65 Facts About Khosrow I

Khosrow I, traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan, was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579.

Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the Ghassanids, and encouraged by Ostrogoth envoys from Italy, Khosrow I violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540.

Khosrow I sacked the major city of Antioch and deported its population to Persia.

Khosrow I was known for his character, virtues and knowledge.

Khosrow I was interested in literature and philosophy, and under his reign, art and science flourished in Iran.

Khosrow I was the most distinguished of the Sasanian kings, and his name became a royal title, like that of Caesar in the history of Rome.

Khosrow I was known by the epithets and, in Islamic times, 'Adel.

Khosrow I was reportedly born between 512 and 514 at Ardestan, a town located in the Spahan province in central Iran.

Khosrow I was the youngest son of Kavad I, the ruling Sasanian shah.

Khosrow I's mother was an Ispahbudhan princess, who was the sister of the leading Iranian general Bawi.

Khosrow I reportedly felt insulted by the Byzantines, and his attitude towards them deteriorated.

Khosrow I was afterwards executed by Khosrow, who had his feet fastened on a gallows, and had his men shoot arrows at him.

Sometime during the early reign of Khosrow I, he had to deal with his eldest brother Kawus, who ruled as governor-king of the northern province of Padishkhwargar.

Unlike Khosrow I, he was a Mazdakite and thus had their support as the candidate for the throne.

Khosrow I was defeated by Khosrow's forces and taken to Ctesiphon, where Khosrow summoned the priests and urged Kawus to make confessions and ask for forgiveness so that he could be released.

Kawus refused, preferring death, forcing Khosrow I to have him killed.

Khosrow I ordered the execution of Kavad, who was still a child and was away from the court, being raised by Adergoudounbades.

Khosrow I had him executed, but Kavad, or someone claiming to be him, managed to flee to the Byzantine Empire.

Khosrow I represents the epitome of the philosopher king in the Sasanian Empire.

Khosrow I's reign is considered to be one of the most successful within the Sasanian Empire.

The internal reforms under Khosrow I were much more important than those on the exterior frontier.

The tax reforms, which were started under Kavad I and completely implemented by Khosrow I, greatly strengthened the royal court.

Khosrow I surveyed all the land within the empire indiscriminately and began to tax all land under a single program.

Khosrow I added a fourth class to this hierarchy between the nobles and the peasants, called the dehqans.

Khosrow I promoted honest government officials based on trust and honesty, rather than corrupt nobles and magi.

Khosrow I made four military districts with a spahbed, or general, in charge of each district.

In 539 Khosrow I had originally attempted to gain a casus belli against the Byzantines by trying to take advantage of a disagreement between his Lakhmid clients and the Byzantine clients Ghassanids, who both claimed ownership of the lands south of Palmyra, near the old Strata Diocletiana.

Khosrow I's attempt was thwarted when the Byzantines successfully equivocated the problem.

Subsequently, Khosrow I accused Justinian of trying to bribe the Lakhmid ruler al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man through his diplomat Summus, and that he had emboldened some Huns to make incursions into Iran.

Khosrow I complained to Justinian about this incident, and requested that the stolen riches be returned to him, including payment for the Arabs that had been killed during the attack.

Khosrow I then proceeded to Sura and killed its commander Arsaces in battle.

Regardless, Khosrow I continued his expedition, threatening the city of Hierapolis, whose custodians swiftly paid him 2,000 pounds or 910 kilograms of silver to leave the city untouched.

Khosrow I's offer was rejected, and as a result he captured and sacked the city.

However, before departing, Khosrow I went to the port of Antioch, Seleucia Pieria, where he bathed in the Mediterranean Sea.

Khosrow I then told the envoys that he wished to visit the city of Apamea out of interest, which they reluctantly allowed him, with the condition that he would leave for his domains afterwards.

Khosrow I extracted tribute from Apamea and other Byzantine towns, at which point Justinian called off his truce and prepared to send his commander Belisarius to move against the Sasanians.

In spring 541, Khosrow I brought his army north to Lazica on request of the Lazic king Gubazes II to repel the Byzantines from his territory.

Sometime later, Khosrow I, who was keen to wrest Dara from Byzantine control, and would do so even if he risked to break the truce they had made regarding Mesopotamia, tried to capture it by tricking them; he sent one of highest officials, Izadgushasp, as a diplomat to Constantinople, but in reality the latter would stop by Dara, and with the aid of his large crew, he would seize the city.

In 549 the previous truce between Justinian and Khosrow I was disregarded and full war broke out between Iranians and Romans.

Khosrow I then sent a Mihranid named Mihransitad, to estimate the quality of the daughter of the Turkic Khagan.

In 555, the Sasanian governor of Armenia and a relative of Khosrow I, Chihor-Vishnasp, built a fire temple at the Armenian capital Dvin and put to death a popular and influential member of the Mamikonian family.

Justin II took advantage of this revolt and used it as an excuse to stop paying annual payments to Khosrow I, effectively putting an end to the 51 year peace treaty that was established ten years earlier.

Khosrow I, who tried to avoid another war, sent a Christian diplomat named Sebokht to Constantinople in order to try to persuade Justin to change his mind.

Meanwhile, Khosrow I sent an army under Golon Mihran to Armenia, but the latter was defeated in Taron by the Armenian rebel leader Vardan III Mamikonian, who captured his war elephants as war booty.

In 573, Khosrow I sent an army under Adarmahan to invade Syria, while he himself along with the three Mihranid military officers Izadgushasp, Fariburz and Bahram Chobin led an army towards Dara, where they captured the city after four months, while Adarmahan sacked several cities in Syria, which included Apamea.

Khosrow I was succeeded by Tiberius, a high-ranking military officer in 578.

The revolt came to an end when Khosrow I gave amnesty to Armenia and brought them back into the Sasanian empire.

Khosrow I, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism.

Khosrow I himself used the church considerably, and was fond of its Patriarch, Aba I, whom he wanted to defend against the Zoroastrian priests.

Khosrow I even enjoyed good relations with Gregory, the Mihranid commander of the Iranian troops in the Caucasus, who had showily disowned Zoroastrianism in front of other troops massed at a feast in 518.

Khosrow I did however deal harshly and swiftly with people with of any belief or practice that ran contrary to Sasanian-mediated Zoroastrian orthodoxy.

Besides defense structures, Khosrow I had a large-scale canal system created in Asoristan, known in Islamic sources as the Nahrawan Canal.

The Sassanian revival took place under his rule, so Khosrow I minted such inscriptions on his especial issue coinage as "Iranians have become fearless", and "Iranians became strong".

Khosrow I was admired, both in Iran and elsewhere, for his character, virtues, and knowledge of Greek philosophy.

Khosrow I was identified by some Romans as the true philosopher king.

Khosrow I was known to be a great patron of philosophy and knowledge.

Khosrow I is known for saying a philosophic quote that follows:.

Khosrow I accepted refugees coming from the Eastern Roman Empire when Justinian closed the neo-Platonist schools in Athens in 529.

Khosrow I was greatly interested in Indian philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicine.

Khosrow I sent multiple embassies and gifts to the Indian court and requested them to send back philosophers to teach in his court in return.

Khosrow I made many translations of texts from Greek, Sanskrit, and Syriac into Middle Persian.

Khosrow I received the title of "Plato's Philosopher King" by the Greek refugees that he allowed into his empire because of his great interest in Platonic philosophy.

Noldeke states that Khosrow I was "certainly one of the most efficient and best kings that the Iranians have ever had".

Khosrow I is known to have greatly expanded the Academy of Gondishapur, located in the city of Gundeshapur.

Khosrow I's reign had a major impact on Islamic culture and political life.