Aspad Gushnasp

Aspad Gushnasp (Persian: اسپد گشنسپ), known as Gousdanaspa in Byzantine sources, was an Iranian commander (hazarbed) of the Sasanian royal guard, who played a key role in the overthrow of the last great Sasanian king (shah) Khosrow II (r. 590–628) and the enthronement of the latter's son, Kavad II Sheroe.

[2] Sheroe, with Aspad Gushnasp leading his army, captured Ctesiphon and imprisoned Khosrow II in the house of a certain Mehr-Sepand (also spelled Maraspand).

Sheroe, who had now assumed the dynastic name of Kavad II, then ordered Aspad Gushnasp to lead the charge of accusations against the deposed shah.

[1] A few months later, a devastating plague swept through the western Sasanian provinces, killing half of its population including Kavad II.

[3] He was succeeded by his eight year old son Ardashir III, whilst Aspad Gushnasp was replaced by the powerful aristocrat Piruz Khosrow as hazarbed.