[3] An emergency council of war was held in Ctesiphon in which Bahram Chobin, a cavalry commander from the Parthian noble family of Mihran, was chosen to lead an army against the Turks and was given the governorship of Khorasan.

Bahram's army gathered at Nishapur and consisted of 12,000 hand-picked soldiers, which included cavalry, Dailamite infantry, and war elephants.

Bahram selected 100 Pahlavan soldiers to accompany him on an ambush at the position of the Khagan, where he was seated on a golden throne observing the battle.

[7][8] He then proceeded to cross the Oxus river and won a decisive victory over the Eastern Turks, personally killing the Khagan, Bagha Qaghan (Sawa), with an arrowshot.

[9] He managed to reach as far as Baykand, near Bukhara, and also contain an attack by the son of the deceased Khagan, Birmudha, whom Bahram had captured and sent to the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon.