Farruch Hormizd

Farruch Hormizd ( Persian فرخ هرمزد, DMG Farruḫ-i Hurmizd ; † 631 ) was a Spahbod (general) in northern Iran and Prince of Atropatene . He was murdered in a palace revolt by Siyavachsch on the orders of Queen Azarmeducht . Farruch Hormizd had two sons named Farrochzād ("descendant of Farroch"; one of them Rostam Farrochzād , the other also called Churrazād ).

Family and origin

Farruch Hormizd comes from the Ispahbudhan family, which was one of the seven Parthian noble families . The sister of his great-grandfather Bawi was married to King Kavadh I and so the mother of the later King Chosrau I. Farruch's father Vinduyih and his uncle Vistahm played an important role in the victory over the usurper Bahram Chobin and the re-establishment of Chosrau II . But later, Farruch's father was executed on the king's orders, which led to a revolt by Vistahm. The uprising lasted several years (590 / 1–596 or 594 / 5–600) and was ended by the betrayal of a general Vistahm. After his death Farruch followed his uncle as Spahbod of the North.

Farruchs grandson Surchab I was a ruler of Bawandiden that several centuries after the Sassanian over Tabaristan prevailed.

Earlier career

Towards the end of the Eastern Roman-Persian War of 602–628, Farruch and his son Rostam Farrochzād rebelled against King Chosrau II, which enabled the Eastern Roman Emperor Herakleios to invade Atropatene, where he sacked many places, including the fire sanctuary Adur Guschnasp . In 628 some noble families and princes under Shahrbaraz conspired against Chosrau II, including Farruch as leader of the Ispahbudhan, Shahrbaraz from the house of the Mihran, the Armenian Marzban Varaztirots II. Bagratuni and the Kanarang from eastern Iran. They supported Chosrau's son Siroe , who conquered the capital Seleukia-Ctesiphon in February 628 , had his father incarcerated and on February 25, 628 proclaimed himself the new king. His father, brothers, and half-brothers were all executed. With the agreement of the conspirators, Siroe (now as Kavadh II.) Made peace with East Current / Byzantium, which returned all lost territories, captured soldiers and the booty from the conquest of Jerusalem in 614 .

After the peace agreement, Farruch retired to Northern Iran and established his own rule there. From then on, the northern part was Parthian Iran (Pahlav) and the southern part with King Kavadh II and his vizier Firuz the Persian (Parsig). This fragmentation of the empire led to major crises such as a plague in the west, to which the king also fell victim. His successor was his son Ardaschir III.

A year later, Shahrbaraz moved with 6,000 men to Seleukia-Ctesiphon and conquered the city with the help of other conspirators. In the turmoil that followed, Farruch supported the daughter of Chosraus II. Boran against Shahrbaraz, who as a usurper could only rule for forty days and was then murdered. Boran could not last long and was probably murdered in 631. Her sister Azarmeducht followed her.

In order to become the new great king, Farruch made a proposal to Azarmeducht. She had him killed by Siyavachsch, a grandson of Bahram Chobin. Rostam Farrochzād avenged his father by besieging the capital and again killing Azarmeducht.

At the same time as Farruch Hormizd appeared, coins of a Sassanind king named Hormizd ( Hormizd V. ) were minted. In numismatic research, these are partly assigned to the Farruch Hormizd mentioned here, but literary sources report that Hormizd V. comes from the Sassanid ruling house, which Farruch Hormizd does not.

family tree

Bawi

Shapur

Vinduyih

Vistahm

Farruch Hormizd

Tiruyih

Vinduyih

Rostam Farrochzād

Farruchzad

Shahram

Surchab I.

Isfandyadh

Bahram

Farruchan

literature

• Parvaneh Pourshariati: Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran . IB Tauris, London / New York 2008, ISBN 978-1-84511-645-3 .
• A. Shapur Shahbazi: Sasanian Dynasty . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica , as of: July 20, 2005 (English, including references)
• A. Shapur Shahbazi: Ardašīr III . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica , as of: August 11, 2011 (English, including references)
• Walter E. Kaegi: Heraclius Emperor of Byzantium . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 0-521-81459-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sasanian Dynasty in Encyclopaedia Iranica
2. ↑ Pourshariati, pp. 152-153.
3. ↑ Pourshariati, S. 173rd
4. ↑ Kaegi, p. 178, pp. 189-190.
5. ↑ Ardašīr III. In: Encyclopædia Iranica
6. ↑ Pourshariati, S. 175th
7. ↑ Pourshariati, S. 204th