Editing Hormizd III

{{Short description|Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire from 457 to 459}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Hormizd III<br />{{lang|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣}}
| title       = [[King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians]]
| image       = King Hormizd II or Hormizd III Hunting Lions, 400-600.jpg
| image_size  = 300px 
| caption     = Plate of a Sasanian king hunting lions, most likely Hormizd III
| succession  = [[List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire|Shahanshah]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]
| reign       = 457 – 459
| coronation  = [[Rey, Iran|Ray]]
| predecessor = [[Yazdegerd II]]
| successor   = [[Peroz I]]
| issue       = [[Balendukht]]
| regent      = [[Denag]]
| royal house = [[House of Sasan]]
| father      = [[Yazdegerd II]]
| mother      = [[Denag]]
| birth_date  =
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = 459
| death_place = 
| religion    = [[Zoroastrianism]]
}}
'''Hormizd III ( Persian:  هرمز سوم ; (d. 459 )) was the 17th Shahinshah of Sassanid Iran from 457 to 459 , the youngest son of Yazdgird II .

He ascended the throne illegally, which angered his older brother and successor, Peroz . In 459 , Peroz led a major uprising to overthrow Hormizd. With the help of the Huns , he captured and executed his brother.

Hormizd had an only daughter, Balendukhti , who (presumably) married the king of Iberia , Vakhtang Gorgasali , and bore him an heir, Dachi .

== Etymology ==
The name of Hormizd (also spelled ''Ōhrmazd'', ''Hormozd'') is the [[Middle Persian]] version of the name of the supreme deity in [[Zoroastrianism]], known in [[Avestan]] as [[Ahura Mazda]].{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|pp=462-464}} The [[Old Persian]] equivalent is ''Auramazdā'', whilst the [[Greek language|Greek]] transliteration is ''Hormisdas''.{{sfn|Shayegan|2004|pp=462-464}}{{sfn|Vevaina|Canepa|2018|page=1110}} The name is attested in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] as ''Ormizd'' and in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] as ''Urmizd''.{{sfn|Schmitt|Bailey|1986|pages=445–465}}{{sfn|Rapp|2014|page=341-343}}

== Biography ==
Hormizd III was the eldest son and heir of the Sasanian shah [[Yazdegerd II]], and governed the eastern province of [[Sakastan (Sasanian Province)|Sakastan]] during his father's reign.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}} The province was far away from the imperial court in [[Ctesiphon]], and had since its conquest by [[Ardashir I]] ({{reign|224|240}}) been governed by Sasanian princes, who held title of ''[[sakanshah]]'' ("king of the [[Saka]]").{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=229}} When Yazdegerd I died in 457, Hormizd ascended the throne at [[Ray, Iran|Ray]].{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=248}} His younger brother [[Peroz I]], with the support of the powerful [[House of Mihran|Mihranid]] magnate [[Raham Mihran]], fled to the northeastern part of the empire and began raising an army in order to claim the throne for himself.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=248}}{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=71}} The empire thus fell into a dynastic struggle and became divided; the mother of the two brothers, [[Denag]], temporarily ruled as regent of the empire from its capital, Ctesiphon.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=248}} According to eastern sources, Peroz was more worthy for the throne than Hormizd, who is called unjust.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}} Only the anonymous source known as the Codex Sprenger 30 describes Hormizd as the "braver and better", whilst describing Peroz as "more learned in religion".{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}}

The [[Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania|Arsacid]] ruler of [[Caucasian Albania]], [[Vache II]] ({{reign|444|463}}), who was the nephew of the two brothers through his mother, and had been forced to convert to Zoroastrianism by Yazdegerd II, took advantage of the dispute by declaring independence and reverting to [[Christianity]].{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=300}}{{sfn|Daryaee|2008|p=24}} Peroz later went to the domains of the [[Hephthalite Empire|Hephthalite]] monarch, who agreed to support him with soldiers in his struggle for the throne.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}} In 459, Peroz, with Hephthalite and Mihranid assistance, led an army against Hormizd and defeated him. According to some sources, Hormizd was pardoned and spared by his brother. However, this is most likely a legend, due to being contradicted by other sources, which state Peroz had Hormizd and three members of his family killed.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}} Peroz I afterwards fully incorporated Sakastan into the empire by appointing an aristocrat from the [[House of Karen]] as governor.{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=229}} Hormizd was thus the last person to wield the title of ''sakanshah''.{{sfn|Christensen|1993|p=229}} No [[Sasanian coinage|coins]] minted during Hormizd's reign has been found.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2004|pp=465–466}}

== Family ==
Hormizd was survived by his two daughters, who were:

* [[Balendukht]], the wife of [[Vakhtang I of Iberia|Vakhtang I]], the ruler of [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]]. She bore the latter a son named [[Dachi of Iberia|Dachi]].
* An unnamed daughter, who was the wife of [[Varsken]], Viceroy of [[Gugark]] and later [[Caucasian Albania]].

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last=Christensen|first=Peter|title=The Decline of Iranshahr: Irrigation and Environments in the History of the Middle East, 500 B.C. to A.D. 1500|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|year=1993|isbn=978-87-7289-259-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ebB_ac13v3UC&q=false|pages= 1–351}}
* {{cite book | title = Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | year = 2008 | publisher = I.B.Tauris | last = Daryaee| first = Touraj | author-link = Touraj Daryaee | pages = 1–240 | isbn = 978-0-85771-666-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LU0BAwAAQBAJ&q=false}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kia|first1=Mehrdad|title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-391-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5BHDAAAQBAJ&q=false}}
*{{cite book|last=Pourshariati|first=Parvaneh|title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran|location=London and New York|publisher=I.B.Tauris|year=2008|isbn=978-1-84511-645-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rapp |first1=Stephen H. Jr |title=The Sasanian World through Georgian Eyes: Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-4724-2552-2 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = ARMENIA AND IRAN iv. Iranian influences in Armenian Language | last1 = Schmitt | first1 = R. | last2 = Bailey | first2= H. W. | author-link1 = Rüdiger Schmitt | author-link2 = Harold Walter Bailey | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-iv | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4-5 | pages = 445–465 | year = 1986 }}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=12|fascicle=5 | title = Hormozd III | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur | author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-iii | pages = 465–466 }}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica|volume=12|fascicle=5 | title = Hormozd I | last = Shayegan | first = M. Rahim | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/hormozd-i | pages = 462–464 }}
* {{ODLA|last1=Vevaina|first1=Yuhan|last2=Canepa|first2=Matthew|title=Ohrmazd|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-3439?rskey=yx9iQR&result=10}}

== External links ==
* {{cite book|author=Wigram, W. A.|title=An introduction to the history of the Assyrian Church, or, The Church of the Sassanid Persian Empire, 100&ndash;640 A.D|publisher=Gorgias Press|isbn=1-59333-103-7|year=2004}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian dynasty]]||||459}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Yazdegerd II]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran]]|years=457–459}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Peroz I]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sasanian Rulers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hormizd III}}
[[Category:459 deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century Sasanian monarchs]]
[[Category:5th-century births]]
[[Category:Sasanian governors of Sakastan]]
[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]
[[Category:People executed by the Sasanian Empire]]
[[Category:Executed monarchs]]