Mardavij ibn Ziyar

Mardavij مرداویج
Gold dinar of Mardavij, 933/4
King of the Ziyarid dynasty
Reign	930 – January 935
Successor	Vushmgir
Born	ca. 890 Gilan
Died	January 935 Isfahan
Father	Ziyar
Mother	Sister of Harusindan
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Mardavij (Persian: مرداویج‎‎; meaning "man assailant"), was a Gilaki prince, who established the Ziyarid dynasty, ruling from 930 to 935.

Born to a Zoroastrian family native to Gilan, Mardavij was an anti-Muslim, who sought to revive the Sasanian Empire which was conquered in the 7th century by the Muslims. He first started his career by joining the army of his kinsman Asfar ibn Shiruya. Mardavij, however, later betrayed and killed him, conquering much of Jibal. He then set out to conquer Hamadan, Dinavar and Isfahan from the Abbasid Caliphate, and thereafter declared himself king of Iran, making Isfahan his capital.

He then defeated the Daylamite military leader Makan ibn Kaki, and conquered Tabaristan in 932. By 934, his authority was acknowledged as far as Shiraz and Ahvaz. However, his goal of recreating the Persian Empire was ruined when he was murdered by his own Turkish slaves in 935.

Mardavij was born ca. in 890 in Gilan; he was the son of Ziyar, who belonged to the Shahanshahvand, a royal clan that roamed in Dakhel. Mardavij's mother was a sister of Harusindan, a Gilaki ruler. Mardavij belonged to the Arghich tribe, which claimed to be descended from Arghush Farhadan, king of Gilan who lived during the time of Kay Khosrow. Mardavij grew up in an environment where "Persian culture, memories of the glories of the Persian Empire, were alive among them." According to the 10th-century Arab historian al-Masudi, most of the Daylamite and Gilaki leaders, who were Zoroastrian and pagan, had become atheists. Mardavij was one of the many Gilaki leaders that entered into the service of the Alids, after establishing their rule over Tabaristan, Gilan, and Daylam.