Bahram V
Bahram V, also known as Bahram Gur, was the Sasanian King of Kings from 420 to 438.
The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah Yazdegerd I, Bahram was at an early age sent to the Lahkmid court in al-Hira, where he was raised under the tutelage of the Lakhmid kings. After the assassination of his father, Bahram hurried to the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon with a Lakhmid army, and won the favour of the nobles and priests, according to a long-existing popular legend, after withstanding a trial against two lions.
Bahram V's reign was generally peaceful, with two brief wars—first against his western neighbours, the Eastern Roman Empire, and then against his eastern neighbours, the Kidarites, who were disturbing the Sasanian eastern provinces. It was also during his reign that the Arsacid line of Armenia was replaced by a marzban, which marked the start of a new era in Armenia, known in Armenian historiography as the "Marzpanate period".
Bahram V is a central figure in several of the most famous works in Persian literature. He is mentioned in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh written between 977 and 1010, and he is the protagonist of Nizami Ganjavi's romantic epic Haft Peykar, written in 1197. The Seven Beauties were princesses, which—in Nizami's imagination—became Bahram's wives and each received her own residence in his palace. He visited them on a rotating basis, and they entertained him with exciting stories. He is also the focal point in the Hasht-Behesht, written by Amir Khusrau in ca. 1302.
Bahram V is remembered as one of the most famous kings in Iranian history, due to his cancellation of taxes and public debt at celebratory events, his encouragement of musicians, and his enjoyment of hunting. He was succeeded by his son Yazdegerd II.
Name
His theophoric name "Bahram" is the New Persian form of the Middle Persian Warahrān, which is derived from the Old Iranian Vṛθragna. The Avestan equivalent was Verethragna, the name of the old Iranian god of victory, whilst the Parthian version was *Warθagn. The name is transliterated in Greek as Baranes, whilst the Armenian transliteration is Vahagn/Vrām. The name is attested in Georgian as Baram and Latin as Vararanes Gororanes.Early life and rise to power
Bahram V was born around 400; according to folklore, he was born in Rusan, close to the city of Spahan. He was the son of shah Yazdegerd I and Shushandukht, a daughter of the Jewish exilarch. Richard Frye believes that Yazdegerd I's marriage to a daughter of the patriarch of the Jews is "probably folk tales", while Touraj Daryaee supports this story, stating that the Jews would see Bahram as a Jewish king due to his Jewish mother. Bahram, during his youth, was sent to the Lakhmid court in al-Hira, where he was raised under the tutelage of the Lakhmid king al-Nu'man I ibn Imru' al-Qays. According to the modern historian O. Klíma, Bahram was probably sent there due to a disagreement with his father, while Giusto Traina suggests he was possibly sent there to avoid court intrigues.At al-Hira, al-Nu'man provided Bahram with teachers from the Sasanian court, where the latter was taught law, archery, and equestrian arts. Since the death of the powerful Sasanian shah Shapur II, the aristocrats and priests had expanded their influence and authority at the cost of the Sasanian government, nominating, dethroning, and murdering shahs, which included Yazdegerd I, who was murdered in 420. They now sought to stop the sons of Yazdegerd I from ascending the throne—Shapur IV, who was the eldest son of Yazdegerd I and governor of Armenia, quickly rushed to the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon, and ascended the throne. He was, however, shortly after, murdered by the nobles and priests, who elected a son of Bahram IV, Khosrow, as shah.
Bahram was informed about the news of Yazdegerd I's death when he was in the Arabian Desert—he opposed the decision of the nobles, and asked al-Mundhir I ibn al-Nu'man for military assistance, who agreed to help him. Bahram and al-Mundhir, at the head of an army of numerous soldiers, marched towards Ctesiphon, where Bahram promised that he would not reign like his father Yazdegerd I did. According to a long-existing popular legend written in the Shahnameh, Bahram suggested that the royal crown and attire should be placed between two lions, and the person who retrieved them by killing the wild animals should be recognized as the shah of Iran.
Khosrow chose to pull out, whilst Bahram withstood the trial and won the throne. Bahram distrusted the nobles, who had been unreliable to the earlier Sasanian shahs, and thus chose instead to seek support from the Zoroastrian priesthood. He was the first Sasanian shah to not be crowned by a noble, but by a chief priest.
Bahram married an Indian princess and received the port of Debal in Sind as a dowry, together with the adjacent territories. The Indus delta and the coast of Sind were of great commercial and strategic value at that time as well. Bahram also systematically pursued a policy of tribal resettlement in these coastal regions. For instance, a large group of nomadic pastrolists known as Zutt from Sind were settled in the marshes of southern Iraq by the emperor.
Reign
War with Rome
At the urging of the Zoroastrian priests and the Surenid minister Mihr Narseh, Bahram V began his reign with a systematic persecution of the Christians. The persecuted Christians fled to Roman territory, and were welcomed by the bishop of Constantinople, Atticus, who informed the Emperor of the persecution. The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II was at the time deeply influenced by his religious sister Pulcheria, and had become more and more interested in Christianity. The Roman-Sasanian relationship already had some friction. The Sasanians had hired some Roman gold-diggers, but now refused to send them back; furthermore, they had also seized the properties of Roman merchants. So, when Sasanian ambassadors reached the Roman court to ask for the fugitives, Theodosius chose to break the peace and declare war, rather than giving them back.In the year 421, the Romans sent their general Ardaburius with an extensive contingent into Armenia. The Iranian general Narses engaged Ardaburius in battle, but was defeated and forced to retreat. Narses planned to attack Mesopotamia, a Roman province that had been left unguarded, and moved there, but Ardaburius foresaw his enemy's plan and intercepted him there. Ardaburius shortly received reinforcements and put the fortress of Nisibis under siege, but withdrew in the face of an advancing army under Bahram, who in turn besieged Theodosiopolis.
The peace treaty that ended the war was negotiated by the magister officiorum Helio. It returned everything to the situation before the war. Both parts agreed to reject Arab defectors of the other part, as well as to guarantee liberty of religion in their territories. Furthermore, the Romans also agreed to pay the Iranians for the protection of the pass at the Sasanian city of Derbent in the Caucasus. Since the peace treaty of 387, Iran and Rome had agreed that both empires were obligated to cooperate in the defense of the Caucasus against nomadic attacks. While the Romans saw this payment as political subsidies, the Iranians saw it as tribute, which proved that Rome was the deputy of Iran.
War with the Kidarites
Since the reign of Shapur II, the Iranians had to deal with nomadic invaders in the east known in scholarship as "Iranian Huns". Starting with Yazdegerd I, a shift had begun in the political perspective of the Sasanian Empire, which moved to the East. The shift may have been triggered by hostile tribes in eastern Iran. 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.While Bahram was occupied with the war with the Romans, his eastern neighbours—Kidarites—crossed the Oxus river and invaded the Sasanian realm, conquering the rich city of Marw and even reaching as far as westwards as Ray. Bahram was thus forced to pay tribute to the Kidarites, in order to stop their incursions into his empire. When he had made peace with the Romans in 422, he started preparing to deal with the Kidarites. Not only was Marw a rich city, but also an important trading spot on the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and continued through Iran to Europe. Bahram first went to the holy temple of Adur Gushnasp in Adurbadagan, where he prayed. He then proceeded to Armenia to recruit additional troops.
Leaving his minister Mihr Narseh as his regent, Bahram passed through the mountain chain on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, eventually reaching Merv. There his forces routed the Kidarites, killing their king in the process and capturing his wife. A general of Bahram pursued the Kidarites into Transoxiana and inflicted another defeat on them. The war was concluded in 427, with Bahram cementing his name as a great champion of Iran. The name of Bahram was long remembered amongst the people of the surrounding area; the Sogdian city of Bukhara would later mint coins with his image. Bahram erected a pillar at the Oxus, which marked that the river constituted his empire's eastern frontier.
In Iranian mythology, the Oxus is often considered the eastern extent of Iran. The heroic archer Arash shot an arrow to the fringe of Khorasan, landing at the Oxus, which thus marked the limit of the Iranian border. Another figure, Esfandiyar, thudded his spear onto the ground at Balkh, warning the Hun king that progressing further would mean an invasion of Iran. Bahram thus believed that he had restored the ancient borders of his realm. He appointed his brother Narseh as the governor of the surrounding region. Bahram also founded the city of Marw-i Rot, near the city of Marw. In order to demonstrate his appreciation to the Zoroastrian supreme god Ahura Mazda, Bahram bestowed most of his booty to Adur Gushnasp.