The Reforms of Khusro Anūshirwān

ACCORDING to our sources, during the long reign of Khusro Anūshirwān (531-579) the Sasanian monarchy, one of the two great powers on the international arena before the advent of Islam, underwent a series of farreaching transformations. Of the profound changes he is said to have introduced in his realm, only one Byzantine contemporary source, Procopius, shows a dim awareness, when he describes him, in totally uncomplimentary terms, as “a passionate lover of novelty”.¹ The Arabie and the New Persian sources are very detailed, but ail of them without exception are late. Written not earlier than three centuries after the events,