Bahram V
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Silver coin of Bahram V with fire temple on its verso (British Museum , London) |
Bahram V,
King of Persia (
421–
438), also called "Bahram Gur", son of
Yazdegerd I of Persia (399–421), after whose sudden death (or assassination) he gained the crown against the opposition of the grandees by the help of
Mundhir, the Arabic dynast of
al-Hirah. Bahram V's mother was Soshandukht, the daughter of the Jewish Exilarch.
He promised to rule otherwise than his father, who had been very energetic and at the same time tolerant in religion. So Bahram V began a systematic persecution of the
Christians, which led to a war with the
Roman Empire. But he had little success, and soon concluded a treaty by which both empires promised toleration to the worshippers of the two rival religions, Christianity and
Zoroastrianism.
In 427 Bahram V crushed an invasion in the east by the nomadic
Hephthalites, extending his influence into Central Asia, where his portrait survived for centuries on the coinage of
Bukhara (in modern
Uzbekistan).
Bahram V deposed the last vassal
Arsacid King of the Persian part of
Armenia and made it a province. He is a great favourite in Persian tradition, which relates many stories of his valour and beauty, of his victories over the Romans,
Turks,
Indians and
Africans, and of his adventures in hunting and in love; he is called Bahram Gur, "Onager," on account of his love for hunting, and in particular, hunting onagers.
Some have judged Bahram V to have been rather a weak monarch, after the heart of the grandees and the priests. He is said to have built many great
fire temples, with large gardens and villages (
Tabari).
