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BZRANG

the family name of a dynasty of petty rulers in Frs overthrown during the rise of the Sasanians.

BZRANG, the family name of a dynasty of petty rulers in Frs from whom Ssn, theeponymous ancestor of the Sasanians, took a wife called Rmbehet, according to abar (I, p. 814). At that time, he continues, the king of E a r was a man of the Bzrangs (Bzranj) called Jzehr (or Jozehr; Pers. Gehr). abar further says that Gehr, who lived in the town of Bay in Frs had a eunuch Tr whom he made argbed(q.v.), the chief official, of Drbgerdand later, at the request of Ppak, the son of the latter, Ardar, was sent to Tr to be educatedand then Ardar succeeded Tr in his office. After a number of local conquests Ardar wrote tohis father to revolt against Gehr, which Ppak did, killing Gehr and taking his throne (ibid.,pp. 815-16). This is the last we hear of Gehr or the Bzrang family. Other notices of Bzrangin later Arabic or Persian sources are all taken from abar. No coins with either the name Gehr or Bzrang have been found and no additional information about this dynasty is found inother sources. Wikanders suggestion that Bzrang is a title rather than a name, with anetymology meaning holding a mace, or possessing miraculous power, is unproven. Otheroccurrences of the word Bzrang refer to a geographical district in the mountainous BoirA mad area where the rn and kn rivers have their origin (E a r, pp. 112, 119, 136; Ebn awqal, pp. 275, 288, tr. Kramers, pp. 271, 282; Moqaddas, p. 448). This district may be the one in the Pahlavi textXusraw ud rdag(par. 58) from which excellent wine or must comes(wzrangk). Today, in the Behbahn district of the province of zestn, the villages upper Bzrang and lower Bzrang exist. According to Bahr (p. 135 n. 2) in popular folktales of Iran

the word bzrangmeans wild person. Whether there is any connection between the place nameand other occurrences of the word is uncertain.

Bibliography : Given in the text. See also M.-T. Bahr, Sabkens I, 2nd ed., Tehran, 1337./1958, p. 137 n. 2. A. Christensen, Iran Sass., p. 86. Ebn Bal , pp. 144, 152. H. Gaube, Die sdpersische Provinz Arran/Kh-Glyeh von der arabischen Eroberung bis zur

Safawidenzeit, Vienna, 1973, pp. 49-50. Mostawf, Nozhat al-qolb, pp. 128, 225. Nldeke,Geschichte der Perser, p. 4 n. 1. S. Wikander, Der arische Mnnerbund, Lund, 1938, pp. 105-06.

(Richard N. Frye)

Originally Published: December 15, 1989

Last Updated: December 15, 198