Jamasp

Jamasp
"King of kings of Iran and Aniran"
Coin of Jamasp.
Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire
Reign	496–498
Predecessor	Kavadh
Successor	Kavadh I (restored)
Born	Unknown
Died	530/540
House	House of Sasan
Father	Peroz I
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Jamasp (also transcribed as Zamasp or Djamasp; Persian: جاماسپ‎ Jāmāsp) was a Sasanian king who ruled from 496 to 498. He was the younger brother of king Kavadh I and was installed on the Sasanian throne upon the deposition of the latter by members of the nobility.

Biography

Not much is known about Jamasp himself, and his name occurs only in conjunction with his short interregnum. Byzantine accounts of the episode (Joshua the Stylite and Procopius) mention that Kavadh was deposed because of his determination to spread a new "religion" that preached redistribution of property. Following Kavadh's deposition and subsequent imprisonment, Jamasp was elected to succeed his brother.

Later Islamic sources such as Tabari and Dinawari inform us that Jamasp was a good and kind king who reduced taxes in order to relieve the peasants and the poor. He was also a proper adherent of the Mazdean religion (Zoroastrianism), diversions from which had cost Kavadh his throne and freedom.

The sources also tell us that upon the return of Kavadh at the head of a large army given to him by the Hephthalite king, Jamasp loyally stepped down from his position and restored the throne to his brother. Jamasp then went to Persian Armenia, where he defeated the Khazars, conquered some of their territory, and married a woman from Armenia, who bore him a son named Narsi.^[1]

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.^[2] He then married one of the princesses of Gilan, who bore him a son named Gil Gavbara, who later started the Dabuyid dynasty,^[3] and had two sons named Dabuya and Paduspan. His son Dabuya succeeded him as ispahbadh of the Dabuyid dynasty, while his other son, Paduspan, founded the Paduspanid dynasty.

References

Sources

• Wigram, W. A. (2004). An introduction to the history of the Assyrian Church, or, The Church of the Sassanid Persian Empire, 100–640 A.D. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1-59333-103-7.
• 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.
• Shapur Shahbazi, A. (2005). "SASANIAN DYNASTY". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 30 March 2014.