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Wuzurgan
''Wuzurgān'' (, meaning "grandees" or the "great ones"), also known by its Modern Persian form of (), was the name of the high nobility and the third class-rank of the four of the Sasanian aristocracy. After the fall of the Sasanian Empire, they reappear under the Dabuyid dynasty. Etymology The word is the plural form of the word 'big, great', which is derived from the Old Persian word , which is in turn hypothesized to derive from the Proto-Indo-European word * 'to be strong, lively, awake'. History The are first mentioned in the early Sasanian period and appear in Shapur I's inscription in Hajjiabad. They played an important and prominent role in Sasanian politics, and seem to have held much influence. High-ranking members of the were present at the coronation of the Sasanian kings. Every time there was a dispute about choosing a Sasanian king, the objective of the was to elect a Sasanian king. After the death of Hormizd II in 309, the elected the latter's son Shap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern Persian
New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th/9th centuries), Classical Persian (10th–18th centuries), and Contemporary Persian (19th century to present). Dari is a name given to the New Persian language since the 10th century, widely used in Arabic (see Istakhri, al-Maqdisi and ibn Hawqal) and Persian texts. Since 1964, Dari has been the official name in Afghanistan for the Persian spoken there. Classification New Persian is a member of the Western Iranian group of the Iranian languages, which make up a branch of the Indo-European languages in their Indo-Iranian subdivision. The Western Iranian languages themselves are divided into two subgroups: Southwestern Iranian languages, of which Persian is the most widely spoken, and Northwestern Iranian langua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sukhra
Sukhra (also spelled Sufaray, Sufray, Surkhab, Sarafra'i) was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Karen, who was the '' de facto'' ruler of the Sasanian Empire from 484 to 493. He was active during the reign of shah Peroz I (r. 457-484), Balash (r. 484 – 488) and Kavad I (r. 488-496). He is often confused with his father Zarmihr Hazarwuxt and son Zarmihr Karen. He first appears in 484, when Peroz I appoints him as the minister ('' wuzurg framadār'') of the empire. Peroz I was defeated and killed the same year during a campaign against the Hephthalite Empire, which seized much of the empire's eastern territory. Sukhra then avenged Peroz I by invading Hephthalite territory and inflicting a major defeat on them. When he returned from his campaign, he was praised by the Sasanian nobles, and Balash was elected as king. However, it was in reality Sukhra that had control over the empire. In 488, Sukhra had Balash deposed and installed Peroz I's son Kavad I as the new king. Howe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vinduyih
Vinduyih (Middle Persian: ''Windōē'') or Bendoy () was a Sasanian nobleman from the Ispahbudhan family. His sister was the mother of Khosrau II, thus making Vinduyih the uncle of Khosrau. Vinduyih and Vistahm played an important role in restoring the throne for Khosrau II from Bahram Chobin. He was later deposed in Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ... by the orders of Khosrau II. Family tree References 6th-century Iranian people Assassinated royalty Generals of Khosrow II House of Ispahbudhan People executed by the Sasanian Empire Viziers of the Sasanian Empire Generals of Hormizd IV {{Sasanian-bio-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
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] |
Hormizd IV
Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; ) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, Hormizd IV had the high aristocracy and Zoroastrian priesthood slaughtered while supporting the landed gentry (the '' dehqans''). His reign was marked by constant warfare: to the west, he fought a long and indecisive war with the Byzantine Empire, which had been ongoing since the reign of his father; and to the east, the Iranian general Bahram Chobin successfully contained and defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate during the First Perso-Turkic War. It was also during Hormizd IV's reign that the Chosroid dynasty of Iberia was abolished. After negotiating with the Iberian aristocracy and winning their support, Hormizd successfully incorporated Iberia into the Sasanian Empire. Jealous of Bahram's success in the east, Hormizd IV had him disgraced and dismissed, which l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kanarang
The ''kanārang'' () was a unique title in the Sasanian military, given to the commander of the Sasanian Empire's northeasternmost frontier province, Abarshahr (encompassing the cities of Nishapur, Tus and Abiward). In Byzantine sources, it is rendered as ''chanaranges'' () and often used, for instance by Procopius, in lieu of the holder's actual name. The title was used instead of the more conventional ''marzban'', 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 (r. 399–421), but was descended from some pre-Sasanian, most likely Parthian, 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'' of the great Persian poet Ferdowsi. They were among the great families that deposed the last powerful Sasanian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gushnaspdad
Gushnaspdād, known in Byzantine sources as Gousanastadēs (), was a Sasanian nobleman, who was ''kanarang'' during the reign of Balash (r. 484–488), and Kavad I (r. 488–531). Biography Gushnaspdad first appears in 496, as one of the supporters of Jamasp. After Balash's accession, Gushnaspdad urged the Sasanian noblemen to execute Kavad I, the brother of Jamasp. He is reportedly said to have told the Sasanian noblemen while holding a knife: "You see this knife, how extremely small it is; nevertheless it is able at present time to accomplish a deed which, be assured, my dear Persians, a little later two myriads of mail clad men could not bring to pass." However, the Sasanian nobles declined the decision, and instead had Kavad imprisoned; however, he later managed to escape and took refugee in Central Asia. In 498/9, Kavad returned to Iran with the aid of the Hephthalites. Kavad then captured Ctesiphon, restored his rule, and had Gushnaspdad executed. Gushnaspdad was replaced by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Djamasp
Jamasp (also spelled Zamasp or Djamasp; ; ''Jāmāsp'') was Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 496 to 498/9. He was a son of Peroz I and younger brother of Kavad I. Jamasp was installed on the Sasanian throne upon the deposition of the latter by the nobility and clergy. Name Due to increased Sasanian interest in Kayanian history, Jamasp was named after Jamasp, the mythological minister of the Kayanian monarch Vishtaspa. The name is transliterated in Greek as ''Zamásphēs''; Arabic ''Jāmāsb'', ''Zāmāsb'', and ''Zāmāsf''; New Persian ''Jāmāsp'' and ''Zāmāsp''. Background In 484, Peroz I () was defeated and killed by a Hephthalite army near Balkh. His army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found. Four of his sons and brothers had also died. The main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan−Nishapur, Herat and Marw were now under Hephthalite rule. Sukhra, a member of the Parthian House of Karen, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani (216–274 CE), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine", succeed, and surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions, and mystery cults.Arendzen, John (1 October 1910).Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the world's oldest organized faiths, its adherents exalt an Creator deity, uncreated, Omnibenevolence, benevolent, and List of knowledge deities#Persian mythology, all-wise deity known as Ahura Mazda (), who is hailed as the supreme being of the universe. Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Ahriman, Angra Mainyu (), who is personified as a List of death deities#Persian-Zoroastrian, destructive spirit and the adversary of all things that are good. As such, the Zoroastrian religion combines a Dualism in cosmology, dualistic cosmology of good and evil with an eschatological outlook predicting the Frashokereti, ultimate triumph of Ahura Mazda over evil. Opinions vary among scholars as to whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic, polyth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mazdak
Mazdak (, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was an Iranian Zoroastrian '' mobad'' (priest) and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to be a prophet of Ahura Mazda and instituted social welfare programs. Mazdakism Mazdak was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical teaching called Mazdakism, which he viewed as a reformed and purified version of Zoroastrianism,Shaki, Mansour. 1985. The cosmogonical and cosmological teachings of Mazdak. Papers in Honour of Professor Mary Boyce, Acta Iranica 25, Leiden, 1985, pp. 527–43. although his teaching has been argued to display influences from |
