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 | |
| Parent house | Arsacids |
| Country | Parthian Empire, Sasanian Empire |
| Current head | None, extinct |
| Members | Sukhra, Karin, Alanda |
| Estate(s) | Nahavand |
| Cadet branches | Kamsarakan Qarinvands Masmughans of Damavand |
The House of Karen (Parthian: 𐭊𐭓𐭍𐭉, romanized: Kārēn; Middle Persian: Kārēn; New Persian: قارن, romanized: Qāran, or کارن, Kāran), also known as Karen-Pahlav (Kārēn-Pahlaw), was one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran during the rule of Parthian and Sasanian 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.