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Khosrow II
𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩
King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians[a]
Khosrow II's portrait on the obverse of a gold coin, minted in 611
King of the Sasanian Empire
1st Reign590
PredecessorHormizd IV
SuccessorBahram Chobin
2nd Reign591 – 25 February 628
PredecessorBahram Chobin
SuccessorKavad II
Bornc. 570
Died28 February 628(628-02-28) (aged 57–58)
Consort
Issue
HouseHouse of Sasan
FatherHormizd IV
ReligionZoroastrianism

Khosrow II (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; Template:Lang-pal; New Persian: خسرو [xosˈroʊ̯]), also known as Khosrow Parviz (خسرو پرویز, "Khosrow the Victorious"), was the last great Sasanian monarch of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year.

He was the son of Hormizd IV (reigned 579–590) and the grandson of Khosrow I (reigned 531–579). Khosrow II was the last king of Iran to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran, which began five years after his execution. He lost his throne, then recovered it with the help of the Byzantine emperor Maurice, and, a decade later, went on to emulate the feats of the Achaemenids, conquering the rich Roman provinces of the Middle East; much of his reign was spent in wars with the Byzantine Empire and struggling against usurpers such as Bahram Chobin and Vistahm.

After the Byzantines killed Maurice, Khosrow II began a war in 602 against the Byzantines. Khosrow II's forces captured much of the Byzantine Empire's territories, earning the king the epithet "the Victorious". A siege of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 626 was unsuccessful, and Heraclius, now allied with Turks, started a successful risky counterattack deep into Iran's heartland. Supported by the feudal families of the empire, Khosrow II's imprisoned son Sheroe (Kavad II) imprisoned and killed Khosrow II. This led to a civil war and interregnum in the empire and the reversal of all Sasanian gains in the war against the Byzantines.

In works of Persian literature such as the Shahnameh and Khosrow and Shirin, a famous tragic romance by Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209), a highly elaborated fictional version of Khosrow's life made him one of the greatest heroes of the culture, as much as a lover as a king. Khosrow and Shirin tells the story of his love for the Christian princess Shirin, who becomes his queen after a lengthy courtship strewn with mishaps and difficulties.

Name

"Khosrow" is the New Persian variant of his name used by scholars; his original name was Middle Persian, Husraw, itself derived from Avestan Haosrauuah ("he who has good fame").[1] The name is transliterated in Greek as Chosroes and in Arabic as Kisra.[2]

Background

Khosrow II was born in c. 570; he was the son of Hormizd IV and an unnamed noblewoman from the House of Ispahbudhan, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran.[3] Her brothers, Vinduyih and Vistahm, were to have a profound influence in Khosrow II's early life.[3] Khosrow's paternal grandfather was the famed Sasanian shah Khosrow I Anushirvan (r. 531–579), whilst his paternal grandmother was the daughter of the khagan of the Khazars.[4] Khosrow is first mentioned in the 580s, when he was at Partaw, the capital of Caucasian Albania. During his stay there, he served as the governor of the kingdom, and managed to put an end to the Kingdom of Iberia and make it into a Sasanian province.[3] Furthermore, Khosrow II also served as the governor of Arbela in Mesopotamia sometime before his accession to the throne.[5]

Rebellion of Bahram Chobin

Overthrow of Hormizd IV and accession

Coin of Hormizd IV

In 590, Hormizd IV had his prominent general Bahram Chobin disgraced and dismissed. Bahram, infuriated by Hormizd's actions, responded by rebelling, and due to his noble status and great military knowledge, was joined by his soldiers and many others. He then appointed a new governor for Khorasan, and afterwards set for the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.[6] The legitimacy of the House of Sasan had been established in the credence that the halo of kingship, the xwarrah, was given to the first Sasanian shah, Ardashir I (r. 224–242) and his family following the latter's conquest of the Parthian Empire.[7] This was now, however, disputed by Bahram Chobin, thus marking the first time in Sasanian history that a Parthian dynast challenged the legitimacy of the Sasanian family by rebelling.[8][7]

Meanwhile, Hormizd tried to come to terms with his brothers-in-law Vistahm and Vinduyih, who according to the Syriac writer Joshua the Stylite, both "equally hated Hormizd".[3][9] The two brothers overthrew Hormizd in a seemingly bloodless palace revolution.[3][9] They had Hormizd blinded with a red-hot needle, and put Khosrow II on the throne.[10][3] Sometime in the summer of 590, the two brothers then had Hormizd killed, with at least the implicit approval of Khosrow II.[3] Nevertheless, Bahram Chobin continued his march to Ctesiphon, now with the pretext of claiming to avenge Hormizd.[11]

Khosrow then took a carrot and stick attitude, and wrote a message to Bahram Chobin, stressing his rightful claim to the Sasanian kingship: "Khosrow, kings of kings, ruler over the ruling, lord of the peoples, prince of peace, salvation of men, among gods the good and eternally living man, among men the most esteemed god, the highly illustrious, the victor, the one who rises with the sun and who lends the night his eyesight, the one famed through his ancestors, the king who hates, the benefactor who engaged the Sasanians and saved the Iranians their kingship—to Bahram, the general of the Iranians, our friend.... We have also taken over the royal throne in a lawful manner and have upset no Iranian customs.... We have so firmly decided not to take off the diadem that we even expected to rule over other worlds, if this were possible.... If you wish your welfare, think about what is to be done."[12]

Flight

Bahram Chobin fighting Sasanian loyalists near Ctesiphon.

Bahram Chobin, however, ignored his warning—a few days later, he reached the Nahrawan Canal near Ctesiphon, where he fought Khosrow's men, who were heavily outnumbered, but managed to hold Bahram Chobin's men back in several clashes. However, Khosrow's men eventually began losing their morale, and were in the end defeated by Bahram Chobin's forces. Khosrow, together with his two uncles, his wives, and a retinue of 30 nobles, thereafter fled to Byzantine territory, while Ctesiphon fell to Bahram Chobin.[3] Bahram Chobin declared himself king of kings in the summer of 590, asserting that the first Sasanian king Ardashir I (r. 224–242) had usurped the throne of the Arsacids, and that he now was restoring their rule.[6]

Bahram Chobin tried to support his cause with the Zoroastrian apocalyptic belief that by the end of Zoroaster's millennium, chaos and destructive wars with the Hephthalites/Huns and the Romans occurs and then a savior would appear. Indeed, the Sasanians had misidentified Zoroaster's era with that of the Seleucids (312 BC), which put Bahram Chobin's life almost at the end of Zoroaster's millennium, he was therefore hailed by many as the promised savior Kay Bahram Varjavand.[6] Bahram was to re-establish the Arsacid Empire and commenced a new millennium of dynastic rule. He started minting coins, where he is on the front imitated as an exalted figure, bearded and wearing a crenellation-shaped crown with two crescents of the moon, whilst the reverse shows the traditional fire altar flanked by two attendants.[6] Regardless, many nobles and priests still chose to side with the inexperienced and less dominant Khosrow II.[6]

In order to get the attention of the Byzantine emperor Maurice (r. 582–602), Khosrow II went to Syria, and sent a message to the Sasanian occupied city of Martyropolis to stop their resistance against the Byzantines, but with no avail.[13] He then sent a message to Maurice, and requested his help to regain the Sasanian throne, which the Byzantine emperor agreed with; in return, the Byzantines would re-gain sovereignty over the cities of Amida, Carrhae, Dara and Martyropolis. Furthermore, Iran was required to stop intervening in the affairs of Iberia and Armenia, effectively ceding control of Lazistan to the Byzantines.[3]

Return to Iran

Illustration of the forces of Bahram Chobin and Khosrow II fighting.

In 591, Khosrow moved to Constantia and prepared to invade Bahram Chobin's territories in Mesopotamia, while Vistahm and Vinduyih were raising an army in Adurbadagan under the observation of the Byzantine commander John Mystacon, who was also raising an army in Armenia. After some time, Khosrow, along with the Byzantine commander of the south, Comentiolus, invaded Mesopotamia. During this invasion, Nisibis and Martyropolis quickly defected to them,[3] and Bahram Chobin's commander Zatsparham was defeated and killed.[14] One of Bahram Chobin's other commanders, Bryzacius, was captured in Mosil and had his nose and ears cut off, and was thereafter sent to Khosrow, where he was killed.[15][16] Khosrow II and the Byzantine general Narses then penetrated deeper into Bahram's territory, seizing Dara and then Mardin in February, where Khosrow was re-proclaimed king.[14] Shortly after this, Khosrow sent one of his Iranian supporters, Mahbodh, to capture Ctesiphon, which he managed to accomplish.[17]

Map of the Roman-Sasanian frontier during Late Antiquity, including the 591 border that was established between the two empires after Khosrow II's victory over Bahram Chobin.

At the same time a force of 8,000 Iranians under Vistahm and Vinduyih and 12,000 Armenians under Mushegh II Mamikonian invaded Adurbadagan.[6] Bahram Chobin tried to disrupt the force by writing a letter to Mushegh II, the letter said: "As for you Armenians who demonstrate an unseasonable loyalty, did not the house of Sasan destroy your land and sovereignty? Why otherwise did your fathers rebel and extricate themselves from their service, fighting up until today for your country?"[18] Bahram Chobin in his letter promised that the Armenians would become partners of the new Iranian empire ruled by a Parthian dynastic family if he accepted his proposal to betray Khosrow II.[19] Mushegh, however, rejected the offer.[19]

Bahram Chobin was then defeated at the Battle of Blarathon, forcing him to flee with 4,000 men eastwards. He marched towards Nishapur, where he defeated a pursuing army as well as an army led by a Karenid nobleman at Qumis. Constantly troubled, he crossed the Oxus river, where he was received honorably by the Khagan of the Turks, who was most likely Birmudha–the same Turkic prince that Bahram Chobin had defeated and captured a few years earlier during his wars against the Turks.[11][6] Bahram Chobin entered his service, and was appointed as a commander in the army, achieving further military accomplishments there.[20][6] Bahram Chobin became a highly popular figure after saving the Khagan from a conspiracy instigated by the latters brother Byghu (conceivably an incorrect translation of yabghu).[11] Khosrow II, however, could not feel safe as long as Bahram Chobin lived, and succeeded in having him assassinated.[6] The assassination was reportedly achieved through distribution of presents and bribes between the members of the Turkic royal family, notably the queen.[20] What remained of Bahram Chobin's supporters went back to northern Iran and joined the rebellion of Vistahm (590/1–596 or 594/5–600).[21]

Consolidation of the empire

The Iranians and the Byzantines enjoyed good relations with each other for the first eleven years. Khosrow's wife Shirin—a Christian from Khuzestan—was the most influential of his wives, playing an important role in the royal favour that the Mesopotamian Christians enjoyed. She had a church and monastery constructed near the palace in Ctesiphon, which was used to receive a portion of the treasury for the wages of the clergy and their vestments.[3]

Revolt of Vistahm

After his victory, Khosrow rewarded his uncles with high positions: Vinduyih became treasurer and first minister and Vistahm received the post of spahbed of the East, encompassing Tabaristan and Khorasan, which was the traditional homeland of the Ispahbudhan.[9][22] Soon, however, Khosrow changed his intentions: trying to disassociate himself from his father's murder, he decided to execute his uncles. The Sasanian monarchs' traditional mistrust of over-powerful magnates and Khosrow's personal resentment of Vinduyih's patronising manner certainly contributed to this decision. Vinduyih was soon put to death, according to a Syriac source captured while trying to flee to his brother in the East.[9][23]

Coin of Vistahm, minted at Ray

At the news of his brother's murder, Vistahm rose in open revolt. According to Dinawari, Vistahm sent a letter to Khosrow announcing his claim to the throne through his Parthian (Arsacid) heritage: "You are not worthier to rule than I am. Indeed, I am more deserving on account of my descent from Darius, son of Darius, who fought Alexander. You Sasanians deceitfully gained superiority over us [the Arsacids] and usurped our right, and treated us with injustice. Your ancestor Sasan was no more than a shepherd." Vistahm's revolt, like Bahrams's shortly before, found support and spread quickly. Local magnates as well as the remnants of Bahram Chobin's armies flocked to him, especially after he married Bahram's sister Gordiya. Vistahm repelled several loyalist efforts to subdue him, and he soon held sway in the entire eastern and northern quadrants of the Iranian realm, a domain stretching from the Oxus river to the region of Ardabil in the west. He even campaigned in the east, where he subdued two Hephthalite princes of Transoxiana, Shaug and Pariowk.[9][24] The date of Vistahm's uprising is uncertain. From his coinage, it is known that his rebellion lasted for seven years. The commonly accepted dates are ca. 590–596, but some scholars like J.D. Howard–Johnston and P. Pourshariati push its outbreak later, in 594/5, to coincide with the Armenian Vahewuni rebellion.[25]

As Vistahm began to threaten Media, Khosrow sent several armies against his uncle, but failed to achieve a decisive result: Vistahm and his followers retreated to the mountainous region of Gilan, while several Armenian contingents of the royal army rebelled and defected to Vistahm. Finally, Khosrow called upon the services of the Armenian Smbat Bagratuni, who engaged Vistahm near Qumis. During the battle, Vistahm was murdered by Pariowk at Khosrow's urging (or, according to an alternative account, by his wife Gordiya). Nevertheless, Vistahm's troops managed to repel the royal army at Qumis, and it required another expedition by Smbat in the next year to finally end the rebellion.[9][26]

Abolition of the Lakhmid dynasty

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628

Turko-Hephthalite invasion

In ca. 606/607, Khosrow recalled Smbat IV Bagratuni from Armenia and sent him to repel the Turko-Hephthalites, who had raided as far as Spahan in central Iran. Smbat, with the aid of an Iranian prince named Datoyean, repelled the Turko-Hephthalites from Iran, and plundered their domains in eastern Khorasan, where Smbat is said to have killed their king in single combat.[27] Khosrow then gave Smbat the honorific title Khosrow Shun ("the Joy or Satisfaction of Khosrow"),[27] while his son Varaztirots II Bagratuni received the honorific name Javitean Khosrow ("Eternal Khosrow").[27][28]

Sebeos describes the event as:


Overthrow and death

Religious policy and beliefs

Khosrow II, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism.[30] Since the 5th-century, the Sasanian monarchs had been made aware of the significance of the religious minorities in the realm, and as a result tried to homogenize them into a structure of administration where according to legal principles, all would be treated straightforwardly as mard / zan ī šahr, i.e. "man/woman citizen (of the Empire)".[31] Jews and (notably) Christians had accepted the concept of Iran and considered themselves part of the nation.[31]

During his reign there was constant conflict between Monophysite and Nestorian Christians. Khosrow favored the Monophysites, and ordered all his subjects to adhere to Monophysitism, perhaps under the influence of Shirin and the royal physician Gabriel of Sinjar, who both supported this faith. Khosrow also dispensed money or gifts to Christian shrines.[32] Khosrow's great tolerance to Christianity and friendship with the Christian Byzantines even made some Armenian writers think that Khosrow was a Christian.[32] His positive policy toward Christians (which, however, was probably politically motivated) made him unpopular with the Zoroastrian priests, and also made Christianity greatly spread around the Sasanian Empire.[33] During Khosrow's war with the Byzantines, Christian elites and organizations were incorporated into the Sasanian system, as part of his attempt to absorb the Byzantine realm into his expanded empire.[34] The condition of the Christian nobility reached its pinnacle under Khosrow.[35] Mushegh II Mamikonian, a prominent Armenian nakharar, is the first and only Christian nobleman that is praised by courtly historiographers, due to his rejection of the enticements of Bahram Chobin. His decision to choose Khosrow over his native Armenia, gained him a place in the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran.[35] Smbat IV Bagratuni likewise led an illustrious career under Khosrow, rising to the office of frontier commander of Gorgan, possibly the most vital and contested area of the Sasanian realm. As a reward for his accomplishments in the east, Smbat was appointed the leader of the military jurisdiction in the Caucasus. Furthermore, his aristocratic house–the Bagratunids–was made the pillar of Sasanian authority in the area.[35]

Khosrow also paid attention to the Zoroastrians, and had various fire temples constructed. However, this did not help the Zoroastrian church, which was in a heavy decline during his reign. According to Richard N. Frye, the Zoroastrian church under Khosrow "was noted for its devotion to luxury more than its devotion to thought."[36]

Rock reliefs

A divine investiture scene, with the Zoroastrian divinities Ahura Mazda and Anahita each giving Khosrow II a diadem.

Khosrow restored the practice of erecting rock reliefs, after an absence of nearly three centuries, the last one being erected under Shapur III (r. 383–388).[37] At Taq-e Bostan, Khosrow mimicked and magnified the rock relief of Shapur III.[37] His relief, known as the "Great Ayvan", is in a barrel vault carved in a cliff. The ayvan is split into an upper and lower section; the upper section depicts a divine investiture scene, with the Zoroastrian divinities Ahura Mazda and Anahita each giving Khosrow a diadem.[37] The lower section depicts Khosrow II on horseback, wearing full body armor, whilst holding a lance and shield. His head is encircled by a halo, which according to Howard-Johnston, is most likely a representation of his xwarrah, i.e. kingly glory.[37][3] On the left side panel, a boar hunt scene is depicted, portraying Khosrow on a boat whilst aiming a bow. On the right, there is a deer hunt scene. The relief, however, is unfinished, probably due to Khosrow's setback in the later stages of the war and his eventual downfall.[3]

  • Equestrian statue of Khosrow II.
    Equestrian statue of Khosrow II.
  • Rock relief on the left side panel, depicting a boar hunt.
    Rock relief on the left side panel, depicting a boar hunt.
  • Drawing of an unfinished rock relief on the right side panel, depicting a deer hunt.
    Drawing of an unfinished rock relief on the right side panel, depicting a deer hunt.

Coinage

Gold coin of Khosrow II, minted in 625/6.

Khosrow, during his second reign, added the ideogram GDH, meaning xwarrah ("royal splendor") on his coins. He combined this together with the word abzōt ("he has increased"), making the full inscription thus read as: "Khosrow, he has increased the royal splendor" (Khūsrōkhwarrah abzōt).[38] The title of King of Kings–missing since the reign of Peroz I (r. 459–484)–was also restored on his coins.[38] According to Shayegan, Khosrow's adoption of the title was "undoubtedly a consequence of his Byzantine policy," and was signifying a resurrection of the ancient Achaemenid Empire.[39] His two successors, Kavad II (r. 628–628) and Ardashir III (r. 628–630), refrained from using the title, seemingly in order distance themselves from him.[38]

In Persian literature

Khosrow and Shirin

Legacy and assessment

Notes

  1. ^ Also spelled "King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran".

References

  1. ^ Skjærvø 2000; Nicholson, Canepa & Daryaee 2018
  2. ^ Nicholson, Canepa & Daryaee 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Howard-Johnston 2010.
  4. ^ Shahbazi 2004, pp. 466–467.
  5. ^ Hansman 1986, pp. 277–278.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shahbazi 1988, pp. 514–522.
  7. ^ a b Shayegan 2017, p. 810.
  8. ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 96.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Shahbazi 1989, pp. 180–182. Cite error: The named reference "FOOTNOTEShahbazi1989180–182" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  10. ^ Al-Tabari 1985–2007, v. 5: p. 49.
  11. ^ a b c Rezakhani 2017, p. 178.
  12. ^ Kia 2016, p. 241.
  13. ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 172.
  14. ^ a b Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 173.
  15. ^ Martindale, Jones & Morris 1992, p. 251.
  16. ^ Rawlinson 2004, p. 509.
  17. ^ Greatrex & Lieu 2002, p. 174.
  18. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 128–129.
  19. ^ a b Pourshariati 2008, p. 129.
  20. ^ a b Kia 2016, p. 242.
  21. ^ Pourshariati 2008, p. 133-134.
  22. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 131–132.
  23. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 132, 134.
  24. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 132–133, 135.
  25. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 133–134.
  26. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 136–137.
  27. ^ a b c Martindale, Jones & Morris (1992), pp. 1363–1364
  28. ^ Pourshariati 2008, pp. 153–154.
  29. ^ Soudavar, Abolala. "Looking through The Two Eyes of the Earth: A Reassessment of Sasanian Rock Reliefs" (PDF). www.soudavar.com.
  30. ^ Payne 2015, p. 2.
  31. ^ a b Daryaee 2014, p. 56.
  32. ^ a b Frye 1983, p. 166.
  33. ^ Frye 1983, p. 171.
  34. ^ Payne 2015, p. 200.
  35. ^ a b c Payne 2015, p. 168.
  36. ^ Frye 1983, p. 172.
  37. ^ a b c d Canepa 2018, p. 361.
  38. ^ a b c Schindel 2013, p. 837.
  39. ^ Shayegan 2013, pp. 806, 812–813.

Sources

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