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The revolt of Fravartish

Median rising against Darius, spreading to Parthia, Hyrcania and Sagartia, 522-521 BCE

In the game: Level 3: The Lie

In the winter of 522-521 a Mede named Fravartish claimed to be Khshathrita, a descendant of the old Median king Cyaxares, and the Median troops at the palace went over to him. Many historians count it among the gravest risings of Darius's first year, because it revived the memory of Median kingship and spread east into Parthia and Hyrcania.

In the game: The game's entry follows Darius's Behistun account: defeat at Kunduru, capture at Raga and impalement at Ecbatana. It does not mention Hydarnes' earlier battle at Maru or Hystaspes' fighting in Parthia.

A claim to the old Median throne

In the record

Darius says that a Mede called Fravartish rose in Media and told the people he was Khshathrita, of the family of Cyaxares. The Median troops at the royal residence went over to him, and he became king in Media. In Greek tradition Cyaxares was the king who had made Media a great power, so the claim appealed to Median memories of rule before Cyrus.

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Hydarnes at Maru and Darius at Kunduru

In the record

Darius first sent a Persian and Median force under Hydarnes. Hydarnes fought the rebels at Maru in Media and then waited at Kampanda for the King, which suggests the battle settled little. Darius came from Babylon himself and defeated Fravartish at Kunduru, probably in May 521. Fravartish fled with a few horsemen to Raga, near modern Tehran, where troops sent after him captured him.

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Punishment at Ecbatana

In the record

Darius says he cut off the prisoner's nose, ears and tongue and put out one eye, then kept him bound at the palace gate for all to see. Afterwards he impaled him at Ecbatana, the Median capital, and put his chief followers to death in the fortress there. On the Behistun relief Fravartish stands among the bound rebel kings, named in a short label.

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The rising spreads

In the record

Parthia and Hyrcania declared for Fravartish. Darius's father Hystaspes fought the rebels there and won a final victory at Patigrabana after reinforcements came from Raga. A Sagartian, Chissantakhma, also claimed descent from Cyaxares; he was captured and impaled at Arbela. The Median cause thus drew several regions into the revolt.

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Who was Khshathrita

Disputed

Herodotus names a Median king Phraortes, the Greek form of Fravartish, as father of Cyaxares. He says only that the Medes later revolted against Darius and were beaten. Some historians link the name Khshathrita with a Median leader named in Assyrian texts of the 670s. Nearly all we know comes from Darius's own inscription, so the rebel's real background and the exact order of the campaigns are still debated.

Herodotus 1.102; Herodotus 1.130; P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 2002