{{Short description|Marzban in Armenia from 465 to 482}} {{About|the Sasanian commander|the temple|Adur Gushnasp}} {{Use shortened footnotes|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Adhur Gushnasp | native_name = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | office = ''Marzban'' of Armenia | term_start = 465 | term_end = 482 | monarch = Peroz I | predecessor = Adhur-Hormizd | successor = Sahak II Bagratuni | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = 482 | death_place = Akori, Armenia | birth_name = }} '''Adhur Gushnasp''' (also spelled '''Arderveshnasp''') was the {{lang|pal|marzban}} ("margrave") of the Sasanian province of Armenia from 465 to 482.{{sfn|Basmadjian|1914|p=293}} He was killed during the Armenian rebellion of 482–484, and replaced by Sahak II Bagratuni.
==Biography== [[File:Map of Persian Armenia and its surroundings.svg|right|300px|thumb|Map of the Caucasus]] Adhur Gushnasp is first mentioned in 465, when he was appointed as the {{lang|pal|marzban}} ("margrave") of the province of Armenia by the King of Kings ({{lang|pal|shahanshah}}) Peroz I ({{reign|459|484}}), thus replacing its previous {{lang|pal|marzban}} Adhur-Hormizd.{{sfn|Grousset|1947|p=213}} The country was at the time dissatisfied with Zoroastrian Sasanian rule. The policies of the previous ''shahanshah'' Yazdegerd II ({{reign|438|457}}) of integrating the Christian nobility into the bureaucracy by forcing them to convert to Zoroastrianism had resulted in a large-scale rebellion in 451, led by the Armenian military leader Vardan Mamikonian. Although the Sasanians defeated the rebels at the Battle of Avarayr, the impact of the rebellion was still felt, and tensions continued to grow.{{sfn|Sauer|2017|p=192}}{{sfn|Avdoyan|2018}}{{sfn|Bonner|2020|p=133}} In 482, a secret meeting took place between a group of Christian Armenians, who prepared to rebel under the leadership of Vahan Mamikonian, a nephew of Vardan.{{sfn|Chaumont|1986|pp=418–438}}<ref name="GH66–67">Ghazar Parpetsi, [http://www.attalus.org/armenian/gp9.htm 66–67].</ref>
Varaz-Shapur Amatuni, who was present in the meeting, informed Adhur Gushnasp of the impending uprising, which made him abandon the Armenian capital of Dvin and leave for the fortress of Ani, where he briefly stayed for a day, and then fled to the city of Artaxata whilst being chased by the rebels.<ref name="GH66–67" /> They soon besieged the city, but Adhur Gushnasp managed to escape by night and reached the neighbouring province of Adurbadagan. At the same time, discord was occurring amongst the rebels, with a certain Varaz-Narseh, prince of Urts, pillaging the city of Brhnavezh.<ref name="GH67">Ghazar Parpetsi, [http://www.attalus.org/armenian/gp9.htm 67].</ref>{{efn|This is the only time in history that Varaz-Narseh and his House—The Princes of Urts—are mentioned.{{sfn|Toumanoff|1961|p=66}}}} The rebels installed the ''aspet'' Sahak II Bagratuni as the new {{lang|pal|marzban}} of Armenia.{{sfn|Grousset|1947|pp=216–217}} Raising a force of 7,000 troops from Adurbadagan and its surroundings, Adhur Gushnasp returned to Armenia. He soon clashed with a force of 400 men<ref name="GH67–69">Ghazar Parpetsi, [http://www.attalus.org/armenian/gp9.htm 67–69].</ref> led by Vasak Mamikonian and Babgen Siwni near Akori, but was defeated and killed.{{sfn|Grousset|1947|p=219}}<ref name="GH67–69"/>
== Notes == {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Sources== * {{ODLA|last1=Avdoyan|first1=Levon|title=Avarayr, Battle of (Awarayr)|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-569#}} * {{cite journal | first = Krikor Jacob| last = Basmadjian| title = Chronologie de l'histoire d'Arménie| journal = Revue de l'Orient chrétien| volume= IX| issue= XIX| year = 1914|pages=293–294 | language = fr}} * {{cite book | last = Bonner | first = Michael | title = The Last Empire of Iran | year = 2020 | publisher = Gorgias Press | location = New York | pages = 1–406 | isbn = 978-1463206161 }} * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Armenia and Iran ii. The pre-Islamic period| last = Chaumont | first = M. L. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-ii | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4 | pages = 418–438 | year = 1986 }} * {{cite book | first = René | last = Grousset | title = Histoire de l'Arménie des origines à 1071 | location = Paris | publisher= Payot | year= 1947 | language = fr}} * {{cite book|last=Sauer|first=Eberhard|title=Sasanian Persia: Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia|location=London and New York|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2017|isbn=9781474401029|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djRWDwAAQBAJ&q=false|pages=1–336}} * {{cite journal |last=Toumanoff |first=Cyril |author-link=Cyril Toumanoff |year=1961|title=Introduction to Christian Caucasian History: II: States and Dynasties of the Formative Period |journal=Traditio |publisher= Cambridge University Press |volume=17|pages=1–106 |doi= 10.1017/S0362152900008473|jstor=27830424|s2cid=151524770 }} {{Registration required}}
{{s-start}} {{s-bef | before=Adhur Hormizd}} {{s-ttl | title=Marzban of Sasanian Armenia | years=465–482}} {{s-aft | after=Sahak II Bagratuni}} {{s-end}}
{{Marzbans of Persian Armenia}}
Category:5th-century Iranian people Category:Sasanian governors of Armenia Category:Year of birth unknown Category:482 deaths Category:Generals of Peroz I Category:Iranian military personnel killed in action