Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the
Sasanian
The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
King of Kings
King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...
of
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 ...
from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of
Kavad I
Kavad I ( ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncle Balash ().
Inheri ...
().
Inheriting a reinvigorated empire at
war with the Byzantines, Khosrow I signed a peace treaty with them in 532, known as the
Perpetual Peace, in which the Byzantine emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
paid 11,000 pounds of gold to the Sasanians. Khosrow then focused on consolidating his power, executing conspirators, including his uncle
Bawi. Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...
, and encouraged by
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...
envoys from
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, Khosrow violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540. He sacked the major city of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
and deported its population to Persia. In 541, he invaded
Lazica
The Kingdom of Lazica (; ; ), sometimes called Lazian Empire, was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman era, Georgia in the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colc ...
and made it an Iranian protectorate, thus initiating the
Lazic War
The Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgia (country), Georgian region of Lazica. The ...
. In 545, the two empires agreed to halt the wars in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
while continuing to fight in Lazica. A truce was made in 557, and by 562 a
fifty-year peace treaty was made.
In 572,
Justin II
Justin II (; ; died 5 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora.
Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empir ...
, the successor of Justinian,
broke the peace treaty and sent a Byzantine force into the Sasanian region of
Arzanene
Arzanene () or Aghdznik () was a historical region in the southwest of the ancient kingdom of Armenia. It was ruled by one of the four (''bidakhsh'', ) of Armenia, the highest ranking nobles below the king who ruled over the kingdom's border reg ...
. The following year, Khosrow
besieged and captured the important Byzantine fortress-city of
Dara
Dara is a given name in several languages.
Dara, Daraa, or DARA may also refer to:
Geography Africa
* Dar'a, region in northern Ethiopia
* Dara (woreda), region in southern Ethiopia
Asia
* Dara (Mesopotamia), an archeological site in Mard ...
, which led Justin II to insanity. The war lasted until 591, outliving Khosrow. Khosrow's wars were not only based in the west. To the east, in an alliance with the
Göktürks
The Göktürks (; ), also known as Türks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks, were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main powe ...
, he finally put an end to the
Hephthalite Empire
The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, ...
, which had inflicted a handful of defeats on the Sasanians in the 5th century, killing Khosrow's grandfather
Peroz I
Peroz I () was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings () of History of Iran, Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II (), he disputed the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III (), eventually seizing the throne after a ...
. To the south, Iranian forces led by
Wahrez defeated the
Aksumites and
conquered Yemen.
Khosrow I was known for his character, virtues and knowledge. During his ambitious reign, he continued his father's project of making major social, military, and economic reforms, promoting the welfare of the people, increasing state revenues, establishing a professional army, and founding or rebuilding many cities, palaces, and much infrastructure. He was interested in literature and philosophy, and under his reign, art and science flourished in Iran. He was the most distinguished of the
Sasanian kings, and his name became a royal title, like that of
Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...
in the history of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.
At the time of his death, the Sasanian Empire had reached its greatest extent since
Shapur II
Shapur II ( , 309–379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth King of Kings (List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire, Shahanshah) of Sasanian Iran. He took the title at birth and held it until his death at age 70, making him the List ...
, stretching from
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
in the west to
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
in the east. He was succeeded by his son
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 ...
.
Name and titles
is the
New Persian
New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th ...
variant of his name used by scholars; his original name was
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
, , itself derived from
Avestan
Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family and was First language, originally spoken during the Avestan period, Old ...
("he who has good fame"). The name is rendered in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
as () and in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
as ''Kisra''. Besides his personal name, he is widely known in sources by his epithet of ("the Immortal Soul"), a New Persian rendering of Middle Persian . He received this title after his death to distinguish him from
Khosrow II
Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...
. It referred to his religious reforms and promotion of the prosperity of the realm and probably also connected him with the mythical immortal king
Kay Khosrow (both were remembered as pious kings and "restorers" of the faith). Other variants of the name are , ''Anushiravan'' and . Khosrow was also known by the epithets ("Dispenser of Justice") and, in Islamic times, ''
'Adel'' ("the Just").
Historiography
Many sources dating to the Islamic era, such as the Arabic ''
History of the Prophets and Kings'' by
al-Tabari
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...
and the medieval Persian epic ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'' ("Book of Kings") by
Ferdowsi
Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a single poet, and the gre ...
(), give much information regarding Khosrow's reforms, and thus most likely drew both of their information from the Middle Persian history book ''
Khwaday-Namag'' ("Book of Lords"). Other works were made independently, such as the ''Sirat Anushirwan'', which was reportedly an autobiography made by Khosrow himself, and survives in the work of
Miskawayh (932–1030). Khosrow is also mentioned in several Greek sources, such as those of
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...
,
Agathias and
Menander Protector, who all give important information regarding Khosrow's management of the
Irano-Roman wars.
Syriac authors such as
John of Ephesus and
Zacharias Rhetor
Zacharias of Mytilene (Ζαχαρίας ό Μιτυληναίος; c. 465, Gaza City, Gaza – after 536), also known as Zacharias Scholasticus or Zacharias Rhetor, was a bishop and ecclesiastical historian.
Life
The life of Zacharias of Mytile ...
also include Khosrow in their work, offering a perspective of the consequences that his expeditions brought on the people who lived on the Roman border.
Background
Khosrow I was reportedly born between 512 and 514 at
Ardestan, a town located in the
Spahan province in central Iran. The town, dating back to the
Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
period, thrived during Khosrow's age, and also included a
fire temple, which was said to be founded by the mythological
Kayanian king
Kay Bahman, from whom the Sasanians claimed their descent. Khosrow was the youngest son of
Kavad I
Kavad I ( ; 473 – 13 September 531) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son of Peroz I (), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncle Balash ().
Inheri ...
, the ruling Sasanian shah. His mother was an
Ispahbudhan princess, who was the sister of the leading Iranian general
Bawi. The Ispahbudhan were one of the
Seven Great Houses of Iran
The Seven Great Houses of Iran, also known as the seven Parthian clans, were seven aristocracies of Parthian origin, who were allied with the Sasanian court. The Parthian clans all claimed ancestry from Achaemenid Persians.
The seven Great House ...
that formed the elite aristocracy of the
Sasanian Empire
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 ...
. In particular, they enjoyed such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians". The family also held the important position of ''
spahbed
''Spāhbad'' (also spelled ''spahbod'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbad'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Military of the Sasani ...
'' of the West, i.e., the Sasanian Empire's southwestern regions (''
Khwarwaran Khvārvarān was a military quarter of the Sasanian Empire. Intensive irrigation agriculture of the lower Tigris and Euphrates and of tributaries such as the Diyala and the Karun formed the empire's main resource base.
Etymology
The Arabic term I ...
'').
Following the tradition of the aristocratic or upper-class families, Khosrow would have started at school (''frahangestān'') between the ages of five and seven. There he would learn to write and would learn the ''
yashts'', ''Hadokht'', ''Bayān Yasn'' and ''
Vendidad
The Vendidad /ˈvendi'dæd/, also known as Videvdat, Videvdad or Juddēvdād, is a collection of texts within the greater compendium of the Avesta. However, unlike the other texts of the Avesta, the ''Vendidad'' is an ecclesiastical code, not a ...
'', following the same pattern of schooling made for a future priest (''
herbed''). Furthermore, he would listen to the Middle Persian translation of the
Avesta
The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
, the
Zend
Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period.
''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...
. Afterwards, he would be schooled in riding, archery,
polo
Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...
(''
chovgan
Chovgan, Chowgan or Chogan () is a team sport with horses that originated in ancient History of Iran, Iran (Name of Iran, Persia). It was considered an aristocratic game and held in a separate field, on specially trained horses. The game was wi ...
'') and military creativity.
Early life
Negotiations with the Byzantines over the adoption of Khosrow
In , Kavad, in order to secure the succession of Khosrow, whose position was threatened by rival brothers and the Mazdakite sect, proposed that Emperor
Justin I
Justin I (; ; 450 – 1 August 527), also called Justin the Thracian (; ), was Roman emperor from 518 to 527. Born to a peasant family, he rose through the ranks of the army to become commander of the imperial guard and when Emperor Anastasi ...
adopt him. The proposal was initially greeted with enthusiasm by the Byzantine Emperor and his nephew,
Justinian
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
, but Justin's ''
quaestor
A quaestor ( , ; ; "investigator") was a public official in ancient Rome. There were various types of quaestors, with the title used to describe greatly different offices at different times.
In the Roman Republic, quaestors were elected officia ...
'', Proclus, opposed the move, due to the concern of Khosrow possibly later try to take over the Byzantine throne. The Byzantines instead made a counter-proposal to adopt Khosrow not as a Roman, but a barbarian.
[Procopius]
11
In the end the negotiations did not come to a consensus. Khosrow reportedly felt insulted by the Byzantines, and his attitude towards them deteriorated.
Mahbod, who had along with
Siyawush acted as the diplomats of the negotiations, accused the latter of purposely sabotaging the negotiations.
Further accusations were made towards Siyawush, which included the reverence of new deities and having his dead wife buried, which was a violation of Iranian laws. Siyawush was thus most likely a Mazdakite, the religious sect that Kavad originally supported but now had withdrawn his support from. Although Siyawush was a close friend of Kavad and had helped him escape from imprisonment, the latter did not try to prevent his execution, seemingly with the purpose of restricting Siyawush's immense authority as the head of the Sasanian army, a post which was disliked by the other nobles. Siyawush was executed, and his office was abolished. Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that full-scale warfare on the main eastern frontier broke out. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred to wage war by proxy, through
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
allies in the south and Huns in the north.
Persecution of Mazdak and his followers
Mazdak
Mazdak (, Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭦𐭣𐭪, also Mazdak the Younger; died c. 524 or 528) was an Iranian Zoroastrian '' mobad'' (priest) and religious reformer who gained influence during the reign of the Sasanian emperor Kavadh I. He claimed to ...
was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical teaching called
Mazdakism
Mazdakism ( Persian: مزدکیه) was an Iranian religion, which was an offshoot of Zoroastrianism.
The religion was founded in the early Sasanian Empire by Zaradust-e Khuragen, a Zoroastrian mobad who was a contemporary of Mani (d. 274) ...
, which opposed violence, and reportedly called for the sharing of wealth, women and property, an archaic form of
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. Mazdakism not only consisted of theological and cosmological aspects, but also political and social impacts, which was to the disadvantage of the nobility and clergy. According to modern historians
Touraj Daryaee and
Matthew Canepa, the charge of sharing women was most likely an overstatement and defamation deriving from Mazdak's decree that loosened marriage rules to help the lower classes. Powerful families saw this as a tactic to weaken their lineage and advantages, which was most likely the case. Kavad used the movement as a political tool to curb the power of the nobility and clergy. With the nobility and clergy weakened, Kavad was able to make reforms with less difficulty. By the 520s, Kavad's reforms were progressing smoothly, and he no longer had any use for Mazdak. As a result, he officially withdrew his support from the Mazdakites. A debate was arranged where not only the Zoroastrian priesthood, but also the Christian and Jewish ones slandered Mazdak and his followers.
According to the ''
Shahnameh
The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...
'', Kavad had Mazdak and his supporters sent to Khosrow, who had his supporters killed by burying their heads in a walled orchard, with only their feet being visible. Khosrow then summoned Mazdak to look at his garden, saying the following: "You will find trees there that no-one has ever seen and no-one ever heard of even from the mouth of the ancient sages." Mazdak, seeing his followers corpses, screamed and passed out. He was afterwards executed by Khosrow, who had his feet fastened on a
gallows
A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...
, and had his men shoot arrows at him. The validity of the story is uncertain; Ferdowsi used much earlier reports of events to write the ''Shahnameh'', and thus the story may report some form of contemporary memory.
Accession
The Eternal Peace of 532
In 531, while the Iranian army was
besieging Martyropolis, Kavad became ill and died. Khosrow succeeded him, but due to his domestic position being insecure, he wanted to make peace with the Byzantines, who themselves under Emperor
Justinian I
Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
(r. 527–565) were perhaps already more focused on recovering the lost
western half of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
than on pursuing war against Iran. The Byzantine envoys
Rufinus,
Hermogenes, Alexander and Thomas found Khosrow in a more conciliatory disposition than his father, and an agreement was soon reached. Justinian would pay 110 ''
centenaria'' (11,000 pounds) of gold, ostensibly as a contribution to the defence of the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
passes against the barbarians living beyond, and the base of the ''
dux Mesopotamiae'' would be withdrawn from the fortress of
Dara
Dara is a given name in several languages.
Dara, Daraa, or DARA may also refer to:
Geography Africa
* Dar'a, region in northern Ethiopia
* Dara (woreda), region in southern Ethiopia
Asia
* Dara (Mesopotamia), an archeological site in Mard ...
to the city of
Constantina
Flavia Valeria Constantina (also sometimes called ''Constantia'' and ''Constantiana''; ; b. after 307/before 317 – d. 354), later known as Saint Constance, was the eldest daughter of Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his second wife Faust ...
. The two rulers would recognize once again each other as equal and pledged mutual assistance. Khosrow initially refused to hand back the two
Lazic forts, while demanding the return of the two other forts the Byzantines had captured in Sasanian Armenia. Justinian at first agreed, but soon changed his mind, causing the agreement to be broken off. In summer 532, however, a new embassy by Hermogenes and Rufinus managed to persuade Khosrow for a full exchange of the occupied forts, as well as for allowing the exiled
Iberian rebels to either remain in the Byzantine Empire or return safely to their homes.
Consolidation of power
Sometime during the early reign of Khosrow, he had to deal with his eldest brother
Kawus
Kawus, recorded as Caoses by Procopius of Caesarea and Kayus () by early Islamic sources, was the eldest son of Kavadh I, the Sasanian emperor of Iran. During the late reign of his father, Kawus was appointed as governor of Tabaristan, and was ...
, who ruled as governor-king of the northern province of
Padishkhwargar. Unlike Khosrow, he was a Mazdakite (or at least had strong Mazdakite sympathies) and thus had their support as the candidate for the throne. Kawus asserted that he was the legitimate heir to the throne due to his older age. He was, however, defeated by Khosrow's forces and taken to
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...
, where Khosrow summoned the priests and urged Kawus to make confessions and ask for forgiveness so that he could be released. Kawus refused, preferring death, forcing Khosrow to have him killed. Khosrow reportedly "cursed the fortunes" for "forcing him to kill a brother like Kawus."
Another danger to Khosrow's rule was that of his uncle
Bawi, who, along with other members of the Iranian aristocracy, became involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Khosrow and make Kavad, the son of Khosrow's brother Jamasp, the shah of Iran. Upon learning of the plot, Khosrow executed all his brothers and their offspring, along with Bawi and the other aristocrats who were involved. Khosrow also ordered the execution of Kavad, who was still a child and was away from the court, being raised by
Adergoudounbades. Adergoudounbades disobeyed Khosrow's orders to kill Kavad and brought him up in secret, until he was betrayed to the shah in 541 by his own son, Bahram. Khosrow had him executed, but Kavad, or someone claiming to be him, managed to flee to the Byzantine Empire.
Reforms
Summary
Khosrow I represents the epitome of the
philosopher king
The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's ''Republic'', written around 375 BC. Plato argued that ...
in the Sasanian Empire. Upon his ascent to the throne, Khosrow did not restore power to the feudal nobility or the magi, but centralized his government. Khosrow's reign is considered to be one of the most successful within the Sasanian Empire. The peace agreement between Rome and Iran in 531 gave Khosrow the chance to consolidate power and focus his attention on internal improvement. His reforms and military campaigns marked a renaissance of the Sasanian Empire, which spread philosophic beliefs as well as trade goods from the
far east
The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
to the far west.
The internal reforms under Khosrow were much more important than those on the exterior frontier. The subsequent reforms resulted in the rise of a bureaucratic state at the expense of the great noble families, strengthening the
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...
and the power of the Shahanshah. The army too was reorganized and tied to the central government rather than local nobility allowing greater organization, faster mobilization and a far greater cavalry corps. Reforms in taxation provided the empire with stability and a much stronger economy, allowing prolonged military campaigns as well as greater revenues for the bureaucracy.
Tax reforms
Khosrow's tax reforms have been praised by several scholars, the most notable of whom is F. Altheim. The tax reforms, which were started under Kavad I and completely implemented by Khosrow, greatly strengthened the royal court. Prior to Khosrow and Kavad's reigns, a majority of the land was owned by
seven Parthian families:
Suren, Waraz,
Karen,
Ispahbudhan,
Spandiyadh,
Mihran and Zik. These great landowners enjoyed tax exemptions from the Sasanian empire, and were tax collectors within their local provincial areas.
With the outbreak of the Mazdakite revolution, there was a great uprising of peasants and lower-class citizens who grabbed large portions of land under egalitarian values. As a result of this there was great confusion on land possession and ownership. Khosrow surveyed all the land within the empire indiscriminately and began to tax all land under a single program. Tax revenues that previously went to the local noble family now went to the central government treasury. The fixed tax that Khosrow implemented created a more stable form of income for the treasury.
Because the tax did not vary, the treasury could easily estimate the year's revenue. Prior to Khosrow's tax reforms, taxes were collected based on the yield that the land had produced. The new system calculated and averaged taxation based on the water rights for each piece of property. Lands which grew
date palms and
olive trees
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of subtropical evergreen tree in the family Oleaceae. Originating in Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean Basin, with wild subspecies in Africa ...
used a slightly different method of taxation based on the amount of producing trees that the land contained. These tax reforms of Khosrow were the steppingstone which enabled subsequent reforms in the bureaucracy and the military to take place.
Administrative reforms
The hallmark of Khosrow's bureaucratic reform was the creation of a new social class. Before, the Sasanian Empire consisted of only three social classes, magi, nobles and peasants/commoners. Khosrow added a fourth class to this hierarchy between the nobles and the peasants, called the
''dehqans''. The ''dehqans'' were small landowning citizens of the Sasanian Empire and were considered lower nobility.
Khosrow promoted honest government officials based on trust and honesty, rather than corrupt nobles and magi. The small landowning ''dehqans'' were favored over the high-ranking nobles because they tended to be more trustworthy and owed their loyalty to the Shah for their position in the bureaucracy. The rise of the ''dehqans'' became the backbone of the empire because they now held the majority of land and positions in local and provincial administration.
The reduction of power of the great families improved the empire. This was because previously, each great family ruled a large chunk of land and had their own king. The name Shahanshah, meaning King of Kings, derived from the fact that there were many
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
kings in Sasanian Iran with the Shahanshah as the ruler of them all. Their fall meant their power was redirected to the central government and all taxes now went to the central government rather than to the local nobility.
Military reforms

Major reforms to the military made the Iranian army capable of fighting sustained wars, battling on multiple fronts, and deploy itself faster. Prior to Khosrow's reign, much like other aspects of the empire, the military was dependent on the feudal lords of the great families to provide soldiers and cavalry. Each family would provide their own army and equipment when called by the Shahanshah. This system was replaced with the emergence of the lower ''dehqan'' nobility class, who was paid and provided by the central government.
The main force of the Sasanian army was the cavalry, or
''aswaran''. Previously only nobles could enlist in the ''aswaran'', which created shortages in well-trained soldiers. Now that the ''dehqan'' class was considered nobility, they were able to join the cavalry force and boosted its number significantly.
The military reform focused more on organization and training of troops. The cavalry was still the most important aspect of the Iranian military, with foot archers being less important, and mass peasant forces being at the bottom of the spectrum.
Khosrow made four military districts with a ''
spahbed
''Spāhbad'' (also spelled ''spahbod'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbad'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Military of the Sasani ...
'', or general, in charge of each district. Before the reforms of Khosrow, the general of the Iranians (''
Eran-spahbed'') controlled the military of the entire empire. The four zones consisted of Mesopotamia in the west, the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
region in the north, the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
in the central and southwest region, and Central Asia in the east. This new quadripartition of the Empire not only created a more efficient military system but also "
dministrationof a vast, multiregional, multicultural, and multiracial empire".
Equipment
During Khosrow's reign, a "list" for equipment for the cavalry (''
aswaran'') was written. The list comprised a helmet, a gorget, a chain mail shirt, a lamellar coat or cuirass, leg armour, gauntlets, sword, shield, two bows with spare strings, 30 arrows, axe or mace, and horse armour.
Sasanian bullae showing the four ''spahbeds'' show that horses were still fully armoured during this period and heavy cavalry tactics were still used by the Sasanian cavalry. It is highly likely that the stirrup had been introduced to the Sasanian cavalry two centuries before Khosrow's reforms (and are mentioned in Bivar (1972)
), and a "stirruped" foot position can be seen on the Sasanian bullae and at Taq-e-Bostan.
Military campaigns
War with the Byzantine Empire, 540–562
Background
In 539 Khosrow had originally attempted to gain a ''
casus belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one bou ...
'' against the Byzantines by trying to take advantage of a disagreement between his
Lakhmid
The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Sawad, Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a d ...
clients and the Byzantine clients
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian state, Christian kingdom unde ...
, who both claimed ownership of the lands south of
Palmyra
Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...
, near the old ''
Strata Diocletiana''. His attempt was, however, thwarted when the Byzantines successfully equivocated the problem. Subsequently, Khosrow accused Justinian of trying to bribe the Lakhmid ruler
al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man () through his diplomat Summus, and also that he had emboldened some
Huns
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...
to make incursions into Iran. The Ghassanid ruler
al-Harith ibn Jabalah () invaded Mundhir's territory and carried off rich booty. Khosrow complained to Justinian about this incident, and requested that the stolen riches be returned to him, including payment for the Arabs that had been killed during the attack. His request was, however, ignored. This incident, along with the support by an emissary from the
Ostrogoth
The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...
king
Vitiges
Vitiges (also known as Vitigis, Vitigo, Witiges or Wittigis, and in Old Norse as Vigo) (died 542) was king of Ostrogothic Italy from 536 to 540. He succeeded to the throne of Italy in the early stages of the Gothic War of 535–554, as Belisa ...
, and the Armenians living in Byzantine territory being dissatisfied with their rule, encouraged Khosrow to renew the war against the Byzantines. Justinian's ceaseless wars in
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
must have contributed to Khosrow's aspirations as well. Justinian, informed of Khosrow's intention for war, tried to dissuade him, but to no avail.
Sasanian invasion of Syria
In May 540, Khosrow invaded the domains of the Byzantines; he avoided the fortress of
Circesium
Circesium ( ', ), known in Arabic as al-Qarqisiya, was a Roman fortress city near the junction of the Euphrates and Khabur rivers, located at the empire's eastern frontier with the Sasanian Empire. Procopius calls it the "farthest fortress" (φ ...
, and instead approached
Zenobia
Septimia Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία, Palmyrene Aramaic: , ; 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the ...
, where he made a lukewarm attempt to persuade the fortress to surrender, which proved unsuccessful. He then proceeded to
Sura
A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' ( al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while the ...
and killed its commander Arsaces in battle. Demoralized by the death of their commander, the residents sent their bishop to parley with Khosrow. Feigning to accept the plea of the bishop, Khosrow took advantage of the occasion and captured the city, which was shortly sacked.
Germanus, the cousin of Justinian, sent the bishop of
Beroea, Megas, to negotiate with Khosrow. Regardless, Khosrow continued his expedition, threatening the city of
Hierapolis
Hierapolis (; , lit. "Holy City") was a Hellenistic Greek city built on the site of a Phrygian cult center of the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, in Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It was famous for its hot springs, its high qualit ...
, whose custodians swiftly paid him of silver to leave the city untouched. After receiving additional pleas by Megas, Khosrow agreed to end his expedition in return for ten ''
centenaria''. While Megas went back to
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
to inform Germanus of Khosrow's demands, the latter approached Beroea, which he had sacked. In June, Khosrow reached Antioch, where he offered its citizens to not attack the city in return for ten ''centenaria''. His offer was rejected, and as a result he captured and sacked the city.
Justinian sued for peace, and made a treaty with Khosrow that the Iranians would withdraw back to their domains in return for a payment of 50 ''centenaria'' plus 5 ''centenaria'' extra each year. Part of treaty also included that the Byzantine envoys were to be hostages of Khosrow as an assurance that the Byzantines would honor the agreement. However, before departing, Khosrow went to the port of Antioch,
Seleucia Pieria, where he bathed in the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
. He then told the envoys that he wished to visit the city of
Apamea out of interest, which they reluctantly allowed him, with the condition that he would leave for his domains afterwards.
[Procopius]
XI
There he held chariot races, where he made the Blue Faction—which was supported by Justinian—lose against the rival Greens.
Khosrow extracted tribute from Apamea and other Byzantine towns, at which point Justinian called off his truce and prepared to send his commander
Belisarius
BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...
to move against the Sasanians.
Lazic War

In spring 541, Khosrow brought his army north to
Lazica
The Kingdom of Lazica (; ; ), sometimes called Lazian Empire, was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman era, Georgia in the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colc ...
on request of the Lazic king
Gubazes II to repel the Byzantines from his territory. The fortress of
Petra
Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...
was afterwards
captured by Khosrow's forces, and a protectorate was established over the country. At the same time,
Belisarius
BelisariusSometimes called Flavia gens#Later use, Flavius Belisarius. The name became a courtesy title by the late 4th century, see (; ; The exact date of his birth is unknown. March 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under ...
arrived in Mesopotamia and
began besieging the city of
Nisibis
Nusaybin () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,079 km2, and its population is 115,586 (2022). The city is populated by Kurds of different tribal affiliation.
Nusaybin is separated ...
. Although Belisarius had greatly outnumbered the city garrison, the city was too well fortified and he was forced to
ravage the country around the Nisibis, subsequently getting recalled back west. After
successful campaigns in Armenia, Khosrow was encouraged once again to attack Syria. Khosrow turned south towards
Edessa
Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
and
besieged the city. Edessa was now a much more important city than Antioch was, and the garrison which occupied the city was able to resist the siege. The Iranians were forced to retreat from Edessa, but were able to forge a five-year truce with the Byzantine Empire in 545. Three years into the five-year truce (548), rebellion against Sasanian control broke out in Lazica. In response, a Byzantine army was sent to support the people of Lazica, effectively ending the established truce and thus continuing the Lazic Wars.
Sometime later, Khosrow, who was keen to wrest Dara from Byzantine control, and would do so even if he risked to break the truce they had made regarding Mesopotamia, tried to capture it by tricking them; he sent one of highest officials,
Izadgushasp, as a diplomat to
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, but in reality the latter would stop by Dara, and with the aid of his large crew, he would seize the city. However, this plan was prevented by a former adviser of Belisarius named George, who demanded that if Izadgushasp should enter the city he should have only twenty members of his crew with him. Izadgushasp then left the city and continued his journey to Constantinople, where he was amicably welcomed by Justinian, who gave him some gifts.
In 549 the previous truce between Justinian and Khosrow was disregarded and full war broke out once again between Iranians and Romans. The last major decisive battle of the Lazic wars came in 556 when Byzantine general Martin defeated a massive Sasanian force led by an Iranian ''nakhvaegan'' (field marshal). Negotiations between Khosrow and Justinian opened in 556, leading to the
Fifty-Year Peace Treaty in 562 in which Iranians would leave Lazica in return for an annual payment of gold.
According to ancient historian Menander Protector, a minor official in Justinian's court, there were 12 points to the treaty, stated in the following passage:
War in the East

With a stable peace agreement with the Byzantines in the west, Khosrow was now able to focus his attention on the eastern Hephthalites and end their domination over
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
. Even with the growth of Iranian military power under Khosrow's reforms, the Sasanians were still uneasy at the prospect of attacking the
Hephthalite
The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to 8th centuries CE, ...
on their own and began to seek allies. Their answer came in the form of
Turkic incursions into Central Asia. The movement of Turkic people into Central Asia very quickly made them natural enemies and competitors to the Hephthalites.
The Hephthalites were a strong military power but they lacked the organization to fight on multiple fronts. The Sasanians and the
First Turkic Khaganate
The First Turkic Khaganate, also referred to as the First Turkic Empire, the Turkic Khaganate or the Göktürk Khaganate, was a Turkic khaganate established by the Ashina clan of the Göktürks in medieval Inner Asia under the leadership of Bu ...
made an alliance and in 557 launched a two pronged attack on the Hephthalites, taking advantage of their disorganization and disunity. The Hephthalite Empire was destroyed after the
battle of Gol-Zarriun
The Battle of Gol-Zarriun, also known as Battle of Bukhara, took place in c. 560 when the Sasanian Empire and the First Turkic Khaganate allied with each other against the Hephthalite Empire.
Context
In 484, Peroz I, the grandfather of Khosrow I ...
, and broke into several minor kingdoms around the Oxus. The Hephthalite king Ghadfar and what was left of his men fled southward to Sasanian territory, where they took refuge. Meanwhile, the Turkic
Khagan
Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...
Sinjibu reached an agreement with the Hephthalite nobility, and appointed
Faghanish, the ruler of
Chaghaniyan, as the new Hephthalite king.

This was much to the dislike of Khosrow, who considered the Turkic collaboration with the Hephthalites to pose a danger for his rule in the east, and thus marched towards the Sasanian-Turkic border in
Gurgan. When he reached the place, he was met by a Turkic delegate of Sinjibu that presented him gifts. There Khosrow asserted his authority and military potency, and persuaded the Turks to make an alliance with him. The alliance contained a treaty that made it obligatory for Faghanish to be sent to the Sasanian court in
Ctesiphon
Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...
and gain the approval of Khosrow for his status as Hephthalite king. Faghanish and his kingdom of Chaghaniyan thus became a vassal of the Sasanian Empire, which set the
Oxus
The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...
as the eastern frontier the Sasanians and Turks. However, friendly relations between Turks and Sasanians quickly deteriorated after that. Both Turks and Iranians wanted to dominate the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
and the trade industry between the west and the far east. In 562 Khosrow II defeated the
Hephthalites
The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...
once again, and then stopped the threat of the Turks.
In 568 a Turkic embassy was sent to Byzantine to propose an alliance and two pronged attack on the Sasanian Empire. Fortunately for the Sasanians, nothing ever came from this proposal. Later in 569/570, Sinjibu attacked and pillaged Sasanian border lands, but a treaty was soon signed. Khosrow then sent a
Mihranid The Mihranids were an Iranian peoples, Iranian family which ruled several regions of Caucasus from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of Sasanian, Sasanian Persian descent but were of Parthian origin.
History
The dynasty was founded when a certain Mi ...
named
Mihransitad, to estimate the quality of the daughter of the Turkic Khagan. According to Armenian sources her name was Kayen, while Persian sources states that her name was Qaqim-khaqan. After Mihransitad's visit in
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, Khosrow married Qaqim-khaqan. According to some sources,
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 ...
, the successor of Khosrow, was the son of the Turkic princess. However, ''
Encyclopædia Iranica
''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times.
Scope
The ''Encyc ...
'' states that the "marriage with the daughter of the Turkic khaqan is chronologically impossible", and says that Hormizd was born in 540, thirty years before Khosrow's marriage.
Campaign in Yemen against Abyssinia
In 522, before Khosrow's reign, a group of miaphysite
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
ns led an attack on the dominant
Himyarites of southern Arabia. The local Arab leader blunted the attack, and appealed to the Sasanians for aid, while the Ethiopians subsequently turned towards the Byzantines for help. The Ethiopians sent another force across the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
, killed the Arab leader, and crowned an Ethiopian king of the region.
In 531, Justinian suggested that the Ethiopians of
Yemen
Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
end the Sasanians maritime trade with the Indians. The Ethiopians never met this request because an Ethiopian general named
Abraha took control of the Yemenite throne and created an independent nation. After Abraha's death one of his sons, Ma'd-Karib, went into exile while his half-brother took the throne. After being denied by Justinian, Ma'd-Karib sought help from Khosrow, who sent a small fleet and army under commander
Vahrez to depose the current king of Yemen. After capturing the capital city San'a'l, Ma'd-Karib's son, Saif enthroned.
Justinian was ultimately responsible for Sasanian maritime presence in Yemen. By not providing the Yemenite Arabs support, Khosrow was able to help Ma'd-Karib and subsequently established Yemen as a principality of the Sasanian Empire.
War with the Byzantine Empire, 572–591
Justinian died in 565 and left
Justin II
Justin II (; ; died 5 October 578) was Eastern Roman emperor from 565 until 578. He was the nephew of Justinian I and the husband of Sophia, the niece of Justinian's wife Theodora.
Justin II inherited a greatly enlarged but overextended empir ...
to succeed the throne. In 555, the Sasanian governor of Armenia and a relative of Khosrow,
Chihor-Vishnasp (also known as Suren), built a fire temple at the Armenian capital
Dvin and put to death a popular and influential member of the
Mamikonian family. This execution created tremendous civil unrest and led to a revolt and massacre of the governor including the capture of Dvin in 572. Justin II took advantage of this revolt and used it as an excuse to stop paying annual payments to Khosrow, effectively putting an end to the 51 year peace treaty that was established ten years earlier. Khosrow, who tried to avoid another war, sent a Christian diplomat named Sebokht to Constantinople in order to try to persuade Justin to change his mind. Justin, however, refused to listen to the diplomat, and prepared to help the Armenians, whom he considered his allies, in their war against Khosrow. A Byzantine army was sent into Sasanian territory and besieged Nisibis in the same year.
Meanwhile, Khosrow sent an army under
Golon Mihran to Armenia, but the latter was defeated in
Taron by the Armenian rebel leader Vardan III Mamikonian, who captured his war elephants as war booty. Sometime later, however, Golon Mihran managed to seize
Angl. During the same time, the
Siunian prince Vahan asked for Khosrow's permission that he could move his court from Dvin to the capital of
Paytakaran, a region in eastern Armenia. Furthermore, Vahan also requested that Paytakaran should be merged with the
Adurbadagan
Adurbadagan (Middle Persian: ''Ādurbādagān/Āδarbāyagān'', Parthian: ''Āturpātākān'') was a northwestern province in the Sasanian Empire, corresponding almost entirely to the present-day Azerbaijan region in Iran. Governed by a ''marzba ...
province. Khosrow accepted, and did what he asked.
In 573, Khosrow sent an army under
Adarmahan to invade
Syria
Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
, while he himself along with the three
Mihranid The Mihranids were an Iranian peoples, Iranian family which ruled several regions of Caucasus from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of Sasanian, Sasanian Persian descent but were of Parthian origin.
History
The dynasty was founded when a certain Mi ...
military officers
Izadgushasp,
Fariburz and
Bahram Chobin
Bahrām Chōbīn () or Wahrām Chōbēn (Middle Persian: ; died 591), also known by his epithet Mehrbandak ("servant of Mithra"), was a nobleman, general, and political leader of the late Sasanian Empire and briefly its ruler as Bahram VI ().
So ...
led an army towards
Dara
Dara is a given name in several languages.
Dara, Daraa, or DARA may also refer to:
Geography Africa
* Dar'a, region in northern Ethiopia
* Dara (woreda), region in southern Ethiopia
Asia
* Dara (Mesopotamia), an archeological site in Mard ...
, where they captured the city after four months, while Adarmahan sacked several cities in Syria, which included
Apamea. Justin reportedly lost his mind after these Byzantine disasters, and abdicated.
He was succeeded by
Tiberius
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...
, a high-ranking military officer in 578. Khosrow invaded Armenia once again feeling that he had the upper hand, and was initially successful. Soon after, the tables turned and the Byzantines gained a lot of local support. This made the Sasanians attempt another truce. However, sometime later, Khosrow, with an army consisting of 12,000 Iranian soldiers including a combined of
Sabir-
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
soldiers numbering 8,000 sent by his allies, ravaged the places around
Resaina and
Constantia in Syria, thus turning the tables once more. During the same time, one of Khosrow's chief generals,
Tamkhosrau, managed to trick Maurice by faking an invasion of Theodosiopolis, and then plundered the countryside of
Martyropolis and
Amida.
However, the tables of the war quickly turned again when the newly appointed Byzantine supreme-commander
Maurice entered the field and captured many Sasanian settlements. The revolt came to an end when Khosrow gave amnesty to Armenia and brought them back into the Sasanian empire. Peace negotiations were once again brought back up, but abruptly ended with the death of Khosrow in 579, who was succeeded by his son
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 ...
.
Religious policy

Khosrow, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...
. 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)."
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
and notably Christians had accepted the concept of Iran and considered themselves part of the nation. By the time of Khosrow, the leader of the
Church of the East
The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches o ...
had the title of "
Catholicos of Iran" (''Ērān Cathollicos'').
Sasanian monarchs only persecuted other religions when it was in their urgent political interests to do. This also applied to Khosrow, who, in the words of Eberhard Sauer, had to "walk a fine line". Khosrow himself used the church considerably, and was fond of its
Patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...
,
Aba I, whom he wanted to defend against the Zoroastrian priests. Nevertheless, Aba was accused of working with the Byzantines, which was a serious allegation due to the war that had begun in 540. Consequently, in 542, Aba was dismissed from his post, but was only exiled instead of being executed.
Khosrow even enjoyed good relations with
Gregory, the
Mihranid The Mihranids were an Iranian peoples, Iranian family which ruled several regions of Caucasus from 330 to 821. They claimed to be of Sasanian, Sasanian Persian descent but were of Parthian origin.
History
The dynasty was founded when a certain Mi ...
commander of the Iranian troops in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, who had showily disowned Zoroastrianism in front of other troops massed at a feast in 518. This resulted in discontent amongst members of the court, who pressured Khosrow to deal with an apostate from such a powerful and influential family, stating that "It is a great dishonor for the religion of the
Magi
Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...
ans that such a great man from the lineage of the house of Mihran, who have always been servants of
Ohrmazd, now becomes a servant of
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
." Khosrow was thus forced to have Gregory relieved and incarcerated, yet the Mihranids deemed Khosrow's choice insufficient. A son of Gregory's paternal uncle, Mihran, asked Khosrow to execute Gregory for "bringing dishonor to our lineage". The latter was in a good position to make such request, due to recently having defeated the Hephthalites in the east; Gregory was eventually executed.
Khosrow did however deal harshly and swiftly with people with of any belief or practice that ran contrary to Sasanian-mediated Zoroastrian orthodoxy. Aberrance in ceremony and principle exceeded
apostasy
Apostasy (; ) is the formal religious disaffiliation, disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that is contrary to one's previous re ...
as "a social and political evil in undermining the foundations of the imperial religion (Payne)." According to Khosrow's supposed autobiographical work of ''Sirat Anushirwan'', he had a party of nobles practicing unorthodoxy executed instantly when he found out about them. According to the book, Khosrow also had another group−supposedly
Manichaeans−banished from Iran. This was due to the royal anxieties regarding the chance of religious rogues to upset the political structure, which had recently occurred during Kavad and Khosrow's reigns by the Mazdakites.
Constructions

Khosrow is known to have ordered many public works projects during his long reign, such bridges, roads, dams and walls. To protect the frontiers of Iran, Khosrow had a sequence of walls built (and fortified) around his empire, much like the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...
and
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
in
Northern England
Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
.
[; ] Instead of constructing it on one side of the empire, he had it on four. According to Middle Persian sources, Khosrow I ordered the construction of the
Great Wall of Gorgan, which extended from the eastern coast of the
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
to block incursions by nomadic tribes, such as the
Hephthalites
The Hephthalites (), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit and Prakrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during the 5th to ...
.
In the northwest, he had the
Derbent Wall further fortified to protect the area from incursions by
Alans
The Alans () were an ancient and medieval Iranian peoples, Iranic Eurasian nomads, nomadic pastoral people who migrated to what is today North Caucasus – while some continued on to Europe and later North Africa. They are generally regarded ...
, Turks,
Sarirs,
Khazars
The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...
, and other northern neighbours.
Another wall was constructed in the southwest, called the ''war-i tāzigān'' ("wall of the Arabs"). He may have also built another wall in the northeast−the
Wall of Tammisha. Besides defense structures, Khosrow also had a large-scale canal system created in
Asoristan, known in Islamic sources as the
Nahrawan Canal. Out of all his constructions, his most memorable and noteworthy achievement was the palace he had made at Ctesiphon, known as the
Taq-e Kasra. The palace, still standing to this day, albeit heavily ruined, portrays one of the empire's most remarkable architectural accomplishments.
After the sack of Antioch in 540, Khosrow built a new city one ''
parasang
The parasang, also known as a farsakh (from Arabic), is a historical Iranian peoples, Iranian unit of Walking distance measure, walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the ...
'' () south of Ctesiphon for the inhabitants he had captured. It was located on the eastern bank of the
Tigris
The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...
, and was officially named ''
Weh-andīōg-husraw'' ("City Better than Antioch
asKhosrow
uilt this or "Khosrow's Better Antioch"). The city reportedly had
public bath
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...
s and a
hippodrome
Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances".
The term hippodroming refers to fr ...
, and a street program modelled on Antioch. The Christian population was granted freedom of religion and burial. The city was known informally as Rumagan ("Town of the Greeks"), which later became ar-Rumiyya under the
Caliphate
A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
. The remains of the city are most likely situated at the unexcavated place that is still known as Bustan Kisra ("Gardens of Khosrow").
File:Great Wall of Gorgan 20160522 05.jpg, Remains of the Great Wall of Gorgan
File:Gorgan-e-Difar.svg, Map illustrating the extent of the Great Wall of Gorgan
File:Дербентская цитадель. Дербент.jpg, Wall of the Derbent citadel
File:Mauer von Derbend.jpg, Map of the Sasanian fortifications at Derbent, by Roderich von Erckert
Coinage
The Sassanian revival took place under his rule, so Khosrow minted such inscriptions on his especial issue
coinage as "Iranians have become fearless" (''ērān abē-bēm kard''), and "Iranians became strong" (''ērān abzonhēnēd'').
Philosopher King
Khosrow I was admired, both in Iran and elsewhere, for his character, virtues, and knowledge of Greek philosophy. He was identified by some Romans as the true
philosopher king
The philosopher king is a hypothetical ruler in whom political skill is combined with philosophical knowledge. The concept of a city-state ruled by philosophers is first explored in Plato's ''Republic'', written around 375 BC. Plato argued that ...
.
Khosrow I was known to be a great patron of philosophy and knowledge. An entry in the
Chronicle of Séert reads: Khosrow I is known for saying a philosophic quote that follows:
Khosrow I accepted refugees coming from the Eastern Roman Empire when Justinian closed the neo-Platonist schools in Athens in 529. He was greatly interested in Indian philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicine. He sent multiple embassies and gifts to the Indian court and requested them to send back philosophers to teach in his court in return. Khosrow made many translations of texts from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, and
Syriac into
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
. He received the title of "Plato's Philosopher King" by the Greek refugees that he allowed into his empire because of his great interest in
Platonic philosophy
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary Platonists do not necessarily accept all doctrines of Plato. Platonism has had a profound effect on Western thought. At the most fundame ...
.
Nöldeke states that Khosrow I was "certainly one of the most efficient and best kings that the
Iranians have ever had".
A synthesis of Greek, Iranian, Indian, and Armenian learning traditions took place within the Sasanian Empire. One outcome of this synthesis created what is known as
''bimaristan'', the first hospital that introduced a concept of segregating wards according to pathology. Greek pharmacology fused with Iranian and Indian traditions resulted in significant advances in medicine. According to historian Richard Frye, this great influx of knowledge created a renaissance during and after Khosrow's reign.
Intellectual games such as
chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
and
backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...
demonstrated and celebrated the diplomatic relationship between Khosrow and a "great king of India." The
vizier
A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
of the Indian king invented chess as a cheerful, playful challenge to King Khosrow. It seems that the Indian ruler who sent the game of chess to Khosrow was the
Maukhari
The Maukhari dynasty ( Gupta script: , ''Mau-kha-ri'') was a post- Gupta dynasty who controlled the vast plains of Ganga-Yamuna for over six generations from their capital at Kanyakubja. They earlier served as vassals of the Guptas and later ...
King
Śarvavarman of
Kannauj
Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...
, between the beginning of Śarvavarman's reign in 560/565 and the end of Khosrow's reign in 579.
When the game was sent to Iran it came with a letter which read: "As your name is the King of Kings, all your emperorship over us connotes that your wise men should be wiser than ours. Either you send us an explanation of this game of chess or send revenue and tribute us." Khosrow's grand vizier successfully solved the riddle and figured out how to play chess. In response the wise vizier created the game backgammon and sent it to the Indian court with the same message. The Indian king was not able to solve the riddle and was forced to pay tribute.
Academy of Gondishapur

Khosrow I is known to have greatly expanded the
Academy of Gondishapur, located in the city of
Gundeshapur
Gundeshapur (, ''Weh-Andiōk-Ŝābuhr''; New Persian: , ''Gondēshāpūr'') was the intellectual centre of the Sassanid Empire and the home of the Academy of Gundeshapur, founded by Sassanid Emperor Shapur I. Gundeshapur was home to a teaching hos ...
.
As to the development of non-religious knowledge and research in Iran and apart from historical evidence given on such traditions in the preceding Iranian Empires, there are reports on systematic activities initiated by the Sasanian court as early as in the first decades of Sasanian rule. The
Middle Persian
Middle Persian, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg ( Inscriptional Pahlavi script: , Manichaean script: , Avestan script: ) in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasania ...
compendium ''
Denkard
The ''Dēnkard'' or ''Dēnkart'' (Middle Persian: 𐭣𐭩𐭭𐭪𐭠𐭫𐭲 "Acts of Religion") is a 10th-century compendium of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs during the time. The ''Denkard'' has been called an "Encyclopedia of Mazdaism" an ...
'' states that during the reign of
Shapur I
Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; ) was the second Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The precise dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardashir I as co-regent u ...
writings of this kind were collected and added to the
Avesta
The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...
. And an atmosphere of vivid reflection and discussion at the early Sasanian court in the third century AD is reflected in such accounts.
The foundation of the Academy of Gondishapur introduced the studies of philosophy, medicine, physics, poetry, rhetoric, and astronomy into the Sasanian court.
According to some historical accounts, this famous learning center was built in order to provide a place for incoming Greek refugees to study and share their knowledge. Gundeshapur became the focal point of the combination of Greek and Indian sciences along with Iranian and
Syriac traditions. The cosmopolitan which was introduced by the institution of Gondishapur became a catalyst for modern studies.
Legacy

Although Khosrow's achievements were highly successful and helped centralize the empire, they did not last long after his death. The local officials and great noble families resented the fact that their power had been stripped away from them and began to quickly regain power after his death. Khosrow's reign had a major impact on
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic culture and political life. Many of his policies and reforms were brought into the Islamic nation in their transformation from a decentralized confederation into a centralized empire.
There are a considerable number of Islamic works that were inspired by the reign of Khosrow I, for example the ''Kitab al-Taj'' of
Jahiz. The high number of Islamic texts referring to Khosrow's reign can make it hard to distinguish fact from fallacy.
During his reign the Silk Road between ancient China, India and the western world was promoted and possibly even created. Richard Frye argues that Khosrow's rationale behind his numerous wars with the Byzantine empire as well as the eastern Hephthalites was to establish the Sasanian dominance on this trade route.
Family tree
Notes
References
Bibliography
Ancient works
*
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea (; ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; ; – 565) was a prominent Late antiquity, late antique Byzantine Greeks, Greek scholar and historian from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman general Belisarius in Justinian I, Empe ...
, ''History of the Wars''.
Modern works
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khosrow 01
510s births
579 deaths
6th-century Sasanian monarchs
People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars
People from Ardestan
Shahnameh characters
Abyssinian–Persian wars
Lazic War
Tax reform
Law reform
Military reforms
Reformers
Social reformers
City founders