Khosrow is a male given name of Iranian origin, most notably held by Khosrow I of Sassanid Persia, but also by other people in various locations and languages. In some times and places, and in some cases has been used as a dynastic name.
Variants
Khosrow is the Modern Persian variant. The word ultimately comes from Proto-Iranian *Hu-sravah ("with good reputation"), itself ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁su- ("good") + *ḱléwos ("fame").
The name has been attested in Avesta as Haosravangha ( )Dictionary clipping avesta.org and Haosravah (Haosrauuah), as the name of the legendary Iranian king Kay Khosrow. This is the oldest attestation.
The name was used by various rulers of Parthian Empire. In Parthian-language inscriptions, it is spelled as hwsrw (), which may be variously transcribed and pronounced. The Latin form was or . The Old Armenian form was Khosrov (), derived from Parthian, and was held by several rulers of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The name is still used in modern Armenian.
Notable as to the use of Khosrow as a title is the father of Mirian III of Iberia who was known as k'asre (Old Georgian). 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', hwsrwb, hwslwd, and hwsrwd' in Pahlavi scripts. The name has been variously transliterated as follows: Husrō, Husrōy, Xusro, Khusro, Khosrau, Husrav, Husraw, Khusrau, Khusraw, Khusrav, Xusraw, Xusrow, Xosrow, Xosro.*The "h" in Pahlavi spellings can be used for both and (transliterated as "kh" or "x"). The letter "d" probably represents (transliterated as "y") here. The second "w" may represent long here, particularly when followed by "d" and "b", otherwise it may be considered the diphthong (transliterated as "aw", "av", or "au"), but Middle Persian, unlike New Persian, did not have diphthongs. The Greek form was Khosróēs () and the Latin form was and . The Middle Persian word also means "famous" or "of good repute".MacKenzie, David N. (1986). "husraw", in A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press. . p. 45.
The New Persian variant is , which can be transliterated as Khusraw, Khusrau, Khusrav, Khusru (based on the Classical Persian pronunciation ), or Khosrow, Khosro (based on the modern Iranian Persian pronunciations and ). In New Persian the name also became a common noun meaning '(great) king'.
The word was borrowed into Arabic as Kisrā or Kasrā (), a variant which come to be used in New Persian () as well. 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-e Kasra, literally "Arc of Kasra"), as pharaoh is used for pre-Islamic Egyptian rulers.
The Turkish variant is , derived from Ottoman Turkish (), itself from New Persian. The Bengali variant of the word is .
Iranian rulers
Khosrow I, Sasanian ruler 531–579 Khosrow II, Sasanian ruler 590–628 Khosrow III, Sasanian ruler 630 Khosrow IV, Sasanian ruler 631–633 Khosrow (son of Bahram IV), 420 Khusrau Shah, sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire 1157–1160 Khusrau Malik, last Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, 1160–1186 Osroes I, Osroes II, c. 190
Kings of Armenia
Khosrov I of Armenia, 198–217 Khosrov II of Armenia, c. 252 Khosrov III the Small, 330–339 Khosrov IV of Armenia, 387–389
Other people
Given name
Khosrov of Andzev (fl. 10th century), Armenian writer Khosrow Jahanbani (1941–2014), Iranian royal Khusrau Khan, Sultan of Delhi for four months in 1320 Khusrau Mirza (1587–1622), son of Mughal emperor Jahangir Cosroe Dusi (1808–1859), Italian painter Khosrov bey Sultanov (1879–1947), Azerbaijani statesman Khosrov Harutyunyan (b. 1948), Armenian politician Khosrow Behbehani, professor of engineering
Middle name
Amir Khosrow Afshar (1919–1999), Iranian diplomat and politician Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (1942-2023), Iranian-American wrestler and actor
Surname
Amir Khusrau (1253–1325), Sufi poet (in Persian language), musician, and scholar of India
See also Khosrow (disambiguation)
References