{ "id": "ep0gs02x65", "slug": "jamasp", "title": "Jamasp", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian", "label": "Sasanian period (224 to 651)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian", "label": "Sasanian period (224 to 651)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Jamasp (جاماسپ) was a Sasanian king of kings who ruled the Persian Empire from 496 to 498 or 499, between the two reigns of his brother Kawad I.", "snippet": "Jamasp (جاماسپ) was a Sasanian king of kings who ruled the Persian Empire from 496 to 498 or 499, between the two reigns of his brother Kawad I.", "node": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "markdown": "# Jamasp\n\n**Jamasp** (جاماسپ; also spelled Zamasb or Zamasp) was king of kings (shahanshah) of the [Sasanian Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/sasanian-empire), ruling from 496 to late 498 or early 499, between the two reigns of his brother Kawad I.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) He was placed on the throne by the feudal nobles and magi after they deposed and imprisoned Kawad.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [3](https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216980629-0131)\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Reign | 496 (or early 497) to late 498 or early 499[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) |\n| Dynasty | Sasanian[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) |\n| Predecessor | Kawad I (first reign), deposed and imprisoned by the aristocracy[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) |\n| Successor | Kawad I (second reign)[2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) |\n| Wars | None recorded; he declined to confront Kawad in battle[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) |\n| Coinage | His reign standardized regnal year notation on coin reverses[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) |\n| Fate after deposition | Disputed: pardoned, blinded, or executed, depending on the source[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [4](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/jamasp/) |\n\n## Accession\n\nJamasp took the throne in 496, or possibly early 497, when his brother Kawad I was deposed.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/) The Byzantine historian Agathias (ca. 536–582) recorded that Jamasp was selected for the throne because of his calm and fair disposition.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1)\n\nHis rule was effectively a compromise settlement: the magnates and priests installed a pliant member of the royal family to secure their privileges and reverse policies they found dangerous, and his accession demonstrated that they could depose an active monarch.[4](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/jamasp/)\n\n## Reign\n\nNo campaigns are recorded for Jamasp's reign; when Kawad escaped captivity in [Khuzestan](https://www.edgepedia.org/khuzestan), fled east, and returned to fight for the throne, Jamasp chose not to confront him in battle.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) In domestic affairs, coins struck in his name indicate the normal functioning of the imperial mints across the realm, and his reign marked the standardization of regnal year notation on the reverses of Sasanian coinage; no gold coinage or denars are attributable to the brief reign.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1)\n\n## Political influence\n\nAccording to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Jamasp's reign left its clearest mark on the coinage, where the standardized regnal year notation introduced under him became the norm on Sasanian reverses.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) His case instead became an illustration of the fragile position of kings who lacked the support of either the court or a loyal military following.[4](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/jamasp/)\n\n## End of the reign\n\nKawad returned to Iran, and rule of the country was relinquished back to him in late 498 or early 499.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [2](https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/)\n\nAgathias recorded that Jamasp chose to abdicate rather than confront his brother, and was pardoned to a life of obscurity.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) Elias of Nisibis (d. ca. 1049), by contrast, claimed that Jamasp was executed by Kawad, which the Encyclopaedia Iranica suggests may confuse Kawad's punishment of the rebellious nobles and magi with the fate of his submissive brother.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) \n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nThe reign is dated differently in different references: the Encyclopaedia Iranica's main entry gives ca. 496–497,[5](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/) its reign article gives 496 (or early 497) to late 498 or early 499,[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) and the [Bloomsbury](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloomsbury) entry gives 496 to 499.[3](https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216980629-0131) The early Islamic historian Tabari (d. 923) mistakenly recorded the reign as lasting about five years, while Agathias put Jamasp's time in power at about three years.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, composed in Syriac in 507, briefly mentioned Jamasp's rise and fall.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) Assessment of the man rests chiefly on Agathias's portrait of a calm and fair disposition, and on the observation that a king installed by, and dependent on, the magnates and priests could neither hold the throne against a returning rival nor expect security after yielding it.[1](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1) • [4](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/jamasp/)\n\nThe name Jamasp also belongs to a legendary figure, the chief minister (bedakhsh) of the Kayanian king Goshtasp and, in tradition, an early convert to [Zoroaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/zoroaster) who became mobedan mobed (chief of the magi); the Sasanian king shares the name but is a separate person.[6](https://www.cgie.org.ir/fa/article/223723/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%BE%E2%80%8C%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87)\n\n## References\n\n1. Jāmāsp i. Reign, Encyclopaedia Iranica (Choksy and Schindel): https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/jamasp-i-reign/?generate_pdf=1\n2. Zamasp, Livius: https://www.livius.org/articles/person/zamasp/\n3. Jamasp, Bloomsbury encyclopedia entry: https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216980629-0131\n4. Jamasp: The Late 5th-Century Sasanian Shahanshah and His Political Role, Ancient History Sites: https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/jamasp/\n5. Jāmāsp, Encyclopaedia Iranica: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/jamasp-2/\n6. Jāmāsp-nāma, Great Islamic Encyclopedia (CGIE): https://www.cgie.org.ir/fa/article/223723/%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%BE%E2%80%8C%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Sasanian period (224 to 651) › Sasanian wars and political events*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Jamasp\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Jamasp](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp](https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Jamasp\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/jamasp. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Jamasp was a Sasanian king of kings who ruled the Persian Empire from 496 to 498 or 499, between the two reigns of his brother Kawad I." }