Shirin (; died 628) was wife of the Sasanian emperor

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 ...

(). In the revolution after the death of Khosrow's father

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 General

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 ...

took power over the Persian empire. Shirin fled with Khosrow to

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 ...

, where they lived under the protection of

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Maurice. In 591, Khosrow returned to Persia to take control of the empire and Shirin was made queen. She used her new influence to support the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

minority in

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 ...

, but the political situation demanded that she do so discreetly. Initially, she belonged to 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 ...

but later she joined the

miaphysite Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature (''physis'', ). It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the Dyophysitism of the ...

church 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 ...

, now known as the

Syriac Orthodox Church The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...

. After the

Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem The Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem in early 614 was a significant event in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. After the conquest of Jerusalem and the defeat of the Byzantines, Khosrow II ordered to transfer the true cross to Tisophon. ...

of 614 amidst the

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, also called the Last Great War of Antiquity, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the final and most devastating conflict of the Roman–Persian wars (54 BCAD&n ...

, the Sasanians captured the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and brought it to their capital

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 Shirin took the cross in her palace. Long after her death Shirin became an important heroine of

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

, as a model of a faithful lover and wife. She appears in 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 ...

'' and the romance ''

Khosrow and Shirin ''Khosrow and Shirin'' () is a romantic Epic poetry, epic poem by the Persians, Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi (1141–1209). It is the second work of his set of five poems known collectively as Khamsa of Nizami, ''Khamsa''. It tells a highly el ...

'' by

Nizami Ganjavi Nizami Ganjavi (; c. 1141 – 1209), Nizami Ganje'i, Nizami, or Nezāmi, whose formal name was Jamal ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakkī,Mo'in, Muhammad(2006), "Tahlil-i Haft Paykar-i Nezami", Tehran.: p. 2: Some commentators h ...

(1141−1209), and is referred to in very many other works. Her elaborated story in literature bears little or no resemblance to the fairly few known historical facts of her life, although her Christianity and difficulties after the assassination of her husband remain part of the story, as well as Khosrow's exile before he regained his throne. After their first accidental meeting, when Khosrow was initially unaware of her identity, their courtship takes a number of twists and turns, with the pair often apart, that occupy most of the story. After Khosrow's son kills him, the son demands that Shirin marry him, which she avoids by committing suicide.

Origin

The background of Shirin is uncertain. According to the 7th-century

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

historian

Sebeos Sebeos () was the reputed author of a 7th-century Armenian history. As this authorship attribution is widely accepted to be false (pseudepigraphical), the author is frequently referred to as Pseudo-Sebeos. Though his name is not known, he was likel ...

(died after 661), she was a native of

Khuzistan Khuzestan province () is one of the 31 Provinces of Iran. Located in the southwest of the country, the province borders Iraq and the Persian Gulf, covering an area of . Its capital is the city of Ahvaz. Since 2014, it has been part of Iran's ...

in southwestern Iran. However, two Syriac chronicles state that she was "Aramean" i.e., from the region of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

. The Persian historian Mirkhvand (died 1498), writing much later, states that she used to be a servant in a Persian house which Khosrow II used to regularly visit during his teens. The 11th-century Persian epic ''

'' ("The Book of Kings") of

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 ...

(died 1019/1025), which was based on 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 ...

text ''

Khwaday-Namag ''Khwadāy-Nāmag'' (New Persian: ; ) is the hypothetical title of a lost Middle Persian history of Iran from the Sasanian era. It presumably encompassed the legendary and mythical history of Iran from the beginning of time until the Sasanian pe ...

'' ("Book of Lords"), states that Shirin was already married to Khosrow II by the time he fled to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

. None of these reports are substantiated by earlier sources, which may indicate that they were later established legends. The early 7th-century Byzantine historian

Theophylact Simocatta Theophylact Simocatta (Byzantine Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Σιμοκάτ(τ)ης ''Theophýlaktos Simokát(t)ēs''; ) was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity, writing in ...

does not mention the names of the two women who fled with Khosrow II. The tradition identifying Shirin as

is false and appears to be of later origin.

Marriage

The earliest source mentioning Shirin is the Ecclesiastical history of

Evagrius Scholasticus Evagrius Scholasticus () was a Syrian scholar and intellectual living in the 6th century AD, and an aide to the patriarch Gregory of Antioch. His surviving work, ''Ecclesiastical History'' (), comprises a six-volume collection concerning the Chu ...

, where she is mentioned as "Sira". It preserves a letter sent by Khosrau II to the shrine of Saint Sergius in

Resafa Resafa (), sometimes spelled Rusafa, and known in the Byzantine era as Sergiopolis ( or , ) and briefly as Anastasiopolis (, ), was a city located in the Roman province of Euphratensis, in modern-day Syria. It is an archaeological site situated so ...

. One dated to 592/593 includes the following passage:Baum (2004), p. 30-32 "At the time when I hosrau IIwas at Beramais, I begged of thee, O holy one, that thou wouldest come to my aid, and that Sira might conceive: and inasmuch as Sira was a

and I a heathen, and our law forbids us to have a Christian wife, nevertheless, on account of my favourable feelings towards thee, I disregarded the law as respects her, and among my wives I have constantly esteemed, and do still esteem her as peculiarly mine."Evagrius Scholasticus, "Ecclesiastical History". Book 6, Chapter XXI (21). 1846 translation by E. Walford.
/ref> "Thus I resolved to request of thy goodness, O Saint, that she might conceive: and I made the request with a vow, that, if Sira should conceive, I would send the

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

she wears to thy venerable sanctuary. On this account both I and Sira purposed to retain this cross in memory of thy name, O Saint, and in place of it to send five thousand

stater The stater (; ) was an ancient coin used in various regions of Greece. The term is also used for similar coins, imitating Greek staters, minted elsewhere in ancient Europe. History The stater, as a Greek silver currency, first as ingots, and ...

s, as its value, which does not really exceed four thousand four hundred staters. From the time that I conceived this request and these intentions, until I reached Rhosochosron, not more than ten days elapsed, when thou, O Saint, not on account of my worthiness but thy kindness, appearedst to me in a

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

of the night and didst thrice tell me that Sira should conceive, while, in the same vision, thrice I replied, It is well." "From that day forward Sira has not experienced the custom of women, because thou art the granter of requests; though I, had I not believed thy words, and that thou art holy and the granter of requests, should have doubted that she would not thenceforward experience the custom of women. From this circumstance I was convinced of the power of the vision and the truth of thy words, and accordingly forthwith sent the same cross and its value to thy venerable sanctuary, with directions that out of that sum should be made a disc, and a cup for the purposes of the divine mysteries, as also a cross to be fixed upon the holy table, and a censer, all of gold: also a Hunnish veil adorned with gold. Let the surplus of the sum belong to thy sanctuary, in order that by virtue of thy fortune, O saint, thou mayest come to the aid of me and Sira in all matters, and especially with respect to this petition; and that what has been already procured for us by thy intercession, may be consummated according to the compassion of thy goodness, and the desire of me and Sira; so that both of us, and all persons in the world, may trust in thy power and continue to believe in thee."

gives a similar account with additional information. "In the following year the Persian king hosrau IIproclaimed as queen Seirem hirinwho was of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

birth and Christian religion, and of an age blossoming for marriage, slept with her. ... "In the third year he entreated Sergius, the most efficacious in Persia, that a child by Seirem be granted to him. Shortly afterwards this came to pass for him. The Roman (Byzantine) ancestry of Shirin is contradicted by

: " osrov in accordance with their Magian religion, had numerous wives. He also took Christian wives, and had an extremely beautiful Christian wife from the land of Xuzhastan named Shirin, the Bambish, queen of queens iknats' tikin She constructed a monastery and a church close to the royal abode, and settled priests and deacons there allotting from the court stipends and money for clothing. She lavished gold and silver n the monastery Bravely, with her head held high she preached the gospel of the Kingdom, at court, and none of the grandee mages dared open his mouth to say anything—large or small—about Christians. When, however, days passed and her end approached, many of the mages who had converted to Christianity, were martyred in various places." The ''Khuzistan Chronicle'', written by an Assyrian Christian from Khuzestan ranprobably in 680 is described as the Syriac counterpart of the

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n work of

. We read about the relationship between the Catholicos Isho Yahb II and the persian king Khosrau II. Parvez (590-628) : "Isho Yahb was treated respectfully throughout his life, by the king himself and his two christian wives Shirin the Aramean and Mary the Roman". (Theodor. Nöldeke: ''Die von Guidi herausgegebene syrische Chronik'', Wien 1893, p. 10) The ''Chronicle of Séert'' (Siirt) is an anonymously authored historiographical text written by the

in Persia and the Middle East, possibly as early as the 9th century AD. The text deals with ecclesiastical, social, and political issues of the Christian church giving a history of its leaders and notable members. LVIII. - History of Khosrau Parvez, son of Hormizd "Khosrau, by gratitude for Maurice, ordered to rebuild churches and to honor the Christians. He built himself two churches for Marie (Maryam) and a large church and a castle in the country of Beth Lashpar for his wife Shirin, the Aramean."According to folklore, already mentioned in 891 by the geographer

al-Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

, this was the castle whose ruins are found today in the city Qasr-e Shirin. (Patrologia Orientalis, Tome VII. - Fascicule 2, ''Histoire Nestorienne'' (''Chronique de Séert''), Seconde Partie (1), publiée et traduite par Mgr

Addai Scher Addai Scher (, ; ) Also written Addai Sher, Addaï Scher and Addai Sheir (3 March 1867 – 21 June 1915), an ethnic Assyrian, was the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Siirt in Upper Mesopotamia. He was killed by the Ottomans during the 1915 Assyri ...

, Paris 1911, Published Paris : Firmin-Didot 1950 p. 467.) Khosrow created several cities named after his lover Shirin, including the modern city Qasr-e Shirin, which means palace of Shirin.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Authority control 6th-century births Year of birth missing 628 deaths One Thousand and One Nights characters Converts to Oriental Orthodoxy 7th-century Christians 6th-century Iranian people 7th-century Iranian people 6th-century queens consort 7th-century queens consort Arameans Christians in the Sasanian Empire Former Church of the East Christians Women in Shahnameh Wives of Khosrow II

Origin

Marriage

See also

References

Sources