Argbed (

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 Per ...

: hlgwpt; in Parthian: hrkpty ''Hargbed'';

Paikuli inscription The Paikuli inscription ( ku, پەیکوڵی, Peykulî, fa, پایکولی, in ar, بيكولي) is a bilingual Parthian and Middle Persian text corpus which was inscribed on the stone blocks of the walls of Paikuli tower; the latter is located ...

, line 16 etymology uncertain; in Roman sources: ''archapetēs'') were a class of military commanders in charge of castles and fortresses of the Parthian and Sasanian Empires of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

(Iran) between the 2nd and 7th centuries CE. The office became more important under the Sasanian Empire. Argbeds were granted their command by the Sassanian emperor (

Shahanshah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

) and were responsible for maintaining the security of their area of operation (usually a trading post, military fortress, or city), fighting the encroaching nomadic tribes such as Bedouin Arabs, White Huns and

Oghuz Turks The Oghuz or Ghuzz Turks (Middle Turkic: ٱغُز, ''Oγuz'', ota, اوغوز, Oġuz) were a western Turkic people that spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conven ...

, and resisting the advances of settled enemies such as Romans and

Kushan The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

s. The Sasanian king usually selected Argbeds from ''

wuzurgan Wuzurgan ( pal, 𐭥𐭰𐭥𐭫𐭢, meaning "grandees" or the "great ones"), also known by its Modern Persian form of Bozorgan (بزرگان), was the name of the high nobility and the third class-rank of the four of the Sasanian aristocracy. Aft ...

'', Iranian noble families who held the most powerful positions in the imperial administration. This rank, like most imperial administration, was mostly patrimonial, and was passed down through a single family for generations. In many ways, the Argbeds had the same function and status as medieval ''

castellan A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...

s''.

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See also