BAHRĀM (بهرام), the name of six Sasanian kings and of several notables of the Sasanian and later periods. The name derives from Old Iranian Vṛθragna, Avestan Vərəθraγna, the god of victory (see above), Middle Persian Warahrān, Wahrām (most often spelled wlhlʾn), Parthian *Warθagn, borrowed into Armenian as Vahagn, and Wa(r)hrām (spelled wryhrm), borrowed into Armenian as Vrām. See also Justi, Namenbuch, pp. 361-65; H. Humbach and P. O. Skjærvø, The Sassanian Inscription of Paikuli III/1, Wiesbaden, 1983, pp. 130-31; Iranisches Personennamenbuch II/2, p. 171.
ii. Bahrām II, son of Bahrām I.
iii. Bahrām III, son of Bahrām II.
iv. Bahrām IV, son of Bahrām III(?).
v. Bahrām V Gōr, son of Yazdegerd I.
vi. Bahrām V Gōr in Persian legend and literature.
Figure 1. The order of succession of the early Sasanian kings.
Figure 2. Descent of the Samanids from Bahrām Čōbīn. (For the Samanids, see Bīrūnī, Chronology; for Šāpūr, see Syrische Kronik, p. 9; see also Justi, Namenbuch, s.vv.)
(Multiple Authors)
Originally Published: December 15, 1988
Last Updated: August 24, 2011
This article is available in print.
Vol. III, Fasc. 5, pp. 514-522
