Zibad Castle is one of the four historical monuments of Zibad, Iran, located in the Kakhk district of Gonabad County, in the Razavi Khorasan Province. It is believed to be the last refuge of Yazdegerd III, whose death signaled the collapse of the Sasanian Empire and the conquest of pre-Islamic Iran. In 2001, the castle was registered as a national heritage property. Zibad Castle has also been nationally registered under the name of Shahab Castle since 2002.
Last shelter of the last Sasanian emperor
In 651, Yazdegerd III was defeated by the Muslim Arabs in the city of Gonabad in the province of Merv. His heavy Sasaniancavalry was too sluggish and systematized to contain them; if he had employed lightly-armed Arab or East Iranian mercenaries from Khorasan and Transoxiana he would have been much more successful.[1]
Shortly after this, Yazdegerd III was murdered, leaving several different and contradictory narratives about his death.
One source reports he sought refuge with a miller, who killed him to obtain his jewelry[2] on the orders of Mahoe Suri.[3]
The narration of Al-Baladhuri in Kitab Futuh al-Buldan suggests that Yazdgerd was killed in Gonabad. The main text of Blazeri's book The Fate of Yazdgerd III:
During the Islamic invasion of Iran, Yazdegerd III went to refuge in Merv; on his way to Merv he stayed in Gonabad. Mahoe's envoy warmly received him in Gonabad.[4] Mahoe used the opportunity to secretly plot with the Hephthalite ruler Nizak against Yazdegerd.[3]
The death of Yazdegerd marked the end of the Sasanian Empire, the last Persian imperial dynasty before the arrival of Islam (224-651). All of Khorasan was soon conquered by the Arabs, who would use it as a base to attack Transoxiana.[2]
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