Kavad II

Kavad II (Middle Persian: 𐭪𐭥𐭠𐭲, romanized: Kawād) was the Sasanian King of Kings (shahanshah) of Iran briefly in 628.

Born Sheroe, he was the son of Khosrow II (r. 590–628) and Maria, and with help of different factions of the nobility, Sheroe overthrew his father in 628. At this time, the Iranian army had been split into three separate armies, each led by one of the faction leaders. After ascending the throne, he had his father and all his brothers executed. He made peace with the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), thus bringing to an end the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628.

Kavad II soon died of a devastating plague, which became known as the Plague of Sheroe. He was succeeded by his seven-year-old son Ardashir III (r. 628–630).

Contemporary sources and modern historians have a mixed view of Kavad II, with some of the latter criticizing him for his fratricide, considering the severe consequences it had on the empire. The Austrian historian and numismatist Nikolaus Schindel on the contrary suggests that Kavad II's fratricide may have prevented a possible civil war, and had Kavad II lived longer, he may have been able to prevent the disintegration of the Sasanian state and the following Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran.