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House of Karen (
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 P ...
: ''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 and Sassanian Empires. The seat of the dynasty was at Nahavand, about 65 km south of
Ecbatana Ecbatana ( peo, 𐏃𐎥𐎶𐎫𐎠𐎴 ''Hagmatāna'' or ''Haŋmatāna'', literally "the place of gathering" according to Darius I's inscription at Bisotun; Persian: هگمتانه; Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭧𐭬𐭲𐭠𐭭; Parthian: 𐭀� ...
(present-day Hamadan,
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 ...
). Members of House of Karen were of notable rank in the administrative structure of the Sassanian empire in multiple periods of its four century-long history.


Origin and history

The Karens, Karan-Vands, Qarinvand dynasty or Karen-Pahlevi as they are also called, claimed descent from Karen, a figure of folklore and son of the equally mythical Kaveh the Blacksmith. Their historical origin however may be that the Karens, along with the House of Mihran, were descended from the
Arsacids The Parthian Empire (), also known as the Arsacid Empire (), was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Iran from 247 BC to 224 AD. Its latter name comes from its founder, Arsaces I, who led the Parni tribe in conqueri ...
. According to Movses Khorenatsi, this descent was via one of the three sons of Phraates IV, also named
Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic la ...
. The fact that ''Karen'' may also have been among the family names of the Arsacid Dynasty may give credence to this theory. The use of the name Karen might also be found earlier in Iranian history. A possible early member of the family was a certain Vishtaspa krny (''krny'' being a variation of Karen) who lived in
Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, sou ...
during the later
Achaemenid period 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 ...
. This figure has been identified with Hystaspes, a member of the Achaemenid royal family who fought under
Darius III Darius III ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; c. 380 – 330 BC) was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Dariu ...
during
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
's invasion of Persia. Hystaspes' wife, a granddaughter of Artaxerxes III, fell into
Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...
hands following the
Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela (; grc, Γαυγάμηλα, translit=Gaugámela), also called the Battle of Arbela ( grc, Ἄρβηλα, translit=Árbela), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great a ...
, though he was later reunited with her as well as being raised to a high position under Alexander's command. However the first verified reference to the Karenas was during the Arsacid era, specifically as one of the feudal houses affiliated with the Parthian court. In this they were similar to the House of Suren, the only other attested feudal house of the Parthian period. Following the conquest of the Parthians, the Karenas allied themselves with the
Sassanid 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 History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
s, at whose court they were identified as one of the so-called " Parthian clans". The Armenian
Kamsarakan Kamsarakan ( hy, Կամսարական) was an Armenian noble family that was an offshoot of the House of Karen, also known as the Karen-Pahlav. The Karens were one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran and were of Parthian origin. In the Byzantine ...
family was a branch of the House of Karen. Following the defeat of the Sasanians by the army of
Rashidun , image = تخطيط كلمة الخلفاء الراشدون.png , caption = Calligraphic representation of Rashidun Caliphs , birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia present-day Saudi Arabia , known_for = Companions of ...
at the
Battle of Badghis The Battle of Badghis was fought in 654 between the Karen family and their Hephthalite allies against the Rashidun Caliphate. History In 651, the Arabs had invaded Khorasan, and by 652, they had conquered most of the region. However, in 654, ...
, the Karenas pledged allegiance to the Caliphate. In 783 however, under
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 ...
and allied with the Bavands, the Karenas proclaimed independence and refused to continue to pay tribute. Notwithstanding repeated (and some temporarily successful) attempts to conquer the Karenas, during which the family had withdrawn further eastwards to the Savadkuh region, some of the lands of the Karenas appear to have remained independent until the 11th century, after which the House of Karen is no longer attested. Other notable members of the family include
Maziar 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 ...
, the grandson of Vandad Hormozd, and whose devotion to
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
and defiance of the Arabs brought him great fame. In 1910 or 1911, a treasure vault, popularly called the "Zafar Sultan Treasure" after its finder, was discovered near Nahavand. The hoardwhich has since gained mythological statusis today presumed to have once been the property of the Karenas.


Karen Spahbeds

* Sukhra (r. 525–550) * Karin (r. 550–600) * Alanda (r. 600–635) *
Valash Valash (Middle Persian: ''Wardākhsh/Walākhsh'', fa, بلاش), was an Iranian prince from the House of Karen, who later became the ruler of Tabaristan in 665. He was the grandson of the nobleman Adhar Valash, and thus a descendant of Sukhra, a ...
(r. 650–673) * Several Karen princes (r. 673–765) *
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 ...
(r. 765–815) * Vandad Safan (r. 765–800) * Karin ibn Vandad Hormozd (r. 815–816) *
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 ...
(r. 817) * Vinda-Umid (r. 800–820) * Bavand rule (r. 817) * Quhyar (r. 817–823) *
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 ...
(r. 823-839/840) *
Quhyar Quhyar ( fa, کوه یار), was the ruler of the Qarinvand dynasty, ruling briefly in 839 until his assassination. Biography Quhyar was the son of Qarin ibn Vindadhhurmuzd, and had a brother named Mazyar, who, after ascending the Qarinvand thr ...
(r. 839)


See also

* Seven Parthian clans


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Karen, House of 520s establishments 830s disestablishments Iranian dynasties