Padishkhwargar | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 224a – 520 520b – 651 | |||||||||||||||
 Map of northern Iran under theSasanians | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Amol Chalus | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||
| Religion | Zoroastrianism Iranian paganism Christianity | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 224 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 651 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Padishkhwārgar was aSasanian province inLate Antiquity, which almost corresponded to the present-day provinces ofMazandaran andGilan. The province borderedAdurbadagan andBalasagan in the west,Gurgan in the east, andSpahan in south. The main cities of the province wereAmol andChalus.
The province functioned as some kind of vassal kingdom, being mostly ruled by princes from different royal families, who bore the title of Padashwargarshah ("Shah of Padishkhwargar").
The name "Padishkhwargar" is theBundahishn variation of its name. OnShapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht the province is called Parishwar, whilst Islamic sources refer the region asTabaristan,[1] which derives fromMiddle PersianTapurstān (
).
During the rise of the Sasanian dynasty, Padishkhwargar was ruled by a certain Gushnasp, who aided his suzerain the Parthian rulerArtabanus V (r. 213–224) in his struggle with the first Sasanian king (shah)Ardashir I (r. 224–242) over the control of Iran. Artabanus V was eventually defeated and killed, and Gushnasp was made a Sasanian vassal.[2] Gilan, which was never fully incorporated into the Sasanian Empire, still posed a problem for the Sasanians, as Ardashir's son and successorShapur I (r. 240–270) had to make an expedition into the region in 242/3.[3] The dynasty of Gushnasp continued to rule Padishkhwargar until c. 520, when the Sasanian princeKawus was made the new ruler of the province. After returning from an expedition inZabulistan, Kawus rebelled in c. 532 against his recently crowned brotherKhosrow I (r. 531–579), claiming himself as the rightful ruler of the empire due to being the elder brother.[4] He was defeated and executed the following year. In the 550s, Karin, a member of theHouse of Karen, received land to the south ofAmol by Khosrow I, thus starting theQarinvand dynasty.
The western portion of Padishkhwargar includedGilan andDaylam, which was populated by theGilaks andDaylamites, who were most likely adherents of some form ofIranian paganism, while a minority of them wereZoroastrian andChristian. According toal-Biruni, they "lived by the rule laid down by the mythicalAfridun."[2] They were often associated with each other, and regularly served theSasanian military as mercenaries, but never fully came under their suzerainty.[5][6] They both spoke anorthern Iranian dialect that was mostly unintelligible withPersian.[6] TheCadusii, who had mixed with Gilaks, lived from theCaspian coast into the mountains. Mazandaran was populated by theAmardi andTapur tribe, who had intermingled. The non-Iranian tribes of Amariacae and Dribices that lived from the range of Amol toGurgan, had most likely been assimilated by the Iranians into a prevalentMazandarani population.[7]
