Yazdgerd III
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yazdgerd III (Persian: یزدگرد سوم, "made by God") was the last king of the Sassanid dynasty and a grandson of Khosrau II (590–628), who had been murdered by his son Kavadh II of Persia in 628. His father was Shahryar. [1] Yazdgerd III ascended the throne on June 16, 632 after a series of internal conflicts.
Yazdgerd III reigned as a youth and never truly exercised authority. In his first year the Arab invasion of Persia began, and in 636 the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah decided the fate of the Persian empire.
Arabs occupied Ctesiphon, and the young King fled into Media. Yazdgerd III then fled eastward from one district to another, until at last he was killed by a local miller for his purse at Merv in 651.[1]
The rest of the nobles who fled settled in central Asia where they contributed greatly in spreading Persian culture and language in those regions. They also contributed to the establishment of the first native Iranian dynasty, the Samanid dynasty, which sought to retain some Sassanid traditions while still promoting Islam.
The Zoroastrian religious calendar, which is still in use today, uses the regnal year of Yazdegerd III as its base year. Its calendar era (year numbering system), which is accompanied by a Y.Z. suffix, thus indicates the number of years since the emperor's coronation in 632 CE.
Yazdgerd III's daughter Shahr Banu reportedly married Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson, and gave birth to the fourth Shia Imam, Ali Zayn al Abidin. Yazdgerd's son Pirooz fled to China.
[edit] See also
Pirooz, his son.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Fifteeth Edition
| Preceded by Hormizd VI |
Sassanid Ruler 632–651 |
Succeeded by Last Sassanid ruler |
| Ruler of Persia 632–651 |
Succeeded by Caliph Uthman |
