Seven Great Houses of Iran
Appearance
The Seven Parthian clans, also known as the Seven Great Houses of Iran,[1] or Seven (Great) Houses, were seven feudal aristocracies of Parthian origin, who were allied with the Sasanian court.
History
Only two of the seven - the House of Suren and the House of Karen - are actually attested in sources date-able to the Parthian period.
During Sasanian times, the seven feudal houses played a significant role at the Sasanian court. Bahram Chobin, a famed military commander of Hormizd IV (r. 579–590), was from the House of Mihran.
The clans
The seven houses with their respective main fiefs and ruling-family seats were:
- the House of Ispahbudhan, of Gurgan[2]
- the House of Varaz, of Eastern Khorasan
- the House of Karen, of Nahavand[2]
- the House of Mihran, of Semnan, Iran
- the House of Spandiyadh, of Ray
- the House of Zik, of Adurbadagan
- the House of Suren, of Sakastan[2]
See also
References
- Citations
- ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 44.
- ^ a b c Pourshariati 2008, p. 49.
- Works cited
- Lukonin, V. G. (1983), "Political, Social and Administrative Institutions", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3.2, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 681–747
- Yarshater, Ehsan (1997), "Esfandīār (2)", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 8, Costa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 592–593.
- Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008), Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, London: I.B. Tauris.