A council soon took place among the nobility to discuss what to do with Kavad.
Gushnaspdad, a member of a prominent family of landowners (the Kanarangiyan) proposed that Kavad be executed.
His suggestion was overruled, however, and Kavad was imprisoned instead in the Prison of Oblivion in Khuzestan.
According to Procopius' account, Kavad's wife approached the commander of the prison.
They came to an understanding that she would be allowed to see Kavad in exchange for sleeping with him.
Kavad's friend, Siyawush, who was regularly in the same area as the prison, planned his friend's escape by preparing horses near the prison.
Kavad changed clothes with his wife to disguise himself as a female, and escaped from the prison and fled with Siyawush.

Al-Tabari's account is different.
He says that Kavad's sister helped him to escape by rolling him in a carpet, which she made the guard believe was soaked with her menstrual blood.
The guard did not object or investigate the carpet, "fearing lest he become polluted by it."
One of the authors of the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, John Robert Martindale, proposes she may have in fact been Sambice, Kavad's sister-wife, who was the mother of his eldest son, Kawus.
Regardless, Kavad managed to escape imprisonment, and fled to the court of the Hephthalite king, where he took refuge.
According to the narratives included in the history of al-Tabari, during his flight Kavad met a peasant girl from Nishapur, named Niwandukht, who became pregnant with his child, who would later be Khosrow I. However, the story has been dismissed as "fable" by the Iranologist Ehsan Yarshater.
Khosrow's mother was in reality a noblewoman from the Ispahbudhan clan, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran.
At the Hephthalite court, Kavad gained the support of the Hephthalite king, and also married his daughter (who was Kavad's niece).

During his stay at the Hephthalite court, Kavad might have witnessed the rise of the Hephthalites to a better position than that of their former suzerains, the Kidarites.
The present-day district of Qubadian (the Arabicized form of Kavadian) in Balkh, which was then under Hephthalite rule, was most likely founded by Kavad, and may have been where he lived during his exile.
In 498 (or 499), Kavad returned to Iran with a Hephthalite army.
When he crossed the domains of the Kanarangiyan family in Khorasan, he was met by Adergoudounbades, a member of the family, who agreed to help him.
Another noble who supported Kavad was Zarmihr Karen, a son of Sukhra.

Jamasp and the nobility and clergy did not resist as they wanted to prevent another civil war.
They came to an agreement with Kavad that he would be shah again with the understanding that he would not hurt Jamasp or the elite.
Jamasp was spared, albeit probably blinded, while Gushnaspdad and other nobles who had plotted against Kavad were executed.
Generally, however, Kavad secured his position by lenience.
Adergoudounbades was appointed the new head of the Kanarangiyan, while Siyawush was appointed the head of the Sasanian army (arteshtaran-salar).
Another of Sukhra's sons, Bozorgmehr, was made Kavad's minister (wuzurg framadār).
Kavad's reclamation of his throne displays the troubled circumstances of the empire, where in a time of anarchy a small force was able to overwhelm the nobility-clergy alliance.
A council soon took place among the nobility to discuss what to do with Kavad. Gushnaspdad, a member of a prominent family of landowners (the Kanarangiyan) proposed that Kavad be executed. His suggestion was overruled, however, and Kavad was imprisoned instead in the Prison of Oblivion in Khuzestan. According to Procopius' account, Kavad's wife approached the commander of the prison. They came to an understanding that she would be allowed to see Kavad in exchange for sleeping with him. Kavad's friend, Siyawush, who was regularly in the same area as the prison, planned his friend's escape by preparing horses near the prison. Kavad changed clothes with his wife to disguise himself as a female, and escaped from the prison and fled with Siyawush.
Al-Tabari's account is different. He says that Kavad's sister helped him to escape by rolling him in a carpet, which she made the guard believe was soaked with her menstrual blood. The guard did not object or investigate the carpet, "fearing lest he become polluted by it." One of the authors of the Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, John Robert Martindale, proposes she may have in fact been Sambice, Kavad's sister-wife, who was the mother of his eldest son, Kawus. Regardless, Kavad managed to escape imprisonment, and fled to the court of the Hephthalite king, where he took refuge. According to the narratives included in the history of al-Tabari, during his flight Kavad met a peasant girl from Nishapur, named Niwandukht, who became pregnant with his child, who would later be Khosrow I. However, the story has been dismissed as "fable" by the Iranologist Ehsan Yarshater. Khosrow's mother was in reality a noblewoman from the Ispahbudhan clan, one of the Seven Great Houses of Iran. At the Hephthalite court, Kavad gained the support of the Hephthalite king, and also married his daughter (who was Kavad's niece).
During his stay at the Hephthalite court, Kavad might have witnessed the rise of the Hephthalites to a better position than that of their former suzerains, the Kidarites. The present-day district of Qubadian (the Arabicized form of Kavadian) in Balkh, which was then under Hephthalite rule, was most likely founded by Kavad, and may have been where he lived during his exile. In 498 (or 499), Kavad returned to Iran with a Hephthalite army. When he crossed the domains of the Kanarangiyan family in Khorasan, he was met by Adergoudounbades, a member of the family, who agreed to help him. Another noble who supported Kavad was Zarmihr Karen, a son of Sukhra.
Jamasp and the nobility and clergy did not resist as they wanted to prevent another civil war. They came to an agreement with Kavad that he would be shah again with the understanding that he would not hurt Jamasp or the elite. Jamasp was spared, albeit probably blinded, while Gushnaspdad and other nobles who had plotted against Kavad were executed. Generally, however, Kavad secured his position by lenience. Adergoudounbades was appointed the new head of the Kanarangiyan, while Siyawush was appointed the head of the Sasanian army (arteshtaran-salar). Another of Sukhra's sons, Bozorgmehr, was made Kavad's minister (wuzurg framadār). Kavad's reclamation of his throne displays the troubled circumstances of the empire, where in a time of anarchy a small force was able to overwhelm the nobility-clergy alliance.
Kavad I