Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

472 HISTORY OF PERSIA chap.
The Usurpation ofHormisda5yA.T>. 457, and his Overthrow
by Firuz, a.d. 459. — Yezdigird II. died in a.d. 457 and
Hormisdas, the younger son, seized the throne in the
absence of his elder brother Firuz— the Perozes of the
European writers—who was Governor of Sistan. Hearing
of this usurpation the latter fled to the White Huns,
who gave him sanctuary and furnished him with a force
by the aid of which he defeated and captured Hormisdas.
He subsequently regained possession of the province of
Albania to the west of the Caspian Sea, which had taken
advantage of the civil war to revolt. His administration
was renowned for its high standard of efficiency, and it is
recorded that, although at this period the Persian Empire
from the Oxus to the Tigris suffered from a terrible
famine lasting
for several
years, supplies were imported
from every quarter by the capable monarch and there was
no loss of life.
The First Campaigns of Firuz against
the White Huns.
—As in the case of his
predecessors, the wars against the
White Huns were the leading preoccupation of Firuz.
His first campaigns were unsuccessful and he consequently
made peace, one of the terms being that Khush-Newaz,
or " "— The High-Minded the Persian title for the King
of the White Huns—was to receive one of his daughters
in
marriage. He foolishly
insulted his formidable enemy
by sending a female slave to act the part of a royal princess,
and when the imposture was discovered there was naturally
intense indignation. By way of revenge, Khush-Newaz
asked Firuz to lend him some officers to direct a
campaign, and when they arrived, to the number of
three hundred, they were seized and a few of them
were put to death. The remainder were mutilated and
sent back, with a message explaining that this was
done to avenge the insult put upon the royal house of
the White Huns.
War again broke out and Firuz fixed his headquarters
at the
city of Gurgan, close to which I examined the ruins
of a wall which ran from the Caspian Sea, north of the
River Gurgan, and which Rawlinson believes was built
by this monarch as a defence against
the White Huns :
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