Azen Gushnasp was an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

statesman who served as the minister (''

wuzurg framadār ''Wuzurg framadār'' ( pal, 𐭫𐭲𐭬𐭥𐭯 𐭠𐭡𐭫, meaning "the grand lord") was a Sasanian office which was equivalent to the office of Grand Vizier in the later Islamic period. List * Abarsam, active during the reign of Ardashir I.E. ...

'') of the

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

king

Hormizd IV Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, Ho ...

(r. 579–590) from an unknown date till his death in 590.

Name

Although his name was "Āzēn Gushnasp", there are several corrupted versions of his name in several sources; Azhin Jushnas (

al-Tabari ( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...

and Ya'qubi); Azhin Koshasb (

al-Tha'alibi Al-Tha'alibi (961–1038), was a writer famous for his anthologies and collections of epigrams. As a writer of prose and verse in his own right, distinction between his and the work of others is sometimes lacking, as was the practice of writ ...

); Ayin Goshasb (

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...

); Arikhsis ( al-Mas'udi); Arhasis (

Gardezi Gardezi (also spelled Gardezy or Gardizi) refers to someone whose origin can be traced back to the city of Gardez in Afghanistan. There have been a few known Sayyid families from Gardez who migrated to different parts of Pakistan. Their descendant ...

); Yazdan Jushnas (

Dinavari Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd Dīnawarī ( fa, ابوحنيفه دينوری; died 895) was a Persian Islamic Golden Age polymath, astronomer, agriculturist, botanist, metallurgist, geographer, mathematician, and historian. Life Dinawa ...

); and Yazdan Bakhsh ( Bal'ami).

Biography

Azen Gushnasp was a native of

Khuzestan Khuzestan Province (also spelled Xuzestan; fa, استان خوزستان ''Ostān-e Xūzestān'') is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and it covers ...

, and is also called "Khuzi" by al-Mas'udi and Gardezi. He belonged to the '' arteshtaran'' class. It seems that when the Sasanian military commander Bahram Chobin won a great

victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal Duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitu ...

over the Turks, Azen Gushnasp reportedly became jealous and accused the general of having kept the best part of the booty for himself and only sending a small part to Hormizd IV. According to other sources, however, it was the captive Turkic prince Birmudha or the courtiers that raised Hormizd's suspicion. Regardless, Bahram Chobin was later dismissed by Hormizd, which resulted in the latter starting a major rebellion. Azen Gushnasp was sent to suppress the rebellion, but was murdered in Hamadan by one of his own men, Zadespras.

References

Sources

* {{cite encyclopedia , title = ĀZĪN JOŠNAS , last = Tafazzoli , first = A. , encyclopedia =

Encyclopaedia Iranica An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

, Vol. III, Fasc. 3 , page = 260 , year = 1988 , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/azin-josnas-commander-of-the-sasanian-hormazd-iv 6th-century births 6th-century Iranian people Generals of Hormizd IV 590 deaths Assassinated Iranian people People from Khuzestan Province Viziers of the Sasanian Empire