Gond-i Shahanshah

Military of the Sasanian Empire
Armed forces and units
Cataphract Clibanarii Aswaran Grivpanvar War elephants Paygan Zhayedan Pushtigban Sarmatians Daylamites Sogdian warriors Gond-i Shahanshah Darigan Stor Bezashk Navy
Ranks
Spahbed Aspbed Paygosban Marzban, Kanarang Masmughan Pushtigban Salar Eran anbaraghbad Argbed Hazarbed Paygan-salar Savaran Sardar Gond Salar Darigbed Navbed
Defense lines
Wall of the Arabs Great Wall of Gorgan Wall of Tammisha Derbent Wall Darial
Conflicts
Romans Arabian tribes Hephthalites Turks Ethiopians Muslim Arabs Revolts and civil wars

Gond-i Shahanshah ("the army of the Shahanshah"), also known by its Arabicized form of Jund-i Shahanshah, was the name of the 4,000 Daylamite elite unit of the Sasanian king. They originally lived in Daylam, but were resettled in Ctesiphon by Khosrow II (r. 590-628), probably some time after 600. After the Sasanian Empire suffered a major defeat in 636 to the Arabs at the battle of al-Qadisiyyah, the Gond-i Shahanshah defected to the Arabs, converted to Islam, and settled in Kufa, where they had their own quarter.

Sources

• Kennedy, Hugh N. (2007). The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81740-3.
• Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 1–391. ISBN 3447036524.