{ "id": "epzhn94k83", "slug": "khosrow-v", "title": "Khosrow V", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian", "label": "Sasanian period (224 to 651)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian", "label": "Sasanian period (224 to 651)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "label": "Sasanian wars and political events", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Khosrow V (خسرو پنجم) was a short-reigning Sasanian claimant of the early 630s, generally identified as Farrukhzad Khosrow, a son of Khosrow II, enthroned at Ctesiphon.", "snippet": "Khosrow V (خسرو پنجم) was a short-reigning Sasanian claimant of the early 630s, generally identified as Farrukhzad Khosrow, a son of Khosrow II, enthroned at Ctesiphon.", "node": "society.history.other.middle-east.sasanian.sasanian-wars-and-political-events", "markdown": "# Khosrow V\n\n**Khosrow V** (خسرو پنجم) is the ordinal given in some reference works to a short-reigning Sasanian claimant of the early 630s CE, generally identified as Farrukhzad Khosrow, a son of [Khosrow II](https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-ii) (r. 590–628), who was brought from a fortress near Nisibis to the capital [Ctesiphon](https://www.edgepedia.org/ctesiphon) and enthroned during the succession crisis that followed his father's death in 628.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) The identification, the length of the reign, and even the correct ordinal are disputed: according to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the same claimant was Khosrow IV, one king-list separates a Farrokhzad of 631 from a Khusru V of 632, and the numismatic record has been read both as evidence for a decade-long rival to [Yazdegerd III](https://www.edgepedia.org/yazdegerd-iii) and as evidence that no coins of this ruler exist.[2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) • [3](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf) \n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Identity | Claimant of the early 630s CE, called Farrukhzad Khosrow V in some works and Khosrow IV in the Encyclopaedia Iranica; said to be a son of Khosrow II[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) |\n| Accession | Brought from hiding near Nisibis to Ctesiphon by the noble Zadhuyih (Zaduya), who held the office of \"chief of the servants,\" and crowned there[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) |\n| Length of reign | Disputed: about one month in spring 631, a few years between 630 and 632 (Christensen), or eight weeks from mid April to mid June 632[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) • [3](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf) |\n| Coinage | Disputed[2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) • [3](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf) |\n| Rival | Contended with Yazdegerd III (r. 632), whose base of power was Kerman, Khuzestan, and Fars[2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) |\n| Policies | No legislative, administrative, or religious reforms are recorded[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) |\n\n## Accession and family\n\nThe claimant is said to be a son of Khosrow II, the last powerful Sasanian monarch.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) Before his elevation, this Khosrow had been near Nisibis, from where he was brought to the capital.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) A leading noble, identified in one account as Zadhuyih and in al-Tabari as Zaduya, a noble Persian who held the office of \"chief of the servants,\" brought him from Nisibis to Ctesiphon, where the nobles accepted him and performed a coronation.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) • [2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/)\n\nHe came to the throne in the middle of a rapid succession of rulers. Written sources describe this as a turbulent period beginning with the death of Khosrow II (590–628) in which several kings and queens reigned in a short while, a turbulence reflected in the coinage of the era.[4](https://www.noormags.ir/view/en/articlepage/2805056/historical-backgrounds-of-islamic-conquests-in-iran-the-collapse-of-the-sasanian-state-s-political-order-based-on-written-sources-and-numismatic-data)\n\n## Reign\n\nThe sources disagree on how long this Khosrow reigned and on his very identity as a distinct king. Arthur Christensen dated the rule of the claimant he called Farrokhzad Khosrow to a few years between 630 and 632.[2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) A chronological king-list instead gives Khusru V as a three-year-old child, the only surviving son of Khusru II, who ruled eight weeks from mid April to mid June 632, and lists a separate Farrokhzad, a grandson of Khusru II, as ruling four weeks in 631.[3](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf)\n\nThe Encyclopaedia Iranica attributes to this Khosrow coinage from nine mints, including Meshan, Garm-Kerman, Narmsher, Shiraz, Bishapur, Ardaxshir-Xwarrah, Darabgerd, the Ctesiphon or mobile-court mint, and Weh-Kawad, with dates ranging from year 2 (632 CE) to year 10 (642 CE), coinciding with the first ten years of Yazdegerd III's rule; on this reading he was a contender to the throne for almost a decade, and his coins continued to circulate into the post-Sasanian period with the Arabic word jayyid added to the margins.[2](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/) According to *The Chronological List of Rulers of the Sassanian Dynasty (CE 224-641)*, no coins are known to have been minted by Khusru V or by several of the other short-reign rulers of 630 to 632.[3](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf) \n\nHis tenure was too brief for steady initiatives that reshape institutions or patronize major building projects.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) \n\n## Political influence\n\nThe episode shows the power of aristocratic factions to install and discard emperors in the final years of Sasanian rule: a prince was fetched from Nisibis and crowned by the nobles of the capital, then removed.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) He left no durable institutional legacy.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) His reign belongs to the interval of contested claimants between the death of Khosrow II and the consolidation of Yazdegerd III, a period treated in the scholarly literature as the eve of the Sasanian collapse.[5](https://elmnet.ir/doc/1216272-29167) According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, two more years of political turbulence followed before a grandson of Khosrow II, Yazdgerd III, established a firm grip on power.[6](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khosrow-ii/) The Islamic conquests of Iran began at the start of Yazdgerd III's reign (632–651), and most of the empire was occupied in less than a decade.[4](https://www.noormags.ir/view/en/articlepage/2805056/historical-backgrounds-of-islamic-conquests-in-iran-the-collapse-of-the-sasanian-state-s-political-order-based-on-written-sources-and-numismatic-data)\n\n## End of the reign and succession\n\nAccounts of the end differ. Some portray deposition and killing by a popular or noble uprising after only a month; other traditions attribute the death to assassination or poisoning, and [Ferdowsi](https://www.edgepedia.org/ferdowsi) presents a narrative in which a punished slave took revenge.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) \n\n## Historians' assessment\n\nThe cautious assessment is that this Khosrow did not leave a durable institutional legacy, but that his episode is a useful indicator of the political fragility of the late Sasanian state.[1](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/) The numbering of the late Sasanian Khosrows is itself unsettled. \n\n## References\n\n1. [Farrukhzad Khosrow V: The Brief Sasanian Emperor and His Role in the Empire's Final Years](https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sassanid/rulers/farrukhzad-khosrow-v/)\n2. [Ḵosrow IV, Encyclopaedia Iranica](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kosrow-iv/)\n3. [The Chronological List of Rulers of the Sassanian Dynasty (CE 224-641)](https://avesta.org/kerr/sas_part2.pdf)\n4. [Historical Backgrounds of Islamic Conquests in Iran: The Collapse of the Sasanian State's Political Order](https://www.noormags.ir/view/en/articlepage/2805056/historical-backgrounds-of-islamic-conquests-in-iran-the-collapse-of-the-sasanian-state-s-political-order-based-on-written-sources-and-numismatic-data)\n5. [Shahrâm Jaliliân, \"Two kings on the eve of the destruction of the Sasanians,\" Tarikh-e Iran, no. 69](https://elmnet.ir/doc/1216272-29167)\n6. [Ḵosrow II, Encyclopaedia Iranica](https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/khosrow-ii/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Sasanian period (224 to 651) › Sasanian wars and political events*\n\n*Initially written Sep 24, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Khosrow V\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Khosrow V](https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v](https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Khosrow V\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/khosrow-v. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Khosrow V was a short-reigning Sasanian claimant of the early 630s, generally identified as Farrukhzad Khosrow, a son of Khosrow II, enthroned at Ctesiphon." }