Urmuzd, whose reign proved to be a very brief one, succeeds his father and harangues the nobles. Feeling the approach of death he summons his son Bahrám, appoints him successor, gives him good counsel, and dies.

The romantic story of Urmuzd's (Hormisdas I., A.D. 272-273), birth,*

is all that survives in connexion with him, apart from Firdausí's common form in dealing with the short reigns,*

in the Sháhnáma. In the Kárnámak he is represented as a great prince, being confused probably with his father. It is likely that he made a reputation for courage and energy in the wars against Rome and as governor in Khurásán. At all events, according to tradition, he earned for himself the title of “the here.” It is told of him that, being falsely accused of disloyalty, he cut off one of his hands and sent it, wrapped in silk, to his father to prove his innocence as no mutilated person could succeed to the throne. His father, deeply distressed, arranged that mutilation should be no bar in that instance.*