Izadgushasp | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Iran |
| Died | 580s Ctesiphon |
| Allegiance |  Sasanian Empire |
| Service/ | Sasanian army |
| Rank | Wuzurg framadar |
| Battles/wars | Lazic War Siege of Dara |
Izadgushasp (also spelled Yazdgushnasp), known in Byzantine sources as Isdigousnas Zikh, was an Iranian nobleman from the House of Mihran, who served as one of Khosrow I's viziers ( wuzurg framadar ). [1]
Izadgushasp is first mentioned during the reign of Khosrow I, as one of the highest dignitaries and most powerful noblemen, being both Khosrow's vizier and chamberlain . [2] He had a brother named Fariburz (also known as Phabrizus) who also held high offices. Procopius describes them as: "both holding most important offices ... and at the same time reckoned to be the basest of all Persians, having a great reputation for their cleverness and evil ways." [1] Izadgushasp, along with two other powerful magnates named Chihr-Burzen and Bahram-i Mah Adhar, were even asked by Khosrow to choose his heir. [3]
During the Lazic War, Izadgushasp and Fariburz played an important role in the capture of Lazica. During the peace negotiations to end the war, Izadgushasp was the spokesman of the Sasanians, and made a treaty with the Byzantines in which they paid a great tribute of gold. [1]
In 547, Khosrow I, who was keen to wrest Dara from Byzantine control, tried to trick them in order to capture it; he sent Izadgushasp as a diplomat to Constantinople, but in reality the latter would stop by Dara, and with the aid of his large crew, he would seize the city. However, this plan was prevented by a former of adviser of Belisarius named George, who demanded that if Izadgushasp should enter the city he should have only twenty members of his crew with him. Izadgushasp then left the city and continued his journey to Constantinople, where he received a friendly welcome from Justinian, who gave him some gifts. [4]
In 573, during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591, Khosrow sent an army under Adarmahan to invade Syria, while he himself, along with Izadgushasp and Fariburz, [1] led an army towards Dara, capturing the city after four months. Adarmahan sacked several cities in Syria, which included Apamea. [5] The Byzantine emperor Justin II reportedly lost his mind after these Byzantine disasters and abdicated. In 579, Khosrow was succeeded by his son Hormizd IV, who later ordered the death of 13,600 nobles and religious members, [6] including Izadgushasp, who was first imprisoned and then executed. [7]
Maurice was Eastern Roman emperor from 582 to 602 and the last member of the Justinian dynasty. A successful general, Maurice was chosen as heir and son-in-law by his predecessor Tiberius II.
Khosrow I, traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan, was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I.
Khosrow II, also known as Khosrow Parviz, is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling from 590 to 628, with an interruption of one year.
Hormizd IV was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I and his mother was a Khazar princess.
Ardashir III was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630.
Shahrbaraz, was shah (king) of the Sasanian Empire from 27 April 630 to 9 June 630. He usurped the throne from Ardashir III, and was killed by Iranian nobles after forty days. Before usurping the Sasanian throne he was a spahbed (general) under Khosrow II (590–628). He is furthermore noted for his important role during the climactic Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and the events that followed afterwards.
Bahrām Chōbīn or Wahrām Chōbēn, also known by his epithet Mehrbandak, was a nobleman, general, and political leader of the late Sasanian Empire and briefly its ruler as Bahram VI.
The Iberian War was fought from 526 to 532 between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire over the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia—a Sasanian client state that defected to the Byzantines. Conflict erupted among tensions over tribute and the spice trade.
Shahen or Shahin was a senior Sasanian general (spahbed) during the reign of Khosrow II (590–628). He was a member of the House of Suren.
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591 was a war fought between the Sasanian Empire of Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire, termed by modern historians as the Byzantine Empire. It was triggered by pro-Byzantine revolts in areas of the Caucasus under Persian hegemony, although other events also contributed to its outbreak. The fighting was largely confined to the southern Caucasus and Mesopotamia, although it also extended into eastern Anatolia, Syria, and northern Iran. It was part of an intense sequence of wars between these two empires which occupied the majority of the 6th and early 7th centuries. It was also the last of the many wars between them to follow a pattern in which fighting was largely confined to frontier provinces and neither side achieved any lasting occupation of enemy territory beyond this border zone. It preceded a much more wide-ranging and dramatic final conflict in the early 7th century.
In 615, during the ongoing war with the Byzantine Empire, the Sasanian army under spahbod Shahin invaded Asia Minor and reached Chalcedon, across the Bosporus from Constantinople. It was at this point, according to Sebeos, that Heraclius had agreed to stand down and was about ready to become a client of the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II, allowing the Roman Empire to become a Persian client state, as well as even allow Khosrow II to choose the emperor. The Sassanids had already captured Roman Syria and Palestine in the previous year. After negotiations with Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, a Byzantine ambassador was sent to Persian Shahanshah Khosrau II, and Shahin withdrew again to Syria.
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine / Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after Emperor Maurice helped the Sasanian king Khosrow II regain his throne. In 602 Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. Khosrow declared war, ostensibly to avenge the death of the deposed emperor Maurice. This became a decades-long conflict, the longest war in the series, and was fought throughout the Middle East: in Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, Anatolia, Armenia, the Aegean Sea and before the walls of Constantinople itself.
Adergoudounbadēs, was a prominent Sasanian nobleman, general, and kanarang during the reigns of Kavadh I and Khosrow I. His life is known only through the work of the Byzantine historian Procopius. His native name was probably Adurgundbad, an abbreviation of Adurgushnaspbad. Pourshariati records the native name as Ādhargulbād (آذرگلباد).
The siege of Dara was raised by the Sasanian king Khosrow I in 573 during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 572–591. The fortified city fell after 4 months.
The Sasanian civil war of 589–591 was a conflict that broke out in 589, due to the great deal of dissatisfaction among the nobles towards the rule of Hormizd IV. The civil war lasted until 591, ending with the overthrow of the Mihranid usurper Bahram Chobin and the restoration of the Sasanian family as the rulers of Iran.
Arbāyistān or Beth Arabaye was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity. Due to its situation and its road systems, the province was a source of income from commercial traffic, as well as a constant area of contention during the Roman–Persian Wars.
Piruz Khosrow, also known as Piruzan or Firuzan, was a powerful Persian aristocrat who was the leader of the Parsig (Persian) faction that controlled much of the affairs of the Sasanian Empire during the Sasanian civil war of 628-632. He was killed at the Battle of Nahāvand in 642.
The Sasanian civil war of 628–632, also known as the Sasanian Interregnum was a conflict that broke out after the execution of the Sasanian king Khosrau II between the nobles of different factions, notably the Parthian (Pahlav) faction, the Persian (Parsig) faction, the Nimruzi faction, and the faction of general Shahrbaraz. Rapid turnover of rulers and increasing provincial landholder power further diminished the empire. Over a period of 4 years and 14 successive kings, the Sasanian Empire weakened considerably, and the power of the central authority passed into the hands of its generals, contributing to its fall.
Fariburz, known in Byzantine sources as Phabrizus, was a 6th-century Iranian military officer from the Mihran family, who served under the Sasanian king Khosrau I.
Rufinus was a Byzantine military officer and emissary of the 6th century, active during the reigns of emperors Anastasius I Dicorus, Justin I, and Justinian I. Of Greek origin, he was the son and brother, respectively, of the officers Silvanus and Timostratus. He first appeared in 502, when he was sent by Anastasius to the court of the Sasanian shah Kavad I with large amounts of money to prevent attacks on the Byzantine Empire. When Rufinus learned of the Persian attacks, he left the money in Caesarea and met in Amida Kavad I, who imprisoned him until January 503, when he was released and sent to the emperor.