The Persian Empire
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In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh [Book of Kings], Thraetaona, the Avestan vanquisher of Azhi Dahaka, appears as Fereydun, who fights and defeats Zahhak (the Avestan Azhi Dahaka), a tyrant with monster-like features and attributes. Fereydun’s mother is Faranak and his father is Abtin, a descendant of the legendary king of the Pishdadian dynasty, Jamshid, who appears as Yima in the Avesta. In the Avesta, the birthplace of Fereydun is Varena. In the Islamic era, some authors, such as Maràshi, claimed that Fereydun was born in Varak, a village in the district of Larijan in Tabarestan (present-day northern Iranian province of Mazandaran). Other authors, such as Tabari, wrote that he was born in Damavand, north of Tehran and in close proximity to Larijan (Maràshi: 105).
Fereydun’s father, Abtin, is murdered by the evil and tyrannical King Zahhak, who has seized the throne after killing the reigning monarch, Jamshid. To save her son from the fate visited upon his father, Fereydun’s mother, Faranak, flees with Fereydun to a farm, where the boy survives by drinking the milk of a cow named Barmaye. When the boy reaches the age of 3, Faranak and Fereydun are forced to seek refuge in the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran, where Fereydun lives in hiding until he is 16 years old.
A revolt erupts in response to the cruelty and brutality of Zahhak. The leader of the rebellion is the blacksmith Kaveh, who locates Fereydun in his mountain hideout. Fereydun comes out of hiding and marches against Zahhak. After a fierce battle, Fereydun defeats the evil king. Zahhak is brought in chains to a cave on the summit of Mount Damavand in the Alborz mountain range of northern Iran.
After overthrowing Zahhak, Fereydun rescues the sisters of King Jamshid, Arnavaz and Shahrenaz, who were held as 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. By the age of 50, Fereydun has three sons. The mother of the first two sons is Shahrenaz, while the third has been born to Arnavaz. Searching for three princesses who could marry his sons, Fereydun dispatches an ambassador to the court of the king of Yemen, who has three daughters, and asks for their hands for his three sons. In response, the king requests that Fereydun’s three sons travel to his country so he can meet his future sons-in-law. The three sons of Fereydun meet with the king of Yemen, who consents to the marriages. As his sons and their brides are returning to the court, Fereydun decides to test their characters. Thus, he turns himself into a fire-breathing dragon and waits for them along the road. When Fereydun’s first son sees the roaring dragon blocking the road, he flees quickly, declaring that a wise man should never become engaged in a confrontation against such a monstrous and dangerous dragon. The second son snatches an arrow, places it on his bow, and approaches the dragon, saying that he is not frightened by the sight of a terrifying monster and will fight it if he must. Unlike his two older brothers, the third son walks fearlessly up to the dragon and demands that he remove himself from the road because he is confronting the three mighty sons of King Fereydun. Fereydun, having tested the character and courage of his sons, disappears and returns home.
Illustration depicts the legendary king Fereydun receiving the envoy from his two sons, Salm and Tur. Fereydun is best known in Greater Iran’s legendary history as the hero who defeated the tyrant Zahhak (Dahak) and liberated his people from the yoke of injustice and oppression. Fereydun divided his kingdom among his three sons, giving Rum to Salm, Turkestan to Tur, and Iran and India to his youngest son, Iraj. A conflict erupted among the three sons, which resulted in the murder of Iraj by his two brothers. (San Diego Museum of Art/Gift of Edwin Binney III/Bridgeman Images)
Once the three sons and their new brides arrive home, Fereydun bestows a name on each of his sons. The oldest, who reacted with prudence toward the dragon, is named Salm. The second son, who displayed bravery and courage, is called Tur, and the third son, who had demonstrated extraordinary prudence and courage, is named Iraj. After consulting with his astrologers and confidants, King Fereydun divides his vast kingdom among his three sons. Salm receives the lands of the west, principally Rum (Byzantium) or Asia Minor; Tur is allotted the eastern provinces, the lands of the Turks (Turan); and Iraj receives the middle kingdom, which is centered in Greater Iran. This division ignites the jealousy of the two older brothers toward Iraj, for he is believed to have received the best kingdom among the three. Salm writes to his brother Tur and expresses his outrage at the injustice of being the oldest son and yet receiving a faraway land as his royal inheritance. Tur, who shares his older brother’s disappointment, rushes to visit Salm. Once together, the two brothers compose a message to their father and dispatch an ambassador to hand-deliver it to Fereydun. In their message they complain about the injustice of receiving kingdoms at the ends of the earth, while Iraj has been bestowed the best kingdom in the world. They demand that their ailing father remove Iraj from the throne of Iran and banish him to a faraway place. After receiving the message from his sons Fereydun is outraged, but he is even more shocked by the response from his youngest son, Iraj, who suggests that he should step down from the throne as a means of appeasing his two older brothers. After further conversation between Iraj and Fereydun, who has by now recognized the evil nature of his two greedy sons, Iraj travels to the camp of his two brothers to negotiate a peaceful resolution to their dispute. Through a letter, Fereydun informs his two older sons that Iraj has decided to abdicate the throne and that his only expectation is that they treat Iraj with kindness and compassion. Instead of receiving their youngest brother with kindheartedness and magnanimity, however, Salm and Tur, who are outraged by the serene composure of Iraj and his popularity among their troops, murder him despite his pleas for mercy. They then send the decapitated head of Iraj to their father, who is devastated by the criminal behavior of his two sons. In the midst of lamentations and mourning for his ill-fated son, Fereydun is informed that Mahafarid, a wife of Iraj, has given birth to a beautiful girl who resembles her father. Fereydun raises the child as his own and, when she reaches the appropriate age, arranges for a marriage between her and one of his nephews. A son is born from this union who is named Manuchehr (Manōchihr). Fereydun appoints Manuchehr as his successor and raises him as an educated and honorable young man. When they hear of the rise of Manuchehr to power and prominence at the royal court, Salm and Tur, who are frightened by the prospect of a confrontation with the young prince, dispatch an ambassador with gifts to express their love for him and convey their regrets and apologies for murdering his grandfather. In response, Fereydun sends a threatening message to his murderous sons, informing them that they will soon meet Manuchehr on the battlefield. Not long after the army of Iran, led by Manuchehr and marching behind the standard of Kaveh, the blacksmith who had revolted against the tyrant Zahhak, clashes with the combined forces of Salm and Tur. After a long campaign Manuchehr’s forces prevail, and Tur is killed on the battlefield. The remainder of the enemy forces retreat to a fortress, but Manuchehr proves to be a relentless fighter and warrior who is not willing to end the battle until and unless he has either captured or killed Salm. This task is accomplished in the next battle between the two armies. The victorious Manuchehr then sends a message to Fereydun informing the great king of his impressive victories. When Manuchehr returns to the court of Fereydun, he dismounts and kisses the ground to greet the great king. Fereydun takes Manuchehr’s hand and places him on the throne. Fereydun dies shortly after the victories over Salm and Tur, and Manuchehr ascends the throne as the new king. But the wars between Iran, which is named after Iraj, and Turan, which is named after Tur, continue for several generations. Indeed, the long wars between the two powerful kingdoms form the central theme of the Shahnameh.
See also: Legendary Kings: Faranak; Jamshid; Kaveh; Zahhak
Further Reading
Bundahishn. Edited by Mehrdad Bahar. Tehran: Tus Publications, 1991.
Bundahishn-e Hendi. Translated and edited by Roqiyeh Behzadi. Tehran: Moasese-ye Motale
at va Tahqiqat-e Farhangi, 1990.
Ferdowsi. Shahnameh. Edited by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. New York: Mazda Publishers, 1997.
Ibn al-Balkhi. Farsnama. Edited by G. Le Strange and R. A. Nicholson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921.
Maràshi, Mir Seyyed Zahir ud-Din. Tarikh-e Tabarestan va Ruyan va Mazandaran. Edited by Mohammad Hossein Tasbihi. Tehran: Sharq Publishers, 1967.
Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahishn. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Pahlavi Texts, Part III: Dina-i Mainog-i Khirad. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Sunjana, Peshotun Dustoor Behramjee. The Dinkard. 1876; reprint, n.p.: CreateSpace, 2013.
Tafazzoli, Ahmad. “Ferēdūn.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1999, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/feredu-.
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.
The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Gayomard
Gayomard (Gayomart) is the name of the first man in Zoroastrianism. It is also at times the name of the first king in the legendary history of Greater Iran. His name appears as Gaya Maretan (Mortal Life) in the Avesta, the Zoroastrian holy book (The Zend-Avesta, Part III: Yasna, 13.7, 68.22; The Zend-Avesta, Part III: Visparad, 21.2). In Pahlavi texts, Gayomard appears as the first man as well as the first king. Gayomard is the primeval and androgynous being, “the pure man” from whom “the whole human race is said to have sprung” (Pahlavi Texts, Part II: Dadistan-i Dinik, 2.10, 105n4). He is created by the great god Ahura Mazda in Airyanem Vaejah or Eranvej, the mythical homeland of the Iranian people. Before creating Gayomard, Ahura Mazda brings forth “a sweat upon Gayomard,” making “that sweat into the youthful body of a man of fifteen years, radiant and tall” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 3.19), “brilliant and white, with eyes which looked out for the great one” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 24.1). As with all the creations of Ahura Mazda, Gayomard is brought into the world to assist the wise lord in his struggle against the evil spirit Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) and his army of demons.
The magnificence and brilliance of Gayomard draws the attention of Ahriman, who unleashes an army of 1,000 demons under the command of the demon of death and dissolution, Astvihad, against the mortal man (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 3.21). Gayomard’s “appointed time,” however, has not come, and Astvihad cannot murder him for 30 years (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 3.22). According to the Bundahishn, “when the opposition of the evil spirit came, the period of the life and rule of Gayomard was appointed for thirty years,” and Gayomard said, “Although the destroyer has come, mankind will be all of my race” (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 3.22–23). Thus, Gayomard lives for 30 years in tussle and tribulation before he is finally killed. As he is dying the seed of Gayomard falls to Earth, and that seed is “thoroughly purified by the light of the sun” and after 40 years gives birth to a rhubarb plant (Persian: rivas) (Pahlavi Texts, Part I: Bundahishn, 15.1). It is from the stalks of this plant that the first man and woman, Mashya and Mashyanag, come into existence. According to the Pahlavi text Dadistan-i Dinik, Gayomard is destroyed but comes back to the world “as a man and a woman” (Pahlavi Texts, Part II: Dadistan-i Dinik, 37.82, 105n5). According to Biruni, the evil spirit Ahriman devours Gayomard “from the head, and when he had come as far as the testicles and the spermatic vessels in the loins, two drops of sperma fell down on the earth,” and “out of these drops grew two Ribas bushes … from among which Mesha and Meshana sprang up, i.e. the Persian Adam and Eve,” who were called by “the Zoroastrians of Khwarizm” “Mard and Mardana” (Biruni: 107, 39). Mashya and Mashyanag eventually emerge as the ancestors of the human race. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Gayomard is designated as the first human to be raised from death when the day of resurrection arrives. His resurrection is followed by those of Mashya and Mashyanag.
In Greater Iran’s legendary history, Gayomard (New Persian: Kayumars or Kiyumars) is not only the first man but also the first king of the world. The historian Tabari wrote that the Zoroastrians considered Gayomard as Adam, the father of humanity (Tabari: 1.9, 1.93). Tabari also stated that the Persians viewed Gayomard as the father of the Iranian people who had a son called Mashi and a daughter, Meyshan or Mishan (Tabari: 1.9). Another author of the Islamic era identified Gayomard as a king who “ruled on a mountain and was called Garshah, the king of the mountain” (Ibn al-Balkhi: 9). The Iranian scholar Biruni wrote that “the Persians call the first man Gayomarth, with the surname Girshah, i.e. ‘king of the mountain,’ or, as others say, Gilshah, i.e. ‘king of the clay.’ … People say that his name (Gayomarth) means ‘a living, rational, moral being’” (Biruni: 107, 2–107, 8). As a mountain dweller, he lives in caves and dresses himself in animal skins (Mustawfī: 81). In the Shahnameh [Book of Kings], the Persian poet Ferdowsi describes Gayomard as the first man as well as the first king. He organizes an army under the command of his son, Siyamak, to battle the evil spirit. The evil spirit, however, counters by assembling his own forces, and when the two armies clash, Siyamak is killed on the battlefield. The news of his son’s death devastates Gayomard, who mourns for a year. A year after Siyamak’s death, the angel Sorush delivers a message from God that Gayomard should cease weeping and mourning and instead organize an army against the evil spirit. Gayomard has raised Siyamak’s surviving son, Hoshang/Hushang, and loves him dearly. The grandfather and grandson raise an army and march against the evil spirit and his followers, inflicting a devastating defeat on the army of the demons. As the first ruler of the world, Gayomard introduces law and justice and forces wild animals to submission. After a reign of 30 years, he dies and is succeeded by his grandson Hoshang, who ascends the throne as the founder of the Pishdadian dynasty.
See also: Legendary Kings: Hushang; Pishdadian; Religion: Airyanem Vaejah
Further Reading
Biruni, Abu Rayhan. Athur ul-Bakiya [Vestiges of the Past]. Translated by C. Edward Sachau as The Chronology of Ancient Nations. London: W. H. Allen, 1879.
Ferdowsi. Shahnameh. Edited by Djalal Khaleghi-Motlagh. New York: Mazda Publishers, 1997.
Ferdowsi, Abulqasem. Shahnameh. Translated by Dick Davis. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.
Ibn al-Balkhi. Farsnama. Edited by G. Le Strange and R. A. Nicholson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921.
Mustawfī, Hamdallah. Tarikh-i Guzida. Edited by Edward G. Browne. Leyden: E. J. Brill, 1910.
Pahlavi Texts, Part I: The Bundahishn. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Pahlavi Texts, Part III: Dina-i Mainog-i Khirad. Translated by E. W. West. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Shaki, Mansour. “Gayomart.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2012, http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/gayomart-.
Tabari. Tarikh-e Tabari, Vol. 2. Translated from Arabic into Persian by Abol Qassem Payandeh. Tehran: Asatir Publications, 1984.
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.
The Zend-Avesta, Part I: The Vendidad. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
The Zend-Avesta, Part II: The Sirozahs, Yashts and Nyayish. Translated by James Darmesteter. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
The Zend-Avesta, Part III: The Yasna, Visparad, Āfrīnagān, Gāhs, and Miscellaneous Fragments. Translated by L. H. Mills. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1965.
Gēv
Gēv is one of the most prominent heroes of Iran’s legendary history. He is a highly respected court dignitary and army commander as well as a highly esteemed dignitary at the courts of Iran’s Kay
anian monarchs, Kay Kavus and Kay Khosrow. According to the Persian epic poet Ferdowsi, Gēv is descended through his paternal grandfather from Kaveh, the blacksmith who raised the flag of rebellion against the evil and tyrannical King Zahhak. Gēv’s father, Godarz, as well as his son, Bijhan (Bejhan), also play a significant role in the legendary history of Greater Iran.
Gēv is a central figure in the search for Kay Khosrow, who lives with his mother somewhere in the kingdom of Turan, Iran’s neighbor and fierce enemy. Kay Khosrow is the son of Prince Siyavash and the Turanian princess Farangis, the daughter of the Turanian monarch Afrasiyab. When Kay Khosrow is born, his father, Siyavash, has already been beheaded by order of the Turanian king. Afrasiyab also plans to murder Kay Khosrow’s mother, his own daughter Farangis, but the intercession of his influential adviser, the Turanian dignitary Piran, saves the life of the princess and her child. Kay Khosrow is raised among shepherds, with distant supervision from Piran.