House of Karen

House of Karen

Clasp with an eagle and its prey found in Nahavand, believed by Ernst Herzfeld to originally belong to the House of Karen[1]
Parent houseArsacids
CountryParthian Empire, Sasanian Empire
Current headNone, extinct
MembersSukhra, Karin, Alanda
Estate(s)Nahavand
Cadet branchesKamsarakan[2]
Qarinvands
Masmughans of Damavand

The House of Karen (Middle Persian: Kārēn; Parthian: 𐭊𐭓𐭍𐭉, romanized: Kārēn; Persian: کارن, romanizedKārin or Kāren), also known as Karen-Pahlav (Kārēn-Pahlaw), was one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran during the rule of Parthian and Sassanian Empires. The seat of the dynasty was at Nahavand, about 65 km south of Ecbatana (present-day Hamadan, Iran). Members of the House of Karen were of notable rank in the administrative structure of the Sassanian empire in multiple periods of its four century-long history.

  1. ^ Herzfeld 1928, pp. 21–22.
  2. ^ Toumanoff 2010, pp. 453–455.