The seven Great Houses of Iran had played an active role in Iranian politics since the days of the Arsacid Empire, which they continued to do under their successors, the Sasanians.
The seven houses claimed to have been confirmed as lords in Iran by the legendary Kayanian king Vishtaspa.
[2] "It may be that [...] members of them made up their own genealogies in order to emphasize the antiquity of their families.
Bahram Chobin, a famed military commander of Hormizd IV (r. 579–590), was from the House of Mihran.
Some of the later traditions pertaining to the Seven Great Houses have been interpreted as memories of the Parthian Empire's major administrative divisions.