| |
|---|---|
| King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians | |
.jpg) Plate of a Sasanian king hunting rams, perhaps Kavad I | |
| Shahanshah of theSasanian Empire | |
| 1st reign | 488–496 |
| Predecessor | Balash |
| Successor | Jamasp |
| 2nd reign | 498/9–531 |
| Predecessor | Jamasp |
| Successor | Khosrow I |
| Born | 473 |
| Died | 13 September 531(531-09-13) (aged 57–58) |
| Spouse |
|
| Issue | |
| House | House of Sasan |
| Father | Peroz I |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Kavad I (Middle Persian:𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲Kawād; 473 – 13 September 531) was theSasanianKing of Kings of Iran from 488 to 531, with a two or three-year interruption. A son ofPeroz I (r. 459–484), he was crowned by the nobles to replace his deposed and unpopular uncleBalash (r. 484–488).
Inheriting a declining empire where the authority and status of the Sasanian kings had largely ended, Kavad tried to reorganize his empire by introducing many reforms whose implementation was completed by his son and successor,Khosrow I. They were made possible by Kavad's use of theMazdakite preacherMazdak, leading to asocial revolution that weakened the authority of the nobility and the clergy. Because of this, and the execution of the powerful king-makerSukhra, Kavad was deposed and imprisoned in theCastle of Oblivion. He was replaced by his brotherJamasp. However, with the aid of his sister and an officer namedSiyawush, Kavad and some of his followers fled east to the territory of theHephthalite king, who provided him with an army. This enabled Kavad to restore himself to the throne in 498/9.
Bankrupted by this hiatus, Kavad applied for subsidies from theByzantine emperorAnastasius I. The Byzantines had originally paid the Iranians voluntarily to maintain the defense of theCaucasus against attacks from the north. Anastasius refused the subsidies, which led Kavad to invade his domains, thus starting theAnastasian War. Kavad first seizedTheodosiopolis andMartyropolis respectively, and thenAmida after holding the city undersiege for three months. The two empires made peace in 506, with the Byzantines agreeing to pay subsidies to Kavad for the maintenance of the fortifications on the Caucasus in return for Amida. Around this time, Kavad also fought a lengthy war against his former allies, the Hephthalites; by 513 he had re-taken the region ofKhorasan from them.
In 528, theIberian War erupted between the Sasanians and Byzantines in what is now easternGeorgia because the Byzantines refused to acknowledge Khosrow as Kavad's heir and because of a dispute overLazica. Although Kavad's forces suffered two notable losses at the battles ofDara andSatala, the war was largely indecisive, with both sides suffering heavy losses. In 531, while the Sasanian army wasbesieging Martyropolis, Kavad died from an illness. He was succeeded by Khosrow I, who inherited a reinvigorated and mighty empire equal to that of the Byzantines.
Because of the many challenges and issues Kavad successfully overcame, he is considered one of the most effective and successful kings to rule the Sasanian Empire. In the words of theIranologist Nikolaus Schindel, he was "a genius in his own right, even if of a somewhatMachiavellian type."
Due to increased Sasanian interest inKayanian history, Kavad was named after the mythological Kayanian kingKavi Kavata.[1] The name is transliterated inGreek asKabates,[2]Chü-he-to inChinese,[3] andQubādh inArabic.[2]Qobād (alsoGhobād with aghayn instead ofqaf) is the form used inNew Persian.[4]
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The son of the SasanianshahPeroz I (r. 459–484), Kavad was born in 473.[5][a] The Sasanian family had been the monarchs of Iran since 224 after the triumph of the first Sasanian shahArdashir I (r. 224–242) over theParthian (Arsacid) Empire.[6] Although Iranian society was greatly militarised and its elite designated themselves as a "warrior nobility" (arteshtaran), it still had a significantly smaller population, was more impoverished, and was a less centralized state compared to theRoman Empire.[6] As a result, the Sasanian shahs had access to fewer full-time fighters, and depended on recruits from the nobility instead.[6] Some exceptions were the royal cavalry bodyguard, garrison soldiers, and units recruited from places outside Iran.[6]
The bulk of the high nobility included the powerfulParthian noble families (known as thewuzurgan) that were centered on theIranian plateau. They served as the backbone of the Sasanian "feudal" army and were largely autonomous.[7] The Sasanian shahs had noticeably little control over thewuzurgan; attempts to restrict their self-determination usually resulted in the murder of the shah.[8] Ultimately, the Parthian nobility worked for the Sasanian shah for personal benefit, personal oath, and, conceivably, a common awareness of the "Aryan" (Iranian) kinship they shared with theirPersian overlords.[9]
Another vital component of the army was the Armenian cavalry, which was recruited from outside the ranks of the Parthianwuzurgan.[10] However, therevolt of Armenia in 451 and the loss of its cavalry had weakened the Sasanians' attempts to keep the Hunnic tribes (i.e., theHephthalites,Kidarites,Chionites andAlkhans)[11] of the northeastern border in check.[12][13][b] Indeed, Kavad's grandfatherYazdegerd II (r. 438–457) had managed to hold off the Kidarites during his wars against them, which had occupied him throughout most of his reign.[13][14][15] Now, however, Sasanian authority inCentral Asia began to decay.[13]
First in 474 and again in the late 470s/early 480s, Peroz was defeated and captured by the Hephthalites.[16][17] In his second defeat, he offered to pay thirty mule packs of silverdrachms in ransom, but could only pay twenty. Unable to pay the other ten, he sent Kavad in 482 as a hostage to the Hephthalite court until he could pay the rest.[16][18][19] He eventually managed to gain the ten mule packs of silver by imposing a poll tax on his subjects, and thus secured the release of Kavad before he mounted his third campaign in 484.[19] There, Peroz wasdefeated and killed by a Hephthalite army, possibly nearBalkh.[12][5][20] His army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found.[21] Four of his sons and brothers had also died.[16] The main Sasanian cities of the eastern region ofKhorasan−Nishapur,Herat andMarw were now under Hephthalite rule.[5]
Sukhra, a member of the ParthianHouse of Karen, one of theSeven Great Houses of Iran, quickly raised a new force and stopped the Hephthalites from achieving further success.[22] Peroz's brother,Balash, was elected as shah by the Iranian magnates, most notably Sukhra and theMihranid generalShapur Mihran.[23] However, Balash proved unpopular among the nobility and clergy who had him blinded and deposed after just four years in 488.[24][25] Sukhra, who had played a key role in Balash's deposition,[24] appointed Kavad as the new shah of Iran.[26] According toMiskawayh (d. 1030), Sukhra was Kavad's maternal uncle.[5]
Kavad ascended the throne in 488 at the age of 15. His youth is emphasized on his coins, which show him with short whiskers.[5] He inherited an empire that had reached its lowest ebb. The nobility and clergy exerted great influence and authority over the nation, and were able to act as king-makers, as seen by their choice to depose Balash.[27] Economically, the empire was not doing well either, the result of drought, famine, and the crushing defeats delivered by the Hephthalites. They had not only seized large parts of its eastern provinces, but had also forced the Sasanians to pay vast amounts oftribute to them, which had depleted the royal treasury of the shah.[28][29][30] Rebellions were occurring in the western provinces includingArmenia andIberia.[28][31] Simultaneously, the country's peasant class was growing more and more uneasy and alienated from the elite.[31]
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The young and inexperienced Kavad was tutored by Sukhra during his first five years as shah.[5] During this period, Kavad was a merefigurehead, whilst Sukhra was thede facto ruler of the empire. This is emphasized byal-Tabari, who states that Sukhra "was in charge of government of the kingdom and the management of affairs ... [T]he people came to Sukhra and undertook all their dealings with him, treating Kavad as a person of no importance and regarding his commands with contempt."[26] Numerous regions and the representatives of the elite paid tribute to Sukhra, not to Kavad.[32] Sukhra controlled the royal treasury and the Iranian military.[32] In 493, Kavad, having reached adulthood, wanted to put an end to Sukhra's dominance, and had him exiled to his nativeShiraz in southwestern Iran.[5][32] Even in exile, however, Sukhra was in control of everything except the kingly crown.[32] He bragged about having put Kavad on the throne.[32]
Alarmed by the thought that Sukhra might rebel, Kavad wanted to get rid of him completely. He lacked the manpower to do so, however, as the army was controlled by Sukhra and the Sasanians relied mainly on the military of the Seven Great Houses of Iran.[33] He found his solution inShapur of Ray, a powerful nobleman from the House of Mihran, and a resolute opponent of Sukhra.[34] Shapur, at the head of an army of his own men and disgruntled nobles, marched to Shiraz, defeated Sukhra's forces, and imprisoned him in the Sasanian capital ofCtesiphon.[35] Even in prison, Sukhra was considered too powerful and was executed.[35] This caused displeasure among some prominent members of the nobility, weakening Kavad's status as shah.[36] It also marked the temporary loss of authority of the House of Karen, whose members were exiled to the regions ofTabaristan andZabulistan, which were away from the Sasanian court in Ctesiphon.[37][c]
According to classical sources, not long after Sukhra's execution, amobad (priest) named Mazdak caught Kavad's attention. Mazdak was the chief representative of a religious and philosophical movement calledMazdakism. Not only did it consist of theological teachings, but it also advocated for political and social reforms that would impact the nobility and clergy.[38][39]
The Mazdak movement wasnonviolent and called for the sharing of wealth, women and property,[29] an archaic form ofcommunism.[36] According to modern historiansTouraj Daryaee andMatthew Canepa, 'sharing women' was most likely an overstatement and defamation deriving from Mazdak's decree that loosened marriage laws to help the lower classes.[39] Powerful families saw this as a tactic to weaken their lineage and advantages, which was most likely the case.[39] Kavad used the movement as a political tool to curb the power of the nobility and clergy.[36][29] Royalgranaries were distributed, and land was shared among the lower classes.[38]
Thehistoricity of the persona of Mazdak has been questioned.[23] He may have been a fabrication to take the blame away from Kavad.[40] Contemporary historians, includingProcopius andJoshua the Stylite make no mention of Mazdak, naming Kavad as the figure behind the movement.[40] Mention of Mazdak only emerges in later Middle Persian Zoroastrian documents, namely theBundahishn, theDenkard, and theZand-i Wahman yasn.[40] Later Islamic-era sources, particularlyal-Tabari, also mention Mazdak.[40] These later writings were perhaps corrupted by Iranian oral folklore, given that blame put on Mazdak for the redistribution of aristocratic properties to the people, is a topic repeated in Iranian oral history.[40] Other 'villains' in pre-Islamic Iranian history, namelyGaumata in theBehistun Inscription of theAchaemenid kingDarius the Great (r. 522 – 486 BC) andWahnam in thePaikuli inscription of the Sasanian kingNarseh (r. 293–302), are frequently accused of similar misdeeds.[40]
The nobility deposed Kavad in 496 for his support of the Mazdakites and his execution of Sukhra.[5] They installed his more impressionable brotherJamasp on the throne.[41][42]
A council soon took place among the nobility to discuss what to do with Kavad.Gushnaspdad, a member of the Kanarangiyan, the family that held the important title ofkanarang (military leader ofAbarshahr), proposed Kavad be executed. His suggestion was overruled and Kavad was imprisoned instead in theCastle of Oblivion inKhuzestan.[43][41] According to Procopius' account, Kavad's wife approached the commander of the prison. They came to an understanding that she would be allowed to see Kavad in exchange for sleeping with him.[44] Kavad's friend,Siyawush, who was regularly in the same area as the prison, planned his friend's escape by preparing horses near the prison.[44] Kavad changed clothes with his wife to disguise himself as a woman, and escaped from the prison and fled with Siyawush.[44]
Tabari's account is different. He says that Kavad's sister helped him to escape by rolling him in a carpet, which she made the guard believe was soaked with her menstrual blood.[45] The guard did not object or investigate the carpet, "fearing lest he become polluted by it".[45] One of the authors of theProsopography of the Later Roman Empire, John Robert Martindale, proposes she may have beenSambice, Kavad's sister-wife, who was the mother of his eldest son,Kawus.[46]
Regardless, Kavad managed to escape imprisonment and fled to the court of the Hephthalite king, where he took refuge.[44][41] According to the narratives included in the history of al-Tabari, during his flight Kavad met a peasant girl from Nishapur, named Niwandukht, who became pregnant with his child, who would ascend the throne asKhosrow I.[47][d] However, the story has been dismissed as "fable" by theIranologistEhsan Yarshater.[50] Khosrow's mother was in reality a noblewoman from theHouse of Ispahbudhan, one of the Seven Great Houses.[51]
At the Hephthalite court inBactria, Kavad gained the support of the Hephthalite king, and also married his daughter, who was Kavad's niece.[5] During his stay, Kavad might have witnessed the rise of the Hephthalites to a better position than that of their formersuzerains, the Kidarites.[52] The present-day district ofQobadian (the Arabicized form of Kavadian) near Balkh, which was then under Hephthalite rule, was perhaps founded by Kavad and possibly served as his source of revenue.[53] In 498 (or 499), Kavad returned to Iran with a Hephthalite army.[54][5] When he crossed the domains of the Kanarangiyan in Khorasan, he was met byAdergoudounbades, a member of the family, who agreed to help him.[43] Another noble who supported Kavad wasZarmihr Karen, a son of Sukhra.[5]
Jamasp and the nobility and clergy did not resist as they wanted to prevent another civil war.[55] They agreed that he would be king again with the understanding that he would not hurt Jamasp or the elite.[55] Jamasp was spared, albeit probably blinded, while Gushnaspdad and other nobles who had plotted against Kavad were executed.[5] Generally, however, Kavad secured his position by lenience.[36] Adergoudounbades was appointed the newkanarang,[56] while Siyawush was appointed the head of the Sasanian army (arteshtaran-salar).[44] Another of Sukhra's sons,Bozorgmehr, was made Kavad's great minister (wuzurg framadar).[55] Kavad's reclamation of his throne displays the troubled circumstances of the empire; a small force was able to overwhelm the nobility-clergy alliance.[41]
Kavad's reign is noteworthy for his reforms, which he had been able to make with the nobility and clergy weakened by the Mazdakites. They would not be completed under his reign but were continued by his son, Khosrow I.[5][57] The serious blows the Sasanians had suffered at the hands of the Hephthalites in the last quarter of the 5th century was a key reason behind the reforms the two made.[58] Tax reform was implemented, a poll tax was created, and a review of taxable land was undertaken to ensure that taxation was fair.[59] The empire was divided into four frontier regions (kust in Middle Persian), with aspāhbed (military commander) in charge of each district; a chancery was also added to keep the soldiers equipped.[59][60]
Before Kavad and Khosrow's reforms, the Iranians' general (Eran-spahbed) managed the empire's army.[61] Many of these military commanders were notably from thewuzurgan class ofParthia, indicating the continuation of their authority despite the efforts by Kavad and Khosrow.[10] A new priestly office was also created known as the "advocate and judge of the poor" (driyōšān jādag-gōw ud dādwar), which assisted the clergy to help the poor and underprivileged, which they had possibly ignored previously.[62][59]
As a result of the reforms, the power of thedehqans, a class of small land-owning magnates, increased substantially. Thedehqans may have even been created by the reforms in the first place.[59] A group of thesedehqans was enlisted into a group of cavalry men, who were managed directly by the shah and earned steady wages.[5] This was done to decrease the reliance on the Parthian cavalry.[63] Soldiers were also enlisted from Sasanian allies, such as the Hephthalites,Arabs, andDaylamites.[63] As a result, the newly rejuvenated Sasanian army proved successful in its efforts in subsequent decades. It sacked the Byzantine city ofAntioch in 540,conquered Yemen in the 570s, and under the Parthian military commanderBahram Chobin defeated the Hephthalites and their allies, theWestern Turkic Khaganate, in thePerso-Turkic war of 588–589.[10]
Although the reforms were beneficial for the Empire, they may also have resulted in the decline of the traditional links between the aristocracy and the crown underHormizd IV (r. 579–590) andKhosrow II (r. 590–628), to the degree that many belonging to thewuzurgan class, notably Bahram Chobin of the Mihran family, and laterShahrbaraz of the same family, were bold enough to dispute the legitimacy of the Sasanian family and lay claims to the throne.[64]
With his reforms under way by the 520s, Kavad no longer had any use for Mazdak[59] and he officially stopped supporting the Mazdakites.[5] A debate was arranged where not only the Zoroastrian priesthood but also Christian and Jewish leaders slandered Mazdak and his followers.[59] According to theShahnameh, written several centuries later by the medieval Persian poetFerdowsi, Kavad had Mazdak and his supporters sent to Khosrow. His supporters were killed in a walled orchard, buried head first with only their feet visible.[59] Khosrow then summoned Mazdak to look at his garden, saying: "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."[59] Mazdak, seeing his followers' corpses, screamed and passed out. He was executed afterwards by Khosrow, who had his feet fastened on agallows and had his men shoot arrows at Mazdak.[59] The validity of the story is uncertain; Ferdowsi used much earlier reports of events to write theShahnameh, and thus the story may report some form of contemporary memory.[65]
Many places were founded or re-built under Kavad. He is said to have founded the cityEran-asan-kerd-Kawad inMedia;[5]Fahraj inSpahan;[66] and Weh-Kawad, Eran-win(n)ard-Kawad, Kawad-khwarrah, andArrajan inPars.[5][67] He rebuiltKirmanshah in Media, which he also used as one of his residences.[68] He is also said to have founded a township inMeybod, which was named Haft-adhar ("seven fires"), because of a Zoroastrianfire temple being established there. Its original fire was created by fire brought from seven other temples in Pars, Balkh,Adurbadagan,Nisa,Spahan,Ghazni, and Ctesiphon.[69]
In theCaucasus, Kavad had newfortifications built atDerbent,[70] and ordered the construction of theApzut Kawat wall (Middle Persian:*Abzūd Kawād, "Kavad increased [in glory]" or "has prospered").[71] The prominentCaucasian Albanian capital ofPartaw, which had been rebuilt during the reign of Peroz I and named Perozabad ("the city of Peroz"), was fortified by Kavad and called Perozkavad ("victorious Kavad").[72] The former Albanian capital ofKabala, a large urban area that included the headquarters of one of the Albanian bishops, was also fortified by Kavad.[73] He founded the city ofBaylakan, which by most researchers is identified with the ruins of Oren-kala.[74] Ultimately, these extensive buildings and fortifications transformed Caucasian Albania into a bastion of Iranian presence in the Caucasus.[75]
The Sasanians exerted considerable influence on trade in the region under Kavad.[76] By using the strategic location of thePersian Gulf, the Sasanians interfered to prevent Byzantine traders from taking take part in the India trade. They accomplished this either by bargaining with trade associates in theIndian subcontinent—ranging from theGupta Empire in the north to theAnuradhapura monarchs ofSri Lanka in the south—or by attacking the Byzantine boats.[76] Iranian traders were also able to seize Indian vessels well before they could make contact with Byzantine traders.[76] These advantages resulted in the Iranian traders establishing something resembling a monopoly over the India trade.[77]
The Sasanians and Byzantines had kept peace since the briefByzantine–Sasanian War of 440. The last major war between the two empires had been during the reign ofShapur II (r. 309–379).[78] However, war finally erupted in 502. Bankrupted by his hiatus in 496–498/9, Kavad applied for subsidies to theByzantine Empire, who originally had paid the Iranians voluntarily to maintain the defense of the Caucasus against attacks from the north.[79] The Iranians seemingly saw the money as a debt due to them.[79] But now EmperorAnastasius I (r. 491–518) refused subsidies forcing Kavad to attempt to obtain the money by force.[80] In 502, Kavad invadedByzantine Armenia with a force that included Hephthalite soldiers.[23] HecapturedTheodosiopolis, perhaps with local support; in any case, the city was undefended by troops and weakly fortified.[80]
He then marched through southwestern Armenia, reportedly without facing any resistance, and entrusted local governor with the administration of the area.[81] He proceeded to cross the ArmenianTaurus, and reachedMartyropolis, where its governor Theodore, surrendered without any resistance and gave Kavad two years' worth of taxes collected from the province ofSophene.[82][83] Because of this, Kavad let Theodore keep his position as governor of the city.[83] Kavad thenbesieged the fortress-city ofAmida through the autumn and winter (502–503). The siege proved to be a far more difficult enterprise than Kavad had expected; the defenders, although unsupported by troops, repelled the Iranian assaults for three months before they were finally defeated.[83]
He had its inhabitants deported to a city in southern Iran, which he named "Kavad's Better Amida" (Weh-az-Amid-Kawad). He left a garrison in Amida which included his general Glon, twomarzbans (margraves) and 3,000 soldiers.[84] The Byzantines failed in their attempt to recapture the city. Kavad then tried unsuccessfully to captureEdessa inOsroene.[85] In 505 an invasion of Armenia by the Huns from the Caucasus led to an armistice; the Byzantines paid subsidies to the Iranians for the maintenance of the fortifications on the Caucasus,[86] in return for Amida.[5] The peace treaty was signed by theIspahbudhan aristocratBawi, Kavad's brother-in-law.[87] Although Kavad's first war with the Byzantines did not end with a decisive winner, the conquest of Amida was the greatest accomplishment achieved by a Sasanian force since 359, when the same city had beencaptured by Shapur II.[5]
Kavad's relationship with his Christian subjects is unclear. In Christian Iberia, where the Sasanians had earlier tried to spread Zoroastrianism, Kavad represented himself as an advocate of orthodox Zoroastrianism. In Armenia, however, he settled disputes with the Christians and appears to have continued Balash's peaceful approach. The Christians of Mesopotamia and Iran proper practised their religion without any persecution, despite the punishment of Christians in Iran proper being briefly mentionedc. 512/3. Like Jamasp, Kavad also supported thepatriarch of the Church of the East,Babai, and Christians served in high offices at the Sasanian court.[5] According to Eberhard Sauer, Sasanian monarchs only persecuted other religions when it was in their urgent political interests to do so.[88]
According to theChronicle of Seert and the historianMari ibn Sulayman, Kavad ordered all the religious communities in the empire to submit written descriptions of their beliefs. This took place sometime before 496. In response to this command, the PatriarchAqaq commissionedElishaʿ bar Quzbaye, interpreter of theschool of Nisibis, to write for the Church of the East. His work was then translated fromSyriac to Middle Persian and presented to Kavad. This work has since beenlost.[89]
Kavad's reign marked a new turn in Sasanian–Christian relations; before his reign,Jesus had been seen solely as the defender of the Byzantines.[90] This changed under Kavad. According to an apocryphal account in theChronicle ofPseudo–Zachariah of Mytilene, written by an anonymousWest Syrian monk at Amida in 569, Kavad saw a vision of Jesus whilst besieging Amida, which encouraged him to remain resolute in his effort.[90] Jesus guaranteed to give him Amida within three days, which happened.[90] Kavad's forces then sacked the city, taking much booty.[90] The city's church was spared, however, due to the relationship between Kavad and Jesus.[90] Kavad was even thought to have venerated a figure of Jesus.[90] According to modern historian Richard Payne, the Sasanians could now be viewed as adherents of Jesus and his saints, if not Christianity itself.[90]
Not much is known about Kavad's wars in the east. According to Procopius, Kavad was forced to leave for the eastern frontier in 503 to deal with an attack by "hostile Huns", one of the many clashes in a reportedly lengthy war. After the Sasanian disaster in 484, all of Khorasan was seized by the Hephthalites; no Sasanian coins minted in the area (Nishapur, Herat, Marw) have been found from his first reign.[5] The increase in the number of coins minted atGorgan (which was now the northernmost Sasanian region) during his first reign may indicate a yearly tribute he paid to the Hephthalites.[91] During his second reign, his fortunes changed. A Sasanian campaign in 508 led to the conquest of the Zundaber (Zumdaber) Castellum, associated with the temple of az-Zunin in the area of ad-Dawar, situated betweenBust andKandahar.[92] A Sasanian coin dating to 512/3 has been found in Marw. This indicates the Sasanians under Kavad had managed to re-conquer Khorasan after successfully dealing with the Hephthalites.[5]
Around 520 to secure the succession of his youngest son Khosrow, whose position was threatened by rival brothers and the Mazdakite sect, and to improve his relationship with the Byzantine emperorJustin I, Kavad proposed that he adopt Khosrow.[93] This proposal was greeted initially with enthusiasm by the Byzantine emperor and his nephew,Justinian. However, Justinian'squaestor, Proclus, opposed the move concerned over the possibility that Khosrow might attempt to take over the Byzantine throne.[5] The Byzantines made a counter-proposal to adopt Khosrow not as a Roman but as a barbarian.[94] In the end the negotiations did not reach a consensus. Khosrow reportedly felt insulted by the Byzantines, and his attitude towards them deteriorated.[5]
Mahbod and Siyawush were the Sasanian diplomats sent to negotiate with the Byzantines. Mahbod accused Siyawush of purposely sabotaging the negotiations.[94] Further accusations were made against Siyawush, which included his reverence for new deities, and having his dead wife buried, a violation of Iranian law. Siyawush was thus most likely a Mazdakite, the religious sect that Kavad had originally, but now no longer, supported. Although Siyawush was a close friend of Kavad and had helped him escape imprisonment, Kavad did not try to prevent his execution. Seemingly, his purpose was to restrict Siyawush's immense authority as the head of the Sasanian army, a post which was disliked by the other nobles.[5] Siyawush was executed, and his office was abolished.[95] Despite the breakdown of the negotiations, it was not until 530 that full-scale warfare on the main western frontier broke out. In the intervening years, the two sides preferred waging war by proxy, through Arab allies in the south and Huns in the north.[96]
Hostility between the two powers erupted into conflict once again in 528, just a year after the new Byzantine emperorJustinian I (r. 527–565) had been crowned. This was supposedly the result of the Byzantines not acknowledging Khosrow as Kavad's heir. According to the Greek chroniclerJohn Malalas, military clashes first took place inLazica, which had been disputed between the two empires since 522. Not long after this the battles also spread down to Mesopotamia, where the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat near the border. In 530, one of thefamous open-field battles took place between the Byzantine and Sasanian troops atDara.[5]
The Sasanian army led byPerozes, Pityaxes andBaresmanas suffered a severe defeat. The battle did not, however, bring an end to the conflict.[5] The following year Kavad raised an army, which he sent underAzarethes to invade the Byzantine province ofCommagene.[97] When the Byzantine army underBelisarius approached, Azarethes and his men withdrew east, halting atCallinicum.[97] In theensuing battle the Byzantines suffered a heavy defeat, but Iranian losses were so great Kavad was displeased with Azarethes, and relieved him of his command.[97][98] In 531, the Iraniansbesieged Martyropolis. During the siege, however, Kavad became ill and died on 13 September.[99][5] As a result, the siege was lifted andpeace was made between Kavad's successor Khosrow I and Justinian.[5]
The provinces of Gorgan, Khuzestan, andAsoristan provided the mostSasanian coinage for Kavad during his reign.[100] His reign marks the introduction of distinctive traits on the obverse sides of the coin which includes astral symbols, particularly, acrescent on both of his shoulders, and a star in the left corner.[100] The reverse side shows the traditional fire altar flanked by two attendants facing it in veneration.[100] Kavad used the title ofkay (Kayanian) on his coins,[100] a title that had been used since the reign of his grandfather Yazdegerd II (r. 438–457).[15] Kavad was, however, the last Sasanian shah to havekay inscribed on his coins—the last one issued in 513.[100] The regular obverse inscription on his coins simply has his name; in 504, however, the sloganabzōn ("may he prosper/increase") was added.[100][101]
According to Procopius and other historians, Kavad had written a succession plan that favoured Khosrow just before his death. Historian John Malalas stated that Kavad crowned Khosrow himself.[102] However, at the beginning of Khosrow's reign in 531, Bawi and other members of the Iranian aristocracy became involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Khosrow and make Kavad, the son of Kavad's second eldest sonJamasp, the shah of Iran.[103] Upon learning of the plot, Khosrow executed all of his brothers and their offspring, as well as Bawi and the other nobles who were involved.[87]
Khosrow also ordered the execution of Kavad, who was still a child, and was away from the court, being raised by Adergoudounbades. He sent orders to kill Kavad, but Adergoudounbades disobeyed and secretly raised him 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.[104]
Kavad's reign is considered a turning point in Sasanian history.[5] Since he successfully handled many challenges and issues, he is considered one of the most effective and successful kings to rule the Sasanian Empire.[5] In the words of Iranologist Nikolaus Schindel he was "a genius in his own right, even if of a somewhatMachiavellian type."[5] He was successful in his efforts to reinvigorate his declining empire, paving the way for a smooth transition to his son Khosrow I, who inherited a powerful empire. Khosrow improved it further during his reign, becoming one of the most popular shahs of Iran and earning the epithet Anushirvan ("the immortal soul").[105]
TheZiyarid dynasty, which mainly ruled over Tabaristan and Gorgan between 931–1090, claimed that the founder of the dynasty,Mardavij (r. 930–935), was descended from Kavad.[106][107]
| King of Kings | ||||||
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Kavad I Born: 473 Died: 13 September 531 | ||
| Preceded by | King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran 488–496 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran 498/9–531 | Succeeded by |
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