THE CAMBRIDGE

HISTORY OF
IRAN
Volume 3(1)
THE SELEUCID, PARTHIAN
AND SASANIAN PERIODS
edited
EHSAN YARSHATER
Hagop Kevorkian Professor o f Iranian Studies
Columbia University, N ew York

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First published 1983
Reprinted 1986
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University Press, Cambridge
Library of Congress catalogue card number: 67-12845
British Library Cataloguing in Publication D ata
The Cambridge history of Iran.
Vol. 3: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian periods
1. Iran—History
I. Yarshater, Ehsan
955 D S 272

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 PART III

IR A N IA N H IST O R IC A L T R A D IT IO N

P A R T 3: I R A N I A N H I S T O R I C A L
TRADITION
10 (a ) I R A N I A N COMMON BELIEFS AND W O R LD -V IEW 343
by E H S A N YARSHATER

(1b) I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L H I S T O R Y 359
by E H S A N YARSHATER
The Sasanians were in possession of an historical tradition which had its
roots in remote antiquity and had taken shape chiefly through oral trans­
mission. It contained stories of mythical kings and sagas of legendary
princes and noble warriors, as well as factual history. This tradition, which
found its fullest expression in the Khwaday-ndmag of Sasanian times, was based
on an outlook born of Iranian religious, social and political developments,
and employed norms and premises different from those underlying modern
historical research.
The Iranian outlook and its religious foundations are presented in
Chapter io a\ Chapter 10b examines the mythical, legendary and factual
history of Iran, as it developed in the native historical tradition, in three
parts: the first part discusses the characteristic features of this tradition; the
second, the origin and development of Iranian myths and legends; and the
third, the treatment of factual history in traditional historiography. Editor.
 CHAPTER I0(rf)

IR A N IA N C O M M O N BELIEFS A N D
W O R L D -V IE W
To be fully comprehensible, Iranian myths and legends and the subse­
quent development of the Iranian historical tradition must be studied
in the context of the Iranian world-view. The Avestan material, although
presented in a Zoroastrian redaction, preserves many of the Iranian
beliefs which were inherited from remote antiquity and persisted in Iran
throughout the Sasanian period. Pahlavi books, too, despite their late
composition, have kept for us an essentially pre-Zoroastrian set of
beliefs concerning cosmology and the nature of corporeal creation.1
On the basis of the Avesta, the Rig-Veda, and the conservative Pahlavi
literature, it is possible to arrive at an approximation of the develop­
ment of the Iranian world-view from pagan times to the advent of
Islam.
DIVINE BEINGS AND T H E IR ALLIES

The Indo-Iranian people believed in a number of gods, mostly symbol­

izing forces or aspects of nature, who wielded great power over natural
events, as well as over man’s destiny.2 A discussion of the Iranian
pantheon or Iranian demonology is outside the scope of this chapter.3
The following remarks are meant to provide only the necessary back­
ground in cosmology against which the mythical and legendary history
of Iran developed.
Already in pagan times, social development and ethical considera­
tions had given rise to the concept of deities who personified or repre­
sented abstract ideas or moral values. Mitra (Av. Mithra), one of the
great Indo-Iranian gods, was a protector of pacts and promises, and
Varuna, another powerful god, had in his charge rta (Old Pers. arta,
Av. ala), the universal order based on truth. Gods were worshipped
through ritual sacrifice and prayer in order to ensure their favour and
gain their protection. Different orders of deities were worshipped. The
most important distinction was between the asuras (Av. ahura) and the
1 Cf. Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. i. 131.
* For a discussion of Iranian deities see Gray, i6ff.; Lommel, Religion, ioff., 2j jff.; Gershe-
vitch, Hymn to Mitbra, Intro.; Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 2f. * See CHI n.

343
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

devas (Av. daeva, Old Pers. datva). The asuras, who included Mitra and
Varuna, were beneficent, mighty gods in possession of a magical power
called rndya, which they brought to bear on the administration of the
world.1 The devas appear to have been somewhat amoral beings, en­
dowed with great physical strength; their chief representative was a
mighty war god, Vsrathraghna in Iran and Indra in India.8
In addition, the Indo-Iranian pantheon included nature deities who
symbolized the sun, the moon, and other luminaries, water, fire, wind,
and the sky. Particularly prominent among these deities in Iran was the
goddess of the waters, Aradvl Sura, originally perhaps a river divinity,
who is celebrated in the Aban Yasht of the Avesta and to whom many
Iranian heroes offered sacrifice.
Cult gods, concerned with ritual worship, were another order of
divine beings venerated by the Indo-Iranians. Chief among these was
Soma (Av. Haoma). He represented a plant of the same name, whose
exhilarating juice, obtained through pounding and pressing the stalks,
was widely used in the worship and was offered to the gods in sacrificial
rituals. As the divine priest of sacrifice, Soma came to symbolize some
aspects of the sacrifice itself.
In the Zoroastrianism of the Yashts,® the Iranian pantheon is domi­
nated by Ahura Mazda, the supreme god and creator of the world and
of all the other gods. Individual deities, however, retain their characters
and powers. They can aid those who worship them or frustrate and
punish those who reject them. Thus they receive lavish sacrifices
accompanied by requests for blessings. Mithra and Aradvi Sura remain
prominent, and the fravaHs and the xvannah continue to be important
factors in human life as well as in world events.
The fravash. Like the Indian pitaras, the fravasis were the souls of
the departed, and their cult may have had its origin in a form of ancestor
worship.4 Bailey has suggested an etymology which would indicate
that they were originally the departed spirits of heroes and that later
Ae concept was enlarged to include all mortals - dead, born, and
unborn.8The fravasis were conceived as invisible, powerful beings who
could assist their kinsmen and ward off harm from them if properly
commemorated with offerings and prayers. In the Farvardin Yasht,
1 Oldenburg, ijff.
* See Benveniste and Renou, Vrta tt VrDragia, 177C
* Cf. Gershevitch, Hymn to Mitbra, 13ft
* For a discussion of the fravaiis see Soderblom, “Les Fravashis”, RHR xxxix (1899),
229-60,373-418; Moulton, 271; Spiegel, Er<&». Altertb.,11.yi8,\Boyat,Hijt.Zoroasl.,i. ii7ff.
* Problems, 109.
344
 D IV IN E BEINGS

which is dedicated to them, only the fravaSis of the righteous are

invoked.1
The xvaranah. Variously translated as Divine Fortune, Grace, or
Glory, the xvaranah (Mid. Pers. farrah, Pers. farr) was conceived as a
blessing bestowed from above, usually by A§i, the goddess of wealth
and recompense.2 Originally, it appears to have meant the good things
given to mortals by the gods, but the concept was also hypostasized as
a deity. As a divine gift, it accompanied men and women favoured by
the gods, and it afforded them power and prosperity. The Zamyad Yasht,
although dedicated to the Earth, in fact celebrates the xvaranah as
possessed by gods, prophets, and great heroes of Iranian myth and
legend.
The xvaranah is one of the most enduring concepts of Iranian
tradition and figures prominently in the national history. No king could
rule successfully without it. It was only by virtue of the xvaranah that
the mighty achieved fame and glory. Its presence brought success and
symbolized legitimacy. Its absence changed men’s fortunes, indicating
divine disfavour and often auguring imminent fall or defeat. The
xvaranah was frequently conceived as an image, such as a ray of light
or a bird. As the Fortune of the Iranian kings, it was called the Royal
Glory (Kavaetn xvaranah) and became identified with the Glory of Iran
(Atryanam xvaranah). It was also sought by hostile forces and the enemies
of the Aryan people as a guarantee of success. When Yima succumbed
to the Lie, the xvaranah departed from him in the shape of a bird and
passed into the possession of Mithra. Aii Dahaka attempted to capture
it, but it was saved by Fire and escaped into the mythical Vourukasa
Sea, whereupon it fell under the protection of the god Ap^m Napat.
Afrasiyab plunged into the water three times, striving to capture it, but
each time he failed.3
The xvaranah must have had a special place in the accounts of the
kings in the Khwaday-namag as an expression of divine will or favour.
This is often reflected in Islamic sources, particularly in the Shdk-nama>
where many rises and falls of kings are explained in terms of the presence
or absence of the xvaranah. Yima is defeated by Dahak when the
xvaranah departs from him. Tiis and Gustahm, sons of king Naudhar,
are barred from kingship on the ground that they lacked the xvaranah.
1 See pp. 414ft. for further detail
1 For a discussion of the xvaranah see Bailey, Problems, 1—77; J. Duchesne-Guillemin,
“ Le Xuaranah”, AIO N v (1963) 19-31; Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 66-8.
* See further p. 414.
345
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

Kai Kavad is hailed as king precisely because he is endowed with

this gift.1
The Holy Immortals. As a result of the Zoroastrian reform another
group of divine beings, the chief Amo§a Spantas (the “ Bounteous, or
Holy,2 Immortals”), rose to prominence. Six in number, and repre­
senting the aspects of Ahura Mazda, they personify primarily the ethical
concepts of Zoroastrianism: Vohu Manah “ Good Mind”, A§a Vahista
“ Highest Truth”, Xsathra Vairya “ Desirable Dominion”, Spanta
Armaiti “ Bounteous Devotion”, Haurvatat “ Health”, and Amarotat
“ Life”. The six Holy Immortals, together with Ahura Mazda, who
headed them and also represented them in their totality, were in charge
of the seven “ creations” of the Old Iranian world picture. Thus they
were intimately involved in physical phenomena, in the course of
human life, and in religious observances.
A variety of fabulous creatures who are either helpful or harmful to
man are known in the Iranian myths.8 They are also met in the Avesta,
the Pahlavi books, and the folk epics of Persian literature. Important
among them, and conspicuous in the Shah-nama and in Persian literature, is
the Saena bird(Av. Saena maragha, Mid. Pers. Sen-murv, Pers. Semurgh,
Simurgh) mentioned in the Avesta4and elaborated in the Pahlavi books.8
Its resting place, according to Yasht 12.17, is on the fabulous tree which
is in the middle of the Vouruka§a Sea and which bears the seeds of all
plants and healing herbs. It is by the beating of the Semurgh’s wings that
the seeds of this tree are scattered, to be carried by wind and rain over
all the earth. In the Shah-nama, the Semurgh is depicted as a huge eagle
with magical powers, which has its nest on top of a high mountain. It
rears Zal and helps Rustam defeat Isfandiyar. It is not certain, however,
whether this is the same bird as the one described in the Avesta. Since
the legends of Zal and Rustam are probably of Saka origin,® and in any
event from a different region than the birthplace of the Avesta, it is
likely either that two different miraculous birds have coalesced in name
or that different myths were attached to the bird in different regions.
Another legendary bird is Karshiptar, which, according to the Vendidad
2.24, spread the good religion in Yima’s underground fortress.
1 Sbdb-nama, pp. 27, 279, 290.
* Cf. Boyce, Zoroastrians, pp. 2iff.; Insler, Go/AJj, i 17, who translates spmta by “ virtuous”.
* See Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 88ff., for a listing and description of these creatures.
* Yashts 12.17; t 4-4i*
* bundabssbn xiii. 2;; Menog i Kbrad Ixii. 37-9; Zatsparam iii. 39.
* S e e p p . 454-5*

346
 FALSE GODS

FALSE GODS, DEMONS, AND MALICIOUS SPIRITS

The Indo-Iranians believed not only in beneficent gods and spirits but
in a number of hostile supernatural beings and malignant spirits. To
avert the threats to human life posed by the inimical hosts, acts of
propitiation, ritual incantations, banning formulas, and appeals to the
benevolent deities were practised.
The ways of religious thinking in India and Iran, however, did not
keep to the same path for long. In Iran, religious deliberation, prompted
presumably by social, political, and economic circumstances, led to a
distinct schism in the Indo-Aryan pantheon. Whereas deva continued as
the designation of gods among the Indo-Aryans, in Iran the daevas were
branded as gods who opposed the well-being of man and were thus
unworthy of worship. Zoroaster conceived them to be the principal
agents of evil and, as adverse gods, the targets of his denunciation.
Subsequently they sank to the rank of mere demons. It is not possible
to determine with certainty the phases of this development in terms of
time, or to say how much of it was due to Zoroaster’s reform. From the
Gathas it appears that in his day some Iranian tribes worshipped the
daevas or practised their propitiation. T. Burrow has put forth a strong
argument in favour of assuming these to have been chiefly the “ Proto-
Indoaryans”, of whom some had already migrated to India, but others
still occupied parts of eastern Iran and against them Zoroaster and his
supporters waged war1 - a view essentially expressed by L. Gray in
1927.2
In Zoroastrian teachings the demons and other malicious creatures -
all followers of Drug, “ Falsehood” -became ever more sharply
contrasted with divine beings and acted desperately against the men
who had chosen Asa, “ Truth”. Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), the un­
created opponent of Ahura Mazda, was the creator of all the demons.3
The particular targets of divine wrath in the Avesta, the demons were
slain by the thousands at the hands of various deities, the fravasis, and
Iranian heroes. Through sacrifice, prayer, and magical incantation, the
believers sought to neutralize or destroy them. The Zoroastrian con­
fession of faith, the Fravardni (Yasna 12), abounds in abjuration of
i “ Proto-Indoaryans”, pp. 126ft.
* L. H. Gray, “ The ‘Ahurian’ and ‘Daevian’ vocabularies in the Avesta”>JRAS 1927,
P- 4J9-
* For a discussion of Iranian demonology see Spiegel, Erdn. Altertb. u. 126-41; Gray,
"Foundations”, 171-219; Lommel, Religion, 74ff.; Christensen, Dimonologie; and Boyce,
Hist. Zoroast., 1. 85-108. Cf. also p. 920, below.
347
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

demons.1 The opening words of this confession as it stands now - “I

curse the demons” - although a later addition,2 testifies only to the
growing abhorrence of the demons by the Zoroastrians. Of the host of
demons only AeSma, the demon of Wrath, is mentioned in the Gathas.3
Drug, “ the Lie, Deceit” as the counterpart of Asa, and as a generic
term, is a personification of an ethical concept referring to the multitude
of demonic creatures who lurk everywhere, bent on turning man away
from the right path and determined to corrupt the world. A number of
individual demons who, likejjw^tes, “ divine beings” (lit. “ worthy of
worship” ; Mid. Pers. ya%ad\ Pers. i%ad), have special functions are
named in the Yashts. In the Videvdad, “ the Law against Demons”,
which is particularly concerned with the pollution inflicted by Nasu,
the Demon of Death, several other demons are mentioned. Three
fallen Indo-Iranian deities, Indra, Naghaithya (Ved. Nasatya), and
Sauvra (Ind. Sarva), are listed among the demons.4 In a compensating
effort Ahriman created demonic counterparts to each of Ohrmazd’s
creations and an arch-fiend against each Ams§a Spanta.sIn the Pahlavi
books, in particular the Bmdahishn, many more demons are named.
The demons were visualized in different shapes: some, like Nasu, as
insects, others, like ApaoSa, the Demon of Drought, in animal shapes,
and still others as serpentine monsters and as dragons of various des­
criptions. But most were thought, in later traditions, to have deformed
and monstrous human shapes.
Sasanian historiography reflects belief in demons, and accordingly
they have a conspicuous place in the Shah-nama. The primaeval kings
are constantly at war with the demons, whom they hold to be the fore­
most enemies of men, and their greatness consists partly in breaking
and subduing these foes. Karasaspa is the conqueror and slayer of many
a monster,® as are Rustam, Isfandiyar, and other heroes. Even Ardashir
is credited with the destruction of the dragon Haftvad7(Haftanbukht in
the Kamamag i Ardashir).* Demons can change shape and make use of
magical power. It is a fiend who, in the form of a skilful musician,
persuades Kavus to undertake the disastrous Mazandaran expedition,9
while another fiend, in the shape of an attractive young man, urges him
to make the flight into the skies.l0The Shdh-ndma also has a fiend, in the
1 See Christensen, Demonologie, 8; Boyce, Hist. Zoroast., i. 252-3.
* See K. Hoffmann, “ Zur avestischen Textkritik” in M. Boyce and I. Gershevitch (eds),
Henning Memorial Volume (London, 1970), 196-7. * Yasnas 29.2; 30.6; 48.12'
4 Videvdad 10.9. 6 Bmdahishn i. 47-9, j j . * See pp. 429ft
1 Sbdb-nama, pp. 1879ft. * Ed. Antia, 25ft * Shah-nama, p. 316.
10 Ibid., pp. 409ft.
348
 CREATION

guise of a brilliant cook, who causes the notorious snakes to grow on

Dahak’s shoulders.1 The most conspicuous demon in the Shah-nama,
however, is the White Demon (Dev-i Safid), who is defeated and killed
by Rustam in an extraordinary feat of courage and strength.2As Noldeke
has pointed out, the legend may have preserved vestigial memories of a
war between eastern Iranians and a tribe, in the Caspian region or else­
where, who worshipped daeva-gods, possibly of light8-hence the
epithet “ white”. The legend of Rustam’s slaying of the Demon Akvan,
cast in the frame of a popular tale by Firdausi, may be another such
vestige.
Apart from daevas, there were other spirits who inhabited the world
and threatened man with harm. Chief among these were the jatus,
originally demons, who, when later the daevas were degraded to
demons, came to be designated sorcerers. The antiquity of this notion
is suggested by the occurrence of these spirits in Indian literature also.4
Pairikas are female beings of malicious nature, once associated in the
Avesta with shooting stars,5 and later considered for all practical
purposes to be sorceresses. In the Yashts they are often mentioned
with the yatus and are assailed by gods and heroes.6 As they often
posed as beautiful women in popular stories, they came to be regarded
in Sasanian Persia, but more particularly in post-Sasanian literature
(Pers. part), as the epitome of charm and beauty.7

THE WORLD AND ITS CREATION

In pagan antiquity various myths about the creation of the world and
the nature of the universe evidently existed, as their traces can be found
in both the Vedas and the Avesta, as well as in the Pahlavi books. It
appears that even before Zoroaster a good deal of systematization had
taken place, and a coherent world picture had already evolved.8 It is
1 Pp. i8ff. * P p . 3iyff.
* Archiefur Religionswissenschaft xvni (Leipzig, 1915), J97ff.; Christensen, Dimonologit, 64.
4 See Oldenberg, 265ft.
* Yasht, 8.8. See J. Duchesne-Guillemin, Les composts dt l'Avesta (Paris, 1936), §10)
(p. 71) for a possible etymology which may confirm their origin as shooting stars.
* Yashts t.6; 6.4; 10.26, 34; 11.6; 12.104.
’ For the theory according to which pairikas rejected by Zoroaster were originally
female deities associated with fertility, and that their emergence later as “fairies” and
paragons of beauty preserves traces of pre-Zoroastrian beliefs, see B. SarkarStI, Majilla-yi
Damshkoda-yi Adabiyyat.. .Tabriz xxin (1971), pp. 1-32.
8 This section owes much to the admirable treatment of the subject in Boyce, Hist.
Zoroast, 1. i3off.

349
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

obvious that an attempt was made to trace the diverse species and
phenomena to a single origin in order to make intelligible the chaotic
world of change and variation. Zoroaster, being essentially a moral
thinker, probably did not initiate any radical formulation of thought
about the nature of the universe and its origin. It is clear, however, that
his ethical dualism, his investing of Ahura Mazda with greater power
than before, and his particular vision of the role played by the Evil
Spirit gave the older beliefs a new perspective and made the creation
myths the instrument of a freshly conceived ethical order. The Pahlavi
books, in particular the Bmdahishn, which is mainly concerned with
creation and the nature of the visible world, have preserved a wealth of
pertinent tradition and beliefs which must have been inherited chiefly
from pre-Zoroastrian times.
According to the Bmdahishn,1 the universe was created in seven stages,
in the following order: the sky, water, earth, plants, animals, man, and
fire - an order which is confirmed by the Avesta.2 A more sophisticated
scheme, however, according to which Ahura Mazda brought forth fire
out of the Endless Light, ether (yad) out of fire, water out of ether, and
all matter from water, except the seed of man and animals, which was
made from the essence of fire, appears in another passage of the
Bmdahishn.3 But this version of creation no doubt reflects a later view,
developed by subsequent priestly speculations. It strikes one as more
philosophical than mythical, seeking as it does a single origin for the
diversity of nature and possibly incorporating some foreign influences.
The sky4 was conceived as a round, hard vault, made of bright
precious stone (i.e. rock crystal, sometimes referred to as “ shining
metal”),5 which encircled the earth. Water filled the lower part of the
sphere of the sky and passed beneath the earth.6 The view that the earth
was created in three stages7 apparently served to account for its hard
core, its soft crust of soil, and the layer in between. Mountains grew
from the earth like trees with “ roots”8 underground. The greatest of
these mountains was the high Hara (Av. Hara.barazaiti, Mid. Pew.
Harburz, Pers. Alburz) which encompassed the earth and kept growing,
according to the Bmdahishn (ix. 1-2), for 800 years, until it passed the
regions of the stars, the moon, and the sun and reached the highest
1 i a. 4-21; cf. i. 53; cf. Zatsparam i. 20. * Yasht 13.2!!. * i a. 2-3.
* On the myths concerning the sky and its etymology, see Bailey’s standard study in
Problems, 120-48. 1 Yasht 13.2; Bailey, op. tit., 127-8.
• Bundabisbn i a. 10. » Bundabisbn i a. 9. « Ibid,, vi c. 1.

350
 CREATION

heaven. Other mountains grew from it, numbering in all 2,244.1 Like
the Indians, the Iranians believed in seven climes (Av. karhar, Pers.
kishvar), which came into being when the rain first fell and broke the
earth into seven pieces. In the centre was Xvaniratha (Mid. Pers.
Khwanirah),2 the fairest clime of all and equal in size to all the other
karsvars put together.
In Xvaniratha lay Airyanam Vaejah (Mid. Pers. Eran Vej), the land
of the Iranians. In the Videvdad 1.2, this country is described as the first
and the best of dwelling-places and lands. A legendary region at the
centre of the world, it was seen by the Iranians as the seat of all major
phenomena and world events. The river Veh Daiti flowed through it,
and both the primordial Bull and Gayomard 8 were created in it. In the
first chapter of the Videvdad, where it heads the list of countries created
by Ahura Mazda, Airyanam Vaejah is described as having a winter of
ten months’ and a summer of two months’ duration.
In the middle of Xvaniratha stood a lofty mountain which had grown
up from Hara and was called the Peak (Av. Taera; Mid. Pers. Terag) of
high Hara, sometimes itself referred to simply as Hara. It was believed
that the stars, the moon and the sun, which were imagined to be below
the vault of the sky, had their orbit around the Peak of Hara.4 Accord­
ing to the Mithra Yasht 51-2, Ahura Mazda, together with the AmaSa
Spsntas, made a dwelling for Mithra on high Hara, “ where comes
neither night or darkness, no cold or hot wind, no deadly illness, no
defilement made by the daevas, and the clouds cannot reach up”. From
high Hara, Mithra watches over the whole world. There are 180
windows on the eastern side of the Peak and 180 on the western side.
Each day at dawn the sun enters one of the windows on the east and
circles back through a western window. Later Hara was identified with
the mountain now called Alburz, and its major peak, Demavand, is the
scene of a number of mythical and legendary events in the national
tradition. It was here that Fredon chained and imprisoned Dahak, and
it was in the Alburz mountains that Rustam discovered Kai Kavad.
Precisely which mountain Hara was originally meant to indicate is hard
to say. Such an identification would depend on the antiquity of the
myth and the region that the Iranians occupied when the myth developed.
Hara is also the source of the waters.5 The mythical sea VourukaSa
1 Ibid., ix. 3; cf. Geiger, 42. It will be noted that Zoroastrian Middle Persian literature
contains much that belongs to popular religion and lore.
* Bundahishn viii. 1. See Gershevitch, Hymn to Mithra, 176, for an etymology.
s See pp. 4i6ff. 1 Yasht 12.25. 8 Bmdabisbtt x. t.
351
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

[Mid. Pers. Varkash or Frakh(w)kard] which skirts the foot of Hara,

occupies one-third of the earth.1 Water flows down into the sea from
the Peak of Hara in the river Aradvi Sura, which is as large as all other
rivers put together.2 Two rivers, the Vaghvi Daitya “ Good Daitya”
(Mid. Pers. Veh Daiti or Veh Rod) and the Rarjha (Mid. Pers. Arang),
flow out of VourukaSa, one to the east and the other to the west, form­
ing the eastern and western boundaries of Xvaniratha.8
The identification of the rivers, lakes, mountains, and place names in
Iranian myths and legends has been the subject of considerable dis­
cussion among scholars. For instance, the river Ragha has been identified
variously as the Indus,4 Jaxartes,6 Tigris,* the Volga,7 the Zarafshan
River in Sogdiana,8 and even the Nile.8 In the Pahlavi books one en­
counters contradictory statements, which indicate shifting identifi­
cations by the Iranians themselves.10£ran Vej seems to have been
identified at about the time of Zoroaster with Chorasmia,u and Ham has
long been identified with the present Alburz chain. But one must bear
in mind, as Boyce points out,12that it would be of little profit to speculate
about the original mountain, river, or land which may lie behind these
names since one cannot be certain of the location of the Iranian tribes
when the names came into use. Furthermore, like most migrants, the
early Iranians seem to have applied old names to new places.
What appears to be a more primitive myth than the myth of the
creation of plants as the fourth creation, concerns a tree, referred to in
the Rashn Yasht 17 as the Tree of All Remedies or the Saena tree13
which was said to grow in the middle of the VourukaSa Sea. It is
described in the Videvdad j.19 as the well-watered tree upon which
grow plants of every kind, by hundreds, by thousands, by hundreds
of thousands.
The fifth creation, animal life, had its origin in the Bull Uniquely
Created (Av. Gdv aivo.data; Mid. Pers. Gdv i evdad), which was brought
forth in Eran Vej, in the middle of the earth, on the bank of the river
Veh Daiti. He is described as “ white bright as the moon, with the
I ibid. * Yashts j .3; 13.6. * Bundabisbn xi. 1.
4 Windischmann, 188. 4 Geiger, 54-41.
8 Darmesteter, Le Zend-Avesta n. 1j, n. 44.
7 Marquart, IVebrot und Arang, 135ff.; Christensen, Le premier tbapitre du eendidad, 56;
Ghirshman, 73-4. 8 See Marquart, EranJabr, 148.
8 See the Bundabisbn xi. 1; Spiegel, Erdn. Altertb. 1. 195.
Ja Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 146.
II Henning, Zoroaster, 42L; cf. Gershevitch, Hymn to Mi/bra, 174-6; Benveniste,“L’Eran-
vez”. 12 Hist. Zoroast. r. i43f. 18 See above, p. 343.

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 CREATION

height of three measured reeds ”.1His death, probably through sacrifice

by the gods, resulted in the emergence of new life.2 A portion of the
Bull’s seed was taken to the moon to be purified. From it came into
being all the species of beneficent animals. The other part of his seed
fell on the earth and gave rise to many kinds of useful plants.
The sixth creation was Gayo.maratan (Mid. Pers. Gqydmard, and in
the Shah-nama Kayomarth) “ Mortal Life”, who is said to be as “bright
as the sun” and to measure the same in height and width.3 He was
stationed on the left bank of the river Veh Daiti, opposite the Bull. In
the Zoroastrian version of the myth, both the Bull and Gayomard
perish as a result of Ahriman’s onslaught upon the world of Ohrma2d.
Gayomard’s seed, which was purified by the sun’s light, was partly
entrusted to Narisah (Av. Nairyo.sarjha, Pers. Narse), a god of prayer
associated with Fire and Mithra, and partly received by Spandarmad
(Av. Spsnta.Armaiti), the Earth. From the part that was entrusted to
the earth sprang, after forty years, a rhubarb plant that developed into
Mashya and Mashyana, the first human couple.
The position of fire in the scheme of creation is manifestly ambiguous.
While fire is sometimes referred to as the seventh creation,4 on occasion
it is not counted with the others at all. It was believed that fire derived
its brightness from the Endless Light, the abode of Ohrmazd,5and that
it pervaded all other beings. The seed of both man and animals was said
to derive from it. “ The fully evolved doctrine may well have been”,
writes Mary Boyce, “ that this element first passed into the being of the
six creations proper when these became animated, forming, as it were,
their life force.” 6
The cosmic conflict. With the spread of Zoroaster’s teachings, the
inherited world picture of the Iranians assumed a new colouring. In
priestly schools the diverse elements of myth and reality were brought
together and combined into a scheme characterized by an ethical thrust.
The essence of the scheme was the fierce opposition between good and
evil. The universe was now pictured as a battlefield of the two primeval
forces, with man as an active and important factor in the outcome.
Creation assumed a moral purpose and the course of history - past,
present, and future - was visualized with clarity as part of an orderly
programme, the direction and main features of which had been deter­
mined at the outset. In broad outline, world history was in fact no more
1 Bmdabisbn i a. ta. * See below, p. 418. * Btmdahislm i a. i j .
4 ibid., »“• 7- 6Ibid., i a. 6. • Hist. Zoroast. 1. 141.

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 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

than a realization of the vision of Ohrmazd when his omniscience

permitted him to perceive, at the beginning, the events of the future
until the time of Ahriman’s annihilation. Future history was viewed
with as much certainty as the past.
The most detailed account of world events according to the above
scheme, with a basis in Iranian cosmology, is found in the Bmdahishn-1
According to this work, Ohrmazd, in his all-knowing wisdom, realized
the existence of Ahriman and foresaw his attack, as well as the period of
intermingling (gome^ishn) which would follow. He also realized that in
the end victory would be his. To prepare for the defence of his realm
and for final victory, first he created the cosmos: the six Holy Immortals,
the other yazads, the elements and astral bodies, all in a spiritual state
(pad menogiti). For 3,000 years the world remained in this state, without
movement, thought, or tangible substance. The time was fixed at noon,
and peace and serenity prevailed. Ahriman, rising from his abyss of
total darkness, caught sight of the Light and the luminous nature of
Ohrmazd’s world. True to his destructive nature, he invaded it. But
faced with the valour and fortitude of Ohrmazd, he rushed back to his
abyss and fashioned (karinid, “ miscreated”) many demons (divs) and
death-dealers, then rose for battle. Ohrmazd, knowing the outcome,
offered him peace, with a promise of immortality and freedom from
hunger and thirst, if he would withdraw and offer praise to Ohrmazd’s
creatures. When Ahriman refused, Ohrmazd realized that if he did not
fix a limit for the duration of the batde, he would place himself at a dis­
advantage. Therefore, he suggested 9,000 years as the length of the
contest. Ahriman, with his lack of foresight, agreed to this covenant,
and Ohrmazd revealed to him the outcome of their battle and recited
the potent Ahunavairyo prayer. Ahriman, struck by the power of the
prayer, was stunned, and fell back once more into the depths of dark­
ness, lying in a stupor for 3,000 years.
During these 3,000 years Ohrmazd created the visible world (getig)
as a defence against the forthcoming attack of Ahriman. Within one
year of 360 days, he created in succession the sky, water, the earth,
plants (,urvar), beneficial animals (gospand\ man, and fire.2 Then he
created the fixed and the moving stars, the moon, and the sun, arranging
and organizing them in ranks and positions for battle with the Adver­
sary.3 Further, he assigned each creature its role during that batde and
placed each class of creature in the charge of one of the six Holy
1 i-iii. * bmdahishn i. 54. * Ibid., ii. 1-20.

354
 CREATION

Immortals; Ohrmazd himself took charge of man, Vahman of animals,

Ardvahist (Av. AsavahiSta) of fire, Shahrevar of metal, Spandarmad of
the earth, Hordad of water, and Amurdad of plants.1
While Ahriman was lying in stupor, several of his demons tried to
cheer him up and urge him to action. But only Jeh, the arch-whore,
succeeded at the end of 3,000 years in rousing him out of his fright by
promising to defile all manner of creatures.2 At noon, on the first day
of the first month (day Ohrmazd of the month Farvardin), Ahriman
invaded the world of Ohrmazd, inflicting damage and wreaking havoc
in every direction. He pierced and darkened the sky, spoiled the taste
of water, let loose noxious creatures over the earth, withered plants,
attacked both the primeval Bull and Gayomard with greed, want, pain,
hunger, disease, vice and neglect, and mingled smoke with fire. Then
Gav and Gayomard, both afflicted, passed away, the latter after linger­
ing for thirty years. The battle raged ferociously, with the yazads, the
constellations, stars, the moon, and the sun trying to ward off the
demons. After ninety days, the demons were reduced and thrown back
into hell,8but not before they had disfigured and corrupted the universe,
bringing the world to its present “ mixed state”.*
The third phase of world history consists of the next 3,000 years, a
period of admixture, divided into three millennia. The first millennium
sees the rise of Pishdadian world kings and their continual battle
against the divs. The second millennium is entirely taken up by the
tyrannical rule of the monstrous Dahak. The third is devoted largely to
the reign of the Kayanians and the Irano-Turanian wars; the advent of
Zoroaster heralds its close; and it ends with the conversion of Gushtasp
(see below for the events of this period).
Eschatology. The final phase of the world’s history, also a period of
admixture, is likewise divided into three millennia, at the end of each of
which a future son of Zoroaster will appear as a Messiah to help the
cause of the good religion and to ensure the defeat of its enemies. They
are to be born of the seed of the prophet, which is preserved in Lake
Frazdan, in Sistan, and watched over by a large number of the fravaSis
of righteous men. At the appointed time destined maidens will bathe in
the lake, receive the seed, and give birth to the successive Saviours. The
last one, the Sosyant (Saviour) par excellence, appears at the end of the
1 ibid., >>*• 13-24- 2 ibid., iv. 4. 8 Ibid., iv. 27.
4 The time-span of the world in Iranian myths may have been originally shorter, as some
sources convey the impression of 6,000 or 9,000 years. The extension to 12,000 divided
into four periods of 3,000, seems to betray Babylonian influences.

355
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

third millennium to bring about the dissolution of the admixture and

the renovation of all existence.
In the Gathas the older form of the word, saotyant, "benefactor,
helper”, is used mostly as a general term which seems to refer to those
men in the future who would help bring about the Renovation (/raid,
hrsta, Mid. Pers.frashagird). In the Yashts, the doctrine of the Saviour
is more explicit: Astvat.arata, the victorious Sosyant, will come accom­
panied by his helpers and by the xvaranah, to purify the world and to
bring immortality. He emerges from Lake Kyansih (Av. Kasaoya,
identified with Lake Hamun in Sistan), brandishing the weapons which
Thraetaona used to slay K.H Dahaka, which Frarjrasyan wielded to smite
Zainigav, which Kavi Haosravah carried against Fraqrasyan, and which
Kavi ViStaspa held to avenge A§a. He will conquer and drive out the
Drug (the Lie) from the world of Asa (Truth).1But the Avesta does not
know more than this about the Sosyant. Later, it seems, the millennial
view of history in conjunction with knowledge of the three sons born
naturally to the prophet, who are mentioned in the Avesta, gave rise to
the concept of triplicate SoSyants, each of which would appear at the
end of one of the last three millennia.
The coming of the Sosyant and the events of the final phase of the
world are already sketched in the Zamyad Yasht (vv. 89-96), They are
elaborated in the Pahlavi books of the 9th century,2which display many
differences in detail but agree in the main. The fullest version is found
in the Zand i Vahman Yasht, which is based on the now lost Vahman
Yasht. The Muslim conquest no doubt prompted a flowering of
apocalyptic literature, but what one finds in the Pahlavi books appears
essentially to represent Sasanian beliefs. It may be presumed that towards
the end of Sasanian times the following, broadly outlined views pre­
vailed in relation to future world events.
At the close of the 10th millennium, Pishotan, a son of king Gush-
tasp, will appear and assume the leadership of the faithful. With the
help of 150 righteous men and a number of yazads, he will defeat the
forces of Ahriman and cleanse the world. He thus prepares the way for
the birth of Hoshedar (Av. Uxgyat.arsta), the first of the three Saviour
sons of the prophet. Hoshedar will gather a mighty army and in a
terrible battle crush the wicked and restore the religion. The n th
millennium belongs to Hoshedar, as the 10th belongs to Zoroaster.
1 Yasht 19.89-96.
* See Bundabisbn xxxiii-xxxv; Denkard vii, 9-11; Dadajtan i Detiig xxxvii; for other sources
see Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 285, n. 34.
356
 CREATION

The 12th millennium belongs to Iloshedarmah (Av. Uxsyat.nsmah),

the second Saviour. It is during this millennium that the demon Malkush
(Av. Mahrkusa) appears and causes the terrible snow-storm which
destroys all creatures. The people and the animals who had taken
refuge in Jamshed’s fortress (Var) are released and populate the world
again. Owing to the spread of wickedness and evil heresies, however,
Ahriman gains power and rouses Dahak, who had been chained by
Fredon in Mount Demavand, to ravage the world. With the help of the
ya2ads, Ohrmazd in turn rouses the hero Karshasp from his trance. In
the ensuing battle, Karshasp slays Dahak with his famous mace. Also
called to take part in the final battle are the Zoroastrian Immortals,
men and women, including Kai Khusrau, Tus, and Gev.
Now the time has come for the appearance of the last and greatest of
the Saviours, the Sosyant, to oversee the final victory. In the course of
fifty-seven years he will resurrect the dead, beginning with Gayomard.
All men will assemble, and every person will view his own good or evil
deeds. The righteous will be sent back to the highest heaven (,garodmatt)
and the wicked will be cast into hell (dusyakhtv), each for the duration of
three days. Then the divine Airyaman and Fire will melt all the metal in
the hills and mountains and will cause all souls, both righteous and
wicked, to go through an ordeal by fire and molten metal for their
purification. The sins of the damned will be burnt away by the ordeal,
and the wicked will be purged. The Sosyant and his helpers will then
prepare the beverage of immortality (andi); each soul will drink of it
and thereby become immortal. Then the Sosyant will recompense each
one according to his or her deeds. Ohrmazd will seize the Evil Spirit
and the six Holy Immortals their demonic counterparts. Ahriman and
the arch-demon Az, defeated and undone by the Gathic prayer, will
retreat to their dark abyss through the breach in the sky made by Ahri­
man when he first entered the world, and the forces of evil will be
assigned to eternal gloom. A renewed existence begins a life of bliss
for all the good creation.
Thus the history of the world, past and to come, is conceived and
presented as a long, arduous struggle against evil. The Iranian national
heroes from Gayomard onwards are all champions of this battle. Even
Zoroaster’s redemptive function is conceived with his fravasi at the
beginning, when Ahura Mazda makes his plans for creation. Even as
human life had begun with Gayomard, the Renovation will begin with
his resurrection, thus completing the cycle of history. The major figures

557
 IR A N IA N COMMON BELIEFS

of the epic tradition, divinities and mortals alike, will join in the final
battle against evil, helping to bring to a conclusion the divine drama in
which they were the chief actors.1 The forceful and all-pervasive
dualism of the Iranian religion provided a clear ideological context for
the comprehension and interpretation of social and political events, as
well as a framework for moral judgment. National disasters were
understood to have been inflicted by Ahriman and his agents, aided
by people’s failure to pursue a$a as admonished by Ahura Mazda;
heretics, trespassers of social canons, rebels and wrong-doers were
regarded as having erred in their moral choice and been ensnared by
demons. Pollution, disease and death were accepted as evils attendant
on the “ mixed” state of the world. All good things were bestowed by
Ahura Mazda, the Amssa Spsntas and the Yazatas - on those who had
earned them. The future was bright with the prospect of the SoSyant
and the hope of ultimate salvation. A belief in Fate and the inexorable
decrees of Time, which appears to have developed in the Sasanian
period and colours some of the gnomic literature in Middle Persian,
must have remained marginal to the dualistic picture of the world which
gave man freedom of choice.
1 For the developments of specific Iranian myths and legends and some other aspects of
Iranian world-view, as mirrored in the national historical tradition, see chapter io(/>).

358
 CHAPTER lo(b)
IRANIAN N A T IO N A L HISTORY

I. The sources, p. 359. Features of the national history, 366. The Iranian historical outlook,
367. A brief summary of the national history, 370. Chronology of the national history, 383.
Myths and legends of western and southern Iran, 388. Written forms of the national history,
391. The character and the aspects of the national history: religious aspect, 393; socio-political
aspect, 397; didactic aspect, 398; recreational aspect, 400. National history as a mirror of
Sasanian conditions, 402; image of kingship, 403; the nationalistic spirit of Sasanian tradition, 408.
II. Myths and legends in the national history: their origin and development, 412. Gayomard
and the beginning of the human race, 416. The Pishdadian dynasty: Hoshang, 420; Tahmo-
rath, 422; Jamshed, 422; Dahdk, 426; Fredon, 427; Karshdsp, 429; Manuchihr, 43 3; the successors
of Manuchihr, 434. The Kayanian era, 436; the geographical milieu of the Kayanians, 438; the
house of Afrasiyab, 440; the first Kayanian period: Kai Kavad, 444; Kavus, 444; Siyavush,
448; Kai Khusrau, 451. The noble warriors under the Kayanians: the house of Rustam, 453; the
bouse of Godar;r, 457; the house of Naudhar, 460. Aspects of the Kayanian epic cycle, 461. The
second Kayanian period: Kuhrasp, 465; Gushtdsp, 466; Isfandiydr, 469. The third Kayanian
period, 470.
III. Historical periods in the national tradition: the Arsacids, 473, the Sasanians, 476.

By national history is meant in this chapter the history of Iran as con­

ceived by tlje Iranians themselves and embedded in Iranian historical
tradition. Since the material for this history is partly mythical and
legendary, the chapter will inevitably touch also on Iranian myths and
legends.
In exploring Iranian historiography in pre-Islamic times we en­
counter considerable difficulty: no historical books have survived from
Seleucid, Parthian or Sasanian Iran. Our exploration must therefore
be based on inferential evidence On the other hand, there is no doubt
that comprehensive written histories did exist, at least in Sasanian times.
The latest version of a fairly official historical book, the Khwaddy-ndmag
(Book of Lords), which treated of Iranian history from its beginnings
to the end of Khusrau II’s reign ( a .d . 628), seems to have been compiled
under Yazdgird III (631-651), the last Sasanian monarch.1

1
T H E SOURCES

The Khwaddy-ndmag., together with other works pertaining to Persian

history and legend, was translated early into Arabic, notably by Ibn
al-Muqaffa‘ (d. 757). These works, with their Arabic renderings, served
1 Noldeke, Das iramsches Nationalepos, §13.

$59
 IR A N I A N NA TIO N A L HISTORY

as a basis for new recensions of the national history in Persian. All direct
Arabic translations or Persian redactions of the Khwaddy-ndmag have
been lost, but works based on them by Islamic historians and Persian
poets, chiefly from the 9th to the n th century, survive. These are our
main sources for a reconstruction of the later versions of the Iranian
national history prior to Islam. The Avesta, the Achaemenian inscrip­
tions and tablets, Middle Iranian inscriptions, ostraca, papyri, graffiti
and coins all reflect elements of national history. The Zoroastrian Middle
Persian (Pahlavi) literature, although surviving for the most part in re­
dactions of the 9th and 10th centuries, includes a good deal of historical,
legendary and mythical material originating in more remote times.
The most important of the Islamic sources relevant to the study of
the national history are the “ Annals” of Tabari (d. 932) and the Shdh-
ndma (“ Book of Kings”) of Firdausi (d. c. 1029). Of the early Arabic
works, Tabari’s “ Annals ” (Ta’r/kb al-rusulwcfl-muluk) contain the fullest
account of Iranian pre-Islamic history. He employed oral and written
sources which reflect somewhat different traditions, and true to the
method of early Islamic historians, he set them down unreconciled.
Noldeke has shown1 that among Tabari’s sources was a work based
on an Arabic translation of the Khwaday-ndmag^ one utilized also by the
anonymous author of the manuscript commonly called Springer 30.
BaFaml’s “ History” , completed in 962, is an abridged translation of
Tabari into Persian which combines the different traditions of the
Arabic original into a more homogeneous account. It is not of particular
historical interest except in a few instances such as the stories of Gayo-
mard and of Bahram Chobin, where BaFamI has drawn on other sources
to amplify Tabari’s account.
Firdausi’s Shdh-ndma (completed c. 1010) is based primarily on a
Persian prose work which was compiled by order of Abu Mansur ‘Abd
al-Razzaq TusI,2 a noble who was a contemporary of the poet. Derived
ultimately from Sasanian sources, the prose work incorporated not only
the Khwaddy-ndmag (apparently for the most part through Arabic trans­
lations or compilations),3 but also a number of historical fictions, many
popular tales and legends, and a good deal of Sasanian writing intended
only for edification or entertainment. Fortunately, Firdausi was not
interested in abridging or curtailing his material. With his poet’s taste
1 Noldeke, Tabari, xxi-xxii.
2 M. Qazvinl, “ Muqaddama-yi qadim-i Shah-nama”, Bist Maqdla 11 (Tehran 1313/1934),
2off.
3 Cf. Baron von Rosen, in VostocntyeZametkt{St Petersburg, 1885), 153-92; summarized
by Christensen, Le regne du roi Kawadh, 23-4.

360
 T H E SOURCES

for a good story, he took full advantage of his sources and created an
epic poem of great length and scope. As a historian, however, Firdausi
lacks the relative precision of Tabari. He often confuses the scenes of
events and is particularly lax concerning names and numbers. As a poet,
he was interested in literary effect rather than accuracy. And yet, owing
to its sheer bulk and richness of detail, the Shdh-ndma remains the most
important single source for the history of pre-Islamic Persia in a broad
perspective.
The earliest Islamic historian to give a surviving account of Iranian
history is Ya'qub! (2nd half of the 9th century). A sober historian of
concise diction, in his work he almost wholly ignores pre-Sasanian
history, which he deems rather implausible.1He does, however, provide
a systematic account of the Sasanian dynasty. His accurate report on
Man! and Manichaeism,2 as well as his notice on the manners and
customs of Zoroastrian Iran3*attest to his careful selection of sources.
Ibn Qutaiba (d. 889), in his manual al-Mcfdrif, and Sa'Id ibn Batxlq
(Eutychius), the Patriarch of Alexandria (d. 940), in his “ Annals ” follow
a tradition somewhat different from that of Ya'qubl. These two authors,
although independent of each other, agree not only in the content of
their reports, but often also in turns of phrases and renderings of proper
names. Noldeke concluded that they had used the same source, and
strongly suspected that this was Ibn al-Muqaffa”s translation of the
Khwaday-namag.4 This view is reinforced by the fact that in his ‘Uyun
al-akhbar (“ Choice Reports”), which contains a number of references
to Sasanian customs and institutions, Ibn Qutaiba shows himself
familiar with the works of Ibn al-Muqaffa' and quotes in several
instances from them.5
Still another version of Sasanian history is provided by Dlnawarl
(d. 895) in his Akhbar al-tiwdl. Unlike Tabari, he has blended all his
sources into a single, unified account and does not allow the different
elements to be seen separately. The equation of early Iranian kings with
Biblical figures - a common aberration of Muslim historiographers - is
presented by him as established fact. With his taste for the dramatic, he
draws also on fictional sources, notably for the stories of Alexander,
Bahram Chobln and Shiroe.
Mas'udi (d. c. 956), a historian of encyclopaedic knowledge, furnishes
1 Ya‘qubl 1. 179. 2 Ibid., 180-1. 3 Ibid., 199-203.
4 Noldeke, Tabari, xxi.
5 Ibn Qutaiba, ‘ U y ih t a l- a k h b d r 1. 2, 20, 22, 166, 276, 289; 11. 9, 26, 121; hi . 15, 192; iv.
1, 87.

361
 IR A N I A N NA T I O N A L HISTORY

important information on Iranian history in numerous passages of his

Muruj al-dhahab and Kitdb al-tanblh wa l-isbrdf. His often accurate
knowledge of Zoroastrian lore and legend is impressive, and his
references to some lost Middle Persian works are valuable.1
The brief but important “Annals” (Sim muliik al-ard wa*l-anbiydJ)
of Hamza Isfahan!, written in 961, attest to the author’s original research.
His particular interest in Persian history and chronology leads him to
express some valuable critical views on his sources, and to attempt,
although not entirely successfully, to reconstruct Persian chronology.
He also includes a description of the postures, the crowns, and the
colours of the garb of the Sasanian kings as they appeared in the now
lost “ Book of the Portraits of Sasanian Kings” (Kitdb suwar muliik bam
Sdsdn).2
Maqdisi’s “ Book of the Beginnings and History” (Kitdb al-bad’
wd*l-ta'rlkti), composed in 996, is a thematic and almost encylopaedic
work which includes some interesting observations on the beliefs and
customs of pre-Islamic Persia. The author also devotes a chapter in the
third volume to Persian history from Gayomard to Yazdgird III, treat­
ing the earliest kings and the later Sasanian monarchs more fully than
other Iranian kings. Like Mas'udI, he occasionally reveals a separate
tradition.
“ The Chronology of Ancient Nations” (al-Athdr al-baqijd)^ written
by Biruni in 1000, contains several lists of Iranian kings and their regnal
years; it is particularly informative on time-reckoning, calendars and
festivals, as well as on the myths and beliefs of different faiths. The
author’s searching mind and his attempt to draw on native sources
impart particular value to this work.
Tha‘alibl’s “ Prime Reports on Persian Kings” (Ghurar akhbdr muliik
al-Furs), written c. 1019, gives a systematic account of Persian history
and legend from the beginnings to the end of the Sasanian empire. It is
based on a historical work which the author does not name but which
must have been either the source used by Firdausi or one closely related
to it. Although much shorter than the Shdh-ndma, and differing from it
in some minor details, Tha'alibi’s history agrees with Firdausi’s not
only in its account of events but even in many rhetorical modes of
expression.3 Like the Shdh-ndma, it also incorporates a good many of
the sayings, admonitions and discourses of the Sasanian kings.
1 Mas‘udl, Tanbtb, 106-7. 2 t&rMa I?fahanl, p- 48.
3 See Zotenberg’s edition, xxix-xxv, for a discussion of Tha'alibi’s sources, and xxv-xxxix
for a detailed list of similarities and differences between Tha*alibi and Firdausi.

362
 T H E SOURCES

Nihdyat al-irab, by an anonymous author probably of the 11th century,

resembles the work of Dlnawarl in its approach; generally, however, it
gives a fuller account of events, particularly of the stories of Alexander
and Bahrain Chobln.
Among the early Persian histories, the Zain al-dkhbdr by Gardizi
(d. c. 1052) gives a straightforward but somewhat popular account of
Iranian history without reference to sources. The interest of this
chronicle lies mainly in a number of popular tales which it incorporates.
Mujmal al-tawarikh iva l-qisas^ written in 1126, is based primarily on
Hamza’s “ Annals”, but also draws upon 'Jabari an(j Firdausi, among
others. Although it hardly ranks as an original work, it is important for
its quotations from sources now lost, and for recording a number of
popular legends and stories.
Various local histories and geographies provide supplementary
information. Among these the more pertinent are the following: Ibn al-
BalkhPs Fdrs-ndma, written in m i about the province of Fars, is
prefaced by an account of traditional Persian history mainly based on
Hamza and Tabari, but including also information not found in other
sources; Tdrlkh-i Sistdn (“ History of Slstan”), an anonymous work of
the 1ith century with later additions, provides some popular tales about
the ancient Sistanian heroes and the wonders of the province of Sistan;
Tdrlkh-i Bukhara, an abridged version in Persian by Muhammad b. Zufir
of an original Arabic work by Muhammad Narshakhi written in 943,
contains some interesting observations on the cult of Siyavush in
Transoxiana; and Ibn Isfandiyar’s Tdrikh-i Tabaristan, written in 1216,
preserves in Persian translation a valuable Middle Persian political
tract, “ The Letter of Tansar”. The original letter, a product of the
Sasanian period, is particularly instructive on social and political
institutions of late Sasanian times and the way they were justified and
defended.1Later Arabic and Persian histories add little to our informa­
tion on pre-Islamic Iran.2
Apart from historical writings, there existed in Sasanian times a
number of works dealing with institutions, protocol, rules of proper
conduct, the arts and entertainment. The general classification applied
to such works was A'in-ndmag*^ Book of Rules [of Propriety] "). From
an early date A 3in-ndmag{s) were translated into Arabic, by Ibn
al-Muqaffa*, among others, and were adopted into Arabic and Persian
1 Cf. Boyce, Letter ofTansar, 1iff; Grignaschi, 9.
2 For a list of these, see Christensen, Ulran, 70#, and pp. i28off in this volume.
3 See Ibn al-Nadim, 364; Mas‘udi, Tanbih, 104-6.

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 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

adab literature.1 Since much of the content of A Jin-namag% was related

to the social and political organization and the religious and ethical ideals
of Sasanian society, the inclusion of this material in Islamic writings is
an important aid to clarification of some aspects of Iranian national
history. Outstanding in this genre are “ The Book of the Crown” (Kitdb
al-taj)y attributed to al-Jahiz; “ Keys to the Sciences” (Mafatih al-ulum)
by Khwarazmi; and a number of “ mirrors for princes” in Persian,
notably the Qabus-nama by Kai Kavus b. Iskandar and Siyar al-Muluk
(Siydsat-ndma) by Nizam al-Mulk, both of the 11th century.
Of the Middle Persian Zoroastrian works (books in Pahlavi) the
following are pertinent and of particular interest: the Denkard, a Zoro­
astrian encyclopaedic work composed in the 9th century, gives a sum­
mary of the lost books (nasks) of the Avesta as compiled in Sasanian
times. It supplies important information derived from priesdy literature
concerning national history and legends. (See pp. nyiff.) Books III
and VII-IX are of especial interest in this respect. The Bundahisbn, also
called Zand~dgdhlhy another 9th-century composition, is an important
Zoroastrian work on the creation, nature and whereabouts of earthly
creatures and on the Kayanian kings. A treasure-house of Zoroastrian
lore, it preserves many ancient myths and legends; several chapters
toward the end of the book (i.e. chapters xxxii on the mansions erected
by the Kayanian kings, xxxiii on the calamities which befell the lands
of Eranshahr, and xxxv on the lineage of the Kayanian kings) have a
direct bearing on the national history.2 The Vi^idagihd I Zddspram
covers in part the same ground as the Bundahisbn and, like it, is based
on the Avesta and its Pahlavi translation and commentary, the Zand.
The account in the Vi^idagtha i Zddspram of the creation, the legends
of Zoroaster and some future saviours and heroes, and the restoration
of the world at the end of time helps to elucidate certain religious
aspects of the national history. The Zand t Vahrnan Yasht is a piece of
prophetic literature based on the lost Vahman Yasht and Sudgar Nask
of the Avesta. It gives a continuous account of the Ages of the World,
leading to the coming of the Saviour and the final triumph of good.3
Of a different nature is Ayadgar I Zarerdn, an epic piece of literature
in verse, which portrays the holy wars resulting from King Gushtasp’s
conversion to the religion of Zoroaster. The work is important because
1 See Inostrantsev, 25-80; Christensen, Ulran, 61-2; A. Tafazzoli in E. Yarshater(ed.),
Danishndma 1, 226.
2 For a discussion of the sources of the Bmdabisbn see Christensen, L,es Kayanides> 44-69.
8 See pp. 356# above.
3 6 4
 T H E SOURCES

it provides a Middle Persian version of an episode recounted also by

Firdausi and Tha‘alibi, and because it throws light on the form and
rhetorical conventions of Sasanian epics. Kdrndmag I Ardashtr i
Pdpagdn, a short book, is apparently an abridged version of a fuller
popular account of the miraculous life of the founder of the Sasanian
dynasty, of the birth and discovery of his son and successor Shapur I,
and the latter’s son Hurmazd. Probably composed towards the end of
Sasanian times, it is a clear instance of the divergence of the popular
from the more serious accounts of national heroes.1
As we have seen, for the latest redaction of the national historical
tradition our main sources are the Islamic works based on the Khwaddy-
ndmags and other late Sasanian writings. For the earliest version of
Iranian mythical and legendary history, however, we must turn pri­
marily to the Avesta, the holy scriptures of the Zoroastrians. The most
significant section of the Avesta in this respect is the Yashts, a collection
of hymns addressed to various Iranian deities. Although the composition
of the Yashts in their extant form is later than Zoroaster, their content
predates him, for they contain myths which the eastern Iranians had
inherited from pagan times, as well as legends which reflect pre-
Zoroastrian heroic ages. The striking fact is that the general frame of
the national historical tradition and the sequence of personages in it are
already adumbrated in the Yashts. (See below, pp. 413 ff. for details.)
Of the other sections of the Avesta, the first chapter of the Vendtdad
(Videvdad), which enumerates the Iranian lands created by Ahura Mazda
and contaminated by Ahriman, and the second, which relates the myth
of Yima and his subterranean fortress, are of particular interest for
our purposes.
For probing into remoter times, when the Indo-Iranians had not yet
come to a parting of ways,«the hymns of the Rig-Veda, the most ancient
literature of the Aryan Indians, generally held to have been composed
in the second half of the 2nd millennium b.c., are of great importance.
Many deities, mythical figures and possibly also some legendary ones
are shared by the Avestan and Vedic people. A Vedic counterpart
attests to the antiquity of an Avestan figure.
Some cuneiform documents of the 2nd millennium b.c. found in
Egypt, Anatolia and Syria, also throw light on the early waves of
migrant Indo-Iranians in the Near East and some of their deities and
concepts (see below, p. 411).
1 For fuller accounts of Middle Persian sources see bibliography to Chapter 52(a).

365
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

Finally the study of the development of the national tradition greatly

benefits from foreign sources, among which Greek, Armenian and
Syriac are of particular importance.1

FEATURES OF T H E N AT I O NA L HISTORY

The Iranian national history, as it is assumed to have been recorded in

the Khwaday-namags, beginning with the beginnings, traced the history
of the Iranian people from the first king, Gayomard, almost to the end
of the Sasanian period. It distinguished four periods marked by four
dynasties: (i) the Pishdadis (Pishdadians), the early kings who ruled
over the world and contributed to the progress of civilization by their
teachings and institutions; (2) the Kayanis (Kayanians), who were the
kings of Iran proper and who were in continual conflict with their
neighbours, the Turanians; (3) the Ashkanis (Ashkanians, i.e. Arsacids),
who headed a feudal system and allegedly presided over the dark ages
of Iranian history; and (4) the Sasanis (Sasanians), who were presented
as having restored unity and integrity to Iran and as having established
vigorous political, social and religious institutions.
Some of the features of the national history as it evolved in late
Sasanian times may be observed here. The first is that no distinction
was made between the factual, the legendary, and the mythical. All
three are blended in a unified whole, presented as a continuous narrative
of events. Thus, the account of the Pishdadians, mythical figures chiefly,
was given in the same vein as that of the Sasanians. The second is that
the history of the Medes and the Achaemenians had no place in the
record. In fact, its authors displayed no appreciable knowledge of
events in western and southern Iran before Alexander; it was an
eastern tradition which formed the basis of the early portion of this
history. The third is its strong religious bias. Although its early part
dated from pre-Zoroastrian times, and much of it had its roots in Indo-
Iranian consciousness, eventually it assumed a pronounced Zoroastrian
colouring. For this quality the firm alliance between church and state
in Sasanian times was largely responsible. The fourth is that it possessed
no era to serve the chronology; it wa$ the succession of kings which
provided the chronological frame for events. There were some sixty
kings and queens who constituted the hub of the narrative. The
1 For a discussion of these and other foreign sources see Christensen, UIrany pp. 74ff
and pp. ch. 37 in this volume.

366
 H IS T O R IC A L OUTLOOK

exploits of vassal kings and heroes were subsumed under the reigns of
their sovereigns, an arrangement which reflected the great power and
prominence of the king of kings in Sasanian Iran. But since the national
history combined and absorbed different strains of oral tradition and
local legend which did not always fit into its general frame, oddities
occurred, such as the continuance of the life of the warrior Zal through
the reigns of some nine kings.
From a different viewpoint, the course of the national history may be
divided into three parts, (r) The era of the world-kings, from Gayo-
mard to Fredon. As chiefly mythical figures of considerable antiquity,
these kings rule over man and beast alike. Their chief adversaries are
the demons (devs), embodiments of evil and hindrances to material well­
being. (2) The heroic period, which begins with the uprising of Fredon
(Faredon) against the tyrant Dahak and continues through the Kayanian
dynasty. The overriding motif of history in this period is the long and
bitter feud between the Iranians and the Turanians. The underlying
theme is the defence of the Iranian kingdom (Eranshahr) in the face of
Ahrimanic designs. All the calamities which befall Eranshahr, the chief
of which are the invasions of Dahak, Afrasiyab and Arjasp, are seen as
engineered *by the Evil Spirit and as part of his cosmic plan to harm the
world of Ahura Mazda.1 This period is marked by the exploits of great
warriors, chiefly from the houses of Karen, Sam, Naudhar and the
Turanian house of Pashang. (3) The historical era, from Alexander on­
ward. Like the first period, this lacks the unifying motif of the heroic
period, but the institution of kingship and its vicissitudes afford it a
measure of cohesion, and a number of legends lend it attraction.

THE I R A N I A N H I S T O R I C A L OUTLOOK

In order to understand the form and character of the national history,

we must first examine its premises. Applying the principles of Western
historical criticism, which are the product of a different environment
and different intellectual concerns, will be of little help in achieving an
appreciation of the true purport of Iranian historiography. The Zoro-
astrian religion provides the basic moral and intellectual foundations
for a concept of history. This concept assigns to man a place in the
universe and renders his past, present and future part of an all-embracing
cosmic plan; it makes his actions significant and therefore worth
1 Cf. pp. 353

367
 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

recording, and remembering; and it is not basically different from that

of Judaism, Christianity and Islam insofar as it gives man an honourable
place in the community of creatures, and through his relations with
God, helps him overcome his isolation and insignificance.1 But it goes
beyond this by making him a relatively free and active agent in the
scheme of the universe. Man is created by Ahura Mazda for a purpose,
and is united with the rest of the good world in a common battle against
the forces of evil.
The life of the world is limited; man operates within a defined span
of time. This begins in the past with the onslaught of Ahriman on the
creation of Ahura Mazda, and continues for 6,000 years, until the tan I
pastn (lit. the Final Body), when the annihilation of evil and the restora­
tion of good is signalled by the coming of the Saviour.2 Men are
susceptible to the corrupting temptations of Ahriman and his host of
demons, but they are guided in the course of their lives by Ahura Mazda,
the Holy Immortals (Amasa Spantas) and other divine beings, all sub­
ordinate to Ahura Mazda. The community of men is led by kings, whose
legitimacy depends on divine grace. This grace is symbolized by
xvarmah (M.P. farrah, Pers. farr), the kingly Fortune, which accom­
panies good rulers and assures their success.3Kings are the guardians of
society and the authors of its laws and institutions. History consists of
the account of their deeds. A record of their actions, words and insti­
tutions would provide a history of political and social events, as well as
a history of ethical and intellectual postures. As conceived in priestly
circles, history does not concern itself with the past alone; it also en­
compasses the future. The history of men is not separated from the
history of the universe; rather, it is a part of it and must be viewed in
the context of the whole scheme of creation and of the development of
cosmic events leading to the utter defeat of Ahriman. In this context,
men are not the only agents of history; divine beings, the immortal
souls of the dead (thefravaiis), and the luminaries (sun, moon, stars) also
affect the manner in which history unfolds.
The fact that the broad outlines of cosmic history were thought to
have been determined at the very beginning of the world4 may have
contributed to a relative absence of critical curiosity in Iranian histori­
ography. History was not conceived as a “ discipline” to satisfy a thirst
for fact, nor were its methods attuned to such a purpose. History had
1 Cf. F. Rosenthal, A History of Muslim Historiography (Leiden, 1952), 22ff.
2 See pp. 35611. 8 Seep. 345. 4 See also p. 357.

368
 H IS TORICAL OUTLOOK

primarily an edifying aim; in the hierarchiacal, conventional and con­

servative world of the Sasanian establishment, the purpose of history
was to maintain and promote the national and moral ideals of the state.
Its authors were members of the scribal class, who, closely allied to the
clergy and the nobles, served their interests and reflected their ideas.
History was to teach the rulers and ruling classes the virtues of abiding
by the dictates of “ the good religion ”, of rendering justice to the people
and of making the land prosper. To the people it taught the virtues of
unswerving loyalty to the kings and of observing “ law and order”.
Innovations were to be mistrusted, unless they were beneficial ones
instituted by a good king. History was, then, an educational instrument
of social stability and cohesion. It was intended to strengthen a common
heritage and to promote a common ideal. It was to teach its readers love
of their homeland and pride in their ancestry. It held the exalted life of
the heroes of the Iranian past before their eyes as models to be emulated.
It incorporated in its pages the wisdom of the sages, and argued against
the ideas and practices which were thought to be harmful (such as the
teachings of Mani and Mazdak, viewed as heresies by the Zoroastrians).
Thus the historiographer, far from being an impartial investigator of
facts, was an upholder and promoter of the social, political and moral
values cherished by the Sasanian elite.
To achieve its social role, history had to be readable and persuasive.
In its earlier stages, when it was transmitted by oral tradition, it assumed
rhetorical features which were preserved even when history was com­
mitted to writing. The irrelevance of distinction between fact, myth and
legend has already been noted (p. 366); each could equally well serve the
same cultural purpose. Very often literary devices, such as metaphor
and hyperbole, were employed to reinforce the impact of narration.
Much of Iranian history, based on heroic poetry, preserved its epic
quality. It was depicted with broad brush strokes and bold colours, and
details not significant to the main purpose of the story or detrimental to
its emotive force were ignored. Popular tales had little difficulty in
entering the domain of history and obtaining the right of citizenship.
The authors of the historical works which served as the sources of
Tha‘alibi and Firdausi had, in all probability, followed the Sasanian
tradition in bringing together a narration of the Persian past in which
the theme was historical but the method largely literary. In the hands of
Firdausi, who understood the character and direction of Persian histori­
cal writing, Iranian history developed into a literary masterpiece. In

369
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

the hands of Tabari, with his “ reporter’s” attitude and training, and
his use of a method suited for the transmission of the words and deeds
of the prophet (hadlth), Iranian history is often disjointed and frequently
loses its purport and character.

A B R I E F S U M M A R Y OF T H E N A T I O N A L H I S T O R Y

It will be useful at this point to give a brief summary of the national

history as conceived in late Sasanian times and reconstructed, with due
reservations, from post-Sasanian sources. In view of the frequent
ambiguity and variation of the Middle Persian forms of proper names,
their Persian form as registered in the Shdh-ndma - with the majhulvowels
e and o duly registered - will be generally adopted, except when the
Shdh-ndma form is an Arabic one, or when a different form has appeared
advisable on other grounds: thus Gayomard, Dahak and Kavad rather
than Kayomarth, Dahhak and Qubadh.1 It should be noted that there is
considerable variation to be found in the regnal years and the geneal­
ogies of the kings of the first two dynasties. Not all such variations,
however, can be attributed to the Islamic period. Many of them
obviously originated in Sasanian Persia as a result of varying oral
tradidons, and some are due to interpretive differences, such as taking a
king’s life-span for the years of his rule.
The national history begins with the reign of Gayomard, the first
world-king, who reigns over men and beasts for 30 years, according to
most accounts. He resides first in the mountains and wears a leopard
skin. Firdausi relates only this version, but some other sources have
also preserved an account of Gayomard according to the religious tradi­
tion. This account, of which we find the fullest version in the Bunda-
hishn,2 describes Gayomard not as the first king, but as the prototype
of man, brought forth by Ahura Mazda at the sixth stage of creation.
He suffers injuries in the course of Ahriman’s onslaught and dies 30
years later. From his seed, after its purification by the sun, grows a
rhubarb plant, out of which develop Mashya and Mashyana, the first
mortal man and woman, corresponding to Adam and Eve.3
Siyamak, Gayomard’s son according to Firdausi and Thaealibl,!4or a
son of Mashya and Mashyana according to the Bmdahishn and most
1 Also Fredon, in view of the uncertainty of the epenthetic vowel in Firdausi.
2 ia. 13, 21; iv. 26; vif; xiv. 1-5.
3 Hamza, 24, 64#; Mas‘udi, Muruj 11. 100; Blrunl, A^thar> 99-100; cf. Tabari 1. 147, 154;
Ibn al-Balkhl, 9, 27. 4 P. 5.

370
 B R I E F S UMMAR Y

other sources,1 is slain by demons and is duly avenged by Hoshang.2

Hoshang, reckoned as Siyamak’s son by Firdausi and as his grandson by
most other sources,3 bears the title of Plshdad. With him begins the
Pishdadian dynasty. Possessing the farrah, he is a powerful king, who
subdues Ahriman and his demons and reigns over the world for forty
years. He succeeds in extracting metal from rock, devises a means of
drawing water from rivers in order to cultivate the land and is the first
to tame animals and build houses. He also incidentally discovers fire by
hitting a stone against a rock while attempting to kill a serpent, and he
institutes the festival of Sada in commemoration of this discovery.4
Hoshang is followed by Tahmorath, a son of Hoshang according to
Firdausi, a son of Vlvanghan and a descendant of Hoshang according
to other sources.5 Tahmorath subjugates all the demons and rides far
and wide on the back of Ahriman, whom he has transformed into a
horse. He reigns for 30 years (or 40 according to some accounts). Like
Hoshang, he improves the material culture of the world. He is the first
to spin wool for clothing, to use dogs to protect flocks, to employ
falcon and hound for hunting, to tame fowls and to exploit beasts of
burden. He captures hosts of demons, who, to seek his favour, release
to him the secret of writing. It is during his reign that the Buddha
(Buddsaf) appears.
Tahmorath is succeeded by his brother Jamshed, one of the most
colourful figures of Iranian myth. He rules with great glory over men
and demons for over 600 years and further promotes the material well­
being of the human race by teaching people how to fashion metal
weapons, to spin and weave silk, cotton and flax, to mine gold and
silver, to produce perfumes and spices, and to erect houses and bath­
houses with stones hewn from quarries. He divides the people into four
classes according to their profession: clergy, warriors, scribes and
artisans, traders and farmers. In his realm of seven climes happiness
reigns and, by the grace of the farrah, evil, old age, sickness, envy and
extremes of weather are banished. At the height of his power he orders
the demons to build a carriage in which he rises into the skies. He
commemorates the event by instituting Nau Ruz, the New Year festival,
1 bundahishn xiv, 32-7: Tabari 1. 154; Mas'udI, Muruj n. n o ; Hamza, 24; Birunl, 103;
Ibn al-Balkhl, 9.
2 Cf. Tha‘alibl, 5; Ibn al-Balkhl, 9. 3 See note 1 above.
4 This aetiological myth occurs, however, only in Firdausi, 18-19, among the early
sources.
6 Tabari 1. 174-5; Hamza, 13, 24; Mas'udI, Mutuj 11. i n ; Birunl, 103; Tha*alibl, 7.
 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

at the vernal equinox. His power and success, however, fill him with
pride. Seduced by Ahriman, he proclaims himself divine, whereupon
the farrah departs from him, leaving him vulnerable to the attack of a
monstrous tyrant, Dahak, who seizes the fugitive Jamshed and has
him sawn in half.
A sorcerer and an agent of Ahriman, Dahak was descended from
Siyamak on his father’s side, but his mother had demonic lineage.1
He captured the throne of Jamshed, married his two sisters (and wives),2
and continued his oppressive rule for a thousand years. He had many
people slain in order to feed their brains to two serpents which had
grown on his shoulders. Eventually, his tyranny enraged Kava,3a smith
who had lost all but one of his sons to Dahak’s serpents. Kava leads a
popular rebellion which precipitates the despot’s fall. The smith’s
leather apron, which he uses as a banner, is later adorned, bejewelled
and chosen as the Iranian national flag and a symbol of Iranian
suzerainty.
Fredon, a descendant of Jamshed raised in secret for fear of Dahak
and graced with the farrah, is now sought out and proclaimed king. He
invades Dahak’s palace, frees the two beauties of whom Dahak had
deprived Jamshed, defeats the tyrant with his bull-headed mace and,
following the advice of Surosh, the messenger of God,4 chains him on
Mount Demavand. Thus, the kingship is restored to its rightful
claimant and peace and prosperity reigns once more over the world.
In order to forestall possible future clashes, Fredon divides his
world-empire during his own life-time among his three sons. He gives
the western lands to Salm, his eldest son, the north and the east,
namely Turan and China, to Tur, but the central clime (Khwanirah),
which includes Eranshahr, he gives to his youngest and favourite son,
Eraj. This apportionment rouses the jealousy and rancour of the elder
brothers, who conspire to murder Eraj. The slaying of the noble Eraj
at the hand of Tur grieves Fredon deeply and lays the foundation for a
bitter, bloody and protracted feud between the royal houses of Iran
and Turan. With Fredon’s division of his kingdom, the era of world-
kings comes to an end.
Though Eraj had no son to avenge his blood, Manuchihr, a descen-
1 Bundahishn xxxv. 7; cf. Tabari 1. 209; but according to a tradition quoted by Ibn al-
Balkhl, ii, his mother was a sister of Jamshed.
2 Tabari, 1, 205; Firdausi, 35 (“ daughters” in Moscow ed., p. 51, and Mohl ed. p. 68).
9 KabI in most Arabic sources, including Tabari 1. 207. Tha'alibl records both Kab!
(26) and Kava (38). 4 Firdausi, 59, 484-6.

372
 B R I E F SUMMARY

dant of Eraj’s daughter, whom Fredon had reared, eventually ascends

the throne. Helped by his general Karen, a son of Kava the smith,
Manuchihr tracks down and kills both Tur and Salm in battle, thus
avenging Eraj’s blood and freeing the Iranians from shame.
The feud intensifies, however, with the advent of Afrasiyab, who
invades Eranshahr during the reign of Manuchihr,1defeats the Iranian
army and forces it to retreat. Peace is achieved when the two sides agree
to have an arrow shot from the Caspian province of Tabaristan and to
consider the point of its landing as the border between Iran and Turan.
Arish, the best bowman of Iran, shoots the arrow; helped by divine
guidance, it flies for a whole day and at sunset lands by the River Oxus.
This boundary Afrasiyab reluctantly accepts as the common frontier.2
In the reign of Naudhar, the son and successor of Manuchihr, Afrasiyab
undertakes a fierce campaign against Iran. Merciless battles ensue and a
number of leading warriors from both sides are killed. Karen, the
general of the Iranian army, and Zal, the vassal king of Sistan, Vesa, a
brother of Afrasiyab and the general of the Turanian army, and Barman,
a Turanian hero, all distinguish themselves. In the end, however,
Afrasiyab triumphs. He defeats, captures and slays Naudhar, lays the
country waste, and occupies the Iranian throne. In a fit of rage he also
kills his own brother Aghrerath, a noble warrior who shows sympathy
for the Iranian cause. The country does not recover until much later,
when Zab, a prince of royal blood, is proclaimed king. Zab is assisted
in his successful campaign against Afrasiyab by the formidable warrior
Karshasp, who is variously named a predecessor, helper, co-ruler, or
successor of Zab.
Under Manuchihr the exploits of the heroic vassal kings of Sistan,
headed by Sam and followed in turn by his son Zal and his grandson,
the redoubtable Rustam, begin to unfold. To Sam, the chief warrior
(Jihan-pahlavan)3at Manuchihr’s court, a white-haired son, Zal, is born.
Disappointed and shamed by his appearance, Sam abandons him in the
wilderness. Simurgh, the miraculous bird, takes Zal to its nest on a
mountain peak and rears him with its own young. When Zal is grown,
the bird returns him to his father, who, torn by remorse and prompted
by a prophetic dream, is now searching for him.
1 This according to Tabari i. 434,436; Hamza, 341; Bundahisbn xxxiii. 5; and Biruni, 220;
but during the reign of his successor Naudhar, according to another tradition in Tabari 1.
529; Tha‘alibi, 107; and Firdausi, 251.
a Yasht 8. 6; Tabari 1. 435, 992, 997; Biruni, 220; Tha‘alibi, 107, 133. Cf. Darmesteter,
Etudes Iraniennes 11. 220; Noldeke, “ Der beste der arischen Pfeilschiitzen”, ZDMG xxxv
(1881J, 445. 8 Shdh-ndma, 131. 30.
373
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

The son grows into a matchless warrior and a staunch supporter of

the throne. A fascinating and adventurous romance leads to his marriage
with Rodaba, the daughter of Mihrab, king of Kabul and a descendant
of Dahak. The fruit of this marriage is Rustam, whose feats of valour
eventually make him the predominant figure of the Persian national
epic. Repeatedly he strikes terror into the heart of the Turanian armies
and on more than one occasion he defeats Afrasiyab and his foremost
warriors. Twice he restores King Kavus to his throne and saves the
country from imminent disaster. His matchless steed, Rakhsh, is as
distinguished among its kind as Rustam is among men. Rustam’s
fabulous life-span stretches almost to the end of the Kayanian dynasty.
The best-known episodes of his career are his exploits at the “ Seven
Stations ” {Haft Khwdn) during his journey to Mazandaran in order to
rescue King Kavus, an undertaking which culminates in his slaying
the fearsome White Dev; his defeat and dispatch of the heroic young
Prince Isfandiyar, with help from the bird Simurgh; and his inadvertent
slaying in single combat of his own extraordinary son, Suhrab, whom
he fails to recognize. The last two episodes are the substance of two of
the most moving tragedies recounted by Firdausi.
After an interregnum following the reign of Zab, the nobles offer their
allegiance to Kai Kavad, a prince of royal blood, who wages war against
Afrasiyab and does much to rebuild Eranshahr. With Kai Kavad, a
new dynasty, the Kayanian, is established, all of whose members are
graced with the farrah, and whose names are preceded by the title Kai
“ king” (hence Kayan, “ kings”).
Kai Kavad’s two immediate successors, Kai Kavus and Kai
Khusrau are of particular renown. The reign of Kavus, an ambitious,
petulant and unpredictable ruler with a mean streak in his nature, is
marked by many wars and adventures. He makes an ill-advised foray
into the territory of Mazandaran, where, according to Firdausi, he
is defeated and made captive.1 He is eventually set free only by the
arduous efforts of Rustam. On another occasion he makes an ill-fated
attack on Hamavaran (i.e. Himyar in Yemen), only to be defeated and
rescued again by Rustam. The demons grow active under him and plot
the murder of his wise and pious vizier, Oshnar. While Kavus is a
prisoner in Hamavaran, Afrasiyab usurps his throne.2 But Kavus’s
arrogance is not diminished by defeat or disaster. He makes the demons
1 The episode is not found, however, in early Islamic sources, including Tha‘alibi.
2 Denkardy rx. 4-12.

374
 B R I E F SUMMARY

build him a fortified city with marvellous edifices.1 Drunk with power
and aided by the demons, he seeks to rise into the sky (according to
Firdausi2 and Tha‘alibl,3 in a carriage flown by four eagles), but is
overthrown and brought back to earth and to his senses.
Of chief importance in Kavus’s reign, however, are the events which
lead to a feud between Iran and Turan even more ferocious than before.
Sudaba, a daughter of an alien king4and a wife of Kavus, is infatuated
with Siyavush, the favourite son of the king. Rebuffed by the virtuous
prince, she accuses him before his father of having made amorous
advances toward her. The prince is called upon to prove his innocence
by an ordeal by fire. He passes through this unharmed. Then he volun­
teers to lead an expedition against Turan in order to avoid the wiles of
his detractor. Afrasiyab, however, cautioned by a bad dream, agrees to
Siyavush’s conditions for peace and war becomes unnecessary. But
Kavus is outraged at the news and orders Siyavush to forgo peace, to
send the hostages to the Iranian court, and to fight Afrasiyab to the end.
Holding a breach of his agreement to be impossible, Siyavush sends
his army back to Iran, while he himself, persuaded by Plran, a noble
general and cousin of Afrasiyab, takes refuge with the Turanian king,
who treats him regally and gives him his daughter, Vasfafrid,5 in
marriage. He enjoys the king’s favour for a while, and builds the
marvellous castle Kang Dez, a veritable paradise on earth. Some Turanian
princes envy the brilliance of Siyavush and plot against him; a suspicious
Afrasiyab eventually orders him to be slain. News of the death causes
unprecedented rage at the Iranian court, and Kavus suffers harsh
criticism from the nobles for his rash treatment of his crown prince.
According to Firdausi, Rustam slays Sudaba in retaliation and vows
vengeance for the prince’s blood. An Iranian punitive expedition drives
Afrasiyab from his country for a time.
The pleadings of Plran save the pregnant wife of Siyavush, and Plran
brings up her son, Kai Khusrau. The news of Kai Khusrau’s birth
revives hope for vengeance among the Iranians, and Kavus dispatches
Gev, the able son of Godarz and one of the king’s outstanding generals,
to find the prince and bring him to Iran. After a hazardous journey, Kai
Khusrau is successfully led to the Iranian court; he proves his worth,
1 Bundahisbn xxxii. n ; Tabari, 602. 2 P. 411. 3 Pp. 165-67.
4 The king of Yemen according to Firdausi, 384#., and Afrasiyab according to a tradition
in Tabari 1. 598; cf. Ibn al-Balkhl, 41.
5 vsTfry* in Tabari 1. 600; ksyfry in Tha'alibI, 205#; and Farangls (for *GasIfari or
*Gasifaran, putting the second component first, apparently for the sake of the metre) in
Firdausi, 6o7ff.
375
 I R A N I A N N A T IONAL HISTORY

and frustrates the claims to kingship of two princely generals, Tus

and Gustahm; his accession as king is announced in Kavus’s lifetime.
Helped by a host of distinguished warriors, among whom are Rustam,
Godarz and the latter’s many sons, headed by the valiant Gev, Kai
Khusrau invades Turan. After some initial reverses, in which the house
of Godarz suffers heavy losses, and then a long series of wars, the
Iranian army defeats Afrasiyab utterly and forces him to flee. Gev, how­
ever, succeeds in finding and capturing him, and Kai Khusrau puts him
to death, thus closing a fateful chapter of Irano-Turanian feuds.
Kai Khusrau, famed for his wisdom and valour, comes to a strange
end. After Afrasiyab’s death he turns away from the affairs of the world
and gives himself up to meditation and prayer. He indicates Luhrasp, a
distant relative, as his successor before he disappears mysteriously.
Luhrasp fulfills Kai Khusrau’s expectations in protecting the Iranian
boundaries and ruling wisely until, advanced in age, he retires from the
throne, leaving it to his ambitious son, Gushtasp. It is during the reign
of Gushtasp that Zoroaster proclaims his religion. Gushtasp embraces
the new faith and joins the prophet in proselytizing. Outraged at what
he considers a betrayal of the old faith, Arjasp, the king of Turan,1
invades Iran and inflicts heavy losses on the house of Gushtasp. The
king’s devoted and valorous brother Zarer perishes at the hand of
Bidarafsh, Arjasp’s brother, during a terrible battle. Zarer’s blood is
avenged by his young son, Bastur.2 With the help of Isfandiyar,
Gushtasp’s eldest son and crown prince, Bastur defeats the Turanian
army, killing Bidarafsh and many others of royal blood.
Later, Gushtasp becomes suspicious of Isfandiyar’s ambitions and
has him imprisoned, but a new and devastating onslaught by Arjasp, in
the course of which Luhrasp is put to death, forces the king to free
Isfandiyar and seek his help against the Turanians. He promises
Isfandiyar the throne, should he be victorious. Isfandiyar duly defeats
the Turanian army, frees his two captive sisters, retrieves the national
standard, and slays Arjasp along with many of his kin. It is in the course
of this merciless retaliation that Isfandiyar performs his famous feats
of strength and courage called, like those of Rustam, “ The Seven
Stations” . Gushtasp, however, demurs at bestowing the kingdom on
his victorious son, making the further condition that Isfandiyar
1 Tabari i. 617, 676, records Kharzasaf, which represents a different reading of the Mid.
Pers. form. See ibid.%617, n. et for other variants.
2 The Shab-nama and some later sources call the prince Nastur, through a misreading of
n for b; cf. Av. Bastawairi; Mid.Pers. Bastvar,
376
 B R I E F S U MMA R Y

journey to Sistan and bring Rustam back in fetters to the court.

(Gushtasp claims that Rustam has failed to pay his respects to the crown
for some time.) This task places the young warrior in a difficult position.
He is suspicious of his father’s motives and has little liking for the
command that pits him against the invincible warrior, but his pride and
ambition persuade him to take up the challenge. Rustam refuses gendy
but firmly Isfandiyar’s demand that he return to court as a prisoner and
repeatedly attempts to induce the prince to follow a friendlier course;
to no avail, however, for the proud prince insists on either submission
or battle. A series of single combats follow, in which Isfandiyar proves
a formidable and at times superior match for the old warrior. At last
Rustam, aided by the bird Slmurgh, succeeds in inflicting a mortal
arrow-wound on the young hero.
Shortly afterward, Rustam is killed through the stratagems of an
envious and embittered brother, leaving his provinces a prey for
Bahman, the son of Isfandiyar, who has succeeded Gushtasp and seeks
revenge for the slaying of his father. Bahman overruns and plunders
Rustam’s province, Zabul, and kills Rustam’s brother and son. Accord­
ing to another tradition1 he also kills Zal and Rustam.
Bahman is succeeded by his daughter Humay, whom he had taken
as his wife, and who bears him a son, Dara(b). Bahman’s other son
Sasan, disenchanted with his father’s preference for his sister, leaves
the court and embarks on a life of wandering. Eventually Dara ascends
the throne and is succeeded in turn by his son Dara the Younger, who is
defeated by Alexander the Great and killed in battle.
According to genuine Iranian tradition, Alexander destroyed the
integrity of the Iranian empire by undermining the authority of its
kings and dividing the land among feudatory lords. Further, he ruined
fire temples, killed Zoroastrian priests and destroyed their manuscripts,
transferring Persian science and philosophy to Rum (Greece). On the
other hand, the legendary life of Alexander, written by the pseudo-
Callisthenes sometime before the 4th century, was translated into Middle
Persian during the 6th century, and its content, with some modifications,
was later adopted into the body of Iranian historical tradition. In the
Iranian form of the romance, Alexander becomes a son of Dara I and
a half brother of his adversary, Dara II.
According to this version, betrayed and mortally wounded by two
of his own officers, Dara asks Alexander to avenge his blood and marry
1 Tabari 1. 687.

377
 I R A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY
his daughter, Raushanak. Alexander obliges, and then sets out to con­
quer other lands. He undertakes many adventures, including the search
for the fountain of eternal life in the kingdom of darkness. Concerned
about the future of his realm and the possible uprising of the Iranians,
he divides Eranshahr among kinglets (muluk al-tawaif^ “ tribal kings”),
thus sowing the seed of disunity and barring the rise to power of any
single dominant ruler.
Iranian historiography knows little about the Seleucids. Tabari has
a mere fleeting reference to Seleucus and Antiochus, cited from
Hisham Kalbi.1 The Arsacids, with their loosely knit and decentralized
form of government, were considered heirs to Alexander. For some 266
years this allegedly alien feudatory system prevailed and provincial
kings ruled over the country. Among these kings, however, a branch
called the Ashkanis (Arsacids), which ruled over western and central
Iran and succeeded in controlling Babylonia, was held in great respect
by the other kings, according to Islamic sources. Their primacy among
local princes was recognized without their being in a position to appoint
or dismiss regional rulers. A list of some eleven Arsacid kings is given
by most Islamic historians with brief and generally empty accounts of
their reigns (see below). Ardavan is given as the last as well as the most
important Arsacid king. It is against this Ardavan that Ardashlr
Papagan, a vassal king in Fars and the founder of the Sasanian dynasty,
rose in rebellion.
Ardashir was from the house of Sasan, son of Bahman and therefore
*>*
a descendant of the Kayanians. He made it his goal to unite the country
and restore its Kayanian unity and greatness. His ancestor, Sasan, had
chosen a pastoral life. According to Tabari,2 Sasan the Younger,
Ardashir’s grandfather and an able warrior, was in charge of a fire
temple in Stakhr, dedicated to the goddess Anahit. This Sasan married
the beautiful daughter of the Bazrangi king of Fars and she gave birth
to Papag. As a young man, Papag had a vision of his destiny, and worked
his way up to secure the Bazrangi crown for himself. His son Ardashir
took up arms against Ardavan in pursuit of a still more ambitious goal.
Ardashir finally defeated and killed Ardavan, placing his foot on the
great king’s head as a symbol of his utter victory. Then he assumed the
title of “King of kings ’ (Shahanshah), and embarked on a systematic
overthrow of the Arsacid princes.3A series of further conquests secured
many other provinces and led to the formation of a large empire extend-
3 r. 704. * 1. 814. 3 Ibid., 823.

378
 B R I E F S UMMAR Y

ing from the limits of Greater Khurasan to Syria. He received the

allegiance of the kings of Kushan and other outlying territories.
Towards the end of his life he crowned his son Shapur, and retired from
the throne to a life of meditation and prayer.
A paragon of valour and wisdom, Ardashir organized the country
and its administration on a sound basis, regularized the affairs of the
four estates, and revived in Iran the study of philosophy and the sciences
which Alexander had suppressed. He also built a great many cities
(mostly in Khuzistan and Mesopotamia) and founded and endowed
many fire temples. He was aided by an able vizier, Abarsam, and a
sagacious counsellor, Tansar (or Tosar). Ardashir issued many epistles
containing his social and political views, and left a famous testament
on good government and personal conduct for his sop Shapur.1
The accounts of other Sasanian kings follow in broad outlines the
course of events as it is known from other sources, but there are con­
siderable differences of emphasis, and therefore the total picture has a
different colouring and orientation. In his account of the Sasanian kings,
the Iranian historiographer directs his attention to several themes: the
king’s lineage; his upbringing; his major military undertakings; his
endeavours for the prosperity of the realm (cultivation of the land,
building of cities, canals, dams, bridges and fire temples); his piety,
justice and personal conduct; his administrative measures; his pleasures;
his counsels and words of wisdom; and his regnal years. Of course, not
all these points are covered for each king. In fact, in the case of minor
kings information is meagre and there is a rather disproportionate con­
centration on the major kings, or those who had captured through their
deeds the imagination of the people. Typically, Firdausi provides very
little factual^data on the six kings between Shapur I and Shapur II, and
it is mostly their discourses and admonitions which he cites. The
Sasanian kings who are treated at greater length are Ardashir, Shapur I
and Shapur II, Yazdgird I, Bahrain V, Peroz, Kavad, Khusrau I,
Hurmazd IV, Khusrau II, Shiroy, and Yazdgird III. In the account of
their lives we find fact and fancy mingled, a good many legends and
stories being attached to their biographies. Some of these may be noted
here briefly.
Upon Ardavan’s demand, the young Ardashir is sent to his court to
be educated and brought up with Ardavan’s children. But through
1 See Ihsan ‘Abbas (ed.), ‘Ahd-i Ardashir, Firdausi, 1980-2000 and Grignaschi, for a
representative selection of the advice and admonitions attributed to him.

379
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

audacity, Ardashir incurs the king’s displeasure and is put in jail.

Ardavan’s favourite maiden falls in love with Ardashir and reports to
him the gloomy predictions of Ardavan’s astrologers. Ardashir and the
maiden plot their escape and set out at night. Ardavan rides in pursuit
of them, but loses hope when he hears that the farrah in the form of a
ram has joined Ardashir.1 (The story is a recasting of an ancient legend
also attached to Cyrus.2)
Ardashir kills Ardavan and vows not to leave a single soul from
Ardavan’s house alive. When Ardashir discovers that a girl whom he
has inadvertently married, is Ardavan’s daughter3 (or his cousin4 or
the daughter of Farrukhan, another Arsacid prince)5 who had been
brought up in obscurity, he is outraged and orders his vizier Abarsam
to execute her. Learning that the girl is pregnant, Abarsam hides her
in the basement of his house, and thereafter rears her child, a son,
Shapur. Years later, Ardashir, who remains childless, confides his
contrition to his vizier, who thereupon reveals to the king that he has
no cause for regret. But before Abarsam brings Shapur to the king, he
asks him to open a box which he had left with the king when the princess
was placed in his charge. In the box is Abarsam’s severed manhood as
proof of his honour.6 According to the Kdrndmag version,7 however,
Ardavan’s daughter tries to poison Ardashir, but she is discovered and
is entrusted to the high priest to receive her punishment. The high
priest hides her and brings up Shapur.8
During Shapur I’s military expedition to the east, the ruler of Hatra
makes incursions into Mesopotamia, inflicting ruin on the land. Upon
his return, Shapur lays seige to Hatra, but the fortress proves impreg­
nable. At length, the ruler’s daughter, who has fallen in love with
Shapur, extracts a promise of marriage from him and betrays the citadel;
Shapur then conquers the city and lays it waste. At the nuptials he learns
of the great care and kindness that his bride’s father had lavished upon
her, whereupon Shapur orders the girl to be put to death for her in­
gratitude. (See below, p. 401.)
Through his mother Hurmazd I is a grandson of Mihrak, one of
Ardashlr’s enemies, whom he had defeated and killed. Having been
1 Kdrndmag iv. 11; Sbdb-nama, 1926#.
2 Herodotus 1.107-30; Ctesias, Vers. 2; see A. Bauer, “Die Kyros-Sage und Verwandtes”,
SW AW c (1882), 495.
3 Tabari 1. 923!!"; Firdausi, 19630"; Ibn al-Balkhl, 59. See Noldeke, Tabari, p. 26, n. 1, and
Herzfeld, Paikuli, 40. 4 Nibdyat al-irab, 218. 6 Dlnawarl, 44.
e Firdausi, pp. 2003-4. 7 xiv-xv. 8 See p. 1187.

380
 B R I E F S UMMAR Y

forewarned by astrologers that a descendant of Mihrak is to inherit his

throne, Ardashir seeks to uproot Mihrak’s house. Mihrak’s daughter,
however, has taken refuge with shepherds. Ardashlr’s son Shapur meets
her one day after a hunting expedition, when thirst drives him to her
village. He admires her beauty and takes her for his wife, overcoming
her frightened reluctance to marry him by promising that he will keep
her lineage secret. But at a children’s polo game their son, Hurmazd,
attracts Ardashlr’s attention by demonstrating unwonted boldness when
he rushes towards the king to retrieve a ball. Ardashir is also struck by
the resemblance of Hurmazd to himself. Shapur is forced to reveal the
truth, and Ardashir is relieved by the turn the astrologer’s prophecy
has taken.
Shapur II showed clear signs of wisdom even as a child. For instance,
he solved the problem of crowding and confusion on one of the bridges
near the palace by ordering the construction of another bridge, so that
one might serve the people coming from one direction, and the other
the people going in the opposite direction.
Yazdgird the Sinner was suspicious, oppressive and particularly hard
on the nobles, who were united in their hatred of him. They prayed to
God for relief. One day when the king was in Gurgan, an excellent, rare
horse appeared near the royal tent. No one succeeded in breaking it,
yet the horse submitted readily to the king. As the king was caressing it,
the horse kicked him fatally,1 thus putting an end to his tyranny.
People believed that the horse was in fact an angel of God.
After Yazdgird’s death, the nobles barred his children from the
throne and proclaimed as their king Khusrau, a descendant of Ardashir I.
At that time Yazdgird’s son, Bahram Gor, was staying with Mundhir,
the vassal king of Hlra. At Bahram Gor’s birth his father was informed
by court astrologers that while the child would indeed ascend the
throne, he would be brought up in a foreign land. Yazdgird had sent
him to Hlra, where he received a thorough education in the arts of
riding, warfare and hunting, as well as in philosophy and the literary
arts. He performed many feats of strength and dexterity as a young
prince. In one instance, he shot a lion and a wild ass with the same arrow
killing both at a single stroke.2 In another instance, dared by a female
1 Details of the alleged incident are somewhat different in our sources; see Tabari i. 849;
Jahiz, Kitab al-Taj, 164; Ibn Batrlq, 176; Tha‘alibl, 549; Ibn al-Balkhl, 74. Firdausi, 2094#.,
tells of his death in Tus by a sea-horse.
2 Tabari r. 857; Tha‘alibi, 543-4. Tabari has an unusually lengthy account of Bahram’s
early life and education; 1. 854-60.

381
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

companion, he proposed to “ sew” together the ear and foot of a deer

with an arrow. First he shot an arrow which barely touched the deer’s
ear. When the deer then scratched its ear, he let fly another arrow, which
“ sewed” its foot and ear together.1 When he heard of the rally to
Khusrau, he marched with Mundhir to the capital, claiming his father’s
crown. The nobles were duly impressed with his handsome looks, his
eloquence and his promise to avoid the ways of his father. But what
eventually decided the outcome was Bahram’s physical prowess. He
proposed that the crown be placed between two hungry lions and that
whoever was able to carry it off should be declared king. Khusrau
deferred to him, and Bahram, after killing the lions, took possession of
the crown.2
Bahram was given to the pleasures of the hunt, of merrymaking and
of love. The Khaqan of the Turks3 took advantage of this levity; he
invaded the eastern provinces and threatened to overrun the country.
The nobles, in despair lest Bahram fail them, began to make advances
to the Khaqan in self-protection. But they had underestimated Bahram’s
ability and resolve. Ostensibly going on a hunting expedition, along
with the traditional hounds and falcons4, he set out toward Azerbaijan
with a select corps of fighters, paid homage to the sacred fire Azar-
gushnasp, marched toward Armenia, and then turned toward Khurasan
via the Caspian provinces with utmost speed. Descending upon the
Khaqan in a surprise attack, he killed him, took his wife and family
prisoner and captured much booty, astounding even his own people by
his skill and courage.
Among the stories told of subsequent Sasanian kings are those of the
ingenious tricks played by the Hephthalites on Peroz, leading to his
defeat and death; the story of Kavad’s marriage, in the course of his
flight to the east, to the daughter of a noble farmer (dehgdn) only to
find later, to his pleasant surprise, that she (the mother of Khusrau I)
was a descendant of Fredon; several anecdotes about the administration
of justice by Khusrau I, his fairness and his severity; a number of stories
about Khusrau’s wise counsellor Buzurgmihr: how he solved the riddle
of chess (a game devised by an Indian king and presented to the Iranian
court), how he devised the game of backgammon (nard) as a counter to
the Indian challenge and how he solved riddles presented by the
1 Firdausi, 2086-7; Tha‘alibi, 541-2.
2 Ibn Batrlq’s account, p. 176, is somewhat different and does not mention the episode
of the two lions.
3 i.e. the Hephthalites. The Turks were not yet the immediate neighbours of Iran.
4 DInawarl, p. 58.
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 CHRONOLOGY

Byzantine emperor; a series of yarns told of Bahram Chobin, the general

who rebelled against his king, Hurmazd IV, and incidents concerning
Gurdoya, Bahram’s sister; stories about the fabulous wealth of Khusrau
II, the splendour of his court, his treasures, his famous horse Shabdez,
his musicians, and his love for Shirln, which has been the subject of
numerous romances in Persian literature; and finally the somewhat
fictionalized account of Khusrau IPs trial, imprisonment and execution
by order of his son, Shiroy. All these stories are brought together in the
Shdh-ndma. Although probably some of them did not figure in the
Khwaddy-ndmagy they can give an idea of the kinds of stories that were
woven around the kings’ lives, and also of the element of entertainment
in the national history.1

CHRONOLOGY OF THE NATIONAL HISTORY

There is a great deal of variation in Islamic sources as to the regnal

years of the Iranian kings from Gayomard to Kai Kavad - a fact that
drew comments from the astronomer Abu Ma‘shar of Balkh(d. a . d . 886)
and rightly baffled the historian Hamza of Isfahan. According to
Hamza,2 Abu Ma‘shar attributed the confusion to several uncertain
periods of interregnum in Iranian history. He notes, for instance, the
gap of more than 170 years between Gayomard and Hoshang, the un­
specified number of years following Afrasiyab’s withdrawal from Iran
subsequent to his reign of 12 years there, and again the years between
Zab and Kai Kavad. The basic chronological scheme, which must have
prevailed also in thzKhwaday-ndmagy can, however, be easily established.
By all accounts the third millennium of the “ mixed state” after the
attack of Ahriman began with Fredon and ended with the conversion of
Gushtasp in the thirtieth year of his reign. The second millennium was
taken up entirely by Dahak’s rule, which, according to all sources,
lasted 1,000 years. The first millennium then comprised the reign of the
earlier kings from Gayomard to and including Jamshed. It appears that
originally Jamshed, who, as the first man, must have headed the list of
kings, also reigned for 1,000 years. This situation is already indicated in
Yasht 17.30 and confirmed by the Vendldad 2.20, which gives Jamshed
three times 300 years before he began building the Var. The missing
100 years may have been the time needed to build the Var, or possibly
his 100 years in exile. But in the scheme which was worked out by
1 See below, p. 400f. 2 Pp. 8-11.

3 8 3
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

Zoroastrian priests, the first millennium began with Ahriman’s attack

under the zodiacal sign of Libra and was divided as follows. Gayomard
was given 30 years, i.e., the same number of years that he was allowed
to live on after he had been wounded by Ahriman. For 40 years his seed
remained hidden in the earth, before the rhubarb plant grew and pro­
duced the first couple. After 50 years without marital union the couple
began to have offspring - thus far a total of 120 years. Hoshang ruled
for 40 years and Tahmorath for 30, the same number which had already
been mentioned in Yasht 19.29 as the number of years that Tahmorath
rode on Ahriman. Jamshed was given 616 or 616J years1 before Dahak
overwhelmed him, and another 100 years as a fugitive from Dahak.
These periods total 906 or 906J years, and therefore an interregmun
of 94 or 931 years was assigned to the gap between the birth of the first
offspring of the first couple and Hoshang to make a total of 1,000 years
and the first millennium of the mixed state.2 This is the scheme given
in the Bundahishn xxxvi, and the one that emerges from the preferred
accounts of Birunl, 103, and Hamza, 64.

The First Millennium of the “Mixed State ”

Years
Gayomard 30
His seed hidden in the earth 40
The first couple without progeny 50
Progeny of the first couple to Hoshang 94/931
Hoshang 40
Tahmorath 30
Jamshed 616/616}
Jamshed in exile 100
Total 1000

With the weakening of Zoroastrian traditions and its millennial

reckonings in Islamic times, the chronology of the early kings became
the subject of considerable confusion, so that often the same author,
confronted with varying versions, gave different accounts of the regnal
years of the same ruler. Part of the confusion no doubt is due to vari­
ations which must go back to pre-Islamic times. It would hardly be
plausible to think that Sasanian sources presented a uniform chrono­
logical table. Besides, the oral transmission of history with its multiple
origins continued through Sasanian and, indeed, post-Sasanian times
and made for variants of different kinds. It would be reasonable to
1 Menog iKhrad xxvii. 25; Tabari 1. 176; Mas‘udl, Muruj n. 113.
2 Cf. Christensen, Types, 1248; Spiegel, Bran. Altertb, 1, 504&

384
 CHRONOLOGY

believe, however, that the semi-official version of Iranian history, the

Khmday-ndmag, which bore the imprint of Khusrau Fs reforms, had
broadly adopted the chronology given above. Hoshang’s regnal years
may have already been given in the Sasanian Avesta or its commentaries,
but no definite proof exists to this effect. The regnal years of Jamshed
look arbitrary and difficult to explain, but if we start from the assump­
tion that his years were determined by subtracting a number of life-spans
and reigning years from 1,000, an easy explanation ensues. It must be
assumed, as noted above, that the 94/93 J interposed years covered the
generations between Mashya and Hoshang, namely Fravak and Siyamak.
It would have been unnatural to assign specific years to the first couple
and to Hoshang, but not to the generations between them. We must
assume that these details simply have not survived in our sources.
Christensen’s view that the 93\ years were agreed upon by first deciding
on 616 years for Jamshed’s reign1 (for which no internal explanation
can be given) cannot be maintained.
The entire second millennium is taken up by the reign of Dahak. The
third millennium of the “ mixed state” begins under the zodiacal sign
of Sagittarius with the rule of Fredon. The regnal years in this millen­
nium, following the listing of the Bundahisbn xxxvi. 7 (which is reflected
also in the Islamic sources), are as follows:
The Third Millennium of the “Mixed State ”
Years
Fredon 500
Manuchihr (including the 12 years of Afrasiyab’s rule in Iran) 120
Zab 5
Kai Kavad 15
Kavus 150
Kai Khusrau 60
Kai Luhrasp 120
Kai Gushtasp, until his conversion 30
Total 1000
The above divisions of the millennial scheme must be the result of
priestly schematizing, as can be seen from the fact that Gushtasp’s
conversion marks the beginning of a millennium, and that the Kayan-
ians, despite their prominence, do not have a millennium to themselves.
Rather, they are uncomfortably put together with Fredon and his
Pishdadian successors.
The next three millennia of the “ mixed state”, which take us to the
end of the world, each begins with a holy figure: Zoroaster, Hoshedar,
1 Types, 124-5.

385
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

and Hoshedarmah, the last two being Zoroaster’s future sons.1 The
world will end when the Sosyant, the third son of the prophet, appears
towards the end of the 6th and last millennium (i.e. the 12th if we take
into account the millennia of the spiritual (menog) state and the creation
of the tangible world (getig)).
The 4th millennium was conceived as encompassing the history of
the world from Gushtasp’s conversion to the coming of Hoshedar, the
first Saviour. It begins under the rule of Capricorn and is divided as
follows:

The Fourth Millennium of the “Mixed State99

Years
Gushtasp, after conversion 90
Bahman, son of Isfandiyar 112
Humay Chihrazad 30
Dara I 12
Dara II
Alexander 14
The Arsacids 266
Total 538

The year 538 is the year of Ardashlr’s accession according to Zoro­

astrian tradition. The striking feature of this chronology is that 266
years, instead of some 500 years, are assigned to the Arsacids. The
Bundahishn (xxxvi. 8) has 284 years for the Arsacid rule, but the span
given in all the sources which reflect the Khwaday-namag more reliably
is 266. Mas‘udi, who was well aware of the discrepancy between the
traditional and the actual length of Arsacid rule, gives the time between
the death of Alexander and Ardashir Papagan as 517 years,2 and attri­
butes the shortening of the Arsacids’ reign to a deliberate manipulation
by the Sasanians out of antagonism towards their predecessors. In fact,
the figure seems to have been arrived at innocently in Sasanian times
through faulty reckoning.
To understand this process, it must first be recognized that under the
Parthians the people in Babylonia continued the use of the Seleucid era,
which began in 312 b.c. This era was still being used in chronology
when Ardashir seized the Parthian kingdom in the year 538 of the
Seleucid era. The Iranians, however, had forgotten the origin of this
era and considered it indigenous. When the Sasanian dynasty was
established and Zoroastrianism became the official religion of the state,
the millennial scheme was grafted upon the Seleucid era. It came to be
1 See pp. 355ff. * Muruj 11, 236; al-Tanbth, pp. 97-8.

386

•r
 CHRONOLOGY

believed that the era had in fact begun not with the Seleucids but
with the coming of Zoroaster at the beginning of the 9th millennium.
Thus the first year of Ardashir’s reign coincided with the year 3538 of
the Zoroastrian world year. Now, the Zoroastrians were in possession
of a tradition which placed the date of Zoroaster, or more precisely,
Gushtasp’s conversion, 258 years before Alexander.1 By adding the
14 years of Alexander’s reign and subtracting the resulting 272 years
from the year of Ardashlr’s accession to the throne, they arrived at 266
years, which they thought encompassed the reign of the Arsacids :2

Ardashlr’s accession, dated from the assumed coming of

Zoroaster, 538
Subtracted are: the years from Zoroaster to Alexander,
according to Zoroastrian tradition 258
and the years of Alexander’s reign 14
—272
The years between Alexander and Ardashir,
i.e., the Arsacid reign 266
The Sasanians had no recollection of the Seleucids. For them the
period of the “ petty kings” (Muliik al-tawd'if), which betokened the
Parthian era, began immediately after Alexander. The chronological
scheme which was thus established limited the rest of history before
the coming of the first Saviour to 462 years, i.e. 1000 minus 538. As time
went by, the coming of the Sosyant seemed even closer. It can be
imagined how the hope of the Zoroastrian community of believers
must have been pinned on the event when the country was overrun by
the conquering Muslim armies at about the end of the millennium. And
yet, as the expected coming of the Saviour continued to elude them,
attempts were made at different times to give ever later dates for the
anticipated event. A clear instance of such a postponement is seen in
the Zand i Vahman Yasht, ix. 1, where the birth of Hoshedar is predicted
for the year 1800 (after Zoroaster), a delay of 800 years.

1 Namely, the total of the first five figures in the table on p. 386.
2 For details, see Hildegard Lewy, “The Genesis of the Faulty Persian Chronology”,
JAOS lxiv (1944), 197-214; Taqizadeh, “ The Era of Zoroaster”, JRAS 1947, 33-40;
Henning, Zoroaster, 37-8. See also chap. 21 (a), pp. 78iff. O. Klima, however, assumes that
Ardashir did engage in a deliberate falsification of chronology in order to dispel a belief
among the people that the end of Zoroaster’s millennium was at hand. His argument is
based mainly on the assumption that Mani must have considered himself also usedar, a
Zoroastrian Saviour whose appearance at the end of the millennium had been prophesied;
therefore he places Zoroaster’s date at 754 b .c . ; see his “ The Date of Zoroaster”, ArOr
xxvii (1959), pp. 556-64, and Beitrdge %ur Geschichte des Ma^dakismus (Dissertationes Orient-
ales 37, Prague, 1977), pp. 131-5. For a review of the dates recently proposed for Zoroaster,
see E. Yarshater, Journal of Asian History xrv (1980), pp. 152-5.

3 8 7
 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

MYTHS AND LEGENDS

OF W E S T E R N AND SOUTHERN IRAN

As already noted, the Iranian account of the past is devoid of the histori­
cal tradition of western and southern Iran. Accordingly, the history of
the Median and Achaemenian empires does not figure in it. After treating
of the Pishdadian and Kayanian dynasties, the report passes, with only
a brief mention of the Arsacids, to Sasanian history. Further, the
national tradition does not perceptibly include myths and legends per­
taining to western and southern Iran, except as they relate to the Sas­
anian period.
There is little doubt, however, that the Iranians of the west and
south must have had their own tradition of myths and legends. If these
had come down to us, we would, no doubt, notice many similarities
between them and those of the east —similarities closer than those seen
between the Vedic and Avestan traditions. The Elamite treasury tablets
found at Persepolis record a number of personal names such as Yama
(Yima, Jam), Yamakka (*Yamaka), Yamakshedda (Av. Yima.xsaeta,
Pers. Jamshed), Zamashba (Jamasp) and Narishanka (Nairyo.sagha), all
mythological or legendary names known from the eastern Iranian
tradition.1 Also Ctesias (Pers. io) gives the name of the usurper of the
throne after Cambyses as Esphendadates (Isfandiyar).
The occurrence of such names may indicate an early spread of eastern
legends to the south and west, but it is more likely that they attest to a
pan-Iranian fund of myths and legends which was inherited from the
times when the Iranians still lived on the steppes, but which was modified
in local traditions.
The existence of such a tradition in the west is in fact confirmed by
the accounts of the classical writers, whose contact was mainly with
western and southern Iran. One such legend is that of the birth and up­
bringing of Cyrus and his victory over his grandfather, Astyages.
Ctesias, the physician of Ardashir II, has recorded one version of this
legend (Pers. 2) and Herodotus another (1. 107-30), the latter with some
attempt at rationalization. Ctesias’ story, as Gutschmidt has observed,2
has a Median ring to it, whereas Herodotus’s represents a Persian render­
ing. A parallel can easily be drawn between the legend of Cyrus and
1 Benveniste, Titres ei nomspropres, 88ff, 96; Gershevitch, “ Amber at Persepolis”, 177^
zizff, 245; TPS 1969 (1970), 165#; R. Schmitt, “ Kritische Bemerkungen zur Deutung
iranischer Namen in Elamischen”, KZ lxxxiv (1970), 1iff; Mayrhofer, Onomastica Perse-
politana, nos. 8. 1972-4; 8. 1821; 8. 1243. 2 ZDMG xxxiv (1880), 586.
388
 L E G E N D S OF T H E W E S T A N D S O U T H

that of Kai Khusrau. In both cases an alien king (Astyages-Afrasiyab)

orders an Iranian prince (Cyrus-Kai Khusrau) and the son of his own
daughter (Mandada-Farangis) to be slain; but the infant is saved, is
brought up in secret and later overcomes his grandfather.1 Gutschmid
had early directed attention to the fact that the story related by Ctesias
regarding the birth and youth of Cyrus is transferred in its basic features
to Ardashir Papagan.2 In the stories of Dara3 and Shapur i4 we have
additional examples of this legend.
Some other legends of western Iran may be seen in the story of how a
groom of Darius I got his master’s horse to neigh at the right time and
so won the throne for him (Herodotus h i . 8 4 ft); the rearing of Achae-
menes by an eagle (Aelian, De natura animalium xii. 21), which brings to
mind the rearing of Zal by the Slmurgh; and the love-story of Zariadres
and Odatis (see below, pp. 467-8).
Whether the western Iranians ever created an epic literature compar­
able to that of the eastern Iranians is open to doubt. And yet the infor­
mation obtained from classical sources, meagre as it is, clearly indicates
the existence of a body of myths and legends which is distinct from that
of the east. The question arises as to the circumstance of their omission
from the national tradition. An even more remarkable omission is the
almost complete disappearance from memory of the Medes and the
Achaemenians.5That the history of two periods of outstanding political
and military achievement should have been submerged is puzzling
enough; that they should be lost from a tradition collected and
recorded by the Sasanians, themselves originating from the homeland
of the Achaemenians, is extraordinary and demands explanation. No
deliberate omission of this kind could be attributed to the Sasanian
period, since not only were the Sasanians themselves from the south,
but also, in challenging the authority of the Arsacids, they ostensibly
intended to restore to the country the kind of national government
which had prevailed before Alexander.6 It therefore stands to reason
that they would not have neglected to incorporate the history of the
Achaemenians with their own if they had had a clear memory of it.7
This historical amnesia could have developed only in Parthian times.
Achaemenian court records were dispersed and finally disappeared after
1 Cf. Noldeke, Nationalepos, § 3. 2 Kleine Schriften m. 133.
8 Ddrab-nama of Tarsust 1. ioff. 4 Kamamagyxiv-xv; Shah-nama, 1963*!.
5 Cf. Noldeke, Tabari, 3, n. 1; Nationalepos, § 12; Christensen, Kayamdes, 147.
8 Tabari 1. 814; fdamza, 44-46; Ndma-yi Tansart 40, 42.
7 See Yarshater, “ Were the Sasanians heirs to the Achaemenids ? 517E

389
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

Alexander. Cuneiform and Elamite alphabets fell into disuse and records
in those scripts became unintelligible. During the long expanse of
Parthian rule, while the Iranian legendary history, as developed in the
east, was being cultivated by Parthian princes and their vassal courts,
the historical events of the west and south gradually faded from memory.
Thus eventually the eastern epic traditon became that of the nation,
providing a historical structure with which all Iranians could identify.
Mary Boyce has argued that the legends of the Kayanians were
virtually confined to the east during the whole extent of Parthian rule
and beyond, until the Sasanians decided to record the material as part
of the “ national” history.1 This view, in the opinion of the present
writer, gives rise to several problems which can easily be avoided if we
assume that eastern legends spread to the south and west during Parthian
times and absorbed or replaced local legends. Otherwise, it is difficult
to understand why the Sasanians should abandon their own oral
tradition for that of the Parthians. Also their reasons for suddenly
deciding to collect and record the legends of the eastern provinces and
those of the Arsacids, their erstwhile enemies, to the exclusion of their
own is hard to fathom. A desire to win the support of the eastern
provinces when attacks from the north-east may have shaken the
allegiance of these provinces is hardly convincing, given the little bear­
ing that “ written” literature could have had on the attitude of the
population.
In fact the linguistic evidence from Armenian sources indicates that
the Kayanian legends were introduced into Armenia in Parthian times.
The Armenian forms Shavarsh (Siyavush;2 cf. Khwarazmian Savus
or Savus in Biruni, Athdr, 35, 18) and Spandarat (Isfandiyar), two
heroes of the national saga,3 show Parthian features. If the Kayanian
saga could be introduced into Armenia in Parthian times, there is little
reason to doubt its introduction into Media or Persia during the same
period.4
Three factors appear to have helped to spread these legends beyond
their homeland. First, the Parthian hegemony and its attendant political
and cultural influence for nearly half a millennium. Second, the intrinsic
1 “ Zariadres”, 474; “ Some remarks”, 49ff. See also p. 1161 in this vol.
2 See Justi, Namenbucb, s.v. Syawarsan; H. Hiibschmann, Persische Studien (Strassburg
1895), 261; Marquart, Webrot und Arang, 21 n. 91; and Boyce, “ Zariadres”, 472fF.
3 Justi, op. cit., 307 a; cf. Spandiat, the Perso-Armenian form, ibid, 308 b; Marquart,
“ Beitrage”, 639, n. 4; H. Hiibschmann, Armenische Grammatik (Leipzig, 1897), 74.
4 Noldeke, Nationalepos, § 5.
 W R I T T E N F O R MS

attraction of the legends and their literary and recreational qualities.

Third, the implicit religious sanction that these essentially secular
legends had received through reference to them in the Yashts. The
Sasanian Avesta, to judge by the Denkard summary, incorporated many
of the Kayanian legends; this circumstance alone must have facilitated
the spread of the eastern saga through oral transmission, in nearly the
same way that instruction in the Qur'an promoted the stories of the
prophets (qisas al-anbiya’).
If the Sasanian scribes were in fact recording eastern legends which
had been confined to their homeland we would not have found so many
traces of western and southern adjustments in them. Caecasta would
not have been identified, for instance, with a lake in Azarbaijan, while
Fars and Stakhr would have had no place in Pishdadian and Kayanian
legends.1 Such adjustments can point only to the circulation of these
legends in the south and west for a long period before they were
recorded. That some names from the eastern epic cycles became popular
among the Sasanians from the second half of the 5th century can hardly
be taken as proof of a contemporary recording of these cycles; it
indicates, rather, a revival of patriotic spirit on account of renewed raids
by nomadic• tribes on the eastern frontiers. Such names (Kapat =
Kavad, Manuchihr) had been borne much earlier by the kings of Persis,
as evidenced by their coins.2 As it was, when Ardashir rebelled against
his Parthian overlord, the long duration of the Arsacid reign had
already given Iran something approaching a national saga and a national
history, casting into oblivion the memory of the Medes and the
Persians and overshadowing or absorbing local legends. It was this
eastern tradition turned “ national” which was committed to writing
in Sasanian times.

W R I T T E N FORMS OF T H E N A T I O N A L H I S T O R Y

The existence in Sasanian times of books devoted to the factual as well

as the legendary history of past kings is supported to some degree by
internal evidence. For instance, in the Shdh-ndmay when Hormazd IV
is dethroned and imprisoned, he asks for a knowledgeable reciter of
history to come forward with “ a book” to keep him diverted by relating
stories of the ancient kings.3 Mas‘udi reports4 that he had seen in the
1 See further pp. 402-3. 2 See chap. 8(b) p. 305.
3 P. 2679; cf. Noldeke, Nationalepos, § 12. 4 Tanbthy p. 104.
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

possession of a noble Persian family of Istakhr a huge illustrated manu­

script describing many sciences of the Iranians, their history, their
monuments and their policies, as well as portraits of twenty-seven
Sasanian rulers - twenty-five male and two female - which had been
copied from works in the treasury of the Persian kings in a . h . i i 3. This
information is supported by Hamza’s systematic account1of the official
portrait of each Sasanian ruler, accounts which must ultimately be based
on official records. The description that Mas‘udi gives of Ardashir
Papagan’s portrait - the king with red shirt, sky-blue trousers, green
crown set in gold, standing with a lance in his hand - corresponds to a
similar description by Hamza and tends to support the authenticity
of the two accounts. Hamza’s descriptions are confirmed in turn by
archaeological evidence: a portrait of Khusrau I found on a rock-crystal
bowl accords with Hamza’s description of his portrait.2 We may safely
assume, then, that in the Sasanian court a record was kept of the chief
events under each ruler, together with his portrait. The existence of
such records finds further support in Agathias (27.2; 30.4), who makes
oblique reference to official annals and royal divans by quoting reports
that he had received from a knowledgeable Syrian friend, Sergius. How
far back such records started, and whether they had a precedent in the
Parthian court in Ctesiphon, is hard to determine. But it is almost
certain that such records eventually included also an account of the
legendary history of the nation, probably with portraits of all the
Pishdadian and Kayanian kings, who were as real to the people as were
the Sasanian kings. Such traditional portraits were current until
recently in Iran.
The compilation of history and the publication of political tracts
could further political aims, and the Sasanians were adept practitioners
of these arts, as shown by the “ Letter of Tansar” and by the way in
which the Mazdakites were presented by the Sasanian official tradition.
(Nizam al-Mulk echoes the Sasanian practice in Islamic times.) Khusrau
I, in particular, made use of such works to expound his ideas and policies.
But we need not assume that the compilation of historical works was
undertaken first under Khusrau I. Shapur I recorded his victories, his
pious deeds and the names of the dignitaries of his own and his father’s
court in a great inscription on the Ka*ba-yi Zardusht. He even recorded
an archery feat at Naqsh-i Rajab. We know also that he encouraged
1 Pp. 48fF.
2 See Hamza, 57; F. Sarre, Die Kunsi des alien Persien (Berlin, 1922), 144; SPA, 138;
Christensen, Ulran, 398-9.
392
 C H A R A C T E R OF N A T I O N A L HI STORY

translations from Greek and Sanskrit. It is most unlikely that he would

not have sponsored works of history as well. Sasanian propaganda
against the Parthians must have provided a strong motive for the
sponsorship of political tracts and the writing of “ new” histories.
Along with the semi-official renderings of the national history, there
existed in Sasanian times a number of other works which had some
bearing on the record of the past. One was the Gdh-ndmag,, which
according to Mascudf s Tanbih1treated of official ranks in the Sasanian
empire; another was the A'ln-ndmag^ “ Book of Rules [of Propriety]”,
which portrayed the national customs and manners, and the proper
conduct expected of kings, nobles and the other classes of society. To
judge from their reflection in the Perso-Arabic sources, these books,
too, must have been rhetorical in tone, seeking to extol and establish
the virtues associated with Iranian tradition. We must assume that there
were other works dealing with administrative matters, as well as books
on individual kings or national heroes.2 Known examples are the Kdr-
ndmag of Ardashir Papagan and the historical romance featuring Bah­
ram Chobln, upon which several historians in addition to Firdausi have
drawn. Some of these works must have been incorporated either in
their entirety or in an abridged version in the later recensions of the
Khwaday-ndmag. We find, for instance, that a complete version of the
Ayddgdr-i Zarerdn is reproduced by Firdausi and an abridged form by
Tabari and Tha'alibL

T H E C H A R A C T E R A N D T H E AS P E C T S OF
T H E NAT IO NA L HISTORY

As already observed, the historical tradition which developed in Sasanian

times was concerned less with determining the facts of history than
with providing an insight into the past and a vision of the future. It
served to illustrate, promote and bolster religious and national ideals
as conceived by the leaders of the Sasanian state. It was also meant to
educate and entertain. Thus it combined four chief aspects; religious,
socio-political, didactic and recreational.
(i) The religious aspect. In Iran religion has always played a central role
in the national life. Far from confining itself merely to individual
relations between man and some supernatural power, it has encompassed
the whole spectrum of social and political life and has formulated legal
1 P. 104. 2 Cf. Inostrantsev, Sasanidskye Htyudi, 22ff.

393
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

and political norms of conduct. In Sasanian Persia, with the firm union
of church and state, the national history necessarily acquired a religious
colouring and a good deal of non-heroic and mantic material was added
to it.
The Kayanian epic cycle originated, we may recall, as a literature of
adventure, war and heroism. Heroic literature, however, is often
followed by a literature which tends to be preoccupied with the spiritual
aspects of life and to respond to the intellectual and contemplative con­
cerns of society. Composed in general by seers, prophets and saints,
such literature reflects the views, sentiments and interests of a class
different from the warriors and purports, not to entertain, but to
inspire, inform and educate. The earliest example of mantic literature
in Iran is the Gathas of Zoroaster. As the Zoroastrian religion spread
and its priesthood strengthened its hold, not only did religious litera­
ture flourish, but its spirit and outlook affected some of the earlier
heroic literature also. The Sasanian literary heritage indicates that in
Sasanian Iran both the heroic and the religious traditions flourished
side by side: one in the domain of the minstrels and story tellers, and
the other in that of the priesthood. Whereas the epic literature catered
to the taste of the nobles (d^adan), the Avestan commentaries and the
genre which is illustrated in the Pahlavi books of the 9th century
reflected the religious concerns. The Khwaddy-namag, however, was a
work of mixed content, despite its unmistakable core of a heroic
nature. It was committed to writing during a period when the Zoro­
astrian religion was ascendant and in a formal alliance with the Sasanian
court. Further, its compilation was the work of the scribal class
(dabiran), which, although serving primarily the king, the nobility
and their courts, shared the priestly outlook by virtue of its training.
Thus the Khwaddy-namag assumed a strong religious aspect - much
stronger, we may suppose, than in its Perso-Arab renderings. Yet the
Khwaddy-namag remained predominantly an epic history, much more so
than the Mahdbharata, the heroic nucleus of which is almost over­
shadowed by later accretions and elaborations of a non-heroic and
religious nature.
The religious outlook and the priestly orientation of the Khwaday-
ndmag were revealed in a number of ways. At the court the mobads,
the astrologers (akhtar-shumdran), the wise men (bakhraddn) and the men
of learning (ddnagan) were always at hand and were regularly consulted
on matters of consequence, and they were shown in the Khwaddy-ndmag

394
 C H A R A C T E R OF N A T I O N A L HISTORY

to be invariably right. A dualistic concept of the universe and its result­

ant ethical values pervaded the work. Historical events were understood
chiefly in terms of the duality of good and evil, and Ahriman and his
demons were ever present to inflict damage and distress on human
existence and to corrupt men’s minds. Yielding to their temptation
entailed divine punishment, as evidenced by the fate of Jamshed, Kavus,
and Yazdgird I. Views and religious innovations to which the Zoro­
astrian church did not agree, such as Manichaean and Mazdakite teach­
ings, were branded as heresy and were harshly condemned. Apart from
echoing the religious concepts and values of Sasanian Persia, the
Khwaday-namag included many admonitions and didactic pronounce­
ments, as well as other non-heroic material, such as throne addresses
and an account of the progress of civilization under the early kings.
Throne addresses, which in the Shah-nama almost always open with
praise of God and thanks for his blessings, and vow to follow the path
of religion and justice, bear a particularly moral and religious stamp.
Christensen, acutely aware of the two strains in the historical
tradition, made a case for distinction between a “ religious” and
what he calls a “ national” tradition in Sasanian times.1 The religious
tradition emphasized, according to him, the millennial scheme, the
cosmic view of world history, the prophetic events of the future and
the eschatological roles of the immortal kings and heroes, as well as the
intervention of the deities, demons, Amashaspands and the fravasis. It
was particularly concerned with the life of the prophet and his house,
the Gushtaspian cycle and the heroes of the religious wars, as well as
with the early upholders of the faith and its first instructors (Av.
paoiryo.tkaesas). Kings and heroes who were believed to have supported
the religion and to have respected the views of the mdbads received
detailed and favourable treatment. These included Bahman, the defender
of the faith; the Arsacid Vologeses (Balash), who ordered the collection
of religious writings; Ardashir Papagan, who united the country and
brought the church and state together; Shapur II, who upheld ortho­
doxy; Bahram V (Gor), who gave free rein to the priests; Khusrau I,
who crushed the Mazdakite heresy; and Yazdgird III, the last of the
Zoroastrian kings.2Also mentioned were Tansar (or Tosar), the minister
of Ardashir I ; Adurbad Mahrspandan, the high priest under Shapur II ;
and Mihr Narse, the grand vizier of Yazdgird I and Bahram V. Alex­
ander remained a despicable figure and an enemy of the Iranian people;
1 Kayanides, 35#; Gestes, 33#. 2 Cf. Zand / Vahman Yasbt iii. 20-9.

395
 I R A N I A N N A TIO N A L HISTORY

Rustam, the slayer of Isfandiyar, received little attention, while Bahman

satisfied religious zeal by destroying the house of Zal.
This tradition is best seen in the summaries, given in Books v ii - ix of
the Denkard, of the lost Sasanian nasks of the Avesta and their com­
mentary. It is further reflected in a number of Pahlavi books, more
particularly the Bundahisbn, chapters i-vii, xxix, xxxi-xxxvi.
On the other hand, says Christensen, in the “ national” tradition,
which reflected the taste of the court and the nobles, apocalyptic features,
cosmic projections and eschatological accounts received less attention,
the hagiography was omitted, and attention was focused primarily on
the heroic exploits of kings and warriors. The defence of the fatherland
and the protection of its boundaries and its institutions - a prime con­
cern of the nationalist Sasanians - became the motivating force of the
national history. Turanian warriors, rather than kavis and karpans,
sorcerers and sorceresses, represented the menacing foes of the land.
Dahak and Afrasiyab were regarded as the “ national” enemies of Iran
in ages past, invading the country from foreign lands. Turan, seen as
the antithesis of Iran, began to be the focus of all the bitterness and fury
which long centuries of war with the nomads of the north-east had bred
in Iranian hearts.
Christensen’s distinction between a “ religious” and a “ national”
tradition can hardly be denied, but his emphasis on the national tradition
as a product of Sasanian times cannot be maintained. His explanation
does not show sufficient appreciation of the oral tradition and of the
nature of the heroic literature which already had had two brilliant
phases - Kayanian and Parthian - before the Sasanian period. The fact
is that while the Zoroastrian priesthood had kept producing works of a
religious nature ever since the Gathas were composed, making use of
the legendary history for its own purposes, the epic tradition continued
to flourish in the works of the minstrels and story tellers.1 When in
Sasanian times the different strands of oral literature were combined
and written down, heroic stories, although they were cast in a frame
compatible with the Sasanian stand and the religious oudook, remained
basically a literature of entertainment attuned to secular interests,
bolstering national pride and patriotism. The difference between the
two kinds of literature will become evident if we compare for instance
the account of Kai Khusrau in the Denkard2 and the Shdh-ndma.3 It is
1 Cf. Boyce, “ Some remarks”, 45ff.
2 vii. 1.39; vni. 1.40; 13.14; ix. 16-19, 23-5>58.10. » Pp. 7ioff.

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to be noted that in Islamic times, too, although education was controlled

by the clergy, the court and the people maintained and applied a non­
clerical taste to the literature of entertainment.
(2) The socio-politicalaspect. The implicit court sanction of the Khvaday-
namag and similar works made them instruments of the political ideology
of a well-ordered, autocratic monarchy. Absolute obedience to the king
was impressed upon the reader at every turn. It is preached in royal
testaments and in the words of sages and the mobads; it is also exempli­
fied in the deeds of Iranian warriors and heroes. A dramatic example of
such undisputed obedience is offered by Isfandiyar when he sets out
to fight Rustam, even though he suspects that his royal father means to
send him to his death. Hormazd I is said to have cut off his hand and
sent it to his father, Shapur I, in order to assure him of his unswerving
loyalty.1
The national history also served to promote a strict observance of
distinction between the social classes. As is argued at length in the
“ Letter of Tansar”, this discrimination was considered a necessary
condition for a stable and orderly society, since nothing could under­
mine the social order more than class confusion and elimination of class
differentiation.2To lend the distinction greater antiquity and therefore
credence, the division of people into four estates is attributed by some
sources to Jamshed3and by some to Ardashir.4A tradition preserved in
the Bmdahishn attributes them implicitly to Zoroaster, whose three sons
were each set at the head of a social class.5The well-known story of the
shoemaker in the Shdh-ndma6 illustrates this point. He is prepared to
provide Khusrau I with four million drachmas so that the king can
equip his army in a desperate war against the Byzantines. All the shoe­
maker asks is that his son be allowed to enter the ranks of the bureau­
crats (dabiran). The king, however, forgoes the money rather than
allow such a corruption of the ranks. The theory was that men of low
birth, even if they acquired the necessary skills, were not fit to handle
the responsibilities of men of noble birth, and so it was incumbent upon
kings to preserve the purity of the higher classes. Thus, it was invariably
understood that the people must be kept to their own stations and might
1 Tabari 1. 833; Barami, 899!.
2 Pp. 12-19 (2nd ed. pp. 57-65); tr. Boyce, 37-44.
3 Shdh-ndma, 24; Tha‘alibi 12; Ibn al-Balkhi, 30-1.
4 Jahiz, Kitab al-Taj, 25#.
6 xxxv. 56; cf. E. Benveniste, "Les classes sociales dans la tradition avestique”, c x x i
(1932), n8ff. 6 Pp. 2545ff.

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 I R A N I A N N A T IONAL HISTORY

not aspire to cross the lines of social class.1 At least this claim is what
the nobility and the clergy maintained, although the speedy spread of
the Mazdakite movement and the actions of some of the kings, like
Yazdgird the Sinner, Kavad and Hormazd IV, who were bent on curb­
ing the power of the nobles, reveal that the views of the Sasanian
establishment did not always give an accurate picture of the country’s
social and moral aspirations.
Many of the political views of the Sasanian establishment were
presented through the “ wisdom” literature. The chief ideas underlying
the pronouncements on the conduct of government are: the necessity
for subjects to show unfailing obedience to their sovereign, and for the
sovereign to administer justice to his subjects, to maintain the religion,
to ward off possible abuses by the ruling classes, to attend to the culti­
vation and prosperity of the land, and to relieve the needy from distress.
The political theory behind such precepts is well defined and is referred
to frequently. The words of a mobad to Bahram I, quoted by Mas'udI,2
provide a good example: “ . . . the kingdom will not prosper except by
observance of the law, obedience to God Almighty and action in
conformity with His prescriptions and prohibitions; and the law will
not have vigour except through the king; and the king will not prosper
except through men, and men will not prosper except by wealth, and
there is no road to wealth except by the cultivation of the land, and
there is no way to prosperity of the land except through the adminis­
tration of justice; and justice is the criterion that God has established
among people and placed in the charge of kings Similar reasoning is
attributed to Khusrau I: “ The Kingdom depends on the army, the
army on finance, the finance on faxes, taxes on land cultivation, and
land cultivation on justice . . . ”.3
(3) The didactic aspect. Didacticism can be seen in two different forms
in the national history. One is a general tendency to conclude that good
will be rewarded and evil punished. Although the facts as presented
may not always support such a conclusion, the intent, which conforms
to the Zoroastrian outlook, is unmistakable. The falls of Jamshed and
Kavus are attributed to their pride. Dahak, notwithstanding his one-
thousand-year rule, is eventually smitten and chained. Neither Tur nor
Afrasiyab escapes punishment for his murderous crimes. Fortune departs
when its possessor ceases to be virtuous, and the fravasis of the just
help only the righteous. The same principle generally holds for Sasanian
times. Ardavan pays for the sins of Alexander. Those who invade
1 See in particular Tha‘alibi, 608. 2 Muruj 11. 172. 8 Ibid., 210.

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Eranshahr at a time of her distress are eventually brought low, as is

amply demonstrated by events in the reign of Shapur II. Heresy does
not succeed, as the cases of Mini and Mazdak prove - nor does en­
croachment on royal privileges, as is shown by the episode of Bahram
Chobin. Arrogance and oppression are chastized by divine providence.
Yazdgird the Sinner is kicked to death by a horse believed to be a
divine agent in disguise, and Shiroy does not profit by parricide, but is
poisoned or, according to another account, dies of plague.1
The other form of didacticism in the national history is the explicit
giving of advice and admonition which embody ethical principles.
Numerous precepts concerning the best way of leading a wise and fruit­
ful life are worked into the texts. As the moral and spiritual leader of the
people, the king is responsible not only for ruling the country, but also
for regulating its ethical and social life. Therefore, almost all prominent
Persian kings are credited with pronouncements on the duties of kings
and their subjects, the proper conduct of government, and appropriate
personal behaviour. Accordingly, the national history includes a fair
share of andar^ or “ wisdom” literature. This is found for the most part
in the addresses of kings from the throne, their testaments to their
successors, their epistles, and their sayings, and also in the advice pro­
vided by kings’ advisors and ministers (notably Buzurgmihr, the vizier
and counsellor of Khusrau I), the sages at the court, and the wise “ men
of yore” {ptshtnigdn). Maxims of observation or general truths2 (“ The
world is a halting place and we are passing guests”,3 “ Killing prevents
killing”),4 maxims of advisability (“ Do not hoard grain, so that famine
will not overtake you”),5 and maxims of morality (“ Do not wish for
others what you would not wish for yourself” ; “ Who is worthy of
praise? He whose hopes and fears are centred in God”)6abound. Many
of these categories merge of course and often a moral dictum is presented
as also prudent and rewarding (“ Shelter the wanderer so that you may
find a home in the hereafter”)7 or as a general truth (“ No prosperity
accompanies a king’s injustices”).8As a rule, there is a tendency to make
advice appear profitable, hence the impression of a pragmatic approach.
Ethical and admonitory pronouncements generally appear, not in the
1 Tha‘alibi, 730; cf. Christensen, LTratt, 497.
2 Following a categorization which the Chadwicks have employed in The Growth 0]
Literature; cf. Boyce “ Middle Persian Literature”, 5iff.
8 From the dicta of Khusrau I, Tha‘alibi, 607.
4 Op. cit., 483; cf. Ndma-yi Tamar, 14.
8 From Ardashlr’s dicta, Tha‘alibl, 482.
8 From the advice of Buzurgmihr, Shah-nama, 2380.
7 From the dicta of Ardashir, Tha‘alibi, 482. 8 Op. cit., 482-3.

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 IR A N I A N NATIO N A L HISTORY

form of connected and coherent discourse, but in the shape of short,

pithy and epigrammatic words of wisdom. Frequently they take the
form of question and answer or riddle and solution. They do not reveal
any full-fledged systematic philosophical approach or theory, but
generally they combine the dictates of religion and the requirements of
common sense. The guiding principle of a “ wise” life appears to be
“ moderation” (padmari)?- The dictates of experience and the words of
the “ ancients” carry great weight. Asceticism is not advocated, but
the transience of life, the importance of leaving a good name, the
wisdom of detachment from worldly pleasures and the avoidance of all
forms of excess are stressed. A mystical outlook does not belong to
Sasanian wisdom literature and is alien to Zoroastrian tenets.
(4) The recreational aspect. Entertainment as an aspect of the national
history is reflected partly in the style in which the Sasanian histori­
ographers composed their text and partly in its content. History was
written not as a “ critical” exposition, but as an engaging narrative of
events adorned with elements of wonder, fantasy and wit. Hyperbole
and metaphor were essential to its style. When an episode lent itself to
epic treatment, history rose to the level of saga. The Yashts of the
Avesta had already displayed marked literary qualities, the Parthian
bards had composed many poetic or dramatic pieces, and the authors
of the Sasanian histories could draw upon both sources. The Islamic
renderings of a number of events, such as Freddn’s victory over Dahak,
the tragedy of Eraj, the vengeance of Manuchihr, the ordeal of Siyavush,
the expeditions of Godard and Gev against Afrasiyab, the wars of Kai
Khusrau, and the Gushtaspian cycle, as well as many episodes of Rus­
tam’s career, echo the poetical quality of the original epics, and their
rendering by Firdausi raises them to the highest level of their genre.
As for the content, apart from the tales of adventure expected in a
work of epic character, elements of popular tales and legends were
introduced to further engage the interest of the reader. For instance, all
the major Islamic sources include in the account of Shapur II a report
in the nature of a popular tale according to which the Iranian king goes
alone on a spying mission to the Roman camp where he is discovered
and caught by the enemy and bound in a straitjacket of drying animal
hide, but finally sets himself free and leads his army to victory.12 The
1 Cf. Zaehner, Dawn and Twilight, 285f.; de Menasce, Denkard 111. 286.
2 Tabari i. 844; Ibn Batrlq 1. 119-20; Mas‘udl, Muruj 11. 181-2; Firdausi, 20j6ff;
Tha'alibI, 52iff; Ibc al-Balkhi, 69-71; cf. Dinawari, 49.

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many amorous adventures of Bahram V, the tales of his hunting skills,

and his exploits in India1belong to this category. So does the story of
the man from the Hephthalite camp who had his limbs cut off in order
to gain credence in the eyes of King Përôz, saying he had been mutilated
by the Hephthalite king. (See pp. 379!!. for other examples.)
Of course it is not always feasible to draw a line between epic legends
and popular tales, since much depends on diction and style. Certain
tales, like some floating legends, are attached to several figures. The
story of the girl who betrayed her father during a siege (see above,
p. 380) is told in connection not only with Shäpür I2, but also with
Ardashir3 and Shäpür II.4 The motif of a king or a famous warrior
going incognito to the stronghold of the enemy to gather intelligence”
or to carry out a stratagem is attributed to Qärin (Karen),5 Rustam,6
Isfandiyär,7 and Ardashir,8 as well as to Shäpür IL® The exchange of
riddles between royal courts, with the usual provision that whoever
fails to solve the riddle should become a tributary of the other,10 is
another floating motif in popular tales, as is the sending of symbolic
objects to convey a message of contempt, humiliation or the reverse.11
Anecdotes could serve as a veiled expression of satire. Such is, for
instance, the story Maseüdï tells of Bahräm II and the möbad who wanted
to warn him of the consequences of his confiscation of land and property.
One day at the hunt the king and the möbad overhear the conversation
of two owls. At the king’s request the möbad interprets their dialogue:
the female says that she will marry her companion if he will give her
twenty villages ruined under the reigning king; the male responds that
if the present king’s rule continues he, the owl, can well afford to give
her a thousand such villages.12
Sasanian authors wrote in an age of faith. They were not hindered
by the limitations of “ reason” and the requirements of plausibility.
The miraculous and the fantastic were to them common occurrences.
Therefore, tales of demons, fabulous animals and birds, supernatural
events, anachronistic stories and elements of popular superstition could
easily gain a place in the pages of their histories.
I Tabari 1. 854fr; Tha'âlibï, 624fr. 2 Tabari 1. 827fr.; Tha‘älibl, 489fr.
8 Ibn Batriq i. 106-7.
4 Dïnawarï, 50; Shäh-näma, 2003. See Nöldeke, n(abari>33, n. 4. For a discussion of the
story see Christensen, “ La princesse sur la feuille de myrte”, A O xiv (1936), 241-57.
5 Sbäh-näma, n6ff. 6 Ibid., 234. 1 Ibid., 1608.
8 Ibid,, 1958. 8 See above, p. 400.
10 Sbäb-näma, 2461fr; Tha*âlibï, 624fr, 633fr.
II See for instance Dînawarf, 83; Bal‘amï, 1080; Tha'âlibî, 657; Tabari 1. 694fr.
12 Murüj ii. 169fr.
401
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

NATIONAL HISTORY AS A M I R R O R OF
S AS A N I A N CONDITIONS

In the national history, vestiges of archaic times survive in the des­

criptions of warfare. Single combats, use of such weapons as the mace
and lasso, exchanges of boasts and elaborate conceits before and during
battle are traces of a very primitive period of warfare. The notion that
the heads of clans or agnatic groups (hamnäfän)y1 such as Säm, Gödarz,
and Tus, are the strongest of their clan members, is again reminiscent
of archaic periods. The feudal features which prevail in the national
history reflect mainly the circumstances of the Parthian and earlier
periods. But it is the Sasanian outlook and way of life which are most
pervasive in the national history.
Even the Pishdadian and Kayanian periods are treated in a Sasanian
way. In fact, the mythical and legendary kings are cast in the mould of
Sasanian monarchs. Practically all begin their reign with an address
from the throne, as was the custom in Sasanian times. The addresses
by Tahmörath2 and Jamshêd3 are typically Sasanian. Equally Sasanian
are the congratulatory responses and laudatory remarks by the möbads
and the nobles.4 In many instances anachronisms and implausible
attributions result. The appearance of southern and western localities,
like Susa, Babylon, Stakhr, Isfahan and Äzarbäijän in earlier history,5
is a Sasanian imprint. Afräsiyäb, for instance, defeats Naudhar’s
generals in Färs, where they are said to have taken refuge.6 Kai
Kaväd, after defeating Afräsiyäb, sets out for Stakhr, 4‘which was
then the capital”.7Fasä, in Färs, was built by Gushtäsp8 or by Bahman.9
Kai Kävüs and Kai Khusrau, seeking God’s blessing in order to over­
come Afräsiyäb, visit the Fire of Gushnasp in Äzarbäijän, and set out
for Färs, their “ residence” after their victory over Afräsiyäb.10Ibn al-
Balkhi’s Färs-näma frequently projects Färs, the seat of the chief möbad
in Sasanian times,11 into earlier periods. Stakhr, built by Gayömard,
is the place where the people offer allegiance to Hôshang. Jamshëd
chose Stakhr as his capital, and Gushtäsp imprisoned Isfandiyär there.12
1 See A. G. Perikhanian, “ Agnaticheskiye gruppy v drevnem Irane”, V'DI 1968.3,
pp. 28-53. 2 Tabari 1. 175; Tha‘alibi, 12; Firdausi, 20.
8 Tabari 1. 180; Tha‘alibi, 12; Firdausi, 23.
4 E.g. the response to Manüchihr’s address, Shâh-nâma, 130fr.
5 See above, p. 391. 8 Sbäh-näma, 261fr. 7 Ibid., 313.
8 Hamza 37; Tha‘alibï, 255. 8 Ibn al-Balkhl, 54. 10 Tha‘älibl, 232fr.
11 Cf. Dàdastân î Dênïg lv. y. 12 Ibn al-Balkhï, pp. 26, 27, 32, 51.

402
 H I S T O R Y AS A M I R R O R

Even Lake Caëcasta, the scene of Afräsiyäb’s final refuge and death
was transferred to Äzarbäijän.
Sasanian institutions are reflected everywhere. The Pishdadian kings
are advised by the möbads. When Kai Khusrau decides to retire from
the throne, he leaves part of his treasures to be spent on “ Building
fortifications, inns, fire temples, places of worship, repairing the bridges
of wood and bridges of stone, barring the [enemy] observation posts
and opening frontier passages . . .”1 Many Sasanian institutions are
attributed to earlier kings. According to the Shäh-näma,2it is Jamshëd,
for instance, who divides the people into the four classes prevailing in
Sasanian times. Ibn al-Balkhi attributes the initiation of the chief
Sasanian administrative measures, tax regulations and court protocol
to Gushtäsp.3 Sasanian customs are mirrored in the reforms credited to
Kai Kaväd,4 and in the gifts of Kävüs to Rustam.5These gifts include a
silver throne with golden pedestals, a diadem and a gold-embroidered
hat (kuläh). They are reminiscent of Khusrau IPs gift of a silver throne
to one of his vassal kings, mentioned by Hamza.6 The appearance of
Rüm (the Byzantine Empire) in the course of Kayanian history, in such
incidents as Kävüs’ dispatching an envoy to the Kaisar,7and the young
Gushtäsp’s journey to Rüm and marriage to a Byzantine princess8, is
an anachronism resulting from the transfer of Sasanian conditions to
ancient times.
Some of the episodes in the wars between Iran and Turan appear to
be modelled on the battles which took place on the eastern frontiers of
Iran during and after the reign of Përôz. Typical of these engagements
are the raids of the “ Chionite” Arjäsp on Bactria in the time of Gush­
täsp; these are described as having been followed by the sacking of
cities, the destruction of fire temples, the killing of the möbads, and
the enslavement of the people.9
Nowhere are Sasanian institutions better rendered than in the depic­
tion of the king and his court.
Image of kingship. In the national history the king takes his position at
the pinnacle of political power and is presented as the focus of history.
A number of doctrines bolster his position. Chief among them are the
doctrines of legitimacy and royal prerogative.
1 Tha'âlibï, 238; cf. Khusrau IPs fortification of frontiers in Hamza, 57.
2 P. 24. 8 P. 48. 4 Tabari 1. 535. 6 Op. cit., 604.
6 P. 58. 7 Shäh-näma, 402.
8 Tha'älibi, 245#; Shäh-näma, 1457fr.
9 Tha'älibi, 282fr; cf. Nöldeke, Nationalepos, 9.

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 IR A N I A N NATIO N A L HISTORY

In order to be legitimate, the king must be of royal blood. In the chain

of dynasties, the legitimacy of each king is assured by his blood relation­
ship to a previous king. When there is a gap, such relations are invented.
Thus, Höshang is made a descendant of Gayömard, Frëdôn a descendant
of Jamshëd, Manüchihr a descendant of Ëraj, Zäb a descendant of
Naudhar,1Kai Kaväd a descendant of Manüchihr2or Fredön,3 Luhräsp
a descendant of Kai Kaväd,4 Därä a son of Bahman, the Arsacids
descendants of Därä, Isfandiyär or Kai Kaväd5and Ardashlr Päpagän a
descendant of Kayanian Därä. During his flight to the east, Kaväd
marries a girl of seemingly undistinguished lineage, who later gives birth
to a son, Khusrau I. On inquiry, she is found to be a descendant of
Frëdôn.6Nowhere is the importance of royal blood brought to light more
clearly than in the episode of the rebellion of Bahräm Chöbln against the
Sasanian royal house. Although he is of noble birth, his eventual failure
is generally explained by the legitimacy of Khusrau II. This doctrine
is put in the mouth of Bahrain's own sister and wife, Gurdöya,7 who
warns him of the fate of those who make attempts at kingship without
being of royal blood. A similar indictment of rebellion against kings of
the blood is voiced by the elder son of Shahrburäz, a general who
seized the kingdom of Ardashlr, son of Shïrôy (even though Shahr-
buräz's younger son takes the opposite view and refuses to consider
the Sasanians inviolate).8
This doctrine is accompanied by that of the sanctity of royal blood.
It is his belief in this sanctity that prevents Burzmihr, whose father
Sükhrä had been killed by Kaväd, from killing the former king when
he was deposed and placed in Burzmihr’s hands.9 Hamza relates10
that down to his day in Marv and its vicinity people called the descend­
ants of Mâhôë, the governor of Marv who betrayed and caused the
death of the last Sasanian monarch, “ king-killers5' ('khudä\h\-kushän)}x
Of course there were many cases of internecine dispute among princes
of the Sasanian house, and wars of succession were both fierce and
frequent. Claims to the throne were not confined to princes of the
Sasanian house, as is amply shown by the actions of Bahräm Chöbin
I According to Tabari i. 529. 2 Tabari 1. 533.
8 Firdausi, 293; but cf. Bundahishny xxxv. 28.
4 Tabari 1. 643; Hamza, 36. 5 Tabari 1. 807fr; Tha‘âlibï, 437.
8 Firdausi, 2297; Tha‘älibi, 393. 7 Firdausi, 2658fr; Tha‘älibi, 683.
8 Tha‘âlibî, 733-4. For a discussion of the sanctity of Iranian kings, see Widengren,
“ Sacral Kingship”, pp. 248fr, and “ Iran, der grosse Gegner Roms”, pp. 220fr.
9 Tha*älibi, p. 509. 10 P. 63.
II On the sanctity of the royal blood, see further Ibn Batriq 176.

404
 H I S T O R Y AS A M I R R O R

and, more graphically, by his arguments as reflected in the romance

which fictionalized his story. But these exceptions were either passed
over in silence or played down in the Khn>adäy-nämag,, apart from showing
the sinister aspect of a king like Shiröy, who was not favoured by
chroniclers sympathetic to Khusrau II. To expatiate on such matters
would have bred strife and would not have tallied with the general
purpose of a national history. Popular discontent, minority grievances,
and rebellious sentiments found scant expression in the national history.
The Sasanian Establishment considered the airing of such matters
detrimental to the cause of a stable society.
The standard image of a king in the national history presents him as
superior among men in physical strength, good looks, wisdom and
eloquence - almost the same qualities which distinguish a king in the
Homeric conception. Kings are also law-givers and great organizers.
This is particularly true of the “ great kings” such as the founders of
dynasties. All the early kings up to Zäb, who are treated as culture
heroes, as well as Kai Kaväd and Kai Khusrau share these qualities.
Among the Sasanians, Ardashir, Shäpür II, and Khusrau I in particular
develop such an image. All the great kings are credited not only with
military ability and political acumen, but also with superior wisdom.
They are not only heroes on the battlefield, but also agents of prosperity,
builders of cities, initiators of useful institutions, and needless to say,
staunch supporters of the Zoroastrian religion. The early kings are
presented as promoters of civilization and authors of progress from a
primitive mode of life, when people lived in the mountains and wore
animal skins, to a more advanced culture. Most of these monarchs are
also credited with precepts and wise counsels.
Of course, this standard image does not mean that we meet with only
stereotyped kings in the national history. Although in Iranian histories
characterization was broad, with little attention paid to psychological
delineation, yet discordant royal images emerge. Opposed to the image
of the great kings of benevolent nature is the image of powerful
“ wicked” kings, exemplified in the tyrants Dahäk and Afräsiyäb, and
originally also Alexander, all treated as kings of “ foreign blood”. A
third type presents a mixed image. Jamshêd constitutes the prototype;
he has no match among kings in glory and power, and yet in the end
Fortune fails him. Kai Kävüs is the best-drawn character of this type,
combining great power, a spirit of adventure, and indomitable courage
with strains of cruelty, foolhardiness and unbridled ambition. Gushtäsp,
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

too, falls into this category, as do some of the Sasanian kings. One is
Kaväd, whose military skill and valuable internal reforms are balanced
by his ignominious flight into the land of the Hephthalites, his seeking
help from former enemies to retrieve his throne, and most importantly,
by his succumbing to Mazdakite seduction. Another is Khusrau II,
whose military triumphs, dazzling pomp and circumstance, spectacular
wealth and splendid court are marred by his suspected acquiescence in
the assassination of his father, his flight to Byzantium, the defeat of his
army in the final stages of the Perso-Byzantine wars, his harsh treatment
of some of his generals, the hardening of his character towards the end
of his life, and his inglorious end.
Of the lesser kings, Yazdgird the Sinner is painted black, presumably
on account of his resistance to priestly and aristocratic interests, and his
sympathy for religious minorities (though this latter quality is passed
over in silence in the national history). Shïrôy is presented as a sickly
tyrant who puts a large number of Sasanian princes to death, including
the father of the last Sasanian king. He is said also to have shown an
acrimonious attitude towards his officials.
Although the importance of personal accomplishment (hunar) is often
emphasized in the course of heroic conceits, it is evident that Iranian
society placed great value upon family and descent (gôhar). In the course
of the long verbal battle between Khusrau II and his rebel general,
Bahräm,1 Khusrau repeatedly taunts Bahräm with his low birth, and
asserts the legitimacy of his own claim to the throne on the basis of his
royal lineage. Bahräm counters by casting aspersions on the king’s
birth,2 and by referring to the forefather of the Sasanians as a mere
shepherd,3 claiming for himself descent from the legendary warriors
Ärish and Mïlâd.4 Shïrïn, the beloved mistress and, later, wife of
Khusrau II, is rejected by the king’s counsellors on the grounds that
she would weaken the king’s descendants by her plebeian blood.5
Khusrau I’s chief argument against the Mazdakites is that their doctrine
would obliterate the distinction between men of high birth and people
of humble station.
The king’s major occupations are pictured as administering justice,
taking counsel with dignitaries at court (notably the chief möbad, high-
ranking nobles, and wise counsellors), deciding matters of peace and
war, appointing chief officers of state, and taking appropriate measures
1 Shäh-näma, 2688-2705. 2 I b i d 2685. 8 Ibid., 2703.
4 Ibid., 2697. 5 Tha‘âlibi, 692b

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 H I S T O R Y AS A M I R R O R

for enhancing the prosperity of the land, as well as cultivating the

princely pursuits of hunting, banqueting and merry-making. His
education is oriented accordingly. He is tutored at court and in the field
to attain physical and intellectual accomplishments.
Though much emphasis is placed on physical skills (handling weapons,
riding, playing polo, and hunting), moral discipline, cultural attainments
and proper etiquette are not ignored, as can be seen in a passage in the
Shäh-näma concerning the education of Siyävush by Rustam.1 In
another passage,2Zäl, whose education as a vassal prince is pictured no
differently from that of a crown-prince, is tested at the court by Manüchihr
and his nobles. They measure his intelligence by asking him to answer
riddles and then give him an opportunity to demonstrate in a tourna­
ment his skills in bowmanship. Hamza3 refers to the practice whereby
Sasanian kings during their own life-times appointed their crown-
princes to be kings of major provinces, so that they might gain experi­
ence. In a long discourse, excerpted by Tha£älibi, Ardashir, after appoint­
ing his son, Shäpür I, governor of Khuräsän, instructs him in statecraft
and the art of good government. We find a summary of the king’s duties
in Tha£älibi,4 where what was undertaken by the nobles on behalf of
Shäpür II, when he was still a minor, is described.
As one of his first official duties, the newly-crowned king would
address a gathering of nobles and court notables. After praising God
and thanking Him for bestowing kingship upon him, he would outline
his programme, assuring the people of his concern for justice and good
government, and indicating his expectation of them as subjects. The
assembly of notables would respond to the throne-address, exalting
the king and his intentions, and assuring him of loyal service and the
obedience of the people. The ceremony was one of impressive pomp
and formality. Similarly the king sent messages to inform the provincial
governors and high officials of his accession, his call for justice and his
expectation of unswerving obedience to the throne. The king’s epistle
to this effect received a written response.5
In the national history, very often the king begins his reign by open­
ing his treasure and making generous gifts of gold, silver, jewels, robes
and fabrics, mounts and armour to the nobles and to his army. Some­
times he even remits taxes for the people for one or more years. Although
this may not have been done in practice, the image was kept alive. Great
victories also are occasions for generosity and gift-giving, as well as
1 P- 52». 2 P. 211C 3 pp< 4 p. 5I3.
5 See Tha‘âlibï, 485, 487, 555.
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 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

cancellation of arrears in taxes.1When hardship and famine broke out,

again the king might reduce or abolish taxes temporarily. For instance,
Peröz cancelled the land and poll taxes following a protracted drought.2
A royal custom often mentioned is the special audience given at the
court on the occasion of national festivals and major events, such as a
military triumph or the birth of a prince. Such audiences were portrayed
as both a sign of the king’s hospitality and a means of making him
accessible to the people. The custom continued into Islamic times and
Nizäm al-MuIk’s description of such audiences and his prescriptions of
correct procedure for them3 also have a bearing on Sasanian practice.
On festive occasions, the king not only bestowed gifts, but also received
them with proper ceremony.4 Strict protocol was observed at court in
seating people before the king according to rank and in the reception of
foreign dignitaries.5
The splendour of the later Sasanian court at its zenith captured the
imagination of the authors of the national history. This splendour, which
was expressed in terms of abundant wealth, lavish treasures, ornate
palaces, large stables, numerous concubines, slaves and servants,
extravagant banquets, drinking bouts and hunting parties, was pro­
jected into the courts of the early kings as well. The most spectacular
account, however, is that given of the fabled treasures and the pomp
and circumstance of the court of Khusrau IL6 Tha€âlibï dedicates a
whole chapter to it,7 and Firdausi describes it with noticeable relish.8
Khusrau II, in his apologia to counter the accusations levelled against
him by his nobles and by his son, Shïrôy, defends the wealth and the
luxury of the court by arguing that they are factors in strengthening
the kingdom and enhancing its image.
The nationalistic spirit of Sasanian tradition. An element which pervades
Persian historical tradition is a strong sense of nationalism. Already in
the Avesta, the description of Airyanam Vaëjah, the original land of the
Aryans, reveals the exuberant pride that the Avestan people took in
their country. 9They believed in a “ national ” farrah {Airyandm fKvaranah,
“ The Glory of the Aryans”), which was created by Ahura Mazda so
1 Tabari i. 826, 866, 874. 2 Tabari 1. 883. 3 P. 159.
4 Ibn al-Balkhi, 48.
6 Tha'âlibï, 665L; Grignaschi, 103-10; Nuwairi, Nibayat al-irab 1 (Cairo 1342/1923),
i86ff; Jâhiz, Kitab al~Tâjy 159ff; Blrûnï, Atbâr, 2i8ff.
8 See Tabari 1. io4if; Ibn al-Balkhl, 103; Hamza, 6of; Mujmal, 79L
7 P, 698fr. 8 Pp. 28770, particularly 2891-93.
* See particularly the Vendcdäd 1. 2, and the Tishtar Yasht, 56.

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 H I S T O R Y AS A M I R R O R

that the Aryans might conquer the countries beyond Aryan lands and
bring prosperity to the mountains and valleys.1The distinction between
Iranians and non-Iranians is made sharper by contrast with the Tur­
anians.
In the Farvardln Yasht, 143-4, five nations are mentioned: Airya
“ Aryans or Iranians,” Tüirya “ Turanians”, Sairima, “ the race of
Sarm”, Säinu and Däha. The identities of the last two are uncertain.1 2
The first three are said in Sasanian tradition to be the descendants of
Ëraj, Tür and Sarm (Salm), the three sons of Frëdôn. Of the five peoples
only Tüirya, the Turanians, beside the Airya, take an active part in the
national epic. They assume the rôle of the ever-present national enemy
of the Iranians. The names of the Turanian heroes leave no doubt that
the Turanians also were an Aryan people. In post-Avestan traditions
they were thought to inhabit the region north of the Oxus, the river
separating them from the Iranians. Their presence, and their incessant
wars with the Iranians, help to define the latter as a distinct nation,
proud of their land and ready to spill their blood in its defence.
The continuation of nomadic invasions on the north-eastern borders
in historical times kept the memory of the Turanians alive. After the
6th century, when the Turks, who had been pushed westward by other
tribes, became neighbours of Iran and invaded Iranian lands, they were
identified with the Turanians. Hence the confusion of the two in Islamic
sources, including the Shäh-näma, and the frequent reference to Afrä-
siyäb as “ king of the Turks”. Concern for the safety of the Iranian
borders and the continuance of the kingdom finds eloquent expression
in the national history and is a unifying element of its epic cycles.
Iranian nationalism exhibits itself also in relations with neighbours
other than the Turanians - with Romans and Byzantines, in particular.
The Sasanians maintained that they were heirs to a great empire, that
of the Kayanians, which Alexander had dismembered and plundered,
and which the Arsacids had mismanaged (see above p. 378). The early
kings of the dynasty were bent on restoring this empire to its former
integrity and greatness. Ardashir justified his invasions of the western
provinces on this basis3 and Shäpür II in his high-handed letter to the
emperor Constantinus, as quoted by Ammianus Marcellinus (xvii. 5.
5-6), exhibits a corresponding spirit. In the national history the Roman
1 Yasht 18.1-8. On the national farrah see Bailey, Zoroast, Problems, 23.
2 See Christensen, Études, 15-17, and Pourdavoud, Yasna 1. 57fr. for a discussion of these
names. 8 Herodian vi. 2.1-2; Dio Cassius lxxx . 4.

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 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

and Byzantine emperors are often pictured as tributaries of the Iranian

kings. The cause of many wars is given as the failure of neighbouring
countries to pay their tribute. The share which the Byzantine emperors
paid toward the upkeep of garrisons and fortifications against nomadic
inroads on the Caucasian borders is generally termed tribute.1The wars
on the western frontiers are usually described as crowned with success.
Victories are depicted at length with great pride; the setbacks are
glossed over for the most part.
A revealing instance of Iranian nationalism is found in the “ Letter of
Tansar”, where the superiority of the country and its institutions is
expressed in glowing terms.2 In the Shäh-näma, the victories of Shäpür
II, Narsë, Bahram V and Khusrau I over their western rivals are
represented in almost the same vein as the glorious triumphs of the
Iranians over the Turanians. Accounts of legendary expeditions to
India, China and other distant places by kings of renown such as Shäpür
II, Bahräm V and Khusrau I,3 and of their fabulous achievements, are
further instances of proud fantasies, as are the exaggerated descriptions
of actual battles, with their numerous elephants and dazzling displays of
weaponry. Bahräm V, said to have spoken eleven languages,4 was the
hero who, in disguise, performed fantastic feats in India.5
In the same way that noble lineage is considered elevating, “ foreign”
affiliations are seen as defects. The opponents of Bahräm V’s succession
object that he has been brought up among the Arabs and does not
possess Iranian culture.6 Hormazd IV is disparaged by his critics on
account of his Turkish mother.7According to Mas‘üdi, who obviously
quotes from a self-satisfied source, Persian kings would marry into other
royal families, but would not give their daughters in marriage to them,
“ since they considered themselves noble, and had long stories about
this”.8Khusrau II taunts Bahräm Chôbïn with being of the same city
(Rayy) whose contingent joined the Greek Alexander and caused the
collapse of the Kayanian kingdom.9 “ The Letter of Tansar”, in a
passage obviously designed to flatter nationalistic feelings,10asserts that
Ardashir is now determined to focus his entire attention on fighting
the Rümïs, the people of Alexander, in order to avenge Därä. Mas‘üdi
1 Tabari i. 965; cf. Nöldeke, Tabari, 108, n. 2; 250, n. 3; cf. Nama-yi Tansar, 28; trans.
Boyce, 53. 2 Pp. 27-8; tr. Boyce, 52-3.
8 See for instance Tabari 1. 965 and Hamza, 58. 4 Tha‘âlibï, 555.
5 Tabari 1. 866f. Cf. the exploits of Gushtäsp in Rüm, Tha'âlibI, 268.
6 Tabari 1. 858. 7 DInawarl, 87; BaPamI, 1081.
8 Muruj 11. 221. 9 Shäh-näma, 2696. 10 P. 38.
 O R IG I N AND DEVELOPMENT

records a tradition evidently inspired by nationalism when he relates1

that among the booty which Bahram Chôbîn seized from the Turkish
Khaqan were the treasures that Afräsiyäb had taken from Siyävush and
those which Arjäsp had captured from Luhräsp. One of the disgraces
Arjäsp inflicted on Iran was his capture of the Iranian national banner,
which Isfandiyär succeeded in retrieving.2
Such evidence, though much of it is characteristic of epic in general,
brings out a significant psychological fact: the Iranians had sustained
for long centuries a deep sense of national identity. They felt that they
were distinct as a people, and had an inalienable common heritage and
a long-standing tradition in their saga which set them apart from other
peoples. The lands conquered by the Iranians never became “ Iran” ;
they always remained “ non-Iran”. In fact, the Sasanians after Shäpür I
took the title “ king of Iran and non-Iran” (Ëràn ud anerän), thus
indicating the distinction of Iran as a nation. The wish to impress this
distinction on others and to inculcate in Iranians a belief in the merits of
purely Iranian virtues contributed to the outlook and tenor of the
national history and its rhetoric. In a battle between Bahräm Chôbîn
and Khusrau II, in which the latter is aided by the Byzantine army, a
mighty Byzantine warrior, who is said to have belittled Bahräm, is later
cut in half by a single stroke of Bahräm’s sword. Khusrau exclaims in
admiration and laughs, despite the fact that the loss is his. This behaviour
infuriates the brother of the Byzantine king, who is standing beside
Khusrau. But Khusrau explains that “ the warrior had thought little of
my former general; this is the kind of general who has dared to usurp
my kingdom”.3

Now we may turn to an examination of the origin and development

of the various components of the native historical tradition in Iran.

ii
MYTHS A ND L E G E N D S I N T H E N A T I O N A L H I S T OR Y
T H E I R O R I G I N AND D EVE LOPM ENT

The oldest extant record of some of the elements which occur in the
Iranian myths and legends belongs to the 15th century b . c . These
elements are found on a cuneiform tablet excavated at El-Amarna in
1 Murüj 11. 213. 2 Tabari 1. 678; Ibn al-Balkhi, 52.
3 The oldest mention of the episode is in Ya‘qübî 1. 192.
 IRANIAN NATIONAL HISTORY

Egypt, on a document from Bogazkoy in Anatolia, and also among

Kassite documents.1 Most important is a Bogazköy document in which
the names of four major Indo-Aryan gods, Mitra, Varuna, Indra and
Näsatya, occur. They are invoked as witnesses to a treaty made between
the Hittite king Suppililiuma and a Mitanni prince, Mattiuaz(z)a.
Documents which belong to the archives of Amenhotep IV (Akhe-
naten) from El-Amarna, and which include his own and his father’s
correspondence with heads of Syrian and Palestinian city-states and
Mitanni kings, preserve a number of the names of these rulers, such as
Artatama, Artamania and Artassumara, the first element of which
appears to be the Indo-Iranian fta. Among the Kassite names, that of
Surilias, the sun god, which is almost certain to reflect Ved. Sürya is
particularly striking.
Such records, however, suggest little more than the penetration of
early waves of Indo-Aryan people during the 2nd millenuium b . c . into
the ancient Near East, people who were absorbed later by the local
population.
Aside from Near Eastern archaeological evidence, the earliest refer­
ences we possess to the figures of national history are found in the Rig
Veda and the Avesta. The Avesta, the sacred scriptures of the Zoro-
astrians, is of various dates. The oldest part of it in terms of composition
is the Gäthäs, the hymns of the prophet himself. These are generally
believed to have been composed in the 6th century b . c .,2 although many
scholars have attributed them to an earlier period. T. Burrow has
recently argued in favour of dating them back to no later than 1100 b . c . , 3
andM. Boyce has now proposed 1700-1500 b . c . for Zoroaster.4A series
of Ayestan hymns called the Yashts, although later in composition than
the Gäthäs, preserve much older, pre-Zoroastrian myths and legends.
Typical of the material in the Yashts is a hero sacrificing to a divine
being and seeking his aid in achieving a specified goal or surmounting a
particular difficulty. From these scattered allusions it is clear that the
gist of the mythical and legendary history of Iran was already in exist­
ence in pre-Avestan times.5Although the Avestan references are brief,
1 See M. Mayrhofer, Die Indo-Arier in alten Vorderasien (Wiesbaden, 1966), pp. 13fr, and
Die A rier in vorderen Orient-ein Mythos (Wien, 1974), pp- i 2#, for details and references.
2 See Henning, Zoroaster, 35fr. 3 “ The Proto-Indoaryans”, pp. 136-40.
4 Zoroastrians, pp. 18, 49, 92. Cf. S. Shahbazi, “ The ‘traditional date of Zoroaster*
explained**, BSO AS xl (1977), pp. 26-35, who challenges the traditional date 258 years
before Alexander for Zoroaster and explains it as traceable to the year of Cyrus’s conquest
o f Babylon.
5 Cf. Spiegel, Arische Studien, m f f , 127 ;Erdn. Altherth. 1.485 ft, 724ft; Nöldeke, Nationale­
pos, §1.

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 O R IG I N AND DEVELOPMENT

it is easily seen that a chain of events, which corresponds in arrangement

and broad outline with the legendary history of Iran to the end of
the Kayanian era, as known from Sasanian times, was familiar to the
Avestan people.
In the Äbän Yasht, addressed to the goddess of water, Aradvi Sürä
Anähitä (Mid. Pers. Anähld, Pers. Nâhïd), a series of kings and notables
is mentioned who have sacrificed to the goddess. Höshang’s sacrifice
to her is typical :
To her did Höshang the Pishdadian offer up a sacrifice on the top
of the Harä mountain, with a hundred male stallions, a thousand
bulls, and ten thousand sheep.
He asked of her a boon saying: Grant me this, O good, most
powerful Aradvl Sürä Anähitä, that I may strike down two-thirds
of the giant demons and of the lustful evildoers.1
Those who sacrifice to the goddess include Haosyagha (Höshang), Yima
(Jamfshêd]), A ii Dahäka (Azdahäk, Dahâk), Thraêtaona (Frëdôn),
Ksresäspa (Karshäsp > Garshäsp), Fragrasyan (Afräsiyäb), Kava Usa
(Kävüs), Haosravah (Khusrau), Tusa (Tüs), the sons of Vaêsaka (Vêsa,
Afräsiyäb’s uncle), Jämäspa (Jämäsp), Asavazdah (Ashavazd, son of
Pürdhaxsti), Asavazdah and Thrita, sons of Sâyuèdri (all three cham­
pions of the Zoroastrian faith), Vïstauru (Gustahm?), Yöista (Yösht >
Jösht, one of the champions of the Zoroastrian faith), the Hvövas (to
which Jämäspa belonged) and the Naotaras (the house of Naudhar, to
which Tüs and Gushtäsp belonged), Zarathustra (Zoroaster), Kavi
Vistäspa (Vishtäsp > Gushtäsp), Zairivairi (Zarër), Arajataspa (Arjäsp)
and Vandaramaini (*Vandariman or Andarimän, Arjäsp’s brother).
These figures may be divided into the pre-Zoroastrian and the
Zoroastrian, as indeed in the Yasht itself they are separated by an
interlude (w . 85-97) which treats of the descent of the goddess from
heaven and the instructions she gave to Zoroaster concerning sacrifice
offered to her.
From the fact that the worshippers of Aradvi Sürä include Dahäk,
Afräsiyäb, the sons of Vêsa, Arjäsp and Andarimän, all villains of the
national history, it is obvious that the adversaries of Iranian heroes were
not excluded from appealing to Iranian deities. Indeed, being close rivals
of the same origin and background, they had recourse to the same means
for success. This is further confirmed by the Zamyäd Yasht (Yasht 19),
which Darmesteter described as a “ short history of Iranian monarchy,
1 Yasht 5. 21-2.

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 IRANIAN NATIONAL HISTORY

an abridged Shäh-näma”A This Yasht is in part devoted to the praise of

the deities, rulers and heroes who possessed the Divine Fortune
(Xvardnah) and an account of their feats : the xvaranah joined Haosyagha,
who ruled over men and demons in the seven climes; Taxma Urupa
(Tahmörath), who did likewise and transformed Ahriman into a horse,
riding on its back to both ends of the earth; and Yima of good herds,
who subdued all the demons and whose realm, before he submitted to
the Lie, was free from heat and cold, old age, death and envy. In his
kingdom, men and animals, waters and plants, food and drink existed
forever. The xvaranah was acquired also by Thraëtaona, who seized it
when it left Yima for the second time. (It had been caught by the yazad
Mithra when it left Yima the first time.) It was seized by Karasäspa, the
strongest and most valiant among men, who succeeded in performing
extraordinary feats ; and by all the Kayanian princes from Kavi Kaväta
to Kavi Haosravah. The xvaranah was possessed also by the prophet
Zarathustra, by his helper Vistâspa, who fought for righteousness, and
finally by the Saosyant (Söshyant), the triumphant redeemer and reno­
vator of the world at the end of time.
The Farvardin Yasht (Yasht 13), devoted to the celebration of the
fravasis, the immortal spirits of the dead, enumerates in a long register the
heroes of the faith from the beginning of the world to the end of time.
The list includes the names of deities, mythical and legendary figures of
the national history, the helpers of Zoroaster in the wars against the
infidel, and a large number of names which are not met in other sources.
The first part of the Yasht is dedicated to the glorification of the fravasis
in general. The second part contains the names of those whose fravasis
are specifically invoked. In this part, which may be divided into several
sections, are mentioned a number of divine beings, Gayo.maratan
(Gayömard) and Zoroaster (vv. 85-95), the disciples and helpers of
Zoroaster and the heroes of the Gushtaspian cycles (vv. 96-110), the
Söshyant (v. 129), and the pre-Zoroastrian heroes (vv. 130-38). It also
mentions the names of the Zoroastrian righteous women (vv. 130-8)
and other righteous persons whose identities are lost to us, but who
obviously have to do with the history of the early Zoroastrian church
(vv. 118-28).
Of the fravasis of pre-Zoroastrian heroes, those of Yima, the house of
Thraëtaona, Uzava (Zâb), Aghraëratha (Aghrërath), Manuscithra, the
Kayanian princes (exactly as recorded in Yasht 19), Karasaspa,
1 The Zend-Avesta 11. 286.

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 O R I G I N AND DEVELOPM EN T

Haosyagha, and Fradhaxsti (one of the Immortals) are invoked. Of the

fravasis of the helpers of Zoroaster, those of several members of his
family and a great number of his early disciples are commemorated.
There is mention also of a large number of heroes who obviously
belong to the Gushtaspian saga, but of whom only a few are known
from Islamic sources. This roster attests to an originally far more
extensive epic cycle of the holy Zoroastrian wars than is revealed by
extant Middle Persian and Islamic writings. Among the heroes who are
known in these writings are Vistâspa, Zairivairi, Vïstauru of the house
of Nautara, Frasamvarata (Farshldvard, son of Gushtäsp in Firdausi),
Frasö.karata (Frashökard, a son of Gushtäsp in the Ayädgär ï Zarêrân),
Spanto. däta (Isfandiyär), Bastavairi (Bastür) and Kavärasman (Karazm).
Scattered references to figures of the national history are found also in
Yashts 9 ,15 and 17, as well as in the Aogmadaêhz, a later text in Avestan.
There was more information on these figures in the Sasanian Avesta
than we possess now. The Cbihrdäd Nask, a section of the Avesta which
is now lost but is summarized in the Dênkard (vin. 12), contained a more
systematic account of the national heroes than other Avestan books.
Its summary lists the names of all the Pishdadian and Kayanian kings
in the same order in which they appear in Islamic sources.
The Dämdäd Nask, another lost book of the Avesta, dealt with the
creation of the spiritual and the corporeal world, the attack of the Evil
Spirit and the pollutions and plagues with which it infested our world,
and the disposition of mankind and its resources against the Adversary,
much as the Biindahishn does ; for the Dämdäd Nask is evidently the chief
source of the Bundahishn.1 The summary of the lost Südgar Nask in the
Dênkard iv furnishes a good deal of information about the heroes of the
national history, Zoroaster, the Söshyant and the Renovation of the
world.
Not only are the major figures of the mythical and legendary history
found in the Avesta, but even some of the minor figures and episodes
are recorded. For instance, reference is made in the Avesta to the two
wives of Dahäk: Sarjhavak and Aranavak (Shahrnäz and Arnaväz in
Firdausi), whom Frëdôn sought to possess through sacrifice to several
deities.2 Or again, Dahäk’s minister Kandrau is presented in the Avesta
as a giant monster, Gandarava, who is killed by Karasäspa.3 Thus the
1 See West, Pahlavi Texts iv, 13-14.
a Yasht 9. 13-14; 15- 23; W- 33- 5- See p. 372.
3 Yasht 5. 37. See F. Spiegel, Die traditionelle Literatur der Parsen (Vienna, 1860), 339;
West, Pablavi Texts n , 374-6.

415
 IR A N IA N N ATIONAL HISTORY

Sasanian tradition of Iranian ancient history shows itself to be a direct

development of the traditions recorded by the Avestan people.
Before turning to the general features of this development, we may
examine the chief individual figures, following the sequence in which
they appeared in the Khivadäy-nämag.

GAYOMARD AND T H E B E G I N N I N G OF T H E HUMAN RACE

Gayömard (Av. Gayö. mamtan “ dying life” ; Pers. Kayümarth) appears

in the Avesta several times, though little information about him is
given. From Yasht 13.145 and Yasna 26.10, in which the fravasis of the
just “ from Gayo.maratan to the Saosyant” are celebrated, we infer that
the notion of Gayömard as the first man is at least as old as the Avesta.
This is reinforced by another passage, Yasht 13.87, which says that
Gayömard was the first to give ear to the teaching of the good religion
and from him Ahura Mazda formed the race of the Aryan nation. From
the Dènkard vm. 12. 1-4, we learn that the Chihrdäd Nask of the Sasanian
Avesta began with an account of Gayömard and the first human couple,
and the summary of yet another lost nask, the Varshtmänsar Nask, in the
Dënkard ix. 32. 9-10, contains allusions to the much fuller account
which is preserved in the Bundahishn. According to the Pahlavi books
which reflect later Avestan passages,1 Gayömard received fatal wounds
when the Evil Spirit attacked him. Ohrmazd then created Sleep in the
form of a fifteen-year-old youth in order to relieve Gayömard’s pain.
Ohrmazd also granted him thirty years to live (the same number of
years which appear in post-Sasanian sources as his regnal years). But
Gayömard decreed before his death that from his seed men should come
forth and carry out Ohrmazd’s design. From Gayömard’s seed, accord­
ing to the Bundahishn xiv, sprang a rhubarb plant, which grew slowly into
the first human couple, Mashya and Mashyâna.1 2 At first the couple
acknowledged their creation by Ohrmazd, but Ahriman corrupted their
minds and they offered allegiance to him. They turned from eating grass
to drinking milk and then to eating meat. This way of life strengthened
the demons. For fifty years the demons made the couple lose their
desire for intercourse and they remained childless. Then thoughts of
progeny excited desire in them and they conceived a pair of children,
which they later devoured. Eventually, they conceived six sets of twins,
1 Bundahishn vi F; Mënôg i Khrad xxvii, 14; Dädastän i Dênîg Ixiv. 1-3 ; Zädsparam, x. 2.
2 See p. 370, and below, p. 420.

416
 GAYOMARD

each with one male and one female. In one set of twins were Siyämak
and Vasäk. From them were born Fraväk and Fraväken. They, in turn,
had fifteen sets of twins, and each set became the parents of a race.
A number of other myths attached to the figure of Gayömard can
be gathered from the Pahlavi books. While some may be late or deriva­
tive, others appear to be pre-Zoroastrian. According to the Pahlavi
Kiväyat 16 B.i,1 the creation of Gayömard is one of the occasions on
which Ohrmazd offers a sacrifice ('mya%d). The Dädastän / Dënlg lxiv. 3
recounts a myth obviously based on priestly speculations: Ohrmazd
fashions from the Infinite Light the body of a priest (asrök karp) whose
name is to be that of Ohrmazd. Inside this body he creates a tangible
(gëtïg) being called man. For 3,000 years the man does not move or
speak or eat. He is the first to receive the good religion, and men
inherit wisdom from him.1 23He is the first of the three “ just men”
(mard t ahrävf - the other two are Zoroaster and the Söshyant - and his
status as a “ just man” is described as “ above the stars, the Moon, the
Sun and the Fire of Ohrmazd”.4 At the resurrection the bones of
Gayömard will rise first, then those of Mashya and Mashyäna, and
then those of other men.5 Half the light which accompanies the sun
will be given to Gayömard and the other half to the rest of mankind
(Bmdahishn xxxiv. 8). According to the Dênkard in. 80. 3-4, Gayömard
was born of the union between Ohrmazd and his daughter Spandârmad
(the Earth). This union is the origin of khmdödah (Av. xvaêtvadatha),
the marriage with close relatives. (In another passage,6 however,
Vahman is said to be the issue of this marriage.)
The Bmdahishn (i a. 13) describes Gayömard as “ bright as the sun”,
and the same in height and width - four reeds of measured length. He
was stationed on the left bank of the river Däiti at the middle of the
earth, facing the primordial Bull (Gap ï evdäd) on the right bank.
The Mênôg ï Khrad tells us,7 as does Bïrünï,8 that Gayömard killed a
son of Ahriman, Arzür.9 Ahriman, according to Bïrünï, complains to

1 Tr. Molé, Culte, 126.

2 Cf. Dênkard, ed. Madan, 23.10 in Mole, Culte, 446; cf. Jaihânï quoted by J. de Menasce,
“ Le témoignage de Jayhânï sur le mazdéisme’’ in E. Gren étal, (eds), Donum Natalicium
H. S. Nyberg Oblatum (Uppsala, 1954), 52.
3 For a description of the mard i ahrâv and his virtues and functions, see Molé, Culte, 273fr.
4 Dädastän / Dënïg 11. 10 in Molé, Culte, 473-4.
5 Bundahisbn xxxiv. 6; cf. Bailey, Zoroasi. Prob., 94. 6 ix. 38. 4-6.
7 X X V . 14-15. 8 A tbâr , 1 0 0 .
9 Bïrünï has Kharüra ; Av. A r^u ra . See Christensen, L.es types du premier homme 1. 53-4,
for a discussion of the name.

417
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

Ohrmazd, protesting a breach of compact. Ohrmazd, as a result,

punishes Gayömard by death, which in the more orthodox accounts is
dealt him by Ahriman.
These scattered pieces of information have given rise to considerable
speculation among Iranists as to the original nature and rôle of Gayö­
mard. He has been seen as one of the primordial giants of Indo-
European myth, from whose limbs the world was made;1 he has been
practically identified with Mithra;2 made a brother of Mithra and a son
of Ahura Mazda;3 identified with the Söshyant;4 and regarded as a
microcosm representing the macrocosm.5
His name suggests that from early Zoroastrian times Gayömard was
the personification of an abstract notion, as were many other notions,
notably asa (fta) and the Amasa Spsntas, also thus personified. But even
so, the myth obviously contains many aspects of more ancient beliefs
concerning a prototype of man at the beginning of creation. A compari­
son with the Vedic Märtända “ Mortal Seed”,6 who, like Gayömard, is
as wide as he is tall, and from whose “ seed” all human life was to
spring, leaves little doubt about the Indo-Iranian basis of Gayömard’s
myth.7 It is probable that in the more ancient myth of pagan times, it is
the first man himself who is sacrificed by the gods in order to reinforce
life and generate new births. The notion is obliquely expressed in the
myth of the primordial Bull, whose death brings animals and plants into
being,8and can perhaps be seen also in the Mithraic sacrifice of the bull.
In the orthodox Zoroastrian version of the myth, however, we find
Ahriman to be the author of the Bull’s death.9
It is clear that in the early Zoroastrian account, Gayömard, like the
Indie Märtända, shared some mythical features with the gods. He is
placed on a level with the prophet Zoroaster and the saviour Söshyant as
a member of a trinity of “ just men”, and has a link with the sun, since
his seed is said to have been purified by it, and since, like it, he shone.
Further, he is to play an eschatological rôle by rising first among the
1 Christensen, op. cit.t pp. 33fr.
2 S. Hartmann, Gaydmart (Uppsala, 1953), reviewed by M. Boyce, BSO AS xvii. 174fr;
see Gershevitch, Avestan Hymn 69, for a refutation of this view.
3 R. C. Zaehner, “ Postscript to Zurvon”, BSO AS x v ii. 244.

4 See Boyce, H ist. Zoroast. 1. 283-4 for references.

8 See Duchesne-Guillemin, L.a religion de l'Iran ancieny 21 off, 325fr, and contra Boyce,
Hist. Zoroast. 1. 140, n. 79.
6 K. Hoffman, ‘Märtända und Gayômart’, Münchener Studien %ur Sprachwissenschaft xi
(Munich, 1957), 85-103; H. W. Bailey in Hinnells (ed.), Mithraic Studies 1. 16.
7 Boyce, Hist. Zorast. 1. 138. 8 See above, p. 353.
9 See Gershevitch, Hymn to Mithra, 64-6 for a discussion of the point.

418
 GAYÖMARD

dead, a feature reminiscent of the Vedic Yama (Av. Yima). The eclipse
of Yima as the original first man seems to have led to the transference of
many ofhis features to Gayömard. Later, Gayömard became the subject of
priestly speculation. Shahristânî mentions a Zoroastrian sect which
even took Gayömard’s name.1 When the national history was syste­
matized, Gayömard acquired an added dimension : he became the first
world-king. Popular imagination added details, particularly, it seems,
concerning his struggle with Ahriman. Bal'aml2devotes an unusually
long passage to Gayömard’s revenge on Ahriman for having killed his
son.3
The accounts of Islamic writers throw some light on how the myths
of Gayömard and the first couple were presented in Sasanian historical
tradition. Our most revealing source is Hamza;4he tells us that he came
across material which was included in the Khwadäy-nämagy but which
had been omitted by Ibn al-Muqaffaeand Muhammad ibn al-Jahm, and
he then delivers an account which conforms to that of Pahlavl sources,
notably the Bundahishn (i a and xiv). Although Hamza says in a later
passage that he has taken his information from some commentary on
the Avesta, this statement does not change the validity of his account
as a rendering of the Sasanian form of the myth. In its basic form, this
account is echoed also in BaPami5and Bïrünï.6In another short account
by Hamza7 taken from the Möbad Bahräm ibn Mardänshäh, who
according to Hamza had compared twenty manuscripts of the Khwadäy-
nämag, we find the legend somewhat subdued. Here Gayömard is the
first man and rules for 30 years; Mashya and Mashyäna are his progeny,
who, though sterile for seventy years, eventually produce eighteen
children in the course of fifty years. The rôle of Gayömard in the
struggle between Ohrmazd and Ahriman, and mention of the Bull and
the rhubarb plant, are omitted. It is obvious that in Bahrain’s version all
1 al-Milal wa'l-nihaj ed. Cureton, 182; see Schraeder, Studien, 238 for a discussion of the
point.
2 Tärikb-i BaPami, pp. 114fr. Cf. G. Lazard, “ Un texte persan sur la légende de Gayô-
m art”, J A 1956, pp. 20iff.
3 I find little justification for interpreting as “ Gayömard,, a grotesque anthropomorphic
figure (Phyllis Ackerman, S P A , p. 799) which occurs on Sasanian seals and which is often
surrounded by some animal figures, such as a dog, a cock, a scorpion, snakes, etc; cf. Bivar,
Western Asiatic Seals, p. 26 ; C. Brunner, in R. N. Frye (ed.), Catalog of Sasanian Stamp Seals
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art> pp. 68ff. The figures most probably have an astrological
basis, but the passages in the Bundahishn and Zätsparam relating to the contaminated world
to which Gayömard awakens after he recovers from the initial shock of his injuries can
hardly explain the various details of such seals. Ackerman’s interpretation remains highly
speculative. 4 P. 64. 5 P. 113. 6 P. 103. 7 P. 24.

419
 I R A N I A N N A T IONAL HISTORY

aspects of the legend which could have offended Muslim sensibilities are
eliminated. But such omissions and modifications must be traced to
Ibn al Muqaffa' and other early translators, who had left out what could
not be easily understood by their readers. Other accounts by Islamic
writers often combine elements of the original myth with later additions
or distortions through Biblical or Islamic influences.
The standard form of the later versions deriving from the translations
of the Khwadäy-nämag is the one which we find in Firdausi. Calling Gayö­
mard the first king may be due to assignment to him of a position of
supremacy in the more ancient accounts. Already in the Aogmadaêcâ,
85-7, he is called king of the world, with the appellation Gar-shäh “ king
of the mountains”, later often mistaken (even in Dênkard in. 35.2) for
Gil-shäh “king of clay”, possibly under the influence of the Biblical
myths of creation1and a misreading of Pahlavi r for /, both of which
have the same shape in cursive writing.

T H E P I S H D A D I A N DYNASTY

Hôshang. Among the kings and heroes who, according to the Yashts,
sacrifice to deities Hôshang generally stands first,2giving the impression
that, when the Yashts were composed, he was considered the first king
who ruled over the world. He is calledparadhäta “ created first”, (Pers.
pishdäd). In the summary of the Chibrdäd Nask in the Dênkard vin. 13.
5-6, Hôshang is said to have founded the monarchy ([dahyupadëh), while
Vegard, who is called his brother in this work and some later sources, is
credited with the institution of the landed nobility (dêhkânih\ in Bïrünï,
220, al-dahqand). Hôshang’s title was later interpreted as to mean the one
who first gave law or rendered justice {däd)? From his Avestan title,
paradhäta, we may surmise that he was once considered in some local
myths to be the first man and that later the myth was absorbed by the
Avestan tradition. Some references to him in later sources as the parent
of the Iranian race strengthen this impression (see below). It is to be
noted that he does not have a counterpart in Indian mythology and
therefore must be regarded as an Iranian figure. He appears to be con­
nected with the territories of Mäzandarän and Varsna,4 since it is
1 Christensen, Les types du premier homme 1. 45 n.3, 85, 91.
2 Yasht 5. 21-3; 9. 3-5; 15. 7-13; 17. 24-6; 19. 25-0.
3 Tabari 1. 171 ; Hamza, 29; Maqdisi h i . 139.
4 Varana was identified by W. B. Henning as Skt. Varnu, north of Peshawar; BSOA.S
xii (1947), pp. 52-3. For Mäzandarän see below, p. 446.

420
 T H E P I S H D A D I A N DYNASTY

particularly the demons, sorcerers and evil creatures of those regions

that he subdues and rules. This association may reflect a memory of
some hard-won conquests there by victorious Iranian invaders.
The gap between Gayömard and Höshang was filled with a series of
generations which begot the human races. When Gayömard came to be
accounted the first king, the period between him and Höshang was
given as an interregnum. Firdausi ignores the interregnum and makes
Höshang a grandson of Gayömard and his cherished adviser (dastür),
who avenges the death of his father Siyämak at the hand of Ahriman by
killing Ahriman’s son in battle. This story seems to be a reversal or
modification of the Arzür myth referred to earlier.1 The majority of
other sources, including the Bundahishn,2 Tabari3 and Mas'üdï,4 place
three generations between Gayömard and Höshang, namely Mashya,
Siyämak and Fraväk. The name of the female member of each pair, that
is the wife/sister, appears to have been originally a feminine form of
the name of the male counterpart, and although the forms recorded in
Middle Persian and Perso-Arab sources are often corrupt, this pattern
can be seen in the name of Mashyäna and its variants,5 and in other
forms, such as Siyätm6and Fraväken.7 The ancient Yima-Yimi (Ved.
Yama-Yami) is the oldest instance of such pairs.
The fact that some Islamic works reflecting the late Sasanian writings
mention Höshang, rather than Gayömard, as the first king reveals the
ambiguity of the Sasanian views regarding the first king.8On the other
hand, according to Firdausi and a number of other sources9Höshang is
Gayömard’s successor on the throne. The difference probably originates
in the discrepancy between regional traditions.10Pahlavi and Islamic
sources do not add much to what one gains from the surviving Avesta
itself and from the Denkard summaries of its missing portions, but they
expatiate on the excellence of Höshang, his wisdom and justice, and his
civilizing endeavours. Whereas the civilizing activities of Höshang were
emphasized in the Khwadäy-nämag^ it is his battle against the dêvs and
his appeals for divine assistance which are stressed in the Yashts.
Höshang’s discovery of fire, cited by Firdausi, is obviously a rather late
and popular account, which could not have originated in priestly circles,
and since it is not compatible with Avestan cosmology, it must refer to
the discovery of the way of “ making” a fire.
1 P. 418. 2 xiv. 51-9. 3 i. 154. 4 Murüjii. n o .
6 All collected by Christensen in Les types du premier homme 1. 9-10.
6 Tabari 1. 154. 7 Bundahishn xiv. 34.
8 Tabari 1. 154; Hamza, 13, 29; Bïrünï, 103, 220-1. 9 See above.
10 Cf. Christensen, Les Kayanidesy 35fr.
421
 IR ANIAN NATIONAL HISTORY

Tahmörath. Like Hôshang, Tahmörath is not known in Indian

mythology, but his appearance in the Yashts1 assures the antiquity of
his myth. According to a tradition quoted by Bïrünï2it was Gayömard,
not Tahmörath, who rode on Ahriman - an instance of floating motifs
in Iranian myths and legends.3 The demons’ revelation of the art of
writing to Tahmörath, a story mentioned in both Pahlavi and Islamic
sources,4 probably preserved the memory of the acquisition of writing
by Iranian tribes from the former inhabitants of Iran.
In some Islamic sources,5 Tahmörath has been called the first king,
possibly owing to a divergent view in original Sasanian writings. The
fact that on occasion an entire millennium has been given as his life­
span 6also seems to indicate a position of high importance in some of
the early accounts of him. This is further confirmed by the appearance
of his name in the Mandean Book of Kings, Sidra Kabbäy immediately
after Gayömard, with a reign of 600 years.7
Christensen has advanced a theory8according to which both Hôshang
and Tahmörath have been adopted into Iranian legends from the
Scythians. This theory is chiefly based on the name Arpoxais, which
occurs in Herodotus iv. 5, as that of a son of the first man. Christensen
derives the first part of the name from *Hrsp3, which he sees in Avestan
Urupa. Whatever the case may be, the placing of Hôshang and Tah­
mörath between Gayömard and Yima, the original first man, demands
an explanation. Probably here we are dealing with the first kings or first
men who belonged to the myth cycles of different Iranian tribes, myths
which were assimilated by the Avestan people in pre-Zoroastrian times.
Jamshëd. Jamshëd (Av. Yima.xsaëta), who has been the subject of
extensive research and speculation among scholars, is common to both
Indian and Iranian mythology. He is the only one of the Iranian “ kings ”
who is mentioned in the Gäthäs (see below.)
It is not possible, of course, to determine just when in history the
various transformations in the myth of Jamshëd took place. In Sasanian
times he emerges ai a wise and powerful “ king” who succeeded his
brother Tahmörath to the throne. As an ideal king and law-giver, he is
credited with many wise acts and institutions. He is said to have brought
1 15. i i ; 19. 27-9; 23. 2. 2 P. 99. 3 See p. 401 above for other instances.
4 Menôg ï Khrad xxvii. 23; A.ogdmadaëcâ, 92; Tabari 1. 175; Bal‘ami, 129; Tha‘âlibï, 9;
Firdausi, 22. 5 Mas‘üdï, Murüj m . 252; Yäqüt 1. 417-18.
8 Ibn Qutaiba, Ma*ärify 632; Tha‘älibl, 10; cf. Maqdisî ni. 139-40, who mentions both
30 and 1030 years. 7 Christensen, Les types du premier homme 1. 192.
8 Ibid. 136fr.
422
 T H E P I S H D A D I A N D YN AS T Y

people back to moderation (padmän).1 The farrah enables him to ward

off death from his subjects, who live lives of total bliss. But then he is
carried away by his successes and claims divine power. Subsequently,
the farrah departs from him.
In the Gäthäs, in a unique passage,2 he is counted among sinners and
is said (according to some translations) to be the first to have given men
pieces of meat to eat. Much has been made of this passage in a re­
construction of pre-Zoroastrian daëva-worshxp, the blood-sacrifice
among pagan Iranians, and the nature of the prophet’s reform. But the
passage is far from clear and is variously rendered by different scholars.3
It can hardly be inferred from it, therefore, that Yima’s sin was the
institution of blood-sacrifice, as was held previously, since there is no
evidence that the prophet prohibited this custom. Animal sacrifice has
always featured among Zoroastrian rites.4
In the post-Gäthic Avesta, however, Yima is restored to the position
of pre-eminence which he must have enjoyed in pagan times. Yasna 9.
3-5 tells us that as a reward for being the first to press the sacred plant
baoma, Vivaghvant was given Yima as a son. In the Yashts we read of
Jamshëd’s sacrificing the stereotyped number of animals - a hundred
stallions, a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep - to various deities
including Arodvi Sürä, Drväspä, Vayü and Xvaranah. He asks for
sovereignty over men in all the world and the power to subdue demons
and to bring well-being and immortality to men and animals, and these
petitions are granted.5His regular epithets are two: one is xsaëta (Mid.
Pers. -shed) “ prince, king” which may derive from an earlier meaning,
“ brilliant, glowing” 6(cf. Av. bvard.xsaeta, Mid. Pers. xwarsëd “ glow­
ing sun, the sun ”) ; the other is hvathva (Mid. Pers. translation hu-ramak)
“ possessor of good herds”.
In the second chapter of the Vidëvdâd, cosmological and eschato­
logical rôles are assigned to Yima. He is the first to receive the guardian­
ship of the world from Ahura Mazda. He reigns over a world free from
death, pain and corruption. Three times, magically, he enlarges the
extent of the earth in order to accommodate the increasing number of
men, animals and other creatures. He rules for 1,000 years before Ahura
1 Dënkard ni, tr. de Menasce, no. 286. 2 Yasna 32. 8.
3 See Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 93, n. 55 for the literature; Insler, Gäthäs, 47, 196.
4 Boyce, ibid.
5 Yashts 5.25-7; 9.8-11; 15.13-17; 17.28-31; 19.30-8, 43-6.
6 See Benveniste, Titres et noms propres, 21-2, for a discussion of this word and its
meanings. Cf. Bartholomae, 541, and W. Belardi, “ Axs-aina, axsa-ina or a-xsai-na?” , A IO N
in (1961), 24fr.

4*3
 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

Mazda warns him in an assembly of the gods and best of men that
winters with destructive snowstorms and frost will descend upon the
visible world. He is instructed by Ahura Mazda to build a subterranean
fortress (the Var), and to bring into it pairs of the finest men and women,
animals and the seeds of all the best plants and fruits, so that when all
the other creatures of the earth are destroyed by the snowstorm, the
inhabitants of the Var may survive.1The summaries of the lost nasks of
the Avesta given in the Dênkard vni and ix do not add any new in­
formation of substance to what can be gleaned from the extant Avesta.
There can be litde doubt that Yima was originally conceived as the
first man among the Indo-Iranians. Traces of this concept survive in
Yasht 13. 130, where Yima is mentioned at the head of a list of kings
and heroes whose fravasis are venerated; confirmation exists in Vedic
mythology, which identifies Yama as the first man.1 2 Among both
peoples, as is to be expected, the first man is made immortal3 and
elevated almost to the rank of the gods.4In Iran, as the first man Yima
also becomes the first ruler, reigning over a paradise free from need,
death and disease. In India, as the man who dies first and therefore goes
first to the realm of the departed, Yama becomes king of the dead and
receiver of departed souls.5In India, Yama also has a sinister aspect and
is practically identified with the dread figure of death itself. His messen­
gers carry off the doomed to his kingdom beneath the earth, the entrance
to which is guarded by his two vigilant dogs. In Iran, also, it seems that
Yima’s abode was originally imagined to be a subterranean one.6 His
Var was to be built underground, and possibly it is to Yima that Hero­
dotus vn. 114 refers when he mentions an underworld god propitiated
by the Persians. In the Avesta Yima is the first to press haoma for
sacrifice, whereas in the Vedas he is the one who procures fire for men.
As is sometimes the case with primitive gods, primitive heroes tend
to fade in time, or be transformed in popular beliefs, surrendering their
places to other figures more recendy adopted. In India, Yama’s attri­
butes as the first man, and therefore the father of humanity, are trans­
ferred to Manu.7In Iran, the Zoroastrian reform obviously changed the

1 For probable influence of the Semitic legend of the deluge and Noah’s Ark on the
development of Yima’s legend of the Var see Spiegel, Bran. Alterth. 11. 476fr, and Boyce,
Hist. Zorast. 1. 95. 2 Rig-Veda x. 17.1-2.
8 Rig-Veda 1. 83.5; ix. 113.8; cf. Mênôg iKbrad viii. 27.
4 Rig- Veda x. 14.7, 9; cf. A t barva- Veda xviii. 2.3.
5 Rig-Veda x. 14.1-7, 10-12; 135.1-2. 6 See Lommel, Y ä lfs, 20off.
7 See Oldenberg, Die Religion des Vedas, 281.

424
 T H E P I S H D A D I A N DYNAS T Y

pagan notion of Yima. It presumably assigned the underworld to be

his kingdom. Eventually, when the older beliefs were adopted into the
Zoroastrianism of the Yashts, Yima emerged as the ruler of a golden
age. The features of Yima as the first man were transferred partly to
Gayömard, including his affinity with the sun,1 and partly to Mashya
and Mashyäna, who may be viewed as a reinterpretation of the original
couple, Yima and Yimi. Some of Yima’s aspects as the agent of death
seem to have been taken over by Vayu, and by Astö-vidhätü, demon of
death.2 Yima is then assigned the rôle of the first king, a function trans­
ferred later to Höshang and eventually to Gayömard. Yima presiding
over the golden age of man loses none of his splendour, remaining a
colourful and potent figure in both priestly writings and popular
imagination.
There is yet another aspect to the power and piety of Yima in
Iranian tradition, namely his fall from grace. In the Avesta this is
expressed by the departure of the xvaranah from him as a result of his
submission to the Lie.3 The xvaranah departs from him three times in
the form of a visible bird and is seized in turn by Mithra, Frêdôn and
Karshäsp (apparently those who helped defeat Dahäk), whereas Aéi
Dahäka fails in his attempt to seize it. The sin attributed to Jamshëd in
the Pahlavi books is not made entirely clear in the Avesta, which merely
notes his temptation by the dëvs and his submission to the Lie. Pahlavi
books and Islamic sources elaborate on his sins of lying, pride, in­
gratitude towards God and his claim of divinity.
Beyond being a common motif in many myths concerned with a
golden age followed by a decline, the myth of Yima’s fall may have been
influenced primarily by Zoroaster’s apparent disapproval of him and
also by Semitic myths of the fall of man. The myth of his riding in the
sky drawn by demons, which is found also among the episodes of
Kavüs’s reign, may have been evolved to express both his might and a
prelude to his fall. It also offers an explanation for the advent of A£i
Dahäka, whose reign begins immediately after that of Jamshëd, usher­
ing in the second millennium of world history.
Jamshëd’s identification with King Solomon in popular belief is
of course a product of Islamic times. As a figure who has captured the
imagination of the people, he has attracted to himself a number of
legendary and folkloristic motifs, such as possession of a magic cup

1 Yashts 9.4; 15.16. Boyce, Hist. Zoroast. 1. 92. Yasht 19.33-8.

 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

(jäm-i Jam “ Jam’s cup”), a magic ring (nigïn-iJam) and an all-revealing

mirror {âyïna-yi Jam).
Dahäk (Av. A%i dahäka, Perso-Arab. Dahhäk). Dahäk appears in the
Avesta as a “ three-headed, three-mouthed and six-eyed” monster; he is
chief among the demons whom Ahriman created for the destruction of
the world.1Probably Dahäk’s myth incorporates the notion of a natural
phenomenon, destructive drought. In Yasht 5.29-31 he is said to have
sacrificed unsuccessfully to Aradvi Sürä in order to obtain the power to
destroy the race of men in the seven climes (lit. to make them amasya
“ without men”). Equally unsuccessful was his attempt to seize the
divine xvaranah on behalf of Aggra Mainyu (Ahriman) in a contest be­
tween the latter and Spanta Mainyu “ the Bounteous Spirit” .2 His
sacrifice to Arodvl Sürä takes place in Bawri, which in the Pahlavi
literature is generally rendered as Babylon, but which, in view of the
antiquity of the myth, must originally have been associated with an
eastern Iranian location.3 A trace of his eastern origin may be seen in a
tradition preserved in the Shäh-näma, according to which the house of
Mihräb in Kabul descended from Dahäk. His association with Babylon
can have taken place only when the eastern Iranian people came into
contact with Mesopotamia.
In later times Arabia, associated with marauding bands and noted for
its arid wastes, took the place of Babylon and Dahäk was called Täzl,
“ Arab”, Although the transfer is likely to have taken place after the
Muslim invasion as an expression of anti-Arab feeling, an earlier
replacement, prompted by the Arab raids in Sasanian times, notably
during the reigns of Shäpür II (4th century) and Hormazd IV (6th
century) cannot be ruled out. In the evolution of Iranian myths, Dahäk
takes his place among the figures of national history as a tyrant who
overthrows Jamshëd and rules the world as an agent of Evil for a
thousand years. In the religious tradition of the Pahlavi books, Dahäk
is an arch-demon and a sorcerer, who defeats the glorious Jamshëd
and continues to bring destruction to the world until he is smitten by
Frëdôn, who restores order and justice. Imprisoned in Mount Dema-
vand, the tyrant will finally be destroyed in the last millennium by
Karshäsp.4 In the Khwadäy-nämag, where tie was personified as a tyrant
1 Yasna 9.8; Yasht 14.40. 2 Yasht 19.45-52.
3 Cf. Nyberg, 292, 465, who translates it as “ beaver-land” ; Christensen, Dêmonoîogie,
21, n .i ; and Burrow, “ Proto-Indoaryans”, p. 138, n.30.
4 Bundahishn xxix. 9; xxxiii. 36; Dâdastàn i Dènig xxxvii. 97; Zand i Vahman Yasht ix. 22.

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 T H E P I S H D A D I A N D YN AS T Y

and king, he was also provided with a genealogy and made a descendant
of Täz, son of Fraväk, son of Siyämak.1 The Bundahishn makes his
mother a descendant of Ahriman, eight generations removed. A relic
of his serpentine form is found in the two snakes which grow on his
shoulders. According to Firdausi, his destructive acts against mankind
were mainly the result of the snakes’ need to feed on human brains.
The Shäh-näma"s detailed account of Dahäk seems to incorporate also a
good many popular stories, some of which, such as the story of his
parricide, must be of late origin.
Frëdôn (Av. Thraëtaona; Pers. Firëdün). Frëdôn belongs to Indo-
Iranian myth and is related to the Vedic figure Trita. His father Athwya
(Ved. Äptya, Mid. Pers. Asbiän, Pers. Abtln) was, according to Yasna
9. 6-8, the second to press the haoma plant and in reward was given
Thraëtaona as a son. The Vedas also know a Trita Äptya who, like
Frëdôn, slays a demon Visvampa, which resembles Aäi Dahäka in that
it also is serpent-bodied, three-headed and six-eyed.2 The chief achieve­
ment of Frëdôn is the overwhelming of Dahâk. Frëdôn sacrifices to a
number of deities and asks for victory over Dahäk. The following
passage3addressed to the yazad of reward, Asi, is typical:

To her did Thraëtaona, the heir to the valiant house of Athwya,

offer up a sacrifice in the four-cornered Varana. He begged of
her a boon, saying: “Grant me this favour, O great and good
Asi, that I may overcome Aii Dahäka, the three-mouthed,
the three-headed, the six-eyed, with a thousand ruses, that most
powerful, fiendish demon, wicked, who deceives the world, the
strongest demon that Ar)gra Mainyu created against the visible
world, to destroy the world of truth; and that I may carry away
his two beloved Saghavak and Amnavak, who are the fairest of
body for fecundity, and the most wonderful for the household.4

Here we may take note of the motif in Iranian myths and legends of
the killing of a dragon or serpent by a hero. The theme is common to
most mythologies. Zeus and Typhon, Marduk and Tiamat, Gilgamesh
and Khumbaba, Apollo and Python, Herakles and the Hydra, Thor and
Jörmungand are some of the better known examples. In Vedic India
the theme is represented by Indra’s killing of the serpent (Ved. ahi, Av.
1 Bmdahishn xxxv. 7; Tabari 1. 202—3; Hamza, 31—2.
2 See Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, 160. 3 Yasht 17.33-4.
4 Cf. Yashts 5.34; 9.143; 15.24.

427
 I R A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY

a%i) Vrtra and Trita’s slaying of Visvarüpa. In Iran the primal instances
are afforded by Thraëtaona and Aëi Dahäka, and Karasäspa and Azi
Sruvara. Other examples are seen in the “ Seven Stations ” of both
Rustam and Isfandiyär, in Ardashir’s slaying of Haftänbukht and in
popular legends attributed to many Iranian heroes. In folktales, hidden
treasures are often guarded by serpents or dragons, symbolizing
impediments and hostile forces.
The myth of the serpent Vrtra has produced a good deal of dis­
cussion among Indo-Iranianists.1In Vedic mythology the warrior god
Indra slays Vrtra and releases the waters which it had withheld. In Iran
the war god Varathraghna, the first part of whose name, vmthra,
corresponds to Vrtra, appears to be in many respects a counterpart of
Indra. Benveniste, however, argued that Vrtra/Varathra was a neuter
noun meaning “ resistance, blockage, hostility”2and that the notion of
a serpent was a later derivation from another epithet of Indra, vrtrahan,
“ resistance breaker, victorious,” 3and that the serpent Vrtra was alien
to Iran. Further he concluded that Varathraghna was the original Indo-
Iranian war god, and Indra a later legendary figure who inherited
Varathraghna’s features.4 This argument, however, has not found
universal acceptance,5 but attempts to prove that Vorathraghna in Iran
originally shared with Indra the myth of killing a serpent have not been
entirely successful either.6
The division of the world by Frëdôn among his three sons, Salm
(or Sarm),7 Tür (or Tüch8from *Turoc) and Ëraj, the founders of the
nations of the Khwanirah, is not referred to directly in the extant
Avesta, but the Dênkard mentions it in its summary of the lost Chihrdäd
Nask. Although the identification of the race of Salm (Av. Sairima)
with the people of Rüm is a late development, perhaps dating to
mid-Parthian times, the story itself must be considerably older. The
race of Salm must have referred originally to a hostile neighbouring
tribe of the Iranians in the east, who were possibly absorbed by either
1 See B. Geiger, Die Amefa Spdntas 47, 57#; H. Güntert, Der arische Weltkönig und Heiland
(Halle, 1923), 2off. Benveniste and Renou, Vrtra et Vr&ragna 106; Boyce,Hist. Zoroast. 1.64,
92ff, 283. 2 Benveniste and Renou, 6ff.
3 Cf. H. W. Bailey, Mithraic Studies 1. 18, who interprets vjt-ra as meaning “ the strong
one”. 4 Op. cit.y 178fr.
8 See Lommel, Der arische Kriegsgott, 46fr; Duchesne-Guillemin, Zoroastrey 43fr; J. de
Menasce, “ La promotion de Vahräm”, RHR cxxxm (1948), 5-18.
6 See Boyce, H ist. Zoroast. 1. 64, n. 279.
7 Tabari 1. 226; Salam or Sharam in Ihn Khurdädhbih, 15.
8 Tüj in Tabari 1. 226; Hamza, 33; Bïrünï, 102; Tüsh and Tüj in Ibn Khurdädhbih, 15;
Tüz in Tha‘älibi, 42ff; in Bundahishn, ed. Anklesaria, 211.12, etc., twc.

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 T H E P I S H D A D I A N DYNASTY

the Turanians or Iranians,1 and, in any event, did not find a prominent
place in the Iranian saga. Later its place was given to the western people
of Rüm in the same way that the Turanians were later identified with
the Turks.
In Islamic and Middle Persian sources Fredön is made a descendant
of Jamshëd generally by ten generations, the names of which are suffixed
by the wordgäv “ cow”.2A trace of this, which appears to have totemic
origins, is seen in Firdausi’s Birmäya, the cow which nourishes Fredön
while he is brought up in secret for fear of Dahäk.3 In the Pahlavi
literature, Fredön is pictured as a righteous king who is destined to
defeat Dahäk and to restore the legitimacy of kingship. The story of
Käva the Smith and his revolt against Dahäk, which was obviously
created to account for the name of the national banner, drafsh ï kävijän,
must have attached itself to the legend of Fredön in Sasanian times.
Karshäsp (Av. Karasäspa). The third figure to press haoma, according
to the Avesta,4was Thrita of the house of Säma. Comparable to Aescu­
lapius in classical mythology, Thrita is pictured as the first to introduce
medicine, to cure illness and to heal wounds received in battle. As a
reward Ahura Mazda gives him two sons, one Karasäspa (Karshäsp),
a mighty warrior, and the other Urvâxsaya, a healer, a holy man and a
law-giver. Urvâxsaya is killed by one Hitäspa and is duly avenged by
Karasäspa.5 The latter grows to be a Herculean figure and the most
celebrated warrior of Avestan legends. It is only in the later traditions,
and more particularly after Firdausi, that Rustam rises to dominate the
Iranian epic. Ksmsäspa is also one of the Immortals of the Zoroastrian
faith and plays a significant rôle in the final millennium as a helper of
the Sösyant. Whereas in other cases the information that the Avesta
provides is fragmentary at best, in the case of Kamsäspa the Avesta gives
us all the basic information that we have in the Pahlavi books.6 His
chief exploits are: the slaying of the golden-heeled monster Gandarowa,
after having sacrificed to Aradvl Sürä on the shores of lake Pisinai)h;7
the slaying of the venomous dragon Sruvara8 (lit. “ horned”); the
slaying of the nine sons of Pathana, the sons of Nivika, the sons of
1 See Marquart, Érânfahr, i j 5ff.
2 See A. Tafazzoli in E. Yarshater (ed.), Dänesb-näma 1. 9, for the names and the sources.
3 Sbäh-näma, 41C i Yasna 9.10; Vendidad xx. 1-2.
BYashts 15.28; 19.41.
6 See H. S. Nyberg “ La légende de Keresâspa” in J. D. C. Pavry (ed.), Oriental Studies in
Honour of C. E . Pavry (Oxford, 1933), 336#. 1 Yasht 5.37; cf. p. 416.
8 Yasna 9.11.
 IR A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY

Dästayäni, Hitäspa of the golden crown, Varasava of the house of

Dana, Pitaona, the mighty Arazö-samana, and the horny-handed
Snävidhka;1 and the taming of the vehement and destructive wind.2
Later Zoroastrian sources count among the victims of the hero a rain­
withholding bird Kamak, and a wolf Kapüd, which the Mênôg ï Khradz
calls also Pëhan (< Pathana ?). There can be little doubt that each
episode was amplified with details in the oral tradition. Some Avestan
passages,4 as well as some of the later renderings, show epic qualities.
Karasäspa’s main epithets in Avestan are naire.manah “ of manly mind”,
gadhavara “ mace carrying” and gaësu “ curly haired”.5 In later tradi­
tion naire.manah has been personified in the form of Nëram and Narë-
män, an ancestor of Rustam.
The Videvdäd ix. i seems to associate Karasäspa with the Vaëk^rata
region, generally assumed to refer to Gandhära, and the Bundahishn
xxix. 8, ii, relates that he lies in the plain of Pëshyànsî in Käbulistän,
overcome by Sleep, until the advent of the Söshyant, when he will be
awakened. According to the nth-century anonymous “ History of
Sistân”, the kingdom of Sistân was founded by Karshäsp.6
The Zoroastrian tradition about Karshäsp, however, is somewhat
ambiguous, since he is also indirectly associated with unholy deeds. The
summary of the Chihrdäd Nask,7whose 15th chapter dealt with Karshäsp,
refers to his disgrace: Ahura Mazda shows Zoroaster in a vision the
pitiable state into which the soul of Karshäsp had fallen on account of
the disrespect he had shown to Fire. The prophet intercedes on his
behalf and ensures that Fire will exempt Karshäsp from consignment to
hell. Another episode which sheds an unfavourable light on Karshäsp’s
career is related in the Videvdäd ix. 1; it mentions Karshäsp5s attraction
to a female demon (pairikä), Xnathaiti, whom Ahriman created in
Vaêkarata. In addition, in the Bundahishn xxix. 8, it is said that Säm
(i.e. Karshäsp, see below) was immortal, but when he scorned the
revelation of the Mazdayasnian religion, a Turk (i.e. a Turanian), Näin
by name, slew him with an arrow while he was asleep. Further, his
genealogy as given in the Bundahishn under the name of Säm,8as well as
one of the two genealogies given by Tabari,9 traces his ancestry to Tür
and therefore makes him a blood-relation of the Turanians. The second
genealogy given by Tabari, on the other hand, makes Karshäsp descend
1Yasht 19.41-4. 2 Chihrdäd N ask as summarized in Dênkard ix. 14.
3 xxvii. 50. 4 E,g. Yasht, 19.40, 44.
5 Yasna 9.9-10; Yasht 5.37. 6 Târikb-i Sistân, 3-4.
7 Dïnkard ix. 14. 8 xxxv. 32-3. 8 1. 532-3.

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 T H E P I S H D A D I A N D YN AS T Y

from Manüchihr. In another passage of the Dênkard which is repeated

in a riväjaty Karshäsp is counted together with Jamshëd and Frëdôn
and Kai Arish among those who received the good religion, but did not
accept it, because the demon (drug) of disobedience residing in them was
too strong.1 In the Yashts, at any event, Karshäsp assumes all his might
and brilliance and takes his place among the Zoroastrian Immortals.
Thus, when the farrah departed from Yima for the third time, Karshäsp
is said to have received it (Yasht 19. 38). Karshasp’s body, guarded by
99,999 fravasis of righteous men (Yasht 13. 61), is eventually resusci­
tated during the last millennium as a major helper of the Sösyant and as
the destroyer of Dahäk, whom he slays with his mace12 after a fierce
contest.
A possible explanation for this peculiar ambivalence towards Karshäsp
may be that Zoroaster in his high-minded concentration on Ahura
Mazda frowned upon this pagan hero, as also upon many pagan deities
who were vividly pictured in popular lore. But the legends concerning
Karshäsp - the product of a heroic age - continued nevertheless in
popularity, and by the time the Yashts were redacted it was seen fit to
restore him, like Yima, to his original status in a Zoroastrian guise. His
later association with the house of Zäl may then have strengthened the
baleful aspect of his legends in religious circles. On the other hand, it is
also possible that such legends, like many myths, did not always depict
their heroes or gods as beyond reproach, but included failures of deed
and judgement that a balanced picture of human predicaments would
warrant, and that such myths and legends continued to preserve the
conflicting qualities of the god or hero, even though this figure
received the sanction of a subsequent religious tradition. The appli­
cation of the structural theory of myth, as developed by Claude Lévi-
Strauss and his followers,3 to the interpretation of such myths and
legends, might provide an explanation for the frequent ups and downs,
paradoxes and contradictions that we find in the careers of some Iranian
heroes such as Jamshëd, Karshäsp and Siyävush. Thus Karshäsp’s
sleep may possibly be considered a mitigation of his damnation,
or Siyävush’s self-imposed exile, a mediation at one level between
1 See Molé, Culte, 522; cf. Jaihani in de Menasce, “ Le témoignage de Jayhâni”, 53.
3 Zattd-i Vabmatt Yasht ix. 20-1 ; Bundahishn xxxxiv. 3 5.
3 See “ Le Geste d’Asdiwal”, Annuaire de TÉ.P.H .É: Sciences Religieuses (Paris 1958-9);
Mythologiques 1, Le Cru et le Cuit (Paris, 1964), 9C, 20, 641F; The raw and the cooked (London,
1969), iff, 12, j6ff; G. S. Kirk, Myth: its meaning and function in ancient and other cultures
(Cambridge 1970), pp. 42fr.

431
 IR A N I A N NATIO N A L HISTORY

the polar extremes of his father’s wrath and his step-mother’s

embrace.
When the ancient epics were being arranged as historical accounts,
the status of Karshäsp and his chronology remained somewhat un­
certain. He is generally placed at the end of the Pishdadian dynasty and
associated with Zäb. The Bmdahishn does not call him a king, but
simply mentions his name after Kai Khusrau.1 The Dênkard2and the
Mênog ï Khradz list him among the kings, but, oddly enough, place him
between Kai Kaväd and Kävüs. The Islamic historians make him a
co-ruler with Zäb, or his minister and helper, or his successor/ or a
king under him.5 Tabari notes the variation in the tradition, but con­
cludes that he did not have kingship.6 This instability may indicate that
the cycle of his legends originally belonged to a separate oral tradition
and was never fully reconciled with the sequence of events in the central
national epic.
The Karshäsp of the Islamic sources has little resemblance to the
Avestan Ksrasâspa. Almost none of his ancient legends are mentioned.7
His life-story according to much later versions is the subject of the
Garshäsp-näma versified by Asad! in the n th century. Here he is made a
descendant, through several generations, of Jamshëd and the daughter
of the king of Zäbul, whom Jamshëd marries in exile.8 His many
exploits take him to India, several wondrous and bizarre islands, Rüm,
.North Africa, Türän and China. He fights a number of wars on behalf
of Dahäk, defeats the Faghfür of China, offers allegiance to Frëdôn and
sends his son Narëmân to the royal court with the message of his
successes in China, and dies after making Narëmân his successor. The
book contains a large number of stories of a popular character which
appear to be late concoctions.
In Islamic sources Rustam is made a descendant of Karshäsp through
generations which differ in number in the various accounts. Bïrünï, who
records an earlier version of this development, makes Karshäsp (Säm)
the father of Dastän (Zäl); but, in the Shäh-näma, his eponym Säm is
made into a separate hero, who appears under Frëdôn and Manüchihr
as a son of Nëram and as the father of Zäl. Thus Karasäspa, his clan
name (Säma) and his epithet (naire.manah) are made into three different
1 xxxv. 32-33. 2 vm . 13.12. 3 xxvii. 49-33.
4 Mas‘üdi, Tänbih, 90; Shäh-näma, 282. 5 Hamza, 35.
6 532- 3; cf* Tha'âlibï, 130; Bïrünï, Athär, 104; Mujmal, 4off.
7 But see Molé, “ Garshasp et les Sagsär ”, 128fT.
8 Ed. Yaghma Ï (Tehran, 193$)» Cf. Mujmal, 40—1; Shäh-näma, 3046fr. The suspected
spufiousness of this section of the Shäh-näma has no bearing on the point.

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 T H E P I S H D A D I A N DYNAS T Y

figures : Karshäsp, Säm (or Sahm) and Nëram (or Narëmân),1 all firmly
based in Sistân.12
The connection between Karshäsp and Rustam is problematic. Both
are Herculean figures related to Sistân. Since the similarities of their
exploits are more apparent than real (see below, p. 453), they must
belong to separate cycles of heroic stories. It is probable that the two
cycles belonged to two different peoples who settled in Sistän,3Karshäsp
pertaining to the more ancient settlers of Drangiana,4 and Rustam to
the later Saka tribes. If this should be the case, then making Karshäsp
an ancestor of Rustam at a later date would be readily understandable.
The gradual fading away of the legends of Karshäsp before the fresher
legends of the conquering Sakas would be understandable, too.
Manüchihr is mentioned in the Avesta only once (Yasht 13. 131). His
name(Av. Manusciöra, Mid. Pers. Manu(s)cihr) means “ from thé race
of Manu'5, and refers to the ancient mythical figure, Manu, son of
Vivasvant, who was regarded in India as the first man and father of the
human race.5 He has no place in Iranian tradition, where his rôle is
played by Yima, and later Gayömard. It appears, though, that we have a
derivative of his name in Manush (Yasht 19. 1), the name of a mountain
which is identified in the Bundahishn (ix. 3. 13) as belonging to the Alburz
chain and as the birthplace of Manüchihr. As a proper name, Manush
also occurs in a number of instances in Pahlavi books, notably in the
genealogies of Manüchihr6 and Luhräsp.7 In the Avesta, Manüchihr
is called Airyäva, “ helper of the Aryans55 (Av. Airya).8 Airya is also
the base for the name of Iran ( < Airyanam) as well as Ëraj ( < Erëc <
Airya + —ë of the oblique case + —c), It is evidently on this ground
that the Avesta traces Manüchihr’s descent from Ëraj.
Sources differ in characterizing the generations which intervene
between Manüchihr and Ëraj. They range from placing 13 generations
between them,9 to making Manüchihr an immediate son o f Ëraj.10But
it is clear that his lineage from Ëraj was through Ëraj’s daughter. A
1 See Christensen. Kayanides, 13off, for a comparative tabulation of Karshâsp’s genealogies.
2 See below, p. 454#, on the theory which considers Rustam’s legends a reshaping of
those of Karshäsp.
3 Marquart’s identification of the Thamanaeans of Arachosia (Herodotus h i . 117) as
descendants of eponymous Säma finds further support in this theory (Untersuchungen 11,
p. 176). 4 Contra, Boyce, H ist. Zoroast. 1. 101-2.
5 See Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, 138ff; Oldenburg, Die Religion des Vedas, 2S1.
6 Bundahishn xxxv. 13-15. 7 Ibid, xxxv. 34.
8 Bartholomae, 199. See Christensen, Études, 23, for other interpretations.
9 Mas‘üdï, Tanbih, 88; cf. Bundahishn xxxv. 13-15; Tabari 1. 430; Ibn al-Balkhi, 12.
10 Shàh-nâma, 94; Bîrünï, 104; Tabari 1. 432; Mas'üdï, Murüj 11. 117.

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 IR A N I A N NATIO N A L HISTORY

tradition quoted by Tabari r. 431 relates that Frëdôn married Ëraj’s

daughter as well as a succession of her female descendants, until
Manüchihr was born. This must have its explanation in the ancient
Iranian custom of agnatic marriage, the purpose of which was to secure
male successors to a deceased person without a male heir.
Although generally counted as a member of the Pishdadian dynasty,
Manüchihr in fact begins a new era of the national history. The world
is no longer ruled by a single king. A ferocious feud has started between
Iranians and Turanians, and Manüchihr must contend with a powerful
rival. That his reign was considered a turning point can be seen from
the division by some sources of the ancient Iranian kings into three
groups instead of two,1namely, the Pishdâdïs, who ended with Frëdôn;
the Ailânls (Airânîs) who began with Manüchihr, and the Kayânïs.
As in the case of Gayömard, Hôshang, Jamshëd, and Frëdôn, there
appears to be a certain “ primacy” about Manüchihr. He displays some
features of a primeval man which have become blurred in the context of
the national history.2 According to a tradition recorded by Mas‘üdï,3
“ he [Manüchihr] is like a tree [with its] branches for Iranian genea-
logy” ; and “ he has seven children, to whom are traced the majority of
Iranian tribes and their kings in their genealogies”. In his genealogy as
given in the Bmdahishn, we find that his ancestors consist of brother-
sister pairs, a feature found also in the case of Hôshang. In later tradi­
tions Manüchihr is credited with great wisdom and glory. These traits
are to be expected in a primeval man or king. In this light, the compar­
able position of Manu in Indian mythology takes on new relevance. We
may speculate that Manu, who must have been known to the Iranians
also in remote antiquity, gradually conceded his place in some Iranian
region to his “ son”, whose legends then spread to other regions.
Manüchihr’s chief achievement is avenging Ëraj, but as the national
historical tradition took shape, he was also made a contemporary of
Afräsiyäb, who after attacking and defeating Iran rules the country for
twelve years before a precarious peace is made between the two nations.
Successors of Manüchihr. Manüchihr’s defeat at the hand of Afräsiyäb
furnishes yet another instance of a great king who suffers collapse after
reaching the pinnacle of power and fame. There is considerable con­
fusion in our sources as to the identity of Manüchihr’s successor, with
1 Mas‘üdï, Tanbib, 88; Bïrünï, 102.
2 See A. Christensen, “ Reste von Manu-Legenden in der iranischen Sagenwelt” .
festschrift F, C. Andreas (Leipzig, 1916), 65fr. 3 Tanbib, 88.

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indications of some hesitant patchwork on the part of Sasanian histori­

ographers. Firdausi1 gives Manüchihr’s son Naudhar as his successor
and depicts him as an oppressive and greedy monarch who neglects the
advice of his father and causes great discontent among the nobles
and priesthood. A semblance of peace between Afräsiyäb and Manüchihr
is maintained for a while, but Naudhar’s accession affords Afräsiyäb an
opportune moment to strike and avenge the blood of Tür by killing
the new king. Mujmal al-Tawärikh assigns seven months of kingship to
Naudhar and mentions five years and twenty years as other reports.2
Naudhar is not mentioned directly in the Avesta, but Naotairya occurs
several times as an eponymous adjective.3 As the father of Tüs, one of
the Zoroastrian Immortals, and as the ancestor of the Kayanian kings,
Naudhar must have occupied a venerable position in early Iranian
legends. But his inclusion among the kings must have been a very late
tradition, not universally followed, as indeed neither Tabari, Hamza,
Mas'üdî, Bïrünî, nor the Pahlavi sources know him as a king. His king-
ship must have been invented in the sources of Firdausi to provide a
framework for the initial wars of Afräsiyäb against Iran and for the
exploits of Kârën and Zäl against some of Afräsiyäb’s warriors.
The successor of Manüchihr, according to most sources,4 was Zäb
(Av. Uzava, Mid. Pers. Uzäv, in Arabic sources, Zaww), son of
Tahmäsp (Av. Tumäspa), who is mentioned in the Avesta only once
(Yasht 13. 131), after Thraëtaona and before Manuscithra. The
Dênkard vin. 13. 11, on the other hand, in its summary of the Cbihrdäd
Nask, mentions Zäb as a son of Tahmäsp and a king of Iran between
Afräsiyäb and Kai Kaväd. Elsewhere (vu. 1.31) the Dênkard mentions
Zäb as a descendant of Manüchihr. Therefore we must conclude that
this tradition, which is also followed in the Bundahishn5 and by Hamza,6
is not recent but dates at least from the early Parthian period. There is,
however, considerable disagreement and confusion among the sources
on Zäb’s descent, the number of his regnal years, and the nature of his
association with Karshäsp. Tabari quotes several traditions about Zäb’s
lineage: in one he is a grandson of Manüchihr7 and in another he is
separated from Naudhar by ten generations.8 A story mentioned by
Tabari about the flight of Zäb’s father to Türän and his marriage to a
descendant of Salm must have been modelled on the legend of Siyävush.
1 Pp. 245fr. * P. 43. 8 Yashts 5.76; 13.102; 17.55-6.
4 See Mas'üdï, Murüi 11. 117; Tabari 1. 529fr; Hamza, 25; Tha'alibl, 130-7; Bïrünî, 218,
224. 6 xxxiii, 6. 8 Pp. 34-5.
7 i. 531. 8 i. 529-30; cf. Ibn al-Balkhï, 13; and Mas'üdï, Murüj 11. 118.
 I R A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY

Despite the relative antiquity of his account and his reported defeat
of Afräsiyäb, Zäb remains a rather colourless and unexciting figure. He
serves mainly to fill a gap between Manüchihr and Kai Kaväd. Since
Zäb is mentioned in Yasht 13 before Manüchihr, it is to be concluded
that in early Zoroastrian times his place, like that of Karshäsp, had not
yet been fixed in the hierarchy of national heroes, and only later, possibly
in Parthian times, was he placed at the tail-end of the Pishdadian kings.
T H E K A Y A NI A N ERA

With the Kayanians, we enter the second major era of national history.
Whereas earlier kings are often of a mythical nature, and only artificially
related by the medieval genealogies, the Kayanian kings from Kai
Kaväd to Kai Khusrau form a coherent group which exhibits dynastic
features. Although their legends abound in mythical details and
fantastic episodes, it is generally held that there must be a basis in
the ancient history of the Avestan people for the extant account of
them. Therefore it is thought that with the Kayanians we pass from
chiefly mythical to legendary history. Christensen has argued vigorously
for the historicity of the Kayanians in his standard monograph on the
subject1and his views have found wide acceptance.
The name of the dynasty, Kayän (< Kavyän), is the plural of kai
(Av. kavt)y the title of the princes of this House. In Middle Persian and
Persian, kai has come to mean “ king”, with the adjective kayärn
assuming the meaning of “ royal ” or “ regal ”, but the uses of kavi in
the Avesta present some problems. In the Vedas, kavi meant a seer, a
sage, a composer of hymns, who could produce kävya, mantic utterances,
particularly when stimulated by drinking soma.2 In the Gäthäs, the
kavis appear to be the leaders of the community3of daëva-worshippers
who refused to accept the teaching of Zoroaster. The prophet talks of
them and of the karpans and usigs, members of the priestly class, as his
enemies and detractors. But King Vishtäspa, the prophet’s supporter,
is also called a kavi in the Gäthäs. In Middle Iranian Manichaean writ­
ings, kav is used in the sense of “ giant”.4 As used in the Gäthäs the
term, which implies some form of military leadership, may point to
the rise of a class of warrior princes from a class which combined
spiritual and temporal powers as a result of the spread of heroic
1 Kayanides, 27ft.
2 Sec L.Renou, “ Études védiques” , J A 1953, 180-3; J. Brough, “ Soma and Amanita
muscaria”, BSO AS xxxiv (1971), 339. 3 Cf. Christensen, Kayanides, 9.
4 Henning, BSO AS x n (1948), 5$£.
 TH E KAYANIAN ERA

conditions among the Avestan tribes. Gershevitch, however, has sought

to solve the contradiction in the Avestan usage of kavi by removing the
meaning of “ prince, ruler” and postulating that the Iranian kavis were,
like their Indian counterparts, composers of hymns to various gods.
One kavi family, that of the Kayanians, rose to temporal power and
“ used the professional description kavi as its personal dynastic sur­
name”.1 Zarathustra, in addressing his protector as kavi Vistäspa,
would not have associated the king’s dynastic name with the class name
of the priestly hymn-writers, for the dynastic name, according to
Gershevitch, affected the later semantic developments of kavi, and its
original meaning eventually fell into disuse. This attractive theory, how­
ever, requires a reinterpretation of the Gathic passages where kavi has
been thought to occur with the implication of rulership.2
Although in post-Avestan tradition the Kayanians number fourteen,
it is clear from the Avesta that the first eight form a distinct group and
belong to a pre-Avestan tradition. These eight, according to the Zamyäd
Yasht, 70-2, were all in possession of the royal farrah and were all
heroic, righteous and fearless. They also figure among the heroes whose
fravashis are commemorated in the Farvardin Yasht, 132. They are
enumerated in the Zamyäd Yasht, 71, as follows: Kavi Kaväta, Kavi
Aipi.vaghu, Kavi Usadhan (Usan in Yashts 5.45 and 14.39), Kavi
Arsan, Kavi Pisinagh, Kavi Byarsan, Kavi Syävarsan and Kavi Haos-
ravah. Only Kavi Kaväta (Kai Kaväd), Kavi Usan (Kävüs), and Kavi
Haosravah (Kai Khusrau) are recognized in post-Avestan tradition as
kings. Others appear mostly in genealogies and have left but a dim
memory of themselves.
The second phase of the Kayanian rule consists of the reign of Luhräsp
and Gushtäsp and includes the holy wars of the Zoroastrians and the
exploits of Isfandiyär. This phase must be considered an independent
cycle. It pictures a different environment and different personae.
Luhräsp and Gushtäsp, their chief antagonist, Arjäsp, and Gushtäsp’s
trusted adviser and vizier, Jämäsp, all have names ending with Av. asp a
“ horse”, which must refer to a chief element in the culture and the
animal husbandry of their respective tribes. The tenuous connection
between Luhräsp and the last of the original Kayanian line Kai Khusrau
has all the marks of artificiality and indicates a gap, the length of which
1 Gershevitch, Avestan Hymn, p. 185.
2 E.g., Yasna 32.14. Cf. the latest translation in Insler, Gäthäs, 49, n. 16. T. Burrow
considers Kavi a title used by Indo-Aryans in Iran, with whom Vistäspa, who had also
adopted this title, fought; “ Proto-Indoaryans”, pp. 131-2.

437
 IR A N I A N NA T I O N A L HISTORY

is hard to determine. It is not improbable that the house of Gushtasp’s

claim of descent from early Kayanians is similar to the claim of the
Parthians and Sasanians, much later, to late Kayanian descent.
The third phase of the Kayanian rule from Bahman to Därä is again
marked by new and distinctive features which set it apart from the
second phase and bring it into historical times. Although the reality of
Vishtäspa’s existence and the chief events of his career cannot be seriously
doubted, historical facts about the other Kayanians, from Kai Kaväd to
Kai Khusrau, are more elusive. The identification of the Kayanian and
Achaemenian kings, however, which was advocated by some scholars,
notably J. Hertel,1has no basis in reality,2as was soundly demonstrated
by Christensen.3
The geographical milieu of the Kayanians. Avestan references to the
Kayanian kings leave no doubt that it is to eastern Iran, namely the
region comprising Chorasmia, Sogdiana, Margiana, Bactria, Herat and
the basin of the river Helmand that we should look for the cradle of
the Iranian historical tradition. Western and southern Iran are con­
spicuously absent from this tradition. No mention of Media or Persia
occurs in the Avesta. The only exception is Rhages (Rayy), which as
the most north-easterly large city of Media appears in two late Avestan
passages.4 On the other hand, the Avesta is familiar with many eastern
Iranian place names. The first chapter of the l^endldäd, which treats of
the eighteen perfect lands created by Ahura Mazda and the plagues
which Ahriman inflicted upon each, has the following seven lands at the
head of the list: Airyana Vaëja (thought to be Chorasmia), Sughdh
(Sogdiana), Möuru (Margiana), Bâxdhï (Balkh, Bactria), Nisäya (Nisä),
Haröyu (Herat), Vaëkarata (Gandhära).5 Broadly, these are held to be
the lands of the Avestan people. Since they form an extensive area, it
would be more appropriate to say that these are the lands which the
Avestan people knew or were associated with intimately.
The existence of an eastern Iranian empire, parallel with or prior to
that of the Medians, finds reflections in Greek sources, as W. B. Henning
pointed out in his lucid exposition of the geographical location of the
Avestan people.6 According to the story of the River Akes, which
1 Achaemmiden und Kayaniden (Leipzig, 1924), 74#.
2 Henning, "Zoroaster, 29. 3 Kayanides, 3fr.
4 See Henning, Zoroaster, 43. But cf. Gershevitch, JN E S xxm (1964), pp. 36-7, who
considers Ragha of the Avesta to have been in the east, and that the Median Ragä was
named after it.
5 See S. Levi, “ Notes indiennes” / ^ ccvi (1925), 65fr; H. W. Bailey, “ Hvatanica IV ” ,
BSO AS x (1942), 917, n. i. See also below, pp. 446-7. 6 Zoroaster, 42-3.

438
 T H E KAYANIAN ERA

Herodotus quotes (iii . 117), presumably from Hecataios, the Choras-

mians were in ancient days masters of the valley of the Akes (today’s
Harl Rüd and its continuation, Tejen)1and they exercised some measure
of suzerainty over the Hyrcanians, the Parthians, the Sarangians of
Sïstan, and the Thamanaeans2of Arachosia. “ Both Marv and Herat were
then occupied by the Khwarezmians whom Hecataios, in one of the few
fragments of his work that has come down to us, places to the east of
the Parthians ”.3When the Chorasmian state4was overthrown by Cyrus,
the southern provinces were absorbed into the Persian empire, and the
Chorasmians withdrew to the more northerly regions around the lower
course of the Oxus, where they have been known to live ever since.
Henning adduces some further support for the probable identification
of the original home of the Avestan people, Airyana Vaêja, with Chor-
asmia by drawing attention to some similarities between the language
of the Gäthäs and Khwarazmian.5
Naturally there arises the question that if indeed Cyrus ended the
Chorasmian confederation how could one explain the fact that he does
not appear in the Avesta as a villain or otherwise, and that all we hear
about is the feud with the Turanians?
The present writer is of the opinion that this question has not found
a truly satisfactory answer and is inclined to believe that the Zoroastrian
tradition had evolved and taken shape prior to the rise of Cyrus, so that
the advent of the Achaemenians was neither reflected in it nor did it
affect that tradition.
Addressing himself to the same question, Christensen, however,
argues6 that actually the Chorasmian state toward the close of the 7th
century b . c . had been weakened by internal dissent and parochial
conflicts ; that the early followers of the prophet were far more deeply
involved in the dispute with their immediate neighbours than with a
foreign power from the south; and that Cyrus’s lenient religious policy,
far from hurting the Zoroastrian believers, facilitated their prosely­
tizing ; therefore there was no cause to bear any grudge against him. It
is argued, moreover, that once the Avestan people became the subjects
of the Achaemenian empire, it was hardly expedient or in the interest of
the missionary activities of the Zoroastrians to treat the Achaemenians
with disrespect. I find the argument hardly convincing.
If we accept Chorasmia as the homeland of the Avestan people, we
1 Identification made by Marquait; see his Wehrot und Arango 3#; Ermlabr, 155.
2 See p. 433, n. 3 above. 3 Henning, op. cit.y 42.

4 A "confederacy” rather than a state or empire. Cf. ch. 6.

5 Henning, op. cit. 44-5. 5 Kayanides, 34.

439
 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

must still bear in mind that the majority of the geographical names in
the more ancient parts of the Avesta, such as the River Varjhu Daiti,
Lake Caecasta, Mount Hara, Lake Frazdänu, defy identification, and
although a number of them are equated in later Pahlavi literature with
certain eastern and north-eastern locations, the accuracy of such equa­
tions remains in doubt. Thus, although we may be fairly certain of the
geographical milieu of the Kayanian cycle in a general way, identifying
the exact location or date of the people whose energy and talent gave
birth to the earliest manifestations of the Iranian culture is more difficult
to determine. The springtime of this culture, shrouded in remote
antiquity and reflected only in the earliest myths and legends of the
Iranian people, may have passed in a relatively small region, whose
toponymy survived as a tradition and was later applied to other regions
which the Iranians occupied in their migrations. In the same way that
the Sasanians tended to read western and southern localities into the
eastern epic cycles, the traditional identification of some of the vague
Avestan geographical references with known eastern nomenclature
may owe something to Parthian influence. The occurrence in the recently
found Elamite Persepolis tablets of some mythical and legendary names,
which had previously been known only from the eastern epic tradition,
raises the possibility that in the early centuries of the second millennium
B.c., a pan-Iranian fund of myths and legends took shape before the
eastern and western Iranians separated (see p. 388 above.)

T H E H O U S E OF A F R Ä S I Y Ä B

In the national history the legends of the early Kayanians are in­
extricably interwoven with those of the house of Afräsiyäb, the Turanian
hero whose feud with Iran dominates the Kayanian epic cycle. Afräsiyäb
(Av. Fraijrasyan; Mid. Pers. Fräsyäv, Fräsyäk, etc.; Tabari: Firäsyät;
Dinawari: Faräsiyäb) is one of the most prominent figures of the
national epic. In Pahlavi and Islamic sources Afräsiyäb’s descent .is
traced to Tür: the Shäh-näma (248), giving the shortest genealogy,
makes him the great-grandson of Tür; the Bundahishn (xxxv. 17) has
six generations and Mas£üdi (Murüj 11. 117) has seven generations
between the two. All agree on his father’s name, Pashang. Although
Afräsiyäb is generally depicted as an arch-enemy of Iran and an agent of
Ahriman, he is not seen as a monster incarnate, as is Dahäk. In Yasht
19.93 he is even said to have possessed the royal farrah when he killed
the wicked Zainigav, a follower of the Lie. This foe, the Bundahishn
(xxxiii. 9) tells us, had seized the Iranian throne and the Iranians sought
440
 T H E H O US E OF AF R ÄS I YÄ B

Afräsiyäb’s help against him. The A ogamadaecä (60-1) describes the

iron-walled underground palace which Afräsiyäb had built as one
thousand times the height of a man and lighted by stars, sun and
moon, all fashioned by the king himself. He is said to have enjoyed
the best of life in this palace, which is called Hankana in the Avesta
(Pers. Hang).1
In post-Avestan times Afräsiyäb takes his place in the historical
tradition as the arch-enemy of Iran and of Iranian kings. He makes his
appearance in the reign of Manüchihr, whom he defeats, and continues
as a powerful enemy of Iranshahr during the reign of the next four
kings. He seems to live forever. In fact, he represents almost the totality
of Turanian opposition to Iran and the calamities which befall the
country during its long feud with Turan. Although a new phase of this
struggle opens with Gushtäsp and his Turanian adversary, Arjäsp, its
events belong to a new era, that of the Zoroastrian epic cycles. When
Rustam was introduced into the national tradition, he became the main
defender of Iran against the forays of the Turanian enemy. His
victories against Afräsiyäb, however, are generally inconclusive; and
it remains for Gëv and Kai Khusrau, as recorded in the Shäh-näma^ to
bring Afräsiyäb to his end.
In the Zamyäd Yasht (56-64) we read that his attempt to capture
the royal farrah of the Aryan race failed; and the Äbän Yasht (41-3)
informs us that his sacrifice to Aradvi Sürä for the same purpose was
unsuccessful. On the contrary, Kai Khusrau’s wish to slay Afräsiyäb
and avenge the murder of his father was granted.2 Kai Khusrau is
helped to achieve this end by the yazad Haoma, who chains Afräsiyäb
and drags him to the shores of Lake Caëcasta so that Kai Khusrau can
take his life (Yasht 9. 17-18). In Yasna 11.7 we read that Haoma fettered
Afräsiyäb, who had taken refuge behind his iron walls. In the Shäh-
näma, 3we find the yazad Haoma transformed into a holy man, Hörn,
who at the end assists Kai Khusrau to capture the fugitive Afräsiyäb
from the waters of Khanjast (a corruption of Caëcasta). In the post-
Avestan traditions many of the originally north-eastern localities are
transferred to the north-west; Afräsiyäb takes shelter in a mountain-
cave near a lake in Äzarbäijän, apparently Lake Urmïya (Caëcasta).4
1 Yasna 11.7; Yasht 5.41-3; cf. Aogsmadaecä, 60-1.
2 Yashts 9.21-23; 19.77. 3 -P* I 3®^*
4 For the identification of Caëcasta with a lake in Äzarbäijän, and with Lake Urmïya, see
Shäh-näma, 1386,1391,1397; Mustaufî, Târikh-i Gu^jäa, 94-5 ; îd., Nu^hat al-Qulüb. 80-5 ;cf.
Darmesteter, Le Zend Avesta, 112, 115 ; Pour-e Davud, Khurda Avesta, 132-3 ; Id., Farhang-i
Irân-i Bästan, 252; V. Minorsky in Encyclopaedia of Islam, ist ed. iv., p. 1037.

441
 IR A N I A N NATI ONAL HISTORY

In the Avesta, the gravest sin of Afräsiyäb is participation in the slay­

ing of Siyävush,1which receives ample elaboration in later literature. A
wicked king, Afräsiyäb is depicted as an agent of desolation and ruin.
During his reign, the rivers dry up and the trees wither and a great
many people perish. In the Bundahishn (xxxiii. 6) we read that he with­
held rain from Iran; in contrast, according to the Dênkard,2 Zäb, after
defeating Afräsiyäb, restored prosperity to Iran by increasing the many
streams and cultivated lands of Iran. In view of Afräsiyäb’s frequent
association with drought and destruction, it may be speculated that his
legends absorbed some features of an adverse deity associated with the
inhibiting of rain. In this respect it is significant that according to a
tradition preserved in Tabari,3 the Festival of the Waters, namely the
day Äbän of the month Äbän, which constituted the third most
important Iranian festival, commemorated the victory of Zäb over
Afräsiyäb. A further confirmation of Afräsiyäb’s association with
drought may be seen in his slaying of Siyävush, who shows aspects of a
vegetation god (see below, p. 450-1).
Just as the Iranian kings are surrounded by able warriors, so too is
Afräsiyäb. A large number of Turanian heroes are mentioned in the
Shäh-näma, mostly as counterparts to Iranian warriors in single combat,
but also as generals of the Turanian army. Chief among these are close
relatives of Afräsiyäb. One, Aghrërath, achieves renown through his
pro-Iranian sympathies. The other, Garsëvaz, becomes notorious for
plotting the murder of Siyävush. Aghrërath actually figures among the
righteous dead of the Zoroastrians, for his fravasi is commemorated in
the Farvardin Yasht (131), where he is placed between Zäb and
Manüchihr. His death by the order of Afräsiyäb is avenged by Kai
Khusrau.4In Pahlavi literature he is given as a brother of Afräsiyäb.5 He
is an Immortal and is called Göpat-shäh according to the Bundahishn
(xxix. 6);6 but according to another passage (xxxv. 23-5) he was
granted a son with this title. The Dädastän I Dënlg (xc. 5) does not
identify Göpat-shäh with Aghrërath but mentions the former among the
Immortals as the ruler of the land of “ Göpat”, which is described as
co-terminous with Ërân Vëj. On the other hand, the Bundahishn (xxix. 6)
places him in the land of Sakistän and the Mënng ï Khrad7places him in
Ërân Vëj. Göpat-shäh probably referred originally to the ruler of Gava
1 Yashts 5:50; 15:30-3; 17:41-2. 2 vu. i .31; see also Bïrünî, 218.6.
a i, p. 531. 4 Yasht 9.18-22. s Bundahishn xxxv. 17.
R Cf. Zand i Vahrnan Yasht iii. 2 ; and Dädastän i Dênig xc. 4.
7 xliii. 35; lxi. 31.
442
 T H E H O U S E OF AF R ÄS I YÄ B

(Sogdiana), but was later understood to be a minotaur1{göygav “ bull,

cattle ”), possibly under the influence of Babylonian legends2 or sculp­
tures representing fantastic figures.3 K. V. Trever saw a rendering of
Göpat-shäh in the motif of the human-headed bull found on some
Sasanian seals.4
Garsëvaz is mentioned in the Avesta (Yasht 19.77) as a foe of Iran
who was killed by Kai Khusrau in revenge for the murder of Siyävush.
Although the Avesta does not refer to Garsëvaz as a brother of Afrä­
siyäb, the Bmdahishn (xxxv. 17) presents him as such and as a son of
Pashang. He is among the chief villains of the national history, and
Firdausi (Shäh-nämä, 1394ff.) recounts at length both his intrigues against
Siyävush and Kai Khusrau’s pitiless revenge on him.
The most distinguished warriors of Afräsiyäb’s clan, however, are
Vësa, Afräsiyäb’s uncle, and Vesa’s sons. In Yasht 5.57-9 xs said that
the sons of Vësa sacrificed to Aradvi Sürä and asked for victory over
Tus and for power to destroy the Iranians. But it was Tüs’s desire to
overwhelm the sons of Vësa and to devastate the Turanian lands,
a desire granted by the yazads (Yasht 5.54-5). In the Shäh-näma it is
the house of Gödarz in particular which is pitted against the house of
Vësa. Of Vësa’s sons, Firdausi mentions Hömän, who was killed by
Bëèan ; Pilsam,5killed by Rustam ; and Plrän, slain by Gödarz. Of these,
Pirän is by far the most prominent. A valiant warrior and a skilful
general, he shows noble traits also. It is Plrän who helps Siyävush to
take refuge with Afräsiyäb, and it is he who saves the life of Kai
Khusrau and his mother after Siyävush’s murder. Since Pirän is caught
between loyalty to his king and sympathy for Siyävush and his son, his
end is not without tragic overtones. The mood is eloquently created in
Kai Khusrau’s tearful oration over Pïrân’s corpse after his death in
battle.6 Firdausi’s somewhat ambivalent treatment of him is already
adumbrated in passages in the Yashts (see above) which refer to “ the
valiant sons of the house of Vësa”.
1 MënôgiKbrad lxii. 32-3.
2 See J. M. Unvala, “ Gopatshah”, BSOS v (1929), 505-6.
8 Christensen, L.es Kayanides, 56; Bivar, Western Asiatic Seals, 27.
4 “ Gopatshakh-pastykh-tsar ”, Trudy otdela vostoka gosudarstvennogo ermita^ha 11 (1940),
pp. 71-85. 5 Bmdahishn xxxv. 18 records “ San” instead.
6 Shäh-näma, 1264-5; cf. Islâmï Nadüshan, Zindagi va marg-i pahlavänän (Tehran, 1348/
1969), 250fr.

443
 IRANIAN NATIONAL HISTORY

T H E FIR ST KAYANIAN PE RI OD

Kai Kaväd. According to all the sources, Kai Kaväd is the founder of
the Kayanian dynasty. The divergences among his genealogies1 in
Pahlavi and Islamic sources, which range from making him a son of
Zäb to making him a commoner, are typical of founders of dynasties and
only show that his connection with the earlier kings is forced. The
Bundahishn (xxxv. 28) tells us that he was abandoned in a basket and
found by Zäb, who adopted him as his own son. This familiar incident
implies the assumption of a noble lineage, which in Islamic sources
is explicitly traced in various ways through Zäb to Naudhar and
Manüchihr. According to the Shäh-näma, Kai Kaväd was sought
and found in the Alburz mountains, after it was decided that Tüs
and Gustahm, the surviving sons of Naudhar, were not graced with the
royal farrah and, thus, were not fit to rule. Tabari2places Kai Kaväd’s
residence at the Irano-Turanian border, near the River Balkh.
The Avesta does not specify the family relationships among the early
Kayanians, but in the Pahlavi sources Kai Kaväd is followed by his son
Kai Apiveh, who fathers Kai Arish, Kai Byarsh (Kai Armin in the
Shäh-näma), Kai Pisinang or Kai Pisin (Kai Pashin in the Shäh-näma ;
cf. Afshïn, the title of the kings of Ushrüsana) and Kai Us (Kävüs).3
Except for the last, all these are figures of little significance, as witnessed
by the frequent corruption of their names in Islamic sources. The
Shäh-näma even omits Kai Apivèh and attributes his four sons direcdy
to Kai Kaväd.4 Whatever information the Parthian and early Sasanian
traditions may have retained about these figures is now lost.
Kävüs. The figure of Kävüs, on the other hand, is prominent, colour­
ful and complex. His name is recorded in the Avesta in two forms:
Usadhan and Usan.5 The account of his career is laden with mythical
or fantastic incidents. His apparent counterpart in Indie mythology,
Kävya Usanas, is a Vedic figure associated with Indra and twice called
kavi (sage). It is said in the Rig-Veda^ that Usanas fashioned for Indra
the thunderbolt that slew the serpent Vrtra, gave Agni (Fire) to Manu
and established Agni as Manu’s sacrificer.7 None of these features,
1 See Justi, Namenbuch, 159.
2 i. 535; cf. Hamza, 35, and Tha'âlibï, 153, who place Kai Kävüs’s residence in Balkh.
8 See the Bundahishn xxxv. 29-30, 34. 4 P. 314.
5 See Bartholomae, 405, 406, and Justi, Namenbuch, 334.
fi i. 121.12; Vendidad, 34.2.
7 See R. Pischel and K. F. Geldner, Vedische Studien n (Stuttgart, 1897), 166, and
Macdonell, Vedic Mythology, 96, 147.
444
 FIRST KAYANIAN PERIOD

however, is met in the Iranian tradition, although Kävüs’s ascent into

the sky and his subsequent fall are echoed in a similar myth attributed to
Usanas’ step-son.1 The basis for the association of the two is chiefly
confined to similarity in name; if we are led to dissociate them, it is
particularly because the Kayanians are by common consent products of
Iranian development in the post-Indo-Iranian period, even though it
happens that among the Kayanians only the two who seem to have a
Vedic counterpart, namely Kävüs and Kai Khusrau, receive in the
Avesta a treatment similar to that accorded to the mythical Pishdadian
figures.
Kavi Usan possesses superhuman power (Yasht 14.39). sacrifices
to Aradvi Sürä, asking for victory over men and demons and for power
to become the greatest ruler of countries (Yasht 5.45-6). From the
summary of the Südgar Nask given in the Dênkard (ix. 22.4-12) it is
evident that the chief features of Kävüs’s legends as known from later
sources had already been recorded in the more recent parts of the
Avesta. In the summary in the Dênkard are mentioned: his sovereignty
over the seven climes ; his domination of the demons ; and his building
of seven palaces - one of gold, two of silver, two of steel and two of
crystal (âbgênagïn) - on top of the Alburz mountain, wherein all who
entered were rejuvenated.2 Also included are his subduing of the
demons of Mäzandarän; his deception by the Demon Wrath; his
ambitious challenge to the yazads by his abortive attempt to ascend the
skies3with the help of demons; his disgrace and fall; the withdrawal of
the farrah from him; and his becoming mortal. His career as related
in the Südgar Nask is particularly reminiscent of that of Yima. According
to the Bundahishn (xxxii. 11) a spring in Kävüs’ dwelling imparted eternal
life, and the Dênkard (ibid.) says that entering one of his palaces turned
old men into 15-year-old youths.
Of the two disastrous expeditions which are attributed to Kävüs’
reign in the Shäh-näma, the one to Mäzandarän apparently reflects the
memory of an unsuccessful campaign by the Iranians in a neighbouring
country. The one to Hämävarän4must echo a similar memory; in late
Sasanian times the location was taken for Himyar (Yemen), which was
counted among the regions of Nëmrôz, to the south. Whether the story
1 Spiegel, Era«. Alterth. 1. 441. 2 Cf. Bundahishn xxxii. 11.
3 Cf. Aogsmadaêcâ, 6.
4 See Darmesteter, Études iraniennes 11. 22iff; Markwart, Ëransahr, 26, n. 1; Noldeke,
Nationalepos p. 49, n. 1; Christensen, Kayanides, n o , n. 4; Monchi-zadeh, pp. 74ft, 80-91,
144-5 for discussion of this name.

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 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

is a duplication of the Mäzandarän campaign,1 the original form of the

Mäzandarän expedition,2 or whether it mirrors a lost campaign in
another region, it serves, like the first, to underscore the rashness of
Kävüs and the fact that his actions were not always favoured or directed
by God. This conclusion fits well with some ungodly aspects of his
character, which led to the removal of the farrah from him.
The original location of the land that the Iranians called Mäzandarän
as well as the meaning of the name is somewhat problematic. It was
applied originally to a hostile land of different cultic beliefs known to
the Iranians in their legendary period. Its use as an appellation for
Tabaristän is fairly late3 and probably dates from late Sasanian times.4
Early Islamic geographers do not mention it. That the name Mäzan­
darän, which literally appears to mean “ the gate or the valley of the
giants,”5 was somewhat ambiguous in terms of its location, is indicated
by the fact that it was vaguely applied also to some western regions,
including Syria and Yemen.6
D. Monchi-zadeh has argued7that the Mäzandarän which figures in
the national epic refers in fact to an eastern region in the vicinity of India
or within its borders. As his chief argument he points out that the name
of the demons that Rustam defeats during his rescue mission to Mäzan­
darän, namely Arzhang, Dïv-i Safïd, Sanja, Pülâd-i Ghandï (which the
author amends to Nöla and Ghandl) and Bid, are practically all taken
from the names of Pändava kings of India or their dignitaries as
mentioned in the Mahdbhdrata.
If indeed the expeditions of Kävüs to Mäzandarän and Hämävarän
belong to his old legends, it only stands to reason that the scene of
events should be sought in the east and that the identifications with
Tabaristän and Himyar be considered late. And if they developed out
of Rustam’s legends, again the Saka origin of Rustam’s saga favours the
seeking of both Mäzandarän and Hämävarän in the regions of Afghan­
istan and north-west Pakistan, where the Saka tribes made repeated
inroads. The assignment of an eastern region - probably in Afghan or
North-West Frontier regions - to the original Mazainya country is
1 Spiegel, E r an. Alterih. i. 592; Nöldeke, Nationalepos, 30.
2 Cf. Monchi-zadeh, p. 145.
3 See Le Strange, The Eands of the Eastern Caliphate, pp. 368-9; V. Minorsky in Encyclo­
paedia of Islanty ist. ed., h i , p. 424.
4 Monchi-zadeh, pp. 145fr.
5 From Av. mazainya-, Mid. Pers. mayan, “ giant, monster, gigantic” ; see W. B. Henning,
“ The Book of the Giants”, BSO AS xi (1943)» P* 54-
M. Qazvïnï, “ Muqaddama-yi qadlm-i Shäh-näma”, Bist Maqäla 11, 32-6; Gardïzï,
pp. 9-10; apud Monchi-zadeh, pp. 69fr. 7 Pp. Ö2ff, 142fr.

446
 FIRST KAYANIAN PERIOD

strengthened by W. B. Henning’s proposal1 to identify Varana (which

occurs in the list of countries in Vendîdâd and is often associated with
Mäzandarän) with Indian Varnu (Buner, north of Peshawar?). This
view also fits well with T. Burrow’s opinion that there were clashes and
battles, both physical and religious, between Iranians and the future
Indo-Aryans while some of the latter were still in Iran.2 One might
assume that later, when Mäzandarän was identified with Tabaristän, a
number of events related to Dahäk, Fredön, Manüchihr, Rustam and
others were transferred to the latter region.
The story of Kai Kävüs falling in love with Südäba (Su‘dä in most
Arabic sources), the daughter of the king of Yemen, has all the features
of a folk romance and represents another case of transferring the scene
of events from the east to the west.
Hildegard Lewy has argued3that it is the legends of Nabu-na’id, who
was defeated by Cyrus, which are the basis of the cycle of legends of
Kävüs. Nabu-na’id, according to Lewy, was particularly interested in
the cult of the moon, the sun and other stellar deities. Under the influ­
ence of the Arameans, he chose as his chief deity Sin, the moon-god. He
incurred the antagonism of the Babylonian priesthood, was considered
insane by some of his opponents, worked out his own apotheosis and
secured for himself a throne in the vault of the heavens, following the
ancient Aramean custom of deifying their kings. Thus, alienating the
opposing religious faction, he appeared to challenge the gods. The
legends developing from his career were subsequently transferred to
Cyrus’ son Cambyses, whose name was pronounced by the Arameans
as Käbüs or Qäbüs, and whose harsh treatment of the Babylonians
exonerated the memory of Nabu-na’id. Later, when Baläsh I, the
Parthian king, ordered the collection of various religious and historic
traditions, the legends of Nabu-na’id were transferred to eastern Iran.
Through the similarity and coalescence of the name Käyus (Kavi Usä)
in east-Iranian pseudo-historic lore, the legends found a place in the
Iranian tradition. These events may explain, according to Lewy, the
fact that Kävüs is equated in Islamic sources with Namrüd and
Bukhtanassar and is said to have ruled over Babylon. The transfer of
his seat to Balkh would then be a late Iranizing measure.
Lewy’s identification of the Kävüs legend with the presumed legends
1 BSOAS xn (1947), pp. 52-3.
2 “ Protolndoaryans”, pp. 134-5. His assumption, however, that Varana was to the
east of the Avestan people and Mäzandarän to their west in north central Iran is un­
warranted.
a “ The Babylonian background of the Kay Kâûs legend”, ArOr xvii. 2 (1949), 28-109.

447
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

of Nabu-na’id through Cambyses is highly speculative. It ignores the

context of east-Iranian tradition; moreover, it places unwarranted
reliance on late and confused identifications, such as are found so
frequently in Islamic sources whose authors tried, rather clumsily, to
reconcile Iranian and Biblical traditions by an almost mechanical and
hence unconvincing equation of unrelated figures. Even if some aspect
of the Kävüs legends, such as his flight into the skies and his fall, should
show Mesopotamian influences, there is no reason to doubt the authen­
ticity of the basic legend of Kävüs, which fits well into the context of
the Iranian tradition.
Among the figures closely associated with the reign of Kävüs in the
religious tradition is Öshnar (Av. Aosnara), whose fravasi is commemo­
rated in the Farvardin Yasht, 132, and is mentioned again in the Afrln i
Zardmht, 2, as the epitome of wisdom.1 In the Pahlavi literature he is
associated with Kävüs. According to the Dênkard vu (Intr. 36-7),
Öshnar had a share of the farrah which left Yima,2 was an advisor and
chief vizier (framadhär) to Kävüs, and administered the seven climes on
his behalf. Even in his mother’s womb Öshnar displayed miraculous
power and struck Ahriman at birth. He prevailed over the non-Aryans
in discussion and imparted wise counsel to Aryan countries. According
to the Bmdahishn*he was killed by the machinations of demons. There
can be no doubt as to the priestly background of this early Zoroastrian
figure; this should explain his practical disappearance from Islamic
sources. Firdausi does not know of him.
Siyävush. In the Avesta, Siyävush (Av. Syävarsan; Mid. Pers.
Syävakhs) is mentioned among the righteous heroes whose fravasis are
celebrated.4 His treacherous murder by Afräsiyäb and the Turanian
Garsëvaz, and the subsequent avenging of his blood by his son Kai
Khusrau are also mentioned.'5But there is litde doubt that the legends
of his ordeal by fire at the court of his father, his flight to Turan, his
building of the marvellous castle ofKang-dêz, his marriage to Afräsiyäb’s
daughter and the birth of his son must also have had their origin among
the Avestan people and appear to have fed popular fancy from ancient
times. Siyävush’s renown among the Iranian peoples of Central Asia
can be inferred from BïrünPs statement6that the people of Chorasmia
began their era with the building of the city of Khwärazm 980 years
before Alexander, and then made Siyävush’s entrance into it the
1 Cf. Dädastän ï Dënig xxxvii. 35. 2 See Molé, Culte^ 463.
3 xxxiii. 8, 4 Yasht 13.132, 5 Yashts 9.18; 17.38; 19.77.
e Athar, 235.
448
 FIRST KAYANIAN PERIOD

beginning of their era, 92 years after the building of Khwärazm. The

people of Sogdiana attributed the building of Bukhara, the Sogdian
capital, to Siyävush and believed that he was buried there. According to
Narshakhi in his “ History of Bukhara”,1 a 10th-century work, the
Zoroastrians (mughän) of the city used to venerate his grave and every
year on New Year’s day, before the sunrise, each believer would bring
a cock there and would kill it in memory of Siyävush.
From the scattered accounts of Siyävush it is apparent that he must
have been the focus of a mourning cult dating from pre-Zoroastrian
times. Although the non-Zoroastrian context of references to him in
Islamic sources, notably Firdausi, Dlnawarl, and Tabari, has robbed his
legend of its religious and cultic aspects, enough traces have been left to
show its once ritualistic and religious import. Narshakhi, our chief
source in this respect, relates {ibid., 24) that the people of Bukhärä have
wonderful songs (surüds) concerning the slaying of Siyävush, and that
the minstrels call these songs “ the vengeance of Siyävush” {kln-i
Siyävush). His subsequent comment {ibid., 33) leaves no doubt that these
songs were in fact mourning songs {nauha) which the minstrels called
“ the weeping of the ' ^ g i” {girîstan~i mughän).
Tha^libï2and Firdausi3record a tradition according to which cosmic
disturbances took place when Siyävush was killed. Such legends could
point only to belief in the sanctity of the slain hero. This inference finds
support in Ibn al-Balkhi, who recounts4 that when the news of
Siyavush’s death reached Iran, his father Kai Kävüs lamented deeply,
saying, “ It was not Afräsiyäb who killed him; it was I who killed the
holy [rauhäni] Siyävush.” It is to be noted that Siyävush’s son, Kai
Khusrau, too, has a certain holiness about him (see below), and Ibn al-
Balkhl tells us 5that according to the Persians he was a prophet.
The fact that Siyävush was the centre of a mourning cult in Trans-
oxiana can be clearly seen from Käshgharfs account: “ Every year the
Zoroastrians go to the Dié Rö’in, near Bukhärä, where Siyävush was
killed. They weep and offer a sacrifice there and pour the blood of the
sacrificial animal on his grave; and this is their custom. The existence
in Sogdiana of mourning rites for the dead, involving weeping and
lamenting and self-mortification, has been asserted also by Bïrünî.7
Further evidence for Siyävush’s connection with mourning rites can be
1 Tärtkh-i Bukhäräi pp. 32-3. 2 Ghurar, p. 211. s P. 664.
4 Färs-näma, p.41, 5 P. 47.
6 Kitäb Divän Lugbät al-Turk in (Istanbul, 1335/1917), 110-11. 7 A thäry 255.

449
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

found in other sources. For instance, Thacälibl, 213, tells us of a seven-

days’ formal mourning by Rustam and other warriors when the news of
Siyävush’s death reached the Iranian court, and Tabari (1. 604) relates
that according to Persian authorities the first man to wear black in
mourning was Shädüs, son of Gödarz, who did so when Siyävush was
killed by Firäsiyät (Afräsiyäb).1
What can be deduced from literary sources about the mourning rites
concerning Siyävush seems to have found unexpected confirmation in
archaeological excavations in Transoxiana. Diggings in the ruins of
Panjikent, a Sogdian city sixty-eight kilometres east of Samarkand,
have brought to light a series of extensive wall paintings, the focal
theme of which is the mourning of men and gods for a young prince
(p. 1146, fig. 3). There can be little doubt that the mourned figure is
Siyävush.2 Similar scenes appear on a chest from Tok-Kala in the
extreme north of the Ämü Daryä delta,3and on a vase found in Marv.4
From a number of references to the manner in which Siyävush was
slain, it appears that, as would befit a martyred saint, he was killed
cruelly and in a way that could not but arouse deep anguish and over­
whelming pity. After he was wounded, his hands were tied and he was
humiliated and driven to the place where he had once excelled in physical
prowess. Then he was thrown down “ like a lamb” and his throat was
slit with a sword. Apparently also he was mutilated and his handsome
and radiant face was cut up and destroyed.5
Annual mourning rites for Siyävush seem to have been closely con­
nected with those for the dead, whose fravasis were celebrated in the
day(s) immediately preceding the New Year festival. It was believed
in Sasanian times that on New Year’s day Siyävush was avenged by Kai
Khusrau.6 The association of the New Year festival with both the cult
of Siyävush and the renewal of plant life may be seen as a clue to the
connection of Siyävush with the myths of the life cycle of vegetation.
The cult of Siyävush seems to have assimilated the widespread myths
1 Cf. S. Mesküb, Sûg-i Siyävush, 2nd ed. (Tehran, 1350/1972), p. 80 for some current
vestiges.
2 The identification was suggested first by A. Y. Yakubovskfi and A. I. Terenozhkin. See
A. M. Belenitski, “ Nouvelles découvertes de sculptures et de peintures murales a Pianjikent ”,
A rts Asiatiques v (Paris, 1958), 163-82; and G. Frumkin, Archeology in Soviet Central Asia
(HO vu. 3.1, Leiden/Köln, 1970), 72, 78-9. On the Iranian divinities depicted as taking part
in the mourning for Siyävush, see G. A2arpay, “ Iranian divinities in Sogdian painting”,
Monumentum H. S. Nyberg 1 (Acta Iranica 4, Leiden, 1975), pp. 2off.
3 Frumkin, Archeology* 101. 4 Ibid., 149.
5 See Tabari 1, 600; BaPami, 612-13; Tha*âlibî, 211.
6 “ Mâh-i Fravardïn röz I Khurdäd”, Jamasp-Asana, 'Pahlavi Texts, p. 104, no. 20.

450
 FIRST KAYANIAN PERIOD

of the sacrifice of a vegetation deity whose career symbolized the cycle

of plant life and who suffered death in order to strengthen life and
promote rebirth. A trace of the ancient myths may be seen in the story
that from Siyävush’s blood there immediately grew an herb called
“ the Blood of Siyävush” (khün-i Siyävushän),1 even though Afräsiyäb
had ordered his victim’s blood to be shed over a barren rock.2
It also appears that the mourning cult of Siyävush, a legacy of Iranian
pagan times, paved the way and provided the mould for the develop­
ment of the Shi'ite mourning rites in Iran which eventually led to the
emergence of the ta\iyaP Curiously, Firdausi’s account of Siyävush’s
murder bears striking similarity to the passion of Imäm Husain as
depicted in Persian passion plays.4 In both cases, an innocent holy
person of exalted lineage, who has stood up for truth and righteousness,
is killed by a treacherous and ruthless enemy. The passion of Siyävush
bears too close a resemblance to that of Imäm Husain in ritual, imagery
and emotive underpinnings to be ignored in an explanation of the
Islamic genre.
Kai Khusrau. Of all the Kayanian heroes, Kai Khusrau is the most
highly praised in the Avesta. Whereas the fravasis of the seven Kayanian
princes who preceded him are invoked together in the Farvardin Yasht
(133-5), his fravasi is celebrated separately with a string of epithets
indicative of his exalted image. He is pictured as possessing the strength
of a well-formed body, the Ahura-given triumph, victorious superiority
and just and inviolable command. He is warlike; he triumphs over
enemies with a single stroke. In possession of the farrah, he enjoys a
splendid reign. Long life, good fortune and all-healing power are his.
He has foreknowledge of the future. His descendants are good, clear­
eyed, virtuous, eloquent, brilliant and wise. He delivers the unfortunate
from distress. He is invoked to ward off the evil deeds of sorcerers and
sorceresses, kavis, karpans and tyrants. He has inalienable right to
paradise.
Kai Khusrau has a Vedic namesake, Susravas, “ of fair fame”, with
whose aid Indra crushes twenty enemy-chiefs and their 60,099 warriors
by means of his fatal chariot wheels.5 The supposition of an Indo-
Iranian origin for Kai Khusrau, however, remains a matter of con-
1 Shäh-näma,, 664, pp. 2514-15. 2 Ibid.%675, p. 2391.
3 See E. Yarshater, "T he Ta'^ieh and pre-Islamic mourning rites in Iran”, in P. J.
Chelkowski (ed.), Ta'zieh, Ritual and Drama in Iran (New York, 1979), pp. 88ff. Mesküb,
Süg-i Siyävush, pp. 82, 151. 4 See Shäh-näma, 622, 652.
5 Macdonnell, Vedic Mythology, 64.

451
 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

jecture, since as in the case of Kävüs there is little more than a sharing
of the name to unite the two.
In Yashts 15.30-3 and 19.73-7 reference is made to Kai Khusrau’s
chief triumph and one of the turning points of the national epic, namely,
his slaying of Afräsiyäb and Garsëvaz in the vast White Forest after a
long and arduous struggle. In a number of other Yashts the scene of
these events has been transferred to the banks of Lake Caëcasta.
In the Pahlavi literature the legends of Kai Khusrau are elaborated
and embroidered with various details of a religious nature. He is said to
have practised the Mazdayasnian religion1 and to have destroyed, as a
Mazdean iconoclast, an image-shrine2on the bank of Lake Chëchast. He
is credited with the founding of the famous Zoroastrian fire-temple at
Chës (Shiz) : he established the Fire of Gushnasp which settled on his
horse’s mane to light his path when he was fighting the darkness on
Mount Asnavand.3 He also appears as one of the Immortals (apparently
already implied in Yasht 23.7) with a future rôle to play at the time of
the Renovation: he will help the Sösyant in his resurrection of the dead
and will join him in the final battle.4
The Islamic sources concentrate in particular on Kai Khusrau’s
release from Turan and his subsequent campaigns against Afräsiyäb.
Under his command a large number of Iranian heroes actively take the
field against Afräsiyäb and his warriors, especially those from the
house of Vësa.
Whereas the Khwadäy-nämag and its like drew their material about Kai
Khusrau chiefly from the heroic tradition, priestly literature used
mostly non-heroic material which emphasized his religious and eschato­
logical aspects. The account of his disappearance into the snow, together
with a number of his chief warriors,5may be an outcome of his attribute
of immortality. Kai Khusrau’s disappearance marks the end of an era
and the close of the most brilliant heroic cycle of the epic tradition.
Conspicuous among the Iranian warriors who fight under Kai
Khusrau are Tüs, of the house of Naudhar; Gödarz, Gëv and Bëèan of
the house of Kashväd; and of course Rustam. Firdausi devotes a con­
siderable part of the Shäh-näma to the account of their exploits.
1 Dênkard ix. 16.19.
2 Cf. M. Boyce, “ Iconoclasm among the Zoroastrians ” in J. Neusner (ed.), Christianity,
Judaism and other Greco-Roman Cults: Studies for Morton Smith at sixty iv (Leiden, 1975), 96ff.
3 DenkardyV11. 1.39; ix. 23.5 ; Bundahishn xviii. 12; Mênôg i Khrad ii. 9 5 ;xxvii.6i.
4 Dênkard vin . 1.40; ix. 58.10; Mênôg t Khradxxvii. 63; lvii. 7. See Christensen, Kayanidesf
90-2, for farther details on Kai Khusrau in Pahlavi books.
6 Shäh-nämay 1438#; cf. Tabari 1. 618; Bïrünï, Athâr, 104; Tha‘älibi, 243.

452
 NOBLE WARR IORS

Before discussing the later Kayanians, we shall consider some of

these paladins.

NOBLE WARRI ORS U ND E R TH E KAYANIANS

The house of Rustam. Of all the noble warriors, Rustam stands out as by
far the greatest in the pages of the Shäh-näma. His parents were Zäl (also
called Dastän), the vassal king of Sistan, and Rödäba (Rödhävadh in
Tha'älibi, 73ff.), a daughter of Mihräb, the vassal king of Kabul and a
descendant of Dahäk. Exaggerated features usually encountered in the
life-story of legendary heroes are also met in his case. His natural birth
is impeded by his unusual size, and a “ Caesarian” delivery is carried
out following the instructions of Sïmurgh, the miraculous bird whose
magical feather heals his mother’s wound. Rustam is suckled by ten
nurses and, when weaned, eats food sufficient in amount for five men.1
Even as a child he confronts and kills his father’s furious white
elephant which had run loose. He captures the formidable Sipand
Fortress and avenges the blood of his great-grandfather Narêmân,
while still a youth. He grows so strong that his feet sink into the ground
as he walks, and he has to implore God to diminish his strength. Soon
his fame spreads, and when after Naudhar’s death the question of choos­
ing a new ruler arises, he is sent by Zäl to bring Kai Kaväd from the
Alburz mountain to be king. Before he sets out, he is given his grand­
father Sam’s mace, which had once belonged to Karshäsp,1 2 and he
tames an extraordinary stallion, Rakhsh, for his mount. Soon there
begins the first of a long series of battles against Afräsiyäb, which
continue through the adventurous reigns of Kävüs and Kai Khusrau.
Awesome and invincible, Rustam becomes a legend in his own time,
and it is in legendary terms that he is addressed by Tahmina, the daughter
of the king of Samangän, who enters his bed-chamber one night to
express her love and admiration for him. Twice he comes close to
experiencing a challenger equal or superior to himself: once when he is
fighting against his own son Suhräb, whom he does not recognize,
and again when he is almost overwhelmed by the young prince Isfandi-
yär. Yet he emerges victorious from both battles, the first time by a
combination of shrewdness and strength, and the second by help from
1 Shäh-näma, 22 iff. i
2 Shäh-näma, 286ff; see B. Sarkäräti, “ Gurz-i niyä-yi Rustam”, Majalla-yi Dânishkada-yi
Adabiyyät-i Tabriz xxvn (1354/1975), 33 jff.

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 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

Simurgh and skill in archery. Chivalrous and noble as he is, he is not

entirely above employing ruse or expedience. His career is studded with
a large number of single combats against warriors, demons and whole
armies.
His lifetime stretches from the reign of Manüchihr to that of Bahman.
He receives a special charter from Kai Khusrau at the end of his reign,
but together with Gödarz and Zäl follows the king’s advice and returns
from the hopeless road that Kai Khusrau is following and therefore
does not disappear with the other warriors into the snow.1 Zäl and
Rustam are the only warriors of the early Kayanian period who appear
also under Gushtäsp and his successor. This fact is one indication,
among others, that the legends of these heroes originally formed a
separate cycle, independent of the Kayanian, and that this cycle only
later became intertwined with the Kayanian, resulting occasionally in
some awkward juxtapositions.
Rustam and Zäl, however, are not mentioned in the Avesta, and the
origin of their legends has been one of the thorny problems of the
national epic. Despite the prominence given to Rustam in the epic
tradition, traces of an initial hostility to him among the priesthood can
be deduced from the challenge offered him by Isfandiyär, the great
Zoroastrian champion, and from the revenge taken on him by Bahman,
another protector of the faith, who wages war against Rustam’s family
and ravages his land. A tradition among some Islamic historians
explicitly gives the cause of Isfandiyär’s challenge as Rustam’s dis­
respect for the good religion.2 To have him descended from Dahäk on
his mother’s side is another sign of priestly antagonism. Neither he nor
any of the members of his house figure in Gushtäsp’s holy wars. This
point further indicates the existence of a cycle of legends which developed
outside Avestan circles and only later combined with Avestan epics.
The absence of Rustam from the Avesta and a certain similarity between
his legends and those of Karshäsp led Marquart to suggest that Rustam
(Old Ir. *Rauthastakhma; Mid. Pers. Rötstakhm; cf. the name of his
mother Rödaba)3 might have been another name of Karasäspa.4 Not
only are their legends similar in many respects, but both seem to have
incurred the displeasure of the priestly class through some religious
offence.5 Marquart concluded that the legends of Rustam were a
1 Shäh-näma, 1457fr. 2 Dînawarï, 25; Nibâyaî al-îrab, 207.
8 See Justi, Namenbuch, viii, who first suggested the connection.
4 “ Beiträge5*, 643. 5 See above p. 430fr and Dênkard tx. 15.3.

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 FIRST KAYANIAN PERIOD

reshaping of those of Karasäspa, with influences from the life-story of

Gondophares (Gundofarr < *Vinda-farna), a Saka king of Parthian
lineage and a contemporary of Gödarz II, who ruled in eastern Iran
and northwestern India in the ist century a .d . Nöldeke, however,
maintained that there was no link between the two, and that the legends
of Zäl and Rustam belonged originally to the early Iranians of Drangiana
(Zarang) and Arachosia (Zäbul).1MarquarPs view has been followed in
various ways by a number of scholars.2Herzfeld among them developed
Marquart’s theory in greater detail and connected the Saka king
Gundofarr, and therefore Rustam, with the remains of the Küh-i
Khwäja in Sistan, which he had excavated.3 He maintained that the
time-span between the ist century b .c . and the ist century a .d ., the
middle part of which was occupied by Gundofarr, was the time when
the Iranian saga took shape, and thus the Saka king along with many
Parthian monarchs, such as Miläd (Mithradates) and Gödarz (Gotarzes),
took their places in the epic cycles in the guise of Iranian paladins.4
Christensen expressed serious doubt about the identification of Rustam
with either Karshäsp or Gundofarr, pointing out that the similarity
between Rustam and Karshäsp was rather superficial and that our
meagre knowledge of what transpired in eastern Iran under the Saka
kings did not justify identifying Rustam with Gundofarr.5 He was
inclined to agree with Nöldeke in regarding the cycle as belonging, not
to the Avestan people, but to the early Iranian inhabitants of Sistan.®
The difficulty about this theory is that it fails to explain the absence
of Rustam from the Avesta. If legends concerning him belonged to the
ancient generations of Iranians in Arachosia, the stories would have
been known to the authors of the younger Avesta, since Sistan was
familiar to them and the region figures prominently in the Avesta. It
might be argued that the Zoroastrian priests must have frowned upon
the pagan legends of the lands that their new faith had conquered ; but
surely they could have shown Rustam in an unfavourable light, like
many other figures of whom they disapproved. This difficulty, however,
could be obviated if we assume that Rustam was indeed, as his frequent
1 Nationalepos, §10.
2 See R. von Stackeiberg, "Bemerkungen zur persischen Sagengeschichte ”, WZKM
x i i ( i 898), 246, n .i; Hüsing, 172fr, 213; cf. Wikander, Vayu, 58, 163; Molé, “ Garshasp et
les Sagsär”, 129.
3 A M I rv (1931-2), 9iff; Archaeological History, 54, 75. Cf. Bailey’s review of this
work in BSOS v m (1937), 1154-5, which implies disapproval of the theory.
4 Herzfeld, A M I iv (1931-2), 113-14. 5 Kayanides, 134fr.
6 Op. cit.t 136fr.

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 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

title Sagzi1 (the Saka) indicates, a Saka hero, whose legends were
brought to Sistan by the invading Saka tribes and which spread to
the rest of Iran in Parthian times and eventually were combined with the
Kayanian cycle as part of the national epic tradition.2The origin of the
Rustam legends is to be sought, not in the historical events of the time
of Gundofarr, but in the remoter past of the Saka people. Any similarity
between Karshäsp and Rustam can be explained more plausibly by the
features common to heroic legends than by assuming substitution.
It is to be noted, however, that the spread of Rustam’s legends
reflects marked linguistic influence from Persia. His name, Rötastakhm,
is Middle Persian (no occurrence of the name has been found in
Khotanese Saka, whose literature is chiefly Buddhist and has links rather
with India than ancient Iran) ; even the form used in the Sogdian frag­
ment on Rustam, namely rmtmy, appears to be a borrowing from
Persian.3If Rasdama and Rasdakma in the Elamite tablets from Persepolis
should prove to represent the name of the Sistanian hero - a possibility
raised by Gershevitch, who suggests their derivation from *rastu-
taxma-,4 then Nöldeke’s view will have found unexpected support.5
As a name, Rustam appears already in the Drakht ï asürïg? which is
based on a Parthian original.7 The first datable occurrence of Rustam’s
name is the Armenian Arostom in the 5th century a.d.8 The legends of
Rustam enjoyed great popularity during the 7th century, to judge by the
number of people who bore his name.9 But it is unlikely that the
Khwadäy-nämag would have given us as full an account of Rustam’s
legends as the one we find in Firdausi, whose prose source no doubt
drew on Sistanian legends, and whose poetic imagination was attracted
to them. (One of the four scholars who helped the author of the prose
Shäh-näma was Yazdändäd of Sistan.10) The account of Rustam in early
Arabic sources is more succinct,11 and even Thacälibi, whose version is
fairly exhaustive and conforms to Firdausi’s in outline, makes no
mention of the episodes relating to Suhräb, Manila and Bëèan, or
1 See Herzfeld, A M I iv (1931-2), 115, n. 1 for references.
2 See Boyce, “ Zariadres” 474#; Hist. Zoroast. 1. 100-2; Sarkârâtï, “ Rustam”, i6iff.
8 Gershevtich, “ Amber at Persepolis”, 227.
4 Op. cit.y 226.
5 Although the Persian form of “ Rustam” with a short u does not accord well with the
majhül 5 in the Mid. Pers. form, rm tm (Rüstam) in ‘Abd al-Qadir’s Lexicon supports the
majbül vowel. Cf. Nöldeke, Nationalepos, p. 12, n .i; Gershevitch, ibid.
8 Ed. M. N awabi, 66.ji. 7 But see Christensen, Kayanides, 138, n. 2.
8 Bailey, BSOS viii (1937), 1154; cf. Nöldeke, op. cit., p. 12, n. 2.
9 Nöldeke, ibid., 10.
10 See Taqizadeh, “ Firdausi” , Käva 11. 3 (1921), p. 14, col. 2.
11 Cf. Tabari 1. 398-604.
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 NOBLE WARRIORS

Rustam’s “ Seven Stations ”. On the other hand, in the story of Simurgh,

Tha‘älibl, 367-8, has details which are lacking in the Shäh-näma. The
stories of Rustam’s birth and youth must be later elaborations, since
original poems or stories of celebration and adventure generally do not
concern themselves with such details.1 The 8th-century Sogdian frag­
ment concerning Rustam found in the Turfan excavations attests to the
wide popularity of Rustam’s legends in Transoxiana. It describes a
batde between Rustam and the demons, in which the latter, deceived by
a stratagem devised by the warrior, suffer losses. The name of Rakhsh,
Rustam’s celebrated steed, is also mentioned in the fragment.2A further
indication of the popularity of the legends of Rustam in Central Asia
may be seen in the 7th-century wall-paintings of Panjikent, some of
which (Room 41, Sector VI) have been identified as illustrations of
Rustam’s exploits in his Seven Stations (pis 145-8).3
The House of Gödar%. Next to the house of Rustam, the house of Gödarz
is the most prominent among the warrior nobles in the national epic.
In the Shäh-näma Gödarz’s ancestry is traced to Käva the Smith. His
father Kashväd (Jashväd in Tabari 1. 608, 617, and therefore probably
to be read Gashväd),4who is made a son of Käva, appears first during
the reign of Fredön, and continues to be a warrior even under Kai
Kävüs. Tabari,5 however, makes Kashväd a descendant of Naudhar
through twelve generations. Kashväd is the general who leads the
Iranian army back to Ämul after Naudhar’s defeat and capture by
Afräsiyäb.6 Kashväd is said to have two brothers. One is Karen, the
general of Fredön’s army, who not only takes part in Manüchihr’s
campaigns against Salm and Tür, but leads Naudhar’s army in his battle
against Afräsiyäb. The other is Qubäd (Kaväd), who commands the right
wing of Naudhar’s army in this battle and is killed by the Turanian
warrior Bärmän.
Gödarz, a veteran of many wars, is depicted in the epic tradition as a
staunch warrior and a wise and respected statesman. He appears first
under Kai Kävüs, who gives him Isfahan as a domain, and he remains
active to the end of Kai Khusrau’s reign. When, after a challenge by
Tüs, Kai Khusrau is finally assured of his accession to the throne, he
1 H. M. and N. K. Chadwick, Growth of Literature n, 763-4.
2 See E. Benveniste, Textes sogdiens (Paris, 1940), 134^; E. Yarshater, “ Rustam dar
zabän-i sughdf”, Mihr vii (1952), 4o6ff.
3 See M. Bussagli, Painting of Central A sia (Geneva, 1963), 44-5 ; A. M. Belenitsky, Central
A sia, (London 1969), 288 and pis. 137-8. 4 Cf. Nöldeke, Nationalepos, p. 10, n. ï.
5 1. 617f. 6 Shäh-näma, 276-7.

457
 I R A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY

orders a major confrontation with Afräsiyäb. Gödarz leads the fateful

expedition, during which many Turanian and Iranian warriors come to
grief. A series of single combats called the battle of “ Eleven Aspects”
(Yä^dah Kukh), in which the Iranian warriors distinguish themselves,
culminates in a combat between Gödarz and Pirän - a combat which
ends the life of the formidable Turanian general and prepares the way
for the final defeat of Afräsiyäb.
Among Gödarz’s 78 warrior sons (70 of whom fall in the wars against
Afräsiyäb) Gëv stands out prominently; he is one of the foremost heroes
of the national epic. He is the warrior who, following a prophetic dream
of Gödarz, is sent by Kävüs to Turan to find Kai Khusrau and bring
him to Iran. Gëv is equally prominent in the subsequent wars against
Afräsiyäb which lead to the latter’s destruction.
Gëv’s son Bëéan, also an outstanding warrior, is the hero of a well-
known romance in the Shäh-näma. He is led astray into Turanian lands,
where Afräsiyäb’s daughter Manëza falls in love with him, but he is
captured by her father and imprisoned in a pit. Eventually he is freed
and brought back to Iran by his maternal grandfather Rustam through
Manëza’s unfailing love and loyalty.1 The author of the Färs-näma2
attributes to Gëv a son, Bukht Narsë, the general of the army under
Luhräsp.
The Avesta makes no mention of the house of Gödarz, but the names
of Gödarz and Bëèan (Vijan) coincide with the names of two Parthian
kings in Islamic sources.3Gödarz of course appears also on coins, and
the inscription of Gödarz I in Bïsitün includes a significant reference
to the name of Gëv,4 although not as Gödarz’s son, but as his father,
Gotarzes Geopothros.5
Some of the powerful noble houses of Iran, most of which, by all
accounts, flourished under both Parthian and Sasanian rule, seem to
have influenced the development of Iranian epic tradition to the extent
of having their ancestors appear as heroes of legendary times. The
incorporation of such legends must have happened, at least in rudi-
1 For the view that the story may represent an Iranian version of the Ishtar-Tammuz
myth, see M, Bahar, A sâtïr-i Iran (Tehran, 1973), Iviii; cf. Sarkâràtï, “ Rustam”, 169.
2 P. 48. 3 See e.g. Hamza, 14, and below, p. 459.
4 Gëv’s name appears as Biyy in Tabari 1. 601, and Z a w (for V aw ) in Dinawari 16, and
Byb in T 3rikh-i Qum, ed. Jalâl al-Dïn Tihrânï (Tehran, 1313), 69, 70, which attributes the
building of a number of villages to him. But the Bïsitün inscription assures the genuineness
of the initial g-.
5 See Herzfeld, A m Tor von Asien, 40; Marquart “ Beiträge”, 641; J. C. Coyajee, “ The
House o f Gotarzes : a Chapter of Parthian History in the Shahnameh”, JA SB xxvm (1932),
207fr. ; N. C. Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia (Chicago, 1938), 173fr. See also chap.
2, pp. 42 ff and chap. 8(0), p. 286 in this volume on the identity of Gotarzes.

458
 NOBLE WARRIORS

mentary form, during the Parthian period. Among the Parthian princes
who are present in the national epic in the guise of warrior-heroes are
Farhad (Phraates) and Mlläd (a name which, as Marquart ingeniously
discovered,1is a form of Mihrdäd = Mithradates). Three other warriors’
names, Bahräm, Bëèan and Shäpür (seen also as an eponym in Sabirghän 2
and Shävurän3), also belong to this category. Although these names do
not appear in Western sources for Parthian kings, they are present as
those of Arsacid rulers in the lists recorded by Islamic historians,4 and
presumably they belonged to members of some eastern branches of the
dynasty.
The legends of the house of Gödarz must have been included in the
national saga earlier than those of the Sistanian heroes, as Christensen
argued.5 Despite the preeminence of Rustam during Kävüs’s reign, it
is Gödarz and his sons who are most effective in bringing Afräsiyäb to
his final defeat and destruction. It is Gêv who, as noted above, is sent
to bring Kai Khusrau from Turan to Iran; in the fateful battle against
Afräsiyäb, it is Gödarz to whom Kai Khusrau entrusts the Käviyän
banner, borne until then only by princes of the royal house; and it is
Gêv who eventually delivers Afräsiyäb into the hands of Kai Khusrau.
It may be objected that the occurrence of Parthian royal names in the
legends could be due to the adoption of such names by the Parthian
kings from epic tradition. Nöldeke answered this objection long ago.
If that were the case, he pointed out,6then the Parthian kings would no
doubt have chosen only the names of kings, instead of choosing those
of their vassals. The legends of such heroes, then, presumably originated
in the stories composed and sung by the minstrels of the Parthian princes,
who through their patronage aided their wide circulation. In the course
of time, as some of the legends were forgotten and others were blurred
through a weakening of oral transmission, the Kayanian and Parthian
cycles were mingled in the narration of the east-Iranian bards and
minstrels7 and eventually became part of the national history.
Gödarz then is probably Gödarz I (c. 91-81 b.c.), even though it is
Gödares II ( a .d . 43-51 ?), a champion of north-eastern Iranian lands,
who had particular links with Hyrcania,8 to which he withdrew more
than once, according to classical sources.
1 “ Beiträge”, 633#; Nöldeke, Nationalepos, p. 7, n.2. 3 Tabari 1. 614.
3 Shäh-näma, 317, passim.
4 For a comparative table o f these lists, see Spiegel, Eran. Aiterth. in. 194.
5 Kayanides^ 139fr. 6 Nationalepos, §8.
7 Cf. M. Boyce, “ Zariadtes and Zarër”, BSO AS xvn (1955), 473f.
8. See A. von Gutschmid, Kleine Schriften in (Leipzig, 1892), 42fr; Debevoise, History of
Parthia, i66ff and p.41 ff in the present volume.

459
 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

We cannot attach too much importance to the genealogy of Gödarz as

it appears in the national epic, since such genealogies tend to become
confused, as time passes, with attention focusing on the dramatic
elements of the stories. Thus, for example, Säsän instead of Päpak is
made the father of Ardashlr in the Kärnämag and the Shäh-näma, and
in Daniel (5. 31 ; 6.1-29 ; 9.1 ; 11.1) Cyrus is made a successor of Darius
“ the Mede”, son of Xerxes (Ahashwerosh).1 Another example of such
confusion is provided by the replacement of Zariadres by Gushtäsp in
their famous love story (see below, p. 468). It is probable that Gêv
originally appeared in the epic as Gödarz’s father. His leadership rather
than Gödarz’s in bringing back Kai Khusrau from Turan may be a trace
of his seniority. He lives on to the end of Kai Khusrau’s time and with
Rustam, Tüs and Gödarz is among the few who receive a charter Çahd)
of special privileges from Kai Khusrau upon his retirement from the
throne.3 It is also to be noted that only Gêv, from his house, figures
among the Zoroastrian Immortals.3 It is possible, on the other hand,
that Gêv, son of Gödarz, was named after his grandfather and their
legends became mixed.4
The House of Naudhar, Of this princely house which is prominent in
the Avesta and counts Vishtäspa and his wife Hutaosä among its
members (Yasht 5.98), only one figure stands out in the national epic,
namely Tüs. He is mentioned in the Avesta several times and therefore
his legends are of considerable antiquity. In the Äbän Yasht, 53 and 55,
he offers worship to Aradvi Sürä and asks for victory over his enemies,
the descendants of Vaësaka (Vêsa, father of Plrän and the uncle of
Afräsiyäb). In the priestly Pahlavi literature he is one of the thirty
Immortals who help the Sösyant at the end of time to renovate the
world.5 In the Shäh-näma, although he is depicted as a prince and a
warrior of the highest rank, traces of a less sympathetic treatment than
that accorded to the houses of Rustam and Gödarz are evident.
Upon the death of their father Naudhar, Tüs and his brother Gustahm
(Av. Vlstauru?) are considered by the other nobles to lack the farrah and
therefore to be not wholly suitable for the throne. Thus Zäb is chosen
king instead. Under Kävüs, Tüs is involved in a number of dramatic

1 Cf. Birüni, al-Qänün al-Mas'üdi i (Hyderabad, 1373/1954), 154; Âthârt 89; ibn Batriq,
Annalsy 48. 12 Shäh-näma, 1429.
3 See Darmesteter, Zend-Avesta 11. 638, n. 125 and Christensen, Kayanides, x5ÿfF.
4 Cf. Milâd b. Jurjïn and Jurjîn b. Miläd, p. 476 below.
5 Dênkard ix. 23.6; Dädastän i Dênig xxxvi.3. See Christensen, Kayanides, 153fr.

460
 K A Y AN I AN E P I C CYCLE
events. When Kai Khusrau is brought from Turan, Tus briefly
challenges his right to the throne and falls out with Gödarz and Gëv.
He acquiesces in Kai Khusrau’s accession only after he himself fails
where Kai Khusrau succeeds, namely in the capture of the Bahman
Fortress, a test of worthiness which Kävüs had set for the claimants to
the throne.1
After his accession, Kai Khusrau prepares a great expedition against
Turan, with Tüs as its leader. Haughty and over-confident, Tüs ignores
Kai Khusrau’s specific instructions to avoid Furüd, the king’s half-
brother, on the way and in the resulting combat Furüd is killed. This
deeply grieves Kai Khusrau. Later, when the news reaches him that a
surprise attack by Pirän has inflicted heavy losses on the Iranian army,
he gives vent to his anger in a scathing message and deposes Tüs,
installing Fariburz, his own uncle, as the leader of the expedition. At
times Tüs is shown to exhibit some of the arrogance and thoughtlessness
of Kävüs. His relations with the houses of Gödarz and Rustam, which
are joined by marriage and are very well disposed toward each other,
are sometimes less than cordial.2Nöldeke pointed out3that the dispute
between Tüs and Gödarz may reflect a rivalry between two powerful
Parthian noble houses. It is not inconceivable that at some point Tüs’s
legends were “ edited” by bards who were sympathetic to his rivals.
Yet he remains a respected figure in the national epic and is among the
noble warriors who receive a special charter from Kai Khusrau when
he prepares to relinquish his kingship. He is among the warriors who
disappear in the snow as they follow Kai Khusrau into the wilderness.

ASP ECTS OF T H E KAY AN IA N E P I C CYCLE

The Kayanian epic cycle embodies the literature of the most notable
heroic age in the Iranian tradition. This literature must have originated
in poetry celebrating the exploits and adventures of Kayanian princes
and sung by the minstrels attached to their courts. Although we have
no historical or corroborative evidence for the events of the period
and cannot be sure of the date or exact homeland of the Kayanians,
there is no reason to doubt the authenticity of the core of their deeds as
related in the Avesta, and much later, in the Shäh-näma. The comparative
study of heroic literature4affords us an insight into the millieu, nature
and transmission of their legends.
1 Shäh-näma, pp. 750#. 3 Shäh-näma, pp. 466, 752. 3 Na/ionalepos, §8.
4 As presented notably by H. M. and N. K. Chadwick in The Growth of Literature, 3 vols.
(Cambridge, 1932-40).
461
 IR A N IA N NATIONAL HISTORY

The Kayanian epic cycle, as depicted in the Yashts, portrays a society

in which a class of princes and their warrior-nobles are dominant, and
kingship is firmly established and institutionalized. The tribal ties and
loyalties are weakened enough to allow allegiance to kings, who rise
above parochial bonds and who represent Ëran as a community of
peoples sharing a common ideology and threatened by a common
danger, namely periodic attacks from the north. Moreover, the deities
worshipped by the society have long ceased to be tribal or local, but are
highly anthropomorphic gods, universally recognized.1 Worship of the
souls of the dead has also ceased to be merely a family or clan cult;
instead, the fravaSis have come to represent a universalized body of
powerful spirits who can be appealed to by all.
We do not know what physical or economic challenges or human
circumstances gave rise to the Kayanian heroic age. H. M. Chadwick
has advanced the theory that heroic periods are generally periods of
national movement and unrest touched off among barbaric and “ ado­
lescent” peoples by contact with more civilized nations, and often
preceded by the mercenary service of the primitive under the more
advanced.2 Such conditions do not seem to be implausible in the case of
the ancestors of the Avestan nation. We may speculate that the fore­
fathers of the Avestan people received an early stimulus when they came
into contact with the prior inhabitants of north-eastern Iran, whose
higher culture is reflected in the archaeological finds of the region.
Before the penetration and eventual conquest of the area by the in­
vaders, we may assume, there was a turbulent period dominated by
warrior princes and nobles, whose predatory and defensive measures,
and whose interaction with neighbouring tribes, are mirrored in the
Kayanian cycle. It is wholly possible, of course, that the original heroic
poems which celebrated the deeds of the Kayanians represented a more
primitive stage of social and political development than the one depicted
in the Yashts and that they belonged to a more tribal than national
community; even so there is no doubt that the Kayanian saga is
expressive of a heroic period which must have led to a more cohesive
and united community with national aspirations.
Already in the Avesta, poetic exaggeration endows the Kayanian
princes with greater wealth and power than they are likely to have
enjoyed. The later versions of their stories, exemplified by the
1 Cf. H. M. Chadwick, Heroic Age, 423.
2 Heroic Age, 439ff; Growth of Literature in. 737fr

462
 K A Y A N I A N E P I C CYCLE
Shäh-näma, enhance this trend and give them all the pomp and circum­
stance that the splendour of the Sasanian court could evoke in the minds
of their authors. We may safely surmise that humbler conditions actually
prevailed1 and that cattle-raids, plunder and pillage were the main
economic causes of strife.2 The blood-feuds only aggravated a tense
situation. This view receives support from Zoroaster’s own words, for
in his Gäthäs he bitterly complains of the inroads of the bloodthirsty
wicked men who give no peace to herdsmen and their cattle and keep
the good man in peril.3
In the Kayanian epic cycle the features common to heroic literature
in general may be observed. The heroes are distinguished primarily by
their prowess at arms and their physical strength. Their main concern is
fame and glory, which are acquired chiefly on the batdefield through
courage and skill. In the Khwadäy-nämag,, which in this respect tends to
reflect archaic conditions, most of the heroic exploits of the Kayanian
period are performed by warrior nobles, and more often than not the
king is depicted as the commander-in-chief and an able general who
inspires and leads his army. In the Yashts, however, the Kayanians
appear in a more primitive state of society than in the Khwadäy-nämag
and are personally active against their enemies, exhibiting more warlike
qualities than later kings. This is also true of some of the earlier kings,
notably Fredön and Manüchihr, who overcome their adversaries
personally.
The Kayanian epic cycle, having arisen originally among warrior
princes for purposes of celebration and entertainment, exhibits the
expected aristocratic traits. The stories are generally of war and ad­
venture. The scenes of the stories are mostly battlefields, royal courts,
banquet halls, hunting grounds, roads, rivers, mountains and forests.
The prevalent form of warfare is single combat, in which the heroes
prove their worth. The combat is generally preceded by boasting on the
part of each warrior. Pride in one’s ancestry, past achievements and
superiority over one’s opponents, together with denigration and ridicule
of one’s adversary, are the common subjects of such conceits.
The weapons used vary from the primitive mace (gur^f and lance
(nai%a), to the lasso (kamand)^ bow and arrow (fir u kamän)y sword (tighy
shamshir)^ dagger (khanjar), javelin (>khisht) and dart (yfibln). Defensive
1 Cf. Boyce, “ Some remarks”, 46, n. 4.
2 Cf. Growth of 'Literature h i . 731-2 ; Mujmal, 48, mentions a raid by Afräsiyäb for a herd
of horses. 8 Yasnas 29.9; 31.18; 48.11. See also Boyce, ibid.

463
 I R A N I A N NATI O N A L HISTORY

weapons consist of the shield (sipar\ coat of mail (%irih) and horse
armour (jbargustuvän), but obviously some of these weapons, particularly
those of metal, reflect advances achieved in later periods.
Generally the warriors fight, or begin to fight, on horseback, unless
the terrain or situation requires combat on foot. Before an army sets
out for battle, as a rule the king opens up his treasures and distributes
weapons and ammunition. He often tries to arouse his men before
battle. Appeal is made to their pride, their sense of glory and their
manliness. The need of the country and the danger of defeat to the land
and the crown are brought home to the soldiers in stirring words.
Challenges to combat, offered or received, and the ensuing battles are
described at length. Battles engaging the whole body of an army usually
take place generally in desperation or following inconclusive single
combats, or in punitive forays, or else as a response to a general attack.
Banquet scenes in celebration of victory abound. Drinking bouts are
still more common and require little excuse. Victory is often followed
by distribution of booty, with the king or general rewarding his
warriors.
Unlike the Indian and Teutonic heroic literatures, which often accord
a more prominent place to women than to men,1 the Kayanian epic
cycle seems to show less concern for women than even the Iliad. In
the Shäh-näma,, several women are conspicuous in the course of the
Kayanian history: the wicked Südäba, Kai Kävüs’s spouse, whose
accusation of the innocent prince Siyävush eventually leads to his
tragic death; Farangis, the unfortunate wife of Siyävush and daughter
of Afräsiyäb, who barely escapes death by order of her father and has
to bring up her son Kai Khusrau in concealment; Rödäba, the beloved
of Zäl and the heroine of the most moving love story in the Shäh-näma,,
who gives birth to Rustam ; Sindukht, the resourceful mother of Rödäba ;
the valiant Gurdäfrid, the daughter of the Iranian general Gazdaham,
who skilfully if briefly batdes with the young Suhräb, and outwits the
admiring warrior by her crafty escape; Manëèa, a daughter of Afräsiyäb,
and a paragon of love and loyalty; and finally Humäy, the successor of
Bahman. Three of these women, however, belong, not to the Kayanian,
but to the Rustam cycle ; and Manëza may have, like her lover Bëéan, a
Parthian provenance (see below p. 4 59). The Avesta mentions practically
none of these women. On the other hand it is to be noted that Aradvi
Sürä, the female yazad of the waters has a prominent place in the
1 See Growth of Literature, nr. 738-9.

464
 SECOND KAYANIAN PERIOD

Yashts, and Asi the yazad of reward, blessing and fortune, who is
depicted in one Yasht (13. 107) as a noble, invincible maiden, is one of
the major Iranian deities venerated also in the Gäthäs.1In the Farvardin
Yasht the fravasis of a number of women are invoked alongside those
of men (see p. 414 above).
The intervention of supernatural powers is common in the cycle,
as it is in the heroic stories of other nations. The heroes sacrifice to the
deities and the fravasis and ask for power and victory. The farrah is an
ever-present agent of divine aid and grace. Dragons and monsters are
recurrent adversaries. Dreams are generally taken as forecasts of future
events and their interpretation is diligently sought. The involvement
of the deities and other supernatural powers, although itself of a
mythical nature, need not affect our view that such stories generally
have a basis in reality. Such interventions are common to other heroic
literatures2 and derive partly from the beliefs of the period and partly
from the imagination of the narrators of the stories.

T H E SEC OND KAYANIAN PE RI OD

This phase begins with Luhräsp ; with new characters and a new set of
circumstances,, it has a complexion wholly different from that of the
previous phase, even though the Khwadäy-nämag made Luhräsp a direct
successor of Kai Khusrau.
Luhräsp (Av. Aurvat.aspa). The gap between Kai Khusrau’s era and
that of the later Kayanian kings is clearly indicated by the genealogy of
Luhräsp. Luhräsp’s name does not appear in the Gäthäs, but he is
mentioned in the Äbän Yasht, 105, as the father of Vistäspa. Aurvat.aspa
(“ having swift horses”) also occurs in the Avesta as an epithet of Hvar,
the sun yazad, and of Ap^m Napät, the yazad of the waters and an ahura.
The name appears on Kushän coins, in the form of Arooaspo, as a
designation of the sun-god.3All this has led a number of scholars to see
a sun deity at Luhräsp’s origin.4The fact that he is mentioned neither
in the Farvardin Yasht nor in the Zamyäd Yasht, where the possessors
of the farrah are enumerated, may mean that he was not originally
favoured by the composers of the Yashts. The reference in Islamic
1 See Gray, “ Foundations”, 62ff. 2 See Growth o f Literature h i . 746, 758ff.
3 Justi, 'Namenbuch, 41.
4 F. Spiegel, “ Awestâ und Shâhnâme”, ZDM G (1891), pp. 196fr; Herzfeld,
x l v

“ Zarathustra iii; Der awestische Vistaspa” , A M I 1(1929-30), 170fr. See Boyce “ Zariadres”,
464fr. for a discussion of this view.

465
 IR A N I A N N A T IO N A L HISTORY

sources to his retiring to Nau Bihär (a Buddhist temple) in Balkh may

indicate his resistance to the Zoroastrian faith. It may even be suspected
that his retirement from the throne was forced. It may also be speculated
that later, however, the sanctity of his son restored him to the favour of
the Zoroastrian priesthood as a righteous or at least an innocuous king.
The Pahlavi and Islamic sources give Luhräsp’s genealogy somewhat
varying forms, but no doubt the version in the Bmdahishnto which
those given by Tabari i. 645, 813, and Hamza, 36, basically conform, is
that which must have appeared in the Khwadäy-nämag. According to this
lineage Luhräsp is a distant cousin of Kai Khusrau, namely son of Kai
Öji (or Özi or Ögi), son of Kai Manüsh, son of Kai Plsin, son of Kai
Apïvëh, son of Kai Kaväd.12 In later sources we find him a just and
righteous king closely associated with Balkh. He is said to have founded
this city, and Birünï mentions Balkh! (“ of Balkh”) as his tide.3
According to Islamic sources he sends his general Bukhtnassar
(Nebukadnesser) to Jerusalem, which he destroys and where he makes
prisoners of the Jews.4 The fact that Nebukadnesser is given a Persian
name, Bukhtarshah, in a number of sources,5 suggests that this attri­
bution may derive from Sasanian times through an acquaintance with
Babylonian and Jewish traditions rather than from the Islamic period.
Gushtäsp (Av. Vistäspa; Mid. Pers. Vishtäsp) is mentioned four dmes
in the Gäthäs by the prophet, who calls him his follower and ally
(Yasna 46.14). He is also mentioned frequently in the Yashts. From
Yasht 5.98 it can be inferred that, like his wife Hutaosä, he is of the
house of Naotara (Pers. Naudhar). Although Yasht 13.102 seems to
imply otherwise, his being a Naotarian is confirmed by the summary of
the V arshtmänsar Nask in the Dênkard ix. 33.5. He sacrifices to the river
yazad Arovd! Sürä in front of Lake Frazdänu (Yasht 5.108-9), asking for
victory over his enemies Tathryävant, Pasana and Arojat.aspa (Arjäsp).
He asks a similar favour from Drväspa, the yazad who protects cattle
(Yasht 9.29-31). In Yasht 13.99-100, he is called the valiant promoter of
truth through the power of his mighty mace, and the arm, support and
saviour of the religion. He possesses the farrah and defeats his enemies,
liberating the Ahurie religion (Yasht 19.84-7). Two late texts, namely
1 xxv. 34, but read Ozän instead of Uzäv. 2 Cf. Bïrünï, Äthär, 104.
3 Ibid.', see also Tabari 1. 645.
4 Tabari 1. 645; Hamza, 36; Mas'üdï, Murüj n. 121-2; Maqdisï in. 149; Tha'âlibï, 224;
Bïrünï, loc. cit.
5 Tha'âlibï, ibid.; Tabarï 1. 650-1; in the Fars-näma, 48, Bukhtnarsë.

466
 SECOND KAYANIAN PERIOD

the Afrïn ï Zardusht and the Vishtäsp Yasht (Yashts 23 and 24), record
Zoroaster’s blessings on the king and the prophet’s advice and ad­
monitions to him. The tenth nask of the Avesta, which, according to
the Dênkard vm. 10, was called the Vishtäsp Säst (“ Instructions to
Vishtäsp”), is, however, lost. The Farvardin Yasht, 96-129, has pre­
served the names of the members of the family of the prophet and of
Vistäspa.
The Pahlavi literature adds many details about the conversion of
Vishtäsp and his religious wars. The Holy Immortals and the Fire of
Ohrmazd urge him to accept and promote the faith;1 he founds the
two well-known fires of Farnbägh and Burzên Mihr. During the battle
with his arch-foe Arjäsp, the king of the Chionites (Mid. Pers. Hyon), the
Komis mountain breaks up in order to help save the Iranian army
(Dênkard ix. 35-6). His two sons, Spandyäd and Pishötan, embark on
holy wars in the west and east.
The Khwadäy-nämag^ however, presented Gushtäsp in a different light.
There he appeared as an ambitious prince who fell in love with and
married Katäyün,2 daughter of the emperor of Rüm. Eventually, his
father having retired, Gushtäsp succeeds to the throne. After Gushtäsp
has ruled for 30 years, Zoroaster, a native of Äzarbäijän, appears at his
court and converts him to his religion. The king’s conversion leads to a
series of wars with Arjäsp, in which the Iranian and Turanian heroes -
Isfandiyär and Bastür in particular - excel and which end with the
victory of Gushtäsp’s army. Gushtäsp’s selfishness and his unsavoury
character now reveal themselves: first he imprisons his valiant son
Isfandiyär on unfounded charges and then in niggardly fashion denies
him the crown which he had promised him for defeating Arjäsp; he
asks him instead to bring Rustam in fetters to the court, callously send­
ing his son into the jaws of death.
Of relevance to the study of Gushtäsp’s origin and character is a
story quoted by Athenaeus3 from Chares of Mytilene, who was in the
service of Alexander the Great. Briefly stated, the story relates that
Hystaspes ruled in Media and the lands below it, while his younger
brother Zariadres reigned in the lands above the Caspian gates up to
the Tanais. Beyond the Tanais, Omartes is king. His daughter Odatis
is said to be the most beautiful maiden in Asia. Zariadres and Odatis
1 Dênkard vu., 1.41, 47; 4.1; ix. 24.17; 39.22; Zand i Vahman Yasht ii. 58, 60; Mênôg /
Khrad xiii. 14-15.
* Also called Nâhïd according to Daqïqï; see Shäh-näma>p. 1497.
8 Deipnosophistae xm . 575.
4 6 7
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

fall in love with eath other through visionary dreams, but Omartes
refuses to give his daughter in marriage to a stranger. At a wedding
banquet which Omartes holds for his daughter, he asks Odatis to offer
a cup of wine to the man of her choice. Zariadres, forewarned, has
crossed the Tanaïs in haste and arrives in Scythian attire just in time to
receive the cup and carry off the princess. The two brothers in the story
are said to be offspring of Aphrodite and Adonis; this descent has
prompted speculation among scholars concerning the Iranian equiva­
lents of these Greek deities, and also the interpretation of the story on
a mythological plane.1Mary Boyce has drawn attention to the possible
cultic aspects of the story, since, according to Chares, scenes from it
adorned the walls of temples, palaces and even private residences.
It is generally assumed that the Greek story inspired the account of
the romance between Gushtäsp and Katäyün related by Firdausi2and
Thacälibi.3In this version, the young Gushtäsp leaves his father’s court
for Rüm, where incognito he attends a feast given by the emperor to
permit his daughter to choose her future husband. She catches sight of
Gushtäsp, whom she has seen in her dreams, and places her diadem on
his head, thus indicating her choice. Christensen,4following Marquart,5
saw in the story of Zariadres a reflection of eastern legends in the west,
but Mary Boyce argues6 that it would be more reasonable to take the
legend as a western one, which later was appended in a modified and
rather crude form to the life story of the young Gushtäsp. According to
her, in the eastern version Gushtäsp replaces Zariadres, whose name
coalesces in a later period with Zarër, Gushtäsp’s younger brother.
It is hardly possible to suppose that the Hystaspes and Zariadres of
Chares and the Gushtäsp and Zarër of eastern legends are identical by
mere coincidence. The solution which suggests itself is that the legend
had its origin in the earlier, pre-Zoroastrian Iranian myths shared by
eastern and western Iranians alike. This would require us to postulate
that in Gushtäsp of the national history we are faced with two distinct
persons merged into one, namely a mythological figure, son of Aurvat.
aspa (Luhräsp), and a Kayanian prince, the protector of Zoroaster. What
strengthens this theory is that, as we noted earlier (above, p. 467), there
are in the account of Gushtäsp clear indications of two different charac-
1 Spiegel, Bran. Altertb. 1. 665, n. 1 ; “ Awesta und Shâhnâme”, pp. 196#; Darmesteter,
Zend-Avesta in. lxxxff. ; Herzfeld, “ Zarathustra iii”, 170-80; for a comprehensive treatment
of the subject see Boyce, “ Zariadres*\ 2 Pp. 1457#.
3 Pp. 245-53. 4 Gestes, 136. 5 Untersuchungen 1. 21, n. 91.
8 Op. c i t 469.

468
 SECOND KAYANIAN PERIOD

ters, one, a saintly king and the other, a rather self-seeking ruler. It is
hard to believe that a tradition which developed among the Zoroastrians
could portray the first protector of the faith as a character with so many
unsavoury traits as the Gushtäsp of the secular legends. The problem
can easily be resolved if we see in Gushtäsp a union of two persons, one
belonging to a pre-Zoroastrian fund of mythical figures, where moral
concerns did not play a significant rôle, and the other belonging to the
religious history of eastern Iran. Although the two eventually merged,
probably through a similarity of names, when the national legends were
systematized and put in order, the differences in character and deeds
were to a large extent preserved through oral tradition.
Isfandiyär. Of Gushtäsp’s sons, two are particularly prominent. One
is Pishötan (Av. Pssö.tanü), who is called deathless (amahrka) in the
Vishtäsp Yasht, 4, and who is one of the Zoroastrian Immortals living
in Kang-Dêz and a future helper of the Sösyant. The other is Isfandiyär
(Av. Spanto.däta),1 who is mentioned in the Farvardin Yasht, 103, and
Vishtäsp Yasht, 25. He is praised in the Pahlavi books as the champion
and a staunch defender of the good religion,2 but he looms much
larger in the national epic on account of his exploits, in particular his
famous contest with Rustam, and his tragic death. The lengthy treat­
ment of him by Firdausi and Tha'alibI must ultimately be based on a
Middle Persian epic. The intermediate source may be either the Bunkish,
said by Mas'üdi3 to contain legends about him, or the Saklsarän (“ the
Chiefs of the Sakas” ?), which, according to Mas‘üdf4 related, among
others, the exploits of Rustam and Isfandiyär; or even the Kitäb Rustam
wa Isfandiyär, translated by Jabala ibn Sälim and mentioned by Ibn al-
Nadlm (305) among works of biography and fiction. Some legends about
Isfandiyär, notably his capture of Rô’în Dëz (“ Brazen Fortress”) and a
number of his exploits at the “ Seven Stations” (Haft K/män), may
possibly have served as models for similar exploits attributed to
Rustam.5 Both are in fact based on stereotyped elements and show a
typical pattern used in such heroic stories (e.g. the slaying of a dragon
and the killing of a sorceress disguised as an enchantress; “ seven” as
the number of adventures involved, etc.). M. Bahär has drawn an
1 Isfandyädh in Dïnawarï, 28, 82 and Nibäyai al-irab} 2o6ff; cf. Yäqüt 1. 351.
2 See Skand-gumäntk Vicar, ed. J. de Menasce, (Fribourg-en-Suisse, 1945), x. 67.
3 Murüj 11. 40. 4 Ibid., 118.
6 See Nöldeke, Nationalepos> § 30; Christensen, Kayanides, i4off; Molé, “ Garshâsp et les
Sagsâr”, 131, n. 12; for the opposite view see Spiegel, Eran. Alterth. 1. 714fr. and Wikander,
Vayu, 162.

4 6 9
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

interesting parallel between the epic of Rustam and Isfandiyär and that
of Achilles and Hector, comparing Gushtäsp with Agamemnon and
suggesting that the Iranian legend was an adaptation of the Homeric
model during the period of cultural interaction among the Greeks and
eastern Iranians after Alexander’s conquest,1 Although the fact that
Rustam, unlike Hector, is not killed (even though almost defeated) by
his antagonist remains a weakness in this comparison, Greek influence
in some aspects of the legend cannot perhaps be entirely ruled out.
An intriguing report by Ctesias (Pers., z. io) calls the usurper who
seized the throne after Cambyses’ death Sphendadates (Isfandiyär).
This Median name, which corresponds to the Avestan form, raises the
question whether the legends of Isfandiyär did not owe something to
myths or events of western Iran. Marquart suggested an ancient cult of
Spantö.däta in the West,2partly on the basis of the identification of the
Khazar god T'angri Khan with a figure which according to a late
source “ the Persians call Aspandiat”.3 But the evidence is too meagre
to be conclusive.4
Legends about Isfandiyär must have gained in popularity and at­
tracted extraneous material in the compositions of Parthian bards. The
Arsacids traced their descent to him, as did the Sasanians. Tabari5calls
him al-Fahlavïj “ the Parthian”.

THE T H IR D KAYANIAN PERIOD

In the Islamic sources the account of this phase presents a confused

mixture of elements from eastern and western sources. Memories of
the events which took place under the Achaemenians are reflected in
these accounts, mostly filtered through Greek, Babylonian and Judaic
materials and often in distorted form.6 The redaction of this section of
the national history is comparatively late, some of it even post-Sasanian.
Bahman, although not mentioned in the Avesta, is a popular figure
in the Pahlavi literature. In a passage in the Zand I Vahman Yasht7
Ohrmazd shows Zoroaster a vision of the favoured future kings in the
form of a tree. Gushtäsp and Bahman are likened to gold and silver
1 A sâtïr-i Irâtty Iviüff.
2 “ Iberer und Hyrkanier**, Caucasien vin (Leipzig, Î931), 87-8.
3 The history o f the Caucasian Albanians by Movsês Dasxuranci [Kafankatuaci], tr. C. J. F.
Dowsett (London Oriental Series 8, Oxford, 1961), p. 156 (11.40).
4 See Boyce, “ Zariadres**, 473, n. 4. 5 1. 683.
6 See E. Yarshater, “ List of Achaemenid Kings in Bïrünï and Bar Hebraeus”, Birm i
Symposium (Columbia University, New York, 1976), 32B 7 iii. 20-9.

470
 T H I R D KAYANIAN PERIOD

branches, respectively, whereas the other kings, namely the Parthian

Baläsh, Ardashlr Päpagän, Bahräm Gör, and Khusrau I, are represented
by inferior metals. The Dênkard vm. 7.5 refers to “ Bahman the Just”
and “ the most efficient figure in the Mazdayasnian community Gardlzl
calls him the best of all Persian kings.1 Most probably he represents a
local ruler of the Zoroastrian community after Gushtäsp. Later, how­
ever, it appears that elements from the surviving memory of Achae-
menian kings, Cyrus in particular, were attached to legends about
Bahman. He is said to have built a number of cities in Babylonia and
Mësân,2 having freed the Jews from captivity in Babylon, having
restored the Temple in Jerusalem,3and having adopted Judaism for a
while.4According to Hamza, 38, the Israelites identified Bahman with
Cyrus in their histories. Bahman’s identification with Artaxerxes I
Longimanus (464-424 b . c .) is based, as Nöldeke points out,5 on a
pseudo-scholarly confusion by Syriac writers using Greek sources.
Bïrünî actually records6 the Greek form of the title “ Longimanus”
(mqrwsr, Gk. fiaKpo^eip).
Bahman’s daughter Humäy (Mid. Pers. Humäg)7 is generally iden­
tified, at least in name, with Humäyä,8 a daughter of Vistäspa, whose
fravasi is celebrated in Yasht 13.139, while Yasht 9.29 implies that she
was taken prisoner, together with her sister, by Arjäsp. The Shäh-näma
elaborates upon the episode9and recounts their deliverance by Isfandiyär
when he captures Rô’ïn Dëz. Thus Firdausi knows two Humäys, one is
Gushtäsp’s daughter, whose hand Gushtäsp promises at one point to any­
one who will volunteer to avenge Zarër’s blood,10and who later becomes
a prisoner of the Turanians ; the other is Bahman’s daughter and wife,
who has the title of Chihr-äzäd (“ of noble birth”) in Islamic sources
and about whom the Avesta furnishes no information. The story of
Humäy’s abandoning her infant son Därä in the water, of his being
brought up by a laundress, and of his then finding his way to the court
and finally making his claim to the throne is a variation on a familiar
legend found repeatedly within and outside Iran. The account of her
reign in Islamic sources shows the same admixture of reports that we
1 P. 15 ; cf. Dïnawarï, 29-30, Tabari 1. 687.
2 Tabari 1. 686-7; Hamza, 37-8; Tha'âlibï, 173.
3 Dïnawarï, 29; Mujmal, 30. * Ya'qübï, 29.
5 Tabari, 3, n. i. 6 Athär, 111.
7 Khumânï in Tabari 1. 654 etc. and most other Arabic sources; Humäya in Mas‘üdï,
Murüj ii. 129; Khumäy in Tha'älibi, 389fr. 8 Bartholomae, 1834.
9 Pp. 1360, 1613. 10 Shäh-nama, 1755fr; cf. Ayädgär i Zarêrân, 11.

471
 I R A N I A N N A T I O N A L HISTORY

find in the case of Bahman. Humäy is said to have fought many battles
against Greece (Rum) and to have had Greek prisoners build lofty
monuments in Stakhr, resembling those of Rüm.1 Hamza2 identifies
the monuments with ha^är sutm (“ a thousand columns”, i.e. the
Persepolis complex).3 Gardïzï (15) says that she transferred the capital
from Balkh to Ctesiphon. Her next-of-kin marriage (khwêdâdah) to
Bahman,4 however, reflects an attested old custom. Hamza5calls Humäy
Shamïran (Semiramis ?) also, and Wilhelm Eilers has included Humäy
among a series of legendary women whose life stories echo in part the
legend of Semiramis.6
With the two Däräs we come closer to historical figures. Därä I (the
Great) shows some aspects of Darius I’s rule. Gardïzï (16) records a
number of administrative reforms by Därä which are reminiscent of
those of Darius. His main rôle in the Iranian tradition, however, is to
sire Därä II and Alexander, and thus provide a link between the Iranian
royal house and Alexander : Därä marries the daughter of the king of
Rüm, but finding her to have bad breath, sends her back to Rüm, where
she gives birth to Alexander. The groundwork for this legend and
the legends of Alexander as they appear in Iranian tradition was pro­
vided by the adaptations of the romance by the pseudo-Callisthenes,
a fictional account of Alexander which was translated into Middle
Persian towards the end of the Sasanian period.7 It is unlikely, however,
that much of this fiction would have found its way into the Khwadäy-
nämag itself, since Zoroastrian antagonism towards Alexander was
strong.8 In secular literature, however, considerable elements of his
legends must have become popular already in pre-Islamic times. A
Syriac translation made from the Middle Persian adaptation of the
pseudo-Callisthenes exists. This translation was later rendered into
Arabic and then into Persian. No doubt it contributed to an increase in
Alexander’s popularity as a national hero, particularly since a modifi­
cation in the original story now characterized Alexander as a son of
Därä I and a half-brother of Därä II.
Islamic sources give a fairly full account of Alexander legends based
on the pseudo-Callisthenes,9a fact which indicates that the two aspects
of Alexander’s story were current side by side in Sasanian times. This
1 Tabari i. 690. 2 p. 38. » See also Mujmalt 30.
* Shäh-näma, 1755F. 6 P. 38.
6 Semiramis, 39. ? See Nöldeke, Alexanderroman, i4ff; Nationalepos, § 15.
» Cf. Nöldeke, Nationalepos § 15.
»Tabari 1. Ö93ff; Hamza, 39-40; Tha'âübî, 399fr; Ibn al-Balkhï, 57-8; Mujmaly 61;
DInawari, 3iff; Nihäyat al-irabt 213ff.
47*
 T H E ARS A C I D S

should not surprise us. A parallel may be seen in the dichotomy of

feeling in Iran today over the Arab conquest, and also in the fact that
many Persians have named their sons after Chingiz and Hulagu, the
Mongol conquerors of Iran.
The later Kayanian kings are all heroes of popular legends and folk
romances in which Iranian, Greek and Islamic elements are discernible.
Among these are two lengthy folk epics of love and war, the Däräb-
näma and the Flrü^shäh-näma,* based on oral traditions. Humäy, Därä,
Alexander, Därä’s sons Firüzshäh and Därä’s daughter Röshanak are
among their chief personae.

h i

histo rica l periods in th e na tio n a l tr a d itio n

TH E ARSACIDS

Arsacid history was almost passed over altogether in the Khwadäj-nämag,.

Consequently, the account of these kings is very brief in all the Islamic
sources. Firdausi2 states that he has heard only their names, and winds
up their entire history in 20 lines. Their period was regarded as one of
disunity and chaos, when a number of petty kings ruled and the fortunes
of the Iranians were at low ebb. Hamza3practically declares it the dark
age of Iranian history, when “ no one cared to acquire knowledge or
wisdom”, until Ardashlr arose. The “ Letter of Tansar” goes much
further and in a spiteful indictment of the Arsacids calls their period a
time when the world was full of fiends and beasts in human shape, with
no culture or education, and when nothing but corruption and ruin
emerged. The cities turned into deserts and cultivation into waste.4
This disparagement is set in contrast to a glowing picture of Ardashir’s
well-organized and cohesive empire.
There is no doubt that Parthian history was neglected and distorted
as a consequence of Sasanian antagonism. This antagonism is clear not
only from the derogatory tone of the accounts derived from Sasanian
royal circles about the nature of Arsacid rule,5but also from the account
given of the extermination of the Arsacids at the hand of the early
Sasanians. According to a tradition cited by Tabari (1. 823), when
Ardashir and Shäpür I became king, they eradicated the Arsacids in
1 See Z. Safa (ed.), Däräb-näma-yi Tarsüsi i(Tehran, 1344/1965), pp. xiiiff; W. Hanaway,
Love and War (New York, 1974), pp. 4S., 12S. 2 p.1923.
3 P. 23. 4 Nâma-yi Tansar, 39.
5 See Näma-yi Tansar, 40, 42; Tabari 1. 814; Hamza, 22, 23.

473
 IR A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

fulfilment of a vow by their ancestor Säsän, son of Därä, to the effect

that if he should become king he would not leave a single Arsacid alive.
Sasanian propaganda described the Arsacid rule as the product of
Alexander’s insidious design and a disaster to Iranian sovereignty. It
presented the Sasanians, in particular Ardashir, on the other hand, as
champions of national unity and restorers of past glories. Of course,
Ardashir did not in actual fact break with the Parthian norms so
abruptly. The great inscription of Shäpür I at Ka‘ba-yi Zardusht does
not confirm an all-out effort by either Ardashir or Shäpür to centralize
political and military power. On the contrary, the dignitaries of the
great houses who were prominent during Parthian times joined the
Sasanian court, and the titles of the provincial kings were preserved,
although now borne mostly by Sasanian princes.
The exaggerated contrast noted above must belong largely to the
time of Khusrau I and his father Kaväd, and echoes their attempt at
effecting a more tightly organized governmental structure, with the
king of kings grasping the reins of power firmly, while the authority of
the nobility was curtailed. To impart authority to his policies, Khusrau
attributed them, as the “ Letter of Tansar” shows, to Ardashir and
transferred opposite practices to the Arsacids. This view of the Arsacids
must have been emphasized even further after Khusrau II as a defensive
measure against the prevailing political chaos and repeated challenges
to the central authority of the Sasanian state. It is also probable that
Bahräm Chôbîn, by reviving through his rebellion the spectre of
Arsacid legitimacy, contributed to a more negative view of the Arsacids.
In Firdausi’s account1 of his challenge Bahräm argues fervently for the
right to the throne of the Arsacids, to whom he traces his own descent,
pointing to the questionable lineage and the decadence of the Sasanians.
Even though the story of Bahräm as it appears in the Shäh-näma is
fictionalized, such arguments cannot but reflect the actual position that
Bahräm had taken. The authors of the latest version of the Khwadäj-
nämag under Yazdgird III had therefore more than one reason to slight
the history of the Arsacids and vilify their policies, particularly since
Yazdgird was a grandson of Khusrau II, who had been challenged by
Bahräm.
The view that the account of the Arsacids in official Sasanian circles
took a particularly negative turn after Hurmazd IV, although more
favourable accounts of them existed earlier, gains credence with the
1 Shäh-näma, 2695, 2701.

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testimony of vestiges of Arsacid history as understood in Parthian times.

One such testimony is their genealogy, which is variously traced to
Därä,1 Isfandiyär,2 Kai Kaväd,3 Ash son of Siyävush,4 and Ärish the
Bowman (of the time of Manüchihr).5 Such a line of descent can hardly
be attributed to the Sasanian genealogists, who were less than anxious
to prove Arsacid legitimacy. It must, therefore, derive from the Parthian
period.
Other evidence is the commonly benign treatment of individual
Arsacid kings in Islamic sources. Thacalibi depicts them generally as
just and valiant. Interestingly, he says of Afqür Shäh (Pakores)6 that he
recovered the Käviyän banner and took good care of it. Seeking to
avenge Därä’s blood, he fought against Rüm, killed many Rümïs and
levelled many of their fortresses. He returned to Iran what Alexander
had taken away in medicine, astronomy and philosophy. The Bm­
dahishn (xxxv. 8) calls the Arsacids the practitioners of righteous rule
(asö-xwatäylti). The tradition preserved in the Dênkard (iv. 24) regard­
ing the collection of Avestan texts during the Parthian period under
Vologeses (Baläsh) is another indication that the Parthians were viewed
favourably. Contrary to what we find in the “ Letter of Tansar”, the
author of the Nihäyat al-irab relates a tradition according to which the
Arsacids (Mulük al-tawä’if) “ were eager after wisdom and culture, and
. . . in their time were written the books of Kalïla wa Dimna, Sindbäd,
Luhräsf. . . ”7In the “ History of Qum” we find the building of a fairly
large number of villages and townships attributed to Arsacid princes,
among them Miläd b. Jurjin, Kai b. Miläd, Bahräm b. Jüdarz (Gödarz)
and Jurjin b. Miläd.8 Thacälibi (45 8ff.) relates a number of anecdotes
and entertaining stories about the Arsacid kings that he says he found
in his sources. They must generally derive from oral traditions of
Parthian times.
Again, contrary to reports of the rooting out of the Arsacid family,
we find a number of Arsacid nobles in positions of prominence in
Sasanian times. One is the powerful chief minister {bu^urgfarmadhär)
under Yazdgird I and Bahräm V, Mihr Narsë, whose descent is traced
by Tabari to Kai Ashak.9Another is Bahräm Chöbin, as already noted.10
1 Tabari 1. 704, 709; Hamza, 21; Bïrünï, 115, 117; Tha‘âlibi 457; Mujmal, 59.
* Tabari 1. 708. 8 Ibid., 709.
4 Ibid., 710; Mas'üdi, Murüj 11. 136; Bïrünï, 113; Tha‘âlibï, 457.
5 Shäh-näma, 2695 (by implication of Bahram Chôbïn’s claim).
6 In the text, Aqfür. 7 P. 216. 8 Târïkh-iQum, 65, 66, 69-82, 84, 85.
9 i. 869; cf. Nöldeke, Tabari, 109, n. 1. 10 Shäh-näma, p. 2693.

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 I R A N I A N NATIONAL HISTORY

The lists of Arsacid kings in Islamic sources are confused and curtailed.
The longest, given by Hamza1on the authority of Bahram b. Mardän-
shäh, a Möbad of Färs, contains fifteen names ; the shortest, by Firdausi,2
consists of nine. Although these lists in Islamic sources include the
names of some known Arsacid kings, such as Ashk, Baläsh, Gödarz
and Ardavän, they do not conform to the list of the main Arsacid
branch as known from coins and classical sources. Most probably in the
Islamic sources the names of the dynasts from different Arsacid branches
have been mingled, many others having fallen into oblivion. The regnal
years are even less trustworthy, ranging between a total of 499 years3
and 244.4
Although the historical tradition has kept very little of Arsacid
factual history, the deeds of a number of Arsacid princes are mirrored,
as was noted above (pp. 45 8f), in the heroic stories of the national epic.
Were we better informed about events in eastern Iran in Parthian times,
we should probably have found a good many of them echoed by the
adventures of Iranian kings and nobles as told by Firdausi.
Next to the Kayanian, the Parthian period must be counted as the
most important heroic age, prompting much heroic literature. Oppor­
tune princely patronage fostered this literature, but its survival for
long centuries and through Sasanian times must be attributed in large
measure to its vigour and literary quality.

T H E SASANIANS

The accounts of the early Sasanians in Islamic and Pahlavi sources are
less detailed and factual than is to be expected of a dynasty which kept
records at court and had a well-developed scribal and administrative
system. In the extant accounts of the kings the entertaining, rhetorical
and moralizing elements outnumber those of historical fact and ob­
jective detail. Stories and legends are told at every turn. One notable
exception is the objective account of Ardashlr, the founder of the
dynasty, particularly that of his early career, as given by Tabari (1.
814fr.). Tabari’s account is probably not taken from the Khwadäy-nämag,
because his version does not occur with such detail in other early
Islamic sources, nor is it entirely complimentary. Read carefully, it
depicts Päpag as an ambitious ingrate, and Ardashir as a usurper in his
own house. It stands in sharp contrast to the romanticized and highly
1 P. 14. 2 Loc. cit. 3 Tabari 1. 710-11. 4 Ibid., 706-7.

4 7 6
 T H E SASANIANS

favourable account of the Kärnämag. Tabari’s account is most probably

based on an independent history of Ardashlr which found its way into
Islamic tradition.
The history of the relations between Iran and Rome and their wars
during the reigns of the early Sasanian kings is often cursory, rhetorical
and laden with fiction and whimsical tales. The Armenian question
never finds an adequate statement, the treatment of the problem of
minorities is haphazard, and the wars of succession before Shäpür II,
notably between Bahräm III and Narsë, are practically ignored.
With Yazdgird I, the information given about each king becomes
generally more factual, and yet the facts are somewhat selective. A
balanced account of events with the necessary dates and details, or a
clear analysis of policy, motives and personalities, is missing. Instead,
we are treated to a selective picture of significant occurrences. Details
of foreign policy and incidents which are devoid of narrative interest or
entertainment potential were apparently omitted from the Khwadäy-
nämag. So were details of administration and military logistics. Pageantry,
on the other hand, provides a major topic. The coronation of kings,
their throne-addresses, scenes of banqueting, merrymaking and the
hunt, the reception or dispatch of envoys, military reviews, arrays of
arms and equipment, and gifts received or bestowed are described
vividly. (See above pp. 402ff for a reflection of Sasanian conditions in
the national history.)

The Sasanian historical tradition continued in both oral and written

form after the invasion of the Arab armies and afforded the people a
measure of pride and solace when their fortunes were overcast. In the
9th and 10th centuries, under the aegis of the Saffarids and the Samanids,
Persian versions of the national history, in both prose and verse,
emerged. By giving it a magnificent and enduring expression, Firdausi
provided his compatriots with a superb instrument of national identity,
as well as a source of inspiration for the troubled centuries to come.

477