Gaumata

Who was Gaumata?

Gaumata or False Smerdis was a magus in the Achaemenid era. According to the Behistun document, when Cambyses was fighting in Egypt he impersonated Cambyses's brother Bardiya. He reigned approximately one year as Smerdis in Persia. Gaumata led the oldest Persian uprising, which is well known as the Gaumata movement.

According to the Behistun Inscription, the Magian imposter arrogated the Achaemenid throne by professing to be Bardiya, the son of Cyrus the Great. No case has been more plentifully recorded and further bitterly discussed in the plentiful history of the Achaemenids than the conversion of administration from Cambyses II to Darius I. After his accession to the throne, Darius I had the official version engraved on the rock of Behistun in three languages and distributed in all the languages of the empire