Shahralanyozan was an
Iranian officer who served as the military governor of
Sasanian Egypt
Sasanian Egypt (known in Middle Persian sources as ''Agiptus'') refers to the brief rule of Egypt and parts of Libya by the Sasanian Empire, following the Sasanian conquest of Egypt. It lasted from 618 to 628, until the Sasanian general Shahrbara ...
during the 620s.
Name
The
Middle Persian word ''Shahrālānyōzān'' is actually an honorific title which, according to Saeid Jalalipour, means "the one who combats the
Alans". According to
Ilya Gershevitch
Ilya Gershevitch (1914 in Zürich – 2001 in Cambridge) was a noted Iranologist.
Gershevitch was born to Russian parents fleeing from Germany to Switzerland at the outbreak of World War I.
He enrolled in the University of Rome in 1933, and mov ...
, the title means "most powerful of commanders".
The name is recorded in
Greek sources as Saralaneozan ()
[Banaji, Jairus: 'On the Identity of Shahrālānyōzān in the Greek and Middle Persian Papyri from Egypt' (2014), 'Documents and the History of the Early Islamic World', pp. 27-42, DOI: 10.1163/9789004284340_004
Brill, http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/b9789004284340_004
] and Sahralanyozan.
Biography
Sahralanyozan is first mentioned in 621 as being appointed the military governor of
Egypt after the conquest of the province by the Sasanian general
Shahrbaraz. Sahralanyozan held the title of ''karframan-idar'' ("steward of the court") and was the most powerful Iranian in Egypt. Besides being governor of Egypt, he was also the tax-collector of the province, and most likely resided in
Faiyum. Although Egypt suffered much damage during its invasion by the Sasanians, after the conquest was complete, peace, toleration and rehabilitation followed. Furthermore, the Sasanians retained the same administrative structure as the
Byzantine Empire.
In 626, Shahrbaraz quarrelled with the 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) and mutinied against him. It is not known whom Sahralanzoyan supported, since he is not mentioned in any source thereafter and Shahrbaraz is described as the ruler of the province. Following the end of the
Byzantine–Sasanian war in 628, by 630/1, Egypt had returned to Byzantine hands.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahralanyozan
Generals of Khosrow II
People of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
7th-century deaths
7th-century Iranian people
7th-century Egyptian people
Sasanian governors of Egypt