Seven Parthian clans

The Seven Parthian clans or Seven 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. The placement of the remaining five in Parthian times is "in all probability not in accordance with reality." "It may be that [...] members of them made up their own genealogies in order to emphasize the antiquity of their families."[1]

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:

See also

References

Citations
Works cited
  • Lukonin, V. G. (1983), "Political, Social and Administrative Institutions", in Yarshater, Ehsan, Cambridge History of Iran, 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 .


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