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Part 32: Triumphant
With the Battle of Valashabad over and Khushnavaz now in Iranian custody, the mighty Hephthalite army, its capacities already under great strain due to the long war (which had begun three years ago), was entirely broken, and would never threaten Ctesiphon again. But although the capital was safe and the invaders decimated, the war wasn't over yet, for Khingila survived the battle and rallied the remaining soldiers still loyal to his king's banner, a fraction of the force that once numbered 100.000 men, and immediately ordered a retreat that only stopped when they reached the fortress of Gorgan in November 389. Kavad didn't even try to pursue them.
Why, you may ask? He had, after all, scored the greatest victory of his entire career. Even if most of the planning and tactics were elaborated by the spahbeds rather than the man himself, something that was conveniently omitted. The main reason was that the Shah's army, while victorious, had suffered horrible casualties and was utterly exhausted. Had he ordered a pursuit, a good chunk of the soldiers would've likely deserted and returned to their homes, especially the paighan.
Of course, there was also another very important reason why Kavad had to be in Ctesiphon, something that would be much easier at the current moment since the bulk of his forces were just outside its walls. Khushnavaz had to be taken care of, and the King of Kings wanted to preside over the fate of the man whose ambitions almost destroyed his empire and dynasty in person.
And everyone knew what was going to happen to him.
Paraded in chains through the streets of Ctesiphon before being brought to the main square, and watched by a jeering crowd of tens of thousands of people, many of them refugees from Ahvaz and other places devastated by the war (not necessarily by Hephthalite soldiers, but in their view he was the one who started everything), Khushnavaz, second and last king of the Hephthalite Empire, was beheaded. The man who managed to humble China itself had finally bitten off more than he could chew, and he paid for that mistake with his life on October 8 389, exactly one month after the Battle of Valashabad (1).
Among the important figures who witnessed this event were Kavad and the rest of his court, along with several foreign diplomats.
Kavad humiliates Khushnavaz by using him as a human footstool. Please overlook the fact everyone in this painting is wearing 13th century Western European clothing and armor.
With the enemy king now dead, the King of Kings finally departed the capital at the head of an army 70.000 men, which crossed the Zagros through Nahavand and made a beeline for Gorgan, where he intended to destroy the last Hephthalite army once and for all. Were this force any larger, feeding it would be an almost impossible task, especially since Khingila's force plundered as much of the countryside as they could during their retreat, slowing the Iranians' advance.
Reaching the walls of the great fortress on January 390, Kavad dispatched multiple envoys to Bukhara to notify the city's aristocrats of Khushnavaz's fate and convince them to pledge their allegiance to him, with the guarantee that they would be treated mercifully. Meanwhile, Farrukhan and 20.000 soldiers were detached from the main army and marched eastward, his orders being to reconquer Sakastan, the House of Suren's ancestral sub-kingdom and homeland. Retaking the citadel of Bam through treachery and suffering minimal casualties as a result, the wuzurg framadar quickly marched toward Zaranj, which too fell without resistance in early March.
His next target was Qandahar, but before he could even march in its direction he was contacted by the envoys of Chandragupta II, who had already captured said city and now desired to officialize his alliance with the Sasanians by having Kavad marry one of his daughters. With his work now completed and not having anything else to do for the moment, Farrukhan set about organizing Sakastan's administration (said province having been under Hephthalite control for decades) and working out a treaty with the Gupta emperor to who he and his sovereign owed so much in both monetary and military terms. Said treaty would require the Shahanshah's final approval to take effect, of course, but it was better than starting from square one. Besides, he wasn't overstepping his authority as he was already the equivalent of a grand vizier.
A meditating Buddha dating from the Gupta era found in Qandahar.
Meanwhile, back in Gorgan, Kavad and his soldiers prepared for a long siege. Khingila knew that his position was hopeless and dispatched multiple messages to the Shahanshah straight up admitting it and offering to surrender in exchange for mercy, but all of these requests were refused. The Shah was willing to forgive the civilian populations of cities such as Merv, Nishapur, Samarkand and obviously Bukhara, but it was personally and politically impossible for him to extend this treatment to Khushnavaz's direct accomplices. Many prominent Iranian nobles lost relatives as well as huge amounts of material property due to the war, and they cried out for vengeance.
Thus, Kavad's only reply was that the Hepthalite general and his soldiers would be granted a warrior's death. And that was exactly what happened on April 26 390.
By that point Gorgan was under siege for three or four months, and one of its walls suddenly collapsed after its foundations were steadily undermined by Iranian sappers. The rest of the besieging army flooded through the breach and the defenders, outnumbered, demoralized and starving, were unable to hold their positions. Khingila was killed in this massive assault, and by the end of the day every single Hephthalite soldier was either dead or in captivity. These unlucky few survivors were then sold into slavery while the dead had their heads cut off and arranged into a pyramid just outside the fortress. No one would dare to oppose the Shahanshah now (2).
The capture of Gorgan ended the Hephthalite-Sasanian War of 386-390. The March of Victory, which immediately succeeded it, was less a military offensive and more of a triumphant parade, since all cities on Kavad's path opened their gates and pledged their allegiance to him, and the aristocrats of Bukhara in particular received their new overlord with great pomp and fanfare. They were more than ready to submit themselves to a distant sovereign, since doing so would grant them more autonomy, and most were just happy that the war was finally over.
But one very particular resident was happier than most.
That man was, of course, the noseless former Shah Shapur II. Fully aware that his disfigured face and almost three year long imprisonment disqualified him from retaking the throne, he was nevertheless understandably overjoyed upon learning that he could finally return home before hugging his younger brother with tears in his eyes.
Kavad and Shapur hug one another while onlookers celebrate.
The war was finally over, and the Hephthalite Empire, once Iran's most powerful enemy since the days of Odainat, was no more.
The Shah's main priorities now were to rebuild his own empire and pay his soldiers. The latter task was covered by the two tons of gold Chandragupta sent him before the Battle of Valashabad, while the fulfillment of the former would be assisted by the arrival of a groundbreaking new material.
The Paper Revolution had begun (3).
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Notes:
(1) It takes time to prepare such a massive ceremony.
(2) An eye for an eye...
(3) Four centuries earlier than OTL.
