Marhasi is often neglected for study due to the problematic state of Iranian archaeology attempting to cover up Biblical claims in favor of Quranic narratives. What little we know comes from Mesopotamia sources, including Akkadian ones where they are referred to as “Paraḫšum”. While we are still uncertain of its location due to the aforementioned lacking archaeological evidence, we can use certain geographic context clues to locate the state. We know it was east of Elam, at the end of the Zagros mountains where they acted as intermediaries between Mesopotamia and Meluhha - another soon to be discussed region, associated with the Indus river valley civilization.1 We also know of certain trade goods such as a famed “bear of Marhasi”2, lapis lazuli known to have come from the major source of Afghanistan north east of Marhasi, and “carnelian which is speckled with yellow”.3 This “yellow carnelian” appears to be related to the unique carnelian ornamentry that was innovated in the Indus valley, potentially infused with some golden specks.

Very little else is known about the Marhasi people, but it is possible they were not ‘Elamite’ (Susites and Anshanites) themselves, but only related to the broader Elam ethnic people groups. Further in the ancient past, the region appears to have been the ethnogenesis of a culture known as “Jiroft” - named after the principal modern city near the site. Who these Jiroftians are is nearly completely unknown mostly due to the massive looting that has taken place throughout the site. Only beginning excavation in 2001, Jiroft appears to be one of the most important ancient locations for unraveling the origins of civilization.

Jiroft is considered one of the earliest examples of bronze age civilization,4 and may also have one of the earliest examples of cuneiform predating the Mesopotamian scripts.5 While previously, the Behistun inscription provided a native example of Elamite being used inside Carmania, the inscriptions at Jiroft are actually more striking. On a small corner brick carved into a palace we find an inscription in a script resembling proto-Elamite. This is different from cuneiform Elamite, and is more ancient than the cuneiform used to represent later Elamite. Some even go so far to claim this is actually the oldest known writing system, and the parent to the later Elamite and Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform scripts. Writing itself may have originated in Jiroft, used specifically to represent a spoken Elamite language.6 Clearly Jiroft was an early location of Elamite technological innovation, and the Elamites innovating written language may explain why they are the first son of “Shem”, a master of names, and probably an early priest-scribe with an expertise in proto-writing.

Effectively, this ‘state’ of Jiroft, potentially known as Marhasi to Mesopotamians, was the center of a major ancient polity between 2500-2200 BCE prior to the rise of many major civilizations. Jiroft was the center of an extremely fertile region famously known as “Hend-e-Koochak”, which translates to Little India. Realistically, this could be considered one of the closest boundaries of India. Everything north-east of this, and the Indus river, would have been viewed as “India”, including regions like Afghanistan, despite their Persianized or Aryan ancestry. Jiroft was probably a transitional zone between Iran and the Indus Valley.

Connected to the Jiroft culture sites is the related Helmand culture of western Afghanistan situated in the Sistan basin. Flourishing between 3200-2350 BCE7 Helmand overlaps with Jiroft, but both terminate during the mature phase of the Indus Valley Civilization. While sharing some links to the Indus, Helmand and Jiroft primarily share traits between the two regions.8 The two major type-sites for Helmand are Shar-e Sukhteh and Mundigak, which show a shared culture9 making up a singular ancient state.10 At the site of Shar-e Sukhteh there are texts with the Elamite language showing a strong overlap with Elam - potentially being an Elamite settlement.11

While the Helmand culture was situated along the Helmand river, a variety of watersheds all empty into the Hamun Lake, which at the center contains a flat-topped hill island in the center of the lake. This site is the location of important Zoroastrian legends which claim Lake Hamun is “the keeper of Zoroaster’s seed” from which the saviors of mankind will emerge, while Lake Hamun also acts as one of only two pilgrimage sites for Zoroastrians. Another mythic hero named Rostam comes from the major city of Zabul near the lake; the region was clearly a center of Zoroastrian activity in ancient Perisa. This region, known as Sistan in Persian, was also known as Sakastan due to the major kingdom Indo-Saka that was centered on this basin.12 While it was mostly a nomadic desert region for Iranian and Scythian settlers after the 3rd century BCE, the earlier periods of Jiroft and Helmand clearly were heavily Elamized.