| Peroz I 𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭥𐭰 | |
|---|---|
| King of Kings of Iran and non-Iran[a] | |
 Plate of Peroz I | |
| King of the Sasanian Empire | |
| Reign | 459–484 |
| Predecessor | Hormizd III |
| Successor | Balash |
| Died | 484 Near Balkh (?) |
| Issue | Kavad I Jamasp Sambice Perozdukht |
| House | House of Sasan |
| Father | Yazdegerd II |
| Mother | Denag |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Peroz I (Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭩𐭫𐭥𐭰, romanized: Pērōz) was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran from 459 to 484. A son of Yazdegerd II (r. 438–457), he disputed the rule of his elder brother and incumbent king Hormizd III (r. 457–459), eventually seizing the throne after a two-year struggle. His reign was marked by war and famine. Early in his reign, he successfully quelled a rebellion in Caucasian Albania in the west, and put an end to the Kidarites in the east, briefly expanding Sasanian rule into Tokharistan, where he issued gold coins with his likeness at Balkh. Simultaneously, Iran was suffering from a seven-year famine. He soon clashed with the former subjects of the Kidarites, the Hephthalites, who possibly had previously helped him to gain his throne. He was defeated and captured twice by the Hephthalites and lost his recently acquired possessions.
In 482, revolts broke out in the western provinces of Armenia and Iberia, led by Vahan Mamikonian and Vakhtang I respectively. Before Peroz could quell the unrest there, he was defeated and killed in his third war with the Hephthalites in 484, who seized the main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan−Nishapur, Herat and Marw. Taking advantage of the weakened Sasanian authority in the east, the Nezak Huns subsequently seized the region of Zabulistan. Peroz was the last shahanshah to mint unique gold coins in the Indian region of Sindh, which indicates that the region was lost around the same period. Albeit a devout Zoroastrian, Peroz supported the newly established Christian sect of Nestorianism, and just before his death, it was declared the official doctrine of the Iranian church.
Peroz's wars against the Hephthalites have been described as "foolhardy" in both contemporary and modern historiography. His defeat and death introduced a period of political, social and religious tumult. The empire reached its lowest ebb; the shahanshah was now a client of the Hephthalites and was compelled to pay tribute, while the nobility and clergy exerted great influence and authority over the nation, being able to act as king-makers. The magnates—most notably Sukhra and Shapur Mihran—elected Peroz's brother, Balash, as the new shahanshah. Order would first be restored under Peroz's son Kavad I (r. 488–496, 498/9–531), who reformed the empire and defeated the Hephthalites, reconquering Khorasan. By 560, Peroz had been avenged by his grandson Khosrow I (r. 531–579), who in collaboration with the First Turkic Khaganate, destroyed the Hephthalites.
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