Ḵosrow IV is mentioned in some textual sources and also on coins as a challenger to the last Sasanian king of kings, Yazdegerd III (r. 632-51). After the coup of 628 and the fratricide by Kawād II (r. 628), this Ḵosrow, who is said to be a son of Ḵosrow II (r. 590-628), had been hiding at a place called Ḥiṣn al-Ḥijārah “the Stone Fortress,” near Nisibis. He had been brought back to Ctesiphon by Zāduya, a noble Persian, who held the office of the “chief of the servants” (Ṭabari, I, 1066; tr. Bosworth, pp. 408-9). Arthur Christensen stated that Ḵosrow IV ruled for a few years, between 630 and 632 and gives his full name as “Farroḵzāḏ Ḵosrow” (p. 499). A. I. Kolesnikov saw him as a short-lived ruler as well (Kolesnikov, 1388/2010, 166). The Šāh-nāma of Ferdowsi covers a certain Farroḵ-zād who came to the throne from Jahrom, in central Fārs province, which may suggest that he was originally from there (Zand, 2022, 306). The Šāh-nāma (ed. Khaleghi, VIII, pp. 403-5) states that he ruled for only a month and that his rule was followed by Yazdegerd III, but according to the other Islamic sources Farroḵzāḏ Ḵosrow ruled a year (Zand, 2022, 307). He was one of the contenders raised by a faction of the court and possibly an army in the 7th century (Daryaee, 2011, 48-49).

We do possess coinage of a certain Ḵosrow which was early on identified as Ḵosrow V (Paruk, 1924, 394-96; Malek, 1993, 239; Göbl, 1973, 81), and all of his coinage listed by Mochiri shows him as a bearded man. There are ten mints associated with Ḵosrow IV: Mēšān (MY), Garm-Kermān (GLM), Narmšēr (NAL), Šērāz (ŠY), Bīšāpūr (BYŠ), Ardaxšīr-Xwarrah (ART), Dārābgerd (DA), Ctesiphon/ Mobile court mint (BBA), Weh-Kawād or Weh-Andiok-Šāpur (WH) (for the latter identification, Schindel, 2018, 499), and possibly Abaršahr (APL) (Mochiri, 2010, 196-99). The dates of the coins range from year 2 (632 CE) to year 10 (642 CE), which coincide with the first ten years of Yazdegerd III’s rule (Mochiri, 2010, 180). If we place these coins in the context of the Arab-Muslim conquest and the coinage of the last Sasanian ruler, Yazdegerd III (Tyler- Smith, 2000, 146-48), we can see a much more complicated picture of the 630s for the Sasanian political map. It is important to note that coinage of Ḵosrow IV was also used in the post-Sasanian period, with the addition of the word jayyid, the Arabic translation of the word ʾpd (prosperous; excellent), on the margins (Mochiri, 2010, 185). Thus, this Ḵosrow IV appears to have been a contender to the throne for almost a decade against Yazdegerd III, whose base of power was Kerman, Khuzestan, and Fārs.

Figure 1. Silver drachm of Ḵosrow IV, mint of DA; wt. 3.2 g; 28.5 × 30.5 mm (ZENO.RU, no. 179193; photo © planar73).

Figure 2. Drawing by Anahita Radpoor.