Kavad I

Kavad I was crowned in 488 to replace his unpopular uncle Balash, inheriting an empire where royal authority had badly eroded. He tried to reorganize through sweeping reforms, allying with the Mazdakite preacher Mazdak in a social revolution that undercut the nobility and clergy. The move — and his execution of the powerful king-maker Sukhra — got him deposed and locked in the Castle of Oblivion. With help from his sister and an officer named Siyawush, he fled east to the Hephthalites, returned with their army, and retook the throne in 498/9. Broke and denied aid by Byzantine emperor Anastasiu…