The Bavand dynasty () (also spelled Bavend), or simply the Bavandids, 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 ...
dynasty that ruled in parts of
Tabaristan
Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...
(present-day
Mazandaran province) in what is now northern
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
from 651 until 1349, alternating between outright independence and submission as
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
s to more powerful regional rulers. They ruled for 698 years, which is the second longest dynasty of Iran after the
Baduspanids
The Baduspanids or Badusbanids ( fa, پادوسبانیان, Pâdusbâniân), were a local Iranian dynasty of Tabaristan which ruled over Ruyan/Rustamdar. The dynasty was established in 665, and with 933 years of rule as the longest dynasty in I ...
.
Origins
The dynasty itself traced its descent back to Bav, who was alleged to be a grandson 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 ...
prince
Kawus
Kawus, recorded as Caoses by Procopius of Caesarea and Kayus () by early Islamic sources, was the eldest son of Kavadh I, the Sasanian emperor of Iran. During the late reign of his father, Kawus was appointed as governor of Tabaristan, and was giv ...
, brother of
Khosrow I, and son of the shah
Kavad I
Kavad I ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular un ...
(ruled 488–531), who supposedly fled to
Tabaristan
Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...
from the
Muslim conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion.
Th ...
. He rallied the locals around him, repelled the first Arab attacks, and reigned for fifteen years until he was murdered by a certain
Valash, who ruled the country for eight years. Bav's son, Sohrab or Sorkab (
Surkhab I), established himself at Perim on the eastern mountain ranges of Tabaristan, which thereafter became the family's domain. The scholar J. Marquart, however, proposed an alternative identification of the legendary Bav with a late-6th-century Zoroastrian priest ("
magian
Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin ''magus'', cf. fa, مغ ) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius th ...
") from
Ray.
Parvaneh Pourshariati, in her re-examination of late Sasanian history, asserts that this Bav is a conflation of several members of the powerful
House of Ispahbudhan
The House of Ispahbudhan or the House of Aspahbadh was one of the seven Parthian clans of the Sasanian Empire. Like the Sasanians, they claimed descent from the Achaemenid dynasty. They also claimed descent from the legendary Kayanid figure Isfa ...
:
Bawi
Bawi was a Sasanian military officer from the Ispahbudhan family who was involved in the Anastasian War and the Iberian War between the Sasanian and Byzantine Empire. He is also known as Aspebedes, which is a corruption of the title '' spahbed''.
...
, his grandson
Vistahm
Vistahm or Bistam (also transliterated Wistaxm, pal, 𐭥𐭮𐭲𐭧𐭬 wsthm), was a Parthian dynast of the Ispahbudhan house, and maternal uncle of the Sasanian king of kings of Iran, Khosrow II (). Vistahm helped Khosrow regain his throne ...
and his great-nephew
Farrukhzad
Farrukhzad ( pal, script=Latn, Farrūkhzādag; New Persian: ), was an Iranian aristocrat from the House of Ispahbudhan and the founder of the Bavand dynasty, ruling from 651 to 665. Originally a powerful servant of the Sasanian king Khosrow II (r. ...
. She also reconstructs the events of the middle 7th century as a civil war between two rival clans, the Ispahbudhan and Valash's
House of Karen
House of Karen (Middle Persian: ''Kārēn'', Parthian: ''𐭊𐭓𐭍𐭉 Kārēn,'' fa, کارن ''Kārin'' or ''Kāren''), also known as Karen-Pahlav (''Kārēn-Pahlaw'') was one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran during the rule of Parthian ...
, before the
Dabuyid
The Dabuyid or Gaubarid Dynasty was a Zoroastrian Iranian dynasty that started in the first half of the seventh century as an independent group of rulers, reigning over Tabaristan and parts of western Khorasan. Dabuyid rule over Tabaristan and Kh ...
Farrukhan the Great
Farrukhan the Great (Persian: فرخان بزرگ, ''Farrukhan-e Bozorg''; 712–728) was the independent ruler ('' ispahbadh'') of Tabaristan in the early 8th century, until his death in 728. He is the first actually attested (through his coinag ...
conquered Tabaristan and subdued the various local leaders to vassalage. The Dabuyid house then ruled Tabaristan until the
Abbasids subdued the region in 760.
History
It is at the time after the Abbasid conquest that the Bavandids enter documented history, with
Sharwin I
Sharwin I ( Persian: شروین) was the fifth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 772 to 817. He was the son and successor of Surkhab II.
Background
In 760, during the reign of Sharwin's father Surkhab II, Khurshid, the head of the Dabuyid dynast ...
, in later tradition accounted the great-grandson of Surkhab I. The dynasty is commonly divided into three major branches: the Kayusiyya, named after Kayus ibn Kubad, the Arabicized name of the family's legendary ancestor Kawus son of Kavad, which ruled from 665 until 1006, when the family's rule was ended by
Qabus ibn Wushmagir. Several members of the family continued to rule in various localities thereafter, giving rise to the second line, the Ispahbadhiyya, in 1073. Their capital was
Sari
A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include:
* as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO
* bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO
* gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...
, and their rule extended over
Gilan, Ray and
Qumis as well as Tabaristan, although they were mostly vassals of the
Seljuqs
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
and later of the
Khwarezmshah
Khwarazmshah was an ancient title used regularly by the rulers of the Central Asian region of Khwarazm starting from the Late Antiquity until the advent of the Mongols in the early 13th-century, after which it was used infrequently. There were a to ...
s. The line was ended in 1210 with the murder of
Rustam V, and the Khwarezmshah
Muhammad II took over direct control of the region. The third line or Kinakhwariyya was established in 1237 following the
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
invasions and the widespread chaos that prevailed, and lasted, as a vassal of the Mongols, until the final end of the dynasty in 1349.
Kayusiyya line
Following the demise of the Dabuyids, two major local dynasties were left in Tabaristan: the Bavandids in the eastern mountains and the Karenids, who also appropriated the heritage of the Dabuyid rulers, in the central and western mountain ranges. Both claimed Sasanian origin and titulature, with the Bavandids styling themselves as "kings of
Tabaristan
Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...
" and, like the Karenids, claiming the title of ''
ispahbadh
''Spāhbed'' (also spelled ''spahbod'' and ''spahbad'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbed'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Sasan ...
''.
Sharwin I, along with the Karenid ruler
Vandad Hormozd
Vindadhhurmuzd (Persian: ونداد هرمز), also known by the more correct form of Vandad Hormozd (ونداد هرمزد), was the ruler of the Qarinvand dynasty from 765 to 809.
Background
In 760, during the reign of Vandad Hormozd's unnamed ...
, led the native resistance to Muslim rule and the efforts at Islamization and settlement begun by the Abbasid governor,
Khalid ibn Barmak (768–772). Following his departure, the native princes destroyed the towns he had built in the highlands, and although in 781 they affirmed loyalty to the Caliphate, in 782 they launched a general anti-Muslim revolt that was not suppressed until 785, when
Sa'id al-Harashi led 40,000 troops into the region. Relations with the caliphal governors in the lowlands improved thereafter, but the Bavandid and Karenid princes remained united in their opposition to Muslim penetration of the highlands, to the extent that they prohibited even the burial of Muslims there. Isolated acts of defiance like the murder of a tax collector occurred, but when the two princes were summoned before
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
in 805 they promised loyalty and the payment of a tax, and were forced to leave their sons behind as hostages for four years.
After his death in 817, Sharvin was succeeded by his grandson,
Shahriyar I, who managed to evict the Karenid
Mazyar
Mazyar (Middle Persian: ''Māh-Izād''; Mazandarani/ fa, مازیار, Māzyār) was an Iranian prince from the Qarinvand dynasty, who was the ruler (''ispahbadh'') of the mountainous region of Tabaristan from 825/6 to 839. For his resistance to ...
from his own realm. Mazyar fled to the court of the Caliph
al-Ma'mun, became a Muslim and in 822/23 returned with the support of the Abbasid governor to exact revenge: Shahriyar's son and successor,
Shapur, was defeated and killed, and Mazyar united the highlands under his own rule. His growing power brought him into conflict with the Muslim settlers at
Amul, but he was able to take the city and receive acknowledgement of his rule over all of Tabaristan from the caliphal court. Eventually, however, he quarreled with
Abdallah ibn Tahir, and in 839, he was captured by the
Tahirids
The Tahirid dynasty ( fa, طاهریان, Tâheriyân, ) was a culturally Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin, that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in A ...
, who now took over control of Tabaristan. The Bavandids exploited the opportunity to regain their ancestral lands: Shapur's brother,
Qarin I Qarin I (Persian: کارن), was the eighth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 839 to 867.
Biography
His brother, Shapur, was murdered in 825 by a Qarinvand named Mazyar, who then conquered his domains. With the aid of Abbasids and Tahirids, ho ...
, assisted the Tahirids against Mazyar, and was rewarded with his brother's lands and royal title. In 842, he converted to Islam.
This period saw the rapid Islamization of the native population of Tabaristan. Although the majority accepted
Sunni Islam,
Shi'ism
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
also spread, especially in Amul and the neighbouring areas of
Astarabad
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies app ...
and
Gurgan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...
. Thus, in 864, a
Zaydi
Zaydism (''h'') is a unique branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali‘s unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. In contrast to other Shia Muslims of Twelver Shi'ism and Isma'ilism, Zaydis, ...
Alid,
Hasan ibn Zayd
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismaʿīl ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Zayd ( ar, الحسن بن زيد بن محمد; died 6 January 884), also known as ''al-Dāʿī al-Kabīr'' ( ar, الداعي الكبير, "the Great/Elder Mis ...
, was invited to Tabaristan, and with support from the
Daylamites
The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: ''Daylamīgān''; fa, دیلمیان ''Deylamiyān'') were an Iranian people inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprisin ...
took over control of the province. The Bavandids remained steadfastly opposed to the
Alid dynasty throughout its existence, and Qarin's grandson
Rustam I
Rustam I ( fa, رستم), was the ninth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 867 to 896. He was the successor and son (or grandson) of Qarin I.
Biography
Like his father, Rustam opposed the Zaydi rulers of Tabaristan, and in 879, revolted against t ...
was to pay with his life for this: in 895, the Alid supporter
Rafi' ibn Harthama tortured him to death. The Sunni
Samanids People
Samanid
Samanid
Samanid
The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan orig ...
drove out the Alids in 900, but in 914 a relative of Hasan ibn Zayd,
Hasan al-Utrush
Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿUmar al-Ashraf ibn ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (Medina, c. 844 – Amul, January/February 917), better known as al-Ḥasan al-Uṭrūsh ( ar, الحسن الأطروش, , Hasan th ...
, managed to drive out the Samanids, restore Alid control over the province, and force even the Bavandids and Karinids to accept his rule.
The history of the Bavandis is detailed in the works of Ibn Isfandiar and Mar'ashi which belong to the genre of local histories that gained popularity in Iran after 1000 AD. We know that they were related to the
Ziyarid
The Ziyarid dynasty ( fa, زیاریان) was an Iranian dynasty of Gilaki origin that ruled Tabaristan from 931 to 1090 during the Iranian Intermezzo period. The empire rose to prominence during the leadership of Mardavij. After his death, his ...
dynasty, through the marriage of Mardanshah, the father of Ziyar, to the daughter of one of the Bavandi kings. The prominence of the Bavandi kings apparently continued throughout the
Seljuq and
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
period. One of their greatest kings,
Shah Ghazi Rustam
Shah Ghazi Rustam ( fa, شاه غازی رستم), was king of the Bavand dynasty of Mazandaran, ruling from 1142 to 1165. He expanded the borders of the kingdom at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Ismailis and the Seljuks. He establ ...
, is reported to have seriously defeated the
Ismailis who were gaining prominence in Tabaristan and to have made significant progress in consolidating power in the Caspian provinces.
After the Mongol conquest, the Bavandis continued to rule as local strongmen of Tabaristan and sometimes Dailam. Their power was finally brought down around 1350 when
Kiya Afrasiyab
Kiya Afrasiyab ( Mazandarani/ fa, کیا افراسیاب چلاوی, Kīā Afrāsīāb), was the founder of the Afrasiyab dynasty, ruling from 1349 to 1359.
Biography Rise to power
Afrasiyab was the son of certain Hasan Chulabi, who belonged ...
of the
Afrasiyab dynasty
The Afrasiyab or Chalavi dynasty was a relatively minor Iranian Shia dynasty of Tabaristan (present-day Mazandaran province, Iran) and flourished in the late medieval, pre-Safavid period; it is also called the Kia dynasty. It was founded by Ki ...
, themselves an offshoot of the Bavandis, managed to kill
Hasan II of Tabaristan, the last of the mainline Bavandi kings.
Culture
The Bavandids stressed their lineage with the Sasanian Empire. As late as the early 13th-century, their coronation customs were assumed to go back to the remote past, as depicted thorough by the 13th-century Iranian historian
Ibn Isfandiyar
Baha al-Din Muhammad ibn Hasan ibn Isfandiyar ( fa, بهاءالدین محمد بن حسن بن اسفندیار), commonly known as Ibn Isfandiyar (), was a 13th-century Iranian historian from Tabaristan, who wrote a history of his native provinc ...
;
Bavandid rulers
Kayusiyya
*
Farrukhzad
Farrukhzad ( pal, script=Latn, Farrūkhzādag; New Persian: ), was an Iranian aristocrat from the House of Ispahbudhan and the founder of the Bavand dynasty, ruling from 651 to 665. Originally a powerful servant of the Sasanian king Khosrow II (r. ...
(651–665)
*
Valash (usurper, 665–673)
*
Surkhab I (673–717)
*
Mihr Mardan (717–755)
*
Surkhab II (755–772)
*
Sharwin I
Sharwin I ( Persian: شروین) was the fifth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 772 to 817. He was the son and successor of Surkhab II.
Background
In 760, during the reign of Sharwin's father Surkhab II, Khurshid, the head of the Dabuyid dynast ...
(772–817)
*
Shahriyar I (817–825)
*
Shapur (825)
* Rule by the Karenid
Mazyar
Mazyar (Middle Persian: ''Māh-Izād''; Mazandarani/ fa, مازیار, Māzyār) was an Iranian prince from the Qarinvand dynasty, who was the ruler (''ispahbadh'') of the mountainous region of Tabaristan from 825/6 to 839. For his resistance to ...
(825–839)
*
Qarin I Qarin I (Persian: کارن), was the eighth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 839 to 867.
Biography
His brother, Shapur, was murdered in 825 by a Qarinvand named Mazyar, who then conquered his domains. With the aid of Abbasids and Tahirids, ho ...
(839–867)
*
Rustam I
Rustam I ( fa, رستم), was the ninth ruler of the Bavand dynasty from 867 to 896. He was the successor and son (or grandson) of Qarin I.
Biography
Like his father, Rustam opposed the Zaydi rulers of Tabaristan, and in 879, revolted against t ...
(867–895)
*
Sharwin II (896–930)
*
Shahriyar II (930–964)
*
Rustam II (964–979)
*
al-Marzuban (979–986)
*
Sharwin III (986)
*
Shahriyar III (986–987)
*
al-Marzuban (987–998)
*
Shahriyar III (998)
*
al-Marzuban (998–1006)
*
Abu Ja'far Muhammad (???-1027)
*
Qarin II (1057–1074)
Ispahbadhiyya
*
Shahriyar IV (1074–1114)
*
Qarin III (1114–1117)
*
Rustam III (1117–1118)
*
Ali I (1118–1142)
*
Shah Ghazi Rustam
Shah Ghazi Rustam ( fa, شاه غازی رستم), was king of the Bavand dynasty of Mazandaran, ruling from 1142 to 1165. He expanded the borders of the kingdom at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Ismailis and the Seljuks. He establ ...
(1142–1165)
*
Hasan I
''Mawlay'' Hassan bin Mohammed ( ar, الحسن بن محمد, translit=al-Ḥassan bin Muḥammad), known as Hassan I ( ar, الحسن الأول, translit=al-Ḥassan al-Awwal), born in 1836 in Fes and died on 9 June 1894 in Tadla, was a sul ...
(1165–1173)
*
Ardashir I (1173–1205)
*
Rustam V (1205–1210)
Kinkhwariyya
*
Ardashir II (1238–1249)
*
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
(1249–1271)
*
Ali II (1271)
*
Yazdagird (1271–1300)
*
Shahriyar V (1300–1310)
*
Shah-Kaykhusraw (1310–1328)
*
Sharaf al-Muluk (1328–1334)
*
Hasan II (1334–1349)
See also
*
Bavandid family tree
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Ibn Isfandiar, Mohammad b. Hasan. ''Tarikh-e Tabaristan'', ed. M. Mehrabadi, Tehran: Ahl-e Qalam, 1381
002 002, 0O2, O02, OO2, or 002 may refer to:
Fiction
*002, fictional British 00 Agent
*''002 Operazione Luna'',
*1965 Italian film
*Zero Two, a ''Darling in the Franxx'' character
Airports
*0O2, Baker Airport
*O02, Nervino Airport
Astronomy
*1996 ...
* Kasravi, Ahmad. ''Shahriaran-e Gomnam'', Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1957.
* Mar'ashi, Sayyed Zahiruddin. ''Tarikh-e Tabaristan o Royan of Mazandaran'', ed. by Bernhard Darn, St. Petersburg, 1850 (Tehran Edition: Gostareh, 1363
984
Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4-years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II ...
.
External links
*Britannica: Bavandi Dynast
*Iranolgie.com: Independent Kingdom
{{Authority control
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Iranian dynasties
Iranian Muslim dynasties
Shia dynasties
Sunni dynasties
Zoroastrian dynasties
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Former countries in the Middle East
History of Mazandaran Province
Monarchy in Persia and Iran
7th century in Iran
8th century in Iran
9th century in Iran
10th century in Iran
11th century in Iran
12th century in Iran
13th century in Iran
14th century in Iran
651 establishments
1349 disestablishments in Asia
History of Talysh
History of Gilan