One of the main events of the Sassanid's period is the battles of Piruz against the Hephthalites, which despite the great efforts of the Iranians in these wars, they ended with their defeat and a huge tribute to be given to the Hephthalites. To compensate for his failure, Piruz the tyrant king waged another war against the Hephthalites. However, not only he achieved nothing, but he also lost his life. After these defeats, the Hephthalites used to intervene in the Iranians’affairs for a long time, until they finally disappeared during the reign of Anushiravan. Nonetheless, the bitter memories of these defeats never left the Persians' minds. So after these events, the Iranians manipulated some facts to maintain their dignity. They made some stories about those events and one of the stories was about a hero named Sufra who fought against the Hephthalites and eventually defeated them and brought back all that the Iranians had lost to them. These narratives most likely were present in the many Khodaynameh(s) of the Sassanid's period to enter then the history of the Islamic era. This article first examines Shahnameh and other historical narratives for Piruz's and Sufra's battles against the Hephthalites, and then shows the main distortions which entered Khodaynameh(s) in the Sassanid's period.
Qafouri R. A Study of the Story of Sufra in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the Sources of the Islamic Era. Persian Language and Literature 2014; 22 (77) :189-213 URL: http://jpll.khu.ac.ir/article-1-2088-en.html