Eranian regions and cities were ruled by powerful Parthian houses, during the Arsacid, as also during the Partho-Sasanian confederation in which they exerted great power of the stately affairs.
A Narrative by Varan
During the reign of the Arsacids and far beyond, until the era of the Islamization of Iran, the so-called Parthian houses ruled over predominantly Parthian, but also non-Parthian territories. They exercised great power and constituted a large part of the population as noble families, tribal families and the like. The Parthian families in the Arsacid period were the following:
Surān (Suren) – Main region: Sakastān
Mihrān – Ray-Arsākiā
Kāren (Kirān, Kārān, Qārān, Qirān, Qārin, Qāren) – Nahāvand-Pahla
Warāz- Arsākiā
Ispāhbudān (Isfahbād) – Vergānā-Xorāsān
Spandiyādh (Esfandiyār) – Ray-Arsākiā
Zik – Adurpādagān.
In the later period, after the decline of the Arsacids, another Parthian house appears in the course of the history of the Partho-Sasanian confederacy, namely the Kanārangiyān in the Kušte Xorāsān.
Fig. 1: Parthian Houses during the Sasano-Parthian Confederacy. Illustration based on “Die 7 parthischen Häuser und ihre Gebiete in der sasano-parthischen Konföderation”, in Parthavname (2022), Varan Pardi.
