| Hormizd IV 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣 | |
|---|---|
| King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians | |
 | |
| Shahanshah of theSasanian Empire | |
| Reign | 579–590 |
| Predecessor | Khosrow I |
| Successor | Bahram Chobin(rival king) Khosrow II(successor) |
| Born | c. 540 |
| Died | June 590 (aged 50) Ctesiphon |
| Spouse | UnnamedIspahbudhan noblewoman Unnamed Christian noblewoman |
| Issue | Khosrow II Unnamed daughter |
| House | House of Sasan |
| Father | Khosrow I |
| Mother | Khazar princess |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Hormizd IV (also spelledHormozd IV orOhrmazd IV;Middle Persian:𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was theKing of Kings ofSasanian Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor ofKhosrow I (r. 531–579) and his mother was aKhazar princess.
During his reign, Hormizd IV had the high aristocracy andZoroastrian priesthood slaughtered while supporting the landed gentry (thedehqans). His reign was marked by constant warfare: to the west, he fought a long and indecisive war with theByzantine Empire, which had been ongoing since the reign of his father; and to the east, the Iranian generalBahram Chobin successfully contained and defeated theWestern Turkic Khaganate during theFirst Perso-Turkic War. It was also during Hormizd IV's reign that theChosroid dynasty ofIberia was abolished. After negotiating with the Iberian aristocracy and winning their support, Hormizd successfully incorporated Iberia into the Sasanian Empire.
Jealous of Bahram's success in the east, Hormizd IV had him disgraced and dismissed, which led to a rebellion led by Bahram, which marked the start of theSasanian civil war of 589–591. Another faction, led by two other dissatisfied nobles,Vistahm andVinduyih, had Hormizd IV deposed and killed, and placed his sonKhosrow II on the throne.
Hormizd IV was noted for hisreligious tolerance. He declined appeals by the Zoroastrian priesthood to persecute theChristian population of the country. Contemporary sources generally considered him to be a tyrannical figure due to his policies. Modern historians tend to have a milder view of him and considers him a well-meaning ruler who strived to continue his father's policies, albeit overambitiously.
Hormizd (also spelled Ōhrmazd and Hormozd) is theMiddle Persian version of the name of the supremedeity inZoroastrianism, known inAvestan asAhura Mazda.[1] TheOld Persian equivalent is Auramazdā, while theGreektransliteration is Hormisdas.[1][2] The name is attested inArmenian as Ormizd and inGeorgian as Urmizd.[3][4]
Hormizd was the son ofKhosrow I, one of the most celebratedSasanianshahs. Oriental sources and modern scholars have identified Hormizd's maternal grandfather asIstemi, thekhagan of theTurks, who allied himself with Khosrow I inc. 560 to put an end to theHephthalites, which the two allied powers accomplished at theBattle of Gol-Zarriun.[5] Khosrow I was given the daughter of Istemi in marriage, who reportedly gave birth to Hormizd.[6] Hormizd is thus called aTurkzad(a) in theShahnameh, or 'son of a Turk'.[6] This is, however, rejected by theIranologistShapur Shahbazi, who called such a relationship a "chronological difficulty", due to sources mentioning Hormizd being sent by his father to contain the threat posed by Istemi following the division of Hephthalite territory between the Sasanians and Turks.[6]
Historians consider it more plausible that Hormizd was born around 540: his sonKhosrow II was thus born inc. 570.[6][7] The 7th-centuryArmenian historianSebeos called Hormizd's mother a "daughter of the khagan of the Turks"[a] and referred to her as Kayen, whilstMas'udi called her Faqum, stating that she was the daughter of the ruler of theKhazars.[6] Shahbazi supported theGermanorientalistJosef Markwart in his deduction that Hormizd's maternal grandfather was the khagan of the Khazars (who are frequently called Turks in other sources), and that Sebeos had referred to Hormizd's mother by her father's name (or title).[6] The medieval Iranian geographerIbn Khordadbeh also mentioned Khosrow I and the Khazar king organizing to marry each other's daughters.[6] Hormizd was thus not only an offspring of the highly esteemed Khosrow I of the ruling family of Iran, but also belonged to a royal Turkic dynasty, which according to Sebeos "made Hormizd even greater than his paternal ancestors and equally greater and wilder than his maternal relatives".[6] The modern historian Michael Bonner proposes instead that Hormizd may have been born to a Hephthalite princess, later misremembered as Turkic or Khazar.[10]
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Khosrow I, aware that Hormizd had shown himself as a leader of quality, appointed Hormizd as his heir.[6] The decision was also politically motivated, due to Hormizd's maternal line being of noble lineage, whilst the mothers of Khosrow I's other sons were more lowly.[6] Hormizd came to the throne in 579: according to the narratives included in the history ofal-Tabari, Hormizd was well learned and full of good aspirations of kindness toward the poor and weak.[11] He was seemingly less warlike than his predecessors, but was resolute enough to continue their reforms.[12] He appears to have striven his best to continue the policies of his father—supporting the landed gentry (thedehqan) against the aristocracy and protecting the rights of the lower classes, as well as thwarting efforts by theZoroastrian priesthood to reassert themselves.[13] He did, however, resort to executions in order to maintain his father's policies, and as a result became the subject of hostility by the Zoroastrians.[13] He declined an appeal by the priesthood to persecute theChristian population by asserting his wish that "all his subjects were to exercise their religion freely".[6] He reportedly had many members of the priesthood killed, including the chief priest (mowbed) himself.[6]
He strained his relationship with the aristocracy by having thousands of them killed.[6] Many had been distinguished figures under Hormizd's father, such as the latter's famous minister (wuzurg framadar)Bozorgmehr; the military commander (spahbed) ofKhwarasan,Chihr-Burzen; thespahbed ofNemroz,Bahram-i Mah Adhar; the distinguished dignitaryIzadgushasp; thespahbed of the southwest (Khwarwaran), Shapur, anIspahbudhan nobleman who was the father ofVistahm;Vinduyih; and an unnamed daughter whom Hormizd had married.[14][15] Hormizd was himself related to the family, with his paternal grandmother being a sister ofBawi, the father of Shapur.[16] Hormizd was not the first Sasanian shah to kill a close relative from the Ispahbudhan family: his father Khosrow I had ordered the execution of Bawi in the early 530s.[17] Nevertheless, the Ispahbudhans continued to enjoy such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians", with Vistahm being appointed as the successor of his father by Hormizd.[15][14]
Due to his persecutions against the nobility and clergy, Hormizd thus became viewed with hostility in Persian sources.[6][18] This was not unusual: the 5th-century Sasanian rulerYazdegerd I is portrayed very negatively in Persian sources due to his tolerant policy towards his non-Zoroastrian subjects, and his refusal to comply with the demands of the aristocracy and priesthood, thus becoming known as the "sinner".[19] Although met with hostility in medieval sources, Hormizd is portrayed in a more positive light in modern sources. The German orientalistTheodor Nöldeke deemed the negative portrayal of Hormizd as unreasonable, and considered the shah to be "a well-meaning sovereign who intended to restrain the nobility and clergy and ease the burden of the lower classes: his effort was on the whole justified, but the unhappy outcome shows that he was not the man to reach such lofty goals with peace and competence".[6] Michael Bonner states that "the Persian royal tradition has covered Hurmazd in opprobrium, and the principal features of his reign have been deformed."[20]
From his father, Hormizd had inherited anongoing war against theEast Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Negotiations of peace had just begun with the EmperorTiberius II, who offered to give up all claims toArmenia and interchange the Byzantine-occupiedArzanene for the Iranian-occupiedDara (which was an important Byzantine stronghold).[6][21] Hormizd, however, further demanded the payment of the yearly tribute that was made during the reign ofJustinian I (r. 527–565), and thus caused the negotiations to be broken off.[22] No campaign inMesopotamia was undertaken by either of the empires due to the negotiations, however they continued to clash in Armenia, whereVaraz Vzur succeededTamkhosrow as the new Sasanian governor of Armenia.[23]
The Byzantines were successful at their endeavors, securing a noteworthy victory under the commandersCours andJohn Mystacon, albeit also suffering a defeat at the hands of the Sasanians.[23] In early 580, the clients and vassals of the Sasanians, theLakhmids, were defeated at the hands of theGhassanids, vassals of the Byzantines.[23] In the same year, a Byzantine army ravagedGaramig ud Nodardashiragan, reaching as far asMedia.[24][6] Around the same time,Bakur III, the Sasanian client king ofIberia, died, leaving behind two sons who were underage. Hormizd took advantage of the situation by abolishing the Iberian monarchy, i.e. theChosroid dynasty. He appointed his son Khosrow as the governor ofCaucasian Albania, who negotiated with the Iberian aristocracy and won their support, so successfully incorporating the country into the Sasanian Empire.[24][7][25]
The following year (581), an ambitious campaign by the Byzantine commanderMaurice, supported by Ghassanid forces underal-Mundhir III, targeted the Sasanian capital ofCtesiphon. The combined force moved south along the riverEuphrates, accompanied by a fleet of ships. The army stormed the fortress ofAnatha and moved on until it reached the region ofBeth Aramaye in central Mesopotamia, near Ctesiphon. There they found the bridge over the Euphrates destroyed by the Iranians.[26][27] In response to Maurice's advance, the Iranian generalAdarmahan was ordered to operate in northern Mesopotamia, threatening the Byzantine army's supply line.[28] Adarmahan raidedOsrhoene, and was successful in capturing its capital,Edessa.[29] He then marched his army towardCallinicum on the Euphrates. With the possibility of a march to Ctesiphon gone, Maurice was forced to retreat. The retreat was arduous for the tired army, and Maurice and al-Mundhir exchanged recriminations for the expedition's failure. However, they cooperated in forcing Adarmahan to withdraw and defeated him at Callinicum.[30]
Tiberius tried afterwards to renew negotiations by sending Zachariah to the frontier to meet Andigan.[31] The negotiations broke off once more after Andigan attempted to pressure him by drawing the attention of the nearby Iranian contingent led by Tamkhosrow.[31] In 582, Tamkhosrow, along with Adarmahan, invaded Byzantine territory and headed for the town ofConstantina. Maurice, who had been expecting and preparing for such an attack, fought the Iranians outside the city in June 582. The Iranian army suffered a heavy defeat, and Tamkhosrow was killed.[32][31] Not long afterwards, the deteriorating physical condition of Tiberius forced Maurice to return immediately toConstantinople to assume the crown.[6] Meanwhile, John Mystacon, who had replaced Maurice as the Commander of the East, attacked the Sasanians at the junction of theNymphius and theTigris, but was defeated by the Iranian generalKardarigan.[33]
In 583, the objective of the Iranian army was to recapture the fortressAphumon, which had been seized by Maurice in 578. However, while they besieged the fortress, the Romans besiegedAkbas, a newly constructed fortress east of the Nymphius and thus close to the Roman frontier. This diverted the attention of the Iranian soldiers at Aphumon, who went to relieve Akbas. By the end of year, however, the Romans had destroyed the fortress.[33][34] Hormizd then sued for peace: in 584, an Iranian envoy arrived at Constantinople, while a Roman envoy arrived at Ctesiphon. The negotiations, however, broke off once again.[34] Around the same time,Philippicus was appointed the new Commander of the East.[33]
In 585, Kardarigan went on the offensive, besieging the Byzantine base ofMonocarton. The siege failed, and he then marched north toMartyropolis, Philippicus's base; after sacking the church ofJohn the Baptist near the city, however, he returned to Iranian territory, most likely Armenia. In the spring of 586, Hormizd once again attempted to make peace, and sentMahbod to negotiate with Philippicus atAmida. Negotiations, however, broke down once more after the Iranians demanded gold in exchange for peace.[33][35] Not long after, an Iranian force—led by Kardarigan, Aphraates and Mahbod—suffered a heavy defeat against the Byzantines at theBattle of Solachon.[36] The victory was followed by destructive raids intoCorduene andArbayistan. In the following year, the new commander of the east,Heraclius the Elder, captured three fortresses near Dara.[37] The Iranians took advantage of the discord in the Roman army between 588 and 589, and managed to successfully occupy Martyropolis in 589 with the help of aturncoat Roman officer.[38]
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In 588, theTurkicKhaganBagha Qaghan (known as Sabeh/Saba inPersian sources), together with hisHephthalite subjects,invaded the Sasanian territories south of theOxus, where they attacked and routed the Sasanian soldiers stationed inBalkh. After conquering the city, they proceeded to takeTalaqan,Badghis, andHerat.[39] The invasion was a violation of the treaty that Khosrow I and the Khagan Istemi had agreed to, which set the Oxus as the boundary between the empires.[39] In a council of war,Bahram Chobin of theParthianMihranid family was chosen to lead an army against them and was given the governorship ofKhorasan. Bahram's army, supposedly consisting of 12,000 hand-picked horsemen,[40] ambushed a large army of Turks and Hephthalites in April 588, at the Battle of Hyrcanian Rock.[41] By 589 he had repelled the Turks and entered Balkh triumphantly, where he captured the Turkic treasury and the golden throne of the Khagan.[42] He then proceeded to cross the Oxus river and won a decisive victory over the Turks, personally killing Bagha Qaghan with an arrowshot.[40][43] He managed to reach as far as Baykand, nearBukhara, and also contain an attack by the son of the deceased Khagan, Birmudha, whom Bahram had captured and sent to Ctesiphon.[42]
Birmudha was well received there by Hormizd, who forty days later had him sent back to Bahram with the order that the Turkic prince should get sent back to Transoxiana.[42] The Sasanians now held suzerainty over theSogdian cities ofChach andSamarkand, where Hormizd minted coins.[42][b] This victory briefly made Iran the supreme power inNear East, a feat that was for a long time evoked in Persian stories.[44] After Bahram's great victory against the Turks he was sent toCaucasus to repel an invasion of nomads, possibly the Khazars, where he was victorious. He was once again made commander of the Sasanian forces against the Byzantines, and successfully defeated a Byzantine force inGeorgia. However, he then suffered a minor defeat by a Byzantine army on the banks of theAras. Hormizd, who was jealous of Bahram, used this defeat as an excuse to dismiss him from his office, and had him humiliated.[45][40]
According to one source, Bahram was the subject of jealousy by others after his victory against the Turks. Hormizd's ministerAzen Gushnasp, who was reportedly jealous of Bahram, accused him of having kept the best part of the booty for himself and only sending a small part to Hormizd.[46] According to other sources, it was Birmudha or the courtiers that raised Hormizd's suspicion.[46] Regardless, Hormizd could not tolerate the rising fame of Bahram, and thus had him disgraced and removed from office for supposedly having kept some of the booty for himself. Furthermore, Hormizd sent him a chain and aspindle to show that he considered him as a lowly slave "as ungrateful as a woman".[40] Enraged, Bahram, who was still in the east, rebelled against Hormizd.[40] The version of Bahram rebelling after his defeat against the Byzantines was supported by Nöldeke in 1879. However, a source found ten years later confirmed Bahram's rebellion took in fact place while he was still in the east.[40]
Due to his noble status and great military knowledge, Bahram's soldiers and many others joined the rebellion,[40] which marked the start of theSasanian civil war of 589–591. Bahram then appointed a new governor for Khorasan, and afterwards set for Ctesiphon.[40] The legitimacy of theHouse of Sasan had been established in the credence that the halo of kingship, thexwarrah, was given to the first Sasanian shah,Ardashir I (r. 224–242) and his family following the latter's conquest of theParthian Empire (also known as the Arsacids).[47] This was now, however, disputed by Bahram, thus marking the first time in Sasanian history that a Parthian dynasty challenged the legitimacy of the Sasanian family by rebelling.[48][47]
He started circulating rumours based on an extract from the Zoroastrian holy bookBundahishn that implied by the end ofZoroaster's millennium, "a man shall come from the frontiers ofKavulistan, with whom there will be glory, also of the royal family, whom they will name Kay Bahram; and all men will return with him, and he will rule even over India, Rome, and Turkistan, over all the frontiers."[49][40] Indeed, the Sasanians had misidentified Zoroaster's era with that of theSeleucids (312 BC), which put Bahram's life almost at the end of Zoroaster's millennium, he was therefore hailed by many as the promised savior Kay Bahram Varjavand.[40] A verse in theShahnameh seemingly indicates that Bahram proclaimed himself as the personification of the fire of the sun godMithra, and that he swore to restore the religion and traditions of his ancestors, the Arsacids.[49]
Hormizd sent a force underSarames the Elder to arrest Bahram. He was, however, defeated by the latter, who had him trampled to death by anelephant.[50] The route taken by Bahram was presumably the northern edge of theIranian plateau, where in 590 he had repelled a Byzantine-funded attack by Iberians and others onAdurbadagan, and suffered a minor setback by a Byzantine force employed in Transcaucasia.[7] He then marched southwardsMedia, where Sasanian monarchs, including Hormizd, ordinarily resided during the summer.[7] Hormizd then left for theGreat Zab River in order to cut communications between Ctesiphon and the Iranian soldiers on the Byzantine border.[7] Around that time the soldiers, who were situated outsideNisibis, the chief city in northern Mesopotamia, rebelled against Hormizd and pledged their allegiance to Bahram when he reached the city.[7][51]
The influence and popularity of Bahram continued to grow: Sasanian loyalist forces sent north against the Iranian rebels at Nisibis were flooded with rebel propaganda.[7] The loyalist forces eventually also rebelled and killed their commander Chubriadanes, which made the position of Hormizd become unsustainable.[7][52] He then sent an envoy to placate Bahram, while he started to make preparations to collect the royal treasure, destroy the bridge of the Tigris, and take sanctuary inal-Hira, the capital of theLakhmids.[51][7] A new Sasanian force was sent under the generalFarrukhan to encounter Bahram. Shortly before the departure of the army, Hormizd had approved a request by Farrukhan. He had asked the king for the release of an aristocratic prisoner named Zadspram, whom he regarded as an important figure in his efforts against Bahram.[53] The forces of Farrukhan and Bahram confronted each other at the Great Zab, but neither attacked, due to lack of confidence to cross the river. Farrukhan possibly hoped that the troops of Bahram would desert the latter; instead he was, however, deserted by Zadspram, and then eventually some of his officers, who murdered him.[53][54]
Hormizd, during his stay at Ctesiphon, was overthrown in a seemingly bloodless palace revolution by his brothers-in-lawVistahm andVinduyih, who according to theSyriac writerJoshua the Stylite, both "equally hated Hormizd".[7][14] They had Hormizd blinded with a red-hot needle, and put his oldest sonKhosrow II (who was their nephew through his mother's side) on the throne.[55][7] In June of 590, the two brothers strangled Hormizd to death with his ownturban.[56]
According to the 7th-century Byzantine historianTheophylact Simocatta, Khosrow II was involved in the murder of his father, while the 9th-century Muslim historianAbu Hanifa Dinawari, who based his account on the now lost Middle Persian workThe Book of Bahram Chobin, does not involve Khosrow II. Sebeos, who was hostile to Khosrow II, likewise does not accuse him ofpatricide. Propaganda circulated by Bahram, however, condemned Khosrow II for the death of his father. The modern historian Michael Bonner is skeptical of Theophylact's account, which he deems to have chronological issues.[57] Bahram continued his march to Ctesiphon, now with the pretext of claiming to avenge Hormizd.[42] Hormizd's death continued to be a controversial matter—a few years later, Khosrow II ordered the execution of both his uncles as well as other nobles who had a hand in the killing of his father.[7] A few decades later, Khosrow II, after being overthrown in a coup by his sonKavad II, was accused ofregicide against his father.[58]
Hormizd, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism.[59] 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 asmard / zan ī šahr, i.e. "man/woman citizen (of the Empire)".[60]Jews and (notably) Christians had accepted the concept of Iran and considered themselves part of the nation.[60] Hormizd, aware of the importance of the Christians and their support, refused to attack them when asked by the Zoroastrian clergy, whom he reportedly urged to acknowledge the input of the Christians.[61] According to al-Tabari'sHistory of Prophets and Kings and theChronicle of Seert, which both drew some of their work from the Middle Persian history bookKhwaday-Namag ("Book of Lords"), Hormizd told the clergy:[62]
"Just as our royal throne cannot stand on its two front legs without the two back ones, our kingdom cannot stand or endure firmly if we cause the Christians and adherents of other faiths, who differ in belief from ourselves, to become hostile to us. So refrain from harming the Christians and become assiduous in good works, so that the Christians and the adherents of other faiths may see this, praise you for it, and feel themselves drawn toward your religion."
His tolerance towards the Christians earned him the gratitude of their priests, and the respect of thepatriarchEzekiel and his successorIshoyahb I.[63] Hormizd was himself married to a Christian woman and prayed to the martyrSt. Sergius, a military saint whose cult rapidly increased beyond political and cultural borders from the 5th to the 7th century.[64][65] He was as a result suspected of harboring Christian beliefs.[64] However, his son Khosrow II also paid tribute to Sergius, more than once.[7][65] Hormizd superstitiously wore atalisman against death, and stressed the importance ofastrology.[64]
On the reverse of his coins, Hormizd is depicted wearing a crown equivalent to that of the second worn by his great-grandfatherPeroz I (r. 459–484).[66] The crown consists of adiadem, a crown with crenellations in the middle and behind, and thekorymbos, with a moon crescent at the front.[67] Hormizd made use of astral symbols on the obverse side—stars andcrescents are present at 3, 6, and 9 o'clock.[66] Gold coins were rarely minted under the Sasanians, with Hormizd being one of the rulers to never mint them.[68]
Two of Hormizd's wives are known, one of them being anIspahbudhan noblewoman, who was the daughter of Shapur,[15] whilst the other one was a Christian woman.[64]
Besides Khosrow II (r. 590–628), Hormizd also had an unnamed daughter, who marriedShahrbaraz of theHouse of Mihran.[69]
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Hormizd IV Born:c. 540 Died: June 590 | ||
| Preceded by | King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran 579–590 | Succeeded by |