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.
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.
