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House Of Ispahbudhan
The House of Ispahbudhan or the House of Aspahbadh was one of the Seven Great Houses of the Sasanian Empire. Like the Sasanian dynasty, they claimed descent from the Achaemenid dynasty. They also claimed descent from the legendary Kayanian figure Esfandiyār , who was the son of Vishtaspa, who according to Zoroastrian sources was one of Zoroaster's early followers. Origin and ancestry The family traced its descent back to military marshals (''spahbed''s) and occupied important offices in the realm. According to a romanticized legend about their origin, a daughter of the Parthian emperor Phraates IV (), named Koshm, married a "general of all Iranians"; their offspring bore the title of "Aspahpet Pahlav", later forming the Ispahbudhan clan. Through their Arsacid lineage, the Ispahbudhan claimed to be descendants of the Kayanian kings Dara II and Esfandiyār. History Under the Sasanians, the Ispahbudhan enjoyed such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Greater Khorasan
KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses western and northern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, the eastern halves of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The extent of the region referred to as ''Khorasan'' varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised the present territories of Khorasan Province, northeastern Iran, parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia, extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However, the name has often been used in a loose sense to include a wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan), extended westward to the Caspian Sea, Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan, and eastward to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa ( ; ; ; ) is the Avestan-language name of a figure appearing in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message. Although Vishtaspa is not epigraphically attested, he is – like Zoroaster – traditionally assumed to have been a historical figure, although obscured by accretions from legend and myth. In Zoroastrian tradition, which builds on allusions found in the Avesta, Vishtaspa is a righteous king who helped propagate and defend the faith. In the non-Zoroastrian Sistan cycle texts, Vishtaspa is a loathsome ruler of the Kayanian dynasty who intentionally sends his eldest son to a certain death. In Greco-Roman literature, Zoroaster's patron was the pseudo-anonymous author of a set of prophecies written under his name. In the Avesta Vishtaspa is referred to in the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism which were considered to have been composed by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bal'ami
Abu Ali Muhammad Bal'ami (, died 992/997 CE), also called Amirak Bal'ami () and Bal'ami-i Kuchak (, "Bal'ami the Younger"), was a 10th-century Persian historian, writer, and vizier to the Samanids. He was from the influential Bal'ami family. Biography He was born in Lashjerd in the district of Merv, then part of the Samanid Empire. He was the son of Abu'l-Fadl al-Bal'ami (also called Bal'ami-i Buzurg; "Bal'ami the Elder"). Muhammad Bal'ami was appointed vizier late in the reign of Abd al-Malik I (r. 954-961) and kept holding the office under Abd al-Malik's successor, Mansur I (r. 961-976). According to Gardizi, Bal'ami died in March 974 while serving in office, but according to the Persian historian al-Utbi, he was later from removed the vizierate office, and was reappointed later as the vizier of Nuh II (r. 976-997), but chose to retire in 992, dying in an unknown date before 997. Work Bal'ami most famous work is '' Tarikhnama'', a historical text that spans a pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bukayr Ibn Abdallah
Bukayr ibn Abdallah () was an Arab military leader, who served the Rashidun Caliphate and is known for the conquest of the Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ... province of Adurbadagan. Biography In 651, Bukayr invaded Adurbadagan, which was the domain of the Ispahbudhan brothers Isfandyadh and Bahram. Isfandyadh made a stand against him, where a battle was fought. He was, however, defeated and captured by Bukayr and his men. While Isfandyadh was in captivity, he told Bukayr, that if he sought to conquer Adurbadagan easily and peacefully, he should make peace with him. According to Bal'ami, Isfandyadh is known to have said that: "If you ere tokill me all of Azarbayjan illrise in avenging my blood, and will wage war against you." Bukayr listened to Isfan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Muslim Conquest Of Persia
As part of the early Muslim conquests, which were initiated by Muhammad in 622, the Rashidun Caliphate conquered the Sasanian Empire between 632 and 654. This event led to the decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been the official religion of Name of Iran, Persia (or Iran) since the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The persecution of Zoroastrians by the early Muslims during and after this conflict prompted many of them to flee eastward to Indian subcontinent, India, where they were Zoroastrianism in India, granted refuge by various kings. While Pre-Islamic Arabia, Arabia was experiencing the rise of Islam in the 7th century, Persia was struggling with unprecedented levels of political, social, economic, and military weakness; the Military of the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian army had greatly exhausted itself in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. Following the execution of Sasanian shah Khosrow II in 628, Persia's internal political stability began deteriorating at a rapid pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Isfandyadh
Isfandyadh (Middle Persian: ''Spandiyār'') was an Iranian aristocrat from the Ispahbudhan family, who was the ruler of the Sasanian province of Adurbadagan. He was the son of the powerful Sasanian general Farrukhzad, who was the brother of Rostam Farrokhzad and the son of Farrukh Hormizd. Biography Isfandyadh first appears in 642/643, where he is mentioned as the prince of Adurbadagan, who at the head of a big army along with Muta and Varaztirots, fought the Muslim Arabs at Waj Rudh, a village in Hamadan. However, he along with the Sasanian commanders were defeated. Some years later, in 651, the Arabs invaded Adurbadagan, the domains of Isfandyadh and his brother Bahram. Isfandyadh once again made a stand against the Arabs, where a battle was fought. He was, however, once again defeated and this time captured. While Isfandyadh was in captivity, he told the Arab general Bukayr ibn Abdallah, that if he sought to conquer Adurbadagan easily and peacefully, he should make peac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Vistahm
Vistahm or Bistam (also transliterated Wistaxm, wsthm), was a Parthian dynast of the Ispahbudhan house, and maternal uncle of the Sasanian king of kings of Iran, Khosrow II (). Vistahm helped Khosrow regain his throne after the rebellion of another Parthian noble Bahram Chobin, of House of Mihran, but later led a revolt himself, and ruled independently over a region which encompassed the entire Iranian East until he was defeated by Khosrow and his allies. Early life Vistahm and his brother Vinduyih were sons of Shapur and grandsons of Bawi. They belonged to the Ispahbudhan, one of the seven Parthian clans that formed the elite aristocracy of the Sasanian Empire. The Ispahbudhan in particular enjoyed such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians". The family also held the important position of '' spahbed'' of the West, i.e. the Sasanian Empire's southwestern regions (the Sawad). A sister of Vistahm had even married the Sasanian shah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr
''Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr'' () is a surviving Middle Persian text on geography, which was completed in the late eighth or early ninth centuries AD. The text gives a numbered list of the cities of Eranshahr and their history and importance for Persian history. The text itself has indication that it was also redacted at the time of Khosrow II (r. 590–628) in 7th century as it mentions several places in Africa and Persian Gulf conquered by the Sasanian Empire, Sasanians. The book serves as a source for works on Middle Iranian languages, a source on Sasanian administrative geography and history, as well as a source of historical records concerning names of the Sasanian kings as the builder of the various cities. The text provide information on the Persian epic, the ''Khwaday-Namag, Xwadāy-nāmag'' (''lit.'' “Book of Kings”). The book may be the same as "Ayādgār ī Šahrīhā" (''lit.'' “Memoir of Cities") named in the ''Bundahishn'' and said to have been written fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Esfandiyār
Esfandiyār or Espandiyār (; ; ) is a legendary Iranian hero and one of the characters of Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh (The Book of Kings)''. He was the son and the crown prince of the Kayanian King Goshtasp and Queen Katāyoun. He was the grandchild of Kay Lohrasp. Esfandiyār is best known for the tragic story of a battle with Rostam described in Ferdowsi's epic ''Shahnameh''. It is one of the longest episodes in ''Shahnameh'' and is one of its literary highlights. Etymology The Persian word 'Sepandiār' is derived from or 'Spandyat' (the variance is due to ambiguities inherent in the Pahlavi script), which in turn derives from meaning "Given by Spenta Armaiti" which is later personified as sepandarmaz (سپندارمذ), but in original Avestan meant "creative harmonious thought" (usually referring to the physical laws of nature), but in time had come to mean holy or "Given by (the) holy" (See Amesha ''Spenta'' for other meanings of ''spenta''). In the Shahnameh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Dara II
Dara II or Darab II was the last king of the mythological Kayanian dynasty, ruling between 14 and 16 years. He is generally identified with Darius III (), the last king of the Achaemenid Empire. In Middle Persian literature and Islamic chronicles, he is generally known as "Dara", while he is known as "Darab" in the New Persian proses '' Darab-nama'' and '' Iskandar-nama''. He was the son and successor of Dara I. According to early traditions, Dara II's mother was Mahnahid, daughter of Hazarmard, while later traditions refer her to as Thamrusia, a Greek woman who was the daughter of Fastabiqun and former wife of the king of Oman. Dara II was the half-brother of Iskandar (Alexander the Great), who, after refusing to pay tribute, rebelled. During the rebellion, Dara II was assassinated by his ministers Mahyar and Janushyar ( Bessus and Nabarzanes). He had three sons, Ashk, Ardashir, and a third, who name is uncertain. The Sasanian monarchs of Iran (224–651) invented a descent tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Phraates IV
Phraates IV (also spelled Frahad IV; ''Frahāt'') was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II (), and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. Phraates IV soon murdered all his brothers, and also possibly his father. His actions alienated the Armenians and also some of his nobles, including the distinguished Monaeses, who fled to the Roman triumvir Mark Antony, but shortly returned and reconciled with Phraates IV. Phraates IV was attacked in 36 BC by Mark Antony, who marched through Armenia into Media Atropatene, and was defeated and lost the greater part of his army. Antony, believing himself betrayed by Artavasdes II, king of Armenia, invaded his kingdom in 34 BC, took him prisoner, and concluded a treaty with Artavasdes I, king of Media Atropatene. But when the war with Octavian broke out, Antony could not maintain his conquests; Phraates IV recovered Media Atropatene and made Artaxias, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Spahbed
''Spāhbad'' (also spelled ''spahbod'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbad'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Military of the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian army. From the time of Khosrow I ( 531–579) on, the office was split in four, with a ''spāhbad'' for each of the cardinal directions.Gyselen (2004) After the Muslim conquest of Persia, the ''spāhbed'' of the East managed to retain his authority over the inaccessible mountainous region of Tabaristan on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, where the title, often in its Islamic form (; in ), survived as a regnal title until the Mongol conquests of the 13th century.Bosworth (1978), pp. 207–208 An equivalent title of Persian origin, ''ispahsalar, ispahsālār or sipahsālār'', gained great currency across the Muslim world in the 10th–15th centuries. The title was also adopted by the Armenians (, ) and the Georgi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
