The Dabuyid rulers of Tabaristan — the mountainous strip along the Caspian's southern shore — never submitted to the Arab conquest that swept away the Sasanian empire in the 640s. Gil Gavbara held the title *ispahbadh* (military governor) and continued striking coins in the Sasanian tradition precisely because the Alborz range made his territory effectively impenetrable. These issues circulated in an enclave that remained Zoroastrian and administratively independent for another century before the Abbasids finally forced tribute.
The Dabuyid rulers of Tabaristan — the mountainous strip along the Caspian's southern shore — never submitted to the Arab conquest that swept away the Sasanian empire in the 640s. Gil Gavbara held the title *ispahbadh* (military governor) and continued striking coins in the Sasanian tradition precisely because the Alborz range made his territory effectively impenetrable. These issues circulated in an enclave that remained Zoroastrian and administratively independent for another century before the Abbasids finally forced tribute.