Khosrow (word)

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Khosrow is a name of Iranian origin, most notably held by several Persian rulers, but also by other people in various locations and languages. In some times and places, the word has come to mean "king" or "ruler".

The word ultimately comes from Proto-Iranian *Hu-sravah ("with good reputation"), itself ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁su- ("good") + *ḱléwos ("fame").

Khosrow is the Modern Persian variant.

As the name of the legendary Iranian king Kay Khosrow, the name has been attested in Avesta as Haosrauuaŋha (𐬵𐬀𐬊𐬯𐬭𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬀)[1] and Haosrauuah. This is the oldest attestation.

A number of rulers of Persia, Armenia and the Middle East either took Khosrow as their dynastic name or are known by this name.

The name was used by various rulers of Parthian Empire. It has been attested in Parthian-language inscriptions as "hwsrw" (𐭇𐭅𐭎𐭓𐭅), which may be variously transliterated and pronounced.[2] The Latin form was Osroes or Osdroes. The Old Armenian form was Khosrov (Խոսրով), derived from Parthian, and was held by several rulers of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The name is still used in modern Armenian language.

Notable as to the use of Khosrow as a title is the father of Mirian III of Iberia who was known as k'asre. This led to confusion, as some historians thought that Mirian III must therefore be the son of a Sasanian ruler, and not a Parthian one.

The name was notably used by several rulers of Sassanian Empire. In their native language, Middle Persian, the name has been spelt variously as hwslwb (Book Pahlavi script: hwslwb in Book Pahlavi script), hwsrwb, hwslwd, hwsrwd', or hwsrwb' in Pahlavi scripts. The name has been variously transliterated as follows: Husrō, Husrōy, Xusro, Khusro, Husrav, Husraw, Khusrau, Khusraw, Khusrav, Xusraw, Xusrow, Xosrow, Xosro.*[3][4][5] The Greek form was Khosróēs (Χοσρόης) and the Latin form was Chosroes and Cosroe. The Middle Persian word also means "famous" or "of good repute".[6]

The New Persian variant is خسرو, which can be transliterated as Khusraw, Khusrau, Khusrav, Khusru (based on the Classical Persian pronunciation [xʊsˈɾaw]), or Khosrow, Khosro (based on the modern Iranian Persian pronunciations [xosˈɾoʊ̯] and [xosˈɾo]).

In Arabic it was Kisrā or Kasrā (كسرى), a variant which is also used in Modern Persian (کسری). In Islamic Persia, kisrā became a strong byword for tyrannical pagan kingship, and is used as a general shorthand for Sassanian rulers (hence also "Taq-i Kasra"),[7][8] as pharaoh is used for pre-Islamic Egyptian rulers.[9]

The Turkish variant is Hüsrev, derived from Ottoman Turkish (خسرو), itself from New Persian.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.avesta.org/kanga/english_opf_files/158KEADict%20p293%20p294%20kavilike.jpg
  2. ↑ http://www.parthia.com/parthia_inscriptions_names.htm
  3. ↑ The "h" in Pahlavi spellings can used for both /h/ and /x/ (transliterated as "kh" or "x"). The letter "d" and "b" probably represent /j/ (transliterated as "y") here. The second "w" may represent long /oː/ here, particularly when followed by "d" and "b", otherwise it may be considered the diphthong /aw/ (transliterated as "aw", "av", or "au"), but Middle Persian, unlike New Persian, did not have diphthongs, at least in its earlier forms.
  4. ↑ http://grifterrec.rasmir.com/sasania/sas_mint/sas_kingnames.html
  5. ↑ http://www.beastcoins.com/Sasanian/Sasanian.htm
  6. ↑ MacKenzie, David N. (1986). "husraw", in A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-713559-5. p. 45.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

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