Dabuyid dynasty

The Dabuyid or Gaubarid Dynasty was a Zoroastrian Iranian dynasty that started in the early seventh century as an independent group of rulers, reigning over Tabaristan and parts of western Khorasan. Dabuyid rule over Tabaristan and Khorasan lasted from ca. AD 642 to the Abbasid conquest in 760.

History

The family's early history is semi-mythical, and recorded by the later historian Ibn Isfandiyar. According to this story, the Dabuyids were descended from a brother of the Sassanid shah Kavadh I. His grandson Firuz conquered Gilan, and Firuz's grandson Gil, surnamed Gavbara, then extended the family's rule over Tabaristan as well. This led to the formal conferment of the titles of Gil-Gilan ("ruler of Gilan") and Padashwargarshah ("Shah of Patashwargar", the old name of Tabaristan's mountains), to Gil's son Dabuya or Daboe, by the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III. Following the Muslim conquest of Persia the Dabuyids established their domain as a quasi-independent principality, owing only nominal allegiance to the Arab Caliphate. In addition to the titles granted by Yazdegerd, the Dabuyid rulers also bore the old Iranian military rank of ispahbadh as their regnal title.