The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  Illustration from Shahnameh [Book of Kings], the masterpiece of the Persian epic poet Abul Qasem Ferdowsi, depicts the legendary Iranian prince Esfandiyar confronting the mythical bird Simorgh. A prince of the legendary Kayanian dynasty, Esfandiyar was killed on the battlefield by Iran’s greatest legendary hero Rostam when Simorgh instructed Rostam to make an arrow from branches of a tamarisk (gaz) tree and aim it at Esfandiyar’s eyes. (Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma/Wentz-Matzene Collection, 1936/Bridgeman Images)

  Desperate to save his son from humiliation and death at the hands of Esfandiyar, Rostam’s father, Zal (pronounced as Zāl) appeals to the legendary bird Simorgh for assistance. As an infant, Zal was abandoned by his father Sam (pronounced as Sām). Zal only survives after Simorgh carries him to her nest, where she raises him as one of her chicks. Zal is finally recovered by his father and brought back to Sistan, where he is appointed as the crown prince. Before leaving Simorgh, however, the bird gives him a handful of his feathers, telling him to burn a feather whenever he is in desperate need of assistance and support. Zal has already burned one of the feathers when his wife was pregnant with Rostam and had difficulty giving birth to her child. Upon burning one of the feathers, Simorgh appears and rescues both the mother and the child by performing a Caesarean section. Now for the second time, Zal burns a feather of Simorgh, and when the bird appears, he explains the dilemma that he and his son confront. Simorgh immediately attends to Rostam’s wounds and removes Esfandiyar’s arrows from his body. She then uses her healing techniques to revive Rostam’s horse, Rakhsh. By moving her feathers on the wounds of Rostam and Rakhsh, she stops the bleeding and cures their gashes, tears, and cuts. Once she has healed their injuries, Simorgh reveals the secret of fighting and defeating Esfandiyar. The Kayanian crown prince can only be killed if Rostam cuts a branch of a tamarisk tree and converts it to an arrow by flattening it and then soaking it in wine, arming it with a sharp arrowhead, attaching feathers to its end, and finally discharging it at the eyes of Esfandiyar. The next day at dawn Rostam, armed with his newly designed arrow, appears at the camp of Esfandiyar and calls on the warrior prince to meet him face-to-face. Remaining convinced of the necessity of reconciliation, Rostam pleads with Esfandiyar to end the hostilities. He goes as far as promising the prince that he is willing to travel to the court of King Goshtasp, apologize for any past missteps, and submit himself to any punishment that he may deserve. Esfandiyar, however, repeats the same threatening and insulting statements he had uttered in their previous encounters. Recognizing that any reconciliation with Esfandiyar is an impossibility, Rostam draws his new arrow and discharges it against the prince, targeting his eyes. Struck by the arrow, Esfandiyar falls from his horse and dies shortly after. Before he dies, however, he makes Rostam promise that he will raise and train his son, Bahman, as his own son. Esfandiyar also blames his father Goshtasp for his death.

  See also: Legendary Kings: Goshtasp; Rostam; Simorgh; Zal

  Further Reading

  Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh. Persian Myths. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993.

  Ferdowsi, Abolqasem. Shahnameh. Edited by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. New York: Mazda Publishers, 1997.

  Ferdowsi, Abulqasem. Shahnameh. Translated by Dick Davis. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

  Faramarz

  Faramarz is a hero and a warrior in Greater Iran’s legendary history. A son of Rostam, the greatest of Iran’s national heroes, Faramarz participates in the campaigns of his father. He commands the Iranian army fighting the Turanian king Afrasiyab, the fiercest enemy of Iran, who is also responsible for the murder of his own son-in-law and Iran’s crown prince, Siyavash. Faramarz defeats and kills one of Afrasiyab’s allies, Varazad, and subsequently seizes the son of Afrasiyab, Sorkha, hence playing an important role in the victory of Iran over Turan. Faramarz continues to participate in various military campaigns and engagements, accompanying his father and serving as a military leader. When Rostam is killed, Faramarz avenges the death of his father by attacking and capturing the city of Kabul and executing its king, who had hatched the plot to murder Iran’s greatest hero. Faramarz is then dispatched by Kay Khosrow, the ruler of Iran, to a campaign against India.

  Though the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi does not include the story of the conquest of India by Faramarz in his Shahnameh, the account of that campaign forms the core of another book, Faramarz Nameh [The Book of Faramarz]. The story of Faramarz’s accomplishments and adventures is also included in Banu Goshasp Nameh [The Epic of Banu Goshasp]. There are various and contradictory accounts of Faramarz’s death. Some state that he was killed by Bahman, the son of the Kayanian crown prince Esfandiyar, while others maintain that Faramarz and Bahman concluded a peace treaty. At least one source maintains that Faramarz’s end comes in Kashmir after he falls from his horse. According to this account, the body of the deceased hero is transported to his home province of Sistan, and his remains are buried next to his father, Rostam.

  See also: Legendary Kings: Esfandiyar; Kay Khosrow; Rostam; Siyavash

  Further Reading

  Ferdowsi. Shahnameh. Edited by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. New York: Mazda Publishers, 1997.

  Ferdowsi, Abulqasem. Shahnameh. Translated by Dick Davis. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

  Khaleghi-Motlagh, Djalal. “Farāmarz.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1999, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/faramarz.

  Faranak

  In Iranian mythology, Faranak is the mother of the hero Fereydun. A daughter of the king of the Scythians, Faranak marries Abtin (Aptin), a descendant of the great king Jamshid, a legendary monarch of the legendary Pishdadian dynasty. Soon after Faranak gives birth to their son Fereydun, Abtin becomes aware of the evil and murderous intentions of the tyrannical King Zahhak, who has seized the throne after killing the reigning monarch, King Jamshid. Seeking to avoid a similar fate for himself, Abtin tries to flee the king’s henchmen but is hunted, captured, imprisoned, and eventually murdered.

  To save her son from the fate visited upon his father, Faranak flees with Fereydun to a distant farm, where she begs the owner to allow her son to receive nourishment by drinking the milk of a beautiful cow named Barmaye. The owner agrees to offer refuge to Faranak and her son. When the boy reaches the age of three, the evil King Zahhak and his henchmen discover Faranak’s hideout, but before their arrival, Faranak and Fereydun escape, this time finding refuge in the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran. Zahhak, who is haunted by fear of being dethroned and imprisoned, continues to search for Faranak and her child. Enraged by his failure to capture them, the cruel king exacts his revenge by killing the kind and beautiful cow Barmaye who had acted as the second mother to Fereydun.

  Fereydun lives in hiding until he is 16 years old, when he comes down from the mountains to visit his mother. The reunion between the mother and the son allows Fereydun to inquire from his mother about his father. In response, Faranak reveals the tragic story of the family. After hearing about his father, Fereydun vows to exact revenge and punish the brutal and tyrannical Zahhak for his heinous crimes.

  Fereydun is destined to emerge as the leader of a popular revolution led by the blacksmith Kaveh. Kaveh revolts against the tyrant Zahhak after the king’s henchmen detain his sons. The demonic monarch murders young men and feeds their brains to the serpents that have grown out of his shoulders. Thus, his title in Persian mythology is “Mardush” (Serpent Shoulder). His endless demand to sacrifice innocent human beings to feed his hungry serpents outrages his subjects, who out of fear of retribution do not protest his monstrous crimes. Kaveh, however, refuses to allow his sons to be sacrificed without voicing his outrage. The blacksmith walks into the palace of Zahhak and protests the detention of his sons. After listening to Kaveh’s protest, Zahhak orders the blacksmith’s sons to be released but demands that in return for this display of royal mercy and compassion, Kaveh sign a proclamation that declares the cruel and brutal king to be a just and upright ruler. This demand enrages Kaveh, who tears u
p the document and storms out of the palace. As he leaves the palace, Kaveh places his blacksmith’s leather apron on a long pole to use it as his banner. Crowds gather around Kaveh, and his protest quickly turns into a mass uprising. The rebellious blacksmith and his supporters march to the Alborz Mountains seeking Fereydun, who is hailed as the legitimate king. Fereydun emerges from his hiding place, raises an army, and marches against Zahhak, whom he defeats. Zahhak is dragged in chains to a cave in the summit of Mount Damavand in northern Iran. After overthrowing Zahhak, Fereydun rescues the sisters of King Jamshid, Arnavaz and Shahrenaz, who were being held hostage by Zahhak, and marries them. Thus, Fereydun exacts his revenge on Zahhak for the death of his father while at the same time removing an evil and oppressive king from the throne and ushering in a new era of prosperity and justice.

  The narrative above is based on the story of Fereydun as presented by the epic poet Ferdowsi in his Shahnameh [Book of Kings]. The character of Fereydun was, however, much older than the Shahnameh. Fereydun first appears in the Zoroastrian holy book, the Avesta, as Thraetaona, “the heir of the valiant Athwya clan,” who offers a sacrifice in Varena, located according to some scholars in present-day Gilan or Mazandaran on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Aban Yasht, 61). Thraetaona begs the goddess Anahita to give him a boon so he can overcome and defeat Azhi Dahaka, the “three-headed, the three-mouthed and the six-eyed” monstrous dragon who “has a thousand senses.” The Avesta also describes Azhi Dahaka as “the most powerful, fiendish Druj [the lie], that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Druj that Angra Mainyu [the evil spirit] created against the material world, to destroy the world of good principle” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Aban Yasht, 61–62). The Azhi Dahaka of the Avesta worships Anahita in a castle in the land of Bawri, identified by some scholars as Babylon. The victorious Thraetaona defeats the three-headed and six-eyed monster Azhi Dahaka and drags him in chains to a cave in the summit of Mount Damavand in the Alborz mountain range of northern Iran. In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Thraetaona is transformed to Fereydun, and Azhi Dahaka is metamorphosed to the tyrant king Zahhak.

  See also: Legendary Kings: Fereydun; Kaveh; Zahhak

  Further Reading

  Ferdowsi. Shahnameh. Edited by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. New York: Mazda Publishers, 1997.

  Ferdowsi, Abulqasem. Shahnameh. Translated by Dick Davis. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

  Mir Seyyed Zahir ud-Din Maràshi. Tarikh-e Tabarestan va Ruyan va Mazandaran. Edited by Mohammad Hossein Tasbihi. Tehran: Sharq Publishers, 1967.

  Tafazzoli, Ahmad. “Ferēdūn.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1999, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/feredu-.

  The Zend-Avesta, Part II. Translated by James Darmesteter. Oxford: Clarendon, 1883.

  Farangis

  In Iranian legendary history, Farangis is the eldest daughter of Afrasiyab, the king of Turan and the most formidable enemy of Iran. She is also the wife of the Kayanian crown prince Siyavash. The child born from the marriage between Farangis and Siyavash is Kay Khosrow, who eventually emerges as the third king of the Kayanian dynasty. The life of Farangis is inexorably linked to the tragic life of her husband, Siyavash, and to the tumultuous and heroic career of their son, Kay Khosrow.

  Although he is the crown prince, Siyavash never ascends the Kayanian throne. Instead, because of a conflict with his father Kay Kavus, Siyavash is forced to flee his homeland for Turan, whose monarch, Afrasiyab, is viewed as the most dangerous enemy of Iran. At first Afrasiyab welcomes Siyavash and showers him with honors and gifts. Afrasiyab also arranges a marriage between the Kayanian prince and his daughter Farangis. Soon, however, the warm relationship between Siyavash and Afrasiyab deteriorates as a result of intrigues by jealous courtiers and members of Afrasiyab’s own family, particularly the Turanian king’s brother Garsivaz. Garsivaz claims that the Iranian prince covets the Turanian throne for himself. In response, Afrasiyab sends an army against Siyavash, who surrenders without a fight. The Kayanian prince is then brought in fetters to the royal court of Turan, where he is beheaded by order of Afrasiyab. Afrasiyab also plans to murder his own daughter, Farangis, but the intercession of his influential adviser Piran saves the life of the Turanian princess, who gives birth to a boy named Kay Khosrow shortly after the murder of her husband.

  Kay Khosrow and his mother, Farangis, eventually escape to Iran and are welcomed by Kay Kavus, who designates his grandson as the crown prince. Kay Khosrow grows up in the court of his grandfather to become a handsome, brave, and well-educated prince. To avenge his father’s death, Kay Khosrow raises an army and marches against his maternal grandfather, Afrasiyab. The Iranians and Turanians fight numerous campaigns before Kay Khosrow manages to defeat and kill Afrasiyab. The victorious Kay Khosrow returns home from this successful military campaign and after ascending the throne, he rules for 60 years.

  See also: Legendary Kings: Afrasiyab; Kay Kavus; Kay Khosrow; Siyavash

  Further Reading

  Ferdowsi, Abulqasem. Shahnameh. Translated by Dick Davis. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.

  Khaleghi-Motlagh, Djalal. “Farangīs.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1999, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/farangis.

  Kia, Sadeq. Mah-e Farvardin Ruz-e Khordad. Tehran: Iran Kudeh, Number 16, 1952.

  Skjærvø, Prods Oktor. “Kayāniān VII, Kauui Haosrauuah, Kay Husrōy, Kay Kosrow.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2013, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kayanian-vii.

  Yarshater, Ehsan. “Iranian National History.” In The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 3(I), edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 359–480. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  Fereydun

  Fereydun is a hero and a king in the legendary history of Greater Iran. In the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book, he appears as Thraetaona, “the heir of the valiant Athwya clan” who offers a sacrifice in Varena (present-day Mazandaran on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea) (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Aban Yasht, 33). Thraetaona begs the goddess of waters, Anahita, to give him a boon so he can overcome and defeat Azhi Dahaka, “the three-headed, the three-mouthed and the six-eyed” dragon who “has a thousand senses” (The Zend-Avesta, Part III: Yasna, 9.33). Thraetaona is celebrated as a son of the heroic Athwya, who defeats the dragon Azhi Dahaka, the “three-jawed and triple-headed, six-eyed, with thousand powers, and of mighty strength” (The Zend-Avesta, Part III: Yasna, 9.8).

  In the Avesta, Azhi Dahaka is further described as “the most powerful, fiendish Druj [the lie], that demon, baleful to the world, the strongest Druj that Angra Mainyu [evil spirit] created against the material world, to destroy the world of good principle” (The Zend-Avesta, Part II: Aban Yasht, 33–34). The Azhi Dahaka of the Avesta also worships Aredvi Sura Anahita, the goddess of waters, in a castle in the land of Bawri, which has been identified by some scholars as Babylon. The victorious Thraetaona defeats the three-headed and six-eyed monster Azhi Dahaka and drags him in chains to a cave on the summit of Mount Damavand, north of present-day Tehran.

  In later Pahlavi texts such as the Bundahishn, Thraetaona appears as Ferēdun the Āspiyān, the son of Purtora the Āspiyān and a descendant of Yima (Jamshid) (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 31.7). In these sources, Ferēdun is identified as the hero who exacts vengeance for Yima and vanquishes Azi Dahak but cannot kill the defeated enemy. According to Shayast La-Shayast, Ferēdun intends to slay the demonic Dahak, but the great god Ahura Mazda orders him not to, “for the earth will become full of noxious creatures” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Shayast La-Shayast, 20.18). Thus, Ferēdun captures Dahak and drags him in chains to a cave on the summit of Mount Damavand in northern Iran (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 29.9, 31.8; Pahlavi Texts, Part III: 27.38). Ferēdun, who rules for 500 years, has three sons: Salm, Tuj (Tur), and Ērich (Iraj) (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 34.6, 31.9). Salm and Tuj conspire and murder their younger brother Ērich and his two sons, but Ferēdun keeps the daughter of Ērich in hiding. From this daughter a girl is born, and though her mother is
also killed, the female baby is raised by Ferēdun, and eventually after 10 generations a prince called Manushchihr (Manuchehr) is born (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 31.11). In exacting revenge for the death of Ērich, Manushchihr kills both Salm and Tuj (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 31.12).