Editing Peroz I (section)

=== Third war with the Hephthalites and death ===
[[File:The Discomfiture and Death of Piroz, from a Manuscript of the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Firdawsi LACMA M.73.5.23.jpg|thumb|15th-century {{transliteration|fa|[[Shahnameh]]}} illustration of the defeat and death of Peroz I]]
Against the counsel of the aristocracy and the clergy, Peroz prepared in Gurgan for a third campaign against the Hephthalites.{{sfn|Howard-Johnston|2012|p=103}}{{sfn|Shahbazi|2005}}{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}} Ghazar highlights the opposition amongst his men towards the campaign, stating that the Iranian forces were demoralised at the prospect of facing the Hepthalites to the point of near mutiny.<ref name="GH85">Ghazar Parpetsi, [http://www.attalus.org/armenian/gp11.htm 85].</ref> Peroz left his brother Balash in charge of the empire,{{sfn|Pourshariati|2008|p=77}} launching his Hephthalite campaign at the head of a large army in 484.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}} When Akhshunwar learned of Peroz's campaign, he sent his deputy with the following message "You concluded peace with me in writing, under seal, and you promised not to make war against me. We defined common frontiers not to be crossed with hostile intent by either party."{{sfn|Zeimal|1996|p=142}}

A tower erected as a boundary marker near the [[Oxus]] by Peroz's grandfather, Bahram V,{{sfn|Traina|2011|p=125}} was destroyed by Peroz.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}} This event is reported by both [[Abu Hanifa Dinawari|Dinawari]] (d. 896) and [[al-Tabari]] (d. 923). The latter reported that Peroz had the tower tied to fifty [[Persian war elephants|elephants]] and three hundred men linked together and dragged it in front of his men, while he walked behind the tower, feigning not to have violated his grandfather's peace treaty.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}} Akhshunwar, unwilling to face Peroz directly, had a large trench dug across the battleground, concealing it with shrubbery and loose wood, and positioning his forces behind it. Charging at Akhshunwar's forces, Peroz and his army fell into the trench, where they were killed. Their bodies were not recovered by the Iranians.{{sfn|Payne|2015b|p=287}}{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}} The Iranian dead included many distinguished aristocrats,{{sfn|Payne|2015b|p=287}} including four of Peroz's sons or brothers.{{sfn|Potts|2018|p=295}} The site of the battle is uncertain; according to the modern historian Klaus Schippmann, it took place in present-day Afghanistan, possibly near Balkh.{{sfn|Schippmann|1999|pp=631–632}}

Pseudo-Joshua, who portrays Peroz in a hostile manner, proposed that Peroz may have been able to escape from the trench, but subsequently either died of hunger in a cleft in a mountain or was killed and eaten by wild animals in a forest.{{sfn|Rezakhani|2017|p=128}}