Bahram V was the fourteenth Sassanid King of Persia (421-438). Also called Bahram Gur or Bahramgur, he was a son of Yazdegerd I (399-421), after whose sudden death (or assassination) he gained the crown against the opposition of the grandees by the help of Mundhir, the Arab dynast of al-Hirah. Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted from the woods for use. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries.