Shapur IV ( ''Šāhpuhr''), was king of

Sasanian Armenia Sasanian Armenia, also known as Persian Armenia and Persarmenia ( – ''Parskahayastan''), may either refer to the periods in which Armenia ( – ''Armin'') was under the suzerainty of the Sasanian Empire or specifically to the parts of Armeni ...

from 415 to 420, who briefly ruled 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 420. The only witnesses to this brief reign are the 5th century Armenian historians Łazar Pʿarpecʿi and Movses Khorenatsʿi, and the Mandaean '' Book of Kings'', in which he appears as "King Shābur, son of Yazdiger."

Biography

Shapur IV was the son of

Yazdegerd I Yazdegerd I (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; ) was the Sasanian King of Kings () of Iran from 399 to 420. A son of Shapur III (), he succeeded his brother Bahram IV () after the latter's assassination. Yazdegerd I's largely-uneventful reig ...

and Shushandukht, and had two brothers named

Bahram V Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; ), also known as Bahram Gur (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager unter), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438. The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah Ya ...

and Narse. At the death of the Arsacid Armenian king Khosrov IV, Yazdegerd I decided to give the royal crown of Armenia to his eldest son Shapur IV, instead of giving it to Khosrov's nephew,

Artaxias IV Artaxias IV or Artashir IV () was a prince who served as a Sasanid client king of eastern Armenia from 422 until 428. Artaxias IV was the last Arsacid king of Armenia and the last person to hold the crown of the ancient Armenian Kingdom. Fami ...

. During Shapur's reign in Armenia, he concentrated on reconciliation and established friendly relations with the nobles. He made every effort to convert the Christian Armenians to

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, ...

, but was largely unsuccessful. Rawlinson 1882, p.278. In 420, Yazdegerd I was murdered by the Sasanian nobles at

Hyrcania Hyrcania (; ''Hyrkanía'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea ...

, Nöldeke, p. 77 and 78 which made Shapur quickly leave Armenia and arrive at

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 ...

to claim the Sasanian throne. However, he only managed to reign during a short time, until he was murdered by the nobles and the clergy, who sought to expel all the sons of Yazdegerd I.''Bahrām V Gōr'', O. Klíma, Encyclopaedia Iranica
/ref> After the murder of Shapur, the nobles elected another Sasanian prince, Khosrau, the son of Bahram IV, as king of the

Coinage

The coin minted by Shapur IV is different from the common Sasanian coins. The image of the Sassanid emperor is usually included on the front of the coin, but on the reverse side of the coin, instead of the fire altar and its two attendantss, the image of Shapur IV with an unusual hat decorated with two ram's horns can be seen. On the margin of the coin, next to the image of Shapur, there are inscriptions in

Pahlavi script Pahlavi may refer to: Iranian royalty *Seven Parthian clans, ruling Parthian families during the Sasanian Empire *Pahlavi dynasty, the ruling house of Imperial State of Persia/Iran from 1925 until 1979 ** Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878–1944), Shah of ...

, which translate as follows: "šhpwhry zy lba 'lmn'n mlk" which can be translated: Shahpur the great king of the Armenians. The mintage date of the coin is also unknown, but it is clear from the evidence that it was minted between 414 and 420 AD. In this coin, there is no sign of Zoroastrian ritual elements (the fire and its attendants).

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{Sassanid Rulers 420 deaths 5th-century Sasanian monarchs Year of birth unknown Murdered Persian monarchs Sasanian governors of Armenia 5th-century murdered monarchs