Contested identity
Bardiya / Gaumata
contested identity of the king overthrown in 522 BCE
The king recognised in 522 BCE under the name Bardiya. Darius I said that the real prince had already been murdered and that this ruler was an impostor named Gaumata; the Babylonian documents confirm the reign but cannot decide whether one person or two lies behind the record.
- Date
- reigned March–September 522 BCE
- Other names
- Bardiya · Gaumāta · Gaumata · Smerdis · Barziya
- Groups
- Achaemenid kings Contested identities
- Record status
- Disputed
Read the full article: Bardiya and Gaumata →
Connections
- Child of
- Sibling of
- Succeeded
- Succeeded by
Attested in
- Behistun in Bardiya and Gaumata
- Babylonian business tablets dated by regnal year in Bardiya and Gaumata
Relationships and article associations are editorially registered from context; neither matching names nor shared aliases create a connection.