Kavadh I

Kavadh I
"King of kings of Iran and Aniran"
Image of Kavadh I on one of his coins.
Reign	488–496 (first reign) 498–531 (second reign)
Predecessor	Balash, Djamasp
Successor	Khosrau I
Born	473
Died	September 13, 531
Issue	Kawus Khosrau I Zamasp Xerxes
House	House of Sasan
Father	Peroz I
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Kavadh I (Middle Persian: kwʾt' Kawād, Persian: قباد‎‎ Qobād) (c. 473 – September 13, 531) was the Sasanian king of Persia from 488 to 531. A son of Peroz I (457–484), he was crowned by the nobles in place of his deposed and blinded uncle Balash (484–488).

His reign saw the uprising of Vakhtang I of Iberia, as well as the Anastasian War and the Iberian War against the Sasanians' archrival, the neighboring Byzantines. During Kavadh's reign, the name of the Iranian city of Derbent (دربند Darband) meaning "gateway" in modern-day Dagestan (North Caucasus), seems to have come into use.

Kavadh was born in 473. After the Sasanian disaster at the battle of Herat, only few members of the royal line remained; according to Procopius, of the ca. 30 sons of Peroz I. He was, however, in captivity under the Hephthalites, and was later rescued by the Karenid Sukhra, who managed to defeat their leader Khushnavaz. After this victory, Kavadh and Sukhra returned to Ctesiphon, where Balash was crowned as king of the Empire. However, in reality it was Sukhra who had control over the Sasanian Empire. Gushnaspdad, the kanarang of Abarshahr, urged the Sasanian nobles to have Kavadh executed.