Bavand Dynasty
Encyclopedia
The Bavandi Dynasty was an Iranian dynasty that started in the early seventh century, as an independent group of rulers, reigning over Tabaristan in what is now northern Iran
.
The Bavandi name apparently comes from Bav, son of Kawus
, son of Kavadh I
, the Sasanian Emperor. As the story goes, Kawus, who was the elder son of Kawad, was passed over in favour of his younger brother Khosrau I
Ausherwan, as the former was accused of Mazdakite sympathies. He was, however, reinstated in his position as the governor of Padishkhwargar
, the name given to the northern satrapies of the Sasanian realm, consisting of Azerbaijan
, Gilan, Tabaristan and Qumis, according to Mar'ashi.
Whatever their origin, it seems that in the chaos that followed the fall of the Sasanians to the Arab Muslims
, the descendants of Bav managed to carve themselves a semi-independent kingdom in the regions to the south of the Caspian Sea
. Probably because of their royal blood, they were successful in gaining the upper hand in the region and established their rule over other local clans and dynasties, including the Paduspanis and the House of Karen
.
The early Bavandis were obviously Zoroastrian, but they later converted to Islam, as is attested to be the case for Karen son of Shahriar, the ninth ruler of the dynasty. They probably accepted the Zaidi branch of Shi'ism and became major supporters of the Zaidi and other Shi'ite movements. We know that Bavandis, along with other Tabari and Dailami dynasties, recognised the overlordship of Alavids
such as Al-Utrush and assisted them in their struggles against the Caliphate. Another interpretation can be that the Bavandis used the influence of the Alavids among the common people in order to further their own agenda against the caliphal central rule.
The history of the Bavandis is detailed in the works of Ibn Isfandiar and Mar'ashi which belong to the genre of local histories that gained popularity in Iran after 1000 AD. We know that they were related to the Ziyarid
dynasty, through the marriage of Mardanshah, the father of Ziyar, to the daughter of one of the Bavandi kings. The prominence of the Bavandi kings apparently continued throughout the Seljuk and Mongol period. One of their greatest kings, Shah Ghazi Rostam, is reported to have seriously defeated the Ismailis who were gaining prominence in Tabaristan and Dailam and to have made significant progress in consolidating power in the Caspian provinces.
After the Mongol conquest, the Bavandis continued to rule as local strongmen of Tabaristan and sometimes Dailam. Their power was finally brought down around 1350 when Afrasiab
of the Jalaviyeh dynasty, themselves an off-shoot of the Bavandis, managed to kill Fakhroldoleh Hasan, the last of the mainline Bavandi kings.
In 1062, a Bavandi prince re-found the dynasty, this time becoming known as "Kings of the Mountains" indicating the extent of the rule of the Bavandis in the highlands of Tabaristan. The greatest ruler of this stage was the aforementioned Shah Ghazi Rostam. The Kings of the Mountains became extinct in 1210, probably as a result of competition with the Ismailis and other local dynasties.
During the chaos caused by the Mongol conquest of Iran, another branch of the dynasty was founded ca. 1240 which continued until 1350 when the last king of it was killed by Afrasiab of the Jalaviyeh dynasty. This stage is called "Kindkhwariyeh" by the local historians.
However, the above divisions might be the result of the mixing of the history of the Bavandis with that of the Paduspanis, a neighbouring clan who ruled over the area of Royaan (or Alamdeh)and Kojur and were similarly descended from the Sasanians. It is quite possible that the last stage above, that of the Kindkhwariyeh, was actually a Paduspani takeover of the Bavandi lands. This is also quite possible as it will explain the efforts of Afrasiab of the Jalaviyeh dynasty in defeating the Kindkhwariyeh, as the Jalaviyeh were themselves a branch of the Bavandis.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
The Bavandi name apparently comes from Bav, son of Kawus
Kawus
Kawus was the eldest son of Kavadh I, the Sasanian emperor of Iran.Kawus might have initially been the heir presumptive to the Sasanian throne. However, following the outbreak of the Mazdakite revolt, Kawus was accused of supporting Mazdak and adhering to his heresy...
, son of Kavadh I
Kavadh I
Kavad or Kavadh I was the son of Peroz I and the nineteenth Sassanid king of Persia, reigning from 488 to 531...
, the Sasanian Emperor. As the story goes, Kawus, who was the elder son of Kawad, was passed over in favour of his younger brother Khosrau I
Khosrau I
Khosrau I , also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just Khosrau I (also called Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anushirvan or Anushirwan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anushiravan the Just or Anushirawan the Just...
Ausherwan, as the former was accused of Mazdakite sympathies. He was, however, reinstated in his position as the governor of Padishkhwargar
Padishkhwargar
Padishkhwārgar or Patishkhwāgar which later orthographically morphed into Farshwārdgar is the Middle Persian name of a vassal and later satrapy of the Sassanid Empire....
, the name given to the northern satrapies of the Sasanian realm, consisting of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Gilan, Tabaristan and Qumis, according to Mar'ashi.
Whatever their origin, it seems that in the chaos that followed the fall of the Sasanians to the Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims
Arab Muslims are adherents of the religion of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, or genealogically as Arabs. They greatly outnumber other ethnic groups in the Middle East. Muslims who are not Arabs are called mawali by Arab Muslims....
, the descendants of Bav managed to carve themselves a semi-independent kingdom in the regions to the south of the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. Probably because of their royal blood, they were successful in gaining the upper hand in the region and established their rule over other local clans and dynasties, including the Paduspanis and the House of Karen
House of Karen
The House of Karen were an aristocratic feudal family of Hyrcania...
.
The early Bavandis were obviously Zoroastrian, but they later converted to Islam, as is attested to be the case for Karen son of Shahriar, the ninth ruler of the dynasty. They probably accepted the Zaidi branch of Shi'ism and became major supporters of the Zaidi and other Shi'ite movements. We know that Bavandis, along with other Tabari and Dailami dynasties, recognised the overlordship of Alavids
Alavids
The Alavids or Alavians , also known as the Zaydids, were a Zaidi Shia emirate based in Mazandaran of Iran. They were descendants of the second Shi'a Imam and brought Islam to the south Caspian Sea region of Iran. Their reign was ended when they were defeated by the Samanid empire in 928 AD...
such as Al-Utrush and assisted them in their struggles against the Caliphate. Another interpretation can be that the Bavandis used the influence of the Alavids among the common people in order to further their own agenda against the caliphal central rule.
The history of the Bavandis is detailed in the works of Ibn Isfandiar and Mar'ashi which belong to the genre of local histories that gained popularity in Iran after 1000 AD. We know that they were related to the Ziyarid
Ziyarid
The Ziyarids, also spelled Zeyarids , were an Iranian dynasty that ruled in the Caspian sea provinces of Gorgan and Mazandaran from 928-1043 . The founder of the dynasty was Mardavij , who took advantage of a rebellion in the Samanid army of Iran to seize power in northern Iran...
dynasty, through the marriage of Mardanshah, the father of Ziyar, to the daughter of one of the Bavandi kings. The prominence of the Bavandi kings apparently continued throughout the Seljuk and Mongol period. One of their greatest kings, Shah Ghazi Rostam, is reported to have seriously defeated the Ismailis who were gaining prominence in Tabaristan and Dailam and to have made significant progress in consolidating power in the Caspian provinces.
After the Mongol conquest, the Bavandis continued to rule as local strongmen of Tabaristan and sometimes Dailam. Their power was finally brought down around 1350 when Afrasiab
Afrasiab
Afrasiab is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan.-The Mythical King and Hero:According to the Shahnameh , by the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi, Afrasiab was the king and hero of Turan and an archenemy of Iran...
of the Jalaviyeh dynasty, themselves an off-shoot of the Bavandis, managed to kill Fakhroldoleh Hasan, the last of the mainline Bavandi kings.
Divisions of the Bavandis
The Bavandi rule, which lasted from ca. AD 665-1350, was commonly divided to three periods. The first is the "Ispahbed" period, lasting until 1028. This is the period in which the dynasty seems to have been rather autonomous and quite influential in Tabaristan and Dailam, although they often acknowledged the overlordship of the Samanids or occasionally, the Ziyarids. However, with the death of the last Ispahbed, the dynasty became temporarily defunct.In 1062, a Bavandi prince re-found the dynasty, this time becoming known as "Kings of the Mountains" indicating the extent of the rule of the Bavandis in the highlands of Tabaristan. The greatest ruler of this stage was the aforementioned Shah Ghazi Rostam. The Kings of the Mountains became extinct in 1210, probably as a result of competition with the Ismailis and other local dynasties.
During the chaos caused by the Mongol conquest of Iran, another branch of the dynasty was founded ca. 1240 which continued until 1350 when the last king of it was killed by Afrasiab of the Jalaviyeh dynasty. This stage is called "Kindkhwariyeh" by the local historians.
However, the above divisions might be the result of the mixing of the history of the Bavandis with that of the Paduspanis, a neighbouring clan who ruled over the area of Royaan (or Alamdeh)and Kojur and were similarly descended from the Sasanians. It is quite possible that the last stage above, that of the Kindkhwariyeh, was actually a Paduspani takeover of the Bavandi lands. This is also quite possible as it will explain the efforts of Afrasiab of the Jalaviyeh dynasty in defeating the Kindkhwariyeh, as the Jalaviyeh were themselves a branch of the Bavandis.
Ka'usiyeh (Ispahbed)
- KawusKawusKawus was the eldest son of Kavadh I, the Sasanian emperor of Iran.Kawus might have initially been the heir presumptive to the Sasanian throne. However, following the outbreak of the Mazdakite revolt, Kawus was accused of supporting Mazdak and adhering to his heresy...
- Bav (665-680)
- Sorkhab I (680-728)
- Mehr Mardan (728-752)
- Sorkhab II (752-771)
- Shervin I (771-797)
- Shahryar II (797-825)
- Shapoor (Ka'usiyeh) (825-837)
- Karen (Ka'usiyeh)(837-867)
- Rostam II (867-896)
- Shervin II (896-930)
- Shahryar II (930-946)
- Rostam II (946-965)
- Dara (Ka'usiyeh) (965-958)
- Shahryar III (985-1005)
- Rostam III (1005-1006)
Kings of the Mountains
- Shahryar IV (1073-1109)
- Karen II (1109-1117)
- Rostam IV (1117-1121)
- Ali (1117-1139)
- Rostam V (1139-1164)
- Hasan (1164-1170)
- Ardeshir I (1170-1205)
- Rostam VI (1205-1209)
Kindkhwariyeh
- Ardeshir II (1237-1249)
- Mohammad (1249-1266)
- Ali (1266-1276)
- Yazdgerd (1276-1298)
- Shahryar V (1298-1314)
- Keykhosro (1214-1327)
- Hasan (1327-1349)
Sources
- Ibn Isfandiar, Mohammad b. Hasan. Tarikh-e Tabaristan, ed. M. Mehrabadi, Tehran: Ahl-e Qalam, 1381 [2002].
- Kasravi, Ahmad. Shahriaran-e Gomnam, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1957.
- Lane-Poole, Stanley. The Mohammadan Dynasties, London: Routledge, 2000 (reprint).
- Mar'ashi, Sayyed Zahiruddin. Tarikh-e Tabaristan o Royan of Mazandaran, ed. by Bernhard Darn, St. Petersburg, 1850 (Tehran Edition: Gostareh, 1363 [1984]).
External links
- Britannica: Bavandi Dynastyhttp://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-56536/Bavand-dynasty
- Iranolgie.com: Independent Kingdomshttp://www.iranologie.com/history/history7.html