Khosrau (king)

Khosrau is a title meaning "king" or "ruler" in Persian.[1][2] It comes from the name of a mythical Persian leader, in the Avesta of the Zoroastrians known as Kavi Haosravah or Khosrau, with the meaning "with good reputation".

A number of rulers of Persia, Armenia and the Middle East either took Khosrau as their dynastic name or are known by this name. Notable as to the use of khosrau as a title is the father of Mirian III of Iberia who was known as k'asre. This led to confusion, as some historians thought that Mirian III must therefore be the son of a Sasanian ruler, and not an Parthian one.

In Islamic Persia chosroes became a strong byword for tyrannical pagan kingship, and chosroes is used for the rulers of pre-Islamic Persia, as pharaoh is used for pre-Islamic Egypt.[3]

The name has taken various spellings, including khusro, khosrau, khusrau, khosro, khusraw; kisrā (كسرى) and khosrow (خسرو) in Modern Persian; kisrā (كسرى) in Arabic; osroes or chosroes in Greek; hüsrev in Turkish), and xosrov (Խոսրով in Armenian.

Look up خسرو in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes

  1. ↑ Kisrâ is used as a general shorthand for Sassinid rulers. Kurz, Otto (1941). "The Date of the Ṭāq i Kisrā". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. (New Series) 73 (1): 37–41.
  2. ↑ Stevens, Phillips, Jr (1975). "The Kisra legend and the distortion of historical tradition". The Journal of African History 16 (2): 185–200. doi:10.1017/S0021853700001110.
  3. ↑ Iqbal, Javid (2011). "Lands of Chosroes and Pharaohs". Archived from the original on 24 September 2012.