BAVAND DYNASTY

also spelled Bavend (665-1349), Iranian dynasty that ruled Tabaristan in what is now northern Iran. The Bavands ruled, sometimes independently and at other times as vassals of various Islamic dynasties, over an area delimited by the Caspian Sea and the Elburz Mountains. The geographic isolation of Bavand territories permitted a degree of historical continuity. The origins and early years of the dynasty are clouded by myth and legend. The Bavands can be divided into three distinct lines: the Ka'usiyeh (665-c. 1006), the Espahbadiyeh (1074-1210), and the Kinkhvariyeh (c. 1238-1349). The first line, the Ka'usiyeh, ruled independently over their mountainous kingdom. In 854 they were converted to Islam. In the 10th century their power weakened; they maintained their position by various marriage alliances with the Zeyarid dynasty of northern Iran, but from 1006 they became vassals of that dynasty. The Espahbadiyeh line, centred at Sari, was originally a tributary of the Seljuq dynasty. Rostam I (reigned 1140-63) reasserted the independence of the Bavand dynasty, but soon afterward, with the assassination of Shams ol-Molk Rostam II (reigned 1206-10), the Espahbadiyeh line was vanquished by the Khwarezm-Shah dynasty. The third, or Kinkhvariyeh, line was founded by Hosam od-Dowleh (reigned 1238-49) and was centred at Amol. It was a vassal of the Il-Khanid rulers of Iran. This line was finally extinguished with the assassination of Fakr od-Dowleh (reigned 1334-49).