Kidarite–Sasanian war (464)

Kushāna–Sasanian conflicts (464)
Part of Kushan–Sasanian conflicts
Territory of the Kidarite kingdom, and main Asian polities c. 400
Date 464 CE Location Bactria, Afghanistan, Central Asia Result Kidarite victory Balkh Massacre Sasanians becomes tributaries of Kidarites
Belligerents
Kidarites	Sasanian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kunkhas	Peroz I

In the early 5th century, the Sasanian Empire faced disruption from the Kidarites, who compelled Yazdegerd I, Bahram IV, and possibly Yazdegerd II to pay tribute. While this did not burden the treasury, it was considered a humiliation. Yazdegerd II later stopped paying, which the Kidarites used as a pretext to declare war against Peroz around 464.

Lacking sufficient troops, Peroz sought financial aid from the Byzantine Empire, but was refused. He then attempted to secure peace with the Kidarites king Kunkhas by offering marriage to his sister, though he deceived them by sending a woman of low status instead.

Background

Main article: Kidarite–Sasanian war (450)

According to the Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr ("The Provincial Capitals of Iran"), Yazdegerd II fortified the city of Damghan and turned it into a strong border post against the Kidarites. It was sometime during this period that Yazdegerd II created the province of Eran-Khwarrah-Yazdegerd ("Iran, glory of Yazdegerd"), which was in the northern part of the Gurgan province. Yazdegerd II spent most of his life waging inconclusive military expeditions against the Kidarites but his last conflict on the seventeenth year of his reign, suffered fatality according to two Armenian historians and ended up as a tributary to the Kidarites.

War

The Sasanian efforts were disrupted in the early 5th century by the Kidarites, who forced Yazdegerd I, Bahram IV, and/or Yazdegerd II to pay them tribute. Although this did not trouble the Iranian treasury, it was nevertheless humiliating. Yazdegerd II eventually refused to pay tribute, which would later be used as a justification for the war that the Kidarites declared against Peroz in c. 464. Peroz lacked enough manpower to fight, and therefore asked for financial aid from the Byzantine Empire, which declined. He then offered peace to the king of the Kidarites, Kunkhas, and offered his sister in marriage, but sent a woman of low status instead.

Sources

• Bonner, Michael (2020). The Last Empire of Iran. New York: Gorgias Press. doi:10.31826/9781463240516. ISBN 978-1-4632-0616-1. S2CID 219805346.
• Payne, Richard E. (2015a). A State of Mixture: Christians, Zoroastrians, and Iranian Political Culture in Late Antiquity. Univ of California Press. pp. 1–320. ISBN 978-0-520-29245-1.
• Potts, Daniel T. (2018). "Sasanian Iran and its northeastern frontier". In Mass, Michael; Di Cosmo, Nicola (eds.). Empires and Exchanges in Eurasian Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 287–301. ISBN 978-1-107-09434-5.
• Zeimal, E. V. (1996). "The Kidarite kingdom in Central Asia". History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III: The Crossroads of Civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Paris: UNESCO Publishing. pp. 119–134. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.