Editing Yazdegerd I (section)

== Death and succession ==
[[Image:Yazdegird I Kicked to Death by the Water Horse", Folio from a Shahnama (Book of Kings), ca. 1300–30.jpg|upright=1.4|thumb|alt=Persian miniature of Yazdegerd I killed by a white horse|14th-century Shahnameh illustration of Yazdegerd I, kicked to death by a white horse]]
Yazdegerd I died in 420. According to 5th-century [[Armenians|Armenian]] historian [[Movses Khorenatsi]], his cause of death was disease.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} According to an old, popular legend mentioned by [[Ferdowsi]] in the ''[[Shahnameh]]'', however, he was kicked to death by a white horse which suddenly arose from the Chishmih-i Su or Chishmih-i Sabz (the green spring) adjacent to the city of [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] in the eastern province of [[Abarshahr]].{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=66}} The horse was said to suddenly disappear afterwards.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=67}} [[Germany|German]] [[Oriental studies|orientalist]] [[Theodor Nöldeke]] surmised that "Ferdowsi had fecklessly grafted this tradition onto traditions of his hometown, Tus",{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=67}} and the murder may have taken place in [[Hyrcania|Gurgan]];{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=67}} the legend predated Ferdowsi's work.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=67}} Whether Yazdegerd's death was in Tus or Gurgan, the legend was probably fabricated by the Parthian nobility who had Yazdegerd I killed in the distant northeast (the traditional homeland of the Parthians and part of the fiefdom of three strong Parthian families, including the [[Kanarang]]iyan, who were based in the Tus region).{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=67}}

The nobility and clergy, who despised Yazdegerd I, now strove to strip his sons of kingship. Three are known: Shapur, Bahram and Narseh.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=22}}{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} Shapur (the governor-king of [[Sasanian Armenia|Armenia]]) rushed to Ctesiphon and assumed the crown as [[Shapur IV]], but was betrayed by his courtiers and killed.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=22}} The nobility then placed Bahram IV's son, [[Khosrow (son of Bahram IV)|Khosrow]], on the throne.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=22}} Bahram, who had grown up in the [[Lakhmid]] court of [[al-Hira]], arrived in Ctesiphon with an [[Arabs|Arab]] army and pressured the nobility to acknowledge him as Shah [[Bahram V]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} His brother, Narseh, was appointed governor of Abarshahr.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}}