Bakur III ( ka, ბაკურ III, Latinized as ''Bacurius'') (died 580) was the last Chosroid king ('' mepe'') of

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...

(natively known as

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

; ancient

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

) upon whose death the Iberian monarchy was abolished by

Sassanid The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The name ' is the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

form of the

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''Bakour'' (), itself a variant of the Middle Iranian ''Pakur'', derived from

Old Iranian The Iranian languages, also called the Iranic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian language ...

''bag-puhr'' ('son of a god'). The name "Bakur" is the Georgian (ბაკურ) and Armenian (Բակուր) attestation of Middle Iranian ''Pakur''. He succeeded his father, King P'arsman VI, as the king of Iberia. The date of his accession to the throne is unknown but he ruled as contemporary of

Hormizd IV Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; ) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, Hormizd IV had the high aristoc ...

of Iran.Martindale, John Robert (1992), ''The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire'', p. 169.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, . Bakur's authority was rather limited and hardly extended beyond his fortress at Ujarma while the capital

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, and Inner Iberia was governed more directly by the Sassanids. When he died in 580, Hormizd IV took opportunity to abolish the kingship in Iberia. Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition'', p. 23.

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

, He was father of Adarnase I of Iberia.

References

580 deaths Chosroid kings of Iberia 6th-century monarchs in Asia Year of birth unknown Vassal rulers of the Sasanian Empire Georgians from the Sasanian Empire {{Georgia-royal-stub