 Bahram II was the eldest son of Bahram I, and the grandson of the prominent Sasanian king (shah) Shapur I ().He had not yet been born when Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht was created in c. 262, due to not being mentioned in it.Bahram II's father, Bahram I, although being the eldest son of Shapur I, was not considered a candidate for succession, probably due to his mother's lowly origin, who was either a minor queen or perhaps even a concubine.