Kavad II died some months later, and was succeeded by his eight-year-old son Ardashir III, who after a rule of nigh two years, was killed and usurped by the Iranian military officer Shahrbaraz.
Boran inherited a declining empire that was engulfed in a civil war between two major factions, the Persian (Parsig) and Parthian (Pahlav) noble-families.
She was in turn deposed soon afterwards and killed by the Pahlav under Farrukh Hormizd's son Rostam Farrokhzad, who restored Boran to the throne, thus making her queen for a second time.
Albeit her two tenures of rule were shortlived, she did try to bring stability to Iran by the implementation of just laws, reconstruction of the infrastructure, and by lowering taxes and minting coins.
Boran's name appears as Bōrān (or Burān) on her coinage,[1] which is considered by the French historian Gignoux to be a hypocoristic from *baurāspa ('having many horses').
[12][2][a] The fall of Khosrow II culminated in the Sasanian civil war of 628–632, with the most powerful members of the nobility gaining full autonomy and starting to create their own government.
[17] On 27 April 630, Ardashir III was killed by Shahrbaraz,[18] who in turn was murdered, after a reign of forty days, in a coup by Farrukh Hormizd.
A 5th-century Sasanian queen, Denag, had temporarily ruled as regent of the empire from its capital, Ctesiphon, during the dynastic struggle for the throne between her sons Hormizd III (r. 457–459) and Peroz I (r. 459–484) in 457–459.
[22] The German classical scholar Josef Wiesehöfer also highlights the role of noblewomen in Sasanian Iran, stating that "Iranian records of the third century (inscriptions, reliefs, coins) show that the female members of the royal family received an unusual amount of attention and respect".
[23] The story of the legendary Kayanian queen Humay Chehrzad and veneration towards the Iranian goddess Anahita probably also helped with the approval of Boran's rule.
[13] She then attempted to bring stability to Iran by the implementation of justice laws, reconstruction of the infrastructure, and by lowering taxes and minting coins.
[29] Not daring to refuse, she had him killed with the aid of the Mihranid aristocrat Siyavakhsh, who was the grandson of Bahram Chobin, the famous military commander (spahbed) and briefly shah of Iran.
In order to avenge his father, he left for Ctesiphon, in the words of the 9th century historian Sayf ibn Umar, "defeating every army of Azarmidokht that he met".
[34] Boran desired a good relationship with the Byzantine Empire, therefore she dispatched an embassy to its emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641), led by the catholicos Ishoyahb II and other dignitaries of the Iranian church.
[37] Rostam and Piruz Khosrow thus agreed to work together once more, installing Boran's nephew Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651) on the throne, and so putting an end to the civil war.
The translated inscription on her coins reads: "Boran, restorer of the race of Gods" (Middle Persian: Bōrān ī yazdān tōhm winārdār).
[43] On Boran's silver and bronze coins, double or triple row of pellets surround her portrait and astral signs of a crescent and a star are placed on the outer margin.