Bahram IV

Image of Bahram IV (l.) on coin from his reign.

Bahram IV (Persian: بهرام چهارم‎), was twelfth Sassanid King of Persia (388–399), son of Shapur II and successor of Shapur III (383–388), under whom he had been governor of Kerman; therefore he was called Kermanshah (Agathias iv. 26; Tabari). He later founded the city of Kermanshah in Western Persia which was called after him.

History

Armenia had been divided during the reign of Shapur III according to the terms of a peace treaty. But this arrangement barely survived the reign of Shapur III. In 389, Khosrov IV, the King of Armenia under Persian suzerainty grew wary of his subordination to Persia and entered into a treaty with the Roman emperor Theodosius I who deposed Arsaces III (Arshak III) and made him the king of a united Armenia in return for his allegiance. This enraged Bahram IV and took Khosrov IV prisoner and confined him to the Castle of Oblivion and made his brother Vramshapuh upon the Armenian throne. Khosrov IV had appealed to Theodosius for help but the latter refused to intervene as it would constitute a breach of the peace of 384.

Bahramn IV is often regarded as a harsh man who entirely neglected his duties. His conduct, it is recorded, grew so unbearable that he was ultimately assassinated by his own troops who surrounded him and shot him with arrows.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Bahram IV Sassanid dynasty
Preceded by Shapur III	Great King (Shah) of Persia 388–399	Succeeded by Yazdegerd I