Featured dossier
Balash: the “good king” who made peace with the Armenians
Balash, son of Yazdegerd II and brother of Peroz, was made king by the nobles after Peroz died in the Hephthalite war. He made peace with the Armenian rebels and was kind to the Christians. But the priests, the army and the nobles turned against him, and after four years they deposed him.
- years of reign
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Map: the reign of Balash
Administration & economy484 CE1 of 4
Chosen by the nobles
After Peroz’s death the nobles, the most powerful of whom were Zarmehr Sōḵrā and Šāpūr Mehrān, made Balash king.
Certainty: DisputedŁazar and Procopius make Balash Peroz’s brother; Ṭabari and Yaʿqubi make him his son. Chaumont (Iranica) accepts brother.
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Three separate layers
Each section has three layers: “Historical evidence” is only what the sources say; “Philosophical interpretation” is our reading by the standard of property and liberty; “Modern cultural meaning”. Quotations come only from published translations, with references.
Historical evidencePhilosophical interpretationModern cultural meaning
Dossier · 1
Peace with the Armenians
Balash made peace with Vahan Mamikonian, Vardan’s nephew. Vahan helped him with the Armenian cavalry to defeat the rival claimant, his brother Zarer. Balash then made Vahan hazarapet and marzban of Armenia. His coin legend reads “the good prince Walāxš” (hwkd wldʾhš).
Chaumont calls Balash pacific and conciliatory. The main source, Łazar Pʿarpecʿi, was Vahan’s protégé; so Balash’s good image in the Armenian sources comes from the side that gained from his peace. The coin legend shows that Balash himself wanted to be seen as “good”.
A generation after Avarayr, the state found that peace was cheaper than war: the rebel leader became governor. A state that does not persecute people for their beliefs gains allies instead of enemies. This is our reading.
Sources: M. L. Chaumont, Encyclopaedia Iranica · N. Garsoïan, Encyclopaedia Iranica
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Roman baths and deposition
Balash favoured the Christians. He seems to have sent the catholicos Acacius as ambassador to the emperor Zeno. But the priests disapproved of his plan to build public baths in the Roman manner (Joshua the Stylite). The army was unhappy too. After four years the nobles deposed him.
Iranica says the foundation of the city of Balāšābād was wrongly attributed to him; its founder was the Arsacid Vologases I. Why the priests opposed the baths, the sources we checked do not say.
A king the nobles chose, the nobles also removed. Power lay with those who gave the crown, not with the man who wore it.
Synthesis
Balash was king for four years after Peroz’s disaster. He made peace with the Armenians and favoured the Christians, but lost the priests, the army and the nobles and was deposed. Whether he was Peroz’s brother or son is disputed.
Bibliography
- M. L. Chaumont, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Balāš, Sasanian king of kings (1988). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/balas/viii-balas-sasanian-king-of-kings/
- N. Garsoïan, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Mamikonean family (2000). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mamikonean/
- Procopius, tr. H. B. Dewing (Loeb), History of the Wars 1.2–1.18 (1914). https://archive.org/details/procopius00procgoog
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; licence and author were checked on each file page.
Peroz I, his brotherKavad I, his nephew and successorThe Sasanian dynasty