Editing Yazdegerd III

{{Short description|Last Sasanian King (ruled 632–651)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Yazdegerd III<br>{{lang|pal|𐭩𐭦𐭣𐭪𐭥𐭲𐭩}}
| title        = [[King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians]]
| image        = Coin of the Sasanian king Yazdegerd III, 651 mint (Cropped).jpg
| caption      = [[Ancient drachma|Drachma]] of Yazdegerd III, minted in 651.
| succession   = [[List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire|Shahanshah]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]
| reign        = 16 June 632{{snd}}651
| coronation   = [[Istakhr]]
| full name    = 
| predecessor  = [[Boran]]
| successor    = Office abolished
| queen        = 
| issue        = [[Peroz III]]<br>[[Bahram VII]]<br>[[Shahrbanu]] (alleged)<br>Izdundad
| royal house  = [[House of Sasan]]
| dynasty      = 
| father       = [[Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II)|Shahriyar]]
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = 624
| birth_place  = [[Istakhr]]
| death_date   = 651 (aged 27)
| death_place  = [[Merv|Marw]]
| religion     = [[Zoroastrianism]]
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = 
}}
'''Yazdegerd III''' (also Romanized as ''Yazdgerd'', ''Yazdgird'') was the last [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] [[King of Kings]] from 632 to 651. His father was [[Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II)|Shahriyar]] and his grandfather was [[Khosrow II]].

Ascending the throne at the age of eight, the young shah lacked authority and reigned as [[figurehead]], whilst real power was in the hands of the army commanders, courtiers, and powerful members of the aristocracy, who engaged in internecine warfare. The Sasanian Empire was weakened severely by these internal conflicts, resulting in invasions by the [[Göktürks]] from the east, and [[Khazars]] from the west.{{sfn|Kia|2016|pp=284–285}} Yazdegerd was unable to contain the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Rashidun conquest of Iran]], and spent most of his reign fleeing from one province to another in the vain hope of raising an army. Yazdegerd met his end at the hands of a miller near [[Merv|Marw]] in 651, bringing an end to the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire after more than 400 years of rule.{{sfn|Kia|2016|pp=284–285}}

== Etymology ==
The name of Yazdegerd is a combination of the [[Old Iranian]] ''yazad yazata''- "divine being" and ''-karta'' "made", and thus stands for "God-made", comparable to Iranian ''Bagkart'' and [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Theoktistos''.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}} The name of Yazdegerd is known in other languages as follows: [[Middle Persian|Pahlavi]] ''Yazdekert''; [[New Persian]] ''Yazd(e)gerd''; [[Syriac language|Syriac]] ''Yazdegerd'', ''Izdegerd'', and ''Yazdeger''; [[Armenian language|Armenian]] ''Yazkert''; [[Talmudic]] ''Izdeger'' and ''Azger''; [[Arabic]] ''Yazdeijerd''; Greek ''Isdigerdes''.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2003}}

== Background ==
Yazdegerd was the son of prince [[Shahriyar (son of Khosrow II)|Shahriyar]] and the grandson of the last prominent shah of Iran, [[Khosrow II]] ({{reign|590|628}}), who was in 628 overthrown and executed by his own son [[Kavad II]], who proceeded to have all his brothers and half-brothers executed, including Shahriyar.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=284}} This dealt a heavy blow to the empire, which it would never recover from. Furthermore, the fall of Khosrow II also culminated in a [[Sasanian civil war of 628–632|civil war lasting four years]], with the most powerful members of the nobility gaining full autonomy and starting to create their own government. The hostilities between the Persian (''Parsig'') and [[Parthia]]n (''Pahlav'') noble-families were also resumed, which split up the wealth of the nation.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}} A few months later, a [[Plague of Sheroe|devastating plague]] swept through the western Sasanian provinces, killing half of its population including Kavad II.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}

He was succeeded by his eight-year-old son [[Ardashir III]], [[Siege of Ctesiphon (629)|who was killed two years later]] by the distinguished Sasanian general [[Shahrbaraz]], who was in turn murdered forty days later in a coup by the ''[[Seven Great Houses of Iran|Pahlav]]'' leader [[Farrukh Hormizd]], who installed the daughter of Khosrow II, [[Boran]], on the throne.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008}}{{pn|date=October 2024}} She was deposed a year later, and a succession of rulers followed one another, until Boran was sovereign once more in 631, only to be killed the following year, seemingly by the ''Parsig'' leader [[Piruz Khosrow]].{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=218}} The most powerful magnates in the empire, [[Rostam Farrokhzad]]{{efn|Rostam Farrokhzad was a son of Farrukh Hormizd, and had succeeded him as the leader of the ''Pahlav'' in 631, when the latter was killed after attempting to usurp the Sasanian throne.}} and Piruz Khosrow, now threatened by their own men, eventually agreed to work together, and installed Yazdegerd III on the throne, thus putting an end to the civil war.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=219}} He was crowned in the [[Anahid fire-temple]] in [[Istakhr]], where he had been hiding during the civil war. The temple was the very place where the first Sasanian shah [[Ardashir I]] ({{reign|224|242}}) had crowned himself, indicating that the reason behind Yazdegerd's coronation at the same place was due to hopes for a rejuvenation of the empire.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|p=51}} He was almost the last living member of the [[House of Sasan]].{{sfn|Frye|1983|p=171}} Most scholars agree that Yazdegerd was eight years old at his coronation.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=284}}{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=257}}

== Reign ==
===Conditions of the empire===
[[File:Yazdegerd III coronation.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|14th-century [[Shahnameh]] illustration of the coronation of Yazdegerd III, who is incorrectly portrayed as an adult.]]
Yazdegerd, however, did not have the authority required to bring stability to his extensive empire, which was swiftly falling apart due to ceaseless internal conflicts between the army commanders, courtiers, and powerful members of the aristocracy, who were fighting amongst themselves and wiping each other out. Many of the governors of the empire had proclaimed independence and carved out their own kingdom.{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=284}} The governors of the provinces of [[Mazun (Sasanian province)|Mazun]] and [[Sasanian Yemen|Yemen]] had already asserted their independence during the civil war of 628–632, thus resulting in the disintegration of Sasanian rule in the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Early Muslim conquests|which was uniting under the banner of Islam]].{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}} The [[Iranologist]] [[Khodadad Rezakhani]] argues that the Sasanians had most likely lost much of their possessions after Khosrow II's execution in 628.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2019|p=242}}

The empire was starting to look more like the Parthian feudal system before the fall of the [[Parthian Empire|Arsacid Empire]].{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=36}} Yazdegerd, although being acknowledged as the rightful monarch by both the ''Parsig'' and ''Pahlav'' factions, does not seem to have held sway over all of his empire. Indeed, during the first years of his rule coins were only minted in [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]], [[Sakastan (Sasanian province)|Sakastan]], and [[Khuzistan (Sasanian province)|Khuzestan]], approximately corresponding to the regions of the southwest (''Xwarwarān'') and southeast (''Nēmrōz''), where the ''Parsig'' was based.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=221–222}} The ''Pahlav'', who were mainly based in the northern portion of the empire, refused to mint coins of him.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=221–222}} Even in the south Yazdegerd's rule was not seemingly secure; a Sasanian claimant to the throne, [[Khosrow IV]], minted coins at [[Susa]] in [[Khuzistan (Sasanian province)|Khuzestan]] around this time, which he would do till 636.{{sfn|Daryaee|2010|pp=48–49}} According to Rezakhani, Yazdegerd seemingly did not control [[Mesopotamia]], including the capital of [[Ctesiphon]]. He argues that the conspiring aristocrats and the population of Ctesiphon, "do not appear to have been too successful or eager in bringing Yazdgerd to the capital."{{sfn|Rezakhani|2019|p=242}}

The empire was also at the same time invaded on all fronts; by the [[Göktürks]] in the east, and by [[Khazars]] in the west, who raided [[Sasanian Armenia|Armenia]] and [[Adurbadagan]].{{sfn|Kia|2016|pp=284–285}} The Sasanian army had been heavily weakened due to the [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|war with the Byzantines]] and internal conflict.{{sfn|Daryaee|2014|p=37}} The circumstances were so chaotic, and the condition of the nation so alarming, that "the Persians openly spoke of the imminent downfall of their empire, and saw its portents in natural calamities."{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}

===Early clash with the Muslim Arabs===
[[Image:YazdegerdIIICoinHistoryofIran.jpg|thumb|[[Ancient drachma|Drachma]] of a young Yazdegerd III.]]
In May 633, the Muslims defeated a Sasanian force under [[Azadbeh]] near the important strategic Sasanian city of [[Al-Hira|Hira]], which was shortly afterwards occupied. After the fall of Hira, Yazdegerd began to pay greater attention to the Muslims; [[Rostam Farrokhzad]] sent an army under the Persian military officer [[Bahman Jadhuyih]] and the [[Armenians|Armenian]] military officer [[Jalinus]] against the Muslims. Rostam is known to have told Bahman secretly that: "if Jalinus returns to the like of his defeat, then cut off his head."{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=217}} The Sasanian army managed to defeat the Muslims at the [[Battle of the Bridge]].

In 636, Yazdegerd III ordered [[Rostam Farrokhzad]] to subdue the invading Arabs and then told him: "Today you are the [most prominent] man among the Iranians. You see that the people of Iran have not faced a situation like this since the family of [[Ardashir I]] assumed power."{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=217}} Envoys then came to Yazdegerd III asking him to consider the dismissal of Rostam in order to replace him with someone around whom the people would rally.{{sfn|al-Tabari|1992|p=44}}

Yazdegerd III asked Rostam for an assessment of the Arab forces since they had camped at Qadisiyyah.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=224}} [[Rostam Farrokhzad]] stated that the Arabs were "a pack of wolves, falling upon unsuspecting shepherds and annihilating them."{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=224}} Yazdegerd III responds to Rostam by saying

{{cquote|It is not like that. The Arabs and the Persians are comparable to an eagle who looked upon a mountain where birds take shelter at night and stay in their nests at the foot of it. When morning came, the birds looked around and saw that he was watching them. Whenever a bird became separated from the rest, the eagle snatched him. The worst thing that could happen to them would be that all would escape save one.{{sfn|al-Tabari|1992|p=43}}}}

=== Last stand ===
[[File:Ctesiphon-ruin 1864.jpg|thumb|The Palace of [[Taq Kisra]] in the Sasanian capital [[Ctesiphon]]. The city was a rich commercial metropolis, and may have been [[List of largest cities throughout history|the most populous city of the world]] in 570–622.]]

However, the Sasanian army suffered a crushing defeat at the [[Battle of al-Qadisiyyah]], with [[Rostam Farrokhzad|Rostam]], [[Bahman Jaduya|Bahman]], Jalinus and two Armenian princes named Grigor II Novirak and [[Mushegh III Mamikonian]] being killed during the battle. The Arabs then marched towards the Sasanian capital of [[Ctesiphon]] without meeting any resistance. Yazdegerd took his treasury, and along with 1,000 of his servants fled to [[Hulwan]] in [[Media (region)|Media]], leaving Rostam Farrokhzad's brother [[Farrukhzad]] in charge of Ctesiphon. Farrukhzad, however, did not attempt any resistance and also went to Hulwan. The Arabs subsequently reached Ctesiphon, [[Siege of Ctesiphon (637)|besieged]] the western parts of the city, and soon occupied all of it.{{sfn|Zarrinkub|1975|p=12}}<ref name="Bearman 2013">{{cite journal|last=Bearman|first=P. |author2=Th. Bianquis |author3=C.E. Bosworth |author4=E. van. Donzel |author5=W.P. Heinrichs |title=Yazdajird III |journal=Encyclopaedia of Islam |edition=Second |year=2013}}</ref> The Iranian defeat at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah has often been described as a turning point in the Arab invasion of Iran. However, in reality, it was far from it. The battle served as a wake-up call for the Iranian armies, who became conscious that persistent factionalism could result in their inevitable destruction.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=234}} Al-Tabari emphasizes this, stating that after the fall of Ctesiphon "the people... were about to go their separate ways, they started to incite one another: 'If you disperse now, you will never get together again; this is a spot that sends us in different directions'."{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=234–235}}

In April 637, the Arabs defeated another Sasanian army at the [[Battle of Jalula]]. After this defeat, Yazdegerd fled deeper into [[Media (region)|Media]].{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=235}} He subsequently raised a new army and sent it to [[Nahavand]] to retake [[Ctesiphon]] and prevent any further Muslim advances.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}} The army that Yazdegerd sent seemed such a serious threat that it led [[Umar]] to combine the Arab forces of [[Kufa]] and [[Basra]] under [[Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin]] and send them against the Sasanians with reinforcements from [[Syria]] and [[Oman]]. The battle is said to have lasted several days. It resulted in major losses on both sides, including the death of [[al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin]] and the Iranian generals [[Mardanshah]] and [[Piruz Khosrow]]. The [[Battle of Nahavand]] in 642 was the second military disaster for the Sasanians after the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}}

===Flight===
[[File:Delegate with Simurgh design on his dress in the Afrasiab murals 648-651 CE.jpg|thumb|300px|It has been suggested that a foreign visitor at the court of king [[Varkhuman]] of [[Samarkand]] in 648-651 AD, clad in sumptuous dress with [[Simurgh]] symbols, may be Yazdegerd III. [[Afrasiab murals]], 648-651 AD.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 |language=en}}</ref>]]

After the Sasanian disaster, Yazdegerd fled to [[Isfahan]], and raised a small army under a certain military officer named Siyah, who had lost his property to the Arabs. However, Siyah and the rest of the army mutinied against Yazdegerd, and agreed to help the Arabs in return for places to live.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=239}} Meanwhile, Yazdegerd had arrived in [[Estakhr]], where he tried organizing a base for resistance in the province of [[Pars Province|Pars]]. However, in 650, [[Abdullah ibn Aamir]], the governor of [[Basra]], invaded Pars and put an end to the Persian resistance. Estakhr was made into ruins after the battle and a force of 40,000 defenders including many Persian nobles were killed. After the Arab conquest of Pars, Yazdegerd fled to [[Kirman (Sasanian province)|Kirman]] while being pursued by an Arab force.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}} Yazdegerd managed to flee from the Arab force in a snowstorm at Bimand.

After arriving at Kirman, Yazdegerd became unfriendly with the ''[[marzban]]'' (general of a frontier province, "[[margrave]]") of Kirman, and then left Kirman for [[Sakastan (Sasanian Province)|Sakastan]]. Another Basran army later arrived which defeated and killed the ''marzban'' of Kirman in a bloody fight. When Yazdegerd arrived at [[Sakastan (Sasanian province)|Sakastan]] he lost the support of the governor of Sakastan by demanding tax from him.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}} Yazdegerd then headed for [[Merv]] to join the leader of the [[Turkic people|Turks]]. However, when he arrived in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] the inhabitants did not agree with Yazdegerd's decision to continue waging war and told him that it was better if he made peace with the Arabs; Yazdegerd, however, refused. Sakastan was later taken by the Arab forces after a bloody fight around 650–652.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}} Yazdegerd was also supported by the [[Principality of Chaghaniyan]], which sent him troops to aid him against the Arabs. When Yazdegerd arrived in [[Merv|Marw]] (in what is today's [[Turkmenistan]]) he demanded tax from the ''marzban'' of Marw, losing also his support and making him ally with [[Nezak Tarkan]], the [[Hephthalite]] ruler of [[Badghis Province|Badghis]], who helped him defeat Yazdegerd and his followers.

====Chinese assistance====
[[File:Ambassador from Persia (波斯國), visiting the court of the Tang Dynasty. The Gathering of Kings (王会图) circa 650 CE.jpg|thumb|upright|Ambassador from Persia (波斯國), visiting the court of the [[Tang dynasty]]. ''[[The Gathering of Kings]]'' (王会图), c. 650 AD]]

After Yazdegerd III started to suffer from the onslaught of the Muslim Arabs, he had sent an envoy to ask for Chinese help against the
invaders in 638, after his first defeat against the Arabs; but nothing seems to have come of it,<ref>{{cite book |last=Crone |first=Patricia |title=The Nativist Prophets of Early Islamic Iran |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, New York |page=5}}</ref> he soon also sent an envoy to the [[Tang dynasty|Chinese court in 639]] "for offering tribute”.<ref name="XZ"/> As he continued to suffer defeats from the Arabs, he again sent envoys to China, in 647 and 648, in order to “seek assistance from the Chinese court with the hope to form a new army".<ref name="XZ"/> Some form of help would only arrive in 661, after [[Peroz III]], the son of Yazdegerd, again sent envoys in 654 and 661. The Chinese established a "Persian military commandery" (波斯都督府) in the city of [[Zabol|Zābol]] (疾陵城 ''Jilingcheng'') in [[Tokharistan]], and Peroz was appointed as Military Commander (都督 ''Dudu'').<ref name="XZ"/> Only in 679 would a Chinese army accompany [[Narsieh]], the exiled son of Peroz, in order to restore him to the Sasanian throne, but the army stopped in Tokharistan and instead repelled the invasion of [[Western Turkic Khaganate|Western Turkic]] Khan [[Ashina Duzhi]], leaving Narsieh to fight against the Muslim Arabs for the next twenty years.<ref name="XZ">{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Xiuqin (University of Pennsylvania) |title=Zhaoling: The Mausoleum of Emperor Tang Taizong |date=2009 |journal=Sino-Platonic Papers |issue=187 |pages=155–156 |url=http://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp187_taizong_emperor.pdf}}</ref>

===Death, legacy and personality===
After his defeat, Yazdegerd sought refuge at a miller near Marw, who, however, murdered him in 651. According to Kia, the miller had reportedly killed Yazdegerd in order to obtain his jewelry,{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=285}} whilst ''[[The Cambridge History of Iran]]'' states that the miller was sent by [[Mahoe Suri]].{{sfn|Zarrinkub|1975|p=25}}

{{Quote|Mahoe sends the miller to cut off his head on pain of losing his own, and having none of his race left alive. His chiefs hear this and cry out against him, and a ''[[Mobad|mowbed]]'' of the name of Radui tells him that to kill a king or prophet will bring evil upon him and his son, and is supported in what he says by a holy man of the name of Hormuzd Kharad Shehran, and Mehronush. The miller most unwillingly goes in and stabs him with a dagger in the middle. Mahoe's horsemen all go and see him and take off his clothing and ornaments, leaving him on the ground. All the nobles curse Mahoe and wish him the same fate.| source= [[Ferdowsi]] narrating the fate of the Yazdegerd in his ''[[Shahnameh]]''<ref>''The Shah-Namah of Fardusi'', trans. Alexander Rogers (LPP Publication), p. 547.</ref>}}

Regardless, the death of Yazdegerd marked the end of the Sasanian Empire, and made it less difficult for the Arabs to conquer the rest of Iran. All of Khorasan was soon conquered by the Arabs, who would use it as a base to [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana|attack Transoxiana]].{{sfn|Kia|2016|p=285}} The death of Yazdegerd thus marked the end of the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire after more than 400 years of rule. An empire–which had a generation earlier briefly conquered [[Sasanian conquest of Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Shahin's invasion of Asia Minor (615)|Asia Minor]], even [[Siege of Constantinople (626)|reaching as a far as Constantinople]], fell to a force of lightly equipped Arabs that were used to skirmishes and desert warfare. The heavy Sasanian cavalry was too sluggish and systematized to contain them; employing light-armed Arab or East Iranian mercenaries from Khorasan and Transoxiana would have been much more successful.{{sfn|Shahbazi |1986|pp=489–499}}

Yazdegerd was according to tradition buried by [[Christianity|Christian]] monks in a tall tomb that was situated in a garden decorated with silk and musk. His funeral and the construction of a mausoleum for his body near [[Marv, Turkmenistan|Merv]] was organized by the [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] bishop Elijah - in memory of the fact that the Shahanshah's grandmother Shirin was a Christian. [[Mahoe Suri|Mahoe]], for his part in the murder of the Sassanian king, had his arms, legs, ears and nose cut off by the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], who eventually left him die under the scorching summer sun. The corpse of Mahoe was then burned at the stake, along with the bodies of his three sons.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Abolqasem Ferdowsi |first1= |title=Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings |date=2016 |publisher=Penguin Classics |others=Translated by [[Dick Davis (translator)|Dick Davis]]; foreword by Azar Nafisi |pages=1010–1028 |chapter=Yazdegerd is killed by the miller}}</ref>

The monks cursed Mahoe and made a hymn to Yazdegerd, mourning the fall of a "combative" king and the "house of [[Ardashir I]]".{{sfn|Payne|2015|pp=199–200}} Whether this event was factual or not, it emphasizes that the Christians of the empire remained loyal to the Zoroastrian Sasanians, even possibly more than the Iranian nobles who had deserted Yazdegerd.{{sfn|Payne|2015|pp=199–200}} Indeed, there were close links between the late Sasanian rulers and Christians, whose conditions had greatly improved compared to that of the early Sasanian era. Yazdegerd's wife was according to folklore a Christian, whilst his son and heir, [[Peroz III]] was seemingly an adherent of Christianity, and even had a church built in [[Tang dynasty|Tang China]], where he had taken refuge.{{sfn|Compareti|2009}} Yazdegerd became remembered in history as a martyred prince; many rulers and officers would later claim being a descendant of him in Islamic Iran.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}

Yazdegerd was well educated and cultured, but his arrogance, pride and inability to compare his demands with the real situation led to him constantly falling out with his governors and his influence diminishing as he, pursued by Arabs, moved from one city to another. At each new place, he behaved as if he was still the all-powerful monarch of the kingdom, and not an outcast running away from enemies, which, combined with his military failures, turned many of his most loyal subjects away from him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dashkov |first1=Sergei Borisovich |title=Tsari tsareĭ — Sasanidy: Iran III-VII vv. v legendakh, istoricheskikh khronikakh i sovremennykh issledovaniiakh |date=2008 |publisher=SMI-Asia |isbn=9785916600018 |pages=201–206 |language=Russian |script-title=ru:Цари царей — Сасаниды. История Ирана III - VII вв. в легендах, исторических хрониках и современных исследованиях |trans-title=''Kings of Kings – Sassanids. 3rd–4th-century Iran in legends, historical chronicles and modern studies''}}</ref>

==Zoroastrian calendar==
The [[Zoroastrian calendar|Zoroastrian religious calendar]], which is still in use today, uses the [[regnal year]] of Yazdegerd III as its base year,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Lalis|url=http://www.zcserv.com|work=Zoroastrian Calendar|access-date=10 October 2013}}</ref> and its [[calendar era]] (year numbering system) is accompanied by a Y.Z. suffix.{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}}

Magians took Yazdegerd III's death as the end of the millennium of [[Zoroaster]] and the beginning of the millennium of [[Oshedar]].{{sfn|Morony|1986|pp=203–210}}

==See also==
* [[Death of Yazdgerd (film)|''Death of Yazdgerd'' (film)]]
* [[Death of Yazdgerd|''Death of Yazdgerd'' (play)]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
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* {{cite book |last1=Daryaee |first1=Touraj |title=Ancient and Middle Iranian studies: proceedings of the 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies, held in Vienna, 18–22 September 2007 |date=2010 |publisher=Harrassowitz |chapter=When the End is Near: Barbarized Armies and Barracks Kings of Late Antique Iran |pages=43–52 |volume=Iranica |isbn=9783447064224 |author-link=Touraj Daryaee |url=https://www.academia.edu/949577}}
* {{cite book | last = Daryaee| first = Touraj | author-link = Touraj Daryaee | title = Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | year = 2014 | publisher = I.B. Tauris | pages = 1–240 | isbn = 978-0857716668 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LU0BAwAAQBAJ }}
* {{cite book|last=Frye|first=R. N. |author-link=Richard N. Frye |chapter=The Political History of Iran under the Sasanians |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |title-link=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=3|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1983|isbn=978-0-521-20092-9 }}
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* {{cite book |last = Kennedy |first = Hugh N. |title = The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the 6th to the 11th Century |edition = Second |author-link = Hugh N. Kennedy |year=2004 |publisher=Pearson Education |location = Harlow, UK |isbn = 0-582-40525-4 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Wux0lWbxs1kC }}
* {{cite book|last1=Kia|first1=Mehrdad|title=The Persian Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia [2 volumes]|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1610693912}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online |last = Morony |first = M. |article = ʿArab ii. Arab conquest of Iran  |url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arab-ii |volume=2|fascicle=2|pages = 203–210 |year = 1986 }}
* {{cite book | last = Payne | first = Richard E. | title = A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity |publisher=University of California Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0520961531|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtjsCQAAQBAJ&q=false }}
* {{cite book |last = Pourshariati |first = Parvaneh |author-link=Parvaneh Pourshariati |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 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Rezakhani|first=Khodadad|author-link=Khodadad Rezakhani|title=The End of Sasanian Rule: The Center and Periphery of Ērānšahr in the Seventh Century |journal=Studi Sulla Persia Sasanide e Suoi Rapporti Con la Civilta Attigue |date=2019|pages=229–255|publisher=Princeton University |url=https://www.academia.edu/43782696|url-access=registration}}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online | article = Army i. Pre-Islamic Iran | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur | author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/army-i |volume=2|fascicle=5 | pages = 489–499 | year = 1986 }}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur |author-link=Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | article = Yazdegerd I | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazdegerd-i | year = 2003 }}
* {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online |last = Shahbazi |first = A. Shapur |author-link=Alireza Shapour Shahbazi |title = Sasanian dynasty |url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty |year = 2005 |access-date = 4 January 2014 }}
* {{cite book |last=al-Tabari |author-link=Al-Tabari |title=The Challenge to the Empires |year=1993 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=0-7914-0852-3 |page=222 |others=Translated by Khalid Yahya Blankinship}}
* {{cite book |last=al-Tabari |others=Translated by Yohanan Friedmann |author-link=Al-Tabari |title=The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine |year=1992 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |isbn=0-7914-0734-9}}
* {{cite book |last = Zarrinkub |first = Abd al-Husain |author-link=Abdolhossein Zarrinkoob|title = The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4: From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs |year = 1975 |publisher = Cambridge University Press   |chapter = The Arab Conquest of Iran and its Aftermath |pages = 1–57 |isbn = 978-0-521-20093-6 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC }}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Yazdegerd III}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian dynasty]]||624||651}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Boran]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran]]|years=632–651}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Sasanian Empire]] abolished}}
{{S-end}}
{{Sasanian Rulers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yazdgerd 03}}
[[Category:624 births]]
[[Category:651 deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century Sasanian monarchs]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:Murdered Persian monarchs]]
[[Category:People of the Muslim conquest of Persia]]
[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]