The People of the Shahname
Characters of Firdowsi's Shahname
By
Iraj Bashiri
Copyright
Bashiri, (c) 2003
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Abtin
is the father of King Fereydun and the husband of Faranak. He is captured by Zahhak
and, when he attempts to escape, is killed. Abtin's murder, once known, prompts
his son, Fereydun, to seek vengeance. Helped by Kaveh the Blacksmith, Fereydun
captures Zahhak and imprisons him in a cave on Mount Alborz (see Fereydun for
details). Abtin
Afrasiyab,
son of Pashang and grandson of Tur, is one of the most important and warlike
kings of Turan. He kills King Nowzar and rules Iran for twelve years. As the
situation in Iran under Afrasiyab goes from bad to worse, Iranian champions,
especially Qaran and Kishwad, place Zav, son of Tahmasp, on the throne. Zav
signs a treaty with Afrasiyab whereby the Oxus is established as the boundary
between the two countries. An arrow shot from Mt. Damavand is the deciding
factor (see Arash-e Kamangar for details).
Afrasiyab's
most prominent role is that of the ruler of Turan. During his rule, Siyavosh,
son of Kayka'us, becomes enmeshed in Turanian affairs (see Siyavosh). The
history of this involvement is long. When Afrasiyab invades Iran, Siyavosh
volunteers to fight Afrasiyab. Two factors prompt Afrasiyab to sue for peace.
First, Afrasiyab's army receives its first defeat at the hand of Siyavosh. Then
Afrasiyab has a dream in which he is killed by Siyavosh. To prevent his dream
from becoming a reality, he sues for peace. Piran, his commander-in-chief and
Prime Minister, signs the treaty.
Kayka'us
does not approve of the treaty. He replaces Siyavosh with Tus. Siyavosh defects
to Turan, marries Afrasiyab's daughter, Farangis, and builds a small kingdom
for himself, his wife, and future child. The kingdom is called Siyavoshgord.
Fearful of Siyavosh's farr
and prompted by false reports filed by Garsivaz Afrasiyab kills Siyavosh.
To avenge the
death of Siyavosh, Kaykhusrau sends a number of expeditions to Turan to capture
or kill Afrasiyab. None succeeds. Finally, he himself enters the war and kills
both Afrasiyab and Garsivaz (see the Iran-Turan Wars for details). Afrasiyab
Aghriras is one
of the two sons of Pashang; the other brother is Afrasiyab, the ruler of Turan.
Unlike Afrasiyab, Aghriras is kind and gentle. During the wars between Nowzar and Turan, Aghriras tries his
best to persuade his father, Pashang, to cease hostilities against Iran. He
does not succeed. Instead, he is ordered to accompany his brother, Afrasiyab,
to serve as his consultant. When Nowzar falls into Turanian hands, Afrasiyab
puts Aghriras in charge. He colludes with Zal. Aghriras is cut in half by his
brother, Afrasiyab, on charges of treason.
Aghriras
Aingushasp, son
of Chosres I, is one of the champions of the Sassanian monarch Hurmuzd IV (AD
579-590). Hurmuzd dispatches Aingushasp to quell a rebellion led by Bahram
Chubineh. He is murdered on the way by a prisoner whom he had released earlier,
before his departure to face Bahram Chubineh. Aingushasp's head is presented to
his enemy.
At the end of
his rule, the war between the Pishdadian monarch, Manuchehr, and the Turanian,
Afrasiyab, reaches a dead end. The stronger, Afrasiyab, who held Manuchehr in
Mazandaran, allows Manuchehr to rule as much of Iranshahr as an Iranian arrow
can fly. Using a magical bow, Arash volunteers to throw the fateful arrow. He
stands on Mount Damavand and lets go of the arrow. A long time later, the arrow
lands on the shore of the Oxus (present-day Amu Dariya) River. For a long time
thereafter, the Oxus served as the boundary between Iran and Turan.[1] It should be added that
the difficult throw saps Arash of his strength and he dies soon after the feat. Arash-e Kamangar
Arjasp
After
Afrasiyab is killed by Kaykhusrau, Arjasp ascends the throne of Turan. He not
only refuses to send tribute to the court of Gushtasp, the monarch ruling the
Iranian lands, but he states that Gushtasp should send tribute to him. And for
a while he does.
After
the advent of the Prophet Zoroaster, Gushtasp refuses to follow tradition and
send tribute to Arjasp. Arjasp advises Gushtasp to comply with his wishes, but
Gushtasp refuses. Consequently, Arjasp invades Iran. He kills Gushtasp's
brother, Zarir, and three of Gushtasp's sons, Ardashir, Shidsab and Nivaz. At
the end, thanks to the valor of Bastur, Zarir's son, and the strength of the
armor-clad Isfandiyar, the Turanians are defeated.
In
later years, Arjasp sends an army headed by his son, Kahram, against Gushtasp.
Kahram captures Balkh, kills Luhrasp, Gushtasp's father, and torches the
temples of fire. He even burns the Avesta. As the war grows, Gushtasp and Arjasp face each other in
the battlefield. Gushtasp is defeated and thirty-eight of his sons are killed.
Gushtasp himself, however, escapes.
Arjasp and his
sons, Kahram and Andariman, were killed by Isfandiyar (see Isfandiyar for
details). Arjasp
1)
The name of the div
(demon) who took Kayka'us to Mazandaran and imprisoned him.
2)
Son of Zereh, a Turanian champion.
3)
Name of the well in Turan in which Bizhan was imprisoned.
4) Prophet
Mani's book, which is supposed to have been ingeniously illustrated. Arzhang
Ashkabus
One
of the famous Kashani (cf., Kushan) champions who aids Afrasiyab's army, headed
by Piran, during the Hamavan War. He defeats Ruhham, Gudarz's son. When Ruhham
flees the battlefield, Tus moves to face the Kashani champion, but Rustam asks
his permission to face the Kashani instead.
The Iranian
champion enters the battlefield on foot. Without his Rakhsh, Ashkbus does not
recognize Rustam. He speeds his horse to run Rustam down but is struck down by
Rustam's arrow. Ashkabus
Bahman,
Isfandiyar's son, is sent as a messenger to Rustam to bring him to his father. Fearing
that the Iranian champion might kill his father, Bahman tries to kill Rustam by
rolling a boulder into his camp. Rustam dodges the boulder. Bahman then
approaches Rustam formally and relays his father's message. Rustam and
Isfandiyar fight. Isfandiyar is killed. At his death, Isfandiyar entrusts
Bahman to Rustam (see Isfandiyar for details).[2]
Rustam
takes Bahman to Zabulistan and educates him in the manners of the kings. Some
time later, Gushtasp asks Rustam to send his grandson to him. Gushtasp renames
his grandson Ardashir and bestows the throne and crown of Iran on him.
Upon
Rustam's death, Bahman invades Sistan, destroys Zabul, and imprisons Zal. He
sends Rustam's son, Faramarz, to the gallows. Eventually, after listening to
his uncle, Pashutan, he repents his actions and allows Zal to return to Iran.
Bahman has a
son, called Sassan, and a daughter, called Humay. He married Humay and, at his
death, passes Iran's kingship to her (see Humay Chihrzad for details). Bahman
Bivar Asp
See, Zahhak
Bizhan
is the son of Giv from Banu Gashasp Savar, daughter of Rustam, and grandson of
Gudarz. He lives during the kingship of Kaykhusrau. When Giv departs Iran for
Turan to find Kaykhusrau and bring him to Iran, he leaves his son Bizhan with
his father to be educated in the manner of the champions. Banu Gashasp,
Bizhan's mother and Rustam's daughter, go to Zabul to live with Rustam.
Bizhan
participates in a number of events including the killing of Farud, Siyavosh's
son from Jarireh, Piran's daughter; Ru'in, Piran's son; and Human, Piran's
brother.
The
most important event in the life of Bizhan is his love for Manizheh, the other
daughter of Afrasiyab. Afrasiyab is not happy at his daughter's living with
Bizhan; he sends Garsivaz to bring Bizhan to him. Once Bizhan is at his court,
Afrasiyab decides to send him to the gallows, but Piran intervenes. Bizhan then
is imprisoned in a deep well.
Kaykhusrau
sees Bizhan in his "crystal ball" and sends Rustam to rescue him.
Rustam saves Bizhan and, along with Manizheh, brings him to Iran.
After
Kaykhusrau abdicates and walks to his destiny, Bizhan returns with the other
champions who had accompanied their king on the last leg of his journey. He is
caught in the snowstorm and, like the other champions, perishes. Bizhan
According to
Firdowsi, Dara is the son of Darab, the son of Bahman. He embodies the period
of Iranian history that begins with the rulership of Yazdagird III and ends
with the conquest of Iran by Alexander the Great. . Dara
Darab
Darab is the
son of Bahman. In the Shahname, he embodies Iranian history from the death of
Bahman to the time of Dara (cf., Yazdagird III), the Iranian monarch who was
defeated by Alexander the Great. Darab
Darafsh-e Kaviyan
The
word "darafsh" refers to a triangular piece of cloth that ancient
warriors tied around their head or their helmet. It is decorated in gold
writing and loose on one end so that it flutters in the wind.
In the Shahname, Darafsh-e Kaviyan
refers to the banner that Kaveh the Blacksmith fashions out of his apron to
serve as the flag of liberation against the oppression of Zahhak. In later
times, this flag becomes the banner identifying kings and champions. Decorated
with gems, this flag is kept close to the person of the king. Darafsh-e Kaviyan
Usually
translated as demon, in the Shahname, they are a race of demons that populate
Mazandaran. They are known for having captured and imprisoned Kayka'us and his
champions. An intermediary between the human and the animal kingdoms, divs often appear as giants.
In this situation, their actions and decisions are the opposite of those of
humans. For instance, when the White Demon lifts Rustam to the sky and intends
to throw him down, he gives Rustam the option of falling into the sea or onto
land. Rustam chooses land and, thereby, is thrown into the sea. Div
Div-e Sepid or White Demon
is the title of the commander-in-chief of the army of Mazandaran. When Kayka'us
invades Mazandaran and confronts the White Demon, he is defeated. Along with
his champions, he is then blinded and imprisoned. Rustam goes to Mazandaran,
passes seven hurdles, the last of which is killing the White Demon and rescues
Kayka'us and his champions. Then using a few drops of the blood of the White
Demon he restores the prisoners' sights (see Haft Khan for details.) Div-e Sepid
Faramarz
is the son of Rustam. We see Faramarz for the first time when Rustam invades
Turan to avenge the death of Siyavosh. In that war, he kills Varazad, ruler of
Sepijab, and captures Surkheh, son of Afrasiyab. For a while he is appointed by
Kaykhusrau as the ruler of Zabul City on the border of Turan. When Rustam
captures India, Faramarz is given the rulership of India. When Rustam goes to
Turan to rescue Bizhan, he entrusts the rulership of Zabul to Faramarz.
During the battles
of Rustam and Isfandiyar, Faramarz kills Mehrnush, son of Isfandiyar. After
Rustam and Zavareh are killed, he takes their bodies to Zabul and places them
in a crypt. Then, he invades Kabul, puts the King of Kabul in chains and throws
him in the same well in which Rustam had died. He also burns Shaghad and the
tree to which he was pinned. Bahman, son of Isfandiyar, invades Sistan to
avenge his father's murder. He puts Zal in chains and sends Faramarz to the
gallows. Faramarz
Farangis
is the daughter of Afrasiyab and wife of Siyavosh. After Siyavosh takes refuge
in Turan, he marries Jarireh, the daughter of Piran and later, Farangis, the
daughter of Afrasiyab. For a while, Farangis and Siyavosh live a tranquil life
in Siyavoshgord, but soon, due to Garsivaz's plot, Siyavosh is killed. At the
time, Farangis is pregnant. Afrasiyab orders her to be flogged so that she
would drop the child (see Siyavosh for details). Piran rescues Farangis. Kaykhusrau,
Siyavosh's son is born in the house of Piran. Piran entrusts the boy to a
shepherd to raise him (see Kaykhusrau for details).
Giv travels to
Turan and brings both the mother and her son, Kaykhusrau, back to Iran.
Fariburz, Kayka'us's son and Kaykhusrau's uncle, asks Farangis to marry him.
Farangis refuses at first, but persuaded by Rustam, she accepts. Farangis
Fariburz
is the son of Kayka'us. He accompanies Kayka'us to Mazandaran. He is also one
of the Iranian champions sent by Kayka'us to confront Suhrab. When Giv brings
Kaykhusrau from Turan to be installed as the successor to Kayka'us, Tus opposes
the rulership of Kaykhusrau and supports Fariburz. Eventually, they decide that
of the two, the one who captures the Bahman Fortress will become the ruler.
Fariburz and Tus storm the fortress but both fail. Kaykhusrau and Gudarz storm
the Fortress and capture it. Kaykhusrau thus becomes the king of Iran.
Thereafter, Fariburz obeys Kaykhusrau and participates in the wars between Iran
and Turan. After Tus is defeated by the Turanians, Fariburz is sent to replace
him. Helped by Rustam, Fariburz married Farangis, Kaykhusrau's mother.
After
Kaykhusrau abdicated and walked to his destiny, Fariburz is among the champions
who accompany him until he disappears. Like the other champions who accompany
Kaykhusrau all the way, he perishes in the snowstorm. Fariburz
Fereydun
is the son of Abtin and Faranak. Forty years before the end of his rulership,
Zahhak has a dream. He asks his mu'bads and astrologers for an interpretation. They foresee that a
child not yet born will kill Zahhak and ascend the throne of Iran. Fearing that
that child will become king, Zahhak sends his henchmen throughout the world to
find and eliminate that child. In spite of all the difficulties created in the
realm for pregnant mothers, Fereydun is born. Zahhak's henchmen find Fereydun's
father, Abtin, and kill him. But they cannot find the child.
Faranak
takes her son to the meadows and asks a guard to raise him on Barmayeh's milk.
The guard raises Fereydun for three years on milk from Barmayeh.[3] She had been foretold to nurse the young
child. Finally, Zahhak discovers Fereydun's hiding place and goes there to kill
him. But, Faranak, inspired by her farr, reaches Fereydun before Zahhak; she takes Fereydun to Mt.
Alborz and entrusts him to an upright man there. Frustrated, Zahhak kills Barmayeh
and the rest of the animals in the pasture. Fereydun stays on the mountain
until he is sixteen. At that time he asks his mother about his ancestry,
especially about the identity of his father.
Once
he learns who he really is and what has happened to his family, he decides to
avenge his father. At the same time, Kaveh the Blacksmith also rises against
Zahhak. Kaveh had eighteen sons, seventeen of whom were killed and their brains
fed to Zahhak's snakes. Kaveh decides to deprive Zahhak of the brain of his
last child. He, therefore, gathers his followers and together they approach
Fereydun and make him their king.
Fereydun
then orders a heavy mace to be made for him. It is a heavy mace that looks like
the head of a cow. Thus equipped, Fereydun heads in the direction of Zahhak's
court to stop his aggression. In the battle that follows, Fereydun captures
Zahhak and imprisons him in Mt. Damavand. He then crowns himself king and
rescues Arnavaz and Shahrnaz, the daughters of Jamshid, who had been held in
prison by Zahhak, their husband. Once Zahhak's legacy is destroyed, Fereydun
marries both Arnavaz and Shahrnaz.
At
age 50, Fereydun has a son from Arnavaz, named Iraj. He also has two other sons
called Salm and Tur from Shahrnaz. Fereydun divides his kingdom among his sons.
Dissatisfied with their portions, Salm and Tur conspire and kill Iraj. Fereydun
raises Manuchehr, Iraj's grandson through Iraj's daughter. Manuchehr kills Salm
and Tur. At the age of 500, with a broken heart over the death of his three
sons, Fereydun steps down in favor of Manuchehr.
Fereydun's
division of his kingdom creates three major cycles in the epic. First, there is
vengeance for the murder of innocent Iraj, second is vengeance for the death of
Siyavosh, and the third, and last, is a series of wars of religion waged by
Gushtasp and his House to promote the religion of Zoroaster. Fereydun
Farshidvard
is the son of Gushtasp and brother of Isfandiyar. He is the ruler of Khorasan.
Farshidvard
2
Farshidvard 2
is the son of Viseh and brother of Piran, commander-in-chief of the Turanian
army. Farshidvard
Farud
is the son of Siyavosh from Jarireh, the daughter of Piran. Farud and his
mother live at the border fortress of Kalat on Sepid Kuh. Kaykhusrau
commissions Tus to invade Turan and avenge the murder of his father, Siyavosh.
When Tus prepares his army to leave for Turan, Kaykhusrau orders him to stay
clear of Kalat where his (Kaykhusrau's) stepbrother lives. Tus, as if on
purpose, moves the army to Kalat. Farud and Takhar appear on the crest of the
mountain, surveying the Iranian army. Farud intends to join the army that
intends to avenge his father's death. Tus, on the other hand, sends his
warriors to capture Farud and Takhar and bring them to him.
In
the initial stages of the hostilities, Farud kills Tus's son-in-law, Rivniz,
and Tus's son, Zarasp. Following that Tus himself is humiliated. Finally,
Bizhan, son of Giv, enters the field and forces a wounded Farud to retreat to
his fortress. Subsequently, Farud dies at the hand of his mother. But before he
dies, he orders all his maids to throw themselves off the walls of the
fortress.
Without Farud,
Jarireh has no more reason or desire to live. She kills all their horses, sets
fire to the fortress, and commits suicide. The next day, when Tus storms the
fortress, there is no one there to oppose his entrance. All that is left for
him, of course, is the burdensome pain of reporting his misdeed to Kaykhusrau
and reaping the consequences of his unwise move (see Tus for the reasons for
his actions against Farud). Farud
2) Garshasp is one of the warriors of the
House of Manuchehr and Nowzar who participates in the early wars between Iran
and Turan.
Garshasp
(king)
The
tenth and last king of the Pishdadian dynasty, Garshasp succeeds Zav, his
father, who steps down in his favor before he dies. Pashang, the king of Turan,
learning about the death of Zav, invades Iran with an army headed by his son
Afrasiyab. It is the ninth and last year of Garshasp's rule. He is defeated by
Afrasiyab. Garshasp
Garsivaz
Garsivaz
is the son of Pashang and brother of Afrasiyab. Upon Manuchehr's death, with
Garsivaz's support, Pashang invades Iran. Their brother Aghriras serves as
Afrasiyab's consultant.
Garsivaz's
granddaughter marries Kayka'us and bears Siyavosh (see Siyavosh for details).
When Afrasiyab invades Iran, Garsivaz is the commander of the Turanian forces.
Siyavosh defeats him. When Siyavosh builds Siyavoshgord in Turan, Garsivaz is
Afrasiyab's envoy and spy at the court of Siyavosh. Garsivaz's plot against Siyavosh ends in the death of the
innocent prince. At the end of the Great War, Kaykhusrau kills both Garsivaz
and Afrasiyab. Garsivaz
Garu-ye Zereh
is one of Garsivaz's henchmen. During the first days of his stay in Turan,
Siyavosh defeats Garu-ye Zereh in a game of polo. Thereafter, Garu dislikes
Siyavosh. When Garsivaz looks for men who would kill Siyavosh, he chooses
Garu-ye Zereh. Garu-ye Zereh beheads Siyavosh at Siyavoshgord. In the battle of
the Twelve Rooks, Garu-ye Zereh is defeated by Giv and brought to Kaykhusrau in
shackles. Kaykhusrau orders him to be dismembered. Garu-ye Zareh
Giv
is the most prominent son of Gudarz, and the father of Bizhan. He accompanies
Kayka'us to Mazandaran and Hamavaran, where they are imprisoned; Rustam rescues
them. Gudarz commissions Giv to search Turan for Kaykhusrau and bring him to
Iran. After a seven-year search, Giv finds Kaykhusrau. He accompanies
Kaykhusrau to Siyavoshgord, picks up Farangis, and brings both back to Iran.
Piran, upon learning about the flight of Kaykhusrau to Iran, sends his brothers
Kulbad and Nastahan, along with 300 warriors, in pursuit. Giv fights that army
single-handedly and puts them to flight. After that, Piran appears with a
thousand champions to capture Giv and his companions. Giv succeeds in
separating Piran from his army and capturing him. Farangis and Kaykhusrau
intervene and Piran is released. Giv then continues his way to Iran. Giv
remains one of the most celebrated champions in the wars of Kaykhusrau and
Afrasiyab. In the battle of the Twelve Rooks, Giv captures Garu-ye Zereh, the
Turanian who had beheaded Siyavosh. He brings Garu-ye Zereh to Kaykhusrau (see
Garu-ye Zereh, Siyavosh, for further detail).
After
Kaykhusrau abdicates and walks to his destiny, Giv is among the champions who
accompany the king until he disappears. Like others, he is caught in the
snowstorm and perishes. Giv
Gordafarid is
the daughter of Gazhdaham, the warrior who is in charge of the Sepid Fortress.
A very bold woman, she is usually clad in armor like a man. When Hazhir, who
also is in charge of the Sepid Fortress, is defeated by Suhrab, and taken
captive, Gordafarid disguises herself as a young warrior and faces Suhrab. In
the struggle that follows, Gordafarid is unmasked. She flees towards the
fortress. Suhrab puts her in chains. Gordafarid argues that as a champion,
Suhrab should not appear to have fought a woman. Suhrab, who has fallen in love
with her, is deceived. He accompanies her to the fortress. As soon as she
enters the fortress, Gordafarid orders the gate shut. Suhrab remains behind the
closed gate. That night, Gordafarid, her father, and his supporters leave the
fortress. The next day, when Suhrab storms the fortress and enters, there is no
one in it. Gordafarid
Gudarz
Gudarz
is the son of Kishwad who lived during the time of Fereydun, and the father of
Giv. He is the founder of the House of Kishwad (also known as the House of
Gudarz). After the House of Saam, his is the most important circle of
champions. He serves both Kayka'us and Kaykhusrau. His 78 sons and grandsons
form the circle of champions of the Kayanian Dynasty. They are the holders of
the Kayanian banner.
Gudarz
accompanies Kayka'us to Mazandaran and Hamavaran, where they are imprisoned
and, later, rescued by Rustam of Zabul. In the altercations between Rustam and
Kayka'us on the question of Suhrab, Gudarz mediates and persuades Rustam to
accept the command of the army that was sent against Suhrab. After the death of
Siyavosh, Gudarz becomes the governor of Sughd. When the rulership of Iran,
under Kayka'us, becomes chaotic, he and the other champions return to the
capital to resolve the question of rulership.
During
these chaotic times, one night, Surush visits Gudarz and informs him that
Iran's problems can be solved by Kaykhusrau, son of Siyavosh, who resided in
Turan at the time. Gudarz sends his son, Giv, to Turan to bring Kaykhusrau back
to Iran. When Kaykhusrau arrives in Iran, the question of legitimacy pits
Fariburz, Kayka'us's son, supported by Tus and his champions, against
Kaykhusrau, supported by Gudarz and his champions.
After
Tus's defeat in Turan, the command of the army passes to Fariburz. Gudarz and
70 of his sons accompany Fariburz to Turan. Due to Fariburz's weakness, the
Iranian army is defeated and many Iranians are killed. Of the House of Gudarz, only
8 remain. Gudarz participates in
the Great War of Kaykhusrau. He plans the battle of the Twelve Rooks. At the
end, he personally fights Piran and kills him. He drinks Piran's blood and
smears it on his own face; but he cannot make himself behead the old Turanian
warrior.
When
Kaykhusrau abdicates, from the 78 sons and grandsons of Gudarz, whose House has
served Iran since the time of Manuchehr, only 8 remain. Kaykhusrau appoints
Gudarz to the rulership of Esfahan and Qum.
Gudarz
accompanies Kaykhusrau on his journey to the clear light. Unlike the champions
who perish in a snowstorm after Kaykhusrau disappears, Gudarz listens to Zal
and Rustam and, half way through the journey, returns. Gudarz
Gurgin is the
son of Milad and one of Kayka'us' champions. He travels with Kayka'us to
Mazandaran and Hamavaran and is present during the mortal combat between Rustam
and Suhrab. Later, he is one of the champions of Kaykhusrau. In fact, he is the
champion who takes Kaykhusrau's message to Afrasiyab. When Tus storms Farud's
Fortress, Gurgin is present there as well. Gurgin incites Bizhan to enter Afrasiyab's harem where he
falls in love with Afrasiyab's daughter, Manizheh. To punish him, Afrasiyab
imprisons Bizhan in a well from which Rustam rescues him. When Kaykhusrau is
informed of Gurgin's treachery, he imprisons Gurgin. However, Rustam, before
leaving for Turan, intercedes on behalf of Gurgin, and Kaykhusrau forgives him.
Then, Gurgin accompanies Rustam to Turan to help with the rescue of Bizhan.
Bizhan, too, on Rustam's insistence, forgives Gurgin. In the battle of the
Twelve Rooks, Gurgin is the ninth Iranian champion to fight. He fights
Andariman and defeats him. He is present during Kaykhusrau's Great War and
remains one of the major champions at his court. After Kaykhusrau's
disappearance, we do not hear any more about Gurgin. Gurgin
Gushtasp
is the son of Luhrasp of the Kayanian Dynasty. Luhrasp has two sons, Gushtasp
and Zarir. Wayward from the time that he was a young champion, Gushtasp wants
his father to abdicate in his favor so that he can use his youthful days to
organize the affairs of the kingdom. But Luhrasp does not agree with him. Gushtasp,
therefore, leaves Iran for India. Luhrasp sends Zarir, Gushtasp's brother, to
India in search of him. Zarir finds his brother and brings him back to Iran.
In
Iran, Gushtasp claims the rulership again and is disappointed a second time. He
leaves Iran once again, this time for Rum. There, he marries Katayun, the
daughter of the Caesar of Rum. Luhrasp eventually relents and agrees to
abdicate in Gushtasp's favor. Gushtasp returns to Iran and ascends the throne.
The
major event of the rulership of Gushtasp is the appearance of the Prophet
Zoroaster. Gushtasp not only accepts Zoroaster's religion but also promotes it.
To bring the Turanians into the fold, he invades Turan and battles with Arjasp.
In the first battle with Arjasp, however, he loses three of his own sons
(Ardashir, Shidsab, and Nivzad) and his brother, Zarir. But he continues the
war until the Turanians are defeated by his son Isfandiyar (see Isfandiyar for
details).
Gushtasp,
suspicious of Isfandiyar's loyalty, imprisons him. Then he travels to Sistan
and stays with Zal and Rustam, and their champions for two years. During this
time, he teaches them the Avesta
and brings them into the Zoroastrian fold.
Meanwhile,
Arjasp invades Balkh and kills Gushtasp's father, Luhrasp. Out of necessity,
Gushtasp releases his son Isfandiyar from prison to encounter Arjasp.
Isfandiyar defeats the Turanians and kills Arjasp. Although he had promised to
abdicate the throne in Isfandiyar's favor after the defeat of Arjasp, Gushtasp
reneges on his promise. When Isfandiyar brings up the question of rulership
again, Gushtasp assigns Isfandiyar a task from which he knows he will not
return victorious. He asks him to bring Rustam to his court in chains. He says
the reason for his hostility against Rustam is that the House of Nariman has
ignored its duty of paying homage to him. Isfandiyar is killed by Rustam (see
Isfandiyar for details). At his death, Isfandiyar entrusts his son, Bahman, to
Rustam.
Gushtasp rules
for 120 years. At the end, he passes the rulership of Iran to Bahman,
Isfandiyar's son. Gushtasp
Gustaham
is the son of Nowzar and brother of Tus. He participates in the war between
Nowzar and Afrasiyab. Tus and Gustaham, on Nowzar's orders, take their families
to Mount Alborz. After Nowzar's death, Zal and other Iranian champions choose
Zav as Iran's future king. They feel that Tus and Gustaham are not endowed with
the farr and,
therefore, they are not worthy of kingship. Gustaham and Tus, thereafter,
become members of the circle of champions. Gustaham is present during
Kaykhusrau's Great War. After Kaykhusrau's victory, he becomes the governor of
the Gang Fortress. After Kaykhusrau disappears in the bright light, he serves
Luhrasp. Gustaham is commissioned by Luhrasp to go to Rum in search of
Gushtasp. He accompanies Rustam to Turan to rescue Bizhan. After the death of
Piran, he pursues Farshidvard and Lahhak. He kills Farshidvard. In this
struggle, Gustaham is wounded and nearly dies. He is saved by Kaykhusrau who
uses his magic beads to heal him. Kaykhusrau had inherited his magic beads from
Hushang, Tahmuras, and Jamshid.
After
Kaykhusrau abdicates and walks to his destiny, we do not hear any more about
Gustaham. He could have been among the champions who accompanied Kaykhusrau and
did not return. Gustaham
Haft
Khan or Seven Labors are tasks that a champion accomplishes to achieve a goal.
In the Shahname, there
are two Haft Khans: Haft Khan-i Rustam and Haft Khan-i Isfandiyar.
Haft
Khan-i Rustam
On
his way to Mazandaran to rescue Kayka'us and his champions, Rustam passes seven
hurdles. These include,
1.
A battle
between Rakhsh and a lion in which Rakhsh kills the lion.
2.
Guided by
Gharm, a spring of clear water appears before Rustam.
3.
Rustam
kills a dragon.
4.
Rustam
kills a witch.
5.
Rustam rips
the ears off the field patrol.
6.
Rustam
kills Arzhang, the demon.
7.
Rustam
kills the White Demon.
Haft
Khan-i Isfandiyar
·
Isfandiyar
kills two wolves.
·
Isfandiyar
kills several lions.
·
Isfandiyar
kills a dragon.
·
Isfandiyar
kills a witch.
·
Isfandiyar
kills a man-eating Simurgh.
·
Isfandiyar
crosses the land covered by snow.
·
Isfandiyar
crosses the river. Haft Khan
Humay
Chehrzad is the daughter of Bahman, son of Isfandiyar and grandson of Gushtasp.
Bahman marries Humay but becomes ill when she is six-months pregnant. Realizing
that his death is near, he summons the nobles and appoints Humay vice-regent
until the birth of their child, be it a son or a daughter. After Bahman's
death, Humay ascends the throne. Then, she gives birth to a son, Darab, whom
she keeps hidden for a long time. After eight months, she places Darab in a box
and allows it to float on the Euphrates. A dyer retrieves the box, saves Darab
and raises him.
Darab becomes a
strong young man trained in horse riding, polo and the arts of war. When an
army from Rum invades the Western boundaries of Iran, Humay sends an army
headed by Rashnwad against the Rumi foe. Darab joins the service of Rashnwad.
Rashnwad recognizes Darab and informs Humay about him. After a victory over the
army of Rum, Rashnwad and Darab come to Humay. After 32 years of rule, Humay
hands down the kingship to Darab. Humay
Hushang is one
of the kings of the Pishdadian dynasty. He is the son of Siyamak and grandson
of Kayumars. Hushang contributes to the prosperity of the Creator's material
world by discovering fire and metals, and by forging weaponry. He harnesses the
rivers, promotes agriculture, domesticates animals, and teaches his people how
to exploit the bounty that nature has placed at their reach. Hushang
Iraj is the
youngest son of Fereydun from Arnavaz. When Fereydun divides his kingdom, he
gives Iraj the farr, as well as the heartland of Iran (see Fereydun, Salm, Tur,
for details). Salm and Tur, the sons of Fereydun's other wife, Shahrnavaz,
conspire and kill Iraj. The revenge for the murder of the innocent king pits
the clan of Iraj, supported by King Fereydun, against the clan of Tur.
Subsequently, Manuchehr, Iraj's grandson from a slave maiden, kills both Salm
and Tur. As for Fereydun, he abdicated in favor of his grandson, Manuchehr (see
Manuchehr for details). Iraj
An
armor-clad Iranian champion, Isfandiyar, is the son of Gushtasp and Katayun,
the daughter of the Caesar of Rum. After the advent of the Prophet Zoroaster,
alongside his father, Gushtasp, and his uncle, Zarir, he accepts the religion
of Zoroaster.
When
faced with the wrath of Arjasp, especially after his brother Zarir is killed,
Gushtasp takes an oath that he will marry his daughter, Humay, to whoever
avenges the death of Zarir. When Isfandiyar volunteers to face Arjasp, Gushtasp
goes as far as promising his son the throne and crown of Iran.
Isfandiyar,
who desires ascending the throne more than anything else in the world, fights
Arjasp and defeats him. He kills Bidarafsh who had killed Zarir, the object of
his father's vow for abdication. Upon returning to his father's court, Gushtasp
fulfills only the first part of his promise. He marries Isfandiyar to Humay,
but he does not bestow the throne and the crown upon Isfandiyar. Rather, he
sets his son a new task at the completion of which, he promises, he will
abdicate in his favor. His assignment is to battle the infidels and bring all
of them into the Zoroastrian fold. Isfandiyar conquers India, Rum, and Yemen
and brings large populations within the Zoroastrian fold. But Gushtasp fails to
carry out his promise. Conversely, fearing Isfandiyar's rising popularity, he
imprisons the prince in the Gunbadan Fortress. Then he goes to Zabul for two
years and stays with Zal and Rustam, and converts the people of Zabul and
Sistan to the Zoroastrian faith.
While
Gushtasp is in Zabul, he receives news that Arjasp had invaded Balkh, his
capital, killed his father Luhrasp, and taken his daughters prisoner. Out of
necessity, he releases Isfandiyar to battle Arjasp and rescue his sisters from
Arjasp's prison. Once again Gushtasp promises Isfandiyar that upon his defeat
of Arjasp and release of his daughters, Humay and Bihafarid, he will bestow the
throne and crown upon him. Once again Isfandiyar defeats the Turanians. This
time he even kills Arajasp and releases his sisters. Once again Gushtasp
reneges on his promise. Instead, he promises to make Isfandiyar king after the
latter brings Rustam, Iran's national champion, to his court in chains.
Isfandiyar
takes the army of Iran, the army that had been under the command of Rustam for
centuries, to Zabul to fight Rustam, if necessary, and put chains on him. In
Zabul, he sends his son, Bahman, to Rustam with a stern message: either allow
me to put chains on you and take you to my father's court or be ready to fight
against the army of Iran. Rustam comes to Isfandiyar's camp personally to
discuss the situation and invites him to his court. Isfandiyar does not change
his mind. He even refuses Rustam's suggestion that they go back together as two
champions. There, Rustam says, he will apologize to his king for any
shortcomings that might have angered him. Isfandiyar does not accept.
In
the battle that ensues, Rustam is defeated. Both he and Rakhsh, his horse, are
mortally wounded by Isfandiyar. Isfandiyar, however, remains unharmed as Rustam
with his ordinary arrows cannot penetrate his armor. To help his son, Zal seeks
the advice of Simurgh
by burning one of the bird's feathers. Simurgh takes care of the wounds of Rustam and
Rakhsh and advises Rustam to fashion an arrow from the wood of the gaz tree. By shooting that arrow directly
into Isfandiyar's eye, the only part of his body that is not armor clad, he
says, Rustam will be able to overcome him. He also foresees that Isfandiyar's
killer will not live much longer after Isfandiyar's death.
Rustam follows Simurgh's advice and kills Isfandiyar.
While passing his last hours, Isfandiyar entrusts his son, Bahman, to Rustam.
Rustam promises to take care of him as he had taken care of Siyavosh. Isfandiyar
Jamasp
is the court minister of Gushtasp and the husband of Puruchista, the daughter
of Zoroaster. In the religious war between Arjasp and Gushtasp, Jamasp's son
and Gushtasp's brother are killed. Upon his return to Balkh, Gushtasp builds a
fire temple and makes Jamasp its mu'bad. After the death of Zoroaster, Jamasp becomes the main
source of inspiration for the faithful, displacing Gushtasp.
After
Isfandiyar defeats Arjasp, Gushtasp decides to step down in favor of his son.
But Garzam speaks ill about Isfandiyar and makes Gushtasp reexamine his
decision. Instead, Gushtasp sends Jamasp to Isfandiyar, brings him to his
court, and imprisons him.
When
the Turanians invade again, Jamasp is sent to prison to persuade Isfandiyar to
come to his father's aid and fight the army of Arjasp.
After the
defeat of Arjasp, Jamasp advises Gushtasp to send Isfandiyar to Zabul to
capture Rustam and bring him back in chains. A good astrologer, Jamasp sees it
in the stars that Isfandiyar will not return from Zabul (see Rustam, Isfandiyar,
for details). Jamasp
Jamshid
is the fourth ruler of the Pishdadian dynasty. He lives for a thousand years
and rules for 600 years over people, divs, birds, and genies. He teaches people to forge weapons, spin
wool, weave silk and cotton, and extract gold, silver and precious stones. He
builds palaces and discovers remedies for many diseases. Jamshid divides the
people into four categories: priests; warriors; landowners; and merchants. When
he is at the peak of his power, he makes a throne and orders the divs to take it up to the heavens. The day
that he attempts to reach the abode of the Creator and is hurled down is the
last day of his glory.
The
throne that he fashions to be lifted to the heavens falls short of the abode of
the Creator because the divs
or the vultures lifting it lose their power. In any event, Jamshid loses his farr that had been bestowed on him by the Creator.
His kingdom is invaded by the Semite Zahhak (see Zahhak for further details).
While escaping, Jamshid is caught by Zahhak and cut in half.
An event during
the reign of Jamshid is related to his building a "var" to protect
couples of all species in the world so that they can survive an extremely cold
winter. Another event, which is a major cultural event in Iranian mythological
history, is Jamshid's establishment of the Now Ruz (New Year) celebration. A
large population of the world, including Iranians, commemorates the Now Ruz on
the day of the Vernal Equinox, usually on the 21st day of March. Jamshid
Katayun
Kaveh
Kaveh
is a blacksmith who, after a thousand years of Zahhak's unjust rule, rises against
the tyrant and, with the help of Fereydun, ends the reign of terror in Iran.
Two factors motivate Kaveh. One is his loyalty to the Pishdadian dynasty. The
other is his loyalty to his family. Zahhak's henchmen had already killed
seventeen of Kaveh's sons and fed their brains to Zahhak's snakes. Now they are
taking Kaveh's last son (see Zahhak for details). He comes to Zahhak's palace
to ask for mercy exactly at the same time that Zahhak is forcing the people to
sign a document praising his sense of justice and fair play. Rather than
listening to Kaveh's problem, Zahhak asks Kaveh to sign the statement. Kaveh
refuses to sign. Instead, he tears the document into pieces and leaves the
palace.
To help revive
the Pishdadian dynasty, Kaveh seeks Fereydun, son of Abtin, who had been
foreseen as Iran's only hope for getting rid of Zahhak. He gathers his
followers and persuades Fereydun to overthrow the tyrant (see Fereydun for
details). Kaveh
The
Kayanian dynasty is the second and last dynasty of Iranian mythological
monarchs. It begins with Kayqubad and ends with Kaygarshasp. In the Shahname, Humay, Darab, Dara, and Iskandar
(Alexander the Great) are also included in the dynasty.
With
Garshasp, the last Pishdadian monarch dead and Tus and Gustaham deemed
incapable of rule--they do not have the farr--the country is at the mercy of Afrasiyab.
The Iranians seek and find a man who, like Fereydun, carries the farr. His name is Qubad and he resides on
Mount Alborz. As Kayqubad, he confronts Afrasiyab and pushes his army beyond
the Oxus. The Kayanian dynasty is thus established.
The
Kayanian dynasty can be divided into three periods:
1) From Kayqubad to Kaykhusrau. This
period includes the rulership of Kayqubad, Kayka'us, and Kaykhusrau. The best
way of distinguishing this period is to relate it to the age of the champions.
They are the ones who bring Kayqubad to Iran to rule and they are also the ones
who leave the court after Kaykhusrau chooses Luhrasp to succeed him. The major
event of this period is the unification of Iran and Turan.
2) From Kayluhrasp to Bahman. This is the
period that ushers in the Prophet Zoroaster and the new order that he brings.
The major event of this period is the wars of religion led by Gushtasp and his
son, Isfandiyar.
3)
This period begins with Bahman, recognized as a part of the Kayanian dynasty
only by Firdowsi, and ends with Dara. The kings that rule at this time (Bahman,
Humay, Darab, and Dara) are historical figures, but their rules are reduced to
the level of myth. Kayanian
Kayka'us
is the second king of the Kayanian dynasty. He is known variously as son and
grandson of Kayqubad. His first act upon ascending the throne is to invade the
land of Mazandaran against the advise of Zal. He is captured by the divs and is imprisoned. He is rescued by
Rustam. Aided by Rustam he kills the king of Mazandaran. He then includes
Turan, Chin, Makran, and other lands all the way to the Zereh Sea into his
kingdom. From there, he turns to the west and reduces the rulers of those lands
and forces them to pay him tribute. He is a guest of Rustam for one month in
Zabul. When Egypt and Syria rise against him, he invades their lands via the
sea. He subjugates the king of Hamavaran and marries his daughter, Sudabeh. The
king of Hamavaran, however, tricks him and puts him in prison. He is rescued
again by Rustam.
Upon
returning to Iran, Kayka'us defeats Afrasiyab who had extended his rule into
Iran during his absence. He then adjudicates a quarrel between two of his
warriors, Tus and Giv, regarding a girl they had found in the woods. She is the
granddaughter of the Turanian, Garsivaz. Rather than giving the girl to one or
the other of the champions, he sends her to his own harem. The girl bears him a
son, Siyavosh (see Siyavosh for details). Siyavosh is raised by Rustam in
Sistan. When he returns to the palace, he is enmeshed in palace intrigue and is
accused of rape by Sudabeh, the king's wife. The death of Siyavosh in Turan
affects Kayka'us to the point that he loses his farr, but he continues to rule until his
grandson, Kaykhusrau, takes over.
When Kaykhusrau
arrives in Iran, Kayka'us gives him and his brother Fariburz the task of
conquering the Bahman Fortress. Kayka'us chooses the victorious Kaykhusrau as
his successor. Kaykhusrau becomes the ruler of Iran. When Afrasiyab is killed
at the hands of Kaykhusrau, Kayka'us is over 150 years old. He dies soon
thereafter. Kayka'us
Kaykhusrau
is the third king of the Kayanian Dynasty. He is the son of Siyavosh and
Farangis, the daughter of Afrasiyab.
Having
killed his son-in-law, Afrasiyab intends to kill his daughter--who is with
child at the time--as well, but Piran intervenes. Kaykhusrau is born in Piran's
house and raised at the house of a shepherd until he is ten years old. Then
Piran brings Kaykhusrau to Afrasiyab and tells him that Kaykhusrau is fine
physically but is mentally unstable. Afrasiyab sends Kaykhusrau to live in
Siyavoshgord, the city that his father built.
While
Kaykhusrau is still young and in Turan, led by Rustam, the Iranians invade
Turan. Afrasiyab flees before them with the intention of murdering young
Kaykhusrau. Piran prevents the killing and persuades Afrasiyab to expel
Kaykhusrau to the Sea of China. Meanwhile, Kayka'us has become old and the land
is struck by famine.
One
night Surush comes to Gudarz in a dream and tells him that Kaykhusrau is the
answer to Iran's problems. Gudarz then sends his son Giv to Turan to find
Kaykhusrau. After a seven-year search, Giv finds Kaykhusrau and brings him to
Iran.
The
arrival of Kaykhusrau creates a struggle for legitimacy in Iran whereby Gudarz
and his sons support Kaykhusrau and Tus and his champions support Kayka'us'
son, Fariburz. Eventually, it is decided that the conqueror of the Bahman
Fortress will become the king of the land. Kaykhusrau, endowed with the farr, captures the Fortress and becomes the King
of Iran.
After
Kaykhusrau ascends the throne, he invades Turan. In the course of a series of
wars that end in the great war of Kaykhusrau, he defeats Afrasiyab. Afrasiyab
flees to the Chichest Lake where he is captured and, along with his brother Garsivaz,
is killed. Shortly thereafter, Kayka'us, too, passes away.
After
sixty years of rulership, Kaykhusrau loses interest in worldly matters and goes
into seclusion. After forty days of seclusion and prayer, he announces that he is
stepping down as king. In his place, he appoints Luhrasp. According to him,
Luhrasp is endowed with the farr.
Additionally, he is the father of Gushtasp to whose court Kaykhusrau foresaw
the Prophet Zoroaster would come and bring law and order to the kingdom.
After
Kaykhusrau abdicates and walks to his destiny, his champions accompany him.
When he disappears, the Iranian champions who had accompanied him all the way
are caught in a snowstorm. They all perish.
Kaykhusrau
Kayqubad,
the first king of the Kayanian Dynasty from the seed of Fereydun, resides on
Mount Alborz. After the death of Garshasp, son of Zav, there is no one on the
Iranian throne to defend the country against the Turanians. Zal commissions Rustam
to find Kayqubad in the Alborz Mountains and bring him to the capital. Tus and
Gustaham, sons of Nowzar, although living, are not endowed with the farr. Therefore, they are not eligible to
rule.
Rustam finds
Kayqubad and brings him to the Iranian camp. Kayqubad, after he becomes king,
confronts Afrasiyab and sets him to flight. Afrasiyab sues for peace, which is
accepted by Kayqubad. The Oxus River becomes the border between the two
countries. Kayqubad then goes to Fars and builds the city of Istakhr. Kayqubad
has four sons: Ka'us, Kiarsh, Kipashin, and Arash. He rules for a hundred
years. His son, Ka'us, succeeds him. Kayqubad
Kayumars
is the first mortal to receive the farr and rule over man and beast alike. He appears first as a
cosmic creation of Mazda in the Creator's abstract Khshathra Variya. After he
is killed by Ako Manah, Kayumars' seed is deposited in the physical, material
world and grows in the form of a rhubarb plant (see Iranian cosmology for
details).
Endowed with
the farr,
Kayumars rules over the entire sentient world. Kayumars has a son called
Siyamak, who is killed by Ahriman. Kayumars's kingship, therefore, goes to his
grandson, Hushang, whom he kept hidden from evil Ahriman. Kayumars
One
of the kings of the Kayanian Dynasty, Luhrasp is the grandson of Kaypishin from
the seed of Kayqubad. During the rulership of Kaykhusrau, he is appointed the
governor of Alanon and overseer of the Ghuzz Fortress. When Kaykhusrau
abdicates, he passes the rulership of Iran to Luhrasp. Since, at the time,
Luhrasp is a relatively unknown warrior who had appeared on the Iranian scene
relatively recently, his selection by Kaykhusrau is opposed by the Iranian
champions, especially Zal. When Kaykhusrau reveals that Luhrasp is from the
seed of Kayqubad, however, Zal repents and, along with the other champions,
approves the selection. Luhrasp becomes the king of Iran.
Zal's
approval, however, is superficial. The House of Nariman, stemming from the two
royal houses of Jamshid and Zahhak, is slighted by Kaykhusrau's choice. After
the ascension of Kayluhrasp to the throne, Zal, Rustam, and their champions
leave the capital for their kingdom of Zabul and stay there. In other words,
the love of king that existed between the House of Kayqubad and the House of
Nariman evaporates.
Luhrasp has two
sons: Zarir and Gushtasp. Although tradition dictates that after him the
kingship should go to one of his sons, Luhrasp's inclination is that it should
be passed on to one of the grandsons of Kayka'us. This inclination creates
unhappiness on the part of Gushtasp, a valiant but headstrong prince, who
expects to receive the rulership of Iran (see Gushtasp for further detail). At
the end, however, Luhrasp passes the kingship to Gushtasp and becomes a recluse
at the Nowbahar Fire Temple. After the appearance of Zoroaster, he accepts the
good religion. Luhrasp is killed during the second invasion of Arjasp. Luhrasp
Mahafarid (slave and wife of Iraj)
Mahafarid
is the wife of Iraj. She is pregnant when Iraj is killed. She bears Iraj a
daughter whom Fereydun gives in marriage to Pashang. Manuchehr is the result of
this marriage.
Mahafarid
(daughter of Tur)
She is
mentioned by Kaykhusrau at the time of his abdication. Mahafarid
Manuchehr
is one of the Pishdadian kings. He is the son of Pashang and the daughter of
Iraj from a slave girl. After Manuchehr grows up and learns the manners of the
kings, Fereydun equips him with an army with which to avenge the murder of
Iraj. Salm and Tur, recognizing their situation and repent, but Fereydun does
not accept their repentance. Consequently, the two gather a large army and head
for Iran. Manuchehr, too, with an army led by Qaran, son of Kaveh, along with
Garshasp, Saam, and Qubad, hastens to meet them. After several battles, Salm
and Tur are killed at the hand of Manuchehr and their heads are sent to
Fereydun. Having rid the land of Salm and Tur, Fereydun passes the rulership of
Iran to Manuchehr.
One of the
important episodes during the rulership of Manuchehr is the birth of Zal, and
Zal's subsequent request to marry Rudabeh, the daughter of Mehrab, who is the
ruler of Kabul. Manuchehr
initially does not approve of the marriage; however, once Saam intervenes, he
gives in. Rustam is born at the end of Manuchehr's rule from the union of Zal
and Rudabeh. Manuchehr's rule lasts 120 years. The kingship then passes to his
son, Nowzar. Manuchehr
Mehrab is the
grandson of Zahhak and ruler of Kabul. During the rulership of Manuchehr, he
pays tribute to Saam. Zal and Mehrab's daughter, Rudabeh, fall in love. Mehrab
opposes their marriage, but persuaded by his wife, Sindukht, he gives his
approval. During the reign of Manuchehr, when Mehrab is in Zabul, the Turanians
invade Zabul. They are repulsed by Saam who, at the time, is mourning the death
of his father, Nariman. Mehrab and his army participate in Kayqubad's battles
with the Turanians. Mihrab
Nowzar
is one of the kings of the Pishdadian Dynasty. He is the son of Manuchehr and
his successor to the throne of Iran. His kingship begins with turmoil. He
recalls Saam from Mazandaran to find a solution. When Saam arrives in Iran, the
nobles request that he ascend the throne. Saam, who is not of royal blood, does
not agree. Instead, he serves as Nowzar's advisor and calms the turmoil. He
also persuades the champions and the nobles to soften their stance vis-à-vis
Nowzar.
Pashang, the
king of Turan, upon hearing of the death of Manuchehr, sends his son,
Afrasiyab, at the head of a large army, to Iran. Nowzar is defeated and
enslaved. Soon after that he is killed. Tus and Gustaham, both sons of Nowzar,
are not eligible, or so the nobles say, for the kingship. Instead, Zav, son of
Tahmasp, is elected the king of Iran. Nowzar
Piran
(from the House of Viseh) is the only Turanian commander who is sympathetic
towards the Iranians. His standing among the Turanians is equal to that of
Gudarz among the Iranians. Unlike Gudarz, who is a champion among champions,
however, Piran stands next to Afrasiyab. He is Afrasiyab's Commander-in-Chief
and Prime Ministe
Piran's
House, stationed in Khotan, provides Afrasiyab with most of his needs. In fact,
Afrasiyab becomes vulnerable only after Piran's son, and his seven brothers are
killed. Otherwise, the Iranians could not penetrate the shield that Piran had
created around his king to protect him.
The
major episode in the life of Piran is tied to the story of Siyavosh. As the
Prime Minister of Turan, he convinces Siyavosh to accept the peace treaty
offered by Afrasiyab. And as Afrasiyab's advisor, he helps Siyavosh defect and
reside in Turan. To solidify the bond between Turan and Iran, he marries his
own daughter, Jarireh, to Siyavosh. He is also instrumental in Siyavosh's
marrying Farangis, Afrasiyab's daughter.
Piran is away
in Mazandaran when Siyavosh is killed. He helps Siyavosh's wife and child and
protects the child Kaykhusrau from the wrath of his grandfather, Afrasiyab. In
the wars with the Iranians, he does his best to prevent bloodshed. But, in the
process, he loses his sons and his brothers. In the end, he engages in mortal
combat with Gudarz and is killed (see Gudarz for details). Piran
The
first dynasty of mythical Iranian kings, the Pishdadian dynasty consists of ten
kings beginning with Kayumars and ending with Garshasp. Known as the
"Law-givers," these kings can be divided into two main groups. The
first four, i.e., Kayumars, Hushang, Tahmuras, and Jamshid are truly ancient
cosmic monarchs. They come from the deepest level of Indo-Iranian, perhaps even
Indo-European, mythological tradition. Their nemesis is Evil and the last of
them loses his farr,
symbol of his legitimacy and kingship, to Evil. The other six include Semite
Zahhak, who steals Jamshid's farr,
and Fereydun, who retrieves the farr and reestablishes the line of the Pishdadian. After Fereydun, the kingship goes to
Manuchehr, who avenges Iraj. The significant event during the rule of
Manuchehr, in addition to avenging the murder of Iraj, is the establishment of
the boundary between Iran and Turan (See Arash-e Kamangar for details).
With the death
of Tur, especially after the ascension of Manuchehr's son, Nowzar, Iran becomes
the battle ground between Iran and Turan (see Fereydun, for explanation). After
Nowzar, the aged Zav, from the House of Nowzar, rules for five years. In spite
of the devastation that Afrasiyab inflicts on Iran, Zav administers his realm
well and returns prosperity to the land. His rule, however, is too short to
make a difference. The Pishdadian dynasty ends with the rule of Garshasp.
During Garshasp's rule, which lasted nine years, Afrasiyab, and, with him, chaos,
descends upon Iran. Iranian champions search for a monarch like Fereydun, a
monarch with farr
who can recapture Iran's prosperity. Pishdadiyan
1)
The son of Kaveh the Blacksmith. He participates in Manuchehr's wars against
Salm and Tur.
2) One of the
noble Iranians at the time of Yazdagerd. Qaran
Rakhsh is
Rustam's steed. When Zal grows old and wants to pass the championship to his
young son, Rustam, he gives Rustam Saam's mace. Rustam asks for a horse that
can carry him and the mace. Zal parades all his horses before Rustam so that he
can pick one. He breaks the back of every horse he sits on until a young, but
large, horse called Rakhsh passes by him. Rakhsh carries Rustam with ease and
Rustam chooses him as his favorite horse. Thereafter, the rider and the horse
are inseparable. Rakhsh is clever and sensitive to the ruses of the enemy. When
Shaghad, Rustam's half-brother, digs a well for Rustam to fall into, Rakhsh
refuses to go in that direction. At the end, he does so because Rustam uses his
whip. The rider and the horse fall in the well at the bottom of which the ruler
of Kabul had placed sharp stakes, swords, and javelins (see Shaghad, Rustam,
Faramarz for detail). ). Rakhsh
Rivniz [4]
1)
Rivniz is the son-in-law of Tus. He is killed at the Kalat Fortress, when he is
ordered by Tus to confront Farud.
2) Rivniz is
the son of Kayka'us. He is killed in the battle between Iranians, under
Fariburz, and the Turanians, commanded by Piran. Rivniz
Rudabeh
is the daughter of Mehrab, the ruler of Kabul, and mother of Rustam. Mehrab,
one of the grandson's of Zahhak, paid tribute to Saam who had been appointed by
Manuchehr as the governor of Sistan. One day Zal, traveling with his champions
to India, arrives in Kabul. Mehrab welcomes him and invites him to be a guest
at his house. Meanwhile, one of Zal's companions, speaks well about Rudabeh,
especially about her beauty, so much so that Zal falls in love with her. When
Mehrab talks about Zal to his wife, Sindukht, his daughter Rudabeh overhears
them. She, too, falls in love with Zal. Meanwhile Rudabeh sends a message to
Zal and receives an answer. One night, Zal enters Rudabeh's bedchamber and the
two become acquainted. Finally, the couple decides to marry.
Zal
requests permission from his father, Saam, to marry Rudabeh. Saam agrees but
goes to the court of Manuchehr for permission. In Kabul, Mehrab, hearing about
what had transpired between Zal and Rudabeh, becomes very angry and wants to
kill his daughter; his wife, Sindukht, intervenes.
When
Zal comes to the court of Manuchehr, he is ordered to invade Kabul. Hearing
this news, Mehrab becomes angry again, and again he wants to kill his wife and
his daughter. Rudabeh calms her father down. Then, she herself goes to Saam and
discusses the matter with him. Zal, too, goes to Saam and requests that rather
than invade Kabul, he (Zal) should be killed. Consequently, Saam dispatches Zal
with a letter to Manuchehr. After consulting with his astrologers, Manuchehr
approves the marriage between Zal and Rudabeh. Rustam is born from this
marriage. The birth is a difficult one (see Rustam, Simurgh, Zal, for further
details).
After the death
of Rustam, Rudabeh loses consciousness but soon after, with loving care, she
returns to good health. After the death of Faramarz, Rudabeh curses the House
of Gushtasp. Pashutan, Gushtasp's son and the minister of Bahman, who had
killed Faramarz, is filled with fear at Rudabeh's curse. He requests from
Bahman to forgive the family of Zal and allow Rustam's family to return to
Zabulistan. Rudabeh
Ruhham
is the son of Gudarz from the House of Kishwad. He accompanies Kayka'us to
Mazandaran where Kayka'us is blinded and imprisoned. Rustam rescues them. In
the battle of the Kalat Fortress, Ruhham is instrumental in Bizhan's murder of
Farud, son of Siyavosh from Jarireh, the daughter of Piran.
When the
Turanian Puladvand imprisons Tus and Giv, Ruhham and Bizhan try to save them
but they, too, are imprisoned until Rustam rescues all of them. In the battle
of the Hamavan Mountain, Ruhham is defeated by the Turanian champion, Ashkbus,
and flees from the battlefield. During the rule of Kaykhusrau, in the battle of
the Twelve Rooks, he faces Barman, son of Viseh, and kills him Ruhham
Rustam,
Iran's national champion is the son of Zal and Rudabeh (the daughter of Mehrab,
ruler of Kabul). He is the grandson of Saam, son of Nairam[5]
from the House of Pashang. Rustam was born in Sistan. At the time, it was an
unusual birth because he was too big to be delivered normally. Zal, therefore,
seeks the advice of Simurgh. Simurgh makes it easy for the boy to be born
through a caesarian section on the side of the mother. When Rustam is one day
old, he looks like a boy of one-year; he drinks the milk of two nurses. When he
is weaned to solid food, he eats five men's portions.
Rustam's
exploits are legendary. In his early teens, he kills an unruly white elephant
with one stroke of his grandfather Saam's mace. In his early youth, he captures
the Sepand Fortress where Nariman had been killed. As an adult, he is so
powerful and heavy that when he walks his feet sink into stone. When Afrasiyab
invades Iran for the first time, Rustam needs a horse to ride to the
battlefield to confront the enemy. After examining all the horses, only one,
Rakhsh, endures Rustam's pressure on his back. He breaks the backs of all the
other horses he tries. Once chosen as Rustam's steed, Rakhsh remains Rustam's
horse until they both die. Rakhsh participates in Rustam's battles, communicates
with Rustam, and warns him of impending danger.
Ordered
by Zal, Rustam goes to Mount Alburz, rescues Kayqubad, and returns him to the
kingship of Iran. Soon after that, he participates in the war of Kayqubad
against the Turanian Afrasiyab and humiliates him. For over 600 years, from the
reign of Manuchehr until the time of Kaykhusrau, Rustam was Iran's national
champion. He participates in almost all the wars during this time and defends
Iran's integrity against the Turanians.
When
Kayka'us is imprisoned in Mazandaran, Rustam passes seven hurdles, kills the
white div, and
rescues Kayka'us. He also rescues Kayka'us from imprisonment in Hamavaran and
rescues Bizhan from the Arzhang Well in Turan.
Once,
young Rustam, looking for his horse that was stolen, enters the kingdom of
Samangan. There he becomes a guest of the king of Samangan and marries his
daughter, Tahmineh, and sires Suhrab. When Suhrab comes of age, he faces his
father in mortal combat and is killed by Rustam (see Suhrab for details). After
the death of Suhrab, he invades Turan, defeats Afrasiyab and, for seven years,
rules over the Turanians. Soon after he returns to Zabul, he is summoned by
Kayka'us. The king entrusts his newborn son, Siyavosh, to Rustam to raise and
educate in the manner of kings (see Siyavosh for details).
One
of the last battles in the life of Rustam is his encounter with Isfandiyar, son
of Gushtasp. Isfandiyar is a strong, armor-clad champion determined to take
Rustam alive to the court of his father. Rustam fights him in his usual manner
but nearly loses his life. Eventually helped by Zal, who seeks the advice of
Simurgh (see Simurgh for details), he forges an arrow from the wood of the gaz tree and shoots Isfandiyar in the eye,
the only part of his body that was not armor-clad.
Rustam,
his horse Rakhsh, and his brother, Zavareh fall victim to the ruse of his
stepbrother Shaghad and the king of Kabul. They fall on the stakes arranged at
the bottom of a covered well dug by Shaghad. Before Rustam dies, however, from
the bottom of the well, he shoots an arrow that pierces Shaghad and pins him to
the tree behind which he is hiding.
Rustam is
strong, clever, resourceful, carefree, loyal and, above all eloquent. He is a
master in intimidating the opponent and filling him with fear before engaging
him in single combat. His psychological warfare with Suhrab, Ashkbus, Kamus,
Khaqan of China, and Isfandiyar are unique pieces created by Firdowsi for
showcasing the talents of Iran's national champion. Rustam
Saam is the son
of Nariman, father of Zal and grandson of Garshasp. He is Iran's champion
during the rulership of Fereydun and Manuchehr. Fereydun appoints him Iran's
overall champion. When Zal is born, because of his white hair, Saam takes him
to the mountains and leaves him there. Simurgh finds the child and raises him
until he is a strong young man. When Saam sees Zal in a dream and searches for
him, Simurgh gives his son back to him. Thereafter, Manuchehr as the ruler of
Zabulistan appoints Saam. A while after that Manuchehr dispatches him to
Mazandaran. While he is there, he receives Zal's messenger in which he
announces his love for the daughter of the king of Kabul, Rudabeh. Manuchehr,
who does not wish a marriage between the House of Zahhak and the House of Saam
to be realized, commissions Saam to attack Kabul. Not happy with the
arrangement, Saam writes a letter and sends it with Zal to Manuchehr. In the
end, Manuchehr agrees to the marriage of Rudabeh and Zal and, shortly
thereafter, they get married. On his way back, Saam gives the rulership of
Sistan to Zal and returns to Gurgsaran. When Nowzar is restive and Iranian
champions do not wish him to continue his rulership, they ask Saam to become
king. Saam does not accept; rather he tries to bring Nowzar back into the fold.
Soon after that, Saam passes away and Afrasiyab begins his incursions into
Sistan. Saam
Salm [6]
Jamshid has two
daughters, Shahrnaz and Arnavaz. They are married first to Zahhak and then to
Fereydun. Salm and Tur are Fereydun's sons from his marriage to Shahrnaz. Fereydun's marriage to Arnavaz results
in his youngest son, Iraj. Fereydun divides his kingdom among his three sons.
He gives Rum and the west to Salm and the lands in the east, comprising what is
known today as Turkistan, to Tur. He gives the heartland of Iran and the
highly-prized farr, to Iraj. The division, needless to say, creates unhappiness
in the family. Salm and Tur conspire and kill Iraj. Years later, Manuchehr, a
grandson of Iraj and successor to Fereydun, avenges Iraj's death by killing
both Salm and Tur. Salm
Shaghad
is the son of Zal from a slave musician. He lives in Kabul and is married to
two of the daughters of the King of Kabul. At his birth, the astrologers
foresee that the demise of the House of Saam will happen at the hand of
Shaghad. He marries the daughter of the King of Kabul so the king does not have
to pay tribute to Rustam, the ruler of Sistan. His plan, however, does not work
as the Sistanis continue to demand and receive tribute from the King of Kabul.
Shaghad is unhappy with Rustam's insistence that Kabul should pay tribute.
The
King of Kabul and Shaghad conspire to bring Rustam to Kabul and eliminate him.
To carry out this plan, Shaghad goes to Sistan and pretends that his
father-in-law has insulted him. Rustam
decides to move a large army against the King, but Shaghad persuades him to
take only a hundred warriors and Zavareh. When they arrive in Kabul, the king
welcomes them and, for their entertainment, prepares a hunting expedition.
Before the hunt begins, however, he orders many wells to be dug. At the bottom
of each well, he places sharp stakes, swords, and javelins. He then covers the
top of each well so that the ground over the well appears undisturbed. During
the hunt, Rustam and Rakhsh fall into one of these wells and are mortally
wounded. Shaghad appears behind a tree that is at the mouth of the well, to see
how Rustam fares. Rustam shoots an
arrow that pierces the tree and pins Shaghad to it.
Rustam's son,
Faramarz, invades Kabul, kills the King of Kabul, and places one of the
champions of Zabul in his place. He then takes the bodies of Rustam and
Zavareh, who died in a nearby well, to Zabul for burial. He also burns Shaghad
and the tree to which he is pinned. Shaghad
Simurgh
1)
Simurgh in the Shahname
is a bird that lives on Mount Alborz. She helps Zal when he is abandoned as a
baby, raises him and returns him to Saam (see Saam, Zal for details). She also
provides a solution for Rustam's difficult birth. She has the doctor cut a
section of Rudabeh's side and take the baby out (see Rudabeh, Rustam for
details). The third and last time that Simurgh appears in the Shahname is when Rustam and Rakhsh are both
nearly mortally wounded by Isfandiyar. Simurgh points to Isfandiyar's
vulnerability and shows Rustam how to kill the young champion (see Isfandiyar,
Rustam for details).
2) A man-eating
bird. He confronts Isfandiyar when he passes through his seven hurdles to
rescue his sisters. Isfandiyar kills him. Simurgh
Sindukht
Sindukht is the
wife of Mehrab of Kabul and mother of Rudabeh. She is a determined and forceful
woman who is instrumental in bringing Zal and Rudabeh together in spite of
Mehrab's objection. When Saam, Zal's father, ordered by Manuchehr, invades
Kabul, she is blamed. Sindukht, on her own, prepares gifts and goes to see
Saam. She convinces Saam that he should not attack Kabul and should wait for
the king's (Manuchehr) order. Soon after, Manuchehr gives his blessing and Zal
and Rudabeh get married. After the
marriage, Sindukht and Mehrab accompany Zal and Rudabeh to Sistan. Sometime
later, Mehrab returns to Kabul but Sindukht remains with her daughter. Sindukht
Siyamak is the
son of Kayumars. Firdowsi depicts him as a good-looking, young man. Ahriman,
with the intention of destroying Kayumars's world, sends his son to fight the
father and son. Siyamak confronts Ahriman's child and is killed (see Hushang
for detail). Siyamak
Siyavosh
is the son of Kayka'us from the granddaughter of Garsivaz. One day Giv, Gudarz,
and Tus, traveling in the forest, find a beautiful maiden. Unable to decide to
whom she belongs, they bring her to the court of Kayka'us and ask the king for
a ruling. Kayka'us likes the girl and orders her to be taken to his harem.
Later he marries her. Siyavosh is born of this marriage.
Soon
after he is born, Siyavosh is sent to Zabulistan with Rustam to be educated in
the manner of kings. He remains in Zabul until his education is complete. Then
he returns to the court and stays there for another seven years before he is
eligible to wear the crown of a prince. Eventually, he is given the rulership
of Kuhistan. At about the same time his mother dies.
The
death of Siyavosh's mother gives Sudabeh, the daughter of the king of Hamavaran
and one of the wives of Kayka'us, and who had loved Siyavosh for a while, the
chance to make her move. She asks her husband to send Siyavosh to the women's
quarters to become acquainted with his mothers and sisters. Upon the king's
insistence, Siyavosh unwillingly visits the court. The first two times he is accompanied
by the hirbad. During
the third visit, Sudabeh reveals her love for him and suggests her daughter's
hand in marriage. Siyavosh, just to be polite, accepts. Later on Sudabeh expresses
her love for Siyavosh more intensely. Siyavosh does not reciprocate. When
Siyavosh tries to leave her bedchamber in a hurry, she pulls on his robe and
tears off a piece. Later, she accuses Siyavosh of rape. Siyavosh proves his
innocence by undergoing trial by fire.
This
episode proves at least three things. The first is that Rustam has been a good
father and mentor for the prince. The second is that Siyavosh is a faithful
son. And third, he recognizes the handiwork of evil when he sees it and destroys
it.
The
next major episode in the life of the prince involves the invasion of Iran by
the Turanian Afrasiyab. Siyavosh volunteers to repulse Afrasiyab and wins the
first battle. Afrasiyab, fearing the realization of a dream in which he sees
his death at the hand of Siyavosh, sues for peace. Garsivaz, Afrasiyab's
brother and envoy agrees to evacuate Iranian lands captured earlier as well as
to send a hundred Turanian warriors, kinsmen of Afrasiyab, to Iran as hostages.
Siyavosh signs a treaty with Afrasiyab. Then he writes his father and king of
the results.
Upon
receiving news about the agreement, Kayka'us becomes very angry. He chides
Rustam for lack of sage counsel, and orders Siyavosh to continue the war and bring
Afrasiyab to his heels. When Siyavosh refuses to break his word, Kayka'us
replaces him with Tus and orders him to return to the court. Rather than return
to Iran, however, Siyavosh defects to Turan.
This
episode tests Siyavosh's devotion to his creator, who endowed him with
foresight (farr). His
farr enables him to
recognize the consequences of his decision—involvement of Turanian
affairs with the affairs of Iran that results in the unification of the two
realms at the hand of his son, Kaykhusrau.
Afrasiyab
and his commander-in-chief and Prime Minister, Piran, receive Siyavosh warmly.
During his stay with Piran, he marries Piran's daughter, Jarireh, and sires a
son, Farud. Later, he marries Farangis, the daughter of Afrasiyab, and builds
Siyavoshgord, a small kingdom away from both Turan and Iran. Siyavosh and
Farangis lead a happy life there. Farangis becomes pregnant and both look
forward to the birth of their son (see Kaykhusrau).
Garsivaz envies
Siyavosh from the time he loses to him on the Oxus and is forced to sign a
treaty. A time comes when he can take his revenge. Afrasiyab appoints Garsivaz
as his sole contact between Siyavoshgord and his court. Garsivaz visits
Siyavoshgord often and consistently returns with disturbing news. In the end, he
convinces Afrasiyab that Siyavosh intends to dethrone him with his own army and
additional forces from China and Iran. Afrasiyab, at the head of a large army,
storms Siyavoshgord and captures Siyavosh who refuses to fight his
father-in-law and benefactor. Garsivaz's henchmen, Damur and Garu-ye Zereh,
behead the innocent prince. When the news of Siyavosh's death reaches Iran,
Rustam, Siyavosh's adopted father, kills Sudabeh, the real instigator of
Siyavosh's difficulties (see Farangis, Piran for further detail). Siyavosh
Sudabeh
is the daughter of the king of Hamavaran (Yemen) and the wife of Kayka'us. When
Kayka'us invades Hamavaran, he hears much about the beauty of Sudabeh. He,
therefore, asks for her hand and marries her. The king of Hamavaran decides to
eliminate Kayka'us but Sudabeh intervenes. Kayka'us does not listen to Sudabeh
and is thus imprisoned by the king of Hamavaran. When Sudabeh hears about the imprisonment, she requests that
she, too, be imprisoned in the same prison as her husband. She is taken there
and she takes care of Kayka'us throughout the time that he is imprisoned. When
Rustam rescues Kayka'us, Sudabeh accompanies Kayka'us to Iran and becomes his
favorite wife.
When
Siyavosh returns from Sistan, Sudabeh falls in love with him. Over a period of
seven years, she makes various plans to attract the prince to herself. She even
suggests a marriage between Siyavosh and one of her daughters but none of her
plans succeed. She then sets out to destroy Siyavosh. She accuses him of rape
but to no avail. Siyavosh passes the trial by fire and proves his innocence
(see Siyavosh for further details).
At about the
same time, the army of Turan, led by Afrasiyab, invades Iran. Siyavosh,
frustrated with Sudabeh's accusations, seeks tranquility in exile. Afrasiyab
kills him (see Siyavosh for details). When the news of Siyavosh's murder
reaches Iran, Rustam avenges him by killing Sudabeh. Sudabeh
Suhrab
is the son of Rustam and Tahmineh. Rustam, Iran's national champion goes
hunting. He loses his way and comes to the land of Samangan in Turan. Feeling
hungry, he kills a deer, eats a good meal, and goes to sleep by a spring of
clear water. Two Samanganians capture Rakhsh and take him to Samangan.
Rustam
awakens. When he cannot find Rakhsh, he goes to the city to look for him. He is
captured and brought to the king of Samangan. The king entertains Rustam and
invites him to stay the night. That same night, Tahmineh, the king's daughter
comes to Rustam and makes his acquaintance.
When
Rustam leaves the next day, he gives Tahmineh some beads and says, "If our
child is a girl, have her wear these in her hair. If our child is a boy, have
him wear these on his arm." He then says good-bye to the king of Samangan
and leaves for Iran.
Suhrab
is born. He grows up and by age twelve becomes the champion of Samangan. He
asks his mother about his father's identity. She tells him about Rustam, Iran's
national champion. Suhrab decides to find his father and, together overthrow
Kayka'us, the ruler of Iran. Rustam would then become king of Iran. When he
asks Tahmineh how can he identify his father, she gives him the beads that are
made into an armband.
When
Afrasiyab hears about the emergence of a champion in Samangan, he sends for
Suhrab, entertains him and places 12,000 warriors at his command. He then
orders Suhrab to invade Iran. Human and Barman also accompany the young
champion. Human receives strict orders not to identify Rustam for Suhrab.
Furthermore, Afrasiyab orders Human, after the son kills the father, to put
Suhrab in fetters and bring him back to Turan to him. Once the Turanian army is
ready, Suhrab marches on Iran.
On
his way to Iran, Suhrab fights Hazhir and captures him. He also defeats Gazhdaham's
daughter, Gordafarid, who fights him disguised as a man. In fact, Suhrab is
about to kill "him" when he finds that "he" is a woman.
Rather than killing her, he falls in love with her. She does not reciprocate
his love, because he is a Turanian. As a result of this altercation, Kayka'us
learns about the coming of Suhrab.
At
the court of Kayka'us, his ministers urge the king to summon Rustam from Zabul
to confront the upstart Turanian. Giv is dispatched to inform Rustam and ask
him to come to the capital. Once Rustam hears about the young Turanian
champion, he thinks about Tahmineh and the possibility that the young man might
be his own son. But he dismisses the thought; he thinks that the champion
described by Giv is older than his son would be. Then, disregarding the king's
urgent summons, he stays in Zabul for three more days before he leaves for the
court of Kayka'us. When he arrives at court, Kayka'us orders Tus to take both
Rustam and Giv to the gallows. Rustam pushes Tus aside, reminds Kayka'us of the
many times that he has rescued him, and leaves the palace.
The
Iranian champions ask Gudarz to mediate between the king and Rustam. Gudarz
gives an account of Rustam's contributions to the crown and brings Kayka'us to
his senses. Kayka'us apologizes to Rustam. Rustam then accepts the command of
Kayka'us' army and moves east to face the army of Turan.
Disguised
as a Turkish warrior, Rustam enters Suhrab's camp to assess the strength of the
enemy. A guard asks him for identification. He kills the guard. Similarly,
Suhrab views the Iranian army from a high place and asks Hazhir to identify
each champion. Hazhir identifies the seven-colored pavilion as belonging to
Tus, son of Nowzar; the red pavilion as that of Gudarz, the most experienced
warrior and the most patriotic champion of Iran; the green pavilion as
belonging to a newly-arrived Chinese champion; the golden pavilion as belonging
to Giv, son of Gudarz, the mainstay of the Iranian army; and finally, the white
pavilion as belonging to Kayka'us' son, Fariburz. The Green pavilion, of
course, belonged to Rustam, but Hazhir does not identify him correctly because
he is afraid some harm might come to Rustam.
Eventually,
father and son, without knowing each other, face each other in mortal combat. Rustam
suggests that they should fight in a spot away from both camps. Suhrab accepts.
Then, before the battle begins, he asks Rustam for his identity. Rustam refuses
to identify himself. Disappointed, Suhrab begins to fight Rustam. They exchange
spears, swords, maces, and arrows. But neither is victorious. Unable to harm
each other, they invade each other's armies. Rustam fearing that Suhrab might
harm Kayka'us, arranges that they should face each other a second time the next
day.
At
night, Suhrab described Rustam to Human and asks if Rustam could be his father.
Human assures him that that is not the case. He says that he had seen Rustam a
number of times and none of those descriptions fit him. The next morning,
Suhrab suggests that maybe they should allow others to engage in mortal combat
but Rustam refuses.
The
two champions begin to wrestle again. Suhrab throws Rustam to the ground, sits
on his chest, draws his dagger and is about to cut his throat. Rustam thinks of
a ruse: "In our culture," he says, "winning has always been two
out of three." Inexperienced Suhrab accepts the ruling. Rustam prays to
the Creator to return his strength to him—previously he had asked the
Creator to decrease his strength so that he could live a more normal life. His
wish is granted and his past strength returns to him.
The
two begin wrestling again. This time Rustam throws Suhrab to the ground and,
without a pause, plunges his poisoned dagger into Suhrab's side. While dying,
Suhrab assures his murderer that his father, Rustam, will avenge his death.
Rustam, confused, asks for proof that Suhrab is his son. Suhrab then shows him
his armband with the beads.
Realizing what
he has done, Rustam sends Gudarz to Kayka'us to ask for the king's special
antidote. Kayka'us procrastinates, allowing time to weaken and kill Suhrab.
Eventually Rustam himself comes for the antidote. But it is too late. Suhrab
Surush
is one of the important Iranian gods symbolizing command and obedience to Ahura
Mazda. In rank he is equivalent to Mithra. On Resurrection Day, Surush is
responsible for measuring good and evil.
Surush's
main responsibility is order in the world. He descends on humanity three times
a night to assure security from the divs. He accompanies the souls after they depart the body. When
Kayumars is deeply affected by the death of his son, Siyamak, Ahura Mazda sends
Surush to him to inspire patience in him. When Fereydun strikes Zahhak with his
mace and is ready to kill him, Surush appears and prevents him from doing that.
He appears a second time and tells Fereydun to imprison Zahhak on Mount
Damavand.
Surush
is instrumental in Gudarz's knowledge that Kaykhusrau, son of Siyavosh, is in
Turan. He also helps Kaykhusrau decide whether to stay in this world as the
king of a united Iran and Turan or to leave the kingship. The last time that
Surush appears is to Khusrau Parviz when the latter is a step away from death.
He saves the monarch. Surush
Tahmineh
Tahmineh
is the daughter of the king of Samangan, wife of Rustam, and mother of Suhrab.
Seeking his horse Rakhsh, Rustam enters Samangan, one of the kingdoms within
the realm of the Turanians. The king of Samangan invites him to dinner and asks
him to stay the night. That night, Tahmineh, comes to Rustam's bedchamber and
stays with him. In the morning, when Rustam leaves, he asks Tahmineh to keep
his future son's identity from Afrasiyab. He also leaves a few beads with
Tahmineh to give to the child as a token of remembrance.
In search of
his father, Rustam, whom Suhrab intends to raise to the kingship of Iran, he
joins the Turanian army against Iran. He is killed in mortal combat with
Rustam. Soon after that, Tahmineh, too, dies. Tahmineh
Tahmuras
is the third king in the Pishdadian line, after Kayumars and Hushang.
Capitalizing on the success of Hushang, Tahmuras enhances the Creator's kingdom
by domesticating animals and teaching his subjects proper use of wool and milk.
During
the rulership of Tahmuras, a major change happens in Iran. Tahmuras allows the divs, agents of Ahriman, to become
administrators at his court. The divs introduce sciences and languages that are alien to the
kingdom.
The use of
sciences enhances Iran's prosperity more than Tahmuras could have imagined. The
price for this prosperity is paid by Tahmuras's successor, Jamshid (see Jamshid
for details). Tahmuras
Tur[7]
is the son of Fereydun and Shahrnaz, daughter of Jamshid. Fereydun had three
sons who were visiting Yemen. When they were returning from Yemen, Fereydun
appeared to them in the form of a dragon. Tur shot an arrow at him. For this he
was called "Tur the Valiant". At his death, Fereydun divided his land
among his three sons. He gave Rum and the West to Salm and the lands to the
north and east to Tur. As for Iraj, he gave him the land of Iran and the
much-desired farr.
Enraged at their father's unjust division, Salm and Tur kill their stepbrother.
Manuchehr, a descendant of Iraj's daughter, avenges Iraj, who does not have a
son. Helped by Qaran, son of Kaveh the Blacksmith, and others, Manuchehr kills
both Tur and Salm, and prepares the ground for further hostilities between Iran
and Turan. Tur
Tus
is the son of Nowzar and brother of Gustaham. During the kingship of Nowzar,
when Afrasiyab invades Iran, Nowzar sends his family with Tus and Gustaham to
Mount Alborz to hide. After the death of Nowzar, Zal and other Iranian nobles
do not recognize either Tus or Gustaham as carriers of the farr; they choose Zav as the new king.
Nevertheless, Tus remains a well-known figure among the Iranian champions. He
goes with the army of Kayka'us to Mazandaran and Hamavaran and is taken captive
with the king. Rustam rescues them. After Kayka'us returns from Mazandaran, he
makes Tus the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army.
When
Rustam delays in responding to Kayka'us's behest—Kayka'us had requested
Rustam's aid against the invasion of Suhrab—he orders Tus to send Rustam
and Giv to the gallows. Tus proceeds without considering Rustam's status among
the champions. Rustam rebuffs him.
When Siyavosh signs a treaty with Afrasiyab, Kayka'us sends Tus to replace
Siyavosh (see Siyavosh for details). When Kaykhusrau comes to Iran, Tus is the
only one to rise against his kingship. He supports the kingship of Fariburz. In
order to resolve the question of legitimacy, Kayka'us places the crown and
throne to be occupied by the person who captures the Bahman Fortress. Both Tus
and Bahman prove incapable of capturing Bahman Fortress. Only then Tus agrees
with the kingship of Kaykhusrau.
Upon
Kaykhusrau's ascension to the throne, Tus repents and offers to resign his
position as the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army. The young king returns
Tus's command to him. Additionally, he gives him a mission to invade Turan and
capture Afrasiyab. Kaykhusrau instructs Tus to bypass the fortress of Kalat,
where Farud, Siyavosh's son lives. Kaykhusrau does not wish anything untoward
to happen to his stepbrother. Tus not only ignores the king's instructions, but
also causes the death of both Farud and his mother, Jarireh, the daughter of
Piran.
Having
been defeated by the Turanians, Tus is recalled from Turan. He is put in prison
and the command of the army is given to Fariburz. Tus is eventually freed upon
Rustam's mediation and returns to the command of the army.
Tus
is sent a second time against the Turanian army headed by Piran. Initially he
is defeated, but eventually with the help of Rustam, he routes a major
coalition created by Afrasiyab. Before he abdicates, Kaykhusrau assigns Tus to
the governorship of Khorasan.
After
Kaykhusrau abdicates and walks to his destiny, Tus is among the champions who
accompany Kaykhusrau until he disappears. Tus perishes alongside the other
champions in the snowstorm that follows the disappearance of Kaykhusrau into
the bright light. Tus
Viseh is one of
the champions of Pashang, the king of Turan and of his son, Afrasiyab. During
the kingship of Nowzar, Pashang orders Viseh, to invade Iran. Kaveh's son,
Qaran, kills Viseh's son, Karukhan. Therefore, Afrasiyab sends Viseh to fight
Qaran. Qaran is defeated by Viseh and flees. Viseh's sons: Piran, Human,
Farshidvard, Lahhak, Kulbad, Nastihan, Pilsam, and Karukhan, play a major role
in the later wars between Afrasiyab and Kaykhusrau. Viseh
After
the cosmic battle between Good and Evil ends, during the rule of Fereydun of
the Pishdadiyan dynasty, Iran is split into three domains. Two of these
domains, Iran and Turan, become enmeshed in a series of what can be best termed
wars of legitimacy. These wars, which begin as skirmishes during the reign of
Manuchehr, seriously jeopardize the integrity of Iran under Garshasp, the son
of king Nowzar.
Kayqubad,
whose early life, in many respects, resembles the life of Fereydun, puts an end
to the destruction and the decline that these wars bring to Iran, but the wars
continue. He contains Afrasiyab, the ruler of Turan, and forces his army beyond
the Oxus, the traditional boundary between the two countries since the time of
Manuchehr.
Under
Kayka'us, the wars between Iran and Turan flare up once again. Afrasiyab sends
a mighty army commanded by his brother Garsivaz to retrieve Turanian lands
under Iranian rule. Garsivaz crosses the Oxus and takes over several Iranian
towns. In Iran, Kayka'us assigns Prince Siyavosh an army and along with Rustam,
dispatches it to push Afrasiyab's army back and capture as much of Turan as
possible. Siyavosh succeeds in defeating Garsivaz forcing him to withdraw to his
side of the Oxus.
At
this time, Afrasiyab has a dream in which Siyavosh kills him and becomes the
king of a united Iran. Persuaded by his mu'bads, Afrasiyab sues for peace. He sends his
Prime Minister, Piran, to set the terms. As a result of discussions, Siyavosh
agrees to a peace treaty, which eventually his father does not approve. He is
replaced by Tus. Siyavosh then defects to Turan, marries Afrasiyab's daughter,
builds Siyavoshgord, and lives there, away from both Iran and Turan.
Subsequently, he is killed by Afrasiyab.
In
time, Kaykhusrau, son of Siyavosh, becomes the king of Iran. He sends an
expedition against Turan. The expedition is headed by Tus. Kaykhusrau instructs
Tus to stay away from the Kalat Fortress, where his (Kaykhusrau's) stepbrother,
Farud, from Jarireh, the daughter of Piran, lives. Tus disobeys the king's
order, goes to Kalat and kills Farud. He then continues his expedition into
Turan and meets with Piran's army. As a result, the battle of Hamavan ensues
and Tus is defeated and humiliated. Piran, on the other hand, is promoted.
Kaykhusrau
sends a second expedition to Turan to avenge the murder of his father. The
command of this army, too, in spite of all his shortcomings, is given to Tus.
Rustam and Gudarz accompany the commander-in-chief. As the war makes progress,
two houses, the House of Gudarz and the House of Viseh come into greater and
greater conflict. To resolve their differences, the two commanders agree upon
two sets of deciding fights: a battle royal in which ten chosen champions from
each side fight and a single mortal combat between the two aged warriors:
Gudarz and Piran. At the end of this war, Piran is killed and his entire family
in Khotan is destroyed.
The
demise of the House of Viseh forces Afrasiyab to enter the war personally.
Kaykhusrau, too, assumes the command of the Iranian army. Unable to withstand
the Iranian assault on his fortress, Afrasiyab flees. Kaykhusrau captures
Afrasiyab's fortress, includes Afrasiyab's wives in his own harem and pursues
Afrasiyab around the world. He finds Garsivaz by the Chichest Lake. By
torturing Garsivaz, he forces Afrasiyab out of the icy waters of Chichest and
kills him. He kills Garsivaz as well. Iran and Turan become united as they had
been under the early days of the rule of Fereydun.
The next wars
in the Shahname,
at the time of the appearance of the Prophet, are "wars of religion."
The House of Kayqubad, headed by Gushtasp, and the opponents of the good
religion, fights these wars. These opponents are Iranian as well as Turanian.
In these wars, the king's armor-clad son, Isfandiyar, leads the army of
Gushtasp. Arjasp leads the army of the opponents of the new order. Although
these wars can be considered concluded when Arjasp dies at the hands of
Isfandiyar, they are not. A new element, the kingdom of the west, originally
given to Salm raises problems for Iran. Gradually, Iran moves its center of
power from Central Asia to the region of the Persian Gulf. Firdowsi, for
instance, includes the exploits of Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great, as well
as the incompetence of Darius III, and the invasion of Alexander the Great.
According to Firdowsi, they are all part and parcel of this very set of wars,
the "wars of religion." Wars
At
the time of king Jamshid, in Arabia, there was an upright Arab spear thrower
called Mardas. He had a valiant but evil son called Zahhak (also called Bibvar
Asp). Satan persuaded Zahhak to kill his own father. To help Zahhak do this,
Satan dug a well and covered the entrance. Mardas fell in the well and died.
Zahhak assumed the rulership of the Arabs. During those days, the Arabs did not
eat meat, but Satan, in the guise of a young cook, entered Zahhak's kitchen and
gradually changed his diet to include meat. In order to reward the cook, Zahhak
told the cook to ask for a favor. The cook asked to kiss Zahhak on both of his
shoulders. After he kissed Zahhak's shoulders, the cook disappeared. In time,
two snakes grew out of where Satan had kissed Zahhak. No matter what the
doctors did to cut the snakes off, they were not successful; they kept
regenerating. Then, Satan, reappearing in the guise of a doctor, advised Zahhak
to feed the snakes human brain.
At
the same time, in Iran, Jamshid became headstrong and sought to overthrow the
Creator. He failed and, as a result, he lost both his farr and his public support (see Jamshid for
details). The Iranian champions, looking for a leader, heard about Zahhak. They
invited Zahhak to rule Iran as well. A hundred years after he ruled Iran,
Zahhak put Jamshid to death.
During
the six hundred years of the rule of Zahhak, every morning the brains of two
young men were fed to Zahhak's snakes. Then, two men with royal blood, Armail
and Karmail, thought of a solution to the problem. They employed themselves as
cooks. Rather than killing two young men every day, they killed only one and
substituted the brain of a sheep for the other. In this way, thirty young men
were spared every month. When the number of these young men reached two
hundred, they were clandestinely sent to the pasture with the sheep.
Zahhak's
oppression becomes unbearable and people begin to complain. Zahhak himself,
too, becomes unhappy at his own lack of popularity. He, therefore, forms an assembly
and asks people to sign a document stating that they are satisfied with his
government. Among those present is a blacksmith called Kaveh. He has lost
seventeen of his eighteen children to Zahhak's snakes. He refuses to sign,
especially that his last child had just been seized. He tears up the document
and, using his smith's leather apron as a banner, seeks Fereydun. With the help
of Fereydun and the multitude, he overthrows Zahhak (see Fereydun for details).
When Fereydun tries to kill Zahhak, Surush intervenes. He asks Fereydun to take
Zahhak to Mt. Damavand and imprison him in a cave there. Zahhak
Also
referred to as Zal-e Zar and Zal-e Dastan, he is the son of Saam and father of
Rustam. Saam is the national
champion of Iran during the reign of Manuchehr. Towards the end of his life, he
is granted a son, Zal. Zal looks like the sun, but his hair, even his eyebrows
and eyelids, are white. Disappointed at his son's appearance, Saam takes his
son to the mountains and leaves him on Mount Alborz. Simurgh finds the child, takes him to the peak,
and raises him among her chicks. Instigated by a dream, Saam is promoted to
look for his son. Simurgh
returns Zal to Saam. When leaving, Simurgh gives Zal several of her feathers to set fire to whenever
he needs assistance.
Zal
returns to Zabul with his father. When Saam, ordered by Manuchehr, goes to
Gurgsaran, he appoints Zal to the kingship of Sistan. Soon after that, Zal, on
his way to India, visits Kabul and falls in love with Rudabeh, the daughter of
Mehrab, the ruler of Kabul. King Manuchehr and Saam's approval is necessary
before the two could get married (see Manuchehr, Saam, for details).
The
era of Zal's championship coincides with the death of Saam and the kingship of
Nowzar. Taking advantage of Saam's death, Afrasiyab invades Iran and imprisons
Nowzar. Then he sends an army, headed by Shamasas to Sistan. Zal defeats the
Turanian army and kills Khazravan and Kulbad. Zal's championship spans the rule
of Nowzar, Zav, Garshasp, and Kayqubad. His son Rustam overtakes him.
Thereafter, he administers the affairs of Zabulistan. Meanwhile, he serves as
one of the major consultants to Iranian kings until the kingship of Luhrasp.
Zal is one of the most influential Iranian champions in the Shahname. It was at his prompting, for instance,
that the Iranian nobles chose Zav and Kayqubad as kings.
When
Kayka'us intended to travel to Mazandaran, Zal opposed his decision. Kayka'us
ignored Zal's advice at his own peril. Similarly, when Kaykhusrau intended to
appoint Luhrasp to succeed himself, he had to convince Zal of the correctness
of his choice (see Kaykhusrau and Luhrasp for further details).
Zal used the
feathers of the Simurgh two times. First, at the time of the birth of Rustam (see
Rudabeh for details), and, second, to help his son Rustam defeat Isfandiyar
(see Isfandiyar for details). He lived about a thousand years. Zal
Originally from
Baghdad, Zange-ye Shavaran serves at the courts of both Kayka'us and
Kaykhusrau. He has his own banner and army. He accompanies Kayka'us to
Mazandaran as well as to Hamavaran and is imprisoned with him. On Siyavosh's
expedition against Afrasiyab, Zange-ye Shavaran serves Siyavosh as his
companion and consultant. He is one of the seven champions who accompanied Rustam
to Turan to save Bizhan from the Arzhang Well. He kills a major Turanian
champion named Ukhast in the battle of the Twelve Rooks. And he is present at
the Great War of Kaykhusrau when Afrasiyab and Garsivaz are put to death. Zange
1)
Zarasp is the son of Tus, one of the major heroes at the court of Kaykhusrau.
He is chosen by Kaykhusrau to fight Afrasiyab. He accompanies his father, Tus,
to the Kalat Fortress. After Riv, son-in-law of Tus, is killed at the hand of
Farud, son of Siyavosh, he faces Farud and is also killed.
2)
Zarasp is the name of a hero who accompanies Kaykhusrau during his wars with
Afrasiyab.
3) Zarasp is
the name of the son of Manuchehr, brother of Nowzar. Zarasp
Zarir
is the son of Luhrasp and brother of Gushtasp. When Gushtasp requests from his
father Luhrasp, to leave the kingship to him, Luhrasp does not agree. Gushtasp
becomes unhappy and goes to India. Luhrasp sends Zarir after him. Zarir finds
Gushtasp near Kabul and together they return to the king. Gushtasp leaves the king a second time.
This time he goes to Rum and marries the daughter of the Caesar of Rum. With
the king's son at his side, the Caesar of Rum feels strong enough to ask
Luhrasp for tribute. In response, Luhrasp dispatches Zarir with an army to Rum,
but before there is a war, Zarir persuades Gushtasp to return to Iran. The
brothers return to their father together. After that, Luhrasp abdicates in
favor of Gushtasp. Zarir becomes Gushtasp's commander-in-chief.
After the
advent of Zoroaster, alongside his brother, Zarir accepts Zoroastrianism and
accompanies Gushtasp in his battle against the Turanian, Arjasp. He is killed
in an ambush prepared by the aged Turanian hero, Bidarafsh. Zarir
Zav is the son
of Tahmasp. For a while, after the demise of Nowzar at the hand of Afrasiyab,
the throne of Iran remains empty. Zal and the Iranian champions, who refuse to
recognize Tus and Gustaham as having the royal farr, search the world to
find a descendent of Fereydun. They find an eighty-year-old man called Zav.
They place Zav on the throne. Zav is just and wise. He fights a five-month-long
battle with Afrasiyab but, due to famine, they sign a treaty. According to that
treaty, the Oxus is recognized as the border between Iran and Turan. After five
years of rulership, Zav dies at the age of 86. His son, Garshasp, becomes king.
Zav
Zavareh is the
son of Zal and brother of Rustam. He is one of the champions of Kayka'us and
Kaykhusrau. He participates in many of the battles in which Rustam is involved.
During the battle between Rustam and Suhrab, Zavareh is in charge of Rustam's
army and when Suhrab is killed, Rustam commissions him to accompany Suhrab's
army to the border of Turan. In the battle of Rustam with Isfandiyar, thinking
that Rustam had been killed, he fights Isfandiyar's army and kills Nushazar,
Isfandiyar's son. After the death of Isfandiyar, he opposes Rustam's custody of
Bahman, son of Isfandiyar. At the end of Rustam's life, when the champion goes
to Kabul, he accompanies his brother. Like Rustam, he falls into one of the
wells dug by the King of Kabul and is killed (see Faramarz for details). Zavareh
The
cosmological and mythological eras of Iran end with the house of Gushtasp and
the appearance of the Prophet Zoroaster. Before Zoroaster, Mazdaism, a creed
based on thought and its dual creatures, Vohu Manah and Ako Manah, prevailed.
The struggle of the two resulted in the formation of a kingdom called Khshathra
Variya in which Good was prominent and Evil played a minor part. Zoroaster's
God, Ahura Mazda, reorganized those contributors to the prosperity of the
kingdom of Good and formed them into a pantheon usually known as the Spentas.
Then around himself and the Spentas, he created a hierarchy of lower gods. The
souls of the believers became the intermediary between the lower echelon of the
pantheon and the faithful. Known as the Ahuric Order, this hierarchy was given
to Zoroaster to introduce prosperity into the material world.
Zoroaster
was an extraordinary man. When he came to the world, unlike ordinary children
who cry, he laughed. When he was in his thirties, Ahura Mazda appeared to him
and inspired him with the Ahuric Order, i.e., he was asked to find a way by
which Truth would become the dominant force in the lives of the faithful.
Zoroaster
accepted his mission and began to guide people away from the Lie. Those who
felt Zoroaster's teachings went against their religion and way of life
threatened to eliminate him. Zoroaster left his home in the east and traveled
west, all the time preaching his doctrine of triumph of Good over Evil. In the
west, king Gushtasp accepted Zoroaster's religion and helped him promote
Zoroastrianism among Iranians.
Zoroaster's
message was simple. He stated that the world is the battleground for the forces
of Good and Evil. It is every individual's duty to assist Good to triumph over
Evil. In order for the individual's assistance to be realized, he or she must
think good thoughts, utter good words, and perform good deeds. He or she must
avoid lying, tyranny, oppression, and all that make other fellow human beings
suffer. In this way, he preached that the Ahuric Order would fill the world
with joy.
In
order to focus the thoughts, words, and deeds of the faithful on Truth, he
chose the sun as the symbol of Truth, and fire as the representative of the
sun. In the same way that the light of the sun permeates all existence, he
advocated, goodness in man can permeate the material world. Where the light of
the sun does not reach, the light of fire does.
In
order to engage his followers in the propagation of Good, he built many fire
temples. He asked his followers to gather in these temples, sing the praises of
Ahura Mazda, the Spentas, and the Yazatas that bring prosperity to the world.
The Zoroastrian
scripture is known as the Avesta. It is, in reality, a collection of books
dealing with aspects of the religion. One section of it, however, known as the Gathas, includes hymns composed
by Zoroaster himself. Zoroaster