Sassanid Empire the Mazdakites’ announcement of Kawus as the crown prince, Kubadh appointed his younger son Khosrow, who successively executed the Mazdakite heads and settled the dispute Kubadh became involved in a 10year war with the Hephthalites (503–513) and defeated them so heavily that they were never a threat to Iran’s territory again He defeated the Byzantines in two wars; the first one in 503 at the reign of Anastase and the other in 531 at the reign of Justinian I Khosrow I (531–579) was remembered as Anushirwan (of immortal soul) and became the subject of legends He was recorded in history as the most powerful and knowledgeable king of the Sassanids He led Iran toward a flourishing period Although he was cruel with Mazdakites at the beginning, in his governing policies he followed Mazdak’s socialism and prevented cruelty from the nobles Properties that had been taken by force were returned to their former owners The nobles kept their status but lost their power He tried to satisfy the poor and afterward was entitled as “dadgar,” meaning “fair.” He implemented a tax reform that paid for his expanded governing system At the beginning of his reign he accepted the peace treaty proposed by the Byzantine emperor, Justinian I, and tried to reconstruct the state, especially the destruction left by Mazdakite rebels With a wellequipped army he revived Sassanid power A new class of militant landlords was created, and the military was trained and paid regularly so that the army could be a continual power Kharsaw, who found Byzantine growth and power a threat to Iran, invaded Byzantium and occupied many cities in that state The Byzantines were obliged to pay tribute and sign a 50-year treaty accepting the expenses for the common defense of the Caucasus passes Khusraw I destroyed the Hephthalites through an accord with the western Turks and divided Hephthalite territory between the Sassanids and the Turks At the end of his reign Khosrow occupied Yemen and annexed it to Iran, expanding Sassanid territory up the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea HURMUZ IV, BAHRAM VI, AND KHOSROW PARWIZ Khosrow Anushirwan was succeeded by his son Hurmuz IV (579) He was remembered as “Turkzad” meaning “born as a Turk” since his mother was connencted to the kings of western turks The conflict between the crown and the nobles resurfaced in his reign Hurmuz IV is said to have favored common people against the nobles, possibly as a basis of support for his crown The 415 Zoroastrian clergy were dissatisfied with Hurmuz IV’s tolerance toward other religions and turned against him Ongoing peace negotiations with Byzantium were progressively impeded by Hurmuz IV, and war broke out again, although there was no clear victor At the same time the king of Turks invaded the eastern borders of Iran Bahram Chubin of the Mihran family, one of the Parthian princes, fought heavily with the Turks and defeated them at Harat, killing their king Hurmuz IV, afraid af Bahram Chubin’s fame and wisdom, sent him immediately to Georgia to fight with the Byzantines, where he was defeated Jealous of Bahram’s popularity, Hurmuz IV disgraced him on the pretext that he held back war booty, provoking Bahram to rebel Groups of nobles and the military supported Bahram Chubin, and the first steps for the collapse of Hurmuzd IV’s throne were taken The rebel forces, including Hurmuzd IV’s brothers-in-law, dethroned Hurmuz IV, enthroning his son Khosrow Hurmuz IV was killed Bahram Chubin, who had more widespread objectives, did not recognize Khosrow’s monarchy and attacked Ctesiphon and defeated Khosrow and his uncles Bahram Chubin entered the capital in 590 and took the throne as Bahram VI (590–591), with upper-class support Khosrow, who was later named Khosrow Parwiz (the triumphant) sought help from the Byzantine emperor Maurice Maurice sent two armies accompanied by his own daughter, Maria, who married Khosrow Khosrow then defeated Bahram in 591, and he fled to the Turks, where he was killed in the next year Bahram never was able to obtain legitimacy among the nobles since he did not belong to a royal family Khosrow Parwiz took preventive measures by selecting his own guards from the Byzantine army and eliminated rival sources of power His lenient treatment of Christians might have been influenced by the fact that both of his wives (Maria and Shirin) were Christian In 602 Maurice was dethroned and killed His son fled to Iran, and Khosrow recognized him as the new Caesar Supporting the young Caesar to take over by posing as Maurice’s avenger, Khosrow found an opportunity to regain territories ceded to the Byzantines Khosrow started the last and greatest of Sassanid-Byzantine wars, which lasted about 20 years (604–624) Between 604 and 610 Sassanid armies conquered Armenia, Mesopotamia, and many cities in Syria Consequently, Byzantiun could not control other parts of the empire as firmly as before Khosrow Parwiz arrested and killed Noman-b-Mundhar, the king of Hira This unwise violence later proved to be very costly, because Khosrow destroyed the wall between Iran and the Arabs of the