Pushtigban
Active	224-644
Allegiance	Sasanian Empire
Type	Heavy cavalry
Size	1,000
Headquarters	Ctesiphon
Engagements	Battle of Samarra, Battle of Callinicum, unnamed others

Military of the Sasanian Empire
Armed forces and units
Cataphract Clibanarii Aswaran Grivpanvar War elephants Paygan Immortals Pushtigban Sarmatians Daylamites Sogdian warriors Gond-i Shahanshah Darigan Stor Bezashk Navy
Ranks
Spahbed Aspbed Paygosban Marzban, Kanarang Masmughan Pushtigban Salar Eran anbaraghbad Argbed Hazarbed Paygan-salar Savaran Sardar Gond Salar Darigbed Navbed
Defense lines
Wall of the Arabs Gawri Wall Great Wall of Gorgan Wall of Tammisha Derbent Wall Darial
Conflicts
Romans Arabian tribes Hephthalites Turks Ethiopians Muslim Arabs Revolts and civil wars

The pushtigban was an elite military unit of the Sasanian Empire, charged with the protection of the Persian Emperor.

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

There are allusions to the participation of this unit in sources describing the Shapur II's Arab campaign and Siege of Amida (359).^[1]

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 disappeared with the Muslim conquest of Persia, that led to the Fall of the Sasanian Empire.

• Immortals (Sasanian Empire)
• Cataphract

• Farrokh, Kaveh (2005) Sassanian Elite Cavalry, AD224-642. Osprey Publishing
• Morony, Michael G. (2005) [1984]. Iraq After The Muslim Conquest. Gorgias Press LLC. ISBN 978-1-59333-315-7.