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Tamkhosrau or Tamkhusro ("strong Khosrau", 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 ...
sources rendered as Ταμχοσρώ or Ταμχοσρόης, Tamchosroes), was a
Sassanid Persia 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 ...
n general active in the Roman–Persian Wars of the late 6th century. As his honorific name indicates, he was a highly regarded man among the Persians, and one of the chief generals of the shah
Khosrau I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; ), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ("the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (). Inheriting a rei ...
(r. 531–579)..


Biography

Tamkhosrau first appears in early 575. A one-year truce had been negotiated in 574, interrupting the ongoing war (since 572) between Persia and the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire, while negotiations were taking place to conclude an even longer truce. While the Persians insisted on a five-year truce, the Roman emissaries refused to accept it and insisted on a three-year duration. In order to apply pressure on the Byzantines, the Persian general Mahbod ordered Tamkhosrau to launch an attack. Tamkhosrau led a major raid that plundered the territory around
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 ...
in northern
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 ...
. A three-year truce was concluded soon after, in exchange for an annual payment of 30,000 gold ''
solidi The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; : ''solidi'') or ''nomisma'' () was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. It was introduced in the early 4th century, replacing the aureus, and its weight of about 4 ...
'' from the Byzantines. As a result of the truce, fighting was refocused to
Persian 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 ...
; there, the Byzantines had considerable success, driving off a large Persian invasion led by Khosrau himself, and securing much of the country. Negotiations for peace resumed, and seemed about to be concluded on terms slightly favoring the Byzantines in 577, when Tamkhosrau led a series of expeditions into
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 ...
and defeated the East Roman general
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 ...
. Thereafter, the Persians abandoned the negotiations. Tamkhosrau remained in Armenia as the senior Persian commander in 578. As his forces were numerically inferior to those of the Roman ''magister militum Armeniae''
Maurice Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...
, after feinting in the direction of Theodosiopolis, he led a surprise raid south and plundered the regions around Martyropolis and
Amida Amida can mean : Places and jurisdictions * Amida (Mesopotamia), now Diyarbakır, an ancient city in Asian Turkey; it is (nominal) seat of: ** The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Amida ** The Latin titular Metropolitan see of Amida of the Ro ...
. His decision, however, was criticized by the Persians as the result of inexperience, and he was recalled and replaced in his Armenian command by
Varaz Vzur Varaz Vzur was an Armenian nobleman who served as the ''marzban'' of Persian Armenia from 579 to 580. In 579, he succeeded Tamkhosrau as the marzban of Armenia. Some time later, a group of Armenians revolted against Sasanian The Sasanian Emp ...
. By 581, however, he had risen to the post of ''
marzban Marzbān, or Marzpān (Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱𐭰𐭠𐭭𐭯 transliteration: mrzwpn, derived from Middle Persian: 𐭬𐭫𐭱 ''marz'' "border, boundary" and the Middle Persian suffix: 𐭡𐭭𐭯 ''-pān'' "guardian"; Modern Persian: ...
'', and commanded the Persian army in northern Mesopotamia. After another round of peace talks broke down, Tamkhosrau, along with
Adarmahan Adarmahān (in Greek sources given as , Adaarmanes; fl. late 6th century) was a Persian general active in the western frontier of the Sassanid Empire against the East Roman (Byzantine) forces, during the Byzantine–Sassanid War of 572–591. Al ...
, invaded Roman territory and headed for the town 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 ...
. Maurice, who had been expecting and preparing for such an attack, met the Persians in battle outside the city in June 582. The Persian army suffered a heavy defeat, and Tamkhosrau was killed..


References


Sources

* * {{Marzbans of Persian Armenia 582 deaths 6th-century Iranian people Military personnel killed in action People of the Roman–Sasanian Wars Sasanian governors of Armenia Year of birth unknown Generals of Khosrow I Generals of Hormizd IV