Bahram earned an elevated position in Iran due to his noble descent, character, skills, and accomplishments. The Sasanian king (shah) Hormizd IV () was already distrustful of Bahram and stripped the increasingly popular general of his commands. Bahram began a rebellion aiming to reestablish the "more rightful" Arsacid Empire, identifying himself with the promised savior of the Zoroastrian faith. Before he had reached the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon, Hormizd was assassinated in support of his son, Khosrow II, by another anti-Hormizd faction led by the two Ispahbudhan brothers, Vistahm and Vinduyih. As Bahram captured Ctesiphon, Khosrow II fled to the Byzantine Empire, with the assistance of which he launched a campaign against Bahram, who was defeated with his outnumbered forces, but managed to flee to the Western Turkic Khaganate where he was well received. He was assassinated shortly thereafter at the instigation of Khosrow II, who was then the shah.