Yazdezerd Sheheryar /Yazdezerd III (632 – 651)

Yazdezerd III, also known as Yazdezard Sheheryar occupied the throne on 16th June 632, at a very young age of sixteen years. This was also the year in which Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, passed away.

Yazdezerd, the son of Sheheryar, and grandson of Khushru II, was discovered by the nobility at Istakhra. His true identity had been kept hidden, since Khushru II had forbidden his son Sheheryar to marry on account of a prediction that some day the Sasanian Empire would slip away from the hands of a child of Sheheryar. Moreover in the times of chaotic and deadly court politics following Khushru II’s death, it was not considered prudent to reveal the existence of a royalty.

The nobles and the clergy convinced the young and inexperienced Yazdezerd to assume the throne. He was crowned at Istakhra, which was still relatively safe from court intrigues. He proved to be a brave, courageous and good king, but was unfortunately the victim of tragic circumstances at the Iranian royal court.

Very soon, he was forced to move from province to province demanding loyalty, money and support from his allies and other provincial rulers. His reign was not peaceful and he was most of the times a ‘wandering monarch’.

Rise of the Arabs

The three decades of Persia-Byzantine wars during the time of Khushru Parviz had taken a terrible toll on the Iranian and Roman armies, and the Arabs were well aware of this. The Arabs had the added advantage of being united under the banner of Islam. They were fired up by the zeal of spreading Islam by waging wars. The first Caliph Abu-Bakar, who was stationed at Medina, organized the Arabs and declared it a Jihad to expand the boundaries of Islam. He made overtures to secure trade concessions and a tax free regime from the Iranians, which were rejected.

The Arabicisation of Iranian territories had started since 630, much before Yazdezerd came to the throne, when Sasanian governors of Yemen, Bahrain and Oman were forced out by the Arabs. The cities were taken over by the Arab Muslims. Zoroastrians were allowed to follow their religion only after paying tributes. Thus the Arabs extended their rule over the entire Arabian Peninsula.

Battle of Hira

In 633, Arab commander Mosni bin Haresa entered Hira in southern Mesopotamia (Iraq), thus making the first inroads into Iranian territory. This place was very decisive as it was the buffer between the Sasanians and the Arabs in the desert. The Arab commander was not able to sustain for long, as the brave Iranian commander Rustam Farrokh-zād, who was the son of king Hormazd IV, was able to defeat him.

In 634, Arab tribes under commander Mosenna (also known as Muthanna) again tried to make inroads into Hira. However, General Mehran, commander of the Iranian army, was able to scatter and oust them. Afterwards, Mosenna successfully gathered and united many more Muslim and Christian Arab tribes, and returned with a bigger army and reinforcements. He started looting, marauding and harassing the Iranians in and near Baghdad.  To counter this menace, king Yazdezerd once again prepared and sent an army of twelve thousand soldiers under Commander Mehran.

There was a fierce battle at Hira where the Arab army had camped. Both the armies were badly depleted. The two commanders came face to face, in which Mehran lost his life.  The Iranian soldiers retreated on hearing about their Commander’s death, and thus the Arabs inflicted a crushing defeat to the Iranians.

Mosenna went back to Medina. He convinced the dying Abu Bakar the need to provide more troops. He also made an impassioned speech to the Arab Moslems to shed their blood for the cause of their prophet and religion. His speech had the desired effect. More than a thousand new recruits joined, one of whom was Abu Ubeidah (or Obayad) who later took command of the Arab forces. Shortly, another army joined Mosenna from Medina. These combined forces charged against the Iranian army, which was not able to give a strong resistance.

Battle of the Bridge

In 635, the Arabs under Commander Abu Ubeidah came into Mesopotamia and crossed the Euphrates on a bridge of boats. Sasanian General Behman attacked them with elephants and cavalry. The elephants in the Sasanian army frightened the Arab horses, which refused to proceed. The Arabs mounted an attack on foot. However, they were not successful, as the bridge of boats started to set adrift. In the commotion that ensued, the Arab commander Ubeidah was trampled under the feet of a huge elephant.

Quickly enough, the Arabs started to make a new bridge. Arab commander Mosenna came to their rescue with a troop of ten thousand soldiers. The news of a rising at Ctesiphon compelled Iranian commander Behman to rush there. There was fierce fighting with much loss of life on both sides. Many Iranian soldiers were killed or were drowned. This was the last battle in which the Sasanians were comparatively more successful over the Arabs. Mosenna while retreating with a few soldiers, was seriously injured and died soon afterwards.

The developments from here led to the Battle of Qadesiya, one of the last decisive battle of the Sasanians….

Queen Purāndokht (630)

Purant-dokht on her only gold coin

For a short time, anarchy prevailed in Iran as there was no ruler. The sons of Shahrbarāz were so scared that they did not come forward. None of the princes of Khushru Parviz were traceable and hence Shehrān, as a last resort, gave the throne to Purān-dokht, also referred to as Purān, one of the princesses of king Khushru Parviz.

Purān-dokht was very intellectual and fond of reading. She maintained good relations with the Roman, who too accorded her the highest respect. She sent the patriarch of the Nestorian Christians, who was imprisoned when Iran and Rome were aggressively at war, back to Rome.

Purān-dokht continued her father’s legacy and reverted back to the administrative system and even the coinage types to her father. She also minted gold coins which were ceremonial in nature and not meant for wider circulation. On the coins, she called herself yazdān tokham “descended from the divine beings”.

A profile of Puran-dokht with fire altar on the revers

She punished her brother Piruz for murdering the young king Ardeshir. As he was in hiding, she asked her warriors to search for him. Once he was caught, he was tied to a pony, dragged and stoned to death.

Purān-dokht ruled for about a year, then fell ill and passed away. Some reports indicate that she was suffocated by a pillow in her own bed.

Queen Āzarmi-dokht (631 CE – 4 months)

Āzarmi-dokht, also called Āzarmi, was Khushru Parviz’s daughter and Purān-dokht’s sister. She was the second Sasanian queen of the Sasanian dynasty. She ruled justly and firmly for four months.

A nobleman by the name Farrokh Hormazd, in order to strengthen his authority, asked Āzarmi-dokht to marry him. However, when she declined, he stopped supporting her and established himself as a rebel king in Istakhr.In order to deal with him, Azarmidokht allied herself with Siyavakhsh, the grandson of Bahram Chobin, and had Farrokh Hormazd killed.

Farrokh Hormazd’s son Rostam Farrokh-zād, who was at that time stationed in Khorasan, succeeded him. In order to avenge his father, he led troops to Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanian Empire, defeated the queen’s forces and captured Ctesiphon.

Shortly afterwards Āzarmi-dokht was assassinated, once again leaving Iran without a monarch.

King Farrokhzād (631)

After Āzarmi-dokht’s death, the Iranian throne lay vacant, and hence Farrokhzād, a general and a senior courtier, was asked to occupy it. Justifying his position, he said that he was related to the royal family and hence was worthy of the throne. He proved to be a good king.

He had an attendant by the name Siyāh-chashm, who liked an attendant lady and asked her to stay with him. The lady complained to the king, who imprisoned Siyāh-chashm. However, on the requests of courtiers, he was set free, and he again started attending on the king.

Siyāh-chashm was awaiting a chance to avenge his humiliation and soon enough, he got his chance. One day, taking the opportunity of being alone, he poisoned the food of the king, who died soon thereafter. Once again the Iranian throne was without a king.

4 Pretender kings (632-635)

At this period of time, the situation in Sasanian Iran was such that the institutions of kingship, nobility and clergy were shaken. Military generals took opportunity of this and frequently assumed power. Several pretenders and usurpers under various names assumed power for short periods and in quick succession. These contender kings were either assassinated or imprisoned by other commanders and generals claiming to be distant members of the Sasanian royal family.

At times several contenders ruled simultaneously at different places and occupied different areas of the empire like Khuzestan, Pars and Kerman. Hence this period is unclear in terms of succession. These contender kings, under their assumed names, ruled from 632 to 635. They were Khushru III, Piruz II, Khurzad Khusro (Khushru IV) and Hormazd V. In fact, some of them were still on the throne when Yazdezerd III assumed power. Thus, in a short period of four years (628-632 CE), ten monarchs ruled over Iran, most of them falling victims to internecine strife.  It was in such deplorable conditions, that the last Sasanian Emperor Yazdezerd III ascended the throne.