Yazdegerd Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire Persia III

• Preferred Name: Yazdegerd Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire Persia III^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: LTC3-BX5
  
• Merv+or+Marw,+Khorastan: with note: Description: Merv Persian: مرو, Marv), Marw al-Shāhijān, was a major Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan.[1] Sassanian rule ended when the last Sassanian ruler, Yazdegerd III (632–651) was killed near the city and the Sassanian military governor surrendered to the approaching Arab army. Representatives of the caliph, Umar occupied the city, which became the capital of the Umayyad province of Khorasan. In 671, Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan sent 50,000 Arab troops to Merv as a colony. This colony retained its native Kufan sympathies and became the nucleus of Khurasan.[25]
  
• Birth: um 0603 in Istakhr, Persia, Sasanian Empire at LATI: N2 LONG: E3 with note: bisherige daten
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Shahanshah of Sasanian PersiaBET 632 AND 651
  
• Death: 651 in Marw, Khorasan, Persia, Sasanian Empire at LATI: N2 LONG: E3 with note: After his defeat, Yazdegerd sought refuge at a miller near Marw, who, however, murdered him in 651. According to Kia, the miller had reportedly killed Yazdegerd in order to obtain his jewelry, whilst the Cambridge History of Iran states that the miller was sent by Mahoe Suri. Regardless, the death of Yazdegerd marked the end of the Sasanian Empire, and made it less difficult for the Arabs to conquer the rest of Iran
  
• Religion: Zoroastrianism
  
• Notes:

  === King of Persia, 623-632 ===
  King of Persia, 623-632
  
  === Yazdegerd III or Yazdgerd III (Middle Pe ===
  Yazdegerd III or Yazdgerd III (Middle Persian Yazadgērd, meaning "made by God"; New Persian Izdegerdes in classical sources), was the thirty-eighth and last king of the Sasanian Empire of Iran from 632 to 651.[1] His father was the Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II Yazdegerd III ascended the throne on 16 June 632, after a series of internal conflicts.
  Yazdegerd III was son of the Shahriyar and an unnamed woman from Baduraya Shahriyar was the son of Khosrau II, and was killed in 628 by his brother Kavadh II who sought to secure the throne from any rebellion. After the death of Kavadh, a civil war began in Persia, which was fought between two factions, the Pahlav (Parthian) faction headed by the nephew of Vistahm , Farrukh Hormizd and the Parsig (Persian) faction headed by the former Sasanian minister Piruz Khosrow.
  During the civil war, Yazdegerd III was hiding in Estakhr . However, on 16 June 632, Farrukh Hormizd's son and successor Rostam Farrokhzad and Piruz Khosrow agreed to collaborate with each other and chose Yazdegerd as the new Sasanian king. They had him crowned as king in the Zoroastrian temple of Anahita in Estakh. Yazdegerd III was almost the last living member of the House of Sasan .
  There is no consensus over the age of Yazdegerd III when he was installed on the throne. al-Tabari states that he was 21,Abu Hanifa Dinawari gives his age as 16,Washington Irving gives it as 12, while other sources claim he was as young as 8.
  One year after his ascension, the Muslim Arabs invaded Iran
  Yazdegerd's sons Peroz III and Bahram VII fled to China . According to a Shiite tradition, his daughter Shahrbanu married Hussein ibn Ali Shahrbanu's son was Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin , the fourth Shi'ite imam. Some Bahá'í writers have claimed that Bahá'u'lláh's ancestry can be traced back to Yazdegerd III, which was promoted to encourage Zoroastrians to convert to the Bahá'í religion. The Muslim scholar Al-Masudi provides different information, claiming Yazdegerd III had two sons, Bahram and Peroz, and three daughters, Shahrbanu, Adrag and Mardawand.
  Al-Tabari and Ibn Khaldun inferred the marital engagement of Yazdegard-III with a woman at Merv in addition to previous marriage(s).Washington Irving in his book Mahomet and His Successors cited not only wives but also concubines and their female attendants during hideout.
  Chinese sources refer marriage of one of his daughters to Chinese Emperor
  Jewish sources also reveal marriage of princess Dara or Izdundad, one of daughters of Yazdegard, with Bostanai or Bustanai, the first Exilarch under Arabian rule The Geniza version goes on to say that Azdawar/Dara, the princess handed over to Bustanai, was the daughter of Biran (Buran and in Perisan Puran) or Khosrau II daughter. However the question whether the princess was Khosrau’s daughter or Yazdegard was a dispute among scholars
  Yazdegerd later negotiated with fourteen Arab negotiators, and asked them about the reasons for their aggressive behavior towards his Empire. One of the fourteen Arabs shortly replied, "Allah commanded us, by the mouth of His Prophet, to extend the dominion of Islam over all nations." On May, the Muslims defeated a Sasanian force under the Azadbeh near the important strategic Sasanian city of Hira which was shortly afterwards occupied. After the fall of Hira, Yazdegerd began to pay greater attention to the Muslims; Rostam Farrokhzad sent an army under the Persian military officer Bahman Jadhuyihand the Armenian military officer Jalinus against the Muslims. Rostam is known to have told Bahman secretly that: "if Jalinus returns to the like of his defeat, then cut off his head."[The Sasanian army managed to defeat the Muslims at the Battle of the Bridge
  In 636, Yazdegerd III ordered Rostam Farrokhzad to subdue the invading Arabs and then told him: "Today you are the [most prominent] man among the Iranians. You see that the people of Iran have not faced a situation like this since the family of Ardashir I assumed power."Envoys then came to Yazdegerd III asking him to consider the dismissal of Rostam in order to replace him with someone around whom the people would rally.
  Yazdegerd III asked Rostam for an assessment of the Arab forces since they had camped at Qadisiyyah. Rostam Farrokhzad stated that the Arabs were "a pack of wolves, falling upon unsuspecting shepherds and annihilating them."Yazdegerd III responds to Rostam by saying,
  “ It is not like that. The Arabs and the Persians are comparable to an eagle who looked upon a mountain where birds take shelter at night and stay in their nests at the foot of it. When morning came, the birds looked around and saw that he was watching them. Whenever a bird became separated from the rest, the eagle snatched him. The worst thing that could happen to them would be that all would escape save one. ”
  However, the Sasanian army suffered a heavy defeat at the battle of al-Qadisiyyah , and Rostam Farrokhzad, Bahman, Jalinus, Shahriyar bin Kanara (who was the son of the kanarang, and two Armenian princes named Grigor II Novirak and Musel III Mamikonian , were killed during the battle. The Arabs then marched towards the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon without meeting any resistance. Yazdegerd took his treasury, and along with 1,000 of his servants fled to Hulwan in Media, leaving Rostam Farrokhzad's brother Farrukhzad in charge of Ctesiphon. Farrukhzad, however, did not attempt any resistance and also went to Hulwan. The Arabs subsequently reached Ctesiphon, besieged the western parts of the city, and soon occupied all of it. In April 637, the Arabs defeated another Sasanian army at the Battle of Jalula. After this defeat, Yazdegerd fled deeper into Media.
  He subsequently raised a new army and sent it to Nahavand to retake Ctesiphon and prevent any further Muslim advances. The army that Yazdegerd sent seemed such a serious threat that it led Umar to combine the Arab forces of Kufa and Basra under Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin and send them against the Sasanians with reinforcements from Syria and Oman . The battle is said to have lasted several days. It resulted in major losses on both sides, including the death of Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin and the Persian generals Mardanshah and Piruz Khosrow . The battle of Nahavand in 642 was the second military disaster for the Sasanians after the battle of al-Qādisiyyah
  After the Sasanian disaster, Yazdegerd fled to Isfahan, and raised a small army under a certain military officer named Siyah, who had lost his property to the Arabs. However, Siyah and the rest of the army mutinied against Yazdegerd, and agreed to help the Arabs in return for places to live. Meanwhile, Yazdegerd had arrived in Estakhr, where he tried organizing a base for resistance in the province of Pars. However, in 650, Abdullah ibn Aamir , the governor of Basra, invaded Pars and put an end to the Persian resistance. Estakhr was made into ruins after the battle and a force of 40,000 defenders including many Persian nobles were killed. After the Arab conquest of Pars, Yazdegerd fled to Kirman_(Sasanian_province) while being pursued by an Arab force.Yazdegerd managed to flee from the Arab force in a snowstorm at Bimand.
  After arriving at Kirman, Yazdegerd became unfriendly with the Marzbanof Kirman, and then left Kirman for Sistan. Another Basran army later arrived which defeated and killed the Marzban of Kirman in a bloody fight. When Yazdegerd arrived at Sistan he lost the support of the governor of Sistan by demanding tax from him. Yazdegerd then headed for Merv to join the leader of the Turks. However, when he arrived in Khorasan the people of Khorasan did not agree with Yazdegerd's decision and told him that it was better if he made peace with the Arabs; Yazdegerd, however, refused. Sistan was also later taken by the Arab forces after a bloody fight around 650-652.Yazdegerd was also supported by the Principality of Chaghaniyan, which sent him troops to aid him against the Arabs.
  When Yazdegerd arrived in Merv he demanded tax from the Marzban of Merv, losing also his support and making him ally with Nezak Tarkan, the Hephthalite ruler of Badghis , who helped him defeat Yazdegerd and his followers. After his defeat, Yazdegerd was killed by a local miller for his purse while he was trying to flee from Merv in 651.
  The legend is that he was killed by a miller who robbed him of his clothes and jewellery, but there is a strong suspicion that the governor of Merv was the real culprit.
  Ferdowsi, a contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni , recounts the killing of Yazdegerd III by the miller at the behest of Mahuy Suri .
  “ Mahui sends the miller to cut off his head on pain of losing his own, and having none of his race left alive. His chiefs hear this and cry out against him, and a Mobed of the name of Radui tells him that to kill a king or prophet will bring evil upon him and his son, and is supported in what he says by a holy man of the name of Hormuzd Kharad Shehran, and Mehronush. The miller most unwillingly goes in and stabs him with a dagger in the middle. Mahui's horsmen all go and see him and take off his clothing and ornaments, leaving him on the ground. All the nobles curse Mahui and wish him the same fate.

• m. um 0624

1. Izdundad of Perzie, b. um 0629 in Baghdād, Baghdād, Irak    

1. Title: Iranicaonline.org - Sasanian Dynasty
   Author: F. Justi in Grundriss II, pp. 512-13; Christensen, Iran. Sass., pp. 50-83; Widengren, Camb. Hist. Iran III, pp. 1269-89; Frye, 1984, pp. 287-91; Wiesehofer, 1996, pp. 283-87; Morony, 1995, pp. 80-83; Morony, 1984, pp. 541-42, 545-65, 575-77; and Cereti, 1995-97. The bibliography of the entry BYZANTINE-IRANIAN RELATIONS provides a list up to 1985 related to Sasanian political history. Useful anthologies of sources on the same subject are given in annotated translation in Dodgeon and Lieu, 1991 and 2002. The best modern overview of the Sasanian period, with excellent bibliographical essays, is Wiesehöfer, 2001, pp. 153-221, 276-300, 309.E. ʿAbbās, ed., ʿAhd Ardašīr, Beirut, 1967. Agathias, The Histories, tr. G. D. Frendo, Berlin and New York, 1975 (see also Cameron 1995). N. Adontz, Armenia in the period of Justinian, tr. and rev. by N. Garsoïan, Lisbon, 1970. M. Alram, Alram, Nomina propria iranica in nummis. Materialgrundlagen zu den iranischen Personennamen auf antiken Münzen, V
   Publication: Name: https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty;
   Note: SASANIAN DYNASTY, the last Persian lineage of rulers to achieve hegemony over much of Western Asia before Islam, ruled 224 CE–650 CE. Beginning of article Rise of the Sasanian empire. The overthrow of the Arsacid royal house in 224 CE and the establishment of the Sasanian dynasty was the outcome of the simultaneous decline of the Parthian state brought about by chronic civil strife, a devastating epidemic of smallpox, repeated wars with Roman forces (who sacked Ctesiphon in 165 and 198), and the gradual ascendancy of a Persian family with religious and political bases of support. The Arsacid empire was divided between two rival brothers: Vologeses VI (207-27), who ruled from Ctesiphon, and Ardavān (212-24), who held Media and Khuzistan (see ARTABANUS IV). The Roman emperor Caracalla encouraged discord between the two, and himself trapped and massacred Ardavān’s supporters and sacked Arbela and many Armenian forts in 217. Although Ardavān regrouped and even defeated the Romans in the same year, his authority was seriously weakened (Bivar, 1983, pp. 92-97)....... end of article ........Such a wretched state enticed Persia’s neighbors to take advantage of its situation. The Turks were marching through the eastern provinces at will, and only alliance with them saved local magnates in charge of those lands. The Khazars were ravaging the northwest provinces; Heraclius was interfering in Persia’s internal affairs, and the Arabs, now inspired by a new faith and united by a call to arms and fully aware of the difficulties of the rich but disintegrating empire (Ṭabari, I, pp. 2187-88), were making inroads into Mesopotamia. Success made the Arabs rich and bold, and they defeated a major Persian army at Qādesiya (southwest of Ḥira), and subjugated local rulers until they captured Ctesiphon, where they found untold riches. Wave after wave of them swept through Iranian lands. Yazdegerd fled from one place to another, begging local lords to help save him and the empire; but the end had come, and no real, united front could be organized. The Arabs subjugated local lords by force or treaty and succeeded in destroying the Persian empire by 650. Yazdegerd was betrayed by Māhōy Suri of Marv and murdered in a mill, in which he had been taking refuge. With him ended the Sasanian dynasty, for the attempts of his son, Pērōz, and his descendants to regain power with the help of Chinese or Turkish troops proved futile. Although its last days were inglorious, the Sasanian state remained the ideal model of organization, splendor, and justice in Perso-Arab tradition; and its bureaucracy and royal ideology were imitated by successor states, especially the Abbasid, Ottoman, and Safavid empires. The memory of Yazdegerd III remained that of a martyred prince, and many a subsequent ruler or notable in Islamic Iran claimed descent from him. His coins (like that of Ḵosrow II) were used—and continued to be minted, with some gradual alteration in legends—by Arab governors for several generations (Tyler-Smith). According to a Shi’ite tradition, one of his daughters married Imam Ḥosayn and begot ‘Ali Zayn-al-’ābedin, the fourth Imam (Boyce, 1967). Thus, the Hosayni sayyeds claimed superiority over others by virtue of “nobility on both sides” (karim al-tarafayn: Ebn Balki, Fārsnāma, p. 4). Many Iranians, particularly Zoroastrians, took the accession of Yazdegerd (16 June 632), as the beginning of the Era of Yazdegerd; some, however dated from the year of his murder in 650 (Taqizadeh, pp. 917-22). See also: SASANIAN EMPIRE and entries for the individual rulers. The country was disintegrating, and Šērōya’s murder of his seventeen brothers, “all well-educated, valiant, and chivalrous men” (Ṭabari, I, p. 1060), deprived Persia of a future able monarch. The highest aristocracy gained full independence, each carving a state for himself within the empire; and the old animosity between the Parthians (led by Farroḵ Hormozd, the Spāhbed of the north), and the Persians led by Hormozān (q.v.), brother-in-law of Šērōye, flared up, further dividing the resources of the country (Ṭabari, I, pp. 2176, 2209). Dams and canals in Mesopotamia broke, turning cultivated areas into swamps. A plague devastated western provinces, killing Šērōya and half of the population (Mas’udi, Moruj II, p. 232; cf. Nöldeke, Geschichte der Perser, p. 385, n. 4). His son and successor, Ardašir III (q.v.), was murdered by Šahrvarāz. The latter, having made a pact with Heraclius and evacuated all Roman territories (Mango), captured Ctesiphon with a small force, demonstrating to all the weakness of the empire. He also ascended the throne, further undermining the legitimacy of the Sasanian house. Nobles killed him after forty days, and two daughters of Ḵosrow reigned in succession. When Farroḵ Hormozd was assassinated in a palace plot, his son Rostam brought his forces to Ctesiphon, murdered the queen, and enthroned Yazdegerd (III), a grandson of Ḵosrow then merely eight years old (Ṭabari, I, p. 1067). Other nobles enthroned and deposed other candidates (ten in two years). The situation was so chaotic, the condition of the people so appalling, that “the Persians openly spoke of the immanent downfall of their empire, and saw its portents in natural calamities” (Balāḏori, p. 292; cf. Tāriḵ-e Sistān, p.81). Such a wretched state enticed Persia’s neighbors to take advantage of its situation. The Turks were marching through the eastern provinces at will, and only alliance with them saved local magnates in charge of those lands. The Khazars were ravaging the northwest provinces; Heraclius was interfering in Persia’s internal affairs, and the Arabs, now inspired by a new faith and united by a call to arms and fully aware of the difficulties of the rich but disintegrating empire (Ṭabari, I, pp. 2187-88), were making inroads into Mesopotamia. Success made the Arabs rich and bold, and they defeated a major Persian army at Qādesiya (southwest of Ḥira), and subjugated local rulers until they captured Ctesiphon, where they found untold riches. Wave after wave of them swept through Iranian lands. Yazdegerd fled from one place to another, begging local lords to help save him and the empire; but the end had come, and no real, united front could be organized. The Arabs subjugated local lords by force or treaty and succeeded in destroying the Persian empire by 650. Yazdegerd was betrayed by Māhōy Suri of Marv and murdered in a mill, in which he had been taking refuge. With him ended the Sasanian dynasty, for the attempts of his son, Pērōz, and his descendants to regain power with the help of Chinese or Turkish troops proved futile. Although its last days were inglorious, the Sasanian state remained the ideal model of organization, splendor, and justice in Perso-Arab tradition; and its bureaucracy and royal ideology were imitated by successor states, especially the Abbasid, Ottoman, and Safavid empires. The memory of Yazdegerd III remained that of a martyred prince, and many a subsequent ruler or notable in Islamic Iran claimed descent from him. His coins (like that of Ḵosrow II) were used—and continued to be minted, with some gradual alteration in legends—by Arab governors for several generations (Tyler-Smith). According to a Shi’ite tradition, one of his daughters married Imam Ḥosayn and begot ‘Ali Zayn-al-’ābedin, the fourth Imam (Boyce, 1967). Thus, the Hosayni sayyeds claimed superiority over others by virtue of “nobility on both sides” (karim al-tarafayn: Ebn Balki, Fārsnāma, p. 4). Many Iranians, particularly Zoroastrians, took the accession of Yazdegerd (16 June 632), as the beginning of the Era of Yazdegerd; some, however dated from the year of his murder in 650 (Taqizadeh, pp. 917-22).
   Page: summarizes every leader in sequence covering the rise and fall of the Sasanian Empire
   
2. Title: Wikipedia - Sasanian Family Tree
   Author: References[edit] ^ Touraj Daryaee, Sasanian Persia:The Rise and Fall of an Empire, (I.B. Tauris, 2010), 2. ^ "DABUYIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2013-12-16. ^ "BADUSPANIDS". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2013-12-16. ^ Stokvis A.M.H.J., pp. 112, 129.
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_family_tree;
   Note: This is a family tree of the Sasanian emperors, their ancestors, and Sasanian princes/princesses. History[edit] The Sasanian dynasty was named after Sasan, the eponymous ancestor of the dynasty. It was founded by Ardashir I in 224, who defeated the last Parthian (Arsacid) king, Artabanus IV (Persian: اردوان Ardavan)[1] and ended when the last Sasanian monarch, Yazdegerd III (632–651), lost a 19-year struggle to drive out the early Arab Caliphate, which was the first of the Islamic empires. It is believed that the following dynasties and noble families have ancestors among the Sasanian rulers: The Dabuyid dynasty (642–760), descendants of Jamasp.[2] The Paduspanids (665–1598) of Mazandaran, descendants of Jamasp.[3] The Shahs of Shirwan (1100–1382), from Hormizd IV's line.[4] The Banu Munajjim (9th–10th century), from Mihr Gushnasp, a Sasanian prince. The Kamkarian family (9th–10th century), a dehqan family descended from Yazdegerd III. The Mikalids (9th–11th century), a family descended from the Sogdian ruler Divashtich, who was, in turn, a descendant of Bahram V Gur. Click on link to view full tree.....
   
3. Title: Wikipedia - List of Sasanian Monarchs
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_monarchs_of_the_Sasanian_Empire;
   Note: King of Kings of Iran IMPERIAL Derafsh Kaviani flag of the late Sassanid Empire.svg The Derafsh Kaviani, the legendary royal standard of the Sasanian monarchs Sasanid Plate, Azerbaijan Museum, Tabriz, Iran.jpg Plate of a Sasanian king, located in the Azerbaijan Museum in Iran Details First monarch Ardashir I (224–242) Last monarch Yazdegerd III (632–651) Residence Istakhr (224–226) Ctesiphon (226–637) (winter residence) Gundeshapur (briefly under Bahram I and Shapur II) Hamadan (as summer residence) Dastgerd (briefly Khosrow II's reign) Appointer Divine right, hereditary The Sasanian monarchs were the rulers of Iran after their victory against their former suzerain, the Parthian Empire, at the Battle of Hormozdgan in 224. At its height, the Sasanian Empire spanned from Turkey and Rhodes in the west to Pakistan in the east, and also included territory in what is now the Caucasus, Yemen, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Central Asia. The Sasanian Empire was recognized as one of the main powers in the world alongside its neighboring arch rival, the Roman Empire (later the Byzantine Empire), for a period of more than 400 years.[1][2][3][4] The Sasanian dynasty began with Ardashir I in 224, who was a Persian from Istakhr, and ended with Yazdegerd III in 651.[5] The period from 631 (when Boran died) to 632 (when Yazdgerd III takes the throne) is confusing in determining proper succession because a number of rulers who took the throne were later removed or challenged by other members of the House of Sasan. The period was one of factionalism and division within the Sasanian Empire.[6] Titles[edit] Ardashir I (r. 224–242), the founder of the Sasanian Empire, introduced the title "Shahanshah of the Iranians" (Middle Persian: šāhān šāh ī ērān; Parthian: šāhān šāh ī aryān). Ardashir's immediate successor, Shapur I (r. 240/42–270/72) chooses the titles in a precise manner in the inscription at Ka'ba-ye Zartosht. In that Shapur names four of his Sasanian predecessors with different titles and in "an ascending order of importance" by giving the title (Xwaday) "the lord" to Sasan, "the king" to Papag, "King of Kings of Iranians" to Ardashir, and "king of kings of Iranians and non-Iranians" (Middle Persian: MLKAn MLKA 'yr'n W 'nyr'n šāhān šāh ī ērān ud anērān;; Ancient Greek: βασιλεύς βασιλέων Αριανών basileús basiléōn Arianṓn) to himself.[7] The title "King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians" has also seen on a single silver coin of Shapur I, which indicates that the title was introduced after his victory over Romans and incorporation of non-Iranian lands into the Sasanian realms. The title was later used in coins of all later Sasanian kings.[8] Yazdegerd I's reign (r. 399–420), marks a shift in the political perspective of the Sasanian Empire, which (originally disposed towards the West) moved to the East.[9] The shift may have been triggered by hostile tribes in eastern Iran.[9] The war with the Iranian Huns may have reawakened the mythical rivalry between the mythological Iranian Kayanian rulers and their Turanian enemies, which is illustrated by Younger Avestan texts.[9] The title of Ramshahr (peacekeeper in [his] dominion) was added to the traditional "King of Kings of the Iranians and non-Iranians" on Yazdegerd I's coins.[10][11][a] In the Middle Persian heroic poem Ayadgar-i Zariran (The Testament of Zarer), the title was used by the last Kayanian monarch (Vishtaspa) and occurs in the 10th-century Zoroastrian Denkard.[13] Sasanian interest in Kayanian ideology and history would continue until the end of the empire.[14] Bahram V (r. 420–438), on some rare coins minted in Pars, used the title of kirbakkar ("beneficent").[15] The reign of Yazdegerd II (r. 438–457) marks the start of a new inscription on the Sasanian coins; mazdēsn bay kay ("The Mazda-worshipping majesty, the king"), which displays his fondness of the Kayanians, who also used the title of kay.[16][10][b] Under Peroz I (r. 459–484), the traditional titulature of šāhānšāh ("King of Kings") is omitted on his coins, and only the two aspects of kay Pērōz ("King Peroz") are displayed.[15] However, a seal demonstrates that the traditional titulature was still used, which indicates that coins do not with certainty display the full formal titulature of the Sasanian monarchs.[15] His brother and successor, Balash (r. 484–488), used the title of hukay ("the good king").[15][18] Kavad I (r. 488–496, 498–531) was the last Sasanian monarch to have kay inscribed on his coins—the last one issued in 513.[19] The regular obverse inscription on his coins simply has his name; in 504, however, the slogan abzōn ("may he prosper/increase") was added.[19][15] Khosrow II (r. 590–590, 591–628), during his second reign, added the ideogram GDH, meaning xwarrah ("royal splendor") on his coins. He combined this together with the word abzōt ("he has increased"), making the full inscription thus read as: "Khosrow, he has increased the royal splendor" (Khūsrōkhwarrah abzōt).[15] The title of King of Kings was also restored on his coins.[15] His two successors, Kavad II (r. 628–628) and Ardashir III (r. 628–630), refrained from using the title, seemingly in order distance themselves from Khosrow II.[15] The king[edit] The head of the Sasanian Empire was the [shahanshah] (king of kings), also simply known as the shah (king). His health and welfare were always important and the phrase “May you be immortal" was used to reply to him with. By looking on the Sasanian coins which appeared from the 6th-century and afterward, a moon and sun are noticeable. The meaning of the moon and sun, in the words of the Iranian historian [Touraj Daryaee], “suggest that the king was at the center of the world and the sun and moon revolved around him. In effect, he was the “king of the four corners of the world," which was an old Mesopotamian idea."[20] The king saw all other rulers, such as the Romans, Turks, and Chinese, as being beneath him. The king wore colorful clothes, makeup, a heavy crown, while his beard was decorated with gold. The early Sasanian kings considered themselves of divine descent; they called themselves for “bay" (divine).[21] When the king went to the publicity, he was hidden behind a curtain,[20] and had some of his men in front of him, whose duty was to keep the masses away from the king and to make his way clear.[22] When one came to the king, he/she had to prostrate before him, also known as proskynesis. The king was guarded by a group of royal guards, known as the pushtigban. On other occasions, the king was protected by a group of palace guards, known as the darigan. Both of these groups were enlisted from royal families of the Sasanian Empire,[22] and were under the command of the hazarbed, who was in charge of the king's safety, controlled the entrance of the kings palace, presented visitors to the king, and was allowed to be given military command or used in negotiations. The hazarbed was also allowed in some cases to serve as the royal executioner.[22] During Nowruz (Iranian new year) and Mihragan (Mihr's day), the king would hold a speech.[21]
   
4. Title: Wikipedia, Yazdegerd III
   Author: al-Tabari (1992). The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine. Translated by Yohanan Friedmann. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0734-9. Kia, Mehrdad (2016). The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1610693912. Shahbazi, A. Shapur (2003). "YAZDEGERD I". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Frye, R. N. (1983), "Chapter 4", The political history of Iran under the Sasanians, The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-20092-9 Daryaee, Touraj (2014). Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. I.B.Tauris. pp. 1–240. ISBN 978-0857716668. Payne, Richard E. (2015). A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity. Univ of California Press. pp. 1–320. ISBN 9780520961531. Compareti, Matteo (2009). "Chinese-Iranian relations xv. The last Sasanians in China". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Shahbazi, A. Shapur (1986). "Army
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazdegerd_III;
   Note: Yazdegerd III 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩 King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran[a] Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire Reign 16 June 632 – 651 Coronation Istakhr Predecessor Boran Successor Office abolished Born 624 Istakhr Died 651 (aged 27) Marw Issue Peroz III Bahram VII Shahrbanu (alleged) Izdundad House House of Sasan Father Shahriyar Religion Zoroastrianism Yazdegerd III (also spelled Yazdgerd III and Yazdgird III; Middle Persian: 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩) was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was Shahriyar and his grandfather was Khosrow II. Ascending the throne at the age of eight, the young shah lacked authority and reigned as figurehead, whilst real power was in the hands of the army commanders, courtiers, and powerful members of the aristocracy, who engaged in internecine warfare. The Sasanian Empire was weakened severely by these internal conflicts, resulting in invasions by the Göktürks from the east, and Khazars from the west.[1] It was, however, the Arabs, united under the banner of Islam, who dealt the decisive blow. Yazdegerd was unable to contain the Arab invasion of Iran, and spent most of his reign fleeing from one province to another in the vain hope of raising an army. Yazdegerd met his end at the hands of a miller near Marw in 651, bringing an end to the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire after more than 400 years of rule.[1] Background Yazdegerd was the son of prince Shahriyar and the grandson of the last prominent shah of Iran, Khosrow II (r. 590–628), who was in 628 overthrown and executed by his own son Kavad II, who proceeded to have all his brothers and half-brothers executed, including Shahriyar.[3] This dealt a heavy blow to the empire, which it would never recover from. Furthermore, the fall of Khosrow II also culminated in a civil war lasting four years, with the most powerful members of the nobility gaining full autonomy and starting to create their own government. The hostilities between the Persian (Parsig) and Parthian (Pahlav) noble-families were also resumed, which split up the wealth of the nation.[4] A few months later, a devastating plague swept through the western Sasanian provinces, killing half of its population including Kavad II.[4] He was succeeded by his eight-year-old son Ardashir III, who was killed two years later by the distinguished Sasanian general Shahrbaraz, who was in turn murdered forty days later in a coup by the Pahlav leader Farrukh Hormizd, who installed the daughter of Khosrow II, Boran, on the throne. She was deposed a year later, and a succession of rulers followed one another, until Boran was sovereign once more in 631, only to be killed the following year, seemingly by the Parsig leader Piruz Khosrow.[5] The most powerful magnates in the empire, Rostam Farrokhzad[b] and Piruz Khosrow, now threatened by their own men, eventually agreed to work together, and installed Yazdegerd III on the throne, thus putting an end to the civil war.[6] He was crowned in the Anahid fire-temple in Istakhr, where he had been hiding during the civil war. The temple was the very place where the first Sasanian shah Ardashir I (r. 224–242) had crowned himself, indicating that the reason behind Yazdegerd's coronation at the same place was due to hopes for a rejuvenation of the empire.[7] He was almost the last living member of the House of Sasan.[8] Most scholars agree that Yazdegerd was eight years old at his coronation.[4][3][9] Reign 632-651 Conditions of the empire 14th-century Shahnameh illustration of the coronation of Yazdegerd III, who is incorrectly portrayed as an adult. Yazdegerd, however, did not have the authority required to bring stability to his extensive empire, which was swiftly falling apart due to ceaseless internal conflicts between the army commanders, courtiers, and powerful members of the aristocracy, who were fighting amongst themselves and wiping each other out. Many of the governors of the empire had proclaimed independence and carved out their own kingdom.[3] The governors of the provinces of Mazun and Yemen had already asserted their independence during the civil war of 628–632, thus resulting in the disintegration of Sasanian rule in the Arabian peninsula, which was uniting under the banner of Islam.[10] The Iranologist Khodadad Rezakhani argues that the Sasanians had most likely lost much of their possessions after Khosrow II's execution in 628.[11] The empire was starting to look more like the Parthian feudal system before the fall of the Arsacid Empire.[12] Yazdegerd, although being acknowledged as the rightful monarch by both the Parsig and Pahlav factions, does not seem to have held sway over all of his empire. Indeed, during the first years of his rule coins were only minted in Pars, Sakastan, and Khuzestan, approximately corresponding to the regions of the southwest (Xwarwarān) and southeast (Nēmrōz), where the Parsig was based.[13] The Pahlav, who were mainly based in the northern portion of the empire, refused to mint coins of him.[13] Even in the south Yazdegerd's rule was not seemingly secure; a Sasanian claimant to the throne, Khosrow IV, minted coins at Susa in Khuzestan around this time, which he would do till 636.[14] According to Rezakhani, Yazdegerd seemingly did not control Mesopotamia, including the capital of Ctesiphon. He argues that the conspiring aristocrats and the population of Ctesiphon, "do not appear to have been too successful or eager in bringing Yazdgerd to the capital."[11] The empire was also at the same time invaded on all fronts; by the Göktürks in the east, and by Khazars in the west, who raided Armenia and Adurbadagan.[1] The Sasanian army had been heavily weakened due to the war with the Byzantines and internal conflict.[15] The circumstances were so chaotic, and the condition of the nation so alarming, that "the Persians openly spoke of the imminent downfall of their empire, and saw its portents in natural calamities."[4]
   
5. Title: Livius.org
   Author: General Literature on Sasanian Persia Touraj Daryaee, Sasanian Persia. The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2009) Josef Wiesehöfer, Das antike Persien. Von 550 v. Chr. bis 650 n. Chr. (1994)
   Publication: Name: https://www.livius.org/articles/person/yazdgard-iii/;
   Note: Main deeds: Name: Yazdgard III Beginning of reign: 632 Successor of:Buran 633 First Arab invasion of Mesopotamia; the invading army consists of Christians and Muslims Successful Sasanian counteroffensive; Arab counter-counteroffensive Yazdgard allies himself to the Byzantine Empire, but its emperor Heraclius is defeated at the Yarmuk River 642 Arab invasion of Iran; Yazdgard defeated at Nehavand; he retreats to the northeast End of reign: 651 (end of the Sasanian Empire)