List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire

The Shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire or "the King of Kings of the Sasanian Empire" ruled over a vast majority of land. At its height, the empire spanned from Turkey in the west to Pakistan in the east, and also included territory in contemporary Caucasus, Yemen, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, 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-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 Estakhr, and was descended from the Achaemenid Kings, and ended with Yazdegerd III in 651. The downfall of the Sasanian Empire proved of great significance and effects to Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the Sasanian Empire. The previous Zoroastrian shahanshahs were replaced with Muslim Caliphs who forced the Zoroastrians and their faith to endure harsh conditions, including the destruction of fire temples throughout the previous Sasanian Empire and marginalization of the faith.^[5]

Sasanian state organization

Sasanian Empire timeline including important events and territorial evolution.

In the Sasanian era, the term "the king of kings of Iran" (Middle Persian: šāhān šāh Ērān; En. Shahanshahs, New Persian: شاهنشاه ایران) is the Persian term for "King of Kings." was used from the time of its establishment by Ardashir. The term "king of kings of Iran" appears in Sasanian documents. In Kabe Zartosht inscription of Shapur I the Great the titles are chosen in a precise manner. 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, "the King of kings of Iran" to Ardashir, and "king of kings of Iran and non-Iran" to himself.^[6]

Throughout its existence, the Sassanid Empire was an absolute monarchy. The Shahenshah was the height of authority, with satraps ruling over their satrapies underneath them. The shahanshah was the highest form of authority throughout the empire, but often faced rebellions from their satraps. In fact, the Sasanian Empire had been founded when a satrap rebelled against the Parthian Empire.^[7]

The Sasanian Empire reached its greatest extent under Khosrau II, who reigned for 38 years; the longest reigning king was Shapur II, who reigned for 70 years.

The Sasanian kings regarded themselves as successors of the Achaemenid Empire, and many Sasanian kings' goal was to conquer all territory previously held by the Achaemenids.

List of shahanshahs

The table below lists Sasanian shahanshahs and titles used by them.

Titles used by the Sasanian shahanshahs was:

Padishah, i.e. Emperor,

Šāhān Šāh known as Shanhanshah in English, i.e. Kings of Kings,

Sāhān šāh ērān ud anērān, i.e. King of kings of Iran and Aniran,

Šāhan šāh sākān, i.e King of the Sakas.

Šāh hindestān, i.e King of Hindustan

#	Shahanshah	Coin or statue	Reigned from	Reigned until	Relationship to Predecessor	Notes
House of Sasan
1	Ardashir I		224	February 242	—	Declared himself as Shahanshah after defeating Artabanus IV of Parthia at the Battle of Hormizdegan Died of natural causes in 242 Also known as Artaxares and Artaxerxes
2	Shapur I		12 April 240	May 270	Son	Co-ruled with his father since 12 April 240 Died of natural causes in May 270 Also known as Sapores or Sapor
3	Hormizd I		May 270	June 271	Son	Reigned only for 1 year Also known as Oromastes
4	Bahram I		June 271	September 274	Brother	Committed the persecution of Manichaeism, including the death of Mani Died of disease/natural causes in September 274
5	Bahram II		274	293	Son	Died of natural causes in 293
6	Bahram III		293	293	Son	Possibly executed during the uprising which had been led by his own grand uncle Narseh
7	Narseh		293	302	Grand-uncle	Enthroned after seizing power from Bahram III in a rebellion led against him Also known as Narses or Narseus
8	Hormizd II		302	309	Son	Enthroned after abdicating the throne from his father
9	Adhur Narseh		309	309	Son	Deposed by Sasanian nobles because of his cruelty
10	Shapur II		309	379	Brother	After the death of his brother, Adarnases, Shapur II was still in his mother's womb when he was crowned. Also known as Sapor II
11	Ardashir II		379	383	Brother	Died of natural causes in 384
12	Shapur III		383	388	Brother
13	Bahram IV		388	399	Son
14	Yazdegerd I		399	420	Son
15	Shapur IV		420	420	Son
16	Khosrau		420	420	Cousin
17	Bahram V		420	438	Cousin
18	Yazdegerd II		438	457	Son
19	Hormizd III		457	459	Son
20	Peroz I		457	484	Brother
21	Balash		484	488	Brother	Two rebellions rose from two of Peroz's sons (his nephews) The first rebellion was from Zarir, but he was unsuccessful and executed The second rebellion was from Kavadh, who at first unsuccessful requested help from Hephthalites
22	Kavadh I		488	496	Nephew	Enthroned after leading a rebellion against his uncle Balash with assistance from Hephthalites
23	Djamasp		496	498	Brother
24	Kavadh I		498	531	Brother	Restored to the throne with the aid of Zarmihr Karen and the Hephthalites
25	Khosrau I		531	579	Son
26	Hormizd IV		579	590	Son
27	Khosrau II		590	590	Son	Rebelled against his father and proclaimed himself as king of Persia, however he was then overthrown by Bahram Chobin
House of Mihran
28	Bahrām Chobin		590	591	Rebel	Rebelled against Hormizd IV and Khosrau II and proclaimed himself to be king
House of Sasan
29	Khosrau II		591	628	Son of Hormizd IV	Restored as Sasanian king after defeating Bahram Chobin
House of Ispahbudhan
30	Vistahm		591	595	Uncle	Uncle of Khosrau II Founded the city of Bastam
House of Sasan
31	Kavadh II		628	628	Son	Enthroned after killing his father and eighteen brothers Died after a few months of reign
32	Ardashir III		628	629	Son
House of Mihran
33	Shahrbaraz		27 April 629	17 June 629	General	Participated at the Siege of Constantinople (626)
House of Sasan
34	Khosrau III		629	629	Nephew of Khosrau II	Briefly ruled in Khorasan as rival king
35	Borandukht		17 June 629	16 June 630	Daughter of Khosrau II	Daughter of Khosrau II One of two only women who attained the Sasanian throne
36	Shapur-i Shahrvaraz		630	630	Son of Shahrbaraz and a sister of Khosrau II
37	Peroz II		630	630	Descended from Khosrau I
38	Azarmidokht		630	631	Daughter of Khosrau II	Daughter of Khosrau II and sister of Borandukht Second woman to attain the Sassanid throne
House of Ispahbudhan
39	Farrukh Hormizd		630	631	General
House of Sasan
40	Hormizd VI		630	631	Usurper
41	Khosrau IV		631	631	Son of Khosrau II
42	Farrukhzad Khosrau V		March 631	April 631	Son of Khosrau II
43	Borandukht		631	632	Daughter of Khosrau II	Was restored to the Sasanian throne
44	Yazdegerd III		632	651	Grandson of Khosrau II	Enthroned through a series of internal conflicts and murders The Muslim conquest of Persia began in his first year of reign
Destruction of the Sassanid Empire
-	Peroz III		651 (In exile)	679 (In exile)	Son	Retreated to Chinese territory where he served as a Tang General Served as the head of the Governorate of Persia, an exiled extension of the Sassanid court
-	Narsieh		679 (In exile)	Unknown	Son	Served as a Tang general, like his father The last Sassanid emperor (in exile) about whom there is information

See also

• Sasanian family tree

Notes

References

• Shapur Shahbazi, A. (2005), "Sasanian Dynasty", Encyclopedia Iranica, Columbia University Press, 1