Stories from the Shahnameh

Siyavakhsh falls in the trap

In Siyavakhsh-gard, both Siyavakhsh and Ferangez were very much worried about the turn of events. They could not think of any reason for the king to be furious at them. Moreover, Ferangez was five months pregnant, and to top it all Siyavakhsh had a very frightening dream about a tragic and immediate end to his life and catastrophic future events. Meanwhile Karsivaz sent a message to Siyavakhsh asking him to prepare for a war as Afrasiyab would be attacking him very soon. Seeing his end near, Siyavakhsh started preparing for the inevitable.

At first he bade a tearful farewell to Ferangez. Then he took his trusted black horse Behzad and set him free on the other side of the mountain, because this horse was destined to be the trusted steed of Kae Khushru. Thereafter, he took a small army and set off towards Turan. He met the king and his army along with Karsivaz on the way.

When Karsivaz met Siyavakhsh, he showed surprise on his face and asked him the reason for his coming to the king with an army. It did not take long for Siyavakhsh to realise that the treacherous Karsivaz had trapped him with an army in order to create enmity between him and the king. The king was now convinced that Siyavakhsh had truly revolted against him. Siyavaksh cried and pleaded to have a word with the king, but the villainous Karsivaz did not allow this, and told the king that it would be inappropriate for him to talk with his enemy.

As a last ditch attempt to convince the king of his innocence, Siyavakhsh did not touch his weapons and even forbade his soldiers to fight against the Turanians, but the king was too steeped in anger to see such nobility. He wrecked a full-scale massacre on the helpless Iranian soldiers and killed most of them.

Death of Siyavakhsh

Siyavakhsh was captured alive and Afrasiyab ordered to have him killed mercilessly. Pilsam, the youngest brother of Afrasiyab tried to bring some sense into the king against such thoughtless and suicidal action. As the king was having second thoughts, Karsivaz called him fickle minded, which provoked the king in persisting with his order.

Ferangez, who had learnt about the king’s orders, came running to him beseeching and entreating not to take such a cruel step. But the king instead of having sympathy towards his daughter, directed his ire towards her and had her imprisoned in a secluded room in the palace.

The king than ordered Karsivaz to take Siyavakhsh to a secluded spot and have him killed. Karsivaz entrusted this task to his henchman Gorvizareh, who yoked Siyavakhsh by the neck and mercilessly dragged him for miles. Then he was taken to a secluded spot where his head was severed from his body. The plant known as ‘Khun-e-Siyavush’ (the maiden hair fern) grew at the place where his blood touched the ground.

The news of Siyavakhsh’s death spread fast. His queens and subjects lamented in agony. Ferangez tore her hair and scratched her face. She openly cursed her father, who, enraged, ordered her to be beaten mercilessly and thrown out of the palace, so that the child of Siyavakhsh that she was carrying may die too.

Just then, Piran, who had heard about the king’s order, came in a hurry hoping to save the Iranian prince. However, he was shattered when he realised that he was too late. Before he had time to lament, he came to know about the heartless treatment being meted out to Ferangez, and he hastened to the palace where he saw Ferangez being mercilessly dragged by her hair.

On seeing Ferangez’s sorry plight, Piran reprimanded the king for his inconsiderate decisions. He somehow convinced the king to release Ferangez and send her to his house. He even assured him that the child will be brought to him soon after the birth. With these assurances he took the grieving Ferangez with him to Khotan.

Kae Khushru’s birth

After some time, Siyavakhsh appeared in Piran’s dream and told him that very soon his son, who will be the future King Kae Khushru, will be born. True enough, that very night, Ferangez gave birth to a baby boy. On seeing the child, Piran remembered the dream. He realised that the child was to be the future king of Iran and did not hand him over to Afrasiyab.

Piran handed over the infant to the peasants of Kalu mountains along with a wet nurse and other essential requirements, and asked them to take great care of the child and not to reveal its identity to anyone. As the infant grew into a child of seven, he was bold enough to hunt deer. By the age of 10 he started hunting boars and foxes. But, when he started hunting lions and leopards, the shepherds started worrying as the child was their responsibility, and so they complained about his reckless bravery to Piran.

Child Kae Khushru and Afrasiyab

Piran decided that time was ripe to bring Kae Khushru back from the peasants, and so he went to the Kalu mountains and brought him back to his palace. When Afrasiyab came to know that Piran had a grown up child in his palace, he asked him to bring the child to his palace. Piran informed the king that the child was the son of Siyavakhsh, and for good measure added that the child was mentally retarded. He agreed to bring the child to the palace, but only after extracting a promise from the king that he would not harm him.

Piran, then told the child that for his own safety he would have to act like a mentally retarded child before the king, and started training him accordingly. The smart child immediately picked up the instructions, and the following day he played his part to the hilt in front of King Afrasiyab. He gave totally incongruous and absurd answers to questions asked by the king. The king was convinced that his grandchild was mentally retarded and would not pose any threat to him in future, as predicted. He ordered that the child and his mother be sent back to their palace in Siyavakhsh-gard and given whatever necessities they required.

Relieved, Piran took the necessary things from the treasury and sent Ferangez and Kae Khushru to their palace in Siyavakhsh-gard after making the desolate palace habitable once again.

Avenging Siyavakhsh’s death

After a long time King Kae Kaus came to know about his son Siyavakhsh’s death and the ruthless manner in which he was killed. He became miserable and grieved his son’s death for a long time, and so did the other paladins of Iran. In Zabulistan, Rustam, Zal, Faramarz and Zavareh too were shocked at the merciless death of Siyavakhsh.

After eight days of mourning, Rustam immediately gathered armies from Kabul and Kashmir and pledged not to rest till he avenged Siyavakhsh’s death. He went to the king and at first offered his condolences, but then reprimanded him for forcing his son in such a dangerous predicament. Thereafter, he went into the queen’s quarters, dragged out Sodabeh and instantly killed her, as she was directly responsible for Siya­vakhsh’s death. King Kae Kaus did not object at all to the punishment meted out to Sodabeh.

War between Iran and Turan

Thereafter Rustam took out the Iranian flag ‘Drafsh-e-Kavyani’, and along with his son Faramarz and a hundred thousand strong army marched towards Turan. On the way when Faramarz was passing through the province of Se-Panjab, its ruler Varazad tried to stop his way. However, within no time, Faramarz over-powered him.

When Afrasiyab came to know about the approaching Iranian army under Rustam, he realised that the prophesies regarding Turan’s destruction by Iran may soon be coming true. He too started preparing for the war and spared no expenses in equipping his army and giving them handsome remuneration. He sent his army under his son Surkheh to counter Faramarz. The two met in war and Surkheh was taken prisoner. Faramarz took him to his father who ordered him to be killed in exactly the same manner in which Siyavakhsh was killed. When news of Surkheh’s death reached Afrasiyab, he pledged not to rest till he avenged the death of his son. In the battles that ensued Afrasiyab’s brother Pilsam was also killed.

The next day Afrasiyab and Rustam met in the battlefield. Rustam succeeded in putting Afrasiyab off his saddle and was about to hoist him by his waist-band, when the Turanian comm­­a­nder Homan came to his king’s rescue. He swung his mace near Rustam’s shoulder which distracted the great warrior and Afrasiyab made good his escape. Next day, the terrified Afrasiyab fled with his retreating armies towards China.

As the other prophecies were coming true, Afrasiyab was now afraid that even the prophecy regarding him being killed by his grandson may come true, and so he summoned Piran and instructed him to throw young Kae Khushru into the waters. Piran, however, pleaded with the king not to have the child drowned, but instead leave him in the forests of Khotan to fend for himself. In this way, he assured the king, that he will not be guilty of killing an innocent, retarded child. Afrasiyab agreed to the idea, and so Piran sent a wise messenger to accompany Kae Khushru and leave him on the other side of the sea of China. He secretly instructed the messenger to give him items of immediate necessity like food, clothes, bedding, tents and horses.

Rustam occupies Turan’s thro­ne

When Afrasiyab fled towards China, Rustam went into his palace, occupied the throne and distributed his wealth. He divided the kingdom among his trusted paladins. The provinces of Se-Panjab and Sughdha were given to Gudarz, and Chegal and Khata to Ashkash. Fariburz, brother of Siyavakhsh, was given lots of jewels and crowns. When the kings of Machin and China came to know that Rustam has occupied the throne of Turan, they too came to pledge their allegiance to him. After settling things down, Rustam decided to relax and he and his family members started pursuing their favorite sport of hunting.

Once when Zavareh had gone hunting, his escort showed him the favorite hunting spot of Siyavakhsh, and that brought back bitter memories of the death of the Iranian prince and reminded him of the purpose for which they had come to Turan. Zavareh went to Rustam and reprimanded him saying that they had not come to Turan to be in the good books of people and relax and enjoy over there, but to seek revenge. Rustam realised that he had totally forgotten the purpose for which he had come to Turan, and in an angry reaction went on a rampage killing men, burning palaces and forests, and instructing his soldiers to do the same.

The elderly people of Turan came to Rustam and requested him not to punish them for the sins of their evil king. Rustam realised the folly of this wanton destruction and asked his soldiers to stop the rampage.

Rustam returns to Iran

A wise priest reminded Rustam that it was six years since they had left Iran and the old king King Kae Kaus was all alone in Iran. Rustam realised that his king would need him, and soon left Turan.

Afrasiyab returns to Turan

As soon as Afrasiyab got the news of Rustam’s departure from Turan he returned to his homeland and was shocked to see the large scale destruction. He vowed to take revenge and mobilised his armies and attacked Iran with a vengeance and continued his assault for seven long years.

Reprinted from the book Serialized Stories from the Iranian Epic Shahnameh.