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House of Suren

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House of Suren
The standard of the Suren family
CountrySakastan
MembersSurena, Gregory the Illuminator, Chihor-Vishnasp, Mehr Narseh
Cadet branchesGondopharids[1]

House of Suren or Surenas[2][3] (Parthian: 𐭎𐭅𐭓𐭉𐭍 Surēn, Middle Persian: 𐭮𐭥𐭫𐭩𐭭) is one of two[c] Parthian noble families explicitly mentioned by name in sources dateable to the Arsacid period.[4]

History

The head of Suren family had the privilege to crown the first Parthian king in the 3rd century BC, which founded a tradition that was continued by his descendants.[5][4][a] Following the 3rd century AD defeat of the Arsacids and the subsequent rise of the Sassanids, the Surenas then switched sides and began to serve the Persians,[6][7] at whose court they were identified as one of the so-called "Parthian clans." The last attested scion of the family was a military commander active in northern China during the 9th century.[8]

It is probable[6] that the Surenas were landowners in Sakastan, that is, in the region between Arachosia and Drangiana in present-day southeast Iran and Southern Afghanistan. The Surenas appear to have governed Sistan (which derives its name from 'Sakastan' and was once a much larger region than the present day province) as their personal fiefdom.[6]

The Indo-Parthian Kingdom [9] was founded by the Gondopharid branch of the House of Suren.[1] Other notable members of the family include the 1st century BC cavalry commander Surena, Gregory the Illuminator,[10][11][12] and Chihor-Vishnasp, a 6th-century AD governor of Armenia who attempted to establish Zoroastrianism in that country.[13]

Mehr Narseh, the grand vizier of four Sasanian kings, was from the House of Suren.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Bivar 2003 cf. Bivar 1983, p. 51.
  2. ^ Bivar 1983, p. 41.
  3. ^ Herzfeld 1929, p. 70.
  4. ^ a b Lukonin 1983, p. 704.
  5. ^ Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart (2007). THE AGE OF THE PARTHIANS. I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84511-406-0.
  6. ^ a b c Lendering 2006.
  7. ^ Frye 1983, p. 130.
  8. ^ Perikanian 1983, p. 683.
  9. ^ Gazerani 2015, p. 26.
  10. ^ Terian, Patriotism And Piety In Armenian Christianity: The Early Panegyrics On Saint Gregory, p. 106
  11. ^ Lang, David Marshall (1980). Armenia, cradle of civilization. Allen & Unwin. p. 155. ISBN 9780049560093.
  12. ^ Russell, James R. (2004). Armenian and Iranian Studies. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. p. 358. ISBN 9780935411195.
  13. ^ Frye 1983, p. 159.
  14. ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 60

Bibliography

  • Bivar, A. D. H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 21–100
  • Bivar, A. D. H. (2003), "Gondophares", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 11, Costa Mesa: Mazda
  • Frye, R. N. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Sassanians", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 116–181
  • Herzfeld, Ernst Emil, ed. (1929), "Das Haus Sūrēn von Sakastan-->", Archæologische Mitteilungen aus Iran, vol. I, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, pp. 70–80
  • Justi, Ferdinand (1895), "Sūrēn", Iranisches Namenbuch, Leipzig/Marburg: Elwert, pp. 316–317.
  • Lang, David M. (1983), "Iran, Armenia and Georgia", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 505–537
  • Lendering, Jona (2006), Surena, Amsterdam: livius.org
  • Lukonin, V. G. (1983), "Political, Social and Administrative Institutions", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 681–747
  • Plutarch, "Marcus Crassus", in Langhorne, John; Langhorne, William, eds. (1934), Plutarch's Lives, London: J. Crissy
  • Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
  • Rawlinson, George (1901), The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, vol. 6, London: Dodd, Mead & Company
  • Perikanian, A. (1983), "Iranian Society and Law", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 627–681
  • Schippmann, K. (1987), "Arsacid ii: The Arsacid Dynasty", Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 525–536
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