Shah Ghazi Rustam

Shah Ghazi Rustam شاه قاضی رستم
Ispahbad
Shah Ghazi Rustam and his court
King of Mazandaran
Reign	1142–1165
Predecessor	Ali I
Successor	Hasan I
King of Gilan
Reign	1156–1165
Predecessor	New office
Successor	Hasan I
Born	ca. 1105
Died	23 January 1165 (aged 60) Sari, Mazandaran
Spouse	Daughter of Malik-Shah I
Issue	Girdbazu Hasan I Unnamed daughter
Dynasty	Bavand dynasty
Father	Ali I
Religion	Twelver Shia Islam

Shah Ghazi Rustam (Persian: شاه قاضی رستم‎‎), was the king of the Bavand dynasty of Mazandaran, ruling from 1142 to 1165. He expanded the borders of the kingdom at the expense of his neighbors, particularly the Ismailis and the Seljuks. He established a Bavandid presence in Gilan as a result of his frequent vengeful raids against the Ismailis, who had assassinated his son and heir, Girdbazu. He also brought Qumis and Ray under Bavandid control during his wars against the Seljuks and the Karakhanids.

Shah Ghazi's reign represented the pinnacle of Bavandid power and influence in Iran, and Shah Ghazi himself was considered the most illustrious king of the dynasty.

The name of Shah Ghazi Rustam is combination of Persian and Arabic—"shah" meaning king in Persian, and "ghazi" meaning warrior in Arabic. "Rustam" was the name of the popular mythological Iranian warrior Rostam. Shah Ghazi Rustam's laqab was Nusrat al-Din ("victory of the religion").

Shah Ghazi was born in ca. 1105, as the son of Ali I, whose father, Shahriyar IV (r. 1074–1114), was the then Bavandid king of Mazandaran. The Bavand kingdom was during this period a vassal of the Seljuk Empire, which had a decade earlier under sultan Malik-Shah I (r. 1072–1092) controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. However, after the assassination of Malik-Shah and his vizier Nizam al-Mulk in 1092, the Seljuk Empire fell into decline. Shahriyar IV had thus been able to disobey the orders of the Seljuk sultan Muhammad I Tapar (r. 1105–1118) several times. After Shahriyar IV's death in 1114, his son Qarin III succeeded him, and alienated, thus weakening the Bavand kingdom. Qarin later fell ill, and died in 1117 after he asked the local people to pledge allegiance to his son Rustam III, who succeeded him. Rustam III's reign, however, was even more shortlived—he was poisoned by his stepmother, the sister of Muhammad I Tapar, who wanted to marry Ali I, who ascended the Bavandid throne.