''Hazārbed'' (
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 ...
: ḥčʾlpt, or ''hazarbadh'', literally "the commander of thousand"), also known as ''hazaruft''/''hazaraft'' (
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 ...
: hz’lwpt; possibly the older/original form), was a
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 ...
office which initially functioned as the commander of the
royal guard
A royal guard is a group of military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess. They often are an elite unit of the regular arm ...
, but later became increasingly equal to that of the ''
wuzurg framadar
''Wuzurg framadār'' ( pal, 𐭫𐭲𐭬𐭥𐭯 𐭠𐭡𐭫, meaning "the grand lord") was a Sasanian office which was equivalent to the office of Grand Vizier in the later Islamic period.
List
* Abarsam, active during the reign of Ardashir I.E ...
'' (minister).
History
The title is first attested in the
Achaemenid Empire in its
Old Persian form, ''hazāra-pati'' (from *''hazāra-'' "thousand" and *''pati-'' "chief"), the commanding officer of the
Immortals
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...
.
The ''hazarbed'' controlled units of guards which were enlisted from royal families of the Sasanian Empire. One of the units that the ''hazarbed'' controlled was the ''
pushtigban
The ''pushtigban'' was an elite military unit of the Sasanian Empire, charged with the protection of the Persian Emperor.
They were stationed during peacetime in the royal capital of Ctesiphon and were drawn from the best of the ranks of the Sas ...
'' bodyguard, while other times it would be the palace guards (''
darigan''), or in some cases other units, such as the 4,000
Daylamite
The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: ''Daylamīgān''; fa, دیلمیان ''Deylamiyān'') were an Iranian people inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprisin ...
guard which served the last great Sasanian king,
Khosrow II (r. 590–628). The ''hazarbed'' was in charge of the king's safety and the commander of the royal guard. The ''hazarbed'' also controlled the entrance of the kings palace, presented visitors to the king, and was allowed to be given military command or used in negotiations. The ''hazarbed'' was also allowed in some cases to serve as the royal executioner.
During the reign of
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...
(r. 240–270), the ''hazarbed'' may have briefly taken over the ''
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 ...
'' office, as it is not listed in the inscriptions of Shapur I. However, the ''spahbed'' office reappears in the inscriptions of Shapur's son
Narseh
Narseh (also spelled Narses or Narseus; pal, 𐭭𐭥𐭮𐭧𐭩, New Persian: , ''Narsē'') was the seventh Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 293 to 303.
The youngest son of Shapur I (), Narseh served as the governor of Sakastan, Hind and ...
(r. 293–302). The office of ''hazarbed'' is also mentioned in his inscriptions among many others.
Later on, the office became increasingly political and equal to that of the ''
wuzurg framadar
''Wuzurg framadār'' ( pal, 𐭫𐭲𐭬𐭥𐭯 𐭠𐭡𐭫, meaning "the grand lord") was a Sasanian office which was equivalent to the office of Grand Vizier in the later Islamic period.
List
* Abarsam, active during the reign of Ardashir I.E ...
'' (minister).
List
*
Aspad Gushnasp
See also
*
Chiliarch Chiliarch is a military rank dating back to antiquity. Originally denoting the commander of a unit of about one thousand men (a chiliarchy) in the Macedonian army, it was subsequently used as a Greek translation of a Persian officer who functioned ...
*
Azarethes, the Latin name of whom is probably a corruption of this title (''hazaraft'')
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hazarbed
Positions of authority
Sasanian military offices
Sasanian palace offices
Persian words and phrases