For 10 points, name this empire ruled by Kavadh I, who was less of a hard-line Zoroastrianism than his son Khusrau.
This empire's suppression of social reform included the burial of 3,000 prisoners alive with their feet upward to present a reformer with a "human garden." Though accounts disagree on whether empire's class system - which was rooted in the concept of asronih [ahs-ROH-nee] - had three or four estates, all agree the priesthood was the highest caste. By giving them roles as tax collectors, this empire fostered the rise of a class of middle nobility called dehqans, and also promoted a warrior class called wuzurgan [WOO-zoor-"gone"] whose name may be the origin of the term (*) "vizier." This empire used conscription to fill the ranks of its payghan units with low-morale peasants, who mostly dug ditches while Savaran cataphracts and other horsemen fought. A king of this empire had to be restored to power with the aid of the Hephthalites after encouraging a social and religious reform movement called Mazdakism. For 10 points, name this empire ruled by Kavadh I, who was less of a hard-line Zoroastrianism than his son Khusrau.
This empire's suppression of social reform included the burial of 3,000 prisoners alive with their feet upward to present a reformer with a "human garden.
Sassanid Empire [or Sassanian Empire; or Eranshahr]