Gushnaspdād, known in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

sources as Gousanastadēs (), was a

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 ...

nobleman, who was ''

kanarang The ''kanārang'' ( fa, کنارنگ) was a unique title in the Sasanian military, given to the commander of the Sasanian Empire's northeasternmost frontier province, Abarshahr (encompassing the cities of Nishapur, Tus and Abiward). In Byzant ...

'' during the reign of Balash (r. 484–488), and

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 ...

(r. 488–531).

Biography

Gushnaspdad first appears in 496, as one of the supporters of Jamasp. After Balash's accession, Gushnaspdad urged the Sasanian noblemen to execute

, the brother of Jamasp. He is reportedly said to have told the Sasanian noblemen while holding a knife: "You see this knife, how extremely small it is; nevertheless it is able at present time to accomplish a deed which, be assured, my dear Persians, a little later two myriads of mail clad men could not bring to pass." However, the Sasanian nobles declined the decision, and instead had Kavad imprisoned; however, he later managed to escape and took refugee in

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. In 498/9, Kavad returned to Iran with the aid of the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

. Kavad then captured Ctesiphon, restored his rule, and had Gushnaspdad executed. Gushnaspdad was replaced by Adergoudounbades as ''

''.

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book, last=Pourshariati, first=Parvaneh, title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, location=London, United Kingdom, publisher=I.B. Tauris, year=2008, isbn=978-1-84511-645-3, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ 5th-century births 490s deaths 5th-century Iranian people Sasanian generals Executed military personnel Kanarang People executed by the Sasanian Empire Generals of Balash