ashkanid (Arsacid) Dynasty in Persia. Camel and donkey
caravans travel back and forth both directions for almost a thousand year before
the coming of Islam to this region. People mixed with each other without regards
to race and color. The Chinese have a prevalence of the hereditary thalassemia
disease also common throughout the Middle East and India. Other Asians such as
Japanese and Koreans don't have much occurence of this blood disease.

This demonstrates that color did not
have meaning in the past. There is even a tradition in Armenia, that says one of
their lordly families (the Mamikonians) were originally descended from Chinese
princes who fled to Persia and sought refuge after an unsuccessful rebellion in
China. I am still doing some research on this. In fact, it was common in the
past for both Chinese and Persian aristocracy to intermarry. The sister of
Pirooz was married to the Chinese emperor as an example. Unfortunately, Ashkanid
and Sasanid records are scarce because the rulers of Persia never have the habit
of keeping track records. After the Arab invasions and Islam, the trade ceased.
It was revived a little bit during the Mongol period, but it was never the same.

Well, this much I can say. I just
wanted to give a description of what happened in the past. Back then, China and
Persia were the dominant civilizations on earth. Children should know about this
and be proud.  

 http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/Post-Sasanian/pirooz.h tm