Editing Shapur II (section)

==War with the Arabs (325)==
{{main|Shapur II's Arab campaign}}
[[File:Nakhal Fort 1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Nakhal Fort]] and the [[Hajar Mountains]]]]

During the childhood of Shapur II, [[Arabs|Arab nomads]] raided the Sasanian homeland of [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]], particularly the district of [[Ardashir-Khwarrah]] and the shore of the [[Persian Gulf]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}} At the age of 16, Shapur II led an expedition against the Arabs; primarily campaigning against the [[Iyad (tribe)|Iyad]] tribe in [[Asoristan]] and thereafter he crossed the Persian Gulf, reaching al-Khatt, modern [[Qatif]], or present eastern Saudi Arabia. He then attacked the [[Banu Tamim]] in the [[Hajar Mountains]]. Shapur II reportedly killed a large number of the Arab population and destroyed their water supplies by stopping their wells with sand.{{sfn|Frye|1983|p=136}}

After having dealt with the Arabs of eastern Arabia, he continued his expedition into western Arabia and [[Syria]], where he attacked several cities—he even went as far as [[Medina]].{{sfn|Potts|2012}} Supposedly because of his cruel way of dealing with the Arabs, piercing the shoulders of captives, he was called ''Dhu'l-Aktaf'' ("the man with the shoulders") by them.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=16}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}}{{efn|The [[Middle Persian]] rendering of that would be ''Šānag āhanj.''{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}}}} However, [[Theodor Nöldeke]] considered this a later folkloric explanation of an honorary epithet meaning "the man with the broad shoulders", i.e., capable of bearing the weight of kingship.{{sfn|Al-Tabari|1991|p=49, note 143}} Not only did Shapur II pacify the Arabs of the Persian Gulf, but he also pushed many Arab tribes further deep into the Arabian Peninsula. Furthermore, he also deported some Arab tribes by force; the [[Taghlib]] to [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrain]] and [[Khatt|al-Khatt]]; the [[Abd al-Qays|Banu Abdul Qays]] and [[Banu Tamim]] to Hajar; the [[Banu Bakr]] to [[Kirman (Sasanian province)|Kirman]], and the Banu Hanzalah to a place near [[Ahvaz|Hormizd-Ardashir]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}} Shapur II, in order to prevent the Arabs from making more raids into his country, ordered the construction of a wall near [[al-Hira]], which became known as {{lang|pal-Latn|war-i tāzigān}} ("[[wall of the Arabs]]").{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=17}}

The [[Zoroastrian]] scripture ''[[Bundahishn]]'' also mentions the Arabian campaign of Shapur II:
{{blockquote|During the rulership of Shapur (II), the son of Hormizd, the Arabs came; they took Khorig Rudbar; for many years with contempt (they) rushed until Shapur came to rulership; he destroyed the Arabs and took the land and destroyed many Arab rulers and pulled out many number of shoulders.{{sfn|Daryaee|2009}}}}

With Eastern Arabia more firmly under Sasanian control, and with the establishment of Sasanian garrison troops, the way for Zoroastrianism was opened. [[Pre-Islamic Arabia]]n poets often makes mention of Zoroastrian practices, which they must have made contact with either in Asoristan or Eastern Arabia.{{sfn|Bosworth|1983|p=603}} The [[Lakhmid]] ruler [[Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr]], who was originally a vassal of the Sasanians, may have suffered from Shapur II's raids in Peninsula.{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|p=112}} He seemingly swore fealty to the Romans, possibly after the incident.{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|p=112}}

In the accounts of the historians regarding Shapur's campaign against the Arab lands, as well as his mistreatment of the Arabs, the burning of cities, and the flooding of water sources, there are undoubtedly significant exaggerations. These embellishments stem from Persian sources that have been greatly overstated. However, the Roman historians' narratives about this event do not support this claim.<ref>{{cite book |last= Ali |first= Jawad |title= Al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-‘Arab Qabl al-Islam |volume= 4 |page= 484 |publisher= Dar al-Talib |location= Beirut |year= 2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/mofassal06/Mofassal04/page/n483/mode/1up |access-date= 2025-03-12}}</ref>