Narsi or Narse (), was an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

nobleman who served as the

Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

governor of

Kashkar Kashkar, also known as Kaskar, (), was a city in southern Mesopotamia. Its name appears to originate from Syriac ' meaning "citadel" or "town". Other sources connect it to ' "farming". It was originally built on the Tigris, across the river fro ...

Biography

Southwestern part of the Sasanian Empire

Narsi is first mentioned in 628, he, along with his brother Mah-Adhur Gushnasp, was the son of a certain Jushnas (Gushnasp), and an unnamed

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 fig ...

noblewoman, who was the sister of

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 a ...

and

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 rest ...

. In 628, during the reign of

Ardashir III Ardashir III (; 62127 April 630) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630. Name ''Ardashir'' is the Middle Persian form of the Old Persian ''Ṛtaxšira'' (also spelled ''Artaxšaçā'', meaning "whose rei ...

, Narsi was granted with Kashkar as a part of his domains, while his brother Mah-Adhur Gushnasp was elected as minister of the empire, and administered the empire greatly.''ARDAŠĪR III'', A. Sh. Shahbazi, Encyclopædia Iranica,(11 August 2011

/ref> One year later, just when stability and peace seems to have begun,

Shahrbaraz Shahrbaraz (also spelled Shahrvaraz or Shahrwaraz; New Persian: ) was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurp ...

rebelled with a force of 6,000 men, and marched towards

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 ...

and besieged the city. Shahrbaraz, however, was unable to capture the city, and then made an alliance with

Piruz Khosrow Piruz Khosrow (Middle Persian: ''Pērōz Khusraw''), also known as Piruzan or Firuzan, was a powerful Persian aristocrat who was the leader of the ''Parsig'' (Persian) faction that controlled much of the affairs of the Sasanian Empire during the ...

, the leader of the Parsig faction, and the previous minister of the Empire during the reign of Ardashir's father,

Kavadh II Kavad II () was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran briefly in 628. Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II () and Maria. With help from different factions of the nobility, Sheroe overthrew his father in a coup d'état in 628. At this junct ...

. He also made an alliance with Namdar Gushnasp, the ''

spahbed ''Spāhbad'' (also spelled ''spahbod'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbad'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Military of the Sasani ...

'' of Nemroz. Shahrbaraz, with the aid of these two powerful figures, captured Ctesiphon, and executed Ardashir III, along with Mah-Adhur Gushnasp, the brother of Narsi. Forty days later, Shahrbaraz was murdered by

Farrukh Hormizd Farrukh Hormizd or Farrokh Hormizd (), also known as Hormizd V, was an Iranian prince, who was one of the leading figures in Sasanian Iran in the early 7th-century. He served as the military commander (''spahbed'') of northern Iran. He later came ...

, a relative of Narsi, who then made Borandukht, the daughter of Khosrau II, ascend the throne. After a period of coups and revolts,

Yazdegerd III Yazdegerd III (also Romanized as ''Yazdgerd'', ''Yazdgird'') was the last Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II), Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne a ...

was crowned as king of the Sasanian Empire in 632 at

Estakhr Istakhr (Middle Persian romanized: ''Stakhr'', ) was an ancient city in Fars province, north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Persian '' Frataraka'' governors and Kings of Persis from the third century BC t ...

. With his accession, the civil war in Persia had ended. However, one year later, the Muslim Arabs invaded Persia, and by 634, were getting close to Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire.

Rostam Farrokhzad Rostam Farrokhzād () was a dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the '' spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan under the Sasanian monarchs Boran () and Yazdegerd III (). Rostam is rem ...

, a relative of Narsi, then sent him along with Jaban to confront the Arabs at Namaraq, a city near

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

. Narsi and Jaban, were, however, defeated. Narsi then fled along with his army to his territory at Kashkar. Rostam then ordered Narsi: " ooff to your estate and protect it from your enemy and our enemy. Be a man." Narsi then met the Arabs at near Kashkar, and was aided by the sons of

, Tiruyih and Vinduyih,Shapur Shahbazi (1989)
BESṬĀM O BENDŌY
who commanded the flanks of Narsi's army. Shortly before the Sasanian army and the Arab army clashed, Rostam sent

Jalinus Jalinus (, also or ) was a 7th-century Sasanian military leader. He may have been of Armenian noble origin. He was reportedly the commander of the ruler's personal guard and was tasked with guarding Khosrow II during the latter's imprisonment. ...

at the head of an Armenian army to aid Narsi. However, when he arrived to Kashkar, Narsi was defeated and had already fled. The Arabs then defeated the army of Jalinus.Pourshariati (2008), p. 213 What happened to Narsi afterwards is not known.

References

Sources

* * {{cite encyclopedia , article = ARDAŠĪR III , last = Shahbazi , first = A. Sh. , authorlink = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-iii-sasanian-king-r , editor-last = , editor-first = , editor-link = , encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4 , pages = 381–382 , location = , publisher = , year = 1986 , isbn = Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown House of Ispahbudhan Generals of Yazdegerd III 7th-century Iranian people