A RESEARCH ON HORMIZD IV SASANIAN COINS MINTED IN ANCIENT SAKASTAN

The reign of Hormizd IV (579-590 AD) faced many battles in a series of unending conflicts with other neighboring states and tribes, mostly on the western front. Thus, all the government’s attention was focused on the western neighborhoods. Sakastan was one of the most important states of ancient Iran during the Sassanid period, where a member of the Shah’s family was always elected to rule Sakastan. Although minting the royal coins was very active since the beginning of the Sassanid period, after the reign of Khosrow I, coinage with the abbreviation SK became common and continued until the Islamization shift that changedall of their ancient symbolism. In the Hormizd IV period, Sakastan was considered a state far from the center of power and was out of the focus of attention. Studying the issue of coinage in this region is important because coins are considered a valuable document in describing the archaeological identity of a region. Therefore, relying on the library resources, the central issue of this research was to identify and prepare a list of coins minted in Sakastan by Hormizd IV, the Sassanid Emperor. The results of this study reveal the fact that during the 13-year reign of Hormizd IV, coins were minted in only four separate years, namely years 3, 5, 10, and 12 of Hormizd IV and possibly to meet the economic needs of the region.