''Hazārbed'' (

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

: ḥčʾlpt, or ''hazarbadh'', literally "the commander of thousand"), also known as ''hazaruft''/''hazaraft'' (

: hz’lwpt; possibly the older/original form), 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 ...

office which initially functioned as the commander of the

royal guard A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular arm ...

, but later became increasingly equal to that of the ''

wuzurg framadar ''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 ...

'' (minister).

History

The title is first attested in the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

in its

Old Persian Old Persian is one of the two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan language, Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native ...

form, ''hazāra-pati'' (from *''hazāra-'' "thousand" and *''pati-'' "chief"), the commanding officer of the

Immortals Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

. The ''hazarbed'' controlled units of guards which were enlisted from royal families of the Sasanian Empire. One of the units that the ''hazarbed'' controlled was the ''

pushtigban The ''pushtigban'' was an elite military unit of the Sasanian Empire, charged with the protection of the Persian Emperor. They were stationed during peacetime in the royal capital of Ctesiphon and were drawn from the best of the ranks of the Sas ...

'' bodyguard, while other times it would be the palace guards (''

darigan The ''Darigan'', was a special military force within the armed forces of the Sasanian Empire. This force (alongside the pushtigban) was charged with the protection of the Sasanian Emperor. The members of the Darigan were chosen from the various n ...

''), or in some cases other units, such as the 4,000

Daylamite 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

which served the last great Sasanian king,

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...

(r. 590–628). The ''hazarbed'' was in charge of the king's safety and the commander of the royal guard. The ''hazarbed'' also controlled the entrance of the kings palace, presented visitors to the king, and was allowed to be given military command or used in negotiations. The ''hazarbed'' was also allowed in some cases to serve as the royal executioner. During the reign of

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

(r. 240–270), the ''hazarbed'' may have briefly taken over the ''

spahbed ''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 Sasani ...

'' office, as it is not listed in the inscriptions of Shapur I. However, the ''spahbed'' office reappears in the inscriptions of Shapur's son

Narseh Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303. The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and T ...

(r. 293–302). The office of ''hazarbed'' is also mentioned in his inscriptions among many others. Later on, the office became increasingly political and equal to that of the ''

'' (minister).

List

Aspad Gushnasp Aspad Gushnasp ( fa, اسپد گشنسپ), known as Gousdanaspa in Byzantine sources, was an Iranian commander (''hazarbed'') of the Sasanian royal guard, who played a key role in the overthrow of the last great Sasanian king (shah) Khosrow II () ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazarbed Positions of authority Sasanian military offices Sasanian palace offices Persian words and phrases

History

List

See also

References

Sources