Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies Social History Studies 2383-0484 5 10 2016 02 19 The Legend of the Death of Yazdegerd, the Sinner The Legend of the Death of Yazdegerd, the Sinner 13 23 1945 FA Shahram Jalilian Associate Professor/Shahid Chamran University, Journal Article 2015 03 06 The well-known legend of Yazdegerd I’s death (339-420 CE) wasobviously fabricated by Zoroastrian priests and nobles of Sassanid period who were informed about it through Arabic translation of Xwadāy-Nāmag as well as Arab and Iranian historians of the Islamic period. Based on the elements of thestory, people attribute the death of Yazdegerd to will and favor of God and consider the horse as one of the angles of God that had the mission of killing Yazdegerd and making the people get rid of his injustice and cruelty. The question is why such a story about Yazdegerd’s death was fabricated in the Sassanid period and what its function was. So far, a number of factors have been identified by the researchers of Sassanid history, including the dissatisfaction of Zoroastrian priests and nobles with Yazdegerd's policies of religious tolerance towards Christians and Jews, which eventually put him to death and led to fabrication of the legend. This paper proposes that Yazdegerd I died due to an illness and then vengeful nobles and priests, in an effort to destroy his memory, re-told his death as a legend and a divine punishment for a criminal king. The well-known legend of Yazdegerd I’s death (339-420 CE) wasobviously fabricated by Zoroastrian priests and nobles of Sassanid period who were informed about it through Arabic translation of Xwadāy-Nāmag as well as Arab and Iranian historians of the Islamic period. Based on the elements of thestory, people attribute the death of Yazdegerd to will and favor of God and consider the horse as one of the angles of God that had the mission of killing Yazdegerd and making the people get rid of his injustice and cruelty. The question is why such a story about Yazdegerd’s death was fabricated in the Sassanid period and what its function was. So far, a number of factors have been identified by the researchers of Sassanid history, including the dissatisfaction of Zoroastrian priests and nobles with Yazdegerd's policies of religious tolerance towards Christians and Jews, which eventually put him to death and led to fabrication of the legend. This paper proposes that Yazdegerd I died due to an illness and then vengeful nobles and priests, in an effort to destroy his memory, re-told his death as a legend and a divine punishment for a criminal king. http://socialhistory.ihcs.ac.ir/article_1945_515f19d5c53ff9bb7e6a8413cc05d0c8.pdf