- Bavand Dynasty
The Bavandi Dynasty (also spelled Bavend) was an Iranian dynasty that started in the early
seventh century , as an independent group of rulers, reigning overTabaristan in what is now northernIran .The Bavandi name apparently comes from
Bav , son ofKawus , son ofKavadh I , theSasanian Emperor. As the story goes, Kawus, who was the elder son of Kawad, was passed over in favour of his younger brotherKhosrau I Ausherwan, as the former was accused ofMazdakite sympathies. He was, however, reinstated in his position as the governor ofPadishkhwargar , the name given to the northern satrapies of the Sasanian realm, consisting ofAzerbaijan ,Gilan ,Tabaristan andQumis , 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 thePaduspanis and theHouse of Karen .The early Bavandis were obviously
Zoroastrian , but they later converted to Islam, as is attested to be the case forKaren son of Shahriar , the ninth ruler of the dynasty. They probably accepted the theZaidi branch ofShi'ism and became major supporters of the Zaidi and other Shi'ite movements. We know that Bavandis, along with other Tabari andDailami dynasties, recognised the overlordship ofAlavids such asAl-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 ofMardanshah , the father ofZiyar , to the daughter of one of the Bavandi kings. The prominence of the Bavandi kings apparently continued throughout the Seljuk andMongol 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 theJalaviyeh dynasty, themselves an off-shoot of the Bavandis, managed to killFakhroldoleh Hasan , the last of the mainline Bavandi kings.Divisions of the Bavandis
The Bavandi rule, which laster 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 theSamanids 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 theIsmailis 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 ofRoyaan (orAlamdeh )andKojur 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.ee also
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Sassanid Dynasty
*Vaziri Family 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 Dynasty [http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-56536/Bavand-dynasty]
*Iranolgie.com: Independent Kingdoms [http://www.iranologie.com/history/history7.html]
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