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PERSIA


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THE STORY OF THE NATIONS.Large Crown Svo., Cloth, Illustrated^


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Entered at Stationeis* HrilBy T. Fisher Unwin

Copyright by G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1887(For the United States of America)

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PREFACE.

The author wishes to call attention to the factthat the scope of this work is entirely different fromthat of the volume recently published by him,entitled " Persia and the Persians." The latter workis intended to give a description of Persia as it is;while the present volume is a history of Persia,as it has been, offering a narrative of the most note-worthy characters and events of that ancient empirefrom its foundation in prehistoric times.This work differs from other histories of Persia in

giving more proportionate attention to the legendaryperiod of her history than is usual with those whohave dealt with this subject, as well as to the greatcareer of the House of Sassan, which, in the opinionof the author, has never received full justice fromthose Christian historians who have undertaken aconnected history of Persia. On the other hand, thelong period between the Saracen invasion and therise of the Sefaveans has been presented so fullyelsewhere, and offers so few really salient points thatare distinctly connected with the development ofPersia as an independent monarchy, that it hardlyseemed best to give more than a mere outline ofthat period in a volume whose limits are circum-scribed.


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VI PREFACE.It seems to be the established rule for historians

to refer to the authorities they have consulted. Theauthor may therefore state that he has, in thepreparation of this volume, made use of the variouswell-known authorities on the subject ; but it isscarcely worth while to present a list of them here.Those writers who are dead will not be disturbed byany departure from their opinions or any new pres-entation of the facts they recorded; while livingauthorities can see for themselves whether the authorhas agreed or disagreed with their conclusions.

In several instances, as in regard to the characterand career of Chosroes Parveez, or the quality ofPersian military talents and courage, the author hasfound it impossible to arrive at exactly the sameconclusions as many writers on Persia. A longresidence in various parts of the East, includingseveral years in Persia, has led the author to forma higher and, he thinks, a more just estimate of thecharacter of Orientals than many European writersare willing to concede to them. For the rest, theauthor commits this little work to the reader withthe hope that he may find " The Story of Persia "not unworthy a place by the side of the histories ofGreece and of Rome.

S. G. W. Benjamin.


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CONTENTS.

PAGEFeridoon 1-23

Founders of Persia, IShah Djemsheed, 2-5Royalstandard of Persia, 8Imprisonment of Zohak, loDaughters of Yemen, 12Treachery of Serv, 15Feri-doon's test, 17Murder of Iredj, 21Feridoon's ven-geance, 23.

II.Zal . , 24-33

Minoutchehr ascends the throne, 24Sahm's white-hairedson, 25Zal, governor of Seistan, 26Roodabeh's love,27Wedding festivities, 33.

III.RUSTEM 34-42

Capture of Sipend, 35Death of Minoutchehr, 36Turkish invasion, 37Kel Kaoos, 38Soudabeh's adven-tures, 39Afrasiab defeats the Syrians, 40Embarkationof Rustem, 41Rustem's victory, 42.

IV.SOHRAB ........ 43-50Loss of Kaksch, 43Marriage of Rustem and Tehmimeh,

44Birth of Sohrab, 44Sohrab seeks his father, 45Siege of White Castle, 46Gurdaferid, 47Treachery, 48Royal missive, 49Reconciliation of Rustem and KelKaoos, 50.


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Viil STORY OF PERSIA,V.

PAGESOHRAB AND RUSTEM 5 1-65

Death of Zendeh Rezm, 52Conflictbetween the Persiansand Touranians, 56Meeting of Rustem and Sohrab, 57Death of Sohrab, 64Tehmimeh dies of grief, 65.

VI.

SlAWUSCH 66-81Finding of a queen, 66Birth of Siawusch, 67Trial byfire, 69Siege of Balkh, 70Hospitality of Afrasiab, 71Marriage of Siawusch, 73Accusations, 74Death, 75Kei Khosroo, 76Piran-Wisa's deceit, 77Rustem killsSoudabeh, 78Victory of Kei Khosroo, 8l,

VII.KE*f Khosroo, or Cyrus .... 82-97Territory of Persia, 83Touranians, 84Cyaxares and the

Medes, 86Sect of fire-worshippers, 87Zoroaster, 88Subduction of Media, 89Croesus, 90Capture of Baby-lon, 91Warning of Belshazzar, 94Death of Belshazzar,95Death of Cyrus, 96Cyrus' tomb at Passargadas, 96.

VIII.From Cyrus TO Darius 1 98-1 11

Succession of Cambyses, 98Subjugation of Egypt, 99Smerdis beheaded, 100Death of Cambyses, loiElectionof Darius, 102Inscription at Behistoon, 103Extensionof Persian empire, 105Expedition against Greece, 107Battle of Marathon, 109.

IX.Xerxes . .... 11 2-1 25Personal appearance and temperament, 113Army, 114Canal through Mt. Athos, 115Thermopylae, 116Battlesat Artemisium, 117; at Salamis, 118Retreat of Xerxes,121Battle of Plataea, 122Defeat of Persians at Mycale,124Xerxes assassinated, 125.


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CONTENTS. ixX.

PAGEPersia until the Invasion of Alexander . 126-140

Artaxerxes Longimanus, 126Rebellion of Megabyzus, 127Xerxes II., 128Degeneracy of Persian monarchy underDarius Nothus, 129Treachery of Tissaphernes, 130Cyrus the Younger purchases services of Greek mercenaries,132Battle of Cunaxa, 133Retreat of the Ten Thousand,135Ochus, 136Siege of Sidon, 138Murder of Arta-xerxes III., 139Darius Codomanus, 140.

XI.Darius Codomanus and Alexander 141-157

Rout at the river Granicus, 141Reduction of Phoenicia,142Defeat of Persians on the plains of Arbela, 143Alexander enters Persepolis, T44

Alexander's feast, 145Assassination of Darius, 146Intermarriage' between Ma-cedonians and natives, 147The mystic plane-trees, 148Death of Alexander at Babylon, 149Pitho, satrap ofMedia, 150Seleucia, capital of the Greco-Persian empire,151Elements of discord, 151Revolt of Diodatus, 154Shepherds of Parthia, 156Rhages or Rhei, 157.

XII.The Parthians 158-170

Arsaces I., 158Mithridates the Great, 161Murder ofPhraortes, 162Defeat of the Romans, 163Ctesiphon,164Campaign of Marc Antony, 166Final check to theRomans, 167Vologeses I., 168Destruction of Seleucia,i6q.

XIII.The House or Sassan . . . 171-178

>J Rise of the Neo-Persian power, 172Artaxerxes or Ardeshirdeclares Persia independent, 173War with Rome, 174Faith of Ormuzd, 175The Zendavesta, 176Religiouscharacter of the Persian revolution, 177.


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X STORY OF PERSIA.XIV. PAGE

S4P0R 1 180-189Daughter oi M?Jii?en5 180Recovery of Nisibis, 181Imprisonment and death of Valerian, 182Cultivation ofthe arts, 183Dyke of Shuster, 184Manichoeism, 185-^Death of Sapor, 186.

XV.Persia until the Reign of Sapor II. . 190-206

Death of Manee, 190War of Sapor II. v^^ith Rome, 192Julian the Apostate masses his forces at Antioch, 194Rejects peaceable propositions of Sapor, 195Massacre ofpopulation at Hit, 197Race for Ctesiphon, 199Julianburns his fleet, 200Death of Julian at Samarah, 202Retreat of the Romans, 203.

XVI.iAOM Sapor II. to Chosroes I. . . 207-225

Death of Sapor I., 207Isdigerd I., 208Boyhood ofVarahran, 209Peace with the Romans, 210Ephthalitesor White Huns, 2HVictory of Varahran, 213Refind-ing of an old love, 216Perozes, 217Restoration ofZoroastrianism in Armenia, 218Mazdak the reformer,219Deposition of Kobad, 220Restoration to the throne,22XDestruction of the Mazdakites, 223Renewed hostili-ties with Rome, 224Death of Kobad, 225.

XVII.Chosroes I., surnamed Anurshirwan . 226-236

Conspiracy against Chosroes crushed, 226Execution ofMazdak, 227Justice of Chosroes, 228Establishment offixed taxes, 230Chosroes founds university of Shapoor,231The Augustan period of Persian history, 232Ex-pulsion of Abyssinians from Arabia, 233Lazic war, 234Siege of Petra, 235Death of Chosroes, 236.


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CONTENTS, XIXVIII.

PACKChosroes Parveez 237-266Insult to General Bahram Shobeen, 237Death of Hormazd,238 Coronation of Chosroes II., 240 Flight fromCtesiphon, 242Seeks aid from the emperor at Constanti-nople, 243Defeat of Bahram, 244Revolt of Vastam,245Shireen, 246Friendly relations with Maurice, 247War in Syria, 248Siege of Jerusalem, 249A proud hourfor Persia, 250Dastagerd, 252Oath of Heraclius, 254The star of Persia wanes, 255Retreat of Chosroes, 256Campaigns in Asia Minor, 259Siege of Tiflis, 260Battle near Nineveh, 261Heraclius sacks Dastagerd, 262Conspiracy of nobles, 265End of the "Great King," 266.

XIX.The Mohammedan Conquest of Persia . 267-282Coronation of Siroes, or Kobad II., 267Murder of all the

brothers of Kobad, 268Pestilence, 270Insurrection anddeath of Shahr Barz, 271Coronation of Isdigerd III., 272Campaign against the Saracens, 273Repulse of thePersians, 274" Day of Concussion," 275Rustem slain,276Fate of the leathern standard of Kaweh, 27SFall ofRhei, 279Defeat of the Persians near Nehavend, 281.

XX.Persia under the Mohammedans . . 283-294

Crushing of Zoroastrianism, 283Firdousee, 284Ismail,Shah of Persia, 288Shah Abbass the Great, 290Rule ofthe Afghans, 291Aga Mohammed Khan, 292Feth AleeShah, 294,


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

RUINS OF PERSEPOLIS ....PALACE GUARDCONE OF MT. DEMAVEND ....KING SLAYS EVIL GENIUSREPRESENTATIONS OF PERSIAN MYTHOLOGYANAHITA, OR PERSIAN VENUS .AHRIMAZDAOCYRUSANCIENT SCULPTURE , .GATEWAYS, PALACE OF DARIUS, PERSEPOLISANCIENT PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE .FIRE-ALTARPILLAR^ BASE AND CAPITAL, PERSEPOLISRELIEF AT BEHISTOON ....TOMB OF CYRUSDARIUS HUNTSMAP^-PERSIAN EMPIRE UNDER DARIUS .GATEWAY OF XERXES (PERSEPOLIs)HEAD OF DARIUS .PERSIAN ARCHITECTUREXERXES' SEAT AT SALAMISRELIEF PLATFORM OF XERXES AT PERSEPOLISTOMB OF ESTHER AND MORDECAIRELIEF ON THE STEPS OF XERXESDARIUS AT ISSUSALEXANDER AND FAMILY OF DARIUSCOIN OF MITHRIDATES 1.RUINS OF PALACE AT HATRA .

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PAGB

Frontispiece.7

face

II19293841475363697379859398100106.109119123131137143153161i6S


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THE STORY OF PERSIA.COIN OF ORODESCOIN OF ARDESHIR I. ' .ORMUZD .RUINS OF CASTLE OF THE FIRE-WORSHiPi'ERSHEAD OF SAPOR I. .ROCK SCULPTURE NEAR SHAPOORSAPOR I. PERSIAN SCULPTUREPERSIAN CAVALRYMAN .SCULPTURE AT TACHT-I-BOSTANCOIN OF SAPOR II. .HOUSEHOLD FIRE-ALTARVARAHRAN V. IN BATTLECOIN OF VARAHRAN V.COIN OF CHOSROES I.PALACE OF CHOSROES I., CTESIPHONCEMETERY OF THE 20ROASTRIANSRATSCH-RUSTEMCOIN OF PEROZESCOIN OF CHOSROES II.DOMESTIC FIRE-ALTARCOIN OF ISDIGERD III.TOMB OF AVICENNASHAH ABBASS THE GREATMOSQUE AT KOOM .NADIR SHAH .MAPMODERN PERSIAAGA MOHAMMED KHANFETH ALEE SHAHYOUNG PERSIAN GOVERNOR (mODERn)

16717.3

179183187189

205209211

223225229

247249255257263269

. 277face 283

. 285

. 289

. 293

In the preparation of the illustrations for this volume, use has been made of theClates

in " History of Persia from the Most Early Period to the Present Time,"y Col. Sir_ John Malcolm, K.C.B., K.L S., London, 1815, and " Geschichte desAlten Persiens." von Dr. Ferdinand Justi, Leipzig, 1879, to the publishers ofwhich works I desire to express my acknowledgments.T, FISHER UNWIN.


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THE STORY OF PERSIA.

FERIDOON.

The legendary period of Persian history beginsfar back in the mists of time. It is the custom toassume that legend means tiction ; but historians arenow beginning to perceive that the legends of a na-tion are often not only more interesting and poeticthan what is called its authentic history, but thatthey really suggest actual facts, while nothing can bemore fascinating than the study of such legends. Nocountry has more attractive legends than Persia;and to judge from them we cannot avoid theconclusion that no nation now existing has such acontinuous vitality as the old land of Cyrus andXerxes.The founder of the Persian nation was Kaiomurs.He also had the title of Gilshah, or king of the

world. He established his capital at Balkh. Thewild beasts of the forests acknowledged hissway. They paid obeisance at his throne. Kaio-murs made it his ambition to civilize the savage

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2 THE STORY OF PERSIA.tribes of Asia. In these noble efforts he encount-ered violent opposition from the barbarians calledDeeves ; and he sent against them his handsomeson Siamek, with a powerful army ; among his auxil-iaries were lions and tigers eager for the fray. ButSiamek was slain in the battle which followed amongthe mountains, and great was the lamentation of all.Siamek had a son named Houscheng. He was

placed at the head of a host that went forth toavenge the death of his father ; and the Deeveswere at last subdued. Kaiomurs died soon after thisevent, and Houscheng, wise, prudent, and just, suc-ceeded to the throne. It was in his reign that thePersians became fire-worshippers, adoring flame asthe symbol of God. Thamauras succeeded Hous-cheng, and he in turn was followed by Shah Djem-sheed, who is one of the most celebrated monarchsof Persia. Djemsheed, during a reign of many years,accomplished much for the advancement of his peo-ple. He introduced the use of iron, and the weav-ing and embroidering of woollen, silk, and cottonstuffs ; and divided his subjects into four castes orclasses : priests, warriors, and traders ; the fourthcaste was composed of husbandmen, who bore thename of Nesoudi. Of this class the Persian poet,Firdoiisee, wrote : ** They render homage to no one ;they labor, they sow, they harvest, and are nour-ished in the fields of the earth without injury toany one. They are subject to the orders of none,although their clothes are humble, and their ear isnever struck by the clamor of slander. They arefree ; and the tillage of the earth is their right ; they


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FERIDOON. 3

have no enemies ; they have no quarrels." It mustbe admitted that this is a somewhat poetic and rose-hued description of a farmer's condition.Shah Djemsheed also enlisted the subject Deevesinto the service of making bricks, of which the in-vention is attributed to him. He is likewise creditedwith the employment of hewn marble in the con-struction of buildings, with the discovery of per-fumes, the arts of healing, the invention of ships, andmany other useful means for benefiting the race. Itwas Djemsheed also who instituted the No Rooz, orNew Year, at the time of the spring solstice, a festi-val still celebrated in Persia with many ceremoniesduring ten days. He seems indeed to have been amost puissant, beneficent, and glorious king formany peaceful years, until, as the legend records, hishead was affected by the height of power which hehad reached ; then he became arrogant and recog-nized no other greater than himself, and forgettinghis Creator, assumed himself to be the sole architectof his greatness. The priests and people trembledwhen they heard his high utterances, for they fore-saw that it meant his downfall. They realized whata later king wisely said : " Pride goeth before de-struction."The favor of God was withdrawn and Persia be-

came torn with discord. It was in vain that thehaughty monarch besought the divine pardon whenit was too late. On the western boundaries of Persiawas a nation whose armies flew to battle on swifthorses and bearing long spears. They had forking, Mardas, widely known for his valor and virtues.


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4 THE STORY OF PERSIA.To him was born a son who was named Zohak, whoat first seemed destined to rival the noble qualitiesof his father. But ambition proved the ruin of hischaracterambition of which a great poet had said," by that sin the angels fell." The Evil One in hu-man form came to Zohak and tempted him to slayhis father and seize the throne. Zohak first hesi-tated, but ended by carrying out this fell design.Having led him thus far in inquity, the dark spirit con-tinued his influence over Zohak, who was now in hispower, having sold himself to evil.

Having reached this point, the Devil, in the guiseof a favorite servant, said to Zohak : *' O king, liveforever, full of content and power! my heart is fullof love for thee, and to behold thee is all that I desire.I have but one desire to ask of the king, even if thishonor be above my deserts ; it is that he permit meto kiss his shoulders, and that I touch them with mineeyes." Zohak perceived not the design of the Evil Onein making this seemingly simple request, and there-fore granted it. An extraordinary result followed,for from each of the shoulders of the king sprouteda black serpent. Struck with horror, Zohak searchedeverywhere for a remedy, and finally caused thereptiles to be cut off at the shoulders. But beholdthey grew forth again like branches of a tree. Atlast the Evil One, in the guise of a skilled physician,presented himself before Zohak, and advised him todo no injury to the serpents, but to feed them withthe brains of men, in the hope that they must thusultimately perish. Was this a subtle design tocause the destruction of mankind ? Thus early do


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FERIDOON. 5we see the superstition of man selling himselfto the Devil illustrated in Persia as in Europe. Allare familiar with similar tales in European legendsof the dark ages.

It was after these remarkable events that greatdisturbances broke out in Persia ; on all hands wasdiscord and strife. Djemsheed, belying his formercharacter, became an odious tyrant ; pretenders tohis throne raised insurrections. Finally, a faction, indespair, turned to the west and implored the aid ofZohak against the sovereign who had now becomethe greatest enemy of his people. Zohak invadedPersia, and Djemsheed, defeated in battle, tookflight, abandoning his throne to Zohak. For manyyears he abode in exile concealed. When all sup-posed him dead and had quite forgotten him, theexile returned, hoping to create a rising in his favor.But Zohak caused him to be seized unawares andsawn asunder.Thus was the fall of the great Djemsheed. Butthe good deeds he accomplished in the first half of

his reign have caused his memory to live, and to thepresent time the Persians look back with pride tothe splendor of their country in the days of ShahDjemsheed. But Persia groaned under the tyrannyof Zohak. She had simply exchanged one tyrantfor another, and that one worse than his predecessor.Each day two young men of the flower of Persia'syouth were slain to gratify the furious hunger of theserpents of Zohak But in time the servitors, whoacted as executioners and cooks, devised a schemeof slaying a sheep in the stead of one of the human


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6 THE STORY OF PERSIA.victims, and permitting him to escape, on conditionthat he fled the country in order that their stratagemmight not be discovered.

Finally Zohak dreamed a dream which causedhim to summon all the mobeds, or wise men, intohis presence to interpret his vision. Long theyhesitated, until one of their number, Zirek, stoodforth and dared to tell the king that the dream fore-told the coming of a great and good prince, whoshould hurl him from the throne and bind him inchains on the mountains. On coming to his sensesafter falling into a swoon from fear, Zohak sent mes-sengers into every quarter of his empire to searchout and bring to him the fateful prince. Theysought in vain. But Feridoon, for such was hisname, was daily growing in strength and preparingfor the noble task assigned to him by Providence.He was the son of Abtin, grandson of Shah Djem-sheed, and Firanek, daughter of Thehour, king ofthe isles of Madjin.Learning that a glorious son had been born toAbtin, Zohak caused Abtin to be seized and ex-ecuted. But Firanek escaped with Feridoon, andplaced him in charge of a gardener, who had a cow ofextraordinary beauty and lineage, named Purmajeh,which secretly nourished the infant for three months.But the secret became divulged, and when the motherheard that the servants of Zohak were coming tosnatch her child from the garden, she flew hither,and was able to carry Feridoon to the moun-tains of Elborz before the coming of the king'sexecutioners.


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FERIDOON.Years went by and Feridoon reached manhood, and

descended to the plains to try his fortune. About thattime Zohak, oppressed by the terrors of conscience,called an assembly of his nobles, and required themto sign a document asserting that his reign had beenbeneficial to Persia. While this transaction was inprogress a cry of justice washeard at the palace gate,and a man named Kaweh,a blacksmith, was broughtinto the presence of theking. *' Who hath wrongedthee ? " demanded Zohak.Kaweh replied, that heasked justice and redressfor the sixteen sons whohad been slain one by oneto appease the serpents ofZohak. But one remained,and he in turn was doomedto the same fate. Withfrantic and terrible wordsthe blacksmith made the r>^ -i^*^proud and cruel monarchtremble. Appalled by the rage and sorrow of afather, whose language seemed like the cry ofdoom, Zohak ordered the only remaining son ofKaweh to be restored to him. And then he badehim sign the document which the noblemen hadalready signed. On learning its purport, Kawehburst into fierce invectives against the craven nobleswho had yielded to the wishes of Zohak, and tearing

PALACE GUARD.


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8 THE STORY OF PERSIA.the document in twain, rushed forth from the palacewith shouts of vengeance.

In the market-place a throng gathered aroundthe blacksmith, who summoned the world to riseand restore justice to her throne. Placing hisleathern apron on a spear he proceeded through thecity, calling on all to follow this standard and sum-mon Feridoon to deliver them from the chains ofZohak. Feridoon accepted the invitation of the in-surgents, and proclaimed the leathern apron as theroyal standard, causing it to be adorned with goldand precious stones and fringed with gayly coloredembroideries. From that day, until the Mohamme-dan conquest many centuries later, the rude leathernapron of Kaweh the blacksmith, under the name ofKaweianee, was the standard borne at the head ofthe armies of Persia.

Feridoon having carefully laid his plans, col-lected an army, and accompanied by his two broth-ers, set out against Zohak, fired with a lofty zeal tofree his country and avenge his father's death. Hiswarriors were mounted on swift steeds. On the wayhe was visited by an angel from paradise, who cameto him in his tent at night to foretell the varied for-tunes that he was to encounter and bestow onhim a magic power to overcome the wiles of his foes.But the brothers of Feridoon, aware of the visit ofthe celestial messenger, were smitten with envy, andconspired to slay their more fortunate brother.While he was still sleeping calmly in his tent theyhurled an enormous rock from the brow of a preci-pice, intending it to fall on the tent. But Feridoon


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FERIDOON. 9was awakened by the sound of the rolling rock, andby instantly using the magic power given him by theangel, arrested the stone in its course.The army of the insurgents arrived at last on theshores of the Tigris, and Feridoon with his mountedhost swam across the turbid flood of that famousriver and arrived at the gates of the proud capital ofZohak, whose palace raised its towers to heaven.Feridoon bore an iron mace with a head shaped likea cow's head, in remembrance of the cow Purmajehwhich had nourished him. Since that time the formof a cow has been a talismanic sign, an omen ofgood fortune, in Persia, engraved on seals or appear-ing on maces and shields. The prince smote thegreat gate with his mace, and at the signal his armystormed the walls, burst in the gates, and put thegarrison to flight. Feridoon entered the palace ofZohak, but that proud monarch was gone. In theapartments of the women the victor found twodaughters of Shah Djemsheed, whom he at once lib-erated. From them he learned the hiding-place ofZohak, who it seems was seeking to retrieve his tot-tering fortunes by secret conference with magicians.A swift messenger bore to Zohak the strangetidings of the fall of his capital. Quickly raising anarmy, the usurper rushed home to expel Feridoonfrom his palaces. A terrible battle ensued in thestreets; the populace themselves fought againstZohak, so weary were they of his tyranny. But hesucceeded in penetrating to the palace, and, furiouswith jealousy, was about to slay the captive daughtersof Djemsheed whom Feridoon had rescued and mar-


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lO THE STORY OF PERSIA.ried, but he was met by the young hero, who, insteadof killing Zohak, made him his captive and reservedhim for a more dreadful doom.When the battle was over and the victory of Feri-doon was complete, he marched toward the greatmountain Demavend in the north of Persia, bearingwith him the deposed tyrant in chains. On arrivingat the mountain, Feridoon caused search to be madefor a deep, narrow, sunless defile in the heart of theDemavend, where was a bottomless cavern. Ironclamps were made ; Zohak was stretched on theedge of the precipice over the abyss, and bound aliveto the rock by the clamps, and there they left himto fill the air with his shrieks and groans during thecoming ages.*The first act of the good Feridoon, after mountingthe throne of his ancestors was to send a herald tohis mother Firanek, who was dwelling in a secrethiding-place, to ask her blessing, and announce to herthe good fortune which Heaven had vouchsafed tohim and to Persia. Good fortune favored Feridoonfor many years ; his reign was prosperous, and hispeople happy after their release from the tyranny ofZohak. Three sons were born to Feridoon, andwhen they reached the age of manhood he causedsearch to be made for three princesses worthy ofalliance with the line of Djemsheed. The noble-man who was deputed to this task was Djendil,

* The study of comparative history makes it clear that the story ofZohak is a record in poetic form of an invasion of Persia by the As-syrians at a time when the reigning dynasty of Djemsheed had falleninto degeneracy.


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12 THE STORY OF PERSIA.noted for his intelligence and discretion and famedfor his travels. Far and wide over many landsDjendil made inquiry for three maidens suited bybirth and character to become the daughters-in-lawof Feridoon. But nowhere did he find what hesought until he arrived at the court of Serv, the kingof Yemen. Seeing that in the three fair princessesof Yemen he had at last found the objects of hisquest, Djendil in many lofty and learned phrases,conveyed to the king of Yemen the purpose of hiscoming, and in the name of Feridoon proposed theiralliance with the three princes of the royal house ofPersia.The king of Yemen turned pale when he heardthis message, but replied, good father as he was :" I will consult with my daughters and learn what

is their will in this matter." He was filled withanguish when he thought of having his daughtersgo away from him to a far-off land, whence theymight never return, although he well knew thata marriage alliance with the king of Persia was aglory to be sought after, and also that it is thelot of parents to see their daughters leave themfor other homes when they reach years of maturity.On the other hand the king of Yemen hesitated toaffront so great a monarch as Feridoon by refusingthe honor. He therefore summoned his nobles incouncil and asked their advice.The nobles advised a course rather more haughtythan he felt justified in pursuing, and he therefore

followed his own judgment. He took a middlecourse. Instead of definitely accepting or rejecting


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FERIDOON. 13the offer, he stated that he must first see the threebrothers ; if they would come to his court, and hefound them suited to marry his daughters, he wouldnot withhold his consent. This was an unusual pro-ceeding in an Oriental country, for Persia was morepowerful than Yemen, and it is customary there forthe bride of a prince to go to the home of her hus-band without a previous interview with the father-in-law.

Djendil having received the response of the kingof Yemen, kissed the throne, and returned to hisroyal master, who summoned his three sons when heheard the reply, and advised them as follows : ** Theking of Yemen is head of a numerous people ; he isa cypress that casts a shadow afar. He has threedaughters like pearls ; he has no sons, and thesemaidens are his diadem. I have asked them for you.But it is now necessary that you repair to Yemen,and that you conduct yourselves with prudence andcircumspection ; pay careful attention to all that heshall say to you ; remembering that you are the sonsof a king. Listen, therefore, to my counsel, and ifyou act accordingly you shall reap happiness." The king of Yemen is a man of great shrewdness.He is wise, upright, and powerful. He must on noaccount discover you to be lacking in intelligence,for he will undoubtedly employ devices to test yourcharacter and ability. He will decree a banquet onthe first day in your honor. His three fair daughters,lovely as gardens in spring-time, will be present. Hewill seat them on the throne-royal, and in height andappearance they will strongly resemble each other.


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14 THE STORY OF PERSIA.The youngest of the three will enter first, the oldestwill come last, and the second will come betweenthem. He will place the youngest next to the oldestof you ; the eldest next to the youngest prince, andthe second in age will be seated next to the one of youwhose age is between his brothers. Note this pointwell ; for thus you will avoid a disastrous result.He will ask you, then, to designate the princessesaccording to their age. If you reply correctly hewill decide in your favor."

Carefully pondering the words of Feridoon, thethree princes set out on the long journey to Yemen,escorted by numerous warriors clad in glitteringmail. When Serv, king of Yemen, learned thatthey had entered the borders of his dominion, hesent forward a troop of his bravest chieftains to ac-company them to his capital ; and when the princelybrothers entered the gates of the city, all the peoplecame forth sprinkling them with amber and saffron,and pouring out wine scented with musk. Themanes of the steeds were fragrant with sweet odors,and they trod upon coins of gold scattered broad-cast over the pavement. The palace was decoratedlike paradise ; the bricks of its walls were coveredwith silver and gold and hung with embroideries ofprice.Here the king of Yemen received the princes andas Feridoon had predicted, he now brought his three

daughters hither, glowing in their beauty. Theywere seated exactly in the order the king of Persia hadforetold, and the king of Yemen then asked: " Whichof these stars is the youngest, which is the second,


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FERIDOON. 15and which the eldest ? " The princes rephed as theyhad been advised by their father, and thus at onestroke warded off the wiles of enchantment. Serv,the king of Yemen, and his nobles were astounded.He perceived that artifice was of no avail to keephis daughters at home, and he awarded them, ac-cording to their ages, to the three princes. After con-versing a while as to the future and the plans of theirlives, the three sisters arose and retired to theirapartments, blushing with mortification at the dis-comfiture of their father.After this event, being still unresigned to giving

up his lovely daughters, Serv ordered wine to bebrought and singers to enliven the watches of thenight, and when the three brothers yielded to thewine and fell asleep, he caused them to be laid oncouches by the side of a fountain of rose-water, un-der the stars, where the roses diffused balm overtheir slumber. And then the king retired and,master-magician as he was, devised enchantmentsthat would relieve him of the sad necessity of losinghis daughters. He caused a great cold and a pierc-ing wind to arise, and a frost able to kill the flowersof the gardens, hoping that in their sleep the princesmight be frozen to death. But instead of this theywere awaked by the terrible cold, and by theirsuperior intelligence at once divined the cause ofthis change in the weather, and thus they tookmeans to resist and overcome the treachery towhich they had been exposed.When the sun burst above the mountain tops, theroyal magician flew to the garden expecting to find


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16 THE STORY OF PERSIA.the three princes stiff and stark and dead, and thushis daughters would be left to comfort him in hisold age. But he found the brothers seated on theircouches blooming and alive, and perceived at lastthat against them no arts of his magic could avail.Then the king of Yemen ordered his halls ofaudience to be prepared and the nobles of his realmto assemble. And there, too, came the three maidens,who had hitherto dwelt in seclusion ; they wereadorned with crowns and jewels, and until now hadnever known sorrow. Never yet had trouble touchedtheir fair, dark tresses. And there he bestowed thethree treasures of his heart on the three princes.But in the bitterness of his soul lie said :

"It is not\Feridoon who is the cause of my grief, but I myself.Know that he who hath no daughters shall be spared

the pain of parting with them." Then he said tothe wise men of the kingdom : " Kings are worthyto be husbands of stars like these. Know that Ihave given my beloved daughters to these princes,according to our rites and customs, to cherish andiove them like their own souls."Then the order went forth to prepare all things

agreeably for the journey of the sisters to their newhome. The king spared no trouble nor expense norgifts that would add to the comfort of the journeyof his daughters. Litters carefully arranged forthem were placed on the backs of strong camels,and when all was in readiness the king of Yemenbade farewell to his children and returned alone tohis palace, while they started forth with the threeprinces on the long journey to Persia.


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FERIDOON. 17When Feridoon learned that his sons were return-

ing successful, he went forth to meet them. Anxiousto put their courage to the test, he took the shapeof a terrible dragon, roaring and vomiting flames,and attacked the eldest of the brothers. But theprince said to himself : " A prudent man fightethnot with dragons," and turned and fled. Then thedragon flew at the other brothers ; and the secondbrother said : " What matters it whether it be adragon or a warrior ? " and he drew his bow ; but theyoungest son tarried not afar, but full of fire andfury rushed at the dragon, crying : *' Flee from ourpresence, for we are the sons of Feridoon, lions thatit is fatal for thee to resist ! "Feridoon having thus divined the characters of thethree princes, vanished. But having resumed hisformer shape, he advanced to meet them with greatpomp, and returned thanks to the All-giver for theirsafe and happy return. On arriving at the palacehe summoned the brothers in to his presence andinformed them of the ruse he had practised. Herejoiced at the opportunity he had seized of testingtheir characters, and now for the first time didFeridoon give names to his sons suited to theopinion he had formed of them. The eldest hecalled Selm, the next he called Tour, and the young-est Iredj. As he named them in turn he invokedfor each the blessing of God.After this ceremony Feridoon consulted the horo-

scope to divine the destiny of his sons. He learnedthat the two eldest were destined to success and re-nown, but Iredj, the youngest and best beloved,

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1 8 THE STORY OF PERSIA.

although possessedof such brilliant qualities, wasdoomed to misfortune and a tragical end. Feridoon,

deeply pained by this declaration, now proceededto divide the government of his vast empire amongthe three brothers. To Selm was awarded the do-minion of the western portion, and to Tour theeastern provinces reaching even to China; thisdivision of Asia has, since this event, been calledafter him Touran. But notwithstanding that thestars were adverse to the destiny of Iredj, Feridoonselected him as the ablest to preside over the heartof the empire, or Persia itself.The brothers took charge of the reins of govern-ment, and years passed on during which the empirewas at peace. But Feridoon was growing old andfull of years, and in proportion as their father becamefeeble the two eldest brothers became jealous oftheir brother Iredj, who was destined to take prece-dence of them on the death of Feridoon. Consultingtogether they wickedly conspired and sent an in-sulting message to Feridoon, demanding that Iredjbe deprived of the throne of Iran, and declaring thatif this were not done, they would together lead aninvasion into Persia for the purpose of destroyingIredj and razing the capital to the ground. Thishaughty message was borne to Feridoon by a heraldmounted on a swift dromedary.

Entering a palace whose towers arose towardheaven, and awed by the pomp and magnificence ofthe royal abode, the herald was admitted to thepresence of Feridoon, who was seated on his loftythrone, proud and venerable, with a snow-white beard


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KING SLAYS EVIL GENIUS.SCULPTURE AT PERSEPOLIS.

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20 THE STORY OF PERSIA.

reaching to his waist. The monarch graciously in-quired after the health of his royal sons, and whetherthey continued true to theiaith of their fathers andenjoyed prosperity and peace in their borders. Theenvoy replied : " O glorious king, live forever onthy throne of splendor ! I, the unworthy slave of aking, bring unwillingly to the emperor a hard mes-sage ; he who sends it is responsible, but I am in-nocent. I will repeat, with the king's permission,these inconsiderate words." Feridoon replied :"Speak on." He listened attentively, and his soulkindled with fury. He sent a message in reply to hissons, advising them to repent without delay from therebellious course they had chosen.After this, Feridoon communicated the matter tohis beloved son Iredj ; he informed him that inthis world we can look for no defenders unless weare prepared to defend ourselves, and that his inno-cence and rights were a strong armor to him. Homeruttered the same sentiment in the Iliad when hesaid : *' Thrice armed is he whose cause is just."Feridoon advised Iredj to collect an army andprepare to resist the attack of his brothers, and prom-ised him all the resources of the empire in theconflict.But Iredj replied that it was the desire of his life

to imitate the noble example of his royal father ; todo good and not evil was his aim ; he did not carefor glory and power at the expense of bloodshed,nor did he seek fratricidal strife. Instead of resort-ing to arms, therefore, he asked the permission ofFeridoon to go to meet his brothers Tour and Selm,


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FERWOOA\ 2 1attended only by a few retainers, hoping by words offriendship and peace to abate their jealousy andhate. Finding Iredj firm in his purpose, Feridoongranted the request, but with gloomy forebodings.He gave him a letter-royal for Tour and Selm, andthen Iredj set forth on his journey, strong in the jus-tice of his cause and the purity of his motives. Thetwo brothers were in council surrounded by a greatarmy, when Iredj approached without suspicion ofimpending danger. He met them with a counte-nance showing brotherly affection and kindness ; butthey received him with lowering looks. The hate ofthe two brothers was deepened when they saw theirtroops gazing with admiration on the noble bearingof their younger brother. They upbraided himwith usurping, as they said, the throne of Persia.He replied that the right had been conferred on himunsolicited by their royal sire Feridoon, But ratherthan be the cause of war and blood he would will-ingly resign his rights to them. This generousreply, instead of allaying only increased the wickedfury of the two brothers. Tour drew a dagger andsmote Iredj to the heart. The brothers then em-balmed the head of their poor victim, and sent itwith an insulting message to their aged fatherFeridoon.Anxiously looking for the return of Iredj, the oldmonarch had the walls of his palace re-adorned to

give him a joyous welcome home. Musicians anddancing-women and banquets were in readiness forthe happy occasion. But Feridoon, watching fromthe saddle at the head of his expectant army, only


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22 THE STORY OF PERSIA.discovered a solitary dromedary coming from thedusty horizon, and a rider with sorrowful eyes. Therider bore a case of gold which he presented to theking. With a grim presentiment be caused the caseof gold to be opened. They took thence a cloth ofsilk, and when the silk was unrolled the aged mon-arch looked on the head of his beloved son. Feri-doon fell from his horse in a swoon. When hecame to his senses again he returned to the city onfoot, followed by his army lamenting, and with ban-ners rent in twain.

Pressing the head of Iredj to his bosom, the oldman bent his steps to the now forsaken palace ofIredj. After invoking the curse of the All-justupon the slayers of his son, Feridoon threw himselfon the grass, and with locks wet with dew lay nightafter night under the stars, and all the land weptand bemoaned the sorrow which had come on thegreat king.Although their father was old, yet Tour and Selm

dared not lead an open revolt against him, for hewas still a hero, and in his despair was a danger-ous foe. And soon a son was born to Iredj by hisfavorite wife, Mahaferid. He was named Minout-chehr. But when Tour and Selm heard that the sonof Iredj was a manly youth, w^ho would in time seekto avenge the murder of his father, they devised ascheme to get him into their power. A messengerw^as sent by them to Feridoon, bearing rich gifts andwords of deep remorse for the cruel assassination ofIredj. In token of their repentance they now beggedFeridoon to send to them Minoutchehr, the son of


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FERIDOON. 23Iredj, who should receive from them ample amendsfor the wrong done to his father. But the agedking discerned the craft and wickedness of thebrothers. He bade the messenger return and sayto them that they should not again have it intheir power to deceive him, but to prepare for thesure retribution that awaited them. Conscience-stricken, and well knowing the power of Persia, thebrothers made ready their forces to repel the vasthost which Minoutchehr was leading against them.The young hero had inherited the wisdom of Feri-doon and the virtues of Iredj, and the leathernstandard of Kaweh, resplendent with jewels, whichnever yet had recoiled before the foe, was carriedbefore them. His heart was nerved, too, with astern resolve to destroy the murderers of his father.Victory attended the arms of Minoutchehr. Tourwas first defeated and slain, and after him Selm wascompletely overthrown, and his head was cut off bythe redoubtable sword of Minoutchehr.Having seen his son avenged, Feridoon, the greatand good king, descended in turn to the tomb, oldand full of years, and Minoutchehr succeeded him

on the throne.The greatest poet of Persia has beautifully said :" Feridoon the glorious was not an angel ; he was

not made of musk and amber ; it was by his justiceand his generosity that he won his great renown.Be just and generous, and thou shalt be likeFeridoon."


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II.

ZAL.When Minoutchehr assumed the crown of the

dynasty of the Keianides, he announced his intentionto reign over his vast dominions with humanity Andjustice, and as a servant of God, the ruler of the uni-verse. In the name of all the nobles assembled onthis august occasion, the great Pehlevan or warriorSahm, the son of Neriman, arose and promised theirallegiance and aid in all the plans and enterpriseswhich the young monarch should undertake for thegood of his subjects.The nobles then dispersed, and Sahm returned toSeistan, the hereditary province which was underhis control. The house of Sahm is perhaps the mostcelebrated in the legends of Persia, and had vast in-fluence in shaping her destinies. It is therefore apleasure to give here a narrative of the many ro-mantic events and heroic characters which markedthe career of the great family of Sahm, the son ofNeriman. It came to pass, after the return of Sahmto Seistan, that a son was born to him of extraordi-nary beauty. But although Sahm had longed for ason to perpetuate the line, yet for seven days no onedared announce to the father that a son was born to

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ZAL. 25

him, for the hair of the infant was white. All thewomen of the household were in tears, for theydreaded the result when Sahm should learn of thewhite hair of his child,such an unfortunate omen isit considered in Persia to have light hair and blueeyes.At last a nurse was found of courage sufficient toenter the father's presence, who, after saying," May the years of Sahm the hero be happy, andmay the heart of his enemies be rent asunder! " pro-ceeded to tell him of the little son that was in theapartments of the women. Sahm followed her hitherbut when the curtain was raised and he saw that thefair infant was white-haired, his senses seemed todepart from him with horror at what he deemedan ill-portent to his fortunes, he dreaded also themockery of men when they should hear of it.Nothing could appease his rage. He doomed thepoor infant to be exposed on the summit of theElborz mountains. But a great bird, called theSimurgh, had its nest there, and when it heard thewailings of the child, the bird tenderly lifted himfrom the rocks, and carried him to its nest, and fedhim on tender venison until he grew to manhood,hardy and well-formed. But Sahm had a dream,which the mobeds, or wis^ men, interpreted to meanthat his son was still alive on the Elborz, and that,after asking the forgiveness of Heaven for his crueltyto his son, it was his duty to reclaim and bring himhome from the wild eyrie of the Simurgh.Sahm listened to the words of the mobeds. Hehastened to the Elborz and found his son dweUing


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26 THE STORY OF PERSIA.on the pinnacles of the mountain. From the foot ofthe inaccessible rock Sahm beheld his son, a youth ofheroic mould, standing on the nest of the Simurghand gazing like a king over the world. But therewas no way to reach him, and while Sahm was im-patiently searching for a means to communicate withhis son, the Simurgh beheld the father and divinedfor what purpose he had come. He told the youth,who yet knew nothing of men, that the hour hadcome for him to return to his native land ; thefaithful bird plucked a feather from its plumageand bade tlie youth carry it with him ; in after life,if sore beset by trouble, he was to throw the featherinto the fire, and immediately the Simurgh wouldcome to his aid and show him a way out of the diffi-culty. Then it took him on its wings and bore himto his father. Sahm received his son with joy ; hebegged him to forgive his early sin in exposing him,and bestowed on him the name Zal-Zer. Thecymbals and the kettle-drums of the army pealed awelcome, and, clad in purple and mounted upon anoble steed, the youth returned, crowned with honors,to the palace from which he had been driven a nakedand wailing infant.

After these events King Minoutchehr ordered Sahmto march with an army against the rebels who hadarisen in the north of Persia. Sahm constituted Zalthe governor of Seistan during his absence. Zalfound this a fit opportunity to make the acquaintanceof some of his neighbors, and, among others, visitedMihrab, the king of Kabool. He was tributary toMinoutchehr, but owing to his being connected with


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ZAL. 27the line of Zohak, the deposed tyrant and usurper,there seems to have been little cordiality betweenthe king of Persia and his feudatory viceroy, Mihrab.While at Kabool, Zal learned of the extraordinarybeauty and accomplishments of Roodabeh, thedaughter of Mihrab and Sindocht. Roodabeh like-wise heard her maidens sing of the manly virtues ofZal, the son of Sahm, the son of Neriman. The resultcan easily be foreseen ; they were a pair worthy ofeach other ; and without having yet met, werealready madly in love. The maidens of Roodabehcontrived to inform the young hero of the stateof the feelings of their mistress towards him, and asecret interview was planned. It may be asked whysuch secrecy between a prince and princess of equalrank? but her descent from the house of Zohakmade it highly improbable that either the king ofPersia or Mihrab would consent to their union.When Zal arrived at the foot of the tower whereRoodabeh was awaiting him, his difficulties only be-gan. The gates were closed, and he had no ladder.The maiden loosened the long tresses, of which shehad such store, and, leaning out of the window, badehim raise himself by her hair. But he unloosed thelasso, which the warriors of Persia used so skilfullyin those times and flung it over one of the battle-ments instead, and thus he was able to pull himself upto the top of the wall. But Mihrab and Sindocht werefilled with wrath when they learned of the secretinterviews of the lovers, and utterly forbade all hopeof their marriage. Fortunately it occurred to Zalin this predicament to lay the whole matter before


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28 THE STORY OF PERSIA.Sahm, his father, in a letter sent by a swift messenger.The matter appeared of such importance to Sahm thathe called his wise men before him to give him theiradvice, for such was his love for his son that he didnot wish hastily to decide against the ardent hopesof the young viceroy. The wise men consulted thestars long and carefully ; they returned to Sahm withsmiling countenances and announced that a happyissue was destined for the marriage of Zal andRoodabeh ; and Sahm caused gold and silver to bebounteously distributed to the wise men, for theirdecision had given his troubled heart repose.When the good tidings that Sahm had given hisconsent was received, Roodabeh caused the womanwho brought the news to her to be showered withcoins of gold, and ordered her to be clothed inhew vestments. But Mihrab was furious on learn-ing this decision, desiring no alliance between theline of Zohak and the race of Persia,Word of these transactions also came to the ear of

King Minoutchehr; although greatly disturbed atthe possibility of any of the race of Zohak regaininginfluence in Iran, yet he decided to act with modera-tion and wisdom. But reflection only increased hiswrath against Mihrab, who seemed to him to besubtly acting in such a way as once more to bringPersia under the hated influence of the house ofZohak. Forthwith he ordered Sahm to return withhis victorious troops from the north, and marchagainst and overthrow and destroy Mihrab and allhis family. It was as Mihrab had foreseen. The loveof Zal and Roodabeh seemed about to prove his


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REPRESENTATIONS OF PERSIAN MYTHOLOGY, FROM AN ANCIENT2g RECORD.


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30 THE STORY OF PERSIA.destruction. When Zal heard of the approach ofSahm, he swore a loud oath that even if a dragonbreathing fire were to come against Kabool, theymust first cleave off his own head before he couldcapture the place. And then he went forth to meethis father, confident in the promise that Sahm hadgiven, to permit the marriage of Zal and Roodabeh.When Zal entered the presence of Sahm, he salutedhim with all honor, and in passionate but respectful

terms upbraided him for the course he wastakihg. Hereminded his father that, when he was an infant, hehad exposed him on the top of a mountain, regard-less that it is God who giveth black hairs and white,and had left him to be sustained by the mercies of awild bird of the peaks, to whom indeed he was moreindebted for life than to him. And, now that hisson had reached years of manhood and lived a truelife, again it was the father who, in spite of hispromise, was thwarting him and bringing sorrow tohis heart by seeking to destroy Kabool, where Zalsojourned and was happy.Sahm listened attentively, and acknowledging thejustice of what Zal had said, replied that a remedymust be found to settle the difificult question withwhich he had to deal. He decided to send Zal him-self to King Minoutchehr, with a letter, there toplead his own cause with the stern but not un-reasoning monarch. While Zal was gone on hishazardous errand, Sahm and his army reposed amidthe vineyards and rose-gardens of the well-wateredland where they were encamped. Swift as arrowsfrom the bow the impatient young lover and his


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ZAL. 31attendant warriors flew over mountain and plain,until their panting steeds brought them to the lordly-gates of Persia's capital.While these events were occurring, Mihrab wasfilled with rage and anxiety, for the large army ofPersia, under the redoubtable chieftain Sahm, was onhis borders, and he expected daily to be attackedand destroyed by an overwhelming host. Thusbrooding, Mihrab vented his fury on his wife Sin-docht, and their lovely daughter Roodabeh. Toappease her husband, and perhaps save her life andher daughter's, Sindocht offered herself to carry apresent, composed of the most valued treasures ofKabool, to Sahm, and urge him to treat them kindly.It was no small thing for a princess to go thus tothe camp of an enemy. But the result proved favor-able, for Sahm not only received her graciously, butalso, in the name of Zal, accepted the magnificentpresents she brought. He bade her return reassuredto Kabool, saying : " Let not your heart be troubled,for all will end according to your desires."

Immediately on arriving at the court, Zal was sum-moned to an audience of King Minoutchehr, whoreceived him graciously. After reading the letterof Sahm, the king smiled, and said : " Although .thisis a question which arouses my fears of future diffi-culties, yet all that you desire shall be granted."After this a royal banquet was served, with dishesof silver and gold, on a table covered with beatengold. Minoutchehr invited Zal and the great noblesof the court to sit with him ; after the banquet, winewas brought in another hall, and the feasting con-


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32 THE STORY OF PERSIA.tinued until late. Then Zal mounted his steed andreturned to his quarters, leaving the king well pleasedwith the bearing of his young and noble subject.At early morning, according to the custom of awarm country like Persia, King Minoutchehr seatedhimself again on his throne, and the nobles andwarriors gathered before him to consult of the affairsof the empire. On this occasion the king com-manded the mobeds, or wise men of Persia, to putZal to a supreme ordeal. The ordeal consisted of fiveriddles, proposed in poetic language and requiring ahigh degree of intelligence for their solution. Zalacquitted himself with such success that the king ofkings himself condescended to express his gratifica-tion, and ordered another banquet to be served.At the audience of the following morning Zalrespectfully requested the king's permission to depart.But Minoutchehr replied that a final test of the mer-its of Zal must yet occur. He must have an exhibitionof the athletic skill and heroism of the young warriorbefore he could grant a free permission to his re-quest. The champions of the empire were sum-moned to meet on the grand square before the palace,to compete with Zal. It was a severe test, and manya time, doubtless, the heart of the hero trembledwith dread lest he should fall short of the approvalof the monarch, and thus fail of winning his bride.But in the exercises with the bow, the javelin, andthe mace, and in exhibitions of horsemanship, Zaloutstripped every competitor, and by the remarkablefeats of his skill and strength and courage, arousedthe amazement of the king and the entire court.


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ZAL. 33Minoutchehr blessed Zal, and ordered his servantsto spread before him a truly noble present ofornaments of gold and gems, of slaves and horses,and all manner of precious things ; and Zal bowed tothe earth before the king, and kissed his feet. AndMinoutchehr condescended to write a letter to Sahmfull of graciousness, and informing him that he hadgranted all the wishes of his great son Zal.Swift messengers were sent in advance to announcethe return of Zal to Kabool, and Mihrab and Sin-docht caused their palace to be gloriously adornedand prepared for the marriage of Zal and Roodabeh.For seven days the wedding festivities continued.At the end the horses and the camels were madeready, and Roodabeh, blooming and happy, accom-panied her bridegroom to the bowers of Seistan. Indue season a son was born to Zal and Roodabeh.At his birth Zal threw the feather given him by theSimurgh into the fire, and the Simurgh appeared ; byher aid the infant had a happy entrance into life.He proved to be a child of wonderful size andbeauty, and they called him Rustem. Before return-ing to the mountain eyrie, the Simurgh blessed theinfant, predicting for him a long and glorious career,and again left one of her feathers for use in caseanother time of need should come to the house ofSahm.


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III.

RUSTEM.We head this chapter with the name of the great

hero of Persia, because during four reigns he wasengaged in all the leading events which occurred inthat country. By his powerful.arm her monarchswere strengthened on the throne, or rescued fromthe difficulties in which their own follies had thrownthem ; by his prowess the enemies of Iran wereover and over again repelled from her borders. Themighty deeds of Rustem and his noble chargerRaksch have made an indelible impression on thelegends of Persia, and his name has rung over manya battle-field since then as a watchword of triumph.Although it does not appear from the legends that

there was a formal division of the Persian empireafter Minoutchehr succeeded to the throne of hisgrandfather Feridoon, yet we are left to infer thatthe somewhat loose bonds that united the provincesto the parent country gradually became withoutforce, notwithstanding the victories of Minoutchehrover Selm and Tour. The regions under thesceptre of Tour, which are now called by the gen-eral name of Tartary, began to be called Touran,and came under the rule of Afrasiab, who, during a

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RUSTEM. 35long reign, waged terrible wars with Persia, in whichthe victory was sometimes on one side and somcrtimes on the other. In these wars it was that Rus-tem was chiefly engaged.The first exploit of Rustem was the capture ofSipend. This was a place situated on a steep emi-nence, and impregnable ; it was guarded by a stronggarrison. The young warrior hid a number of hisbraves in cases, such as were used for carrying salt,and loaded them on camels. In the guise of acamel-driver, Rustem led the caravan to the gates.To the demand as to what was on the camels, thereply was, salt. As the people of the beleagueredtown were in need of this article, the governor gladlyadmitted the caravan. From the fact that morecare was not taken to ascertain the character of theloads, it is evident that stratagem was not often re-sorted to in the wars of that period. The peoplegladly welcomed the supply of salt, but as it was nowtoward night the opening of the cases was deferreduntil the following days, and the people gave them-selves up to feasting. But when the town wasasleep, Rustem arose at dead of night and releasedhis companions, and a furious attack on the garrisonat once began. A furious fight in the streets resultedin the slaughter of the governor and the greater partof the people in Sipend. On the return of Rustemto Seistan, his mother, Roodabeh, clasped him toher arms, and with motherly pride gave him herblessing; but when Sahm heard the tidings hebestowed a robe of honor and a steed of price onthe herald who brought the good news.


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36 THE STORY OF PERSIA.About this time King Minoutchehr died andwas succeeded by his son Newder, who began his

reign by such injustice and tyranny that the noblesrevolted. In this crisis of affairs Newder calledupon Sahm to render assistance in restoring order tothe kingdom. Sahm obeyed the summons of a sov-ereign whom in his heart he could only regard withcontempt, and returned home from the wars in whichhe was engaged. On the way he was met by thenobles of Persia, who, loudly complaining of the tyr-anny of Newder, offered the crown to Sahm, whowas now old and venerated by all. But the herowho for so long a period had faithfully served hiscountry, was not at the last to prove unfaithful tohis duty. Sahm sternly declined the profferedhonor ; instead of this, he proceeded to advise thenobles to return to their allegiance, and gave KingNewder some wise counsel, which for a time hadsome effect. But after this the kingdom of Persiawas invaded by Afrasiab, who defeated Newder andcaptured him in a severe battle. Afrasiab put hisroyal prisoner to death, which was doubtless an ad-vantage to Persia in one respect, for it freed herfrom the authority of a sovereign ill-fitted to com-mand her destinies.

Zal now came to the rescue of the throne, and in-stead of retaining it for himself, as it appears he mighthave done, placed on it, instead, a collateral descend-ant of Feridoon, named Zeff, who for five years ruledwisely, and somewhat restored Persia after her mis-fortunes. He was succeeded by Guerschap, who hadimmediately to repel an invasion of the Turks of


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RUSTEM. 37Touran, under the redoubtable monarch Afrasiab.It was in this campaign that Rustem, who now firstentered into a great war, rode his famous roancharger Raksch. From a large troop of horses heselected this noble colt, threw a lasso over his head,and mounted him in spite of the fierce struggles ofthe dam, who proudly sought to protect her off-spring from the saddle.Guerschap died childless during this campaign,and Persia was again without a king. Rustem was

immediately despatched to summon a chieftain ofthe house of Feridoon who dwelt in concealmentnear the Elborz mountains, to ascend the throne.His name was Keikobad. The young king imme-diately took the head of his army and led his hostagainst the invaders. Rustem performed prodigiesof valor, and Afrasiab was forced to sue for peace.But the glorious reign of Keikobad was of short du-ration. He died at his capital, Istakhar, betterknown in other lands by the name of Persepolis, andwas succeeded by Kei Kaoos, who reigned for manyyears, but proved himself a weak and capriciousmonarch, who might have ruined the empire he hadinherited but for the powerful support of Rustemand other chieftains of renown.

Kei" Kaoos began his reign by undertaking an ill-advised war with the hardy mountaineers of Mazan-deran, as it is called in Persia, but known in ourhistories as Hyrcania. From the time of ShahDjemsheed, the kings of Persia had been engaged inindecisive conflicts with the people of that region,who, in their mountain fastnesses, could resist the


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38 THE STORY OF PERSIA.strongest armies. Kei Kaoos thought that his own in-experienced arm could wage war against Mazanderanunaided by the great leaders, of his armies. But hefound his mistake to his cost, for he was surrounded

by the mountaineers and wasforced to send swift mes-sengers to Zal and Rustem tohasten to his rescue. Rapid-ly collecting an army, fatherand son urged their forcesnorthward, and after muchsevere fighting succeeded inextracting Kei" Kaoos out ofthe predicament in which hisfolly had brought him. In this

ANA.FIITA, OR PKRsiAN VENUS. War Rustcm distingulshcdhimself especially by several great exploits which inthe legends of Persia are called the seven adventuresof Rustem. The chief of these adventures seems tohave been the overthrow of the Deeve Sefeed, orWhite Demon, a name the Persians applied to atribe of unusual ferocity, who, from their light com-plexions and hair, received the title of white.Having been delivered from this great peril, Kei*Kaoos decided to set out on a journey through hisdominions with great pomp, attended by an immense

train of warriors, nobles, wives, and slaves, and withthe music of trumpets and cymbals and drums, ex-actly as the monarchs of Persia have been accus-tomed to take their journeys from that time to thisday. But while the king of Persia was engaged inthese pageants, word came to him, like a flash of


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RUSTEM. 39lightning out of a clear sky, that the people of Syria,on the borders of the Mediterranean, one of theprovinces of Kaoos, had revolted under the leader-ship of a powerful chieftain, who had declared hisindependence of Persia. With an immense army,Kei Kaoos marched against the rebels, and gra-ciously granted pardon to the satrap who had re-belled. But he demanded, as a condition of peace,the daughter of the king of Syria, whose name wasSoudabeh. Her father was reluctant to part withhis only daughter, but Soudabeh was of an ambitiousnature, and gladly availed herself of the opportunityto become queen of a monarch who at that time wasthe most powerful sovereign in the world. Afterseven days' feasting, Soudabeh was sent to KingKe'i Kaoos, attended by six hundred slaves, and ofcamels, mules, and horses one thousand each, ladenwith treasures beyond computation ; the princessherself was mounted on a glittering litter, and allmanner of perfumes loaded the air about the royaltrain. Thus a bloody war was followed by the tri-umphs of love.But the king of Hamaveram, or Syria, had yieldedhis daughter to Kaoos with great sadness and re-luctance. And after she had gone to the camp ofKaoos, he devised a stratagem for regaining posses-sion of his child. In pursuance of this design, theking of Syria sent an invitation to Kaoos, his son-in-law, to accept of a banquet in the halls of Syria'sking. But when Soudabeh heard of this, she urgedher royal bridegroom to decline the invitation, asshe divined that her father meant no good by the


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40 THE STORY OF PERSIA.

proposal.But Kaoos would not be convinced,

having, after his easy victory over the Syrians,formed a mean opinion of their courage to dare anyfurther attacks against him. The result was asSoudabeh had predicted. After several days offeasting in the capital of Syria, seeing the suspicionsof his guest lulled by the bounteousness of his hos-pitality, the king of Syria commanded Kei' Kaoosand his chief warriors to be seized and thrown boundinto the dark dungeons of a fortress which stood onthe pinnacles of an impregnable height. Happily,Zal and Rustem were not present at the time. Aband of veiled women was then ordered by the kingof Syria to bring his daughter- from the camp to hispalace. But Soudabeh, with wild reproaches for thetreachery her father had shown, demanded to be ledto her husband. Furious that she now preferred herhusband to a father who doted on her, the king ofSyria permitted her to share the captivity of Kaoos.

Great was the confusion that everywhere brokeforth in Persia when the tidings spread that her kingwas enchained in a dungeon. On all sides was heardthe clangor of arms. The king of Syria, on the onehand, led an army into that unhappy country to sub-jugate it, while from the opposite direction, like an in-undation, the hordes of Touran, led by the implacableenemy of Persia, Afrasiab, burst over the borders,defeated the Syrians, and made a conquest of Persia.Once more did the Persians have recourse to thegreat house of Seistan, and Zal and Rustem weresummoned by the popular voice to redeem theirland from its chains. Rustem sent a secret mes-senger, who in disguise found his way to the dungeon


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RUSTEM. 41of Kei" Kaoos, and bade him keep up good courage,for a great army was coming to his rescue. Anothermessenger was sentto the king of Ham-averam, summoninghim to yield up theroyal prisoner hehad won by treach-ery, or prepare forthe destruction thatawaited him whenRustem should ap-pear at the head ofan invincible host.The king of Ham-averam sent back re-

ply that never againshould Kei' Kaoosstep forth from hisdungeon, and thathe was ready to hurlback Rustem andhis army. As thefrontiers of the kingof Hamaveram ex-tended as far as theblue sea we call theIndian Ocean, andthe way was long byland, Rustem embarked his forces on a fleet ofgalleys and succeeded thus in reaching the countryof the enemy safely. The sequel may be foreseen,for Rustem was there ; and hardly had the combat

AHRIMAZDAO.


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42 THE STORY OF PERSIA.begun when the enemy fled in dismay before Rustemand his redoubtable charger. But the king of Ham-averam sent swift runners to. his neighbors the kingsof Egypt and Barbary, beseeching their aid. Theyanswered his appeal, but the same result followedin the great battle they fought with Rustem. Theking of Hamaveram was forced to sue for peace, andrestored Kei Kaoos and his warriors to liberty, to-gether with Soudabeh. Thus once more hadRustem proved the savior of his country and king.In addition to this success, Rustem compelled theking of Hamaveram and his allies to furnish twohundred thousand men to aid Kei Kaoos to expelAfrasiab from Persia. Heralds were also sent todemand the assistance of Greek auxiliaries in thegreat contest that was now close at hand.Having completed the arrangements for recover-

ing his throne, Kei Kaoos sent a royal letter toAfrasiab ordering him to abandon Persia withoutdelay. Afrasiab turned pale with rage and sent ahaughty and insulting reply. In the campaign whichfollowed, the great Rustem once more led his troopsto victory, and Afrasiab and his armies were expelledfrom Persia with great slaughter. For some yearsafter these events Kei Kaoos devoted himself to re-storing his dominions to their former prosperity, hav-ing apparently profited by the hard lessons of mis-fortune. Among other works, he caused severalmagnificent palaces to be built, and this seems to havebeen an important era in the progress of architecturein Persia. Kei' Kaoos had once more reached a loftypinnacle of power and splendor, but the hero of hisreignwho had reaped the glory of the warswas Rustem.


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IV.

SOHRAB.In his early adventures in the north, Rustem once

on a time came to the capital of the feudatory kingof Semenjan. While he was asleep in the meadowshis horse Raksch strayed away and Rustem pro-ceeded to Semenjan in hope of finding him there.There he learned that Raksch had been found bysome of the servants of the king and was stabled atSemenjan as he had surmised. But when about todepart, Rustem yielded to the urgent invitation ofthe king to tarry awhile and rest himself in feastingand repose. He little thought of the results thatwould follow his visit to Semenjan. But his experi-ence was that of many. The most trifling incidentsoften give occasion to events of far reaching import-ance.The king of Semenjan had a fair daughter namedTehmimeh. She had heard of the great Rustem

and who had not, for the fame of his exploits andhis virtue and grandeur of soul had already spreadfar and wide, although he was yet in early man-hood. Susceptible as she was beautiful, the noblemaiden of Semenjan made her preference so evidentthat the young hero, who was ardent as he was

43


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44 THE STORY OF PERSIA.brave, readily yielded to the power of her fascina-tions. The consent of the king of Semenjan havingbeen obtained, Rustem and Tehmimeh were marriedwith all the rights prescribed by law. A peculiarfeature of this alliance, of which the results will ap-pear further on, lay in the fact that the king ofSemenjan was feudatory to Afrasiab the deadlyenemy of Persia, while Rustem was her greatestchampion. At the period of this event the twocountries were at peace.But the hour came when Rustem must leave hisblooming bride for awhile at least. Before he badeher farewell, to return to his home far in the south,he gave her an onyx which he wore on his arm, bid-ding her, if she should have a daughter from theirunion, to twine the gem among the tresses of thechild under a fortunate star. But if the child shouldprove to be a boy, he bade her bind the onyx to hisarm as his father had worn it, predicting for him aglorious career. With many sighs and tearsTehmimeh parted from Rustem, and then he mount-ed Raksch and returned to Seistan.The months went by, and then to the lonely bride

of Rustem was born a son, large and handsome ; hiseyes and his mouth were lit with a smile when hewas born, and so his mother called him Sohrab.She sent word to Rustem that a child was born fromtheir love, but she told him it was a girl, lest whenthe boy grew older his father should send for him,and thus rob her of her treasure. In the East, strangeas it may seem, boys are more prized than girls.

All these incidents indicate an age when Persia and


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SOHRAB. 45the neighboring lands were thinly peopled, and com-munications between different districts were rare andtardy.While still of tender years, Sohrab showed signs ofhis noble lineage. He quickly displayed a love forhorses and feats of arms ; he was of a proud andhaughty spirit, and conscious of his lofty descent, in-sisted that his mother, who had concealed the fact,should inform him of the name of his father. Shehad kept the affair a secret, lest Sohrab should wishto go forth and seek his father, Rustem. ThenTehmimeh revealed to Sohrab the secret of his birth,ai]id showed him a bracelet, composed of three superbrubies and three emeralds, which Rustem had sentwhen he learned that Tehmimeh had a daughter." It is thy father who has sent this to you, my nobleson ; thy father Rustem, the greatest warrior on theearth, and he the scion of a great race." And thenshe enjoined Sohrab to keep these things secret, lestAfrasiab, the enemy of Rustem, should slay Sohrab,or lest Rustem should send for his son, and thusbreak the heart of his mother with grief.Sohrab grandly replied : " This is not a secret that

can be kept ; for the whole world resounds with themighty deeds of Rustem. Since he is my father, Ishall go to his aid ; he. shall become king of Persia,and together we shall rule the world." After this, hecaused a steed worthy of him to be found, and withthe aid of his grandfather, the king of Semenjan,made preparations to go in quest of Rustem, hisfather, attended by a mighty host. But whenAfrasiab heard of these events, he held counsel with


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46 THE STORY OF PERSIA.his wise men, and decided openly to assist Sohrab inhis enterprise, in the expectation that in the warwhich ensued both Rustem- and Sohrab would fall,and Persia be then at his mercy. He sent an armyof auxiliaries to Sohrab, and also two astute courtiers,named Houman and Barman. They were, under theguise of friendship, to assume the position of counsel-lors to Sohrab, who was still a mere youth, althoughfull grown, tall, and of great ability and courage.They were to conceal from Sohrab the identity of hisfather, if they should meet on the field of battle, inthe hope that Sohrab, as the younger, would be ableto slay Rustem, and after that it would be, as Afra-siab reasoned, comparatively easy to destroy Sohrabby treachery that his young mind would not suspect.

Sohrab, with his army and that of Afrasiab, set outfor the south, intending to fight his way until Rus-tem should be sent against him ; then he would makehimself known to the great chieftain, and form analliance with him that would place the line of Seistanon the throne. Here again we gain a clear idea ofthe peculiar system of society in those remote times.In order to find his father, a son, whose mother be-longed to another nation, was obliged to lead a hostagainst his father's country.The first operations of the army of Sohrab weredirected against a fortress called the White Castle.It was the key to the heart of Persia. Guzdehem, anold and famous warrior, was lord of the place, but hehad a younger captain, named Hedjir, to lead hisforces. Little suspecting what a champion was atthe head of the invading army, Hedjir sallied boldly


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SOHRAB. 47forth, and was at once discomfited by Sohrab, whomade him prisoner. Guzdehem had a lovely daugh-ter, who was skilled in athletic sports, an amazonfamed for her exploits in war. Her name was Gur98 THE STORY OF PERSIA.Demetrius III., surrenders to

Mithridates, i6iDeodatHS founds Greek kingdomof Bactria, 154Djamee, the poet, 284Djemsheed, Shah, account ofwhat he accomplished for Per-

sia, 2 ; character of, 3 ; slainby Zohak, 5 ; daughters of,rescued by Feridoon, 9

Djendil, searches for wives forsons of Feridoon, 12 ; proceedsto Yemen, 12

Ecbatana or Hamadan, 83Egypt, invaded by Cambyses,99 ; revolts from Persia, 127 ;subdued by Megabyzus, 127 ;throws oil Persian yoke, 128 ;reduced by Artaxerxes II.,138 ; invaded by ChosroosParveez, 249

Elborz, region of, 84Ephthalites or White Huns, in-vade Persia, 211 ; defeated byVarahran V., 213 ; defeat

Perozes, 217 ; pacified by Ba-las, 2i8 ; defeated by Chos-roes, 233

Eumenes elected to throne ofAlexander, 151

Fars, definition of, 83Fatimeh, daughter of the Proph-

et, 286Ferenguiz, marries Siawusch, 73 ;a son born to her, named Kei

Khosroo, 76 ; intercedes forPiran Wisa, 81Feridoon, birth of, 6 ; drivesZohak from the throne of

Persia, 8 ; mace of, 9 ; res-cues daughters of Djemsheed,9 ; asks blessing of his mother,10 ; finds wives for his threesons. 12 : advice to his sons

when going to Yemen, 13 ;goes forth to meet his sonsand their brides, 17 ; divideshis empire among his sons, 17;laments the death of"I redj, 22;eulogy of by Firdoiisee, 23Feth Alee Shah, reign andcharacter of, 292Firanek gives birth to Feridoon,6 ; flies with her child to El-borz mountains, 6 ; honoredby Feridoon, 10Firdoiisee, the poet, saying of,concerning husbandry, 2 ; al-lusion to, 284

Fire-worshippers or Parsees, thePersians first became, 2 ; fateof, after the Mohammedanconquest, 283 ; present num-ber of, 283

Firoozan, commands third armyof Isdigerd against the Sara-cens, 280 ; slain at Nehavend,280 G

Gang, capital of Afrasiab, 72Gang-i-Siawusch, founding of,

73.Gordian defeats Sapor, 18 1Gouderz pacifies wrath of Rus-tem, 50Granicus, battle of, 142Greek mercenaries, 129

Guebre, definition of the term,283

Guerschap, repels Turkish inva-sion, 36 ; death of, 37

Guersiwez, betrays Siawusch, 74;slain in battle, 81Guiv bears royal message toRustem, 50 ; incurs wrath ofKei Kaoos, 51 ; goes a-hunt-ing with Thous, 66

Gurdaferid, daughter of Guzde-hem, challenges Sohrab tocombat, 46 ; ruse to escapecapture, 48Guzdehem, chieftain of the WhiteCastle, 46


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INDEX. 99H

Hafiz, the poet, 284Hamadan, see Ecbatana ; a/sodescription, 86Hamaveram, king of, revolts,39 ; treachery of, towards KeiKaoos, 39 ; defies Rustem, 41 ;defeated, 42

Harpagus, treachery of, towardsAstyages, 88

Hassan and Houssein, fate of,286Ilatra, under the Parthians, 164 ;betrayed by daughter cfManizen, 180

Hedjir, captured by Sohrab, 47 ;felled by Sohrab, 56

Heraclius, emperor, resolves tofly his capital, 254 ; changes hispurpose, 254 ; invades Persia,255 ; defeats Shahr Barz at Is-sus, 255 ; invades Persia a sec-ond time, from the north, 256 ;defeats Chosroes Parveez atCauzaca, 256 ; third campaignagainst Persia, 258 ; capturesDastagerd, 262 ; concludespeace with Persia, 267 ; aidsShahr Barz, 270Hit captured by Julian, 197

Hormazd or Hormisdas, inju-dicious conduct of, precipi-tates his downfall, 237 ; af-fronts Bahram Shobeen, 237;deposed and slain, 238Hormisdas II., igiHormuz, battle of, 173Houman delegated by Afrasiabto lead auxiliaries to Sohrab,46

Houscheng, reign of, 2Hyrcania, defined, 84

Imams, the twelve Holy, 287Intaphernes executed by Darius,

103Irak, see Iran.

Iran, limits and location of, 83Iredj assigned kingdom of Iran,18 ; slain by his brothers, 21Isdigerd I. takes charge of Thc-

odosius, 208 ; persecutes theChristians, 208

Isdigerd III., advanced to thethrone, 272; prepares to re-sist the Saracens, 273-4 ;makes Rhages his capital,279 ; flies eastward after bat-tle of Nehavend, 2S1 ; assas-sinated, 281 ; character of, 281

Ismail, Shah, commencement ofhis career, 287 ; founds Sefa-vean dynasty, 288 ; conquestsof, 288 ; loses battle of Tab-reez, 288 ; death of, 288Ismail II., Shah, 288

Ispahan, made the capital of Per-sia, 290 ; beautified by ShahAbbass, 290 ; sacked by Mah-mood the Afghan, 291

Issus, second battle of, 255J

Jerusalem taken and sacked byShahr Barz, 249Jolula, battle of, 279Jovian, elected emperor, 202 ;

ratifies peace with Sapor, 203Julian, character of, 194 ; in-vades Persia, 194 ; retreats,

199 ; defeated and slain, 202Junaid, father of Shah Ismail I.,

287Justin purchases peace with

Chosroes, 236Justinian pays tribute to Chos-

roes. 232K

Kabool, capital of Mihrab, 26Kadesiyeh, battle of, 274, efse^.Kaiomurs, founder of Persia,

I ; wars with the Deeves, 2 ;death of, 2Kaweh, demands justice of Zo-


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300 THE STORY OF PERSIA,hale, 7 ; raises a revolt, 8 ;apron of, made the nationalstandard, 8

Kaweianee, or apron of Kaweh,8 ; used in campaign agains-tthe Saracens, 274 ; capturedand destroyed, 278Kei Kaoos ascends the throne,37 ; attacks Mazanderan, 37 ;rescued by Rustem, 38 ; goesagainst king of Hamaveram,39 ; marries Soudabeh, 39 ;cast in a dungeon, 40 ; re-turns to his capital, 43 ; learnsof the invasion of Sohrab,49 ; proceeds against Sohrab,51 ; marries the mother ofvSiawusch, 67 ; confounded byconduct of Siawusch, 72 ;sends an army to avenge Sia-wusch, 78 ; death of, 80

Kei" Khosroo, birth of, 7G ; leftin charge of a shepherd, 76-7 ; slays Afrasiab, 81. Seealso Cyrus, 77Kei Kobad, reign of, 37Kerim Khan the Zend, reign of,292

Khazars, defeated by Kobad,219 ; assist Heraclius againstPersia, 255

Khshathrapavan, see Satraps,Kobad, defeats the Khazars,219 ; accepts doctrines ofMazdak, 219 ; deposed, 221 ;marries daughter of Kush-ne-waz, and resumes the sceptre,221 ; captures Amida, 224 ;defeats Belisarius, 225 ; deathof, 225Kobad the Second, see Siroes.

Kush-newaz, king of the Eph-thalites, 218

Lade, battle of, 106Lazica lost by Nachoragan, 234Leonidas fights and is slain atThennopylse, 116

MMacrinus defeated by the Par-

thians, 170Madjin, isles of, 6Mahaferid, mother of Minout-

chehr, 22Mahmood the Afghan, invadesPersia, 290 ; atrocities of,291 ; death of, 291Manee, career of, 1S5 ; bringsart ideas from China, 188 ;fate of, 190

Manizen, daughter of, betraysHatra, 180

Marathon, battle of, ic8Mardas, father of Zohak, 3 ;

killed by Zohak, 4Mardonius incites Darius to in-vade Greece, 107 ; defeated atPlatsea, 122

Mark Antony, defeated byPhraates, 166Massagetae, described, 84Maurice assists Chosroes Par-

veez, 243Mazdak, doctrines of, 219 ;seized by orders of Zamasp,221 ; followers of, massacred,223 ; executed by Chosroes,226

Mebodes executed by Chosroes,227Media, 83, 86Megabyzus, subdues Egypt, 127 ;revolts and is pardoned, 127Mercenaries, Greek, 129Merdasas murdered, 266Mermeroes dies in Lazic war,234

Mihrab, king of Kabool, opposesmarriage of Roodabeh, 27Miltiades wins battte of Mara-thon, 108-9.Minoutchehr avenges the murderof his father, 23 ; ascends thethrone, 24 ; wars against therebels in the north, 26 ; putsthe powers of Zal to the test,32 ; death of, 36


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INDEX, 30]Mithridates the Great of Par-

thia, conquest and coins of,161Mohammed Khudabenda, Shah,288Mohammed Shah, reign of, 292Mohammedanism, sects of, 886Musa, seventh Holy Imam, 287

NNachoragan defeated in Lazica,234Nadir Kuli Khan, usurps the

throne, 291 ; captures Delhi,291 ; assassinated, 292Nasr-ed-Deen Shah, succeeds tothe throne, 292 ; character of,292Nehavend, battle of, 280

Newder, ascends the throne, 36 ;tyrannizes his subjects, 36 ;slain by Afrasiab, 36Nisibis captured by Sapor, 181Nizamee, the poet, 284Noman wins battle of Neha-vend, 280

OOchus, see Darius II.Odenathus, king of Palmyra,harasses Sapor, 182Omar Khayam, 284Ormuzd, 175Orodes, becomes king of Parthia,162 ; wars with Rome, 162 ;

assassinated, 164 ; title of, 1C4

Parni, see Parthians.Pars, see Fars.Parsees, see Fire-worshippers.Parthia, founding of, 156 ; in-vaded by Mark Antony, 166 ;invaded by Trajan, 168 ; in-vaded by Cassius, 169Parthians, origin of, 155, 156 ;

character, religion, customs,

coins, and military organiza-tion, 159, 160Parysatis, wife of Darius II.,character of, 128 ; intercedesfor Cyrus the Younger, 130

Passargad, capital of Persia, 97Passargadse, see Passargad.Pehlevee language defined, 176Perdiccas, regent of Alexandrian

empire, 150Peri Sabor, or Firooz Shapoor,besieged by Julian, 198Perozes defeated and slain bythe Ephthalites, 217

Persarmenia, see Armenia.Persepolis, destruction of, 145Persia, limits of, at birth of Cy-

rus, 83 ; when founded, 86 ;influenced by Median civiliza-tion, 88 ; present limits andcondition of, 294

Persian names, origin of modeof spelling, 102Persian soldiers, quality of, 204Pestilence sweeps over Persia,270

Petra, sieges of, 234 ; heroicconduct of Persian garrison of,235

Phaedyma detects the false Smer-dis, loi

Phericles, Satrap of Parthia,overthrown, 156Phocas, emperor, attacked byChosroes Parveez, 247Phraates, murders his fatherand usurps the throne, 164 ;removes his capital, 164; warswith Rome, 165 ; defeatsMark Antony, 166Phraortes ascends the throne,

161 ; murder of, 162Phthasuarsas invested with royalhonors, 223

Pirandocht, reproaches Siroes forcruelty, 268 ; married to ShahrBarz, 271 ; proclaimed sover-eign of Persia, 271Piran Wisa welcomes Siawusch,72 ; gives Ferenguiz to Sia-


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3o: THE ST'ORY OF PERSIA.wusch, 73 ; befriends KeiKhosroo, 76 ; slain, 81

Pitho, claimant to regency, 150Platasa, battle of, 122Poets of Persia, 2S4Prexaspis murders Smerdis, 100Purmajeh, the cow, nurses Feri-doon, 6 ; head of, used as atalisman in Persia, 9R

Rhages, or Rhei, capital of theArsacidae, 157 ; made the capi-tal of Isdigerd III., 279Rhazetes slain in battle, 261

Resaina, battle of, 181Rhei, see Rhages.Roodabeh, falls in love with

Zal, 27 ; marriage of, 33 ;gives birth to Rustem, 33 ;welcomes Rustem from vic-tory, 35Rustem, birth of, 33 ; capturesSipend, 35 ; finds his chargerRaksch, 37 ; goes in search ofKeikobad, 37 ; rescue

story of persia

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