Jamasp

Jamasp (also spelled Zamasp or Djamasp; 𐭩𐭠𐭬𐭠𐭮𐭯; جاماسپ Jāmāsp) was Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 496 to 499. He was a son of Peroz I and younger brother of Kavad I. Jamasp was installed on the Sasanian throne upon the deposition of the latter by the nobility and clergy. Due to increased Sasanian interest in Kayanian history, Jamasp was named after Jamasp, the mythological minister of the Kayanian monarch Vishtaspa. The name is transliterated in Greek as Zamásphēs; Arabic Jāmāsb, Zāmāsb, and Zāmāsf; New Persian Jāmāsp and Zāmāsp. In 484, Peroz I (459-484) was defeated and killed by a Hephthalite army near Balkh. His army was completely destroyed, and his body was never found. Four of his sons and brothers had also died. The main Sasanian cities of the eastern region of Khorasan−Nishapur, Herat and Marw were now under Hephthalite rule. Sukhra, a member of the Parthian House of Karen, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran, quickly raised a new force and stopped the Hephthalites from achieving further success. Peroz' brother, Balash, was elected as shah by the Iranian magnates, most notably Sukhra and the Mihranid general Shapur Mihran. However, Balash proved unpopular among the nobility and clergy who had him deposed after just four years in 488. Sukhra, who had played a key role in Balash's deposition, appointed Kavad I as the new shah of Iran. In 496, due to the socioeconomic and religious changes implemented by Kavad I, the nobility and Zoroastrian clergy had him deposed. They installed his more impressionable brother Jamasp on the throne. One of the other reasons behind Kavad's deposal was his execution of Sukhra. Meanwhile, chaos was occurring in the country, notably in Mesopotamia. A council soon took place among the nobility to discuss what to do with Kavad. Gushnaspdad, a member of a prominent family of landowners (the Kanarangiyan) proposed that Kavad be executed. His suggestion was overruled, however, and Kavad was imprisoned instead in the Prison of Oblivion in Khuzestan.