Vistahm
Vistahm or Bistam (also transliterated Wistaxm, wsthm), was a Parthian dynast of the Ispahbudhan house, and maternal uncle of the Sasanian king of kings of Iran, Khosrow II (). Vistahm helped Khosrow regain his throne after the rebellion of another Parthian noble Bahram Chobin, of House of Mihran, but later led a revolt himself, and ruled independently over a region which encompassed the entire Iranian East until he was defeated by Khosrow and his allies.
Key facts
- Royalty.name
- Vistahm
- Royalty.title
- King of Kings of Iranians and non-Iranians
- Royalty.image
- Coin of Vistahm, minted at Ray in 595 or 596.jpg
- Royalty.image_size
- 230px
- Royalty.caption
- Coin of Vistahm, minted at Ray in 595/6.
- Royalty.succession
- Rival Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire
- Royalty.reign
- 590/1–596 or 594/5–600
- Royalty.predecessor
- Khosrow II
- Royalty.successor
- Khosrow II
- Royalty.spouse
- Gordiya
- Royalty.royal house
- Ispahbudhan
- Royalty.father
- Shapur
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Early life
- Later life and rebellion
- Legacy
- Family tree
- References
- Sources
Vistahm or Bistam (also transliterated Wistaxm, wsthm), was a Parthian dynast of the Ispahbudhan house, and maternal uncle of the Sasanian king of kings of Iran, Khosrow II (). Vistahm helped Khosrow regain his throne after the rebellion of another Parthian noble Bahram Chobin, of House of Mihran, but later led a revolt himself, and ruled independently over a region which encompassed the entire Iranian East until he was defeated by Khosrow and his allies.
==Early life== Vistahm and his brother Vinduyih were sons of Shapur and grandsons of Bawi. They belonged to the Ispahbudhan, one of the seven Parthian clans that formed the elite aristocracy of the Sasanian Empire. The Ispahbudhan in particular enjoyed such a high status that they were acknowledged as "kin and partners of the Sasanians". The family also held the important position of spahbed of the West, i.e. the Sasanian Empire's southwestern regions (the Sawad). A sister of Vistahm had even married the Sasanian shah Hormizd IV (r. 579–590), and was the mother of Hormizd's heir, Khosrow II.