ĀʾĪN GOŠASP (var. Aḏīn Gošnasp, Aḏīn Jošnas), general of Hormazd IV (A.D. 579-590), sent by him to campaign against the rebellious general Bahrām Čūbīn. Unsuccessful, he was murdered in Hamadān (Ṭabarī, II, p. 995; Yaʿqūbī, Taʾrīḵ, Naǰaf, 1358/1939, I, p. 136; Šāh-nāma [Moscow] VIII, pp. 394, 428). He was probably a native of Ḵūzestān (Masʿūdī, Morūǰ [ed. Pellat] I, p. 313; Gardīzī [ed. Ḥabībī), p. 34, though in both cases the spelling of his name is corrupt). According to some sources Āʾīn Gošasp was the dabīr “scribe” (Šāh-nāma VIII, p. 394) or vizier of Hormazd (Dīnavarī, p. 85; Baḷʿamī, Tārīḵ, p. 1079; the name is recorded as Yazdān Gošnas in these two sources), who accused Bahrām of not having dispatched to the king all the booty he gained in the war with the Turks. Contrary to Ṭabarī, Yaʿqūbī, and Ferdowsī, some sources (Dīnavarī, p. 86; Baḷʿamī, p. 1081; Ṯaʿālebī, Ḡorar, p. 659) regard him as a peace mediator sent by the king to Bahrām. Others attribute the function of neither general nor peace mediator to him, but consider him only as a courtier or vizier who conspired against Bahrām in the matter of the booty (Masʿūdī, I, p. 313; Gardīzī, p. 34). As to the titles minister or scribe and the function of a peace mediator, there was probably a confusion in some sources between Āʾīn Gošasp (note the variants above) and Yazd Gošnasp, who was vizier of Ḵosrow I and later was put to death by Hormazd (Justi, Namenbuch, p. 149).
Bibliography: Given in the text.
(A. Tafażżolī)
Originally Published: December 15, 1984
Last Updated: December 15, 1984
This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc, 7, p. 692
A. Tafażżolī, “ĀĪN GOŠASP,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/7, p. 692; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ain-gosasp-var (accessed on 28 March 2014).
