War with Rome

At the urging of the Zoroastrian priests and the Surenid minister (wuzurg framadar) Mihr Narseh, Bahram V began his reign with a systematic persecution of the Christians.^[15][16] The persecuted Christians fled to Roman territory, and were welcomed by the bishop of Constantinople, Atticus, who informed the Emperor of the persecution. The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II was at the time deeply influenced by his religious sister Pulcheria, and had become more and more interested in Christianity.^[16] The Roman-Sasanian relationship already had some friction. The Sasanians had hired some Roman gold-diggers, but now refused to send them back; furthermore, they had also seized the properties of Roman merchants. So, when Sasanian ambassadors reached the Roman court to ask for the fugitives, Theodosius chose to break the peace and declare war, rather than giving them back.^[16]

In the year 421, the Romans sent their general Ardaburius with an extensive contingent into Armenia. The Iranian general Narses engaged Ardaburius in battle, but was defeated and forced to retreat. Narses planned to attack Mesopotamia, a Roman province that had been left unguarded, and moved there, but Ardaburius foresaw his enemy's plan and intercepted him there.^[17] Ardaburius shortly received reinforcements and put the fortress of Nisibis under siege, but withdrew in the face of an advancing army under Bahram, who in turn besieged Theodosiopolis (probably Theodosiopolis in Osroene).^[16]

The peace treaty that ended the war (422) was negotiated by the magister officiorum Helio. It returned everything to the situation before the war (status quo ante bellum). Both parts agreed to reject Arab defectors of the other part, as well as to guarantee liberty of religion in their territories.^[16] Furthermore, the Romans also agreed to pay the Iranians for the protection of the pass at the Sasanian city of Derbent in the Caucasus.^[18] Since the peace treaty of 387, Iran and Rome had agreed that both empires were obligated to cooperate in the defense of the Caucasus against nomadic attacks.^[19] While the Romans saw this payment as political subsidies, the Iranians saw it as tribute, which proved that Rome was the deputy of Iran.^[20]

War with the Kidarites

Since the reign of Shapur II, the Iranians had to deal with nomadic invaders in the east known in scholarship as "Iranian Huns" (i.e. the Hephthalites, Kidarites, Chionites and Alchon Huns).^[21] Starting with Yazdegerd I, a shift had begun in the political perspective of the Sasanian Empire, which (originally disposed towards the West) moved to the East.^[22] The shift may have been triggered by hostile tribes in eastern Iran.^[22] The war with the Iranian Huns may have reawakened the mythical rivalry between the mythological Iranian Kayanian rulers and their Turanian enemies, which is illustrated by Younger Avestan texts.^[22]

While Bahram was occupied with the war with the Romans, his eastern neighbours—Kidarites^{[lower-alpha 2]}—crossed the Oxus river and invaded the Sasanian realm, conquering the rich city of Marw and even reaching as far as westwards as Ray.^[25] Bahram was thus forced to pay tribute to the Kidarites, in order to stop their incursions into his empire. When he had made peace with the Romans in 422, he started preparing to deal with the Kidarites. Not only was Marw a rich city, but also an important trading spot on the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and continued through Iran to Europe.^[26] Bahram first went to the holy temple of Adur Gushnasp in Adurbadagan, where he prayed.^[27] He then proceeded to Armenia to recruit additional troops.^[28]

Leaving his minister Mihr Narseh as his regent,^[29] Bahram passed through the mountain chain on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, eventually reaching Merv. There his forces routed the Kidarites, killing their king in the process and capturing his wife.^[30][31] A general of Bahram pursued the Kidarites into Transoxiana and inflicted another defeat on them.^[30] The war was concluded in 427,^[25] with Bahram cementing his name as a great champion of Iran.^[32] The name of Bahram was long remembered amongst the people of the surrounding area; the Sogdian city of Bukhara would later mint coins with his image.^[30] Bahram erected a pillar at the Oxus, which marked that the river constituted his empire's eastern frontier.^{[lower-alpha 3][30][34][35]}

In Iranian mythology, the Oxus is often considered the eastern extent of Iran. The heroic archer Arash shot an arrow to the fringe of Khorasan, landing at the Oxus, which thus marked the limit of the Iranian border. Another figure, Esfandiyar, thudded his spear onto the ground at Balkh, warning the Hun king that progressing further would mean an invasion of Iran.^[36] Bahram thus believed that he had restored the ancient borders of his realm.^[37] He appointed his brother Narseh as the governor of the surrounding region.^[30] Bahram also founded (or refounded) the city of Marw-i Rot, near the city of Marw.^[34] In order to demonstrate his appreciation to the Zoroastrian supreme god Ahura Mazda, Bahram bestowed most of his booty to Adur Gushnasp.^[38]

Incorporation of Armenia

Bahram V appointed Artaxias IV as king of Armenia in 422 at the request of the nakharars, reportedly on the term that the Armenian prince called himself the Middle Persian name Ardashir.^[39] However, the newly appointed king lacked the character he needed to rule and attain respect amongst his countrymen. As a result he fell out with the nakharar, who wanted Bahram V to remove Artaxias IV and put it under the direct control of Iran.^[40] However, the annexation of Armenia was strongly opposed by the Armenian katholikos Sahak, who felt that the rule of a Christian was better than that of a non-Christian regardless of his character or ability. He hoped that the Roman emperor Theodosius II would help the Armenians after he had sorted out his own issues in his empire.^[41]

Regardless, the nakharar did not heed to his words, and contacted Bahram V, chastising both Artaxias V and Sahak for supporting the "Greeks", i.e the Romans.^[42] Sahak went to Ctesiphon to request for support; there the bureaucrats urged Sahak to withdraw his support for Artaxias IV, which he refused. Artaxias IV was ultimately deposed and imprisoned, while Armenia was transformed into a Sasanian frontier province, governed by a marzban ("margrave").^[42] Sahak was also removed from his office, and a Nestorian Syrian named Bar Kiso was appointed in his stead.^[39][43][44] The Sasanians were cautious in their efforts to respect the nakharars, and only asserted their presence at the Armenian capital of Dvin, which was also the seat of the marzban.^[44] Not all of the former territory of the Armenian kingdom was made into a province; the Armenian districts of Parskahayk and Paytakaran were incorporated into the province to its south, Adurbadagan.^[45]

Haft Peykar

Haft Peykar (Persian: هفت پیکر) also known as Bahramnameh (بهرام‌نامه, The Book of Bahram) is a famous romantic epic written in 1197 by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi. A pre-Islamic story of Persian origin, it was dedicated to the ruler of Maragha, 'Ala' Al-Din korp Arslan. It is a romanticized biography of Bahram, who is born to Yazdegerd I after twenty years of childlessness and supplication to Ahura Mazda for a child.^[63] His adventurous life is already mentioned in the Shahnameh ("Book of Kings") of Ferdowsi, which Nizami regularly implies. Nizami primarily overlooks the adventures of Bahram in the Shahnameh, or only mentions them briefly, while focusing on composing new information. He introduces the story by giving a description of the birth of Bahram and his upbringing in the court of the Lakhmid king al-Nu'man and his fabled palace Khawarnaq. Bahram, whose upbringing is entrusted to al-Nu'man, becomes a formidable huntsman.^[63]

While wandering through the fabled palace, he discovers a locked room which contains a depiction of seven princesses; hence the name Haft Paykar (seven beauties). Each of these princesses is from the seven different climes (the traditional Zoroastrian division of the Earth) and he falls in love with them. His father Yazdegerd I passes away and Bahram returns to Iran to claim his throne from pretenders. After some episodes he is recognized as shah and rescues the Iranians from a famine. Once the country is stable, the shah searches for the seven princesses and wins them as his brides. His architect is ordered to construct seven domes for each of his new brides. The architect tells him that each of the seven climes is ruled by one of the seven planets (the classical planetary system of the Zoroastrian world) and advises him to assure good fortune by adorning each dome with the color that is associated with each clime and planet. Bahram is skeptical but follows the advice of the architect. Each of the princesses reside in luxurious pavilions. On each visit, the shah visits the princesses on successive days of the week.^[63]

Each princess relates to the shah a story matching the mood of her respective color.^[63] These seven stories comprise roughly half of the whole poem.^[63] While the shah is busy with the seven brides, his evil minister takes over his kingdom. Bahram finds out that his realm is in turmoil, the royal treasury has been depleted and the neighboring kingdoms are posed to invade. He clears his mind first by going hunting. After returning from the hunt, he sees a suspended dog from a tree. The owner of the dog, who was a shepherd, tells the story of how his loyal guard dog had gained sexual favours by a she-wolf in exchange for betraying his flock.^[63] He starts investigating the corrupt minister and from the multitude of complaints, he selects seven who tell him the injustice they have suffered. The minister is subsequently put to death and Bahram restores order and orders the seven domes to be converted to Zoroastrian fire temples.^[63] Bahram then goes hunting, but in a obscure manner disappears. As a pun on words, while trying to hunt the wild ass (gūr) he instead finds his tomb (gūr).^[63]

Bahram and Azadeh

Azadeh (meaning free) was a Roman-slave girl in al-Hira, known for her singing and harpist skills (she played the chang). The young Bahram, during his time at the city, became her owner, and would take her with him whenever he went hunting.^[64][65] During one incident, Bahram bragged to Azadeh about his hunting skills and asked her to choose which gazelle he should shoot. Azadeh replied to him that true skill would be to transform a female gazelle into a male and a male into a female.

Bahram accomplished this by shooting two arrows into the head of a female gazelle, thus giving her "antlers". He then shoot at a male, cutting off his antlers. Azadeh, horrified by this, cried out: "This art of yours is from the daevas [evil deities]". Bahram, enraged, threw her to the ground, and trampled her with his camel.^[65] The medieval historian al-Tha'labi (d. 1035/6) reports that al-Mundhir had the incident painted in the Khawarnaq palace at al-Hira.^[64] Nizami Ganjavi included the story in his Haft Peykar and had it slightly altered; Bahram orders one of his men to kill Fitna (her new name), but she persuades the officer to spare her and lie to Bahram of her death.^[66]

The story is likewise mentioned in an altered version in the Hasht-Behest, where Azadeh's name has been changed to Dilaram (heart's ease). In this version Bahram abandons her after she makes him enraged. After days of walking, she finds a skilled musician, who teaches her his craft. One day, word of a skilled female musician reaches Bahram, which leds him to search for her. Bahram eventually finds Dilaram, and asks for her forgiveness. She accepts, and they return to the Khawarnaq palace.^[67][68]