Khosrow ( pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩), was briefly
Sasanian King of Kings
King of Kings; grc-gre, Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων, Basileùs Basiléōn; hy, արքայից արքա, ark'ayits ark'a; sa, महाराजाधिराज, Mahārājadhirāja; ka, მეფეთ მეფე, ''Mepet mepe'' ...
of
Iran in 420.
Biography
Khosrow was the son of
Bahram IV
Bahram IV (also spelled Wahram IV or Warahran IV; pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 388 to 399. He was likely the son and successor of Shapur III ().
Before his accession to the throne, Bahram served ...
(), the sixteenth king (''
shah'') of the Sasanian Empire. Since the death of the powerful Sasanian shah
Shapur II (), the aristocrats and priests had expanded their influence and authority at the cost of the Sasanian government, nominating, dethroning, and murdering shahs, such as Bahram IV, and also the then reigning shah
Yazdegerd I (), who was murdered in 21 January 420. They sought to stop the sons of Yazdegerd I from the ascending the throne—
Shapur IV
Shapur IV ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ''Šāhpuhr''), was king of Sasanian Armenia from 415 to 420, who briefly ruled the Sasanian Empire in 420.
Biography
Shapur IV was the son of Yazdegerd I and Shushandukht, and had two brothers name ...
, who was the eldest son of Yazdegerd I and governor of
Armenia, quickly rushed to the Sasanian capital of
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; Middle Persian: 𐭲𐭩𐭮𐭯𐭥𐭭 ''tyspwn'' or ''tysfwn''; fa, تیسفون; grc-gre, Κτησιφῶν, ; syr, ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢThomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modi ...
, and ascended the throne. He was, however, shortly murdered by the nobles and priests, who elected Khosrow as shah.
Bahram V, another son of Yazdegerd I, opposed the decision of the nobles, and asked the
Lakhmid
The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arabs, Arab kingdom in Sawad , Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as ...
king of
al-Hirah
Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of I ...
for military assistance, which he received. At the head of an army of numerous soldiers, Bahram marched towards Ctesiphon, where he promised that he would not reign like his father Yazdegerd I did. According to the
Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings"), Bahram suggested that the royal crown and attire should be placed between two lions, and the person that retrieved them by killing the wild animals should be recognized as the shah of Iran. Khosrow chose to pull out, whilst Bahram withstood the trial and won the throne. Nothing is known about the fate of Khosrow.
Notes
References
Sources
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{{Sasanian Rulers
5th-century deaths
5th-century Sasanian monarchs
Year of birth unknown
Shahnameh characters