Yazdegerd II

Yazdegerd II
"King of kings of Iran and Aniran"
A coin of Yazdegerd II.
Reign	438–457
Predecessor	Bahram V
Successor	Hormizd III
Born	Unknown
Died	457
Consort	Dinak
Issue	Peroz I Hormizd III Zarir Balash
House	House of Sasan
Father	Bahram V
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Yazdegerd II (Middle Persian: 𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩 Yazdākird, meaning "made by God"; New Persian: یزدگرد), was the sixteenth Sasanian King of Persia. He was the successor and son of Bahram V (420–438) and reigned from 438 to 457.^[1] He spent most of his reign in war against the Hephthalites and imposing Zorastrianism on other people.

Reign

At the start of his reign, he continued his father’s policies. However, after some time, he turned away from these and started a policy of his own. When the Sasanian nobles told him that his new policies had offended the civilians, he said the following thing: "It is not correct for you to presume that the ways in which my father behaved towards you, maintaining you close to him, and bestowing upon you all that bounty, are incumbent upon all the kings that come after him ... each age has its own customs."^[2]

Wars

In 440, Yazdegerd II waged a war against the Roman empire, with little success for either side. The Romans, however, were invaded in their southern provinces by the Vandals, Making the Roman Emperor, Theodosius II (408–450), ask for peace and send his commander, Anatolius, personally to Yazdegerd's camp. In the ensuing negotiations in 440, both empires promised not to build any new fortifications in Mesopotamia and that Sasanians would get some payment.^[3] Shortly after his peace treaty with Romans, he, along with Izad Gushnasp, Ashtat, and his vizier Mihr Narseh, moved towards Persian Armenia, and defeated the Armenians and captured many Armenian nobles, priests, and troops, sending them to the eastern Sasanian provinces to protect the borders from Hunnic invasions.

In 453, Yazdegerd II moved his court to Nishapur in Khorasan to face the threat from the Huns and left Mihr Narseh in charge of the Sasanian Empire. He spent many years at war against the Huns.^[4] According to the Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr, Yazdegerd fortified the city of Damghan and turned it into a strong border post against the Huns.^[5] After his wars against the Huns, Yazdegerd's shifted his focus on Armenia, Caucasian Albania and the Roman Empire.^[6]

Yazdegerd was known for his religious zeal in promoting Zoroastrianism, leading to persecutions of Christians, mostly Assyrians, and, to a much lesser extent, Jews. Under his reign, 153,000 Assyrians were massacred solely in one city, Kirkuk.^[7] He issued decrees prohibiting Jews from observing the Sabbath openly and publicly, and ordered executions of a few Jewish leaders, which resulted in the Jewish community of Isfahan publicly retaliating by flaying two Zoroastrian priests while they were alive, leading to more persecutions against the Jews. Advancing his pro-Zoroastrian policy, he battled an uprising of Armenian Christians in the Battle of Avarayr in 451 and attempted to impose Zoroastrianism in Armenia.^[8]

In his later years, Yazdegerd became engaged again with the Kidarites until his death in 457. He pursued strict religious policies and persecuted various minorities.

See also

• Siunik
• Vartan Mamikonians

References

Sources

• Pourshariati, Parvaneh (2008). Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran. London and New York: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3. 
• Shapur Shahbazi, A. (2005). "SASANIAN DYNASTY". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition. Retrieved 30 March 2014.