It is related in the Mufâtih-ul-u’lûm that, as Behrâm was very fond of hunting the Gûr [wild ass, onager], he was surnamed Behrâm Gûr. Ebn Athir, however, states that one day he happened to shoot an arrow at a lion who was on the top of a wild ass, and that as the arrow had passed through both animals, and then entered the ground, he was called Behrâm Gûr. Also Tabari’s statement and all other historians agree with this latter account.
In short, after he had firmly established himself as king, he pardoned, at the intercession of Munzar Bin No’mân, all the Erânians who had been so bold as to raise Kesra to the throne. He was kind to the army and to his people, remitting a sum of nearly ten thousand tomâns due as tribute. He assigned pensions to men of probity and learning, and restored to cultivation every district which had been ruined during the government of his father. He overwhelmed Munzar Bin No’mân with presents and favours, which fully satisfied him, and then gave him leave to depart, but retained young No’mân as a courtier. Behrâm also entertained special regard for the Arabs who had protected him in his childhood, and captivated the hearts of all men by his kindness and liberality. He uprooted the tree of oppression, planted the shrub of justice, and having entrusted the care of the frontiers to vigilant men, engaged in amusements and pleasures.
It is related that his extraordinary prodigality so displeased his wazirs as to impel them to represent to him that, as the administration is carried on with the aid of the treasury, it must be ruined if that is exhausted. But he endorsed the following words upon the petition: ‘If I do not captivate the hearts of independent men with presents, wherewith am I to cultivate them?’ To this reply they could not demur. It is on record that during his reign all artisans and tradesmen lived in comfort, and worked only till the royal dining time, spending the rest of the day in amusements. One day Behrâm happened to pass near a convivial party, and saw the people amusing themselves without music. Astonished at such a case, he asked how it was that they had neither musicians nor singers. They, however, replied that they could not find a musician even if they paid a thousand dirhems. This circumstance moved the king so considerably that he despatched couriers to Hindustân, who brought back with them ten thousand singers and dancers. It is related that he distributed them all over the country, and the Persians intermarried with them. The Jats are said to be their offspring, and therefore a Jat can be found but seldom who is not also a musician.
After Behrâm had entirely become absorbed in pleasures and amusements, the rumour spread in the world that he cared very little for the affairs of government and of the religion, so that foreigners began to entertain designs of invading the country. The Khâqân of China crossed the Jaihûn with two hundred and fifty thousand cavalry and infantry, and began to kill and to plunder in Erân. Some state that the Khâqân cast his anchor of permanency at Merv, while others assert that he continued his march until he arrived in the province of Rei. The grandees and nobles of Persia were much troubled by this event, and although they requested Behrâm to collect an army for the purpose of expelling the enemy, they could effect nothing. His only reply was: ‘God the Most High is bountiful and clement. I hope His mercy will not allow me to fall into the hands of my enemies.’ When the courtiers departed from his assembly, they said to each other: ‘He has no sense left, and dreads the bravery of the enemy.’ Behrâm meanwhile took seven royal princes and high military officers, with three hundred champions, who had no hesitation to enter the jaws of lions and throats of dragons, together with numerous leopards and falcons, and marching out of his capital as if for the purpose of hunting, left the administration in charge of his brother Nursi. Behrâm thus marched to Azarbaijân, the inhabitants whereof took it for certain that his dread of the Khâqân had impelled him to flee. Therefore the officers of his government and other managers of public affairs agreed to despatch a smooth-tongued ambassador to the Khâqân, who might, by offering him tribute, land them on the shore of safety from the billows of his wrath. When the Khâqân was informed of this news, he halted in the locality which he had reached, and established himself quietly. Then Behrâm marched into Armenia, and having taken into his service one thousand warriors, who considered fighting with elephants and rapacious lions to be but a child’s play, he was by several scouts, whom he had hired, led through untravelled roads to the camp of the Khâqân. When he had nearly reached his destination, spies reported to him that the Khâqân was sitting at his ease, and occupied with various amusements, because the sounds of carousing and the melodies of flutes were heard, as if rising up to the mansions of the sun and moon. Behrâm took this to be a good opportunity, and the nights being dark, he divided his cavalry into four portions, which rushed upon the army of the Khâqân like a sudden judgment. From the shrill fifes and the large brass drums, the Turks [sic] concluded that the angel Esrafil was blowing the trump of the resurrection. Behrâm himself entered the tent of the Khâqân, and after severing his arrogant head from the body, pursued the fugitives as far as the banks of the Jaihûn.
In the Târikh of Abu Hanifah Dinvari it is recorded that when the invasion of the Khâqân into Khorâsân had become known, Behrâm selected one thousand men from among his best warriors of the time, and ordered them to ride on camels, but to lead their horses. He likewise commanded every one of them to take a falcon and a dog. He left his brother Nursi to be his viceroy in the government, and marched in the direction of Azarbaijân, the inhabitants of which province seemed to be certain that he was fleeing from the Khâqân, and as soon as he had departed, the Sardârs of the Persians agreed to send many presents to the Khâqân, and to offer him their homage.
When the King of Turkestân [sic] heard this news, the vapour of pride and arrogance mounted into his brains, and he halted in the vicinity of Merv to wait for the arrival of the gifts. Behrâm ordered seven thousand cows to be slaughtered, the hides of which he took, and also seven thousand young horses one year old. He marched, always in the night, through Tabaristân, Jorjân, and Nasâr, but when he had nearly reached the camp of the Khâqân, he moistened the hides of the cows, so that they recovered their original form; then he filled them with pebbles, and had them tied to the young foals, which were in a dark night chased towards the camp of the Khâqân. When the Turks [sic] heard the awful sounds, they knew not whence they came; but when the horses approached the soldiers, they became frightened and fled. Behrâm pursued the fugitives, and when he reached the Khâqân, he slew him with his own hand. It is said that Behrâm pursued the fleeing army as far as the Jaihûn, and that, halting there, he sent one of his generals to the country of Ma-vara-an-nahr [Transoxiana] to subjugate it. The kings of the eastern country, however, sent ambassadors and letters so frequently, and sued so much for peace, that Behrâm erected a tower in that region to be like a frontier-post between the two kingdoms, which their respective armies should not transgress. When peace was established, Behrâm returned joyfully to his capital, and departed some time afterwards to Hindustan by way of amusement.