View source for Ardashir III

{{Short description|Shah of the Sasanian Empire from 628 to 630}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox monarch
| name        = Ardashir III<br>{{lang|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥}}
| title       = [[King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians]]
| image       = Coin of Ardashir III, Arrajan mint (2).jpg
| caption     = [[Ancient drachma|Drachma]] of Ardashir III, minted at [[Arrajan]] in 629.
| succession  = [[List of shahanshahs of the Sasanian Empire|Shahanshah]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]
| reign       = 6 September 628{{snd}}27 April 630
| birth_date  = 621
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = 27 April 630 (aged 9)
| death_place = [[Ctesiphon]]
| burial_date = 
| burial_place = [[Meshan]]
| predecessor = [[Kavad II]]
| successor   = [[Shahrbaraz]]
| spouse      = 
| issue       = 
| royal house = [[House of Sasan]]
| dynasty     = 
| father      = [[Kavad II]]
| mother      = Anzoy
| religion    = [[Zoroastrianism]]
}}
'''Ardashir III''' ({{langx|pal|𐭠𐭥𐭲𐭧𐭱𐭲𐭥|Ardašir}}; 621{{spnd}}27 April 630) was the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] [[King of Kings]] ({{lang|pal|[[shah]]anshah}}) of [[Iran]] from 6 September 628 to 27 April 630.

== Name ==
''Ardashir'' is the [[Middle Persian]] form of the [[Old Persian]] ''Ṛtaxšira'' (also spelled ''Artaxšaçā'', meaning "whose reign is through [[Asha|truth]]").{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654–655}}{{sfn|Wiesehöfer|1986|pp=371–376}} The [[Latin]] variant of the name is ''{{lang|la|Artaxerxes}}''.{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654–655}} Three kings of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] were known to have the same name.{{sfn|Schmitt|1986|pp=654–655}} He is also recorded in Greek as ''Adeser'' ({{langx|el|Αδεσήρ}}; [[Theophanes the Confessor]]){{sfn|Martindale|Jones|Morris|1992|p=106}} and ''Artaxes'' ({{langx|el|Αρτάξης}}; ''[[Chronographeion Syntomon]]'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/translate/syntomon.html|title=Chronographeion Syntomon (Short Chronicle), page 96}}.</ref>

== Background ==
Ardashir was the son of king [[Kavad II]] (r. 628) and Anzoy, who was a princess from the [[Byzantine Empire]],{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|p=381-382}}{{sfn|Martindale|Jones|Morris|1992|p=94}} which made Ardashir less popular among the Iranians, who had recently been in a [[Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628|long and devastating war against the Byzantines]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|p=381-382}} In 628, a devastating plague spread through western Iran, which claimed the lives of half of the population, including Kavad II himself.{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}

== Reign ==
After the death of Kavad II, the ''[[Wuzurgan]]'' elected Ardashir as his successor, who was only a 7-year-old boy. In reality, however, he exercised little power and his empire was controlled by his vizier [[Mah-Adhur Gushnasp]], whose duty was to protect the empire until Ardashir became old enough to rule. The Iranian historian [[al-Tabari]] says the following thing about Mah-Adhur Gushnasp's administration of the Empire; "Mah-Adhur Gushnasp carried on the administration of the kingdom in [such] an excellent fashion, [and with such] firm conduct, [that] no one would have been aware of Ardashir III's youthfulness."{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=179}}

During the same period, a brother of Mah-Adhur Gushnasp named [[Narsi]], was granted with [[Kashkar]] as a part of his domains,{{sfn|Morony|2005|p=157}} However, even under a strong vizier, things were still looking grim in Iran; Factionalism had greatly increased among the Iranians, and several powerful factions which had emerged during the reign of Ardashir's grandfather [[Khosrau II]], had gained firm control of important parts of Iran, while the Sasanian state was less-centralized than it had been under Ardashir's predecessors. Ardashir's ascension was supported by both the ''Pahlav'' (Parthian) and ''Parsig'' (Persian) faction, and a third major faction named the ''Nimruzi''.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|pp=178, 209}} However, sometime in 629, the ''Nimruzi'' withdrew their support for the shah, and started to conspire with the distinguished Iranian general [[Shahrbaraz]] to overthrow him.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=209}} The ''Pahlav'', under their leader [[Farrukh Hormizd]] of the [[Ispahbudhan]] clan, responded by supporting Ardashir's aunt [[Boran]] as the new ruler of Iran, who subsequently started minting coins in the ''Pahlav'' areas of [[Amol]], [[Nishapur]], [[Gurgan]] and [[Ray, Iran|Ray]].{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=209}}

One year later, Shahrbaraz with a force of 6,000 men marched towards [[Ctesiphon]] and [[Siege of Ctesiphon (629)|besieged the city]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|p=381-382}} Shahrbaraz, however, was unable to capture the city, and then made an alliance with [[Piruz Khosrow]], the leader of the ''Parsig'', and the previous minister of the Empire during the reign of Ardashir's father.{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=180}} With the support of both the ''Parsig'' and ''Nimruzi'', Shahrbaraz [[Siege of Ctesiphon (629)|captured Ctesiphon]] and executed Ardashir, Mah-Adhur Gushnasp himself, and many other prominent nobles.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|p=381-382}} Shahrbaraz then ascended the Iranian throne. According to late folklore, Ardashir was buried at an unknown place in [[Meshan]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|1986|p=381-382}}

== Coinage ==
Like his father, Ardashir III refrained from using the title of {{lang|pal|[[shah]]anshah}} ("[[King of Kings]]") on his coin engravings. This was probably done in order distance themselves from [[Khosrow II]], who had restored the title.{{sfn|Schindel|2013|p=837}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite book|last=Morony|first=Michael G.|author-link=Michael Morony|title=Iraq After The Muslim Conquest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhjSiRAwGuEC|year=2005|orig-year=1984|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|isbn=978-1-59333-315-7}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{citation | last1=Martindale | first1=John R. | last2=Jones | first2=A.H.M. | last3=Morris | first3=John | title=The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Volume III: AD 527–641 | year=1992 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-20160-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fBImqkpzQPsC}}
*{{cite book|last=Pourshariati|first=Parvaneh|title=Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran|location=London and New York|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2008|isbn=978-1-84511-645-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-xtAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Artaxerxes | last = Schmitt | first = R. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artaxerxes-throne-name-of-several-persian-kings-of-the-achaemenid-dynasty | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6 | pages = 654–655 | year = 1986 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Schindel |first1=Nikolaus |editor-last=Potts|editor-first=Daniel T.|title=The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199733309 |chapter=Sasanian Coinage}}
*{{cite encyclopedia | last = Shahbazi | first  = A. Shapur | title = Sasanian Dynasty | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/sasanian-dynasty | year = 2005 | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition | access-date = 30 March 2014}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = ARDAŠĪR III | last = Shahbazi | first = A. Shapur | author-link = Alireza Shapour Shahbazi | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-iii-sasanian-king-r | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4 | pages = 381–382 | year = 1986 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = Ardašīr I i. History | last = Wiesehöfer | first = Joseph | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ardasir-i | encyclopedia  = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 4 | pages = 371–376 | year = 1986 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Heidemann |first1=Stefan |last2=Riederer |first2=Josef |last3=Weber |first3=Dieter |title=A Hoard from the Time of Yazdgard III in Kirmān |journal=Iran |date=2014 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=79–124 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2014.11834739 |s2cid=192357010 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10460742}}

{{EB1911 poster|Ardashir}}
{{commons category|Ardashir III}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian dynasty]]||621||27 April 630}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Kavad II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of kings of Iran and Aniran]]|years=6 September 628–27 April 630}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Shahrbaraz]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sasanian Rulers}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardashir 03}}
[[Category:621 births]]
[[Category:630 deaths]]
[[Category:Monarchs who died as children]]
[[Category:Medieval child monarchs]]
[[Category:7th-century Sasanian monarchs]]
[[Category:Murdered Persian monarchs]]
[[Category:People of Byzantine descent]]
[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]
[[Category:7th-century murdered monarchs]]