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Vivana

Satrap of Arachosia under Darius, who fought a rebel army there, about 521 BCE

Vivana was a Persian governor of Arachosia, in what is now southern Afghanistan, in the first years of Darius's reign. He is known from the Behistun inscription, which names him as Darius's servant and satrap there and tells of his fighting against a rebel force. The episode shows that the revolts of 522-521 reached the far east of the empire.

In the game: The game names Vivana in the Chronicle's Behistun entries and in the Encyclopedia's event articles, not in a level of his own, and he has no mechanic. The game says he beat Vahyazdata's army in Arachosia, which follows Darius's own account.

Who he was

In the record

The Behistun inscription calls Vivana a Persian and Darius's servant, and says Darius made him satrap in Arachosia. It gives no family or later career for him. Everything firm about him comes from a few lines in Darius's own account of the revolts.

DB §§ on Arachosia (Old Persian column 3)

The rebellion of Vahyazdata

In the record

Vahyazdata, a Persian, claimed to be Bardiya, the king's brother, and raised Persis in revolt. Darius says he sent an army under the Persian Artavardiya against him. After Vahyazdata's defeat in Persis, Darius says, he sent a force to Arachosia against Vivana. Darius presents the whole affair as the work of a liar.

DB §§40-45

Fighting in Arachosia

In the record

According to the inscription, Vivana's troops fought the rebel force in two battles, at a fortress called Kapishakanish and in a district called Gandutava, and Darius says his side won. The text gives the dates of the actions by month and does not state the numbers engaged.

DB §§45-47

How far the account can be trusted

Disputed

Darius's text reports only Persian victories and was written to justify his rule, so the true scale of the fighting cannot be checked. Historians generally read the Arachosian campaign as showing that the revolt, or Darius's enemies, reached the eastern provinces, but the inscription is the only source for it. Herodotus does not mention Vivana or this fighting.

P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 2002