Khosrov IV

Biography

Origins

Khosrov IV was a member of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. His parentage is not mentioned in the old Armenian sources. The 5th–6th-century Armenian historian Ghazar Parpetsi calls him the brother of Vramshapuh, who succeeded Khosrov as king in 389. Ferdinand Justi, Cyril Toumanoff and Christian Settipani assume that Khosrov was the son of the earlier Armenian king Varazdat.

Reign

Khosrov's enthronement is placed before the official partition of Armenia in 387 in the Buzandaran Patmutʻiwnkʻ, but Movses Khorenatsi's history places it after this event. Presumably, it occurred after the death of Vologases (Vagharshak), who was co-ruler of Armenia along with his brother Arshak III under the regency of Manuel Mamikonian. According to Nina Garsoïan, the de facto partition of Armenia had probably occurred already in 384/5, around which time Manuel died, Arshak was forced to flee west to Ekeghiats by the pro-Persian faction of Armenian nakharars (high-ranking nobles), and Khosrov was appointed king of the eastern part of Armenia with a Persian tutor. In 387, the partition was formalized with the Peace of Acilisene (Ekeghiats), with the new border running north to south from a point east of Karin (modern Erzurum) to Mesopotamia west of Nisibis. Khosrov IV kept the Arsacid capitals of Artashat and Dvin in his kingdom, while Arshak ruled in Roman-controlled Ekeghiats until his death . The partition of Armenia was followed by the final stage of Arsacid rule in Armenia.

The Sasanian king Shapur III gave his sister Zruandukht as wife to Khosrov IV, as well as a large army to protect Armenia and a tutor from the House of Zik. Khosrov reigned for about five years, until 389, when he was denounced by the Armenian nobility for conspiring with Rome and deposed and deported to Iran. He was replaced by his brother Vramshapuh as King of Armenia. Movses Khorenatsi adds that Khosrov's fall from power was because of his appointment of Sahak I as catholicos without Sasanian approval. Per Khorenatsi, he was imprisoned in the Castle of Oblivion in Khuzistan. After the death of Vramshapuh, Khosrov was released from exile and restored to the throne in 414 or 417. According to Khorenatsi, this occurred after Catholicos Sahak visited the court of the Sasanian king Yazdegerd I to request Khosrov's release. However, Khosrov died not long thereafter (eight months according to Ghazar Parpetsi, one year per Khorenatsi) in 415 or 418. His death was followed by a short period of direct Sasanian rule under Yazdegerd's son Shapuh, but in 422, Vramshapuh's son Artaxias IV was appointed king of Armenia.

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Bibliography

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References

1. {{harvnb. Justi. 1895. Garsoïan. 1989
2. {{Harvnb. Garsoïan. 2004a
3. {{harvnb. Garsoïan. 2004a
4. {{harvnb. Moses Khorenatsʻi. 1978
5. {{harvnb. Moses Khorenatsʻi. 1978
6. {{harvnb. Garsoïan. 2004a