The Second Perso-Turkic War began in 606/607 with an invasion of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

by the

Göktürks The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks ( otk, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰰:𐰉𐰆𐰑𐰣, Türük Bodun; ; ) were a nomadic confederation of Turkic peoples in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan (d. 552) a ...

and

Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

. The war ended in 608 with the defeat of the Turks and Hephthalites by the Sasanians under the Armenian general

Smbat IV Bagratuni Smbat IV Bagratuni ( hy, Սմբատ Դ Բագրատունի; el, Συμβάτιος) was an Armenians, Armenian prince from the Bagratuni Dynasty who served first in the Byzantine army before switching, ca. 595, to the Sasanian Empire, where he ha ...

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In 606/607, the Turks invaded eastern Persia with a large number of men, but were defeated in the first battle near the fort of Tus in

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

. Having lost this battle, the Turks and

requested reinforcements from the

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

. According to

Sebeos Sebeos () was a 7th-century Armenian bishop and historian. Little is known about the author, though a signature on the resolution of the Ecclesiastical Council of Dvin in 645 reads 'Bishop Sebeos of Bagratunis.' His writings are valuable as one ...

, 300,000 troops were sent to reinforce the invading army. This force soon overran Khorasan as well as the fort of Tus with its 300 defenders under prince Datoyean. However, the Turks withdrew after their raids, which went as far as

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Region, Isfahan Province, Iran. It is lo ...

. Smbat quickly reorganized the eastern Persian forces and finally crushed the Turks and Hephthalites, reportedly killing their leader in hand-to-hand combat (''

mard o mard ''Mard ō mard'' (Middle Persian; literally "man to man") was an ancient Iranian tradition of single combat, the Sasanian Empire being most known for using it. During a battle, the Sasanian troops would use taunts and war cries to provoke the enem ...

''). After the death of their leader, which shattered troop morale, the Turks and Hephthalites retreated in a disorderly manner. The Aswaran pursued them, routed them and killed many.

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