Hormizd IV
Hormizd IV was the King of Kings of Sasanian Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I and his mother was a Khazar princess.
During his reign, Hormizd IV had the high aristocracy and Zoroastrian priesthood slaughtered while supporting the landed gentry. His reign was marked by constant warfare: to the west, he fought a long and indecisive war with the Byzantine Empire, which had been ongoing since the reign of his father; and to the east, the Iranian general Bahram Chobin successfully contained and defeated the Western Turkic Khaganate during the First Perso-Turkic War. It was also during Hormizd IV's reign that the Chosroid dynasty of Iberia was abolished. After negotiating with the Iberian aristocracy and winning their support, Hormizd successfully incorporated Iberia into the Sasanian Empire.
Jealous of Bahram's success in the east, Hormizd IV had him disgraced and dismissed, which led to a rebellion led by Bahram, which marked the start of the Sasanian civil war of 589–591. Another faction, led by two other dissatisfied nobles, Vistahm and Vinduyih, had Hormizd IV deposed and killed, and placed his son Khosrow II on the throne.
Hormizd IV was noted for his religious tolerance. He declined appeals by the Zoroastrian priesthood to persecute the Christian population of the country. Contemporary sources generally considered him to be a tyrannical figure due to his policies. Modern historians tend to have a milder view of him and considers him a well-meaning ruler who strived to continue his father's policies, albeit overambitiously.
Etymology
Hormizd is the Middle Persian version of the name of the supreme deity in Zoroastrianism, known in Avestan as Ahura Mazda. The Old Persian equivalent is Auramazdā, while the Greek transliteration is Hormisdas. The name is attested in Armenian as Ormizd and in Georgian as Urmizd.Ancestry
Hormizd was the son of Khosrow I, one of the most celebrated Sasanian shahs. Oriental sources and modern scholars have identified Hormizd's maternal grandfather as Istemi, the khagan of the Turks, who allied himself with Khosrow I in to put an end to the Hephthalites, which the two allied powers accomplished at the Battle of Gol-Zarriun. Khosrow I was given the daughter of Istemi in marriage, who reportedly gave birth to Hormizd. Hormizd is thus called a Turkzad in the Shahnameh, or 'son of a Turk'. This is, however, rejected by the Iranologist Shapur Shahbazi, who called such a relationship a "chronological difficulty", due to sources mentioning Hormizd being sent by his father to contain the threat posed by Istemi following the division of Hephthalite territory between the Sasanians and Turks.Historians consider it more plausible that Hormizd was born around 540: his son Khosrow II was thus born in. The 7th-century Armenian historian Sebeos called Hormizd's mother a "daughter of the khagan of the Turks" and referred to her as Kayen, whilst Mas'udi called her Faqum, stating that she was the daughter of the ruler of the Khazars. Shahbazi supported the German orientalist Josef Markwart in his deduction that Hormizd's maternal grandfather was the khagan of the Khazars, and that Sebeos had referred to Hormizd's mother by her father's name. The medieval Iranian geographer Ibn Khordadbeh also mentioned Khosrow I and the Khazar king organizing to marry each other's daughters. Hormizd was thus not only an offspring of the highly esteemed Khosrow I of the ruling family of Iran, but also belonged to a royal Turkic dynasty, which according to Sebeos "made Hormizd even greater than his paternal ancestors and equally greater and wilder than his maternal relatives". The modern historian Michael Bonner proposes instead that Hormizd may have been born to a Hephthalite princess, later misremembered as Turkic or Khazar.
Policies and personality
Khosrow I, aware that Hormizd had shown himself as a leader of quality, appointed Hormizd as his heir. The decision was also politically motivated, due to Hormizd's maternal line being of noble lineage, whilst the mothers of Khosrow I's other sons were more lowly. Hormizd came to the throne in 579: according to the narratives included in the history of al-Tabari, Hormizd was well learned and full of good aspirations of kindness toward the poor and weak. He was seemingly less warlike than his predecessors, but was resolute enough to continue their reforms. He appears to have striven his best to continue the policies of his father—supporting the landed gentry against the aristocracy and protecting the rights of the lower classes, as well as thwarting efforts by the Zoroastrian priesthood to reassert themselves. He did, however, resort to executions in order to maintain his father's policies, and as a result became the subject of hostility by the Zoroastrians. He declined an appeal by the priesthood to persecute the Christian population by asserting his wish that "all his subjects were to exercise their religion freely". He reportedly had many members of the priesthood killed, including the chief priest himself.He strained his relationship with the aristocracy by having thousands of them killed. Many had been distinguished figures under Hormizd's father, such as the latter's famous minister Bozorgmehr; the military commander of Khwarasan, Chihr-Burzen; the spahbed of Nemroz, Bahram-i Mah Adhar; the distinguished dignitary Izadgushasp; the spahbed of the southwest, Shapur, an Ispahbudhan nobleman who was the father of Vistahm; Vinduyih; and an unnamed daughter whom Hormizd had married. Hormizd was himself related to the family, with his paternal grandmother being a sister of Bawi, the father of Shapur. Hormizd was not the first Sasanian shah to kill a close relative from the Ispahbudhan family: his father Khosrow I had ordered the execution of Bawi in the early 530s. Nevertheless, the Ispahbudhans continued to enjoy such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians", with Vistahm being appointed as the successor of his father by Hormizd.
Due to his persecutions against the nobility and clergy, Hormizd thus became viewed with hostility in Persian sources. This was not unusual: the 5th-century Sasanian ruler Yazdegerd I is portrayed very negatively in Persian sources due to his tolerant policy towards his non-Zoroastrian subjects, and his refusal to comply with the demands of the aristocracy and priesthood, thus becoming known as the "sinner". Although met with hostility in medieval sources, Hormizd is portrayed in a more positive light in modern sources. The German orientalist Theodor Nöldeke deemed the negative portrayal of Hormizd as unreasonable, and considered the shah to be "a well-meaning sovereign who intended to restrain the nobility and clergy and ease the burden of the lower classes: his effort was on the whole justified, but the unhappy outcome shows that he was not the man to reach such lofty goals with peace and competence". Michael Bonner states that "the Persian royal tradition has covered Hurmazd in opprobrium, and the principal features of his reign have been deformed."
War against the Byzantines
From his father, Hormizd had inherited an ongoing war against the East Roman Empire. Negotiations of peace had just begun with the Emperor Tiberius II, who offered to give up all claims to Armenia and interchange the Byzantine-occupied Arzanene for the Iranian-occupied Dara. Hormizd, however, further demanded the payment of the yearly tribute that was made during the reign of Justinian I, and thus caused the negotiations to be broken off. No campaign in Mesopotamia was undertaken by either of the empires due to the negotiations, however they continued to clash in Armenia, where Varaz Vzur succeeded Tamkhosrow as the new Sasanian governor of Armenia.The Byzantines were successful at their endeavors, securing a noteworthy victory under the commanders Cours and John Mystacon, albeit also suffering a defeat at the hands of the Sasanians. In early 580, the clients and vassals of the Sasanians, the Lakhmids, were defeated at the hands of the Ghassanids, vassals of the Byzantines. In the same year, a Byzantine army ravaged Garamig ud Nodardashiragan, reaching as far as Media. Around the same time, Bakur III, the Sasanian client king of Iberia, died, leaving behind two sons who were underage. Hormizd took advantage of the situation by abolishing the Iberian monarchy, i.e. the Chosroid dynasty. He appointed his son Khosrow as the governor of Caucasian Albania, who negotiated with the Iberian aristocracy and won their support, so successfully incorporating the country into the Sasanian Empire.
The following year, an ambitious campaign by the Byzantine commander Maurice, supported by Ghassanid forces under al-Mundhir III, targeted the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon. The combined force moved south along the river Euphrates, accompanied by a fleet of ships. The army stormed the fortress of Anatha and moved on until it reached the region of Beth Aramaye in central Mesopotamia, near Ctesiphon. There they found the bridge over the Euphrates destroyed by the Iranians. In response to Maurice's advance, the Iranian general Adarmahan was ordered to operate in northern Mesopotamia, threatening the Byzantine army's supply line. Adarmahan raided Osrhoene, and was successful in capturing its capital, Edessa. He then marched his army toward Callinicum on the Euphrates. With the possibility of a march to Ctesiphon gone, Maurice was forced to retreat. The retreat was arduous for the tired army, and Maurice and al-Mundhir exchanged recriminations for the expedition's failure. However, they cooperated in forcing Adarmahan to withdraw and defeated him at Callinicum.
Tiberius tried afterwards to renew negotiations by sending Zachariah to the frontier to meet Andigan. The negotiations broke off once more after Andigan attempted to pressure him by drawing the attention of the nearby Iranian contingent led by Tamkhosrow. In 582, Tamkhosrow, along with Adarmahan, invaded Byzantine territory and headed for the town of Constantina. Maurice, who had been expecting and preparing for such an attack, fought the Iranians outside the city in June 582. The Iranian army suffered a heavy defeat, and Tamkhosrow was killed. Not long afterwards, the deteriorating physical condition of Tiberius forced Maurice to return immediately to Constantinople to assume the crown. Meanwhile, John Mystacon, who had replaced Maurice as the Commander of the East, attacked the Sasanians at the junction of the Nymphius and the Tigris, but was defeated by the Iranian general Kardarigan.
Image:Maurice Solidus sb0477a.jpg|thumb|left|Solidus of the Byzantine emperor Maurice
In 583, the objective of the Iranian army was to recapture the fortress Aphumon, which had been seized by Maurice in 578. However, while they besieged the fortress, the Romans besieged Akbas, a newly constructed fortress east of the Nymphius and thus close to the Roman frontier. This diverted the attention of the Iranian soldiers at Aphumon, who went to relieve Akbas. By the end of year, however, the Romans had destroyed the fortress. Hormizd then sued for peace: in 584, an Iranian envoy arrived at Constantinople, while a Roman envoy arrived at Ctesiphon. The negotiations, however, broke off once again. Around the same time, Philippicus was appointed the new Commander of the East.
In 585, Kardarigan went on the offensive, besieging the Byzantine base of Monocarton. The siege failed, and he then marched north to Martyropolis, Philippicus's base; after sacking the church of John the Baptist near the city, however, he returned to Iranian territory, most likely Armenia. In the spring of 586, Hormizd once again attempted to make peace, and sent Mahbod to negotiate with Philippicus at Amida. Negotiations, however, broke down once more after the Iranians demanded gold in exchange for peace. Not long after, an Iranian force—led by Kardarigan, Aphraates and Mahbod—suffered a heavy defeat against the Byzantines at the Battle of Solachon. The victory was followed by destructive raids into Corduene and Arbayistan. In the following year, the new commander of the east, Heraclius the Elder, captured three fortresses near Dara. The Iranians took advantage of the discord in the Roman army between 588 and 589, and managed to successfully occupy Martyropolis in 589 with the help of a turncoat Roman officer.