Jamasp (also spelled Zamasp or Djamasp; Middle Persian: ๐ญฉ๐ญ ๐ญฌ๐ญ ๐ญฎ๐ญฏ; Persian: ุฌุงู ุงุณูพ Jฤmฤsp) was Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 496 to 498/9. He was a son of Peroz I and younger brother of Kavad I. Jamasp was installed on the Sasanian throne upon the deposition of the latter by the nobility and clergy.
| Jamasp | |
|---|---|
| King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran | |
 | |
| Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire | |
| Reign | 496โ498/9 |
| Predecessor | Kavad I |
| Successor | Kavad I (restored) |
| Died | 530/540 |
| Issue | Narsi |
| House | House of Sasan |
| Father | Peroz I |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Name
Due to increased Sasanian interest in Kayanian history, Jamasp was named after Jamasp, the mythological minister of the Kayanian monarch Vishtaspa.[1][2] The name is transliterated in Greek as Zamรกsphฤs; Arabic Jฤmฤsb, Zฤmฤsb, and Zฤmฤsf; New Persian Jฤmฤsp and Zฤmฤsp.[2]
Background
In 484, Peroz I (r.โ459โ484) was defeated and killed by a Hephthalite[lower-alpha 1] army near Balkh.[5][6] His army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found.[7] Four of his sons and brothers had also died.[8] The main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of KhorasanโNishapur, Herat and Marw were now under Hephthalite rule.[6] Sukhra, a member of the Parthian House of Karen, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran, quickly raised a new force and stopped the Hephthalites from achieving further success.[9] Peroz' brother, Balash, was elected as shah by the Iranian magnates, most notably Sukhra and the Mihranid general Shapur Mihran.[10] However, Balash proved unpopular among the nobility and clergy who had him deposed after just four years in 488.[11] Sukhra, who had played a key role in Balash's deposition,[11] appointed Kavad I as the new shah of Iran.[12]
Reign
In 496, due to the socioeconomic and religious changes implemented by Kavad I, the nobility and Zoroastrian clergy had him deposed.[2] They installed his more impressionable brother Jamasp on the throne.[13][14] One of the other reasons behind Kavad's deposal was his execution of Sukhra.[6] Meanwhile, chaos was occurring in the country, notably in Mesopotamia.[14] A council soon took place among the nobility to discuss what to do with Kavad. Gushnaspdad, a member of a prominent family of landowners (the Kanarangiyan) proposed that Kavad be executed. His suggestion was overruled, however, and Kavad was imprisoned instead in the Prison of Oblivion in Khuzestan.[15][13] However, Kavad managed to escape and flee to the domains of the Hephthalites.[6]
In 498 (or 499), Kavad returned to Iran with a Hephthalite army.[16][6] When he crossed the domains of the Kanarangiyan family in Khorasan, he was met by Adergoudounbades, a member of the family, who agreed to help him.[15] Another noble who supported Kavad was Zarmihr Karen, a son of Sukhra.[6] Jamasp and the nobility and clergy did not resist as they wanted to prevent another civil war.[17] They came to an agreement with Kavad that he would be shah again with the understanding that he would not hurt Jamasp or the elite.[17] Jamasp was spared, albeit probably blinded, while Gushnaspdad and other nobles who had plotted against Kavad were executed.[6] Kavad's reclamation of his throne displays the troubled circumstances of the empire, where in a time of anarchy a small force was able to overwhelm the nobility-clergy alliance.[13]
Jamasp then went to Armenia, where he defeated the Khazars, conquered some of their territory, and married a woman from Armenia, who bore him a son named Narsi.[18]
Descendants
After Jamasp's death in 530/540, his son Narsi, who had a son named Piruz, expanded the domains of his family, which included Gilan.[19] He then married one of the princesses of Gilan, who bore him a son Gilanshah.[20] The latter had a son named Gil Gavbara, who later started the Dabuyid dynasty, and had two sons named Dabuya and Paduspan.[21] His son Dabuya succeeded him as ispahbadh of the Dabuyid dynasty, while his other son, Paduspan, founded the Paduspanid dynasty.
Notes
- The Hephthalites were a tribal group that was most prominent of the "Iranian Huns".[3] In the second half of the 5th-century, they controlled Tukharistan and also seemingly chunks of southern Transoxiana.[4]
References
Sources
Further reading
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