Bagadates I also Bagdates or Baydad, was a frataraka or "Keeper of the Fire"

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...

, and a governor or sub-dynast for the Seleucids, ruling as a priest-king at Istakhr

Istakhr

Estakhr was an ancient city located in southern Iran, in Fars province, five kilometers north of Persepolis. It was a prosperous city during the time of Achaemenid Persia.-History:...

 in the former Achaemenid heartland, the territory of Persis (Fars), after Alexander's conquests. He was the first indigenous Persian satrap to be appointed - or at least tolerated - by the Seleucids, who held the higher administrative posts tightly within the Greco-Macedonian circle that was headed by the "Companions" and their heirs. On the reverse of his coins, Bagadates is depicted standing in front of a Zoroastrian fire-altar, or seated in majesty holding a staff of authority and possibly a pomegranate

Pomegranate

The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...

 in his left hand (illustration, left). Bagadates seems to have asserted his independence about 280 BCE, exploiting the turmoil after the death of Seleucus I. "That the first oriental reaction to Macedonian rule should come from Persis, the homeland of the Achaemenids, is hardly surprising," Otto Mørkholm remarks. The uprising against Seleucid control was continued by Bagadates' son, Oborzos, who emphasized the continuity by repeating the coinage type established by his father. However, some time during the third century the Seleucids terminated the pseudo-independence of Persis; during the 220s BCE, the satrap there was a Greek named Alexander, a brother of Molon

Molon

Molon or Molo was a general and satrap of the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great . He held the satrapy of Media at the accession of that monarch ; in addition to which, Antiochus conferred upon him and his brother Alexander the government of all the upper provinces of his empire...

. Persis finally drifted away from Seleucid control after the battle of Magnesia

Battle of Magnesia

The Battle of Magnesia was fought in 190 BC near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia , between the Romans, led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio and his brother, the famed general Scipio Africanus, with their ally Eumenes II of Pergamum against the army of Antiochus III the Great of the...

 in 190 BCE.

In a surviving inscription at Amyzon

Amyzon

Amyzon in Caria was an ancient city 30 km south of modern Koçarlı. Under the Seleucids, Amyzon was one of the cities in the Chrysaorian League of Carian cities that lasted at least until 203 BCE, when Antiochus III confirmed the privileges of Amyzon...

 in Caria

Caria

Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...

, another Bagadates was appointed neokoros of the Temple of Artemis there in 321; it is surmised that his family had been potent landowners in the region before the conquests of Alexander. The son of this Bagadates, Ariaramnēs, succeeded him as neokoros at Amyzon.