Turan towards Balkh, the capital of Iran situated across the river Jihun. The Turani banner was in charge of one named Bidrafush. On Arjasp's side, two generals, Namkhwast and Bidrafush, were noteworthy fighters. They fought strongly and due to their valour and strategy, Arjasp in the beginning appeared to be winning the war. Gustasp lost most of his sons and particularly at the hands of Namkhwast. But Iranis fought back bravely and prevented Arjasp from winning. In the first battle, as well as in the next, Zarir and Asfandiar and Zarir's son, Bashtwar, were the most valiant and strong warriors. "Yadgare-Zariran" mentions the names of the other two warriors who also fought bravely, for instance, it mentions of an incident regarding the Iranian banner which was about to go into the hands of the Turanis, when Garamik-kard of Gustasp's army, rushed bravely into the scene, killed many of the Turanis, and saved the banner. Still holding the banner in between his teeth, he continued to fight, but later, was killed. Garamik-kard was the son of Jamasp, the chief minister of Gustasp and a leading disciple of Zarathustra.

On Arjasp's side, Bidrafush, besides being an expert in stratagem, knew well the art of mystical approaches to capture the mind of the opponent. So with a clever ruse he beguiled and successfully trapped Zarir in the second battle and killed him. Bashtwar, who had also been fighting bravely, on seeing his brave father, Zarir, thus killed in a foul way, got very enraged and rushed to the scene like a wild bull, fought ferociously, killed many Turanis and at last got Bidrafush in an encounter with him and killed him. He then joined Asfandiar and both carried on the slaughter to such an extent that they turned the tide of the war in their favor and later, Turanis were forced to flee. But Asfandiar, instead of pursuing the Turanis to wipe them out completely, spared their lives and Arjasp fleeing fast, returned to Turan. Though Gustasp won this war, the strategic mistake prompted by the soft heart of Asfandiar, which spared Arjasp and his son, brought on Iran the second war, as we shall see.

After this war, Asfandiar left Iran and went to foreign lands to propagate his religion and spent a long time. Meanwhile his insolent and ever-quarreling brother, Kurzam (Kwarzem according to Avesta), ever tried to poison the ears of his father against Asfandiar, but this time, he succeeded in his clever deceit with the result that when Asfandiar returned to Iran after a successful mission, he to his surprise found himself arrested on royal orders and imprisoned in a fort on a mountain, bearing, since then, his name, Spentodat. Later, Gustasp himself left Balkh and went to Siestan and Jabulistan.

Taking advantage of this situation, Arjasp suddenly invaded the capital of Iran and captured Balkh and the lands around it. About twenty years lapsed between his defeat and his second invasion. When Balkh fell into the hands of Arjasp, ex-King Lohrasp, father of Gustasp, who was spending his old age in prayer and meditation, was killed by the fanatics of Arjasp's army near the walls of the fort. The sacred temple of this place was destroyed and in the sacrilege, the entire batch of the priestly inmates were killed. Here, in this temple Zarathustra, who was standing before the Holy Fire in prayer, was stabbed in the back and killed. (In regard to the death of Zarathustra there is a difference of opinion and which will be related after description of this second war).

With grief and sadness, Gustasp heard the news of the treacherous and sudden invasion of Arjasp, the capture of Balkh and the death of Zarathustra and of his old father. He hurriedly left for Khorasan where his son Farshivard, was the governor and there raised an army to meet Arjasp; but without proper preparation, he suffered a defeat and his son, Farshivard, was fatally wounded. Gustasp's eyes now turned towards Asfandiar to whom he went as fast as he could. Gustasp himself brought Asfandiar out of the prison and asked his pardon for the wrong he did and then related the sad news. On the request of his father, Asfandiar readily pledged to defend his country and his religion, for he dearly loved both. He gathered the old warriors, including the brave