The Northern kʻustak administrative units of the Sasanian Iran in 6th century CE

Abstract

In the 6th century CE, the Sasanian empire was divided into four administrative units already during the second reign of Kavad I, however, it was during the time of Khosrov Anushirvan that these regions were transformed into the military-administrative units – kʻustaks, where the administrative power belonged to the padgospan and the military to the spahbed. The northern kʻustak or kʻust-i-Kapkoh was included the marzpanates: Armenia (divided into the three military-administrative units – Tanutirakan gund, Vaspurakan gund, Syunikʻ), Georgia, Albania and the šahrs: Adharbādhakān, Gīlān, Dlmunkʻ, Zanjān, Ghazvīn, Ṭabaristān and Ray. This paper reviews the administrative of the northern kʻustak based on the Classical Armenian, Arabic and Persian primary sources.