Ruyan ( fa, رویان), later known as Rustamdar (), was the name of a mountainous district that encompassed the western part 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. ...
/
Mazandaran, a region on the
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...
coast of 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 ...
.
In
Iranian mythology Iranian mythology or Iranic mythology may refer to any of the following mythologies of various Iranian peoples:
* Persian mythology
* Kurdish mythology
* Scythian mythology
** Ossetian mythology
* Azerbaijani mythology
See also
* Iranian religio ...
, Ruyan appears as one of the places that the legendary archer
Arash
Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology.
According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...
shot his arrow from, reaching the edge of
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
to mark the border between Iran and
Turan
Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...
. The region first appears in historical records as one of the lands of king Gushnasp and his descendants, who served as
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 ...
vassals, until they were deposed by the
King of Kings
King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
()
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 ...
().
During the
Arab invasion of Iran
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.
The ...
, the last ''shahanshah''
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 t ...
() reportedly granted control over Tabaristan to the Dabuyid ruler
Gil Gavbara, who was a great-grandson of
Jamasp (). Gil Gavbara's son Baduspan I was granted control over Ruyan in 665, thus forming the
Baduspanid dynasty
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 ...
, which would rule the area until its conquest by the
Safavids
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
in the 1590s.
History
Ruyan was the name of a mountainous district that encompassed the western part 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. ...
/
Mazandaran, a region on the
Caspian Caspian can refer to:
*The Caspian Sea
*The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea
*The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea
*Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...
coast of 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 ...
. The French
orientalist James Darmesteter
James Darmesteter (28 March 184919 October 1894) was a French author, orientalist, and antiquarian.
Biography
He was born of Jewish parents at Château-Salins, in Lorraine. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. He was ...
suggested that Ruyan was identical to the mountain called ''Raodita'' ("reddish") in the
Zoroastrian
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 monotheistic on ...
document ''
Yasht
The Yashts are a collection of twenty-one hymns in the Younger Avestan language. Each of these hymns invokes a specific Zoroastrian divinity or concept. ''Yasht'' chapter and verse pointers are traditionally abbreviated as ''Yt.''
Overview
The wo ...
'' and ''Royishnomand'' in another Zoroastrian document, the ''
Bundahishn
''Bundahishn'' (Avestan: , "Primal Creation") is the name traditionally given to an encyclopedic collection of Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology written in Book Pahlavi. The original name of the work is not known.
Although the ''Bundahishn'' ...
''. According to the medieval Iranian scholar
al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...
(d. after 1050), it was from Ruyan that the legendary archer
Arash
Arash the Archer ( fa, آرش کمانگیر ''Āraš-e Kamāngīr'') is a heroic archer-figure of Iranian mythology.
According to Iranian folklore, the boundary between Iran and Turan was set by an arrow launched by Arash, after he put his own ...
shot his arrow to the edge of
Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
to mark the border between Iran and
Turan
Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical re ...
.
Ruyan is included among the lands of a local king named Gushnasp according to the
Letter of Tansar The Letter of Tansar ( fa, نامه تنسر) was a 6th-century Sassanid propaganda instrument that portrayed the preceding Arsacid period as morally corrupt and heretical (to Zoroastrianism), and presented the first Sassanid dynast Ardashir I as h ...
, which was written by the high priest 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 ...
King of Kings
King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
()
Ardashir I
Ardashir I (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥, Modern Persian: , '), also known as Ardashir the Unifier (180–242 AD), was the founder of the Sasanian Empire. He was also Ardashir V of the Kings of Persis, until he founded the new emp ...
(). Gushnasp submitted to Ardashir I after being guaranteed to keep his kingdom. His line would continue ruling Tabaristan until the second reign of
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 ...
(), who removed the dynasty from power and appointed his son
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 give ...
in its stead. During the
Arab invasion of Iran
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.
The ...
, the last ''shahanshah''
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 t ...
() reportedly granted control over Tabaristan to the Dabuyid ruler
Gil Gavbara, who was a great-grandson of
Jamasp (). Gil Gavbara's son Baduspan I was granted control over Ruyan in 665, thus forming the
Baduspanid dynasty
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 ...
, which would rule the region until the 1590s. Another son,
Dabuya
Dabuya or Dabuyih ( fa, دابویه), was the Dabuyid ruler ( ispahbadh) of Tabaristan. He succeeded his father Gil Gavbara in 660 and reigned until his death in 712. His son, Farrukhan the Great
Farrukhan the Great ( Persian: فرخان بزر ...
succeeded their father the former as the head of the Dabuyid family, ruling the rest of Tabaristan.
The last Dabuyid ruler
Khurshid
Khorshīd or Khorshēd ( , meaning ''the Sun'' or the "Radiant Sun"), also spelled as ''Khurshed'' and ''Khurshid'', is a Persian given name. In the modern day as well as historical Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, but also in Iraqi Kurdistan, Egypt, ...
managed to safeguard his realm against the
Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...
, but he was finally defeated in 760 by its successor, the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
. Tabaristan was subsequently made a regular province of the caliphate, ruled from Amul by an Arab governor, although the local dynasties of the
Bavandids
The Bavand dynasty () (also spelled Bavend), or simply the Bavandids, was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in parts of Tabaristan (present-day Mazandaran province) in what is now northern Iran from 651 until 1349, alternating between outright inde ...
,
Qarinvandids
The Qarinvand dynasty (also spelled Karenvand and Qarenvand), or simply the Karenids, was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in parts of Tabaristan ( Mazandaran) in what is now northern Iran from the 550s until the 11th-century. They considered themsel ...
, the
Zarmihrids The Zarmihrid dynasty was a local dynasty of Tabaristan which ruled over parts of the mountainous areas of the region, from the reign of Sasanian king Khosrau I to 785.
The family claimed its origin from a powerful Karen lord named Sukhra, a desce ...
and Baduspanids, formerly subject to the Dabuyids, continued to control the mountainous interior as tributary vassals of the Abbasid government. These rulers were largely if not completely autonomous.
According to the 10th-century Persian geographers
Ahmad ibn Rustah
Ahmad ibn Rustah Isfahani ( fa, احمد ابن رسته اصفهانی ''Aḥmad ibn Rusta Iṣfahānī''), more commonly known as Ibn Rustah (, also spelled ''Ibn Rusta'' and ''Ibn Ruste''), was a tenth-century Persian explorer and geographer ...
and
Ibn al-Faqih
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani ( fa, احمد بن محمد ابن الفقيه الهمذانی) (fl. 902) was a 10th-century Persian historian and geographer, famous for his ''Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan'' ("Concise Book of Lands ...
, Ruyan was initially a district of
Daylam
Daylam, also known in the plural form Daylaman (and variants such as Dailam, Deylam, and Deilam), was the name of a mountainous region of inland Gilan, Iran. It was so named for its inhabitants, known as the Daylamites.
The Church of the East es ...
, but was added to Tabaristan after its conquest by the caliphate. Ruyan was a large district surrounded by two mountains on each side. Each town was able to raise 400–1000 men-in-arms. The ''
kharaj'' (tax) imposed by the caliph
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 ...
() was 400,050
dirham
The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass.
Unit of mass
The dirham was a un ...
s. A was stationed there, in the town of Kajija. The reports of the two authors seemingly indicate that there was a frontier zone between Ruyan and independent Daylam, which included the towns of
Chalus, al-Muhdatha, and Muzn. Due to the regional prominence of the Baduspanids, Ruyan became known as Rustamdar in 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 of ...
era, a deformed form of their regnal title, ''
ustandar
''Ostandar'' or ''Ustandar'' was an administrative title wielded by provincial governors under the Sasanian Empire. They governed the royal lands, known as the ''ostan''. The title was later assumed by the Baduspanids of Ruyan, starting with Sha ...
'', which they had used since the rule of
Shahriyar III ibn Jamshid Shahriyar III ibn Jamshid was the Baduspanid ruler of Ruyan and Rustamdar from 937 to 949. He belonged to a distant branch of the family, descended from Afridun ibn Karan. After a period of instability and dynastic struggles, Shahriyar emerged vic ...
().
The Baduspanids were briefly deposed from power by the
Mar'ashis
The Marashiyan or Marashis ( Mazandarani: مرعشیون, fa, مرعشیان) were an Iranian Sayyid Twelver Shiʿite dynasty of Mazandarani origin, ruling in Mazandaran from 1359 to 1596. The dynasty was founded by Mir-i Buzurg, a Sayyid na ...
, who ruled Rustamdar from 1381 until 1390, when they decided to install Baduspanid prince
Sa'd al-Dawla Tus Sa'd al-Dawla Tus ( fa, سعدالدوله توس) was the Baduspanid ruler (''ustandar'') of Rustamdar from 1390 to 1394. He was a son of ''ustandar'' Taj al-Dawla Ziyar ().
The Baduspanids had been temporarily removed from power after their rul ...
on the throne in Rustamdar to challenge the
Afrasiyabid prince
Iskandar-i Shaykhi
Iskandar-i Shaykhi ( fa, اسکندر شیخی), was an Iranian from the Afrasiyab dynasty, who ruled Amul as a Timurid vassal from 1393 to 1403. He was the youngest son of Kiya Afrasiyab, who had initially established his rule in eastern Maza ...
who accompanied the
Turco-Mongol
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century, among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these Khanates eventually ...
ruler
Timur
Timur ; chg, ''Aqsaq Temür'', 'Timur the Lame') or as ''Sahib-i-Qiran'' ( 'Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction'), his epithet. ( chg, ''Temür'', 'Iron'; 9 April 133617–19 February 1405), later Timūr Gurkānī ( chg, ''Temür Kür ...
(), who intended to conquer Mazandaran. However, Tus secretly corresponded with Iskandar-i Shaykhi, and eventually joined the forces of Timur in 1392. The following year (1393), Timur dislodged the Mar'ashis and conquered Mazandaran. In 1399/1400, he deprived the Baduspanids of most of their holdings by sending his troops to administer most of Rustamdar. The holdings of the new Baduspanid ruler
Kayumarth I
Kayumarth I (also spelled Gayumarth I or Kayumars I; fa, ملک کیومرث یکم) was the ruler (''ustandar'') of the Baduspanids from 1394 to 1453, with a three-year interruption. An active expansionist ruler, his kingdom experienced a resurge ...
were now restricted to that of the castle of
Nur. However, in 1405, he restored his rule in Rustamdar. He died in 1453. After his death, a dynastic struggle followed, which resulted in his kingdom being split up by his sons Iskandar IV and Ka'us II, in Kojur and Nur respectively. The Baduspanid dynasty was never to be united again, with the two branches ruling separately until they were eventually deposed in 1590s by the
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
monarch of Iran,
Abbas the Great
Abbas I ( fa, ; 27 January 157119 January 1629), commonly known as Abbas the Great (), was the 5th Safavid Shah (king) of Iran, and is generally considered one of the greatest rulers of Iranian history and the Safavid dynasty. He was the third son ...
().
Notes
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{coord missing, Iran
Mazandaran Province
Geographic history of Iran