User:HistoryofIran/Kavad II

Kavad II ( Kawād) was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran briefly in 628.

Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II ((r. 590 – 628)) and Maria. With help from different factions of the nobility, Sheroe overthrew his father in a coup d'état in 628. After ascending the throne, he had his father and majority of brothers executed, and also made peace with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius ((r. 610 – 641)), thus concluding the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628.

Kavad II soon died to a devastating plague, which became known as the Plague of Sheroe. He was succeeded by his seven year old son Ardashir III ((r. 628 – 630)).

Background
Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II ((r. 590 – 628)), the last prominent Sasanian ruler of Iran. His mother was Maria, a Byzantine woman which some Eastern sources considered to be a daughter of emperor Maurice ((r. 582 – 602)). However, Byzantine sources do not report that Maurice had a daughter named Maria, much less that he gave her in marriage to a member of the Sasanian dynasty. According to the Austrian historian and numismatist Nikolaus Schindel, Maria most likely belonged to the aristocracy of the Sasanian Empire. The union of Khosrow and Maria took place in 590 in the earliest, which would make Sheroe 37 years old at maximum when he became king in 628. It is certain Sheroe had at least reached adulthood by then, as he had a seven-year-old son (Ardashir III) when he died in the same year. According to the 7th-century Greek Christian chronicle Chronicon Paschale, Sheroe was Khosrow II's eldest son, though this remains uncertain.

Early life
In 602, Maurice was murdered by his political rival Phocas. As a result, Khosrow II proceeded to declare war, ostensibly to avenge the death of Maurice. During the two decade war, Khosrow II was initially successful, conquering the Byzantine provinces in the Near East, including Egypt. However, by 627 the tables had turned against the Sasanians, with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius ((r. 610 – 641)) seizing chunks of Adurbadagan and laying waste to the temple of Adur Gushnasp. The nobles had grown weary of Khosrow II's policies, with some of them possibly already starting to form an opposition against him following the failed siege of Constantinople in 626. During this period, Sheroe was imprisoned in a fortress outside of Babylon together with a couple of unidentified brothers. There they were educated by tutors sent by Khosrow II.

Following the Byzantine sacking of the royal Sasanian residence at Dastagird on 6 January 628, Khosrow II fled to the capital of Ctesiphon. There he tried to secure the city as well as his legacy. He planned to crown his son Mardanshah (whose mother was the well-known Christian queen Shirin) as his heir apparent. When Sheroe was informed of this, he immediately sent his foster-brother to Gurdanasp, a former general who led the opposition against Khosrow II. Gurdanasp declined to have an audience with Sheroe, instead asking him to send a letter to express himself. Sheroe soon sent a letter, in which he promised to replace Khosrow II as the shahanshah, make peace with the Byzantines and the Western Turkic Khaganate, increase the rank of the conspirators and the income of the army. Having convinced the conspirators with his letter, Sheroe continued to correspond with them through his foster-brother, who made it possible for the two parties to plan their actions for the upcoming coup d'état.

Preparations
It was essential for the conspirators to move quickly in order to catch Khosrow II and his men off guard. To maintain contact between Ctesiphon and Veh-Ardashir, it was necessary to occupy the pontoon bridge over the Tigris River. The core of individuals involved in the conspiracy had to grow as quickly as feasible. In order to gather more support, they had to make the political equivalent of a shock attack. The conspirators agreed to stage the coup at the night of 23/24 February. They made the decision to inform Heraclius of the situation by sending a group of deputies to him. They required assurance that the Byzantines would be prepared to talk peace terms with a newly established Iranian government. They must have felt encouraged by Heraclius' recent proposition to Khosrow II, but they required a clear promise from him. Much of the justification for the coup attempt would be gone if there was no assurance that the Byzantines would also be in favour of making peace, as the Sasanian state would get weakened by the coup.

Four army commanders and two high-ranking civilians made up the small deputation that departed. The hazarbed Gousdanaspa Razei was in charge of it. Once Heraclius had given the desired assurance, Gousdanaspa Razei was permitted to tell him about the details of the scheme, the upcoming coup, and its date. The deputation needed to be given about a week's worth of time because the Byzantine army was about 200 kilometers from Ctesiphon. They thus must have departed by February 17 in order to be in time for the coup on 23/24 February. They met with Heraclius in Shahrazur, most likely around 19 February. There they received his assurance, and in return informed him of the details of the coup.

The coup
At night, a group of distinguished state officials brought Sheroe into Veh-Ardashir. Along with removing the horses from the royal stables and transporting them over the river, the conspirators from Ctesiphon crossed the bridge to meet him. A messenger called attention to Sheroe's takeover of authority and called for people to join his cause. The prisoners were freed, being told that the new shahanshah had opened the "gates of life" for them. They stole the horses from the royal stables and rode on them around while displaying their chains and berating Khosrow II. Instead of lending the coup military power, their main role was to intensify the revolutionary climate through their yelling and galloping. Heraclius had previously suggested that the conspirators free and arm the Byzantine prisoners of war, though there is no proof that they followed his advice.

The palace guards were made aware of the situation by the ruckus coming from Veh-Ardashir, and several of them crossed the bridge to join the rebels. Khosrow II inquired about the commotion and trumpet noise. He tried to flee after learning the truth from his attendants, but shortly discovered that the royal stables were empty. The last of the guards fled as the rebels crossed the river around daybreak and moved toward the palace. Khosrow II disguised himself and went to the palace's gardens, where he hid himself. A search crew discovered him there; he was then apprehended, cuffed, and imprisoned in the new treasury building. The following day, on February 25, Sheroe ascended the throne, adopting "Kavad" as his regal name.

Execution of his father and brothers
The conspirators that had overthrown Khosrow II and installed Kavad II on the throne was composed of several powerful dynastic factions; the Nemrozi faction led by Mihr Hormozd; Shahrbaraz, who represented a branch of the Mihran family; the House of Ispahbudhan represented by Farrukh Hormizd and his two sons Rostam Farrokhzad and Farrukhzad; the Armenian faction represented by Varaztirots II Bagratuni; and the Kanarangiyan.

Right after Kavad II's accession, the grandees pressured him to have Khosrow II executed, telling him that "It is not fitting that we should have two kings: either you kill Khosrow, and we will be your faithful and obedient servants, or we shall depose you and give our obedience to him [Khosrow] just as we always did before you secured the royal power." Kavad II, who was terrified and devastated, dispatched Asfadjushnas as a deputy to Khosrow II. Asfadjushnas' task was to explain to Khosrow II all the crimes he had committed, and the reasons for his removal and eventual execution. The lengthy discussion between the two is recounted by al-Tabari. Agitated, Kavad II ordered his father to be executed. Although various figures wanted to exact vengeance upon Khosrow II, no one dared to commit regicide. Mihr Hormozd eventually volunteered. He was the son of Mardanshah, the former padgospan of Nemroz region, who had at his own request been executed by Khosrow II, due to being mutilated and dishonored by the latter. Khosrow II was executed on 28 February.

It was also either during this period, or later, that Kavad II had all his brothers (17 or 18 of them) executed. This was done at the instigation of his minister Piruz Khosrow and Shamta, the son of Khosrow II's treasurer Yazdin. Al-Tabari describes the executed brothers as "men of good education, bravery, and the manly virtues". He adds that Kavad II was scolded by his sisters Boran and Azarmidokht for his actions, which caused him to become remorseful.

Peace negotiations with the Byzantine Empire
Following his accession, Kavad II sent two groups of deputies to inform Heraclius of his victory. The first group was composed of a Persian and Armenian, sent in advance to make preparations for the safe passage of the other group, led by Chosdaï, a high-rank royal secretary. The first group met with Heraclius on 24 March, where they gave him a letter from Chosdaï, which said that the latter was on his way with a group of delegates from the government and would be bringing written suggestions from the new shahanshah. On 3 April, Heraclius met with Chosdaï, who gave him a letter from Kavad II as well as lavish gifts. There Chosdaï provided thoroughly thought-out peace offers. After consolidating his position, Kavad II had turned to the Sasanian Empire's most influential constituency—the noble estate—for formal permission to begin peace negotiations with the Byzantines. This was easily gained by him, as the coup against Khosrow II owed its success to the extensive war-weariness and vehement dissatisfaction at many of the tactics implemented in order to prolong the war effort.

It was acknowledged that the majority of Khosrow II's enormous territorial gains would need to be given up. However, it was not what the exact frontier line should look like. Although Byzantium and Iran had lived in close proximity for very long, there had not been established a precise definition of their geographic boundaries. Arguments could be made in favor of all of the several frontiers that had separated their lands since the resurgence of Iranian authority in the middle of the 3rd-century, due to the lack of any evident topographical, ethnic, or cultural line of boundary south or north of the Armenian Taurus Mountains. The letter sent by Kavad II to Heraclius from this period has partly survived in the Chronicon Paschale. In it, he labels Heraclius as "the most clement Roman emperor, our brother" in contrast to Khosrow II's belittling message towards the latter. By using the word "brother", Kavad II made it clear right away that he acknowledged the Byzantine Empire as legitimate and equals of Iran. He was thus swiftly re-establishing the dualistic world order that had been dominant for four centuries. He announced his ascension to the throne of his fathers and forefathers via the protection of God in the letter's body, which was kept brief. Kavad II was doing everything in his power to avoid supporting the idea that the war had been a religious conflict by omitting mention of the divinites in Zoroastrianism.

He claimed that he intended to free every individual held in jail, including political opponents of his father and prisoners of war, as a sign of his commitment to doing whatever could be helpful and in the service of mankind. The letter did not discuss on how to fix the borders. Instead, Chosdaï had to verbally relay the Sasanian offer to withdraw from Byzantine territory, and Heraclius had to respond in writing with precise suggestions on how to fix the borders. A solemn oath, sealed in the customary Persian fashion with salt, was placed within the letter.

Heraclius responded with a letter four days later, which has also partly survived. In the first portion, only the final few words of each line have been preserved. He confirmed receiving the letter brought by Chosdaï, congratulated Kavad II on becoming king (mentioning both God's role and Kavad II's good fate) and wished him many years of success, vigour, and peace. He also recognized Kavad II's stated intention to work in the service of mankind. The rest of Heraclius' letter has not survived.

The English historian James Howard-Johnston suggests that the rest of Heraclius' letter was a general statement, in which he said that he was prepared to make peace, along with some indication of what he thought should be a fair boundary to draw between the two empire. In accordance with the conditions of his earlier offer, Kavad II would then be required to make arrangements for the Iranian soldiers' withdrawal from what was acknowledged to be Byzantine land and the release of all Byzantine prisoners of war. This is all implied in the History of Khosrov, a source which Howard-Johnston considers to be the "only trustworthy account of the second stage of negotiations." The Byzantine writer Nikephoros I claims that in the letter Heraclius called Kavad II his "son", and thus declaring superiority over the Sasanian Empire. Howard-Johnston dismisses this claim, amongst other things arguing that due to the weakened Byzantine military, Heraclius was in no position to make such assertion.

After the negotiations were successful, Kavad II started carrying out the agreement's obligations. He gave orders for a letter to be written, telling Shahrbaraz to assemble his troops and head back to Iranian land, which he refused. Having conquered the Byzantine Middle East, he was not willing to give up more or less everything he had achieved in order to stop more violence and expenditure. This led to a deadlock, which would last for months. However, for the time being, Heraclius and his men could march home in peace, assured that the protracted conflict was finished, while the Iranian military could start preparing operations against the Turks in the South Caucasus.

Death and succession
Kavad II soon died to a devastating plague, which became known as the Plague of Sheroe. According to the the Arab historian and geographer al-Masudi, at least a third of Iran's population—or perhaps even half—died to the plague. Al-Tabari reported that "most of the Persians perished." According to the modern historian Michael Bonner, epidemic sickness would have quickly swept throughout Mesopotamia's crowded and densely populated communities. He adds that while its possible the highlands of Iran remained unharmed, sources raise the possibility that the plague's impact on Ctesiphon urban area was as devastating as they claim. Kavad II was succeeded by his seven-year-old son Ardashir III, who was supervised by Mah-Adhur Gushnasp as his regent.

Religious policy
Kavad II, like all other Sasanian rulers, was an adherent of Zoroastrianism. The government of Kavad II helped Christian churches, such as giving the Church of the East permission to nominate their own catholicos, a privilege they had lost since 609.

Coinage and imperial ideology
Although the previous Sasanian monarch Kavad I ((r. 488 – 496)) was not portrayed positively by the the royal propaganda of Kavad II, the latter still chose to adopt his name. Schindel calls this choice "somewhat surprising".

Family
A passage of the Chronicle of Edessa identifies "Anzoy the Roman" as the wife of Kavad II and mother of Ardashir III. She was probably a Christian princess from the Byzantine Empire.

According to Guidi's Chronicle, Boran was also Kavad II's wife, demonstrating the practice in Zoroastrianism of Khwedodah, or close-kin marriage.

Legacy and assessment
The personal power of the shahanshah was lower under Kavad II than under Khosrow II. The fact that the shahanshah had stopped leading his army into battle since Hormizd IV ((r. 579 – 590)) may have been a significant contributing element. This may have caused a growing disconnection between the army and the shahanshah, which gave military commanders (such as Bahram Chobin and Shahrbaraz) the opportunity to challenge the shahanshah—something which never happened in earlier Sasanian history.

Some sources such as al-Tabari consider Kavad II to be a bad ruler, while others such as the Chronicle of Seert paint a more favorable picture of him.