2021-06-16 Wed

Yazdegerd III was the last Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 632 to 651. His father was 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 Gokturks from the east and Khazars from the west. It was, however, the Arabs, united under the banner of Islam, who dealt the decisive blow. Yazdegerd was unable to contain the Arab invasion 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 Marw in 651, bringing an end to the last pre-Islamic Iranian empire after more than 400 years of rule.

during the first years of his rule coins were only minted in Pars, Sakastan, and Khuzestan, approximately corresponding to the regions of the southwest (Xwarwaran) and southeast (Nemroz), where the Parsig was based. The Pahlav, who were mainly based in the northern portion of the empire, refused to mint coins of him. Even in the south Yazdegerd's rule was not seemingly secure; a Sasanian claimant to the throne, Khosrow IV, minted coins at Susa in Khuzestan around this time, which he would do till 636.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org