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Arran Shah Javanshir (Juansher, Caucasian Albanian King) 628–637 CE

The bust of Arrān shāh 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 Arrān šâh 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-Qadisiyyah between the Sasanians and Muslim Arabs, Prince Javanshir was the commander (spāhbed) of Arrān's (Albania's) troops, which were the part of Sasanian Imperial Army under the command of the famous Iranian hero and general (spāhbed) Rostam Farrokhzād of Ādurbādagān [Azerbaijan].

In 637, Javanshir with 3000-4000 troops, helped arrange šāhān šāh Yazdgerd III’s evacuation from the Sasanian capital Ctesiphon (Madāʾensieged by Muslim Arabs.

Sasanian King Yazdgerd III awarded Javanshir two golden spears and shields and acknowledged his bravery, awarding a flag – the Standard of Jamshid (Derafš-e Kāvīān - King's flag) which was the highest honor for loyalty and courage.


Derafš-e Kāvīān - King's Flag, sometimes called the Standard of Jamshid

Before the final defeat of the Sasanian army in the Battle of Nahavand in 642, Javanshir arrived in Ādurbādagān [Azerbaijan]. One can assume that he planned to resume command of the Sasanian Ādurbādagān military in the wake of Rostam’s death and because of Yazdgerd’s strong will to collect a new army in Media to fight the Arabs. However, Rostam’s brother Farrukhzad was assigned Ādurbādagān’s spāhbed and Javanshir fled back to Arran's capital of Partaw (now Barda, present-day Azerbaijan).

Arran Shah Javanshir fights Muslim Arabs alongside with the Sasanian troops, painting,
National Museum of History, Baku, Azerbaijan

After the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, Muslim Arabs offered Arrān šhāh 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. Javanshir was married to a Turkish Princess.

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


Adurbadagan, Arran and Armin in the Late Sasanian period (map)




The Sasanian empire in late Antiquity, 620 CE. 

Ādurbādagān (Parthian/Arsacid Pahlavi: Āturpātakān), and Arrān (Patrhian: Ardan; Latin: Albania) and Armin (Parthian: Armin, Greek: Arminyaya/ Armenia).


Arran Shah Urnayr (King of Caucasian Albania) and Sasanian Shahan Shah Shapur II in the Battle of Bagavan 371 CE

Ārrān šāh Urnayr (Parthian: Ārdān, Latin: Albania, present-day Azerbaijan) and Sasanian šāhān šāh Šābuhr II in the Battle of Dzirav or Bagavan in 371 CE (Ms Berlin SBB, Or. quart. 805, fol 212r). Ārrān šāh Urnayr (r. 350- 375 CE) married the daughter of Sasanian šāhān šāh Shapur II (r. 309-379 CE).  

Sources

- 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: 
  • 10.22271/27069109.2023.v5.i2a.220.

  • - Khalifa-zadeh Mahir and Maksymiuk Katarzyna, "Reforms of Sasanian king Khusro I and the northern bank of the Araxes – Arrān (Caucasus Albania)", 2023, Historia i Swiat, Vol. 12, pp 167-172.  DOI10.34739/his.2023.12.10