Yazdagird II Sipahdost 18th Sasanian King of Persia

• Preferred Name: Yazdagird II Sipahdost 18th Sasanian King of Persia^[1]
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: G3WM-M32
  
• Death: 457 in Iraq at LATI: N3 LONG: E4 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Shahanshah d'Iran
  
• Birth: 418 in Babylonia at LATI: N2.54 LONG: E4.42
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: 18th Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of IranBET 438 AND 457
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Yazdegerd II (also spelled Yazdgerd and Yazdgird; Middle Persian: 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩), was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran from 438 to 457. He was the successor and son of Bahram V (r. 420–438).
  His reign was marked by wars against the Eastern Roman Empire in the west and the Kidarites in the east, as well as by his efforts and attempts to strengthen royal centralisation in the bureaucracy by imposing Zoroastrianism on the non-Zoroastrians within the country, namely the Christians. This backfired in Armenia, culminating in a large-scale rebellion led by the military leader Vardan Mamikonian, who was ultimately defeated and killed at the Battle of Avarayr in 451. Nevertheless, religious freedom was subsequently allowed in the country.
  Yazdegerd II was the first Sasanian ruler to assume the title of kay ("king"), which evidently associates him and the dynasty to the mythical Kayanian dynasty commemorated in the Avesta. His death led to a dynastic struggle between his two sons Hormizd III and Peroz I for the throne, with the latter emerging victorious.
  
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  Yazdegerd II, fue el rey de reyes de Sasán de Irán desde 438 hasta 457. Fue el sucesor e hijo de Bahram V. Su reinado estuvo marcado por guerras contra el Imperio Romano de Oriente en el oeste y los kidaritas en el este, así como por sus esfuerzos e intentos de fortalecer la centralización real en la burocracia al imponer el zoroastrismo dentro del país. Esto fracasó en Armenia, que culminó en una rebelión a gran escala dirigida por el líder militar Vardan Mamikonian, quien finalmente fue derrotado y asesinado en la Batalla de Avarayr en 451. Sin embargo, posteriormente se permitió la libertad religiosa en el país. Yazdegerd II fue el primer gobernante sasánida en asumir el título de kay o rey, lo que evidentemente lo asocia a él y a la dinastía con la mítica dinastía kayaniana conmemorada en el Avesta. Su muerte condujo a una lucha dinástica entre sus dos hijos Hormizd III y Peroz I por el trono, con este último saliendo victorioso.

1. Title: The Sassanids 224-651 (in French w/ English translation)
   Author: Touraj Daryaee: – Sasanian Iran, 224-651 CE: Portrait of a late antique empire , Calif. : Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, 2008. Gérard Dédéyan: –History of the Armenian people , Toulouse, Éditions Privat, 2007. Marcel Dieulafoy: – The ancient art of Persia: Achaemenids, Parthians, Sassanids , Librairie centrale d'architecture, Paris, 1884-1889. Beate Dignas and Engelbert Winter: – Rome and Persia in late antiquity: Neighbors and rivals , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007. Boris Andreevich Dorn – Collection of Sasanian coins of the late Lieutenant-General I. de Bartholomaei, depicted after the Most Outstanding Pieces , Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 1873. Wilhelm Ensslin: -Zu den Kriegen des Sassaniden Schapur I. Vorgetragen am 4. Juli 1947 , Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, München, 1949. Kaveh Farrokh and Angus McBride: – Sassanian Elite Cavalry, AD224-642 , Osprey Publishing, Oxford, New York, 2004-2005 . Greg Fisher: – Between empires: Arabs, et.al....
   Note: Yazdgard II Sipahdost (or Yazdegerd or Yazdagird or Yezdegard, in Persian: یزدگرد دوم Izdigerdes or Istijerdes or Izdekerti or Izdigerdesen "made by God" , 438 to 457) at the beginning of his reign, will quickly attack the Eastern Roman Empire with a mixed army of different nations, including its Indian allies, in order to eliminate the threat of a Roman establishment. The Romans built fortifications in the vicinity of the Persian territories at Harran (or Carrhae), in anticipation of later expeditions. Roman Emperor Theodosius II the Younger (402-450), asked Yazdgard II to sign peace and sent his personal commander to the Persian King's camp. In negotiations in 441, the two Empires promised not to build new fortifications in their border territories. Yazdgard II sent forces to Nishapur (or Neyshābūr or Nishapur, a city in the province of Khorasan, northern Iran) in 443 and launched a prolonged campaign against the Kidarites (Chinese: Ki-To-Lo). After many battles he crushed them, and in 450 he sent them back across the Oxos River. As soon as he came to power Yazdgard II was at first religiously conciliatory, he even showed himself to be a very fervent Zoroastrian in the 450s, then he decided to convert Armeniato Mazdeism and launched a campaign to eradicate Christianity. Under this threat, while he was occupied in the East fighting the Hephthalites who threatened the Empire, the Princes, the nobility and the people of Armenia united in a huge revolt and the Sassanid troops were defeated. Yazdgard II at the head of his army attacked Armenia , but the Emperor of Constantinople could not come to the aid of the country because he was in talks with the Huns. On June 2, 451, under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief, Vardan Mamikonian, the Armenians faced the Persians and his Commander Mihr-Narseh at the battle of Avarayr (or Avaraïr, also called Vartanantz). The Armenians were defeated and Vardan Mamikonian was killed in battle. Yazdgard II eliminated the insurgents and deported the heads of the great families to Iran. Patriarch Joseph and ten clerics were imprisoned and executed three years later. However, the rebellions continued in the mountains. A nephew of Vardan, Vahan Mamikonian who will have the title of Mazpan (Governor, 485-510), continued the fight. The losses suffered, the "guerrilla" that the Armenians deliveredto get rid of their guardianship and the threat of the Hephthalites in the East, prevented Yazdgard II from imposing Mazdeism. During his campaign in the East, the Persian King increased his distrust of Christians in his army and nobility and expelled many of them. He then persecuted the Assyrian Christians and, to a much lesser extent, the Jews. In the last years of his reign the King was again engaged with the Kidarites. He married Mohri and Dînak (or Denagh), a Persian noblewoman who bore him two or three sons: Hormizd III (or Ormizd or Ormuz) whom some give as the son of Queen Mohri, Perôz I and Palash (or Balash or Balaxes or Valash or Vologese). All three will succeed him.