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Hormuzan (
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 ...
: ''Hormazdān'',
New Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into thr ...
: ) was a
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
aristocrat who served as the governor of Khuzestan, and was one 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 ...
military officers at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. He was later taken prisoner by the Muslims after the fall of Shushtar in 642. Two years later, he was accused of the assassination of the Rashidun
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
, and was killed by 'Ubaid-Allah, the deceased caliph's son.


Family and early life

Hormuzan was a wealthy aristocrat native to Mihragan-kadag, a district in
Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, and belonged to one of the
seven Parthian clans The Seven Great Houses of Iran, also known as the seven Parthian clans, were seven feudal aristocracies of Parthian origin, who were allied with the Sasanian court. The Parthian clans all claimed ancestry from Achaemenid Persians. The seven Great ...
of the Sasanian Empire. He had a brother named Shahriyar, who was the governor of Susa. According to some sources, Hormuzan was the brother-in-law of Khosrow II ( r. 590–628) and the maternal uncle of
Kavadh II Shērōē (also spelled Shīrūya, New Persian: ), better known by his dynastic name of Kavad II ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ''Kawād''; New Persian: قباد ''Qobād'' or ''Qabād''), was king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire briefly in 628. He was t ...
(r. 628), but this is most likely incorrect, since Kavadh's mother was not an Iranian, but a
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 ...
princess named
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
. According to Pourshariati, Hormuzan may have belonged to a Persian family instead of a Parthian one. Although his origin is disputed, it is known that he was part of the Parsig (Persian) faction which is first mentioned in 628 and played a major role in Sasanian politics. Hormuzan ruled his birthplace Mihragan-kadag as a part of his family domain, and all of Khuzestan, one of the richest provinces of the Sasanian Empire. Hormuzan is first mentioned in 609 as one of the Sasanian officers who participated in the
battle of Dhi Qar The Battle of Dhi Qar ( ar, يوم ذي قار), also known as the War of the Camel's Udder, was a pre-Islamic battle fought between Arab tribes and the Sassanid Empire in Southern Iraq. The battle occurred after the death of Al-Nu'man III by the ...
. The rebelling Arabs managed to defeat the Sasanians at the battle, but order was soon restored by Ruzbi, the frontier governor (''
marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the suffix ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ''Marzbān'') were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension milita ...
'') of
al-Hira Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- I ...
. In 628, Khosrow II was overthrown by his son Kavadh II, who crowned himself as the new ''
shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...
anshah'' (king of kings) of the Sasanian Empire. Three days later, Kavadh ordered
Mihr Hormozd Mihr Hormozd ( fa, مهرهرمزد, , Mihr Hurmuz) was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Suren. He was the son of Mardanshah, the '' padgospan'' of Nemroz, who was later executed by the orders of the Sasanian king Khosrau II (r. 590-628). In ...
to execute his father. In 632, after a period of coups and revolts,
Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the ...
(r. 632–651) was crowned as king of the Sasanian Empire at
Estakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', fa, اصطخر, translit=Istakhr also spelt استخر in modern literature) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Pers ...
, an ancient Iranian city in Pars, where the Sasanian family had founded their empire.


The Arab invasion of western Iran

In 633, the Muslim Arabs invaded Persia, and by 636, they were camping at al-Qadisiyyah, a city close to Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire. The Sasanian army chief (''
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 Sasa ...
''),
Rostam Farrokhzad Rostam Farrokhzād ( fa, رستم فرخزاد) was an Iranian dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the ''spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan during the reign of Boran () and Yazdege ...
, prepared to make a counter-attack, raising an army which included the Parsig faction under
Piruz Khosrow Piruz Khosrow (Middle Persian: ''Pērōz Khusraw''), also known as Piruzan or Firuzan, was a powerful Persian aristocrat who was the leader of the ''Parsig'' (Persian) faction that controlled much of the affairs of the Sasanian Empire during the S ...
,
Bahman Jadhuyih Bahman Jādhūyah/Jādūyah (also Jādhōē/Jādōē; New Persian: ), or Bahman Jādhawayh (Middle Persian: ''Vahūman Ĵādaggōw'') was an Iranian general of the Sasanians. He is mostly known to have led the Sasanians to victory against the Arabs ...
and Hormuzan; the Pahlav (Parthian) faction under Rostam himself and
Mihran Razi Mihran-i Bahram-i Razi, better simply known as Mihran Razi, was an Iranian military officer from the Mihran family. He was killed in 637 at the battle of Jalula. Biography Mihran is first mentioned during the Arab invasion of Persia, and is kno ...
; and an
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
contingent under
Jalinus Jalinus (also spelled Jilunus) was a 7th-century Armenian dynast, who was one of the leading figures in Sasanian Iran. He was the commander of the guard over Khosrow II, during the latter's imprisonment. Jalinus was a Sasanian commander during th ...
and Musel III Mamikonian. The army also included the military officer
Kanadbak Kanadbak, also known as Kanara, was an Iranian nobleman, who was the ''kanarang'' during the reign of the Sasanian king Khosrau II (r. 590–628), and various other Sasanian monarchs, which includes Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651), the last Sasanian ki ...
and his son, known in Arabic sources as
Shahriyar bin Kanara Shahriyar ( fa, شهریار), also spelled as ''Sharyar, Sheryar'', ''Shariyar'', ''Shahryar'', ''Schahryar'', ''Shahriar'', ''Shariar'', ''Sheharyar'', ''Shaheryar'', ''Shaharyar'', ''Shehreyar'', or ''Shehiryar,'' and pronounced /sha ree YAAR/, i ...
. During the battle, the Sasanian army was defeated, and Shahriyar, along with Musel, Bahman, Jalinus and Rostam, were killed. The Arabs then besieged Ctesiphon. Hormuzan managed to survive, and along with Nakhiragan, Mihran Razi and Piruz Khosrow, including the rest of the survivors, regrouped at Bavel ( Babylon), where they tried to repel the Arab army, but were once again defeated. Hormuzan then fled to
Hormizd-Ardashir Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is home ...
in Khuzestan, which he used as his base in his raids in
Meshan Meshan ( Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭩𐭱𐭠𐭭) was a province of the Sasanian Empire. It consisted of the Parthian vassal kingdom of Characene and reached north along the Shatt al-Arab river and then the lower Tigris to Madhar and possibly fur ...
against the Arabs. Yazdegerd III supported him in these raids, and believed that it was possible to regain the territories which had been taken by the Arabs. Hormuzan, along with the rest of the survivors of al-Qadisiyyah, later regrouped again and fought the Arabs at the
battle of Jalula The Battle of Jalula was fought between Sassanid Empire and Rashidun Caliphate soon after conquest of Ctesiphon. After the capture of Ctesiphon, several detachments were immediately sent to the west to capture Qarqeesia and Heet the forts a ...
in 637. The Sasanian army was once again defeated and Mihran Razi was killed. Hormuzan then withdrew once again to Hormizd-Ardashir, where he chose to stay in case the Arabs should invade his domains. Hormuzan continued his raids into Meshan and also began raiding Iraq. He repelled the
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
who had been making incursions into Pars and Khuzestan. Hormuzan shortly clashed with an Arab army to the west of Hormizd-Ardashir, but was easily defeated and thus retreated back to the city, where he sued for peace. The Arabs asked for tribute in exchange for peace, which he agreed to. However, he soon stopped paying tribute, and raised an army which included the Kurds he previously had fought. The
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
(ruler) of the Rashidun Arabs, responded by sending an army under a certain , who defeated Hormuzan in 638 at Hormizd-Ardashir, and forced the city to pay '' jizya'' (poll-tax). Hormuzan fled to Ram-Hormizd, and once again sought a peace treaty, which he was granted in return for tribute. However, he later stopped paying tribute, and a result clashed with the Arabs again, who inflicted a defeat on him. The cities of Khuzestan were slowly one by one seized. Sometime later in 641, after a defeat at Ram-Hormizd, Hormuzan fled to
Shushtar Shushtar ( fa, شوشتر; also Romanized as Shūshtar and Shūstar and Shooshtar) is a city and capital of Shushtar County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province ...
, and was defeated near the city, which cost him the lives of 900 of his men, while 600 were captured and would later be executed. Nevertheless, he managed to reach the city. The Arabs then laid siege to the city. Fortunately for Hormuzan, Shushtar was well fortified due to the rivers and canals that surrounded it on almost all sides. There are several versions of the how the city was captured; according to al-Tabari, during the siege, an Iranian defector named Sina (or Sinah) went to al-Nu'man and pleaded for his life to be spared in return for showing him a way into the city. Al-Nu'man agreed, and Sina told him to: "attack via the outlet of the water, and then you will conquer the city." Al-Nu'man did as he told him, and with a small portion of his army, charged into Shushtar. Hormuzan then retreated to the citadel and continued his resistance. The surviving men of Hormuzan who were in citadel along with him, killed their own family members and threw their property into the river rather than let the Arabs take them. In the end, Hormuzan was eventually forced to surrender. According to another version written in the Khuzestan Chronicle, similar to the version by al-Tabari, a defector from
Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...
, along with another person, asked the Arabs for some of their plunder in exchange for how to enter the city. The Arabs agreed, and after some time, they managed to enter the city. According to
al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and e ...
, during the siege, the Arabs were reinforced with a group of professional Iranian elites under
Siyah al-Uswari Siyah, known in Arabic sources as Siyah al-Uswari ("Siyah the ''Aswar''"; also spelled al-Aswari) was an Iranian nobleman, who served as the commander of a faction of the Sasanian '' asbaran'' unit, but later defected to the Rashidun Caliphate, wher ...
, known as the
Asawira The Asawira ( ar, أساورة) were a military unit of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphate. The unit consisted of Iranian noblemen who were originally part of the ''aswaran'' unit of the Sasanian army. It was disbanded in 703 by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. ...
. The reason for their defection was in order to preserve their status and wealth. However, according to the Khuzestan Chronicle, the Asawira first defected to the Arabs after they entered Shushtar. The brother of Hormuzan, Shahriyar, is said to have been a part of the Asawira. According to Pourshariati, the story of the Asawira helping the Arabs in their conquest of Khuzestan, may have been false. Nevertheless, it is known that Hormuzan was after his surrender taken by the Arabs and brought to their capital
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
.


Captivity and death

What happened after is told by
George Rawlinson George Rawlinson (23 November 1812 – 6 October 1902) was a British scholar, historian, and Christian theologian. Life Rawlinson was born at Chadlington, Oxfordshire, the son of Abram Tysack Rawlinson and the younger brother of the famous A ...
, in summary, as follows: In contrast, the Arab tradition holds that Hormuzan, when first brought as a prisoner before the Rashidun
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
, was asked to convert. He refused, and so Umar called his executioner to kill him as he represented the last of the Persian leadership. At that point Hormuzan asked for some water, claiming that it would be cruel to kill him while thirsty. Umar had water brought, and upon Hormuzan obtaining a pledge of safety until he'd finished drinking he threw the cup to the ground. He then asked the Caliph if he would keep his word, and Umar agreed and spared his life. Immediately afterwards, Hormuzan converted to Islam, explaining that he had not wanted it said that he'd converted for fear of death. While in Medina, he advised the Rashidun
Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Umar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...
in making important fiscal and institutional changes. However, in 644, Hormuzan was killed by Umar's son 'Ubaid-Allah, after an involvement in a plot which killed Umar. The new Rashidun Caliph,
Uthman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
, instead of punishing 'Ubaid-Allah for his actions, had him pardoned. This was not well received by some of Hormuzan's Arab supporters who strongly protested to Uthman and even later tried to take action against 'Ubaid-Allah, who managed to flee to the governor of Syria,
Muawiyah Mu‘āwīyya or Muawiyah or Muaawiya () is a male Arabic given name of disputed meaning. It was the name of the first Umayyad caliph. Notable bearers of this name include: * Mu'awiya I (602–680), first Umayyad Caliph (r. 661–680) * Muawiya ...
.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * *{{cite book, last1=Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm, first1=Muḥammad, last2=Aḥmad Jād al-Mawlā, first2=Muḥammad, last3=Muḥammad al-Bajāwī, first3=ʻAlī, title=Qiṣaṣ al-ʻArab, date=2003, publisher=al-Maktabah al-ʻAsriyah, location=Bayrūt, isbn=9953-34-054-4, edition=1st Executed Iranian people 7th-century executions People executed by the Rashidun Caliphate Year of birth unknown Generals of Khosrow II Prisoners and detainees of the Rashidun Caliphate 644 deaths Governors of the Sasanian Empire History of Khuzestan Province Generals of Yazdegerd III 7th-century Iranian people