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Description
Andragoras III, born P.E. 276, was the second son of King Gotarzes II and brother of Osroes V. He ascended as the eighteenth King of Pars, reigning from P.E. 304 until his death in P.E. 321. His military prowess emerged early: he claimed the title Shirghir by hunting a lion at thirteen and earned the rank of Mardan following his first battle at fourteen. Initially supporting his elder brother Osroes V's succession, their bond shattered over the former Badakhshan princess Tahamenay. After Osroes's death, Andragoras seized the Parsian throne and married Tahamenay.
Ruthless and uncompromising, Andragoras prioritized military conquest over governance, displaying greed, stubbornness, and a lack of empathy. His reign focused on expanding Pars through force, notably annexing Badakhshan, but he proved politically inept, dismissing counsel and ruling by intimidation. His assassination of Osroes to gain the throne and claim Tahamenay later revealed his willingness to betray kin for power.
His marriage to Tahamenay plunged into turmoil. Unable to produce a male heir after a stillborn son, Andragoras adopted Arslan from a common knight's family to feign a royal lineage. He concealed their biological child's death to prevent Tahamenay's suicide, inventing a tale of a living daughter sent away with a silver bracelet. Andragoras remained consistently cold towards Arslan, viewing him solely as a political tool.
His "Undefeated King" reputation ended at the Battle of Atropatene in P.E. 320. Betrayed by his general Kharlan and outmaneuvered by Lusitanian forces led by his nephew Hilmes (Silvermask), he was captured. During Arslan's campaign to reclaim Ecbatana, Andragoras escaped captivity but was confronted by the terminally ill Lusitanian King Innocentis VII. In a violent struggle, Innocentis dragged him from a tower to their mutual deaths.
Three years after burial, Andragoras's corpse was stolen by Zahhāk's warlocks. His body became a vessel for the demon Zahhāk, who used Andragoras's likeness to rally disaffected Parsian nobles against Arslan's reforms, including abolishing slavery. Zahhāk, inhabiting Andragoras's form, tried to manipulate Tahamenay into denouncing Arslan as a usurper. When she refused, he killed her. The reanimated Andragoras/Zahhāk was ultimately destroyed by Arslan in a final battle, his corpse dissolving after purification by the priestess Farangis.
Ruthless and uncompromising, Andragoras prioritized military conquest over governance, displaying greed, stubbornness, and a lack of empathy. His reign focused on expanding Pars through force, notably annexing Badakhshan, but he proved politically inept, dismissing counsel and ruling by intimidation. His assassination of Osroes to gain the throne and claim Tahamenay later revealed his willingness to betray kin for power.
His marriage to Tahamenay plunged into turmoil. Unable to produce a male heir after a stillborn son, Andragoras adopted Arslan from a common knight's family to feign a royal lineage. He concealed their biological child's death to prevent Tahamenay's suicide, inventing a tale of a living daughter sent away with a silver bracelet. Andragoras remained consistently cold towards Arslan, viewing him solely as a political tool.
His "Undefeated King" reputation ended at the Battle of Atropatene in P.E. 320. Betrayed by his general Kharlan and outmaneuvered by Lusitanian forces led by his nephew Hilmes (Silvermask), he was captured. During Arslan's campaign to reclaim Ecbatana, Andragoras escaped captivity but was confronted by the terminally ill Lusitanian King Innocentis VII. In a violent struggle, Innocentis dragged him from a tower to their mutual deaths.
Three years after burial, Andragoras's corpse was stolen by Zahhāk's warlocks. His body became a vessel for the demon Zahhāk, who used Andragoras's likeness to rally disaffected Parsian nobles against Arslan's reforms, including abolishing slavery. Zahhāk, inhabiting Andragoras's form, tried to manipulate Tahamenay into denouncing Arslan as a usurper. When she refused, he killed her. The reanimated Andragoras/Zahhāk was ultimately destroyed by Arslan in a final battle, his corpse dissolving after purification by the priestess Farangis.