Khosrow the Usurper

Khosrau (Middle Persian: 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩), better known as Khosrau the Usurper, was a Sasanian pretender in 420.

Khosrau was the son of Bahram IV, who was the thirteenth Sasanian king. He was proclaimed king by a group of nobles after the murder of his cousin Shapur IV. Bahram V, another cousin of Khosrau, opposed the decision of the nobles, and asked the king of Al-Hirah for military assistance and received it. He then marched towards Ctesiphon and promised that he would not reign like his father Yazdegerd I did. According to the Shahnameh, Bahram V suggested that the royal crown and garb should be placed between two lions, and the person that retrieved them by killing the beasts should be acknowledged as the king of Persia, Bahram V managed to win and became king of Persia. Nothing is known about the fate of Khosrau.