Yazdgerd III (Persian: یزدگرد سوم, "made by God"), last king of Sassanid dynasty, a grandson of Khosrau II (590–628), who had been murdered by his son Kavadh II of Persia in 628, and was raised to the throne in 632 after a series of internal conflicts.

Yazdgerd III reigned as a youth and never truly exercised authority. In his first year the Arab invasion of Persia began, and in 636 the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah decided the fate of the Persian empire.

Arabs occupied Ctesiphon, and the young King fled into Media. Yazdgerd III then fled eastward from one district to another, until at last he was murdered at Merv in 651. The Parsees, who use the old Persian calendar, continue to count the years from his accession (era of Yazdgerd, beginning June 16, 632).

Yazdgerd III's daughter Shahr Banu reportedly married Husayn ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson, and gave birth to the fourth Shia Imam, Ali Zayn al Abidin. Yazdgerd's son Pirooz fled to China.

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References

Sassanid dynasty | 651 deaths

Yazdegerd III. | یزدگرد سوم | Yazdgard III | Yazdegird III av Persia | Jezdegerd III