Pushtigban Body Guards

The Pushtigban Body Guard was an elite Persian military unit during the time of the Sassanid Persian dynasty, charged with the protection of the Emperor.

They were stationed during peacetime in the royal capital of Ctesiphon and were drawn from the best of the ranks of the Sassanid Savārān cavalry. They numbered 1000 men, under the command of the Pushtigban-Salar ; in battle they fought mostly as cataphracts, heavily armed and armoured horseman who would charge enemy positions with tremendous momentum.

A sub-unit of Pushtigban were the Gyan-avspar, the sacrificers of their lives - the best of the Pushtigban. The Pushtigban fought with distinction and zeal befitting their name during Julian's invasion of Persia in the 4th century AD.

The Pushtigban bodyguards fought with distinction also during the final years of Sassanid Persia to repel the invading Romans and made a great impression on them. Their institution logically disappeared with the death of the last Sassanid emperor Yazdegerd III and the subsequent submission of the Persian throne to Arabian suzerainty in AD 651.