Garshasp I ( fa, گرشاسپ, Garšāsp) was the

Shirvanshah ''Shirvanshah'' ( fa, شروانشاه), also spelled as ''Shīrwān Shāh'' or ''Sharwān Shāh'', was the title of the rulers of Shirvan from the mid-9th century to the early 16th century. The title remained in a single family, the Yazidids, ...

from post-1203 to 1233/34. He was the son and successor of

Farrukhzad I Farrukhzad I was the Shirvanshah from between 1187–1203 to sometime before 1225. He ruled during a time in Shirvanshah history that scholarship has referred to "a period of total confusion", due to the lack of written records and contradictory nu ...

(), whom he may have initially co-ruled with.

Background

Garshasp was a son of

(). His name is the

New Persian New Persian ( fa, فارسی نو), also known as Modern Persian () and Dari (), 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 thre ...

form of the

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scri ...

name ''Kərəsāspa'', which likely means "he with meager horses".

Reign

He ruled during a time in Shirvanshah history that scholarship has referred to "a period of total confusion", due to the lack of written records and contradictory numismatic evidence. Garshasp's reign started sometime after 1203, while recent evidence suggests that Farrukhzad I did not rule beyond 1225. An inscription from a tower in Mardakan mentions both Farrukhzad I and Garshasp, crediting the latter with the construction of the tower. The Armenian-American historian

Dickran Kouymjian Dickran Kouymjian ( hy, Տիգրան Գույումճեան; born 6 June 1934) is an Armenian-American writer, publisher, editor, historian and professor. Life Kouymjian was born to Armenian parents in Romania on June 6, 1934. At the time of ...

suggests that they may have ruled in different parts of the kingdom, with Farrukhzad I most likely ruling in Baku, which is close to Mardakan. In 1225, the

Khwarazmshah Khwarazmshah was an ancient title used regularly by the rulers of the Central Asian region of Khwarazm starting from the Late Antiquity until the advent of the Mongols in the early 13th-century, after which it was used infrequently. There were a to ...

Jalal al-Din Mangburni Jalal al-Din Mangburni ( fa, جلال الدین مِنکُبِرنی), also known as Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah (), Minkubirni or Mengu-Berdi (c.1199 – August 1231), was the last Khwarazmshah of the Anushteginid dynasty. The eldest son and succ ...

() demanded that Garshasp pay him a tribute identical to the one the Shirvanshah

Fariburz I Fariburz ibn Sallar ( fa, فریبرز بن سالار), better simply known as Fariburz I (), was the sixteenth Shah of Shirvan, ruling from 1063 to 1096. His reign saw many major political balance changes in Caucasus, including expansion by the S ...

() had paid the Seljuk ruler

Malik-Shah I Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 to ...

() over a century ago. Based on numismatic evidence, it was initially suggested that Garshasp did not rule after 1225. However, new evidence suggests that Garshasp's reign was longer. The numismatist Blau discovered a unique coin with the name of Garshasp, and which mentions the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...

caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

al-Mustansir I Al-Mustansir Bi'llah (full name:Abû Ja`far al-Mustansir bi-llah al-Mansûr ben az-Zâhir Surname Al-Mustansir), (17 February 1192 – 2 December 1242) was the Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty from 1226 to 1242. He succeeded Caliph Az-Zahir in t ...

, who ruled from 1226 to 1242. Moreover, a newly found inscription from another tower in Mardakan suggests that Garshasp was still living by 1233/34, and perhaps also still ruling. This new evidence suggests that Garshasp ruled jointly with his son Fariburz III. Fariburz may have ruled an area outside the capital until his father's death. Another theory is that Fariburz was given control over the central government by Garshasp, who withdrew to Baku region. According to

The Georgian Chronicles ''The Georgian Chronicles'' is a conventional English name for the principal compendium of medieval Georgian historical texts, natively known as ''Kartlis Tskhovreba'' ( ka, ქართლის ცხოვრება), literally "Life of K ...

, around 1223 an unnamed Shirvanshah asked for the hand of the Georgian princess Rusudan, the sister of the king of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

(). The proposal was accepted, but was soon cancelled due to George IV's death, which occurred while he was en route to the ceremony. The unnamed Shirvanshah may have been Garshasp, Fariburz III or Farrukhzad I.

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Background

Reign

References

Sources

Further reading