Yazdgerd III

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Yazdgerd III (Persian: یزدگرد سوم, "made by God"), last king of Sassanid dynasty, a grandson of Khosrau II (590–628), who had been murdered by his son Kavadh II of Persia in 628, ascended the throne on June 16, 632 after a series of internal conflicts.

Yazdgerd III reigned as a youth and never truly exercised authority. In his first year the Arab invasion of Persia began, and in 636 the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah decided the fate of the Persian empire.

Arabs occupied Ctesiphon, and the young King fled into Media. Yazdgerd III then fled eastward from one district to another, until at last he was murdered at Merv in 651.

The Zoroastrian religious calendar, which is still in use today, dates by the regnal year of Yezdegerd III. Its calendar era (year numbering system), which is accompanied by a Y.Z. suffix, thus indicates the number of years since the emperor's coronation in 632 CE.

According to Shia sources, Yazdgerd III's daughter Shahr Banu reportedly married Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson, and gave birth to the fourth Shia Imam, Ali Zayn al Abidin. Yazdgerd's son Pirooz fled to China.

[edit] See also

Pirooz his son, pretender to the throne

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Preceded by: Hormizd VI	Sassanid Ruler 632–651	Succeeded by: Last Sassanid ruler
Preceded by: Hormizd VI	Ruler of Persia 632–651	Succeeded by: Caliph Uthman