Bahram I - Definition and Overview

Bahram I, was king of Persia (AD 274-277).

From a Pahlavi inscription we learn that he was the son (not, as the Greek authors and Tabari say, the grandson) of Shapur I., and succeeded his brother Hormizd I, who had only reigned a year.

Bahram I is the king who, by the instigation of the magians, put to a cruel death the prophet Mani, the founder of Manichaeism. Nothing else is known of his reign.

The name Bahram comes from Varahrän, the younger form of the old Verethragna, the name of the ancient Persian god of Victory, and "the killer of the dragon Verethra". Bahram is also the Persian name for the planet Mars.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.