Drachm - Balash

Balash ruled for fewer than four years before being deposed and blinded by the Sasanian nobility — a fate that reflected the dynasty's chronic struggle between royal authority and an increasingly powerful aristocratic faction. His reign coincided with the aftermath of the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Herat in 484, where his predecessor Peroz I was killed fighting the Hephthalites, leaving the treasury depleted and the eastern frontier effectively ceded. Coinage from this reign is correspondingly scarce.