Bahrām V

Bahrām V (flourished 5th century AD;) was a Sāsānian king (reigned 420–438). He was celebrated in literature, art, and folklore for his chivalry, romantic adventures, and huntsmanship.

(Read Sir Walter Scott’s 1824 Britannica essay on chivalry.)

He was educated at the court of al-Mundhir, the Lakhmid Arab king of al-Ḥira, in Mesene, whose support helped him gain the throne after the assassination of his father, Yazdegerd I. He was apparently also supported by Mihr-Naresh, chief minister of Yazdegerd’s last years, to whom Bahrām later delegated much of the governmental administration.

Bahrām carried on an inconclusive war with the Romans (421–422), and in 427 he crushed an invasion in the east by the nomadic Hephthalites, extending his influence into Central Asia, where his portrait survived for centuries on the coinage of Bukhara (in modern Uzbekistan).