vkarenpahlav

Although I can not answer your question exactly but I think that I can talk a bit about my clan, Karen-Pahlav. My name is Vafa Karen-Pahlav and I am a member of Karen-Pahlav clan. All my ancestors lived in Hamedan and Nahavand and they were all Zoroastrians until about 100 years ago, one of our ancestors converted to Bahai faith; this means I am a Bahai too. Karen is made up of two parts Kar(short for Karzar which means battlefield) and en part (just like er in English e.g. farm and farmer); therefore Karen means Warrior. The Pahlav part means of Parthian origin. It is claimed by my ancestors that we are descendent of Kaveh the black smith; Karen is the son of Kaveh and is considered as a Pahlavan and hero in Shahnameh. On the other hand, from historical evidences, we are descendent of Parthian kings. There were also a branch of our clan in Armenia but from what I know they no longer exist or perhaps changed their surname; anyway we have had no contact with them for generations.