Hormizd IV (540β590)
Born 540 CE, died 590 CE.
Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; Middle Persian: π π₯π§π₯π¬π¦π£) was the King of Kings of Sasanian Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I (r.β531β579) 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 (the dehqans). 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 589β591.
Text from the Wikipedia article Hormizd_IV, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.