principality · Mesopotamia and Iran

Paduspanid dynasty

665 CE – 1598 CE (approx.) · capital Nur

A dynasty of mountain princes in Ruyan and Rustamdar that lasted over nine centuries, from the fall of the Sasanians to the reign of Shah Abbas.

Origins

According to Ibn Isfandiyar, Paduspan, a son of Gil Gavbara and brother of Dabuya, founder of the Dabuyid dynasty, received the mountain region of Ruyan in western Tabaristan around 665. His descendants ruled this upland between Gilan and Amol as hereditary ostandars.

Rule and society

The Paduspanids survived by submitting in turn to the Abbasid Caliphate, the Alavid dynasty, the Buyids, the Seljuk Empire, the Ilkhanate and the Timurid Empire, while keeping local power in fortresses such as Nur and Kojur. They converted from Zoroastrianism to Islam and later to Shia Islam. In 1453 the dynasty split into two branches, at Nur and at Kojur, which often quarrelled. The region's economy rested on forests, rice and livestock.

Decline and legacy

Shah Abbas I of the Safavid Empire annexed Mazandaran and its principalities in the 1590s, deposing the last Paduspanid rulers by 1598 and ending their rule.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Paduspanid dynasty. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paduspanid-dynasty
MLA
“Paduspanid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paduspanid-dynasty. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Paduspanid dynasty.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paduspanid-dynasty.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Paduspanid dynasty’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/paduspanid-dynasty (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻