House of Suren - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/House_of_Suren

House of Suren
House of Suren or Surenas[1][2] (Parthian: ����� Surēn,
House of Suren
Middle Persian: �����) is one of two[c] Parthian noble
families explicitly mentioned by name in sources dateable to Country Sakastan
the Arsacid period.[3] Current None, extinct
head
History Members Surena, Gregory the
Illuminator, Chihor-
The head of Suren family had the privilege to crown the first Vishnasp, Mehr Narseh
Parthian king in the 3rd century BC, which founded a tradition Estate(s) Sakastan
that was continued by his descendants.[4][3][a] Following the
3rd century AD defeat of the Arsacids and the subsequent rise Cadet Gondopharids
of the Sassanids, the Surenas then switched sides and began to branches
serve the Persians,[5][6] at whose court they were identified as
one of the so-called "Parthian clans." The last attested scion of the family was a military
commander active in northern China during the 9th century.[7]

It is probable[5] that the Surenas were landowners in Sakastan, that is, in the region between
Arachosia and Drangiana in present-day southeast Iran and Southern Afghanistan. The Surenas
appear to have governed Sistan (which derives its name from 'Sakastan' and was once a much
larger region than the present day province) as their personal fiefdom.[5]

"Ernst Herzfeld maintained that the dynasty of [the Indo-Parthian emperor] Gondophares
represented the House of Suren."[8] Other notable members of the family include the 1st century
BC cavalry commander Surena, Gregory the Illuminator,[9][10][11] and Chihor-Vishnasp, a 6th-
century AD governor of Armenia who attempted to establish Zoroastrianism in that country.[12]

Mehr Narseh, the minister of four Sasanian kings, was from the House of Suren.[13]

References
1. Bivar 1983, p. 41.
2. Herzfeld 1929, p. 70.
3. Lukonin 1983, p. 704.
4. Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, Sarah Stewart (2007). THE AGE OF THE PARTHIANS. I.B. Tauris &
Co Ltd. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-84511-406-0.
5. Lendering 2006.
6. Frye 1983, p. 130.
7. Perikanian 1983, p. 683.
8. Bivar 2003 cf. Bivar 1983, p. 51.

1 of 2 16-Jan-24, 22:05
House of Suren - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Suren

9. Terian, Patriotism And Piety In Armenian Christianity: The Early Panegyrics On Saint Gregory,
p. 106
10. Lang, David Marshall (1980). Armenia, cradle of civilization (https://books.google.com/books?id
=HG4MAQAAMAAJ&q=gregory+the+illuminator+house+of+suren). Allen & Unwin. p. 155.
ISBN 9780049560093.
11. Russell, James R. (2004). Armenian and Iranian Studies (https://books.google.com/books?id=y
W0bAQAAIAAJ&q=gregory+the+illuminator+house+of+suren). Department of Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University. p. 358. ISBN 9780935411195.
12. Frye 1983, p. 159.
13. Pourshariati 2008, p. 60

Bibliography
▪ Bivar, A. D. H. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Arsacids", in Yarshater, Ehsan
(ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 21–100
▪ Bivar, A. D. H. (2003), "Gondophares" (http://www.iranica.com/articles/v11f2/v11f2021.html),
Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 11, Costa Mesa: Mazda
▪ Frye, R. N. (1983), "The Political History of Iran under the Sassanians", in Yarshater, Ehsan
(ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 116–181
▪ Herzfeld, Ernst Emil, ed. (1929), "Das Haus Sūrēn von Sakastan-->", Archæologische
Mitteilungen aus Iran, vol. I, Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, pp. 70–80
▪ Justi, Ferdinand (1895), "Sūrēn", Iranisches Namenbuch (http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bv
b:12-bsb00005484-3), Leipzig/Marburg: Elwert, pp. 316–317.
▪ Lang, David M. (1983), "Iran, Armenia and Georgia", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge
History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 505–537
▪ Lendering, Jona (2006), Surena (https://www.livius.org/su-sz/surena/surena.html), Amsterdam:
livius.org
▪ Lukonin, V. G. (1983), "Political, Social and Administrative Institutions", in Yarshater, Ehsan
(ed.), Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 681–747
▪ Plutarch, "Marcus Crassus", in Langhorne, John; Langhorne, William, eds. (1934), Plutarch's
Lives, London: J. Crissy
▪ Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-
Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran (https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtA
AAAMAAJ). London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
▪ Rawlinson, George (1901), The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World (http
s://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16166), vol. 6, London: Dodd, Mead & Company
▪ Perikanian, A. (1983), "Iranian Society and Law", in Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.), Cambridge History
of Iran, vol. 3, London: Cambridge UP, pp. 627–681
▪ Schippmann, K. (1987), "Arsacid ii: The Arsacid Dynasty" (http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articl
es/v2f5/v2f5a012.html), Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul,
pp. 525–536

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=House_of_Suren&oldid=1193969541"

2 of 2 16-Jan-24, 22:05