of the true cross which
had been kept back by Kobad, and sent an expeditionary force against the
Khazars who had invaded Armenia, which was completely destroyed by
the fierce barbarians. He is said by the Armenians to have married
Purandocht, the eldest daughter of Chosroes, for the purpose of
strengthening his hold on the crown; but this attempt to conciliate his
subjects, if it was really made, proved unsuccessful. Ere he had been
king for two months, his troops mutinied, drew their swords upon him,
and killed him in the open court before the palace. Having so done, they
tied a cord to his feet and dragged his corpse through the streets of
Ctesiphon, making proclamation everywhere as follows: "Whoever, not
being of the blood-royal, seats himself upon the Persian throne, shall
share the fate of Shahr-Barz." They then elevated to the royal dignity
the princess Purandocht, the first female who had ever sat in the seat
of Cyrus.

The rule of a woman was ill calculated to restrain the turbulent Persian
nobles. Two instances had now proved that a mere noble might ascend the
throne of the son of Babek; and a fatal fascination was exercised on
the grandees of the kingdom by the examples of Bahram-Chobin and
Shahr-Barz.

Pretenders sprang up in all quarters, generally asserting some
connection, nearer or more remote, with the royal house, but relying
on the arms of their partisans, and still more on the weakness of the
government. It is uncertain whether Purandocht died a natural death; her
sister, Azermidocht, who reigned soon after her, was certainly murdered.
The crown passed rapidly from one noble to another, and in the course of
the four or five years which immediately succeeded the death of Chosroes
II. it was worn by nine or ten different persons. Of these the greater
number reigned but a few days or a few months; no actions are ascribed
to them; and it seems unnecessary to weary the reader with their obscure
names, or with the still more obscure question concerning the order of
their succession. It may be suspected that, in some cases two or more
were contemporary, exercising royal functions in different portions
of the empire at the same time. Of none does the history or the fate
possess any interest; and the modern historical student may well be
content with the general knowledge that for four years and a half after
the death of Chosroes II. the government was in the highest degree
unsettled; anarchy everywhere pr