Khosrow II
| Khosrau II 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩 | |
|---|---|
| Great King (Shah) of Ērānshahr Parvēz (The Victorious) | |
 Gold coin of Khosrau II. | |
| Reign | 590 (first reign) 591 – February 25, 628 (second reign) |
| Predecessor | Hormizd IV, Bahram Chobin, and Vistahm |
| Successor | Kavadh II |
| Born | Circa 570 Ctesiphon (modern day Iraq) |
| Died | February 28, 628 Ctesiphon (modern day Iraq) |
| Consort | Shirin, Miriam/Maria |
| Issue | Mardanshah Kavadh II Azarmidokht Borandukht Javanshir Khosrau IV Shahryar, and many more |
| Father | Hormizd IV |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Khosrau II (Chosroes II in classical sources, entitled "Aparvez"; later garbled into Parviz), "The Victorious" – (Middle Persian: 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩 Husrō(y); also Khusraw Parvēz, New Persian: خسرو پرویز Khosrow Parviz), was the last great king of the Sasanian Empire, reigning from 590 to 628.[1] He was the son of Hormizd IV (reigned 579–590) and the grandson of Khosrau I (reigned 531–579). He was the last king of Persia to have a lengthy reign before the Muslim conquest of Iran, which began five years after his death by assassination. He lost his throne, then recovered it with Roman help, and, a decade later, went on to emulate the feats of the Achaemenids, conquering the rich Roman provinces of the Middle East; much of his reign was spent in wars with the Byzantine Empire and struggling against usurpers such as Bahram Chobin and Vistahm.
In works of Persian literature such as the Shahnameh and Khosrow and Shirin (Persian: خسرو و شیرین), a famous tragic romance by Nizami Ganjavi (1141−1209), a highly elaborated fictional version of Khosrau's life made him one of the greatest heroes of the culture, as much as a lover as a king. Khosrow and Shirin tells the story of his love for the Aramean princess Shirin, who becomes his queen after a lengthy courtship strewn with mishaps and difficulties.
Biography
Early life
Khosrau II was born around the 570's; his father was Hormizd IV and his mother descended from the Ispahbudhan from Parthia; her two brothers named Vinduyih and Vistahm were to have a profound influence in Khosrau II's early life.[2]
Personality and skills
Historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari describes him as:
Excelling most of the other Persian kings in bravery, wisdom and forethought, and none matching him in military might and triumph, hoarding of treasures and good fortunes, hence the epithet Parviz, meaning victorious.[3]
According to legend, Khosrau had a shabestan in which over 3,000 concubines resided.[3]
Accession to the throne
Khosrau II was raised to the throne by the same magnates who had rebelled against his father Hormizd IV. Soon after being crowned, Khosrau had his father blinded, then executed. However, at the same time, General Bahram Chobin had proclaimed himself King Bahram VI (590–591), exemplifying Khosrau's difficulty in maintaining control of his kingdom.
The war with the Byzantine Empire, which had begun in 571, had not yet come to an end. So, Khosrau II fled to Syria, and, subsequently, to Constantinople, where the Emperor Maurice (582–602) agreed to assist Khosrau in regaining his throne. In return, the Byzantines would re-gain sovereignty over the cities of Amida, Carrhae, Dara and Miyafariqin. Furthermore, Persia was required to cease intervening in the affairs of Iberia and Armenia, effectively ceding control of Lazistan to the Byzantines.[4][5]
A large percentage of the leading bureaucrats, administrators, governors, and military commanders, along with the majority part of the Persian military, acknowledged Khosrau II as the King of Persia. Therefore, in 591, Khosrau returned to Ctesiphon with Byzantine aid and subsequently defeated Bahram VI at the Battle of Blarathon. Bahram fled to the eastern parts of Persia and settled in Balkh,[2] or Ferghana.[6] However, a few years later, he was killed by a hired assassin sent by Khosrau II.[7] Then, peace with Byzantium was concluded. For his aid, Maurice received much of Persian Armenia and western Georgia, and received the abolition of the subsidies which had formerly been paid to the Persians.[2]
Music during the reign of Khosrau II
Khosrau II's reign was considered a golden age in music. Before Khosrau II there were many other Sasanian kings that showed particular interest in music, like Khosrau I, Bahram Gur, and even Ardashir I. Notable musicians during the reign of Khosrau II were Barbad, Bamshad, Sarkash, and Nagisa.
Religious policy
Khosrau II married a Christian named Shirin, whose son Mardanshah he wanted to succeed to the throne. Khosrau's relationship to Christianity was complicated: his wife Shirin was Christian, and so was Yazdin, his minister of finance.[8] During his reign there was constant conflict between Monophysite and Nestorian Christians. Khosrau favored the Monophysites, and ordered all his subjects to adhere to Monophysitism, perhaps under the influence of Shirin and the royal physician Gabriel of Sinjar, who both supported this faith. His positive policy toward Christians (which, however, was probably politically motivated) made him unpopular with the Zoroastrian priests.
War with the Byzantine Empire
Military exploits and early victories
Toward the beginning of his reign, Khosrau II had good relations with the Byzantines. However, when in 602 Maurice was murdered by his General Phocas (602–610), who usurped the Roman (Byzantine) throne, Khosrau launched an offensive against Constantinople: ostensibly to avenge Maurice's death, but his aim clearly included the annexation of as much Byzantine territory as was feasible.[2] His armies invaded and plundered Syria and Asia Minor, and in 608 advanced into Chalcedon.
In 613 and 614, General Shahrbaraz besieged and captured Damascus and Jerusalem, and the True Cross was carried away in triumph. Soon afterwards, General Shahin marched through Anatolia, defeating the Byzantines numerous times; he conquered Egypt in 618. The Byzantines could offer but little resistance, as they were torn apart by internal dissensions, and pressed by the Avars and Slavs, who were invading the Empire from across the Danube River.
Richard Nelson Frye speculates that one major mistake Khosrau II made, which was to have severe consequences in the future, was the capture, imprisonment, and execution of Nu'aman III, King of the Lakhmids of Al-Hira, in approximately 600, presumably because of the Arab king's failure to support Khosrau during his war against the Byzantines. (According to some accounts, Nu'aman was crushed by elephants.) Afterwards the central government took over the defense of the western frontiers to the desert, and the buffer state of the Lakhmids vanished. This ultimately facilitated the Muslim Caliphs' invasion and conquest of Lower Iraq, less than a decade after Khosrau's death.[9]
Invasion and Defeat by the Byzantine Empire
In 622, the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (who had succeeded Phocas in 610 and ruled until 641) was able to take the field with a powerful force. In 624, he advanced into northern Media, where he destroyed the great fire-temple of Ganzhak (Gazaca) at Takab, in modern East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Several years later, in 626, he captured Lazistan (Colchis). Later that same year, the Persian general Shahin advanced on Chalcedon on the Bosphoros and attempted to capture Constantinople with the help of Persia's Avar allies. This maneuver failed, his forces were defeated, and he withdrew his army from Anatolia later in 628.
Following the Khazar invasion of Transcaucasia in 627, Heraclius defeated the Persian army at the Battle of Nineveh and advanced towards Ctesiphon. Khosrau II fled from his favourite residence, Dastgerd (near Baghdad), without offering resistance. Meanwhile, some of the Persian grandees freed his eldest son Kavadh II (he ruled briefly in 628), whom Khosrau II had imprisoned, and proclaimed him Shahanshah on the night of 25 February, 628.[2] Three days afterwards, Khosrau II was executed by Mihr Hormozd, however, some other accounts state that he was shot to death slowly with arrows.[10] Meanwhile, Heraclius returned in triumph to Constantinople. In 629 the True Cross was returned to him and Egypt was evacuated. The Sasanian Empire sank into anarchy from the greatness it had reached ten years earlier, and was conquered by the armies of the first Islamic Caliphs, beginning in 634.
Muhammad's letter to Khosrau II
Khosrau II (Arabic: كسرى) is also remembered in Islamic tradition to be the Persian king to whom Muhammad had sent a messenger, Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi, along with a letter in which Khosrau was asked to preach the religion of Islam.[11][12] The account as transmitted by Muslim historians reads:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, to the great Kisra of Iran. Peace be upon him, who seeks truth and expresses belief in Allah and in His Prophet and testifies that there is no god but Allah and that He has no partner, and who believes that Muhammad is His servant and Prophet. Under the Command of Allah, I invite you to Him. He has sent me for the guidance of all people so that I may warn them all of His wrath and may present the unbelievers with an ultimatum. Embrace Islam so that you may remain safe. And if you refuse to accept Islam, you will be responsible for the sins of the Magi."[12][13]
Khosrau II tore up Muhammed's letter[14] and commanded Badhan, his vassal ruler of Yemen, to dispatch two valiant men to identify, seize and bring this man from Hijaz (Muhammad) to him. Meanwhile, back in Madinah, Abdullah told Muhammad how Khosrau had torn his letter to pieces and Muhammad then promised the destruction of Khosrau II.[15]
In art
The battles between Heraclius and Khosrau are depicted in a famous early Renaissance fresco by Piero della Francesca, part of the History of the True Cross cycle in the church of San Francesco, Arezzo.
See also
- Shirin Beloved wife of Khosrau
- Khosrow and Shirin A Persian love story depicting a ménage à trois between Khosrau and Shirin as king and queen, and Farhad as Shirin's lover
- Barbad Khosrau's favorite court musician
- Shabdiz Khosrau's highly admired horse
- Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era
- Muqawqis, Ruler of Alexandria
- Behistun inscription
- Behistun palace
- Babai the Great
References
- ^ James Howard-Johnston, "ḴOSROW II", Encyclopaedia Iranica, (March 15, 2010).
- ^ a b c d e ḴOSROW II, James Howard-Johnston, Encyclopaedia Iranica
- ^ a b Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings, vol. 2
- ^ Dinavari, Akhbâr al-tiwâl, pp. 91-92;
- ^ Ferdowsi in Shahnameh affirms the same conditions put forth by Maurice.
- ^ Gumilev L.N. Bahram Chubin, pp. 229 - 230
- ^ Usanova M. Ismoil Somonii waqfnomasi, p. 29.
- ^ Peter Brown: The Rise of Western Christendom. 2. erweiterte Auflage. Oxford 2003, S. 283.
- ^ Richard Nelson Frye, The History of Ancient Iran, p 330.
- ^ Norwich 1997, p. 94
- ^ al-Mubarakpuri (2002) p. 417
- ^ a b http://www.al-islam.org/message/43.htm
- ^ Tabaqat-i Kubra, vol. I, page 360; Tarikh-i Tabari, vol. II, pp. 295, 296; Tarikh-i Kamil, vol. II, page 81 and Biharul Anwar, vol. XX, page 389
- ^ Kisra, M. Morony, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V, ed.C.E. Bosworth, E.van Donzel, B. Lewis and C. Pellat, (E.J.Brill, 1980), 185.[1]
- ^ Kisra, M. Morony, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. V, ed.C.E. Bosworth, E.van Donzel, B. Lewis and C. Pellat, (E.J.Brill, 1980), 185.[2]
Sources
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Edward Walford, translator, The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius: A History of the Church from AD 431 to AD 594, 1846. Reprinted 2008. Evolution Publishing, ISBN 978-1-889758-88-6. [3] — a primary source containing detailed information about the early reign of Khosrau II and his relationship with the Romans.
- Howard-Johnston, James (2010). "ḴOSROW II". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
- Martindale, John Robert; Jones, Arnold Hugh Martin; Morris, J., eds. (1992). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: A.D. 527–641. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-20160-5.
- Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3.
- Shapur Shahbazi, A. (1989). "BESṬĀM O BENDŌY". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. IV, Fasc. 2. pp. 180–182. Retrieved 13 August 2013.