The ''kanārang'' ( fa, کنارنگ) was a unique title in the
Sasanian military, given to the commander of the
Sasanian Empire's northeasternmost frontier province,
Abarshahr
Abarshahr (Persian:اَبَرشهر) or Nishapur (Persian:نیشاپور) was a Sasanian satrapy (province) in Late Antiquity, that lay within the kust of Khorasan. The province bordered Media in the west, Hyrcania in the north west, Margian ...
(encompassing the cities of
Nishapur,
Tus and
Abiward). In
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 ...
sources, it is rendered as ''chanaranges'' ( el, χαναράγγης) and often used, for instance by
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...
, in lieu of the holder's actual name.
The title was used instead of the more conventional ''
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 ...
'', which was held by the rest of the Iranian frontier wardens. Like the other ''marzbans'', the position was hereditary. The family holding it (the ''Kanarangiyan'') is first attested in the reign of
Yazdegerd I
Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination.
Yazde ...
(r. 399–421), but was descended from some pre-Sasanian, most likely
Parthia
Parthia ( peo, 𐎱𐎼𐎰𐎺 ''Parθava''; xpr, 𐭐𐭓𐭕𐭅 ''Parθaw''; pal, 𐭯𐭫𐭮𐭥𐭡𐭥 ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Med ...
n, dynasty. They enjoyed a high prestige and great authority in the Sasanian Empire's northeastern borderlands, as reflected in their glorified description in the ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...
'' of the great Persian poet
Ferdowsi. They were among the great families that deposed the last powerful Sasanian monarch
Khosrow II () in 628.
The family was active until the very end of the Sasanian realm. A man called
Kanara
Kanara, also known as Karavali is the historically significant stretch of land situated by the southwestern coast of India, alongside the Arabian Sea in the present-day Indian state of Karnataka.
The region comprises three civil districts, ...
in Arab sources commanded the Iranian light cavalry at the decisive
Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, and his son, Shahriyar bin Kanara, is reported to have fought valiantly before being killed. The family is later recorded as assisting the Muslim conquest of
Khorasan by
Abd-Allah ibn Amir, and being rewarded with the right to keep the province of
Tus and half of the province of
Nishapur under their control. They were ultimately dislodged by the Arab military officer
Humayd ibn Qahtaba, probably during the latters governorship of Khorasan during the reign of the caliph
al-Mansur
Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ar, أبو جعفر عبد الله بن محمد المنصور; 95 AH – 158 AH/714 CE – 6 October 775 CE) usually known simply as by his laqab Al-Manṣūr (المنصور) w ...
().
Known holders of the post
*
Gushnaspdad, attested 484–488
*
Adergoudounbades, 488–541
* Bahram, from 541
*
Kanadbak, attested 628–652, son Shahriyar bin Kanara
References
Sources
*
*
* {{cite book , title = Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran , first = Parvaneh , last = Pourshariati , publisher = I.B. Tauris , year = 2008 , isbn = 978-1-84511-645-3
Persian words and phrases
Sasanian military offices