The Plague of Shiryue (627–628) or Shiruye's Plague takes its name from the Sasanian monarch
Kavad II
Shērōē (also spelled Shīrūya, New Persian: ), better known by his dynastic name of Kavad II ( pal, 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲 ''Kawād''; New Persian: قباد ''Qobād'' or ''Qabād''), was king (shah) of the Sasanian Empire briefly in 628. He was t ...
, whose birth name was Shiruye. The
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
was an
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time.
Epidemics of infectious ...
that devastated the western provinces of the
Sasanian Empire, mainly
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
(''
Asorestan
Asoristan ( pal, 𐭠𐭮𐭥𐭥𐭮𐭲𐭭 ''Asōristān'', ''Āsūristān'') was the name of the Sasanian province of Assyria and Babylonia from 226 to 637.
Name
The Parthian name ''Asōristān'' (; also spelled ''Asoristan'', ''Asurist ...
''), killing half of its population, including the reigning Sasanian king Kavad II, who died in the fall of 628 CE, only a few months into his reign. It killed more than 100,000 people in
Ctesiphon.
The Plague of Shiruye was one of several epidemics that occurred in or close to Iran within two centuries after the
first plague pandemic
The first plague pandemic was the first historically recorded Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. Also called the early medieval pandemic, it began with the Plague of Justinian in 541 ...
was brought by the Sasanian armies from its campaigns in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
,
Syria, and
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
. There was a subsequent plague outbreak from 634 to 642 during the reign of
Yazdegerd III
Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; pal, 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II.
Ascending the throne at the ...
.
The death of Kavad II destabilized the Sasanian Empire, which was still trying to recover from the losses incurred by the wars of Kavad II's father,
Khosrow II, as well as the raging plague. When the Arabs invaded during the reign of Yazdegerd III, the Sasanians had no strength to repel them and so the Plague of Shiryue is recognized as contributing to the decline and
fall of the Sasanian Empire
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion.
The r ...
.
Plagues of the Near East 562-1486 CE, www.worldhistory.org
accessed 15 March 2022
See also
* Plague of Justinian
The plague of Justinian or Justinianic plague (541–549 AD) was the first recorded major outbreak of the first plague pandemic, the first Old World pandemic of plague, the contagious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. The dis ...
References
Sources
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Epidemics
First plague pandemic
7th-century disasters
Health disasters in Asia
620s in the Sasanian Empire
Medieval health disasters
Fall of the Sasanian Empire
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