The Bavand dynasty (Persian: باوندیان) (also spelled Bavend), or simply the Bavandids, was an Iranian dynasty that ruled in parts of Tabaristan (present-day Mazandaran province) in what is now northern Iran from 651 until 1349, alternating between outright independence and submission as vassals to more powerful regional rulers. They ruled for 698 years, which is the second longest dynasty of Iran after the Baduspanids.
Origins
The dynasty itself traced its descent back to Bav, who was alleged to be a grandson of the
It is at the time after the Abbasid conquest that the Bavandids enter documented history, with
Muhammad II took over direct control of the region.[4] The third line or Kinakhwariyya was established in 1237 following the Mongol invasions and the widespread chaos that prevailed, and lasted, as a vassal of the Mongols, until the final end of the dynasty in 1349.[4]
Kayusiyya line
Following the demise of the Dabuyids, two major local dynasties were left in Tabaristan: the Bavandids in the eastern mountains and the Karenids, who also appropriated the heritage of the Dabuyid rulers, in the central and western mountain ranges. Both claimed Sasanian origin and titulature, with the Bavandids styling themselves as "kings of
Vandad Hormozd, led the native resistance to Muslim rule and the efforts at Islamization and settlement begun by the Abbasid governor, Khalid ibn Barmak (768–772). Following his departure, the native princes destroyed the towns he had built in the highlands, and although in 781 they affirmed loyalty to the Caliphate, in 782 they launched a general anti-Muslim revolt that was not suppressed until 785, when Sa'id al-Harashi led 40,000 troops into the region.[8] Relations with the caliphal governors in the lowlands improved thereafter, but the Bavandid and Karenid princes remained united in their opposition to Muslim penetration of the highlands, to the extent that they prohibited even the burial of Muslims there. Isolated acts of defiance like the murder of a tax collector occurred, but when the two princes were summoned before Harun al-Rashid in 805 they promised loyalty and the payment of a tax, and were forced to leave their sons behind as hostages for four years.[9]
After his death in 817, Sharvin was succeeded by his grandson,
Tahirids, who now took over control of Tabaristan.[10] The Bavandids exploited the opportunity to regain their ancestral lands: Shapur's brother, Qarin I, assisted the Tahirids against Mazyar, and was rewarded with his brother's lands and royal title. In 842, he converted to Islam.[2][11]
This period saw the rapid Islamization of the native population of Tabaristan. Although the majority accepted
Samanids drove out the Alids in 900, but in 914 a relative of Hasan ibn Zayd, Hasan al-Utrush, managed to drive out the Samanids, restore Alid control over the province, and force even the Bavandids and Karinids to accept his rule.[14]
The history of the Bavandis is detailed in the works of Ibn Isfandiar and Mar'ashi which belong to the genre of local histories that gained popularity in Iran after 1000 AD. We know that they were related to the
Mongol period. One of their greatest kings, Shah Ghazi Rustam, is reported to have seriously defeated the Ismailis
who were gaining prominence in Tabaristan and to have made significant progress in consolidating power in the Caspian provinces.
After the Mongol conquest, the Bavandis continued to rule as local strongmen of Tabaristan and sometimes Dailam. Their power was finally brought down around 1350 when
Hasan II of Tabaristan
, the last of the mainline Bavandi kings.
Culture
The Bavandids stressed their lineage with the Sasanian Empire. As late as the early 13th-century, their coronation customs were assumed to go back to the remote past, as depicted thorough by the 13th-century Iranian historian Ibn Isfandiyar;[15]
The coronation festivities lasted seven days, according to the old Iranian fashion, and included the usual feastings, rejoicings, giving of presents, while the notables and
ispahbads
and Bavandids assembled from all the countryside. When these congratulations were finished, on the eight day the ispahad ascended the throne, girded on the royal girdle, and confirmed the governors in their appointments, and caused the ispahbads and amirs to cast aside their mourning, and clad them in robes of honour.
Ibn Isfandiar, Mohammad b. Hasan. Tarikh-e Tabaristan, ed. M. Mehrabadi, Tehran: Ahl-e Qalam, 1381 [2002].
Kasravi, Ahmad. Shahriaran-e Gomnam, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1957.
Mar'ashi, Sayyed Zahiruddin. Tarikh-e Tabaristan o Royan of Mazandaran, ed. by Bernhard Darn, St. Petersburg, 1850 (Tehran Edition: Gostareh, 1363 [1984]).
