Byzantine Battles: Battle of Balarathos

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Battle of Balarathos (Battle of Ganzak or Battle of Blarathon)	year: 591
A Byzantine victory which helped the exiled Persian king to retake his throne	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Sassanid Persians	location: SE of lake Urmia, near the city Ganzaka by the river Balarathos, West Azerbaijan Province in NW Iran	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: Pitched Battle	war: Byzantine-Persian Wars	modern country: Iran

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Maurice (Mauricius))	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Generals John Mystacon, Narses	Bahram Chobin
Forces:	60,000 (mostly Persian allies)	40,000 with many elephants
Losses:		Heavy

Background story:

After suffering a minor defeat in the Battle of Araxis against the Byzantines, Shah Hormizd IV humiliated general Bahram Chobin, sending to him women's clothing to wear. Thus, he, along with the main Persian army, rebelled against the Shah and marched toward Ctesiphon. Hormizd was killed and his son, Khosrau II, unable to fight such an army, fled to Syria, in Byzantine territory. Bahram sat on the throne as Bahram VI.
From Syria, Khosrau (Chosroes). appealed to the Byzantine emperor for help. Emperor Maurice seized the opportunity to invade the enemy’s country and sent a large army to support the legitimate ruler.
To show gratitude Khosrau ceded to the emperor the long-disputed cities of Martyropolis and Daras.

The Battle:

Ganzaka battle in Persian manuscript-10th c.

The army was led by generals Narses, John Mystacon and the Persian Bindoy, uncle of Khosrau. After a fierce skirmish near Lake Urmiah in northwestern Iran, Bahram retreated SE of Urmiah near the city of Gazak by the river Balarathos, where he was routed by the superior forces of his enemies.
Bahram then fled to the Turks of Central Asia who were his allies but he was soon assassinated.
Restoration of Khosrau ended the war.

Aftermath:

The battle altered the course of Roman-Persian relations dramatically, leaving Byzantium in the dominant position. The extent of effective Byzantine control in the Caucasus reached its zenith historically. This lasted 10 years.

Byzantine Battles

Battle of Balarathos

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