'Bahram Chobin' (Chubin, Chobina) (in
Persian بهرام چوبین) was a famous
Eran spahbod (military commander) during
Khosrau II's rule in
Sassanid Iran. Descended from the
Mihran family, his first great victory came in
Herat in
589, which is reported in a number of sources. He successfully defeated a large
Göktürk army in
great Turkish War. Reportedly, the Turkish forces outnumbered his troops five to one. Relying on the discipline and superior training of his
Persian Cataphract cavalry, Bahram trapped and defeated the Turks, killing the Göktürk Yabqu. After suffering a minor defeat in battle against the
Eastern Roman empire and Khosrau II's humiliation which followed the defeat, he along with the main Persian army (spah) rebelled against Khosrau II and marched toward
Ctesiphon. Khosrau II, unable to fight such an army, fled to Roman territory and Bahram sat on the throne as King Bahram VI for about a year (
590 -
591).
Bindoy, the uncle of Khosrau, who had accompanied him into exile, was sent with a 70,000 men Byzantine army granted by
Byzantine Emperor Maurice, to Armenia to outflank Bahram, who was defeated in the lowlands and lost Ctesiphon. He retreated to Azerbaijan but was finally defeated and fled to the Turks in Central Asia where he received asylum, until he was assassinated after a year. Thus ended the reign of Bahram who, more than his sovereign, captured the emotions of Persian bards and story tellers.
There is much fable attributed to Bahram VI, as is the norm in for many heroes in
Persian literature. See especially the chapters in Volume VIII of Ferdowsi's eleventh century (c.e.) Shah Nama (online at
) on the reigns of "Hurmuzd, Son of Nushirwan," and "Khusrau Parwiz," both of which are almost as much aboaut Bahram Chobina as about Hurmuzd or his son. (The sections on Bahram Chobina's sister are of special interest.)
After collapse of
Sassanid empire and
Islamic conquest of Iran, the
Samanid dynasty, one of the first independent Iranian dynasties, considered themselves from Bahram Chobin's lineage.
External links
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Cited by Richard Frye