Jalinus (also spelled Jilunus) was a 7th-century

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

dynast, who was one of the leading figures in Sasanian Iran. He was the commander of the guard over

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling f ...

, during the latter's imprisonment. Jalinus was a Sasanian commander during the Arab conquest of Iran.

Background and identity

The name of ''Jalinus'' is the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

form of his original,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name, Galen. According to Pourshariati, the name was most likely not his personal name, but a title of his. He was probably one of the Armenian dynasty that became entangled in Sasanian history. He may have been the same person as Mushegh III Mamikonian or Gregory of Siwnik, who both also served the Sasanians in the early 7th-century.

Biography

Southwestern part of the Sasanian Empire

Jalinus is first mentioned as the commander over

, during the latter's imprisonment in 628. Although Khosrow had been overthrown and imprisoned by his son Kavad II Sheroe, he was still treated like a monarch, with Jalinus even addressing him with the formula ''anōšag buwād'' ("may he be immortal"). After his defeat at the battle of Kaskar, Jalinus was sent by

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at th ...

to crush the invading Arab forces along with 60,000 men and the commander-in-chief of all armies of the empire,

Rostam Farrokhzād Rostam Farrokhzād ( fa, رستم فرخزاد) was an Iranian dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the ''spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan during the reign of Boran () and Yazdeger ...

at the

Battle of al-Qādisiyyah The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah ( ar, مَعْرَكَة ٱلْقَادِسِيَّة, Maʿrakah al-Qādisīyah; fa, نبرد قادسیه, Nabard-e Qâdisiyeh) was an armed conflict which took place in 636 CE between the Rashidun Caliphate and the ...

. Jalinus commanded the Right center of the army. After Rostam's death at the battle and the other commanders' withdrawal, Jalinus took command of what was left of the Sasanian army. He gained control of the bridgehead, and succeeded in getting the bulk of the Sasanian army across the bridge safely. He was killed at the battle of al-Qadisiyyah.Parvaneh Pourshariati, 157.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book , last = Pourshariati , first = Parvaneh , title = Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran , location = London and New York , publisher = I.B. Tauris , year = 2008 , isbn = 978-1-84511-645-3 , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ 7th-century Armenian people Generals of Yazdegerd III Armenian nobility 636 deaths Year of birth unknown Armenian people from the Sasanian Empire Generals of Kavad II