by Mahir Khalifa-zadeh
The bust of Arrānshāh Javanshir, Great Pahlav House of Mehrān, Sculptor: Fuad Abdurahmanov, National Museum of History, Baku, Azerbaijan
Prince and General (Pahlavi: spāhbed) Javanshir (Juanšer) was a member of the Great Pahlav House of Mehrān and son of Arrānšâh Varaz-Grigor (r. 628 – 637 CE), which had a Zoroastrian name Gadvsnasp before his second baptizing into Dyophysite Orthodox Christianity.
The Mehrān House was one of the Seven Great (wuzurgān) Pahlav (Parthian) Houses of the Sasanian Empire claiming its descent to the Arsacids of Parthia. The powerful Pahlav House of Mehrān held high-ranking positions in the Sasanian hierarchy. The members of Mehrān occupied high command positions in the Sasanian Imperial Army and led negotiations with the Khaqan of Turks.
In 16-19 November 636, in the famous Battle of al-Qādisiyyah between the Sasanians and Muslim Arabs, Prince Javanshir was the commander of Arrān's (Albania's) troops, which were part of the Sasanian Imperial Army under the command of the famous Iranian hero and general (spāhbed) Rostam Farrokhzād, prince of Ādurbādagān [Azerbaijan].
In 637, Javanshir with 3000-4000 troops, helped arrange šāhānšāh Yazdegerd III’s evacuation from the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon (Arabic: المدائن, al-Madāʾen) sieged by Muslim Arabs.
Sasanian King Yazdegerd III (r. 632-651) awarded Javanshir two golden spears and shields and acknowledged his bravery, awarding a flag – Standard of Jamshid (Pahlavi: Derafš-e Kāvīān / King's flag) which was the highest honor for loyalty and courage.
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Derafš-e Kāvīān - King's Flag, sometimes called the
Standard of Jamshid |
Before the final defeat of the Sasanian army in the Battle of Nahāvand in 642, Javanshir arrived in Ādurbādagān [Azerbaijan]. One may assume that he planned to resume command of the Sasanian Ādurbādagān military in the wake of Rostam’s death and because of Yazdegerd’s strong will to collect a new army in Media to fight the Arabs. However, Rostam’s brother (possibly) Farrukhzad was assigned Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed and Javanshir fled back to Arrān's capital of Partaw (now Barda, present-day Azerbaijan).
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| Arrānšāh Javanshir fights Muslim Arabs alongside with the Sasanian troops, painting (1956), National Museum of History, Baku, Azerbaijan |
After the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, Muslim Arabs offered Arrānšāh Javanshir to become a ruler of the entire Ādurbādagān [Azerbaijan] šahr, but he refused for obscure reasons. Soon after, in 669, Javanshir was killed during Christian service at Partaw’s Arrānian (Latin: Albanian) Dyophysite Orthodox church (Church of Arrān). Javanshir was married to a Turkish Princess.
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| Javanshir fortress, reconstruction, Ismayili region, Republic of Azerbaijan |
Source:
Khalifa-zadeh, Mahir, "Adurbadagan and Arran (Caucasian Albania) in the Late Sasanian Period", International Journal of History, 2023, Vol 5, Issue 2, pp 15-18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/27069109.2023.v5.i2a.220
Church of Arran, https://orthodoxwiki.org/Church_of_Arran
