KAYNIN

i. Kavi: Avestan kauui, Pahlavi kay

Kavi is the Indo-Iranian term for (visionary) poet. The Avestan
word is declined according to an archaic i-declension, which also
includes Young Avestan haxi- companion: sing. nom. kauu (YAv.
kauua), acc. kauuam (< *kavayam; cf. OInd. sakhyam), gen. YAv.
kauui, plur. nom. kauuaii (kuuaiias-c), gen. kaoiim (cf. haxa,
haxim < *haxyam, haxaii, hm < *haxym). There is an
ambiguity in the acc. kauuam, which is also a form of the derived
adjective kauuaiia found in kauuam xarn (gen. kuuaiiehe-ca) the
xarnah of the kauuis (see below, xii).
The term may be older than Indo-Iranian, if Lydian kave and the
Samothracean title cited by Hesychius as kos or ks are related
and, perhaps, to be compared with Scandinavian skue see and
English show, German schauen, etc. (Watkins, p. 88).
Indo-Iranian poets also performed the sacrifices (yaj-/yaz-), the
primary purpose of which was to fight darkness and evil and
reestablish order in the universe by making the sun rise and the
rains fall. Of the Iranian kauuis/kays, Kauui Haosrauuah/Kay
Husry and Kauui Vitspa/Kay Witsp play central roles in the
universal eschatology, while the role of the others is more generally
to keep the forces of evil at bay.
In the oldest Indic poetry, the Rigveda, the term kav refers to poets
and priests and is frequently applied to gods (Agni, Indra, Soma,
Mitra, Varua, and others) performing this function. The kavs of
rva, prvy) were singers (verb g-), libators (hotar), and
old (p
sacrificers (verb yaj-); they announce (verb as-) words (vac),
well-spoken words (skta); and they serve as the gods charioteers
(vahni) in the race to make the sun rise from the rock (aman) and
the world ocean. Their poems are made by their thoughts (mati,
etc.), and they send their poetic visions (dh) into the divine world.
Sustainers of t and discoverers of non-t, they set out on great
paths (mahs path, Rigveda 2.24.7); and they find the hidden light
and regenerate dawn (Rigveda 7.76.4). They are characterized by
krtu, a kind of knowledge that permits them to perform their
special functions: note kavkrtu having the krtu of the
kavs (Rigveda 3.2.4). The krtus of travelers are compared with

charioteers or draft animals pulling chariots (cf. Rigveda 7.48.1, 90.5,

etc.; see also Jamison, 2007, pp. 123-24).
In the Old Avesta, the generic term having become davic, the poet no
longer refers to himself as kauui, but as singer (jaritar from g-),
libator (zaotar = OInd. htar); he announces (verb s gha- =
OInd. as-) words (vac), well-spoken words (hxta), fashioned
in his thoughts (manah-), and he sends his visionary
thoughts (dan; cf. OInd. dh) into the divine world. Similar to the
krtus of the Old Indic poets, the (guiding) thoughts (xratu) of the
saoiiats, the successful Gathic poets, serve as the draft animals that
pull the chariot of the sun, goaded by the poets announcements
(Yasna 46.3; cf. Rigveda 7.77.2, 79.1).
The evil kauuis, however, together with the glutton (? gr hma),
deposit their xratus in the gluttons tangled web (Yasna 32.14), and it
is by their incorrect sacrifices that the titles or functions of kauui and
karapan have been ruined (Yasna 32.15; Skjrv, 2001, pp. 352,
358-59; on the quoting function of the derivatives in -tt-, see
idem, 2007, p. 903; idem, 2009a, pp. 167-68). By their evil work,
they destroy the new existence (Yasna 46.11). Thus they contrast in
detail with the successful sacrificers, and there is no reason to doubt
that they too are sacrificers, albeit unsuccessful ones. The Old Indic
uj, another kind of priest, was also demonized as Old Avestan
usix, mentioned together with the kauui and karapan as mistreating
the cow (Yasna 44.20; see Skjrv, 2001, p. 354).
The term kuuna, traditionally thought to refer to a princeling
whose favor, apparently, Zarathustra failed to win (Yasna 51.12), is
more likely to refer to a poetaster, and its epithet vapiia (cf. OInd.
vep inspired [+ song: gir]) to the trembling and shaking (OInd.
verb vip-) in pretended poetic ecstasy, rather than to his sexual
practices (Avestan vapaiia- and vifiia-, to have active and passive
anal intercourse; see HOMOSEXUALITY i. IN
ZOROASTRIANISM). Note the common juxtaposition of
Rigvedic kav and vipr (e.g., Rigveda 6.15.7, 8.44.21, 9.18.2; see
Jamison, 2007, p. 124) and, especially, Rigveda 3.3.7, where Agni is
said to be the uj with good kratu among the inspired (vip) gods.
In the Old Avesta, only Vitspa has the epithet/title kauui. His
name is mentioned three times in connection with the divine reward,
which agrees with his mention at the end of the hymn to Anhit

(q.v.) as a model of those who won the race (Yat 5.132). Once,
apparently, he has the epithet zarautri (Yasna 53.2), which, in the
Young Avesta, is an epithet of the priest, usually paired with
mazdaiiasna (e.g., Yasna 12), probably Zarathustrid in the sense of
following the tradition of Zarathustra.
The notion that the title kauui (Middle and New Persian kay) refers
to sovereignty is based upon an interpretation of the Pahlavi and
Perso-Arabic texts. There, the sequence of heroes and kays is
presented as a chronological sequence of rulers (kayn; see, e.g.,
Skjrv, 1995, pp. 189-91; Kellens, 1999-2000, pp. 744-51) and
Kauui Vitspa as the benevolent ruler who received Zarathustras
new religion, and this led 19th- and early 20th-century Western
scholars to assume that the Avestan term, too, meant prince or
ruler, an opinion that survives to this day. There is little or no
evidence for this, however. It is noteworthy that Balami thought
that Pahlavi kay meant good (niku; ed. Bahr, p. 524; ed. Makur,
p. 46, and Zotenberg, p. 407, have malek-e nik good king). The
Mojmal al-tawri reports another tradition (p. 29): Kay was
applied to all the kings in this line by analogy with Kay Qobd, who
had this title (laqab) from Zl, meaning origin (al). razmi (p.
100) defined kay as jabbr and kayn as jabber giant(s), followed
by Mirnd (I, p. 568), who remarks at the beginning of his
narrative of the Kayanids that kay was how they said jabbr (giant)
in Pahlavi, a meaning the word has in Manicheism (see below).
Asadi usi defined kay as greatest king, citing a verse from Daqiqi
(p. 177; also in ams-e Fari, p. 381) and also has an entry kv a
courageous and tall and fit fighter, citing no authority (p. 170, but
doubtful according to Dabirsiqi in n. 1; see on the use in
Manicheism, below) and gav [!] fighter, citing Ferdowsi (ed.
Khaleghi, II, p. 173, v. 690; also in ams-e Fari, p. 394).
In the Young Avesta, the kauuis are listed together with the karpans
(Avestan karapan-/karafn-, Pahlavi karb; see KARAPAN), sorcerers,
witches, false teachers (sstar), and other evil beings. Here, the term
denotes unsuccessful priests who have joined with the forces of
darkness and evil (the original, literal, meanings of these terms may
no longer have been known). The term karpan has been connected
with Choresmian karb-, apparently mumbler (Henning, 1951, p.
45; see also Skjrv, 2001, pp. 353-54). In the 19th century, it was

connected with Old Indic kalp-, which expresses ritual ordering

(e.g., Bartholomae, AirWb., col. 455). The verb kalpaya- takes yaja
sacrifice as direct object (Rigveda 8.58.1, 10.52.4), and Agni is once
said to be priest, sacrificing and ordering the tus (cf. Avestan ratu
ritual models of the cosmos, Rigveda 10.2.3).
In the Young Avesta, kauui is used in the singular only as epithet or
title of a small set of heroes who sacrifice to various deities and, in
the plural, together with karpan to denote unsuccessful sacrificers
who side with the forces of darkness and evil. It is never used
hupaiti (lord of the land), which is
instead of or parallel with da
probably the term closest to our king. Similarly, in the Pahlavi
texts, kay is never interchangeable with h or dahbed (ruler, lord of
the land), and Persian kay is never used to mean king or prince
as a homonym of h (there is no Kayn Kay). Both Pahlavi and
Persian kayn refer exclusively to the kays.
There is also no direct evidence that Old and Young Avestan xara
refers to secular command. Only the Pishdadid heroes in the Young
Avesta (Haoiiaha, etc.) are said to ask for xara- (royal or ritual)
command or are said to have ruled (xaiia-), the objects of the
rule being members of the evil creation: dauuas (see DAIVA) and
men, sorcerers and witches, and the like. Their xara- is therefore
not necessarily different from that of the Old Avestan poetsacrificer,
who, by his sacrifice, (re)generates for himself and Ahura Mazd
the command that permits them to overcome the powers of evil and
darkness (see Yasna 8.5-6). Only in the Old Persian inscriptions
(e.g., DB I) does the word (xa.a) clearly refer to the secular
political power of the king, the ruler (xyaiya), whose xa.a was
given to him by god as his chosen earthly representative.
In Manicheism. The word was used in Iranian Manichean texts in the
form kaw and kw in the sense of giant; for instance, the Book of
Giants (see GIANTS, BOOK OF THE) was the Kwn. The term is
also applied to the Twelve Eons, second of the Five Greatnesses, a
group of inhabitants of the Light Paradise (Waldschmidt and Lentz,
pp. 553-54), as well as to the messengers or prophets who appeared
at intervals in the history of the world to bring Gnosis to mankind,
the last of whom was Mani, also invoked as kw (DurkinMeisterernst and Morano, p. 155, sec. 497b; see also the review by
Skjrv). Christian Sogdian par kawyq by (their) being kaws

renders Syriac gabr like gabbrs (Sims-Williams, ed., 1985,

pp. 142, 144, 152).
Bibliography:
See at end of
KAYNIN XIV. THE KAYANIDS IN
WESTERN HISTORIOGRAPHY.
(Prods Oktor Skjrv)
KAYNIN
ii. The Kayanids as a Group
References to the kauuis in the Avesta are found in the yats in the
lists of heroes who sacrificed to various deities for certain rewards.
The lists go from Haoiiaha, via Taxma Urupi (Tahmraf), Yima,
and Krsspa, to rataona, the later Pishdadids (see HANG,
JAMID, KARSSP, FERDUN), before coming to the kauuis,
beginning with Kauuta and ending with Vitspa. For translations
see Malandra, 1983, and Skjrv, 2011, as well as individual text
editions cited below.
In the Pahlavi texts, Gaymard and Siymak are appended at the
beginning of the lists, and rij (see iraj), Manuihr, and Uzaw/Zaw
are inserted after rataona before the Kays (cf. Yat 13.131:
Uzauua son of Tmspa, Manu.cira son of *Airiiu), and the list of
Kayanids is lengthened.
In the post-Avestan traditions, the kauuis/kays are portrayed in four
stages: 1. seven kauuis/kays beginning with Kauuta/Kawd and
ending with Siiuuaran/Siwa(x); 2. Haosrauuah/Husry
(Husraw), son of Siiuuaran/Siywax; 3. Vitspa/Witsp and his
father Luhrsp, descendant of Kay Pasn; 4. the rulers after
Witsp.
From the point of story line, the first two are stages in the wars
against Frarasiin (Frsiy, Afrsib, q.v.) and the Turanians
(including, in the Persian epic, the activities of Rostam), while the
third is centered around the arrival of Zarathustra and the war
iiaona/ xyn). In the Pahlavi and later
against the Xionians (x
traditions, this third stage also provides the link with the
Achaemenids. The characters of the third stage are the only ones
mentioned in the Gs, and those of the fourth stage are the rulers
linking the Kayanids with the Achaemenids and their successors. A

similar framework is mentioned in Dnkard (3.229; tr. de Menasce, p.

242), where good rule among the descendants of Jam was in three
stages: 1. those after Frdn, Manuihr, and his successors; 2. the
Kayanids; and 3. the Hufrds or Sasanian Kayanids, called
j (see below, viii).
Mythological origins. The seven kauuis recall the Rigvedic sapt is
the seven wise poets (singers) (Rigveda 4.42.8), the seven singers
(kru) (Rigveda 4.16.3), or the seven wise men (vpra), who found
the path (pathi) of Order (Rigveda 3.31.5), and who are all
involved in the regeneration of the new day and the orderly cosmos.
As in the case of the Rigvedic kavs, the lineages of the Iranian
kauuis/kays are emphasized, as in chapter 25 of the Bundahin: the
family (descendants) and lineage (thmag ud paywand) of the
kays (cf. Dnkard 5.4.4-5); compare the similar note in the Rigveda
(3.38.2): So ask the . . . births/generations (jnim) of poets.
Holding (their) thought(s) (firmly), acting well, they have fashioned
the sky, where we see the kavs in their ritual-poetic-cosmogonic
functions. The Gathic poet, whose function is also to help Ahura
Mazd regenerate the new day and the sunlit sky, apparently
expresses his wish to be in the good lineage (haoza) of (one
of?) good thought, that is, presumably, one of his successful
predecessors, and so be entitled to a good reward for his ritual
(Yasna 45.9).
Another reference to the cosmogonic function of the kays is found in
Bundahin 27.18-20 [27.19-21], where the kays and heroes (wr),
each in his own age, are said to smite six of the seven powers (zr,
or deceptions zr) that Wrath produced to destroy the creatures,
but also that they themselves, because of Wraths evildoing, were
annihilated (wan-bd hnd) for the most part (abrtar); note a similar
passage in Yat 19.95, where Wrath is said to retreat before the
companions of the Saoiiat, among whom is Kay Husry according
to the Pahlavi tradition (Dnkard 3.343; tr. de Menasce, p. 317; on
Wrath as the embodiment of the powers of darkness in the Gs,
see Skjrv, 2004, pp. 272-77; on the function of the Old Indic kav,
see Jamison, 2007, chap. 4, with comprehensive discussion of kav/
kauui and references; on the various topoi in the stories about the
kays, see Krasnowolska).

In the Avesta. The Avestan references to the Kayanids as a group

are scant, while there is more about a few individual kauuis. The
standard list contains the seven kauuis preceding Haosrauuah, who
is singled out from his predecessors. The main text is Yat 19 to the
earth (most recent editions: Hintze; Humbach and Ichaporia;
Pirart), but the principal kauuis and references to their narratives
are found in several other Yats as well (Yats 5, 15, 9, 13, 17; see
also Kellens, 1997-98, pp. 750-52; idem, 1999-2000, pp. 744-51).
In Yat 19.71-72 (Pahlavi translation in Dnkard 7.1.35), the six
names in the list are the direct object of the Kavian xvarnah (see
below), which followed . . . so that they all became . . .; they are
followed by a description of the qualities they obtained from this,
and then Haosrauuah is listed, followed by a lengthy description.
Unfortunately, the meanings of most of the terms are uncertain at
best: auruua (stop-gap tr. brave, Dnkard: arwand = Av. auuruuat
speedy), taxma firm, steady (like charioteers, archers, etc.;
Dnkard: tagg, commonly rendered as speedy, but contexts point
to firm or similar), possessing amnah (meaning unknown;
Dnkard: pahrzmand who exercises care) and varcah (commonly
thought to mean wondrous power, common Pahlavi translation
warzmand; Old Indic vrcas is something possessed and given by the
fire and the sun; cf. Pahlavi warzwand, frequent epithet of fires) and
yaoxti (thought to refer to skill; Pahlavi tr. forms of wizhexamine: Yasna 9.8 [Ai Dahka], Yat 7.5 [the moon],
kmagmand: Videvdad 19.30 [the dan], 20.1), dari-kariia
performing daring deeds (Dnkard: keft-kerdr), and of the lineage
of kauuis (kauue < k uuiia?). Other entities possessing amnah,
varcah, and yaoxti are Titriia (Yat 8.49; see TITRYA), some
aspect of the mra spta (Ahura Mazds holy thought/word; Yat
16.1-2), the xarnah of the kauuis and the unseizable(?) (axarta)
xarnah (Yat 19.9, 45, etc.), rita, the first healer (Videvdad 20.1-2,
where pahrzmand is taken to refer to healing and warzmand is said
to be like Kyus and kmagmand like Jamd). In Yat 13.132, the
description of the seven is missing, and Haosrauuah follows
Siiuuaran directly (in Geldners edition, his description comes in
str. 133, but this division is arbitrary).
The Avestan list does not, with one exception, suggest a specific
relationship between the kauuis of the list, with the exception of the

relationship between Siiuuaran and his son Haosrauuah,

expressed in the term pur.kana as filial revenge for. The Pahlavi
list, whose order differs slightly from the Avestan one, covers three
generations, four of the kays being brothers.
Of the two characters of the third stage, only Vitspa is called
kauui. His father is Auruua-aspa (Yat 5.105, Pahlavi Luhrsp), and
his daughter (not explicitly) Humii (later Humy). In the Young
Avesta, he is associated with the brothers Fraaotra and Jmspa
(Yasna 12.7).
The Avesta does not refer to kings per se as rulers over specific
lands other than in the case of Yima, who became the first ruler in
Airiiana Vajah (see RN -W Z), the mythological homeland of
hupaiti is
the Airiias (on Vitspa, see below). The Avestan da
usually the last in the list of heads of social units: nman-, vs-, zatu-,
hupaiti, loosely: master/lord of the house, town, tribe, land, but
da
hupaitis fight enemy armies,
contexts such as Yat 10.8, where the da
suggest rulers, kings.
The kauuis are also not said to have ruled (xaiia- have command
over); this term is reserved for the Pishdadid kings Haoiiaha,
Taxma Urupi, and Yima (Yat 19.26-32; similarly in Yat 5.22-26,
with the expression upmm xarm bauua- wield the utmost power
over). The term is elsewhere applied to gods or to control over
things (see Bartholomae, AirWb., cols. 551-53).
In the Pahlavi texts. According to the Bundahin (26.101-2
[26.104-5]), the divine Nrysang (messenger of the gods) is
especially connected with the kays and heroes (yal or *wr) and
increases their family (thmag) and assists them in furthering and
organizing the world; he is also said to call the family of the kays
from the lineage of the gods (bayn). In Dnkard 5.4.5-6, the xwarrah
of the current king is said to be the same as that of the kays, and
Nrysang is said to have been made manifest in order to keep
their close family relationship (ham-nf), lineage, and their intrinsic
xwarrah intact (drust). In Dnkard 3.282, the seed (thmag) of Kay
Kawd, made by Nrysang, is said to go back to that of Gaymard.
The Avesta may contain an echo of this myth in S-rzag 1.9 (= 2.9 =
Niyyin 5.5-6 to the Fire), where Kauui Haosrauuah, the Kavian
xarnah, and Nairii.saha are counted among those associated
with it.

The ancestor (niyg, Dnkard 3.282, 7.1.33, 8.13.12; ed. Dresden,

[MR76]) of the kays was Kay Kawd, and their lineage and seed/
family came from him (paywand ud thmag, also in Mny xrad
26.45). Kay Abweh was his son, and the next four kays his
grandsons.
In the Bundahin, their lineage is said to come from the kayn xwarrah
(Bundahin 26.4), and their family, seed (thmag) is said (by popular
etymology) to be from Lake Kayns (Av. Ksaoiia; Bundahin 11C.5
[11C.4]), where Zarathustras seed, gathered by Nrysang, was
deposited by Anhd (Bundahin 35.60 [35.61], cf. 33.38 [33.43],
where it is Zarathustras xwarrah that is deposited by Anhd; see
KAYNSH).
Their function as supporters of the dn is mentioned in the Aydgr
Wuzurg-Mihr (Pahlavi Texts, p. 123 [229]), where the kays and
heroes (yal and wr) who laid down their lives for the Mazdayasnian
dn (q.v.) are invoked, and also in the introduction to the Bundahin
(0.3: kayn dn-burdrn).
The identification of the kays with rulers is explicit in Abdh ud
sahgh Sstn 4 (Pahlavi Texts, p. 101 [320]), where the author
points out that the family and lineage of the ruling kays (paywand
ud thmag kayn dahbedn) were much harmed in Sstn. In Dnkard
5.4.4-5, the qualities of the present ruler are compared with those of
the kays. The kays are not the only ones who became kings,
however; their predecessors also did, and kingship is not limited to
those bearing the title kay. In the still later Perso-Arabic tradition,
even Gaymard has become a king, the first king in history. There is
thus no question of secularization restricted to the kays (cf.
Dumzil, 1986, p. 176; Jamison, 2007, p. 127).
In Perso-Arabic tradition. Like the Pahlavi sources, the PersoArabic historians state that Kay-Qobd was the ancestor of the
Kayanids (amza, p. 35, tr. p. 24: wled progenitor; abari, I/2, p.
535; tr., III, p. 117: men naslehe; Balami, ed. Bahr, p. 524: hama
farzandn-e Kay-Qobd budand). razmi says his laqab was alawwal
the first (p. 100), and Mirnd has awwali (see I, p. 664; tr., p.
216).
According to abari, the Pishdadids and Kayanids were rulers of
Babylon (Bbel) and the east (abari, I/2, pp. 529-35; tr., III, pp.

112-18), while Balami (ed. Bahr, p. 519) has Manuehr already as

king of Ajam in the land of Bbel (cf. Dinavari, ed. Guirgass, p. 12;
ed. abb, pp. 15-16). Biruni says the Kayanids came from Bal
but became the rulers of Babylonia, where they were called
Chaldean after the former rulers (tr., p. 100; chronological tables on
pp. 112-13, 17). This connection of the Iranian rulers with Babylon
goes back at least to Dahg, whose castle was in Bbel (Bundahin
32.4; cf. Dnkard 7.4.72). Biruni, who complains that the chronology
of the Kayanids is troubled and obscured, only registers that
osrow was the grandson of Qob and gives the fathers name as
<kynyh> for <kyb(y)wh>.
Bibliography:
KAYNIN
iii. Kauui Kauuta, Kay Kawd, Kay Kobd (Qobd)
Kauui Kauuta (Figure 1) has no epithets in the Avesta to describe
him, and the descriptions in the Pahlavi sources are mostly vague.
His seed (thmag) is from the xwarrah (Ddestn dng 36.26, see
above); he was the first to establish kingship in Iran (Dnkard
7.1.33); he was godfearing and a good ruler (Mny xrad 26.45-47).
According to a notice in the ahrestnh rnahr (57), he may
have married Wan, daughter of Gulax.
The tales of his origins vary. According to the Bundahin, he was
abandoned in a basket (kwd) on a river and, when it was caught in
the reeds (? pad kawdagn afsard), was found by Uzaw, who called
him Foundling (*Wistag/ Winddag; see Christensen, 1934). This is
the familiar story also told of Cyrus by Herodotus.
A variant of this story is that of Ferdowsi, according to whom,
because the sons of Nowar were not fit to rule, Zl followed the
advice of a mowbed to seek out Kay Kobd of the line of Ferdn and
sent Rostam to find him in the Alborz (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, I,
pp. 338-41; ed. Mohl, I, pp. 454-63; tr., I, pp. 382-87). The story is
related to that of the Paikuli inscription, with which it shares the
basic formulas (Skjrv, 1998). The river motif is preserved, as Kay
Kobd is found dwelling on a river shore in a paradisiacal
environment. The origin story of Kawd is not found in the works of

Islamic-period authors, who ascribe a similar story to Dr (see

below and DR i).
Some of the later traditions have him descended from Manuehr via
Nowar and Zb (Zaw). Whether this is an ancient tradition or
based on the order of the names in Yat 13, where Uzauua and
Manu.cira and others are listed between rataona and Kauui
Kauuta, cannot be ascertained. The Mojmal al-tawri cites this
tradition, as well as another, according to which his father was Kay
Kma son of Zaw (ed. Bahr, p. 29). About his rule, the Bundahin
(33.7) notes that Afrsibs devastation of Iran lasted until Kawd
took up the rule.
In the Perso-Arabic sources, Kavds connection with agriculture,
borders, and defining provinces is more prominent. He arranged for
irrigation, in addition to naming the lands, determining boundaries,
and setting up provinces; he instituted a tithe to pay for army
provisions; and he prevented enemies (amza) or the Turks
(abari, Ebn Bali) from invading Iran (amza, p. 35; tr., p. 24;
abari, I/2, pp. 534-35; tr., III, pp. 116-17; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le
Strange and Nicholson, p. 40; ed. Behruzi, p. 48). According to
alebi, he arranged to have tax income used to pay soldiers, so
that the money would circulate from the king and among the
soldiers, merchants, and the like, for the benefit of them all and not
stay in one place for long to the detriment of the others. He enjoyed
cultivating the earth (cf. alebis description, p. 150, with the
description in Videvdad 3.22-29 of the things that most please and
displease the earth) and first prohibited the drinking of wine as a
dangerous habit, but then re-permitted it in moderation to heighten
courage (alebi, pp. 148-52). He founded the city of rn-snkard-kawd (ahrestnh rnahr 54), instead of which amza
has Irn-<wr>- kaw (amza, p. 35).
In the h-nma, upon mounting the throne, Kavd leads a
campaign against the Turkmens and Paang, Afrsibs father. Here,
Rostam is introduced as a great fighter, and Afrsib berates Paang
for his ill-advised attack on the Iranians. Paang writes a letter to
Kavd, suggesting they stay within their respective borders and
drop fighting, in reply to which Kavd reminds him that they were
the aggressors, but agrees to leave them alone if they withdraw and
stay beyond the river. Kavd then divides the realm among his army

leaders, while reserving the area of Nimruz (Sistn) for himself,

departs for Ear in Prs, and makes a trip around the world,
before returning to Prs. Ferdowsi concludes the story by stating
that he made the world cultivated (bd) with law and generosity
(dd o dahe; h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, I, pp. 345-58; ed. Mohl, I, pp.
464-85; tr., II, pp. 11-23).

KAYNIN
iv. Minor Kayanids
The names. The names of the five minor kauuis in the Avesta and the
Bundahin are as follows:
Yats 13.132, 19.71

Bundahin 35.29-31

Aipi.vahu

Kay Abweh

Usan/Usaan

Kay Ar

Pisinah

Kay Pisn

Biiaran

Kay Kyus (Kay-Us)

The Avesta contains no information on Aipi.vahu, Aran, Pisinah,

and Biiaran, but, according to the Pahlavi tradition, Abweh was
the son of Kawd and the father of Ar, Biyar (spelled <byl>),
Pisn, and Kyus.
In the Pahlavi texts. The Bundahin (35.37-40) contains a story about
Abwehs birth. His mother was Frnag, daughter of Vaarg
[spelled variously], a descendant of Manuihr. Vaarg, a sorcerer,
tried to capture Frdns xwarrah, which was in a reed stalk in the
Frxkard Sea (q.v.), to give to his three sons, but the xwarrah went
to Frnag instead. When her father threatened to kill her, she said
she would rather give her child to Ubm radiance of dawn.
Ubm saved her from her father, and the son, once born, was
given to Ubm to be his collaborator during the period of the
Mixture (see GUMZIN). The story is also alluded to in the
Ddestn dng (47.33; TD4a, p. 312) dealing with the symbolism of
the yasna, where the xwarrah in the milk offering is said to symbolize

the xwarrah that came to nar through his mother and that which
came to Kay-Kawd from Frnag, daughter of Vara. This is
probably either a mistake, or, less likely, perhaps, the xwarrah came
from Frnag to Kawd (and his semen?) as the future father of
Abweh. Christensen (1932, p. 72) suggested that Yat 13.140 Fr
n wife of Usinmah referred to this story (see also Mayrhofer, I, p.
85, no. 324).
A myth based on his name appears to be preserved in the
description of dawn in the Bundahin (26.88-89 [90]), where the
deities and their collaborators are described. Here it is said that
dawn is the time when men are most likely to reach (aybag-tar, cf.
Pers. yftan) (dawn, consciousness?) and something good (weh)
arrives and is learned. In Yasna 19.8, aybagh renders Av. ape, which
makes it possible that what we have in the Bundahin is an exegesis
of the name aipi-wahu, interpreted as reaching good (things).
Kay Abweh is listed together with Kay Husry in the Sdgar nask
(Dnkard 9.23.2; see sudgar nask and wartmnsr nask, online) as
one of the immortals who will be awakened at the end of time (cf.
Christensen, 1932, p. 153).
These stories are clearly related to the cosmic and ritual
regeneration of dawn and, in particular, the eschatological dawn
introducing the eternal day (see FRA.KRTI).
Kay Ar is mentioned in the exegesis on Yasna 43.12 in Wartmnsr
nask (Dnkard 9.23) together with Jam (cf. Y. 43.12 jima shall
come!) and Karssp as not having accepted (cf. Y. 43.12, asrut
un-listened-to) the dn (Mol, 1963, p. 522).
Kay Pisn is said to be the father of Manu and grandfather of Kay
Luhrsp (Bundahin 35.34).
In the Perso-Arabic traditions. According to abari (I/2, pp. 533-34; tr.,
III, p. 116; Balami, I, p. 523; Zotenberg, p. 407), Kay Qobd
married the daughter of a Turkish chieftain and with her had six
children. Her name is unpointed in the manuscripts of abari
(Balami does not mention her), but can be read as Ferk, Ferang,
etc. (Brinner has Qartak; cf. the form Frnag, above). Her fathers
name is spelled <bdrs> (no pointing) in abari, which, curiously,
reflects the Avestan form Vara spelled with <>, similar to <s>.

In the Perso-Arabic traditions, the names of his six descendants

have been considerably altered, and the manuscripts tend to differ
on the forms or leave them undotted (here: ) or arbitrarily dotted.
In the list of the sons of Kay Qobd, de Goeje (abari, p. 534) cites
the readings <ky fyh> and <ky wfy>, while, for Balami, Bahr (p.
523) has <fnh> with no variants, and Biruni has <kynyh>, but ms.
Ayasofia 2947 (unpublished, unstudied) has <kyh> for the
expected <ky ywh, ky yh>.
Biyar is spelled <bh r> in abari (I/2, pp. 534, 617; tr., III, p. 116,
IV, p. 17; cf. Justi, 1895, p. 67b [Shaul Shakeds suggestion, apud tr.
IV, p. 17, n. 85, that the form might continue Vahu Ariia in Yat
13.108 is unlikely]. Bahr (ibid.) has Kay ra with no variants.
Pasin, strangely, often appears as Fin (e.g., abari, I/2, pp. 534,
617). For the last name, abari has <kyh> variously pointed as
<kynth, kybh, kybyh>. For other manuscript readings in other
works, see de Goeje (abari, I/2, p. 534, note d).
abari lists Kay-Abivah in the genealogy of Kay- osrow (I/2, p.
604; tr., IV, p. 8; not in Balami, I, pp. 616- 17) and his sons as
having participated in the final battle against Afrsib (abari, I/2,
p. 617; tr., p. 17). Here he lists Kay-Ar, like his father in charge of
uzestn and the contiguous part of Babylonia, and Kay-Beh-Ar,
in charge of Kerman and surroundings; as well as Kay-Fin,
grandfather of Kay-Uji (<wjy> and father of Lohrsf).
Ebn al-Bali has Kay-Kvus b. <knbyh>, var. Kay- <bnh/nyh>
(ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp. 14, 40). In the genealogy of
Lohrsb, son of <fnwy>, he lists Kay- Mane son of Kay-Fin son
of Kay-<bnh> (var. <byh>; p. 14). Dinavari lists three sons of Kay
Qobd (ed. Guirgass, p. 14; ed. abb, p. 16): Qbus, his
successor; Kay- <bnh>, Lohrsbs grandfather; and <qyws>,
grandfather (ancestor) of the Anis (Arsacids, q.v.).
abari also mentions the minor Kays in a brief discussion of the
identity of the Biblical Cyrus (I/2, pp. 691-92; tr., IV, pp. 85-86).
Some, he says, think he was Betsb (Gotsb), others that he was
Kay Ar, the uncle of Betsbs grandfather or the brother of KayQvus son of Kay-Abevah son of Kay-Qob, while Betsb was
the son of Kay-Lohrsb and great-great-grandson of Kay-Qvus.
He also comments that Kay Ar did not reign, but only governed
uzestn and the contiguous part of Babylonia under Kay-Qvus,

Kay-osrow, and Lohrsb (cf. the position of Hystaspes/Vitspa,

father of Darius, who is nowhere said to have been king). In the
chapter on Kay- Lohrsb (I/2, p. 645; tr., IV, p. 43), however, he has
the same genealogy as in the Bundahin: son of Kay-Uji, KayManu, son of Kay-Fin.
The Momal al-tawri (p. 29) has the following sons of Kay Qobd:
Kay Kvus, Kay Pain (ms. fol. 11a <yn>, grandfather [jadd] of
Lohrsb and brother of Jmsb), Kay-Are, Kay-re (ms. <r>,
called Kay Bahmani in the Tri, who was the father of <Kykn>).
According to another tradition, Kay Kvus was the son of Kay
<frh> (= ms.) son of Kay Qobd; the author comments, however,
that the truth is that he himself [i.e., Kay Kvus] was the son of Kay
Qobd.
Ferdowsi lists the sons at the end of the chapter on Kay Kavd as
Kus, Kay ra, and Kay Pain (var. Nain), while the name of the
fourth is highly doubtful; among the many variants are Kay Armin
(q.v.) and Are (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, I, p. 357 and n. 10, and
the commentary in Notes I/1, p. 389; ed. Mohl, I, pp. 482-83; tr., II,
p. 23).
For additional details on Kay ra in Islamic-period sources, see
RA, KAY.
Bibliography:

KAYNIN
v. Kauu i Usan, Kay-Us, Kay Kvus
With Kauui Usan (Usaan), Pahlavi Kay Us (Ky Us), Persian Kay
Kvus (etc; Figure 2), the sources become a bit more substantial.
His name corresponds to Old Indic Kvya Unas. The spelling of
the Pahlavi form of the name as <kyws> leaves the vowel length
undetermined, as <-y-> is often used to spell Avestan -aii- and -a-,
but the common form Kay Kyus suggests that the first element of
Kyus was no longer recognized as Kay-. The spelling <kyws> and
the later forms with long -- may, in fact, continue an older form
*Kvya Usan-, which perfectly matches the Old Indic form.

The alternative Avestan form Usaan remains unexplained and has

no descendant in the later tradition, but as it is found only in two
identical lists (in the genitive: Yt. 13.132, and accusative: Yt. 19.71)
of the seven kauuis, it is suspected of being an error. In Yat 13.132,
it is preceded in Yat 13.121 by a certain Usaan, which may have
influenced the form.
Avesta. In Yat 5.45, where he sacrificed to Anhit on the Eagle
Mountain (rzifii paiti gari), Kauui Usan is called auruua and
a.varcah having great varcah (see above; cf. Pahl. purr-warz,
Pahlavi Rivyat 47.7), and, in Yat 14.39, he is apparently said to have
traveled through the air on the bird vrjina (relationship to the
bird vrna, which, in Yat 14.19, is said to be the fastest of birds, is
unclear).
In the Pahlavi texts. According to the Pahlavi texts, he was the oldest
of the sons of Abweh, governed the seven continents, and was filled
with xwarrah (Dnkard 7.1.35, 37). He ruled for 150 years (Bundahin
36.7) over dws and men (Dnkard 9.22.4, an Avestan phrase not
applied to Kauui Usan in the Avesta, but to the pre-Kayanid herosacrificers).
He was the father of Siywax and grandfather of Kay Husry
(Bundahin 35.31; Mny xrad 26.55: Siywax was fashioned
[brhnd] from his body). He is said to have instructed the Iranian
lands with learned instructions (handarz [see ANDARZ]; Dnkard
7.1.37) and ruled for seventy-five years before going to the sky and
seventyfive years after (Bundahin 36.7).
Wars. According to the Bundahin (33.8-10), during Kay-Uss rule,
the dws became oppressive, specifically the mzang dws (Av.
mazaniia giant[?]; Bartholomae, AirWb., col. 1169), which he kept
from harming and subduing the creatures (Dnkard 9.22.4).
In the Bundahin (33.9-11), there follows the episode of Zngw
(Zainigu of Yat 19.93, killed by Frarasiin), who attacked Iran
from Arabia (tzg) and killed all he looked at with his poisonous
eye. A Turanian (*Datan) killed Zngw and assumed the rule of
Iran, deporting large numbers, and laid Iran waste until Rostam
came and seized the inhabitants of ambarn and freed Kay Us and
the captive Iranians. Kay Us then fought Afrsib, pushed the
Turanians back to Turkestan, and recultivated Iran.

Madness and fall. The story of Kay Uss madness is found in two
versions. According to the Bundahin (33.8, cf. 36.7), his mind was
disturbed (wiybnnd) so that he tried to go up and do battle with
the sky, but he fell down and the xwarrah was stolen (appr) from
him; he devastated the world with his army, until they caught and
bound him by deception in the land of ambarn.
The story in the Sdgar nask is more detailed (Dnkard 9.22.5-12).
The dws plotted Kay Uss death, and Wrath (see AMA),
undertaking the task, went to Kay Us and, making him unsatisfied
with ruling only the sevenfold earth, made him desire the rule of
heaven as well and fight the gods themselves. He rushed up over
Hariburz with dws and evil men until he came to the Kavian
xwarrah in the shape of a mountain. Kay Us and his army attacked
it, but Ohrmazd recalled the xwarrah, and the whole army plunged
down to earth, but Kay Us into the Frxkerd (Vouruka ) Sea,
where he swam about. His death was prevented by the unborn Kay
Husry (i.e., his fravashi; see FRAVAI) calling out to Nrysang,
who was flying down after Kay Us, not to kill him, because then
Siywax would not be born, nor Husry himself, and the
Turanians would not be defeated (Dnkard 9.22.9-11). An astral
phenomenon, called the road of Kay Us or the road of the snake
Gihr (Bundahin 5B.22), may have been named after this event.
Establishing boundaries. According to the Dnkard (7.1.37), he brought
order to the seven continents and taught people the useful art of
determining borders (wimand-gwinh). The ability to tell boundaries
was ascribed to a bull that appeared during Kay Uss rule, and its
story is told in the Dnkard and by Zdspram (Dnkard 7.2.62-67;
Wizdagh 4.10-26). This bull (Zdspram: living in a forest) was
divinely enabled with the ability to determine exactly the border
between Iran and Turn, according to the Dnkard, but had the
boundaries written on its hoofs, according to Zdspram. The
Turanians envied Kay Us the bull and sent a warrior called Srid to
kill it, but the bull told Srid not to do it, lest, when Zarathustra
appeared, dire misfortune befall his soul. Srid refrained from killing
the bull and went to Kay Us and told him what had happened. The
king, however, misled by dws and sorcerers, according to the
Bundahin, but skeptical about the coming of Zarathustra, according
to Zdspram, ordered Srid to kill the bull, who so did, despite the

bulls remonstrations. According to Zdspram, Srid was overcome

by remorse, but Kay Us told him to go to the forest, which was
inhabited by witches who would remove his remorse, as they did,
and Srid killed the bull. Again troubled, Srid returned to Kay Us
and asked him to kill him, which Kay Us refused to do. Srid then
threatened to kill Kay Us, but Kay Us told him to go back to the
(same?) forest and have the witch in the shape of a dog kill him.
Every time Srid struck her, she would split in half, and when there
were a thousand replicas, they killed Srid. See also on Srid,
Witsp, and the chariot, below.
Building. Kay Us built a mansion on Mount Hariborz, one part of
which was of gold, which served as living quarters; two parts of
crystal, which served as stables; and two of steel, where the herds
were kept and water flowed from springs (Bundahin 32.3, 11).
Alternately, he built seven mansions, one of gold, two of silver, two
of steel, and two of crystal (Dnkard 9.22.4). He also founded
Samarkand, which was completed by Siywax, and Kay Husry
was born there (ahrestnh rnahr 2-3; Pahlavi Texts I, pp.
18-24).
In the Perso-Arabic traditions. amza merely records that he lived in
Bal and that he, according to what he had read in some books,
built a building in Bbel that reached high into the air (p. 35; tr., p.
25).
abari tells the story of Kay Kvus in the chapter on the Persians
who ruled Babylonia and the East after Kay Qob (I/2, pp.
597-604; tr., IV, pp. 1-7; cf. Balami, ed. Bahr, pp. 595-602, chapter
on the kings of the East in the time of Solaymn; Ebn al-Bali, ed.
Le Strange and Nicholson, pp. 40-43; ed. Behruzi, pp. 49-52). He
begins by saying that Kay Kvus killed numerous enemies and kept
the remaining ones strictly beyond their borders and lived in Bal.
He then goes on to the birth of Siva and his education by
Rostam, governor (espahbed general) of Sistn (Balami, ed. Bahr,
p. 596: mehtar-e Sagestn). Balami begins by stating that he ruled all
of the East; that his western border was toward Torkestn
(Jayun), which was ruled by Afrsib, while the western regions
belonged to Solaymn; and that he resided at Bal. This leads up to
the report that Kay Kvus requested from Solaymn a number of
demons (div) to be placed at his command to build cities, which

Solaymn granted him. He then continues like abari (Balami, ed.

Bahr, pp. 595-96).
He married Sudba (Suba; Balami gives no name), the daughter
of Afrsib (Frsib; abari, I/2, p. 598; tr., IV, p. 2; Ebn al-Bali,
ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 41: according to some, the
daughter of the king of Yemen according to others), and she was a
sorceress (abari: sera, Ebn al-Bali: jdu). Sudba having
slandered her stepson Siva to his father, Siva was sent to fight
Afrsib (Farsit), who had not delivered the dowry that he had
promised when Kay Kvus married his daughter, but Siva joined
Afrsib and eventually sired a child on Afrsibs daughter
Visffarid (Farangis in the h-nma; see below), the future Kay
osrow (abari, I/2, pp. 599-600; tr., IV, pp. 3-4; Balami does not
name the girl; Zotenberg has Kay Farsi). After Siva was killed,
apparently by Afrsibs brother Kidar (differently, under Kay
osrow, see below; see also KARSIVAZ), his wife, who was
pregnant, was asked to abort the child, but she refused. Firn
(Pirn), who had provided for peace between Afrsib and Siva,
warned Afrsib about the consequences of the treacherous killing
of Siva. He asked that Visffarid be turned over to him until the
child was born, when he would kill the newborn child. The child
was born, but Firn could not bring himself to kill the baby, and the
war against the Turanians continued (abari, I/2, pp. 600-601; tr.,
IV, pp. 3-4; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 41). The
heroes Gdarz and Gv make their appearance under Kay Kvus.
Solaymn then commanded devils to serve Kay Kvus, who ordered
them to build a city for him (its name, in abari, p. 602: <kykdr> or
< qyqdwr>; tr., IV, p. 5; Balami, ed. Bahr, p. 600: <kykrd>;
Zotenberg, pp. 464-65: <knkrt> or <qyrwn>), 800 parasangs
(Baami, eight farsang) long, surrounded by walls of yellow brass,
brass, copper, fired clay, silver, and gold (Balami: copper, bronze,
brass [ruy, berenj, mes], and iron). It was carried between heaven and
earth by the devils together with its inhabitants. After god sent
someone (an angel, Balami, p. 600) to destroy the city and the
devils were unable to protect it, Kay Qvus slew their leaders.
In this connection, abari mentions that Kay Kvus would not talk
while eating or drinking (as required in Zoroastrianism), which may
be a variant of the story reported in one manuscript of Balami,

where it is said that Kay Kvus did not need to relieve himself after
eating and drinking (Zotenberg, p. 465; abari, I/2, p. 602; tr., IV, p.
5; Balami, ed. Bahr, p. 600, n. 4: ms. of Nafisi from Bahrs notes,
introd., p. 80; apparently not listed in Makurs ed., p. 50; the report
recalls Aokas stomach ailment in the story of Kula, which
exhibits numerous similarities with that of Kay Kvus and Siva;
see Skjrv, 1998).
After the destruction of the city, according to Balami (ed. Bahr, p.
600), Kay Kvus became unhappy and obsessive about going up to
heaven to see heaven, the stars, the sun, and the moon. He made a
magical machine (elasm), by means of which he and several of his
men rose up, but the ropes of the machine broke when they reached
the clouds, and they fell down and died, all except Kay Kvus.
According to abari (I/2, p. 602; tr., IV, pp. 5-6), he became worried
about his kingship and refused to eat and drink (tanwol) anything
unless it reached him by ascent to heaven. According to another
authority cited by abari (I/2, p. 603; tr., IV, p. 6), Kay Qvus came
to Babylon from orsn, and, not content with his earthly
command, he wanted to know about the heavens, the planets, and
what was beyond them. God enabled him and his followers to rise as
far as the clouds, then let them fall down. After this, war ravaged his
kingdom. Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 42) simply
notes that he became inclined toward drinking wine and partying,
and his neighboring enemies took advantage to attack him, the
fortunes of war going back and forth.
Kay Qvus then attacked Yemen, whose king defeated him with a
force of Himyarites and others, destroyed his army, took him
prisoner, and threw him in a pit, but he was rescued by Rostam,
coming from Sejestn. Fearful of what might happen in the war, the
Yemenites released Kay Qvus, who returned with Rostam to
Babylon and bestowed the lands of Sejestn and Zbolestn on him
(abari, I/2, pp. 603-4; tr., IV, pp. 5-7; a slightly different version by
Balami, ed. Bahr, pp. 601-2).
Masudi (sec. 542) briefly narrates that Kay Qvus was the first to
move from Iraq to Bal and that he built a building in Iraq in order
to battle the heavens. The Yemenite king, ammer Yara, marched
against him, took him captive, and put him in jail. Yaras daughter,
Sod, fell for him and eased his captivity until he was delivered by

Rostam. He returned home with Sod, who gave birth to Sivax

(cf. Meybodi, V, p. 38, where Zolays mother is said to be queen
of Yaman). Masudi also credits him with founding the city of
Kamir in India (sec. 555).
alebi is typically more detailed and rationalizes the mythical
features of the narrative. He comments on Kay Kvuss variable
temperament, ranging from violent tyrant to irreproachable king,
and that he made disastrous decisions but was saved by good
fortune (pp. 154-55). He is no longer associated with devils,
although Satan may have incited him to his Yemenite campaign (p.
157). The king and his generals were entombed in a ditch covered
with a stone (also Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p.
42), and he was visited by the kings daughter Suna (alebi, pp.
159-60). After chasing Afrsib from Ray back to Transoxiana (M
War al-Nahr), he went to inspect Fars before returning to Bal.
He appointed Rostam sepahbe of Nimruz, Zbolestn, and Hend
(alebi, pp. 163-64). He built his tower in Babylon (400 cubits
tall), a story which alebi, apparently, connected with that of the
Tower of Babel. Its various materials were stone, iron, brass, silver,
and gold. It is again Satan who confuses the king, making him think
that he was god, and decide to mount up to heaven in order to rule
both heaven and earth. His transport was four eagles (also Ebn alBali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp. 40-41; ed. Behruzi, p. 49),
which he had raised for the purpose (cf. Eagle Mountain, where he
sacrifices in Yat 5.45). As incitement to fly ever higher, he attached
pieces of meat around the seat, just out of their range, with the
result that they were famished when they reached heaven, as well as
having their feathers burned (reminiscent of Daedalus.) They
descended again, setting the king down in Sirf, since he asked for
milk and water (ir b). Here, Ebn al-Bali (p. 41) apparently
retains the memory of the divs obliquely by commenting that passing
through the air and reaching heaven are fantasies of madmen
(divnagn).
alebi tells us that the king again survived in order that Siva
might be born and, in due time, sire Kay osr (i.e., Kay osrow).
The people of Sirf carried him back to Babylon on a litter pulled by
mules. Here he devoted himself to god, his splendor reappeared, and
he remounted the throne (pp. 165-67). The story of Siva is told at

great length, concluding with Rostam bringing the news of his death
and Sunas treachery to Kay Kvus, who is shattered and dies (p.
212).
In the h-nma. Tempted by a div masquerading as a minstrel and
inspired by pride, but against the advice of his counselors, notably
Zl, Kay Kvus leads a disastrous campaign against Mzandarn
and the white div (Div-e Safid), who showers the Iranian army with
stones and darts from the sky, which blind them all. Hoping to have
taught the enemy a lesson, pointing out that they brought disaster
upon themselves, the div returns home, while Kay Kvus and his
troops remain in custody. Zl then sends Rostam to free the king
and take revenge on the div, and there follow the seven feats of
Rostam (see HAFT N). At the end of Rostams one-man
exploit, the divs are dead, the king freed, and his troops sight
restored by three drops of the white divs blood. He sends a letter to
the king of Mzandarn with a demand to subject himself to Iran,
which the div refuses. Rostam himself is then sent to the div, who
tries to tempt him into changing allegiance, which Rostam refuses to
do, whereupon Kay Kvus himself again goes against the divs. For
seven days, the army is overwhelmed by the enemy, until, on the
eighth day, Kvus beseeches god for victory. During the battle, the
king of Mzandarn turns himself into a stone, which Rostam
carries to Kvus. When Rostam threatens to break it asunder, the div
materializes again and is finally slain, and Kvus returns to Prs (ed.
Khaleghi, II, pp. 3-65; ed. Mohl, I, pp. 486-569; tr., II, pp. 27-78).
Kay Kvus then journeys throughout his realm, all the way to
Turn, China (in), and Makrn and the sea, and goes on a
campaign against Barbarestn, whose resistance is easily broken,
and to Mount Qf, imposing tribute and new laws. He then crosses
the sea to fight the Arab Hamvarn, whose king soon surrenders,
and Kvus marries his daughter Sudba. The king of Hmvarn,
however, plots to imprison Kvus, who is warned by Sudba but
disregards her warning and is taken prisoner together with his army
leaders and is joined by Sudba/Sudva (ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 67-80;
ed. Mohl, II, pp. 4-21; tr., II, pp. 82-91).
During the ensuing jostling for the throne, Afrsib invades Iran
and is joined by the Arabs, whom, however, he then enslaves.
Rostam writes to the king of Hamvarn (who disregards his

warning) and leads an army to free Kvus. The king surrenders and
hands over Kvus and his men, who return to Iran and chase
Afrsib (ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 80-93; ed. Mohl, I, pp. 20-39; tr., II,
pp. 91-101).
Kvus then orders the world and rules with justice. He has the divs
build two mansions made of crystal for him on Mount Alborz,
which he uses as pleasure houses. He also has them make a palace of
gold, which was exempt from the passing of the seasons, there being
only spring. Seeing the hardship perpetrated on the divs, Eblis
tempts Kvus to ascend to the sky and add it to his realm. He raises
four eagles, which are attached to his throne and carry him
skyward. Unable to reach beyond the clouds and having been
exhausted, they carry him back down, and he lands, unharmed, in
mol, where a sivo (duck or goose; see Schapka, pp. 137-38)
appears to provide him with sustenance and keep him alive (cf. the
Dnkard story, above). Found and returned home by his men, Kvus
repents and returns to his just rule (ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 93-101; ed.
Mohl, II, pp. 38-51; tr., II, pp. 101-6).
Mirnd comments that the story is exceedingly improbable, since
everybody knew that it was impossible to ascend to heaven without
the assistance of Jebrail and Borq (I, p. 681; tr., p. 243).
There follow the stories of Rostams battle with Afrsib and of
Rostam and Sohrb; the story of Siva and Sudba; the departure
of Siava to Turn and his marriage with Afrsibs daughter,
Farangis; the killing of Siva by Gorvi (see KARSIVAZ); and the
birth of Kay osrow. After Rostam kills Sudba, Afrsib sends
Kay osrow to Khotan to Sivagerd (see below); Gv searches for
him, finds him, and brings him before Kay Kvus. He is set on the
throne and greeted as king and, after capturing De-e Bahman (see
also FARIBORZ), is also crowned (ed. Khaleghi, rest of II; ed.
Mohl, I, pp. 50-557; tr., II, pp. 107-412).
Battles with the Turkmen rage on. Kay Kvus and Kay osrow go
to the temple of argoasp to worship god in the hope of finding
Afrsib. Afrsib is finally captured by Hum, but he escapes into
Lake ast, is recaptured by Hum, and, brought before Kay
osrow, who kills him. Kay Kvus and Kay osrow return to the
temple of argoasp to give thanks. Kay osrow returns home,
then goes back to the temple of argoasp to visit Kvus together

with a throng of people making merry, and stays until his

grandfather dies (ed. Khaleghi, IV, pp. 311-27; ed. Mohl, IV, pp.
192-215; tr., IV, pp. 258-72).
Immortality. According to the Bundahin, the water from the springs
in his mansion conquered old age (and death), and he who entered
the house through one door as an old man would come out the other
door as a youth of fifteen (Bundahin 32.11). In the Dnkard version,
those debilitated by old age, if they managed to reach his mansions
and circumambulated them, would be rejuvenated (Dnkard 9.22.4).
According to Biruni (1887, pp. 94-95; 1958, pp. 154-55; tr., I, p.
193), Esfandid, when dying, had said that Kvus, in his old age,
went to Mount Qf and, by the power of the things mentioned in
the ketb al-din, returned a young man in a chariot of clouds.
Predecessors of the Kay Us narrative. Friedrich Spiegel, followed by
Martin Haug, may have been the first to point out the identity of his
name with that of the Old Indic Kvya Unas (Spiegel, 1852, I, p.
8; Haug, 1862, pp. 235-36; idem, 1884, pp. 278-79), an identification
that was later contested (Bartholomae, AirWb., col. 406) or ignored
(Geldner: no mention; see Jamison, pp. 125-26). In the Rigveda,

Unas is the prototype of those who proclaim the poetic art (k

vya); and even the divine Soma, uttering the births/generations
(jnim) of the gods, is compared with him (Rigveda 9.97.9; Jamison,
chap. 4). The similarities between the Indic and Iranian figures in
the later traditions were discussed at length by Georges Dumzil
(1986, part two), who argued that they were originally sorcerers,
rather than priests or kings, functions ascribed to them in the later
traditions. In his discussion, Dumzil investigated every aspect of
the Kvus narratives in detail (see the critique in Jamison, chap. 4).

KAYNIN
vi. Siiuuaran, Siywax, Siva
Siiuuaran, the one with black stallions, is listed in the Avesta in
Yat 13.132 as a kauui and the third with a name containing aran
male. The only detail given in the Avesta is that his son
Haosrauuah sought revenge on Araraa for killing his father (Yat

5.49-50). In the frn Zardut (3) Siiuuaran is the model of a

handsome male. According to the Pahlavi texts, he built the Kang
castle (Kang-diz, see below; see also KANGDEZ).
The outline of the story of Siva and Sudba is already in the
Bundahin (33.10): Siywax went to Turkestan to fight Afrsib,
but, because of Sdbs sinful behavior (hg), did not return to
Iran. He married one of Afrsibs daughters (Wispn-fry,
Bundahin 35.21), with whom he had Kay Husry, and was then
killed in Turn.
According to the Abar Madan -Wahrm Warzwand, it was
Rostam who avenged Siywax (Pahlavi Texts, p. 161).
The story is much elaborated by alebi (pp. 171-213) and
Ferdowsi (ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 202-376; ed. Mohl, II, pp. 200-451;
tr., II, pp. 191-333). It also features Afrsibs counselor Pirn, who
brings Siva to Khotan, where he builds Sivagerd. The narrative
exhibits numerous features also found in the stories of Aokas son
Kula and the founding of Khotan (see Skjrv, 1998; on local
Central Asian traditions and archeological and literary evidence for
his origin as a vegetation deity, see Yarshater, 1983, pp. 448-51; see
further SIVA).

KAYNIN
vii. Kauui Haosrauuah, Kay Husry, Kay osrow
The name Haosrauuah is a vriddi formation of *husrauuah he who
has good fame and ought to mean good fame by itself. The later
forms, in fact, seem to be descended from *hu-srauuah, although
shortening of the initial syllable is possible. The Pahlavi form is
usually spelled <hwslwy>, <hwslwd>, or <hwslwb>, all of which
should probably be read as Husry. The Persian form may derive
from this, or it may have been remade in analogy with compounds
with -sraw. (On the morphological irregularities of the Avestan
name, see Humbach and Ichaporia, 1998, p. 137.)
In the Avesta. The Avesta contains more details about Kauui
Haosrauuah (Figure 3) than any of the other kauuis, except
Vitspa. His standing epithets are stallion of the Aryan

 iiunm) and xari hakrm .?. for

lands (ara airiianm dax
command, where hakrm has not yet been conclusively
interpreted (Yat 5.49, 15.32). It is also transmitted as hakrt put
together (Yat 9.21).
The benefits obtained in return for sacrificing to his fravashi (see
FRAVAI) are numerous, including strength and victory over ones
opponents, good health and progeny, long life, and healing. (Yat
13.133-35; cf. frn Zardut 7). He has a son named xrra (Yat
13.137). His activities are closely connected with Lake Cacasta
(see AST), where he sacrificed to Anhit that he might win
the chariot race (Yat 5.49-50) and where he killed Frarasiin as
filial revenge for Siiuuaran, who had been killed by trickery by
Araraa, son of Naru. The Avestan expression jan tm kauua
haosrauua . . . pur.kana siiuuarni him (i.e., Frarasiin) he
struck down, Kauui Haosrauuah, as revenge for the son,
Siiuuaran is reflected in the later literature, for instance, Ebn alBalis az Afrsib-e tork kina-ye pedar him tuxt We shall seek
revenge on Afrsib the Turk for my father (p. 44; see below). This
happened after Haoma sacrificed to Druuspa that he might capture
Frarasiin and lead him bound to Kauui Haosrauuah for him to kill
him and after Kauui Haosrauuah sacrificed to her that he might kill
Frarasiin by Lake Cacasta (Yat 9.17-23). He is said to have
killed Frarasiin and bound Krsauuazda (Yat 19.77; see
KARSIVAZ). To kill him, he wielded the same victorious weapon
as rataona did when he killed Ai Dahka, as Frarasiin did
when he killed Zainigu, as Vitspa did when he faced the army
and as Astuua.rta will, when he stands
seeking to overcome aa,
forth from Lake Ksaoiia (Yat 19.92-93; see ASTVA.RTA).
Other activities, all obscure, are connected with a razura of
uncertain meaning (in Videvdad 13.8, it is rendered by Pahl. wag
thicket; Bartholomae, AirWb., cols. 1515- 16, assumes two
meanings: forest and pit covered with branches). Here, the landlord Auruuasra sacrificed to Vaiiu that he might overtake (get
the better of? uzaiieni haca) Kauui Haosrauuah (Yat 15.31), and
Kauui Haosrauuah to Anhit that he might, apparently, drive the
fastest two-horse chariot, but not cut through (?) the razura (Yat
5.50).

In Yat 5, Kauui Haosrauuah is followed by the firm charioteer

Tusa (Yat 5.53-55; the later Ts [Ts]), but the text is poorly
transmitted. Tusa apparently asks Anhit for the ability to
overcome the brood (hunu) of Vasaka (cf. Ferdowsis sons of Vsa:
Hmn, Pilsam, and Pirn) at one of the gates of Kaha (later
Kang; see below) and to strike down large numbers of Turian
lands. This he is granted. Next the brood of Vasaka asks her for
the ability to strike down Tusa, which is not granted (Yat 5.57-59;
see also Yarshater, 1983, p. 443).
In the S-rzag, Kauui Haosrauuah is listed under the day of Fire
(tar) and is associated with Lake Haosrauuaha, Lake Cacasta,
and Mount Asnuuat (S-rzag 1.9 = 2.9 = Niyyin 5.5). His
immortality (see below) is mentioned in the frn Zardut (7).
In the Pahlavi texts. Kay Husry was born at Samarkand, founded by
his grandfather Kay-Us, and later he founded a Warahrn fire there
(ahrestnh rnahr 2-3 in Pahlavi Texts, p. 18 [220]). Frsiyg
had founded the city of Zarang and installed the Karky fire there,
but the city had been destroyed and the fire extinguished; Kay
Husry reopened the city and reinstalled the fire, and the city was
finally completed by Ardar son of Bbag (ahrestnh rnahr
38 in Pahlavi Texts, p. 22 [225]). After ruling for sixty years, he
handed over the rule to Kay Luhrsp and went in glory and victory
to Gardmn (Mny xrad 26.62) on the day of Hordd, month of
Frawardn (Bundahin 36.7; Pahlavi Texts, p. 105 [323], sec. 23).
The Mny xrad lists the following benefits from Kay Husry: killing
Frsiyb, destroying the idol temple by Lake ast, setting up
(wirstan) Kang-diz (see below), and collaborating with Sns (see
below, xii) at the resurrection (Mny xrad 26.59-63).
Victory over Afrsiyb. After overcoming Afrsiyb with the Word, as
well as his brood (widag) fellow Kiriswazd son of *Wigrag, Kay
Husry killed him on the shore of Lake ast (Dnkard 7.1.39).
According to the Mh Frawardn Rz Hordd (Pahlavi Texts, p. 105
[323], secs. 20-23), he killed him on the day of Hordd, month of
Frawardn, the first day of the year, as revenge for his father.
According to the Bundahin (33.11), he then went to the Kang-diz.
The idol temple by Lake ast. When Kay Husry destroyed the idol
temple by Lake ast, dur Gunasp, which had been protecting

the world until then, mounted on a horse, smote darkness, and made
light until the idol temple had been torn down (Bundahin 18.12). If
he had not destroyed the idol temple, the opposition of the forces of
evil would have been so strong that it would not have been possible
to perform the Resurrection (ristxz) and bring about the Final
Body (Mny xrad 1.93-95).
Kay Husry, Wy, Sns and the Resurrection. The Bundahin (35.3)
contains a brief note that Kay Husry had made Wy of Long Rule
convey him across (? widrndan). In other texts, this event is
connected with his collaboration with Sns and the Resurrection.
Kay Husrys participation in this event is mentioned in several
places, with more or less detail (Dnkard 3.343: he is Sns
companion [hamhg] in the Renovation; Mny xrad 26.63: with his
help it will be easier for Sns to perform the Resurrection and
bring about the Final Body).
In the Sdgar nask narrative (Dnkard 9.23.1), Kay Husry asks Wy
why he killed so many good people in the past; after Wy answers,
Kay Husry seizes him and turns him into a camel and rides him to
where the other Renovators are lying asleep and rouses them (cf.
Zdspram, Wizdagh 35.6). Together they go to Sns, who asks
Kay Husry who he is. Kay Husry tells him, and Sns praises
him for destroying the idol temple and for killing Afrsib. Kay
Husry praises the Mazdayasnian dn.
The Pahlavi Rivyat (48.39-48) contains the same story, but Sns
adds that, if Kay Husry had not done what he did, the Renovation
would not take place (also Mny xrad 1.93). He then tells Kay
Husry to praise the Mazdayasnian dn, which he does. After this,
for fifty-seven years, Kay Husry rules the seven continents with
Sns as mowbedn mowbed. The Mh Frawardn Rz Hordd (secs.
32-33) adds that Kay Husry receives the rule from Sm Narmn
(see KARSSP; the last to be resurrected before Sns, Pahlavi
Rivyat 48.35-37) and that, when Kay Witsp is remade into a
body, Kay Husry hands over the rule to him, and Sns his office
to Zardut.
In Perso-Arabic tradition. Of the long story of Kay osrow, amza (p.
36; tr., p. 25) reports that the Persians considered him a prophet
(also Mojmal al-tawri, p. 29) and that he used to live in Bal.
According to Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 47; ed.

Behruzi, p. 56), it was because of his prophethood that he overcame

Afrsib. amza (p. 36) adds a variant of the Afrsib narrative not
found elsewhere: once upon a time, there lived a dragon (tannin) in
the red mountain of Kuid on the border of Fars and Isfahan, which
terrorized men and destroyed the crops. Kay osrow killed the
monster and founded a fire named after the mountain.
The birth of osrow is patterned on the common story of the royal
child brought up by shepherds. abaris version (I/2, pp. 601-2; tr.,
IV, pp. 4-5) is the shorter and more rational, with longer versions in
alebi (pp. 213-16) and the h-nma.
In the h-nma, Kay osrow is born to Farangis (abari, I/2, p.
600; tr., IV, p. 3: Wesffarid; alebi: <ksyfry>, perhaps for
Gisfr), daughter of Afrsib, and Siva, son of Kvus; he is
entrusted by Sivas counselor, Pirn (abari: Firn), to shepherds
from Mount Qol or Qlu (ed. Khaleghi, II, p. 368, v. 2415, and
commentary in Notes I/2, p. 700 on v. 2323; ed. Mohl, II, pp. 420-21;
tr., II, pp. 328-29, where Kalr). At age seven, his royal descent is
revealed when he makes himself a bow and arrows, and at ten, he is
a great warrior. Afrsib is troubled by dreams and asks Pirn about
osrow. Pirn tells him the boy is just a brute, young child, and
when the boy is brought before Afrsib for questioning, he, as
advised by Pirn, answers all the questions backward. Afrsib,
convinced that the boy is an idiot, orders Pirn to send him and his
mother Farangis to Sivagerd (ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 364-76; ed.
Mohl, II, pp. 416-51; tr., II, pp. 325-34). alebi (pp. 213- 16) says
he and his mother went to <sywn>-b.
Gdarz dreams that Soru tells him about Kay osrow and that
only Gv will find him (see GV, GDARZ). Gv (abari, I/2, pp.
604-5; tr., IV, p. 8: Bayy) searches for osrow, finds him, and
together they go to Sivagerd, where Kay osrow is prepared,
before they go to Iran in company with Farangis and appear before
Kvus (alebi, pp. 219-22; h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, II, pp. 413-70;
ed. Mohl, II, pp. 476-557; tr., II, pp. 363-99). According to Ebn alBali, Kay Kvus sends Gv secretly to find the boy and his mother
and help them escape from Torkestn (ed. Le Strange and
Nicholson, pp. 41-42; ed. Behruzi, p. 50).
The final battles with Afrsib are fueled by the theme of the
revenge for Siva. In abari, where Qvus makes osrow king

once he has been brought to Iran, the theme of the revenge is

incorporated in osrows obligatory speech at his enthronement,
and the battles takes place after he becomes king (abari, I/2, p.
605; tr., IV, p. 8; also Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p.
44; ed. Behruzi, p. 52), while, in alebi and the h-nma, the
battles are fought while Kvus is still king, and osrow becomes
king only upon Kvuss death (alebi, pp. 222- 34; h-nma, ed.
Khaleghi, IV, pp. 325-27; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 214-15; tr., IV, p. 272).
abaris narrative of the first engagement with Afrsib involves
us, son of Nowar, who is sent with other warriors, including
Juarz (Gdarz) and Burzfera (another son of Kay Kvus; Ebn alBali: <zrfh>), but, against Kay osrows orders, kills Foru,
another son of Siva and half-brother of the king. us is chained
and shackled and sent with messengers to the king, but Afrsib
sends warriors to intercept them, among them Firn son of Visa. A
battle follows, but us is not heard of again (abari, I/2, pp. 605-7;
tr., IV, pp. 8-10; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp.
44-45). In the h-nma, Foru is the son of Pirns daughter Jarira
(ed. Khaleghi, III, p. 31, v. 69); here, too, Pirn is routinely called
son of Visa, as he is in other sources (Avestan Vasaka, see above).
In the second engagement (abari, I/2, pp. 609-13; tr., IV, pp. 11-14;
Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp. 45-47; ed. Behruzi,
pp. 53-54), Kay osrow entrusts the Kayanid banner (deraf-e
kvin; Ebn al-Bali: kbin) to Gdarz/Juarz, who kills Pirn/
Firn, lamented by the king (Ebn al-Bali: be-nekuhid blamed,
scorned, which Behruzi explains as nik omord!). The king himself
notices Barv son of Faenj (Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and
Nicholson, p. 46: Parvin, whom Gdarz seizes), the killer of
Siva, alive in the hands of Gv/Bayy, and has his limbs cut off
before he is slain (abari, I/2, pp. 612-13; tr., IV, pp. 13-14).
In the h-nma. Pirn is killed by Gdarz, and Kay osrow mourns
him and kills Goruy (son of Zera), who is quartered, beheaded (as if
a sacrificial sheep), and thrown into a river (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi,
IV, pp. 122-23, 154- 59; ed. Mohl, III, pp. 580-85, 614-19; tr., IV, pp.
106-9, 126-29).
In the last battle, Afrsib leaves the command of his army to his
son ida, who is killed by Kay osrow (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, IV,
pp. 208-16; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 46; ed.

Behruzi, p. 55). Afrsib, after fighting the largest battle ever heard
of, but losing, flees to arbijan, where he hides in the spring
sef, before being caught, chained, and given a chance to explain
why he had Siva killed. Unable to do so, he is killed (by Bayy);
his blood is brought (Balami: by Bayy in a cup) to Kay osrow,
who dips his hand in it in blood vengeance (Balami, ed. Bahr, p.
616).
Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 47) simply states
that he went to arbijan, where he was captured and killed by
Kay osrow, who thus had revenge for his father (un-e pedar bz
st).
According to alebi (pp. 229-34) and the h-nma, toward the
end of the fight, Afrsib takes refuge in China (in) in the Kangde. When Kay osrow pursues him, the fafur (emperor) of China
and the other kings in the area aid him with supplies, but, when he
arrives at the Kangde Afrsib disappears like quicksilver into the
earth. According to Ferdowsi, he escapes through a secret passage
and allies himself with the fafur of China. Eventually, the fafur
severs relations with Afrsib, who leaves and crosses the sea to the
Kang-de, as does Kay osrow, who continues to Sivagerd, and
then returns to Kangde (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, IV, pp. 223-306;
ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 90-187; tr., IV, pp. 186-254).
Kay osrow returns to Frs, seeking the enemy everywhere, and
finally receives word that he has been observed near arbijan.
Kvus and osrow go there and pay homage at the argoasp fire
and praise god in its presence, and perhaps god will guide them.
Here, Hum, a pious hermit devoted to god, discovers Afrsib in a
cavern, overcomes him, and ties him up with a noose. Afrsib, by
the rest of his magic, arouses Hums pity and, freed of the noose,
escapes into a lake. Hum alerts Gudarz, who has already captured
Afrsibs brother Karsivaz and now tortures him until Afrsib
sticks his head above the water and discourses with his brother,
upon which Hum throws a noose about his neck, pulls him out, and
binds him. He is led before Kay Kvus and Kay osrow; the latter,
feeling some compassion, quickly cuts him in half with his sword
(h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, IV, pp. 305-25; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 187-209;
tr., IV, pp. 254-69; on the formula lead bound, see Humbach and
Skjrv, 1983, pt. 3.2, p. 93). Differently, in abari (I/2, p. 602; tr.,

IV, p. 5), us is said to have killed Afrsibs brother Kidar shortly

after the killing of Siva.
Having ordered his realm, Kay osrow becomes an ascetic, and the
nobility, despairing of the king, ask him to appoint a successor, and
he chooses Lohrsb, who happens to be present. Kay osrows end
is described variously, but all the sources are agreed that he
withdrew to devote himself to worshipping god, after which he
disappeared (Balami, tr. Zotenberg, p. 474, has in the mountains).
abari simply states that he disappeared, though he knew other
stories, while Balami says nobody knew (abari, I/2, p. 618; tr., IV,
p. 19; Balami, ed. Bahr, pp. 617-18; Ebn Meskawayh, p. 26).
According to Masudi (sec. 555), Kay osrow conquered lands as
far as China and built a city there named Kank-dez (i.e., Kang-de),
later inhabited by several Chinese kings.
According to alebi (p. 243), having brought order to the earth,
worrying that he might be subjected to hubris like several of his
predecessors, Kay osrow withdrew from the world. After having
appointed his successor, Kay Lohrsb, he left to wander throughout
the world, and no one heard any more from him.
In the h-nma, after settling his affairs and taking leave, Kay
osrow goes into the mountains accompanied by eight companions.
Arriving at the mountaintop, they are greeted by a throng of
Iranians begging him not to leave. Five companions continue with
the king. They come to a spring, where the king bathes and recites
the Zandavesta, bids his companions farewell, and disappears during
the night. The companions perish in a snowstorm looking for him
(ed. Khaleghi, IV, pp. 365-69; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 242-75; tr., IV, pp.
291-310). Gv is also one of the five heroes who accompanied Kay
osrow on his journey into the wilderness until Kay osrow met
Sor and disappeared, according to the local tradition, in a cave
called r-e Kay osrow on a mountain pass called Mella-ye Bian
or Mella-ye Bizend in the Sisat area of Kohgiluya (Fasi, II, p.
1472; Enjavi, II, pp. 271-97, III, pp. 173-74; see GOSTAHAM).
Biruni reports a story in his description of the festival Tiragn (p.
206), according to which the Persian habit of washing in spring
water on that day went back to the time when Kay osrow,
returning from battle with Afrsib, stopped at a spring on a
mountain in the area of Sva. Terrified by the appearance of an

angel, osrow swooned, but was revived by Vian b. Judarz, who

sprinkled water from the spring on his face.

KAYNIN
viii. Kay Luhrsp, Kay Lohrsb
In the Avesta, Vitspas father is Auruua.aspa, who is mentioned
only once, when Zarathustra asks Anhit for the ability to make
Vitspa, son of Auruua.aspa, help the dan along with thoughts,
words, and deeds, a wish he is granted (Yat 5.14-6). Elsewhere,
auruua.aspa having fleet horses is an epithet, most often of the sun.
The later form of the name recalls that of Lrouaspo (cf. Herzfeld,
1936, pp. 70-71), the Bactrian form of Avestan Druusp, goddess
in charge of horses, but the precise development of *Lruwasp to
*Luhrasp escapes us. The Bactrian spelling of /h/ by means of <u>
provides no obvious explanation of the form (see Herzfeld, 1936, p.
71, on Nybergs suggestion that Luhrsp might be from *rudrspa
having ruddy horses).
In the Pahlavi texts, Luhrsp is said to be the son of j/ z, son of
Manu, son of Pasn, son of Abweh, son of Kawd and the father
of Witsp and Zarr (Bundahin 35.34-35; ed. Pkzd, p. 398, n.
233, wrongly assumes *Uzaw for <wzn>). The name may be
related to Avestan aojiia, found in an obscure Gathic passage (Yasna
46.12): When he (=?) has come up among the descendents of Tra,
son of Friia, the Aojiias . . . , where aojiia may be a verb meaning
worthy of songs of fame (or similar) or else a patronymic or an
ethnonym. A connection with the Gathic passage is also vaguely
suggested in the ihrdd nask, where the lineage Iranian, Turian,
Salmian until King Kay Luhrsp and the land-lord (dahbed) Kay
Witsp are mentioned (Dnkard 8.13.15; ed. Dresden, [MR 76]).
According to the Mny xrad (26.67), Witsp was fashioned from
his body (az tan y brhnhist). He is said to have been a good king
and pious; to have destroyed Jerusalem and scattered the Jews
(Mny xrad 26.65-66); and, according to the Dnkard (5.1.4-5), to
have sent an army to Hrm and Jerusalem (<BYTA mkdys>) with

Bxt-Nars to disempower the evil laws and deeds and the demonworship of the Ban-Sryl.
According to the Wizirkerd dng (21.6), Zarathustra was born
when Luhrsp had ruled for 110 years; it also contains a brief story
that Luhrsp was ailing in body and did homage to the fire, when a
voice came from the xwarrah of the fire, telling the king to be happy
because his ailments would be healed by Zarathustra, who would
appear during the reign of his son Witsp (21.13). He is also said to
have founded Kyn (Qen; ahrestnh rnahr 16, Pahlavi
Texts, p. 20 [222]).
In Perso-Arabic tradition. Lohrsbs lineage varies little in the sources,
which all make him a descendant of Kay Kawd.
In the Perso-Arabic texts, the name and lineage are variously
distorted (some of the names often unpointed in the mss). amza
(p. 36), who has the longest list, points out that Kay Lohrsb was
only the nephew of Kay osrow (ebn ammehe). Differently,
Hem b. Moammad, cited by abari (I/2, p. 645; tr., IV, p. 44),
has him as the nephew of Qabus (ebn ai, unless <y> is a
rationalization of <wjy>; see Table 1).
The Biruni ms. Ayasofia 2947 (only <--> pointed) has Kay-Lohrsb
b. Kay-Uji b. Ka-Mano b. Ka-Mii b. Kay- <h> b. Kay-Qobd.
Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 47; ed. Behruzi, p.
56) has <fnwy>, variants unpointed <fwy> and pointed <fnwy>.
The Mojmal al-tawri (p. 29) has Kay-Lohrsb b. Kay-Mane b.
Kay Pain b. Kay-Qobd (ms., fol. 11r <kym> and <ky yn>).
Some of the sources describe the selection of Lohrsb as Kay
osrows successor as arbitrary: pressed to select a successor once
he decided to relinquish power and turn ascetic, the king points at a
person standing/sitting nearby, but who happens to be his distant
cousin (abari, I/2, p. 618; tr., IV, p. 19; cf. Balami, ed. Bahr, pp.
617- 18). alebi (p. 237), however, presents the selection of
Lohrsb as deliberate, since he was of my (Kay osrows) stock
and a descendent of my uncles (men arumati wa abne amumati).
According to Dinavari, when Solaymn b. Dwud died, the nobles
gathered in order to select a new ruler, one from the line of KayQob, and their choice fell on Lohrsb (Lohrsf). Dinavari also
reports that he lived in Sus (u) and that the prophet Daniel

stayed with him and died there (ed. Guirgass, pp. 25-26; see
DNL-E NAB).
Lohrsb institutionalized the military (divn al-jond; amza, p. 36;
tr., p. 25), levying taxes to support the army. He was credited with
founding (abari, I/2, p. 645; tr., IV, p. 43; cf. Balami, ed. Bahr, p.
639) or expanding the city of Bal (alebi, p. 244; Ebn al-Bali,
ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 48), which he called the
beautiful (al-osn; abari, I/2, p. 645; tr., IV, p. 43; Masudi, sec.
544; cf. ahrestnh rnahr 8 in Pahlavi Texts, p. 19 [221]: Baxl
bmg radiant Baxl, founded by Spandyd; Pahlavi Videvdad 1.6 baxl
nk pad ddan beautiful to look at). Ebn al-Bali (p. 48) adds that
he was the first to make a royal court (sary parda) and subdued the
kings of the world from Rum to in (in), so that they sent tribute
to him.
According to amza, Lohrsb sent Bot-Naar (son of Rehm or
of Wiw son of Judarz) to Palestine to destroy Jerusalem, allegedly
because the Jews had killed their king, a prophet descended from
Dwud (amza, pp. 36, 86-87; tr., pp. 25, 67; cf. abari, I/2, p. 646;
tr., p. 44; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp. 5-6; ed.
Behruzi, p. 8).
According to alebi (similarly abari; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le
Strange and Nicholson, p. 48; ed. Behruzi, p. 57), Lohrsb
appointed Bot-Naar (Ebn al-Bali: Bot al-Naar; alebi, p.
244, and abari, p. 645, have Bot-Naar, but give Botara as the
Persian form) as commander (abari and Ebn al-Bali: efahbod) of
Mesopotamia all the way to Rum, sent him on a campaign to the
West, and made him sovereign over the Bani Esril and destroyed
Jerusalem (abari and Ebn Bali: bayt al-maqdes). The rest of
abari and Balamis accounts of the rule of Kay Lohrsb are
devoted to Bot-Naar (see below).
In the h-nma, Lohrsb is first mentioned when Kay osrow
assigns to the heroes the various parts of Iran as their share in the
great battle against Afrsib. Lohrsb receives the Alans and ozdez (various forms: <zdr, rjh>, etc.) as his share (ed. Khaleghi, IV,
p. 10, v. 113; ed. Mohl, III, pp. 420-23; tr., IV, pp. 14-15), and he is
then mentioned a few times in connection with the battle. His
succession to the throne is suggested by Sor, who appears in a
dream to Kay osrow, who follows his advice and bestows the

kingship on Lohrsb, to the consternation and anger of the Iranians,

Zl in particular. Kay osrow, however, swears that Lohrsb has all
the qualities for becoming king, including the lineage, as he is
descended from Hang via Kay-Kobd and Kay-Pain, upon which
he is hailed as king. After Kay osrows disappearance, he is
crowned, like Ferdun, at Mehragn (ed. Khaleghi, IV, pp. 336-48,
358-74; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 228-43, 256-77; tr., IV, pp. 280-91, 300313;
the topos is again the same as that seen in the Paikuli inscription.)
Once king, he builds a city at Bal, in each quarter of which there
was a place to celebrate Sada (see sada festival), as well as a fire
temple, called Barzin (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 4-6; ed. Mohl, IV, pp.
278-81; tr., pp. 316- 318). Similarly, alebi (p. 244) points out that
he did not neglect public works.
He is killed in the final assault by Arjsp upon Bal, where there
was no army other than the men in the bazaar, according to
Ferdowsi (but where Lohrsb had improved the defenses, according
to alebi, p. 244). He dons the Kayanid helmet and engages in
battle, but, overcome by age, heat, and his wounds, he falls from his
horse and is hacked to pieces (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 178-83; ed. Mohl,
IV, pp. 448-55; tr., V, pp. 90-92; see also ix, below).
Predecessors of the Lohrsb narrative. What the narrative about
Auruua.aspa may have been we do not know, but, in the later
literature, he is strongly associated with Mesopotamia through
Bot-Naar (Nebuchadrezzar). Louis H. Gray, discussing this
connection, points out the widespread reports in Classical and
Armenian sources that Nebuchadrezzars army in the siege of
Jerusalem contained Iranians and, in particular, Medes, while the
Iranian sources associate him with the Bactrians. Gray suggests that
the explanation might be that the respective authors chose the
names for the Iranian contingents with which they were the most
familiar.
Arjsps attack on Bal and the killing of the king evokes yet
another ancient narrative associating Bactria with Mesopotamia, in
which King Ninus and his wife Semiramis take Bactria by a ploy
similar to that employed by Cyrus to end the siege of Sardis (see
Herodotus, 1.84). The story was reported by Diodorus Siculus on
the authority of Ctesias (ca. 400 BCE), according to whom
Semiramis adversary was called Oxyartes (Ctesias, tr. Auberger,

pp. 33-35, see also p. 145, n. 16; Jackson, 1928, pp. 154-55, 232-33;
Fox and Pemberton, p. 30). From around 100 CE onward, it was
Zoroaster himself who was depicted as a Bactrian king and a
contemporary of Queen Semiramis of Babylon and the adversary of
Semiramis husband Ninus (see Jackson, 1898, pp. 155-57, with
references). It is remarkable that Diodorus cites Zoroasters name as
Zathraustes (Jackson, 1898, p. 12; Clemen, p. 28), which, except
for the initial Z-, would give a Middle Iranian form quite close to
Lohrsb. See also on Gotsb, below.
Bibliography:

KAYNIN
ix. Kauui Vitspa, Kay Witsp, Kay Betsb/Gotsb
The name Vitspa presumably means he who gives the horses free
rein (cf. Rigveda 6.6.4 vitso v horses let loose or given free
rein), which agrees with the description of Vitspa as the
prototypical winner of the chariot race in Yat 5.132 (see below).
Among the Perso-Arabic sources, Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and
Nicholson, p. 48) has the oldest form of the name as Vetsf, while
others have Betsb and Gotsb, which reflect three different
treatments of initial wi- in the Persian dialects.
The study of Kauui Vitspa/Kay Witsp in Western scholarship
has traditionally been subordinated to the image in the late tradition
of the king who accepted/ received (Pahl. padr-) Zarathustras
dan/dn and the axiom that dn means religion in the modern
(Christian) sense (see DN; the more adequate translation would
be [oral] tradition). This has led to the image of a historical
Vitaspa being in many ways construed in analogy with those of
Constantine, who accepted Christianity, and Charlemagne, who
defended it against the Saracens. The description of the battle over
the dn as described in the Memorial of Zarr (see AYDGR
ZARRN) is, in fact, of the same literary genre as the Song of
Roland, and the two texts contain numerous parallels.
This approach to the sources has also led to the projection of the
traditional image of a historical Vitspa and the interpretation of

dan as religion into the Avesta. The historical scenarios

constructed mainly by Abraham V. Williams Jackson and Christian
Bartholomae around 1900 and further refined by Hermann
Lommel, were still adopted by Mary Boyce in her History of
Zoroastrianism I (1975) and can be seen in GOTSP.
There is nothing, however, anywhere in the Gs that might be
interpreted as a statement about Kauui Vitspas secular position
(Yasna 28.7, 46.14, 51.1, 53.2), nor does he stand out in a special
way, as suggested by Arthur Christensen (p. 27), other than by
being mentioned second (after Zarathustra) of several characters
belonging to the Gathic circle and only once in each of the five
Gs (both he and Zarathustra are absent from the third G; see
Table 2). The only time in the Avesta that Vitspa is referred to as
hu.paiti is in the introduction to the late Avestan compilation frn
da
payambar Zardut; F. Justis comment in Grundriss (II, p. 410) is
hu.paiti).
therefore misleading: dem Frsten (da
It is clear from this table that these names follow a strict order,
which is therefore likely to be a traditional one, as pointed out by M.
Mol (1963, p. 180). It is also clear that Christensens claim (1932,
p. 27) that Kauui Vitspa is one of the characters that stand out the
most in the Gs (and so must be considered an entirely historical
person) is also not tenable; he is mentioned only four times, against
Fraaotra five times, and nothing realistic is said about him. In
Yasna 28.7, the introduction to the first G, the poet asks for
rewards for Vitspa and himself; in Yasna 46.14, Vitspa is
portrayed at the yaah (presumably the ceremony in which the poetsacrificers works are presented to Ahura Mazd, a kind of
audition) and is said to have received insight (? cisti) by his
command (xara) over or conferred by the gift-exchange (maga; see
Mol, 1963, pp. 156-64; Schmidt, 1991; Skjrv, 2008b, p. 498); in
Yasna 51.16, Vitspa is said to have obtained the command over or
conferred by the maga along the paths of his good thought; and, in
Yasna 53.2, the poet exhorts (in the 3rd person) Vitspa and
Fraaotra to follow, with thought, words, and deeds, the straight
paths (rz pa; see above, i) of the gift (daah). In Yasna 46.14,
Vitspa is also, apparently, said to keep the mutual agreements (be
an uruuaa) between him and Zarathustra. (On uruuta, Old Indic
vrata, which refers to mutual agreements and obligations, usually

between gods and men, see Schmidt, 1958.) The other members of
the Gathic circle are even less characterized.
In the Young Avesta. The Young Avesta refers to three narratives
involving Vitspa: Vitspa and the Xiiaonas, Vitspa and the
dan, and Vitspa as winner of the (ritual) chariot race, all three of
which are probably part of the ritual competition scenario. Further,
it portrays him as a prototype for ritual behavior.
(1) Vitspa and the Xiiaonas. Vitspa is mentioned in several yats
as the last in the series of kauuis who sacrificed to deities to get their
wish granted, that of Vitspa being to overcome Arja.aspa, which
he did, by fighting the enemies of aa (Yat 5.108-10). In Yat 5, he is
followed in the list by Zairi.vairi (strs. 112-114; Pahl. Zarr, his
brother) and Arja.aspa (strs. 116-118). Several names associated
with him in the later tradition are listed in Yat 13, among them, in
str. 101: Zairiuuairi, and, in str. 103: Pi iiaona (Pahl. Piitan
and Pitan, Witsps eschatological son), Sptta (Pahl.
Spandyd) and Bastauuairi (Pahl. Bastwar), *Kauuarazman (see
below), Fraaotra and Jmspa (the Huuguua brothers in the
Gs, Pahl. Fratar and Jmsp), all of whom are featured in the
Pahlavi narrative about the war between Witsp and Arzsp (hnma: Arjsp), king of the Xiiaonas.
A reference to Vitspas two daughters, who feature in the PersoArabic tradition (see below), may be seen in Yat 9.31, where Kauui
Vitspa prays to Druusp that he may successfully fight and kill
various opponents and, apparently, turn Humaii and Varakan
away (frauruuasaiia) from the lands of the Xiiaonas.
(2) Vitspa and the dan. Vitspas standing epithet is brzai (<
*brzi-d-) he whose d- (reaches) high (heaven), where d- is the
same as Old Indic dh-, which usually denotes the poetic vision and
parallels Avestan dan in many contexts. For instance, the Rigvedic
poets harness (yug-) their dhs (e.g., Rigveda 1.18.6-7, 5.81.1) by or to
their thoughts (Rigveda 8.13.26), with which compare the dan
throwing off her harness (fraspiiaoxr < yaog-) after successfully
combating the powers of evil in the ritual race (Yasna 12.9; see
Skjrv, 2009b, cols. 707-8).
Vitspas special connection with the dan is expressed in
Zarathustras prayer to Anhit to let him guide Vitspa to help

(Ahura Mazds/Zarathustras) dan along with thought, speech,

and actions, which he did with the help of the Kavian xarnah (Yat
5.104-6). Another myth fragment is preserved in Yat 13.99 and Yat
19.83-84, but it is introduced differently in the two passages. In Yat
19.83-84 (to the Kavian xarnah), it begins with the formula also
used in Yat 5.104-6, followed by three statements: that he allied
himself by his praise (? -stao-) to this dan, that he chased(?) the
one with evil maniiu, and that he sent the dauuas back (to where
they came from). Yat 13.99 contains the epithets the firm one, who
spun/wove the poetic thought (tanu-mra), the one with the defiant
mace, the Ahurian one, which are also applied to Sraoa, with
whom Vitspa is associated in the tradition (see Darmesteter, 1893,
I, p. 200, n. 24; Mol, 1963, pp. 213-14, 522; the common
interpretation of tanumra is having the mra in his body).
The main narrative is identical in the two texts: Vitspa sought and
found free space (rauuah [the opposite of zah constriction] and
xra- good breathing space, ease of breathing, two of the goals of
the yasna ritual; see Yasna 8.8) for Order (a ~ the sun?) in tree and
stone (to enable the sun to rise at dawn?); he was the (strong) arm
and support of the dan of Ahura (Mazd) and Zarathustra; he
extracted (uzuuaa-; cf. Old Persian vaja- pluck out [an eye]?) her
from (her) bonds (? hinu) when she was weary (? stt, literally,
stopped, brought to a standstill; cf. Khotanese stta- weary <
sts- become weary) and bound (hit; contrasting with vita
untied?); set her down sitting in the middle, making straight lines
on high(?), and satisfied and befriended her with cattle and grass.
The myth contains numerous problems of interpretation, but may be
related to the two myths involving the dan, that of the ritualcosmic chariot race (see below) and that of the dan (mzdaiiasni)
stretched out in heaven like a cosmic kusti (see Yasna 9.26, and cf.
Ddestn dng 38.15 The good Mazdayasnian Dn is a girdle, staradorned and fashioned in the world of thought; see Skjrv,
2008a, p. 129).
The myth we are dealing with here, in both the Gs and the Young
Avesta, therefore appears to be one in which the poet and his
protagonist, Zarathustra, are sacrificing for Vitspa to follow and
aid the dan as it guides the sacrifice along the paths (Yasna 51.16,
53.2) through space heavenward and for ability to overcome the

adversaries on the way. In the second myth fragment, the dan

seems to be caught in the bonds of the forces of evil, from which he
delivers her and then guides her into her place in high heaven as the
cosmic kusti. Both actions serve to clear the path for the rising sun
out of the rock in which it is held (Videvdad 21.5). Thus, it appears
that, after having kept his side of the bargain, as it were, guiding the
dan along the straight paths (Yasna 53.2) up to heaven and having
been declared the winner at the audition (yaah), Vitspa must
have been entitled to his reward, to a counter-gift at the gift
exchange ceremony (maga).
(3) Vitspa as winner of the chariot race. A reference to Vitspas
prowess as a charioteer is found at the conclusion of the hymn to
Anhit (Yat 5). After the Mazdayasnian Naotariias asked her for
fast horses, they were granted their requests, and the Naotariia
Vitspa got the fastest horses in the land (Yt. 5.98). That these were
for the ritual race is implied in the conclusion of the hymn, where
the sacrificer (zaotar) prays that his coursers may return having
won (zazuu.ha < z), like those of Kauui Vitspa (cf. Rigveda
samne < h- like two horses given free rein,
3.33.1 ve iva vite h
winning the race). Similarly, in the conclusion of the hymn to A ,
the sacrificer compares his sacrifice with that of Vitspa (Yat
17.61).
(4) Vitspa and the ritual. Vitspas role as prototype for ritual
behavior is emphasized in the Frauuarn section of the Yasna (Yasna
12). Here, the sacrificer makes the same choice to be for Ahura
Mazd and his creation, but against that of the forces of evil, as was
made by Zarathustra, Kauui Vitspa, Fraaotra and Jmspa, and
the three Saoiiats, Zarathustras eschatological sons, who, by their
sacrifices, will make the world perfect again (Yasna 12.6-7). In Yasna
23.2 and 26.5, the fravashis of Gaiia Martn, Zarathustra,
Vitspa, and Isa.vstra (another of Zarathustras eschatological
sons) are listed as the principal fighters for Order (a) and
signposts on the path toward the final Renovation.
In the Pahlavi texts. In the Mny xrad (26.68-76), the benefit from
Kay-Witsp is said to be his acceptance of the good Mazdayasnian
dn and his uttering of the holy Ahunwar, like Ohrmazd and
Zarathustra before him, whereby the forces of evil were overcome
and all good things came to the world (similarly in Dnkard 7.4.80).

Kay Witsp is also presented as the paradigm of a good ruler, for

instance in the Dnkard: 3.179 on the best of kings, 3.389 on Kay
Witsps seven perfections. This feature is also associated with him
in the only Manichean text in which he is mentioned (see Skjrv,
1996, p. 616).
The Pahlavi Rivyat (chap. 47) also contains the story of Witsp as a
cruel and bloodthirsty despot before he accepted the dn from
Zarathustra and that of his conversion. Many details of this
narrative have parallels in the Aoka legends (see Skjrv, 1998b).
The story how Witsp had Zarathustra imprisoned is also told in
the Dnkard (7.4.64-71) and Zdsprams Wizdagh (24.5).
The Pahlavi Rivyat (chap. 47) and Dnkard further tell of the
miracles experienced by Witsp. During a visit by Wahman,
Awahit, and the Fire (Dnkard 7.4.75-82), Awahit made him
drink mang (henbane) from a cup that allowed him to see into the
other world and see the mysteries (7.4.85-86). The mang witspn
Witsps mang, was also what Ard Wirz drank before his
otherworldly journey. In another incident, Srid, son of Wisrab,
offered Witsp a beautiful chariot in exchange for providing a body
for Srids soul (ruwn), whereupon Witsps own soul was sent
down to him from Paradise. When Srids ugly soul saw this
beautiful soul, it told Srid to give Witsp the chariot, which then
became two, one in this world, which Witsp mounted, and one in
the other world, in which Srids soul drove to Paradise (7.6.2-11).
Vitaspas wife, Hutaos/Huds. Hutaos (Pahlavi Huds, sister and
wife of Witsp in the later tradition; see Aydgr Zarrn 68 in
Pahlavi Texts, p. 9 [210]) is listed in Yat 13.139 among the women
presumably connected with Zarathustra. abari has her name as
aus (I/2, p. 678; tr., IV, p. 74; on her name, see Mayrhofer, p. I/52,
no. 179; cf. ATOSSA).
In Yat 9.26-28, Zarathustra prays to Druusp that he may induce
good, noble-born (zt) Hutaos to help his dan along in
thoughts, words, and deeds, and that she may have faith (zraz-d-)
in the dan of the Mazdayasnians and give good fame to his
community. In Yat 15.35- 37, Hutaos is portrayed as praying to
Vaiiu that she may be accepted as a guest-friend (? frii fri) in the
house of Kauui Vitspa. Some Western scholars have construed
this obscure statement to mean that she interceded with Vitspa to

let himself be converted by Zarathustra (e.g., Boyce, 1975, p. 187),

but the text does not permit such a far-reaching interpretation.
The reference to young women in Yasna 53.5 is said in the Pahlavi
version to be to Huds, who set the dn in motion (dn-rawgh pad
Huds) according to the Wartmnsr nask (in Dnkard 9.45.5).
In the Perso-Arabic tradition. Betb/Gotsb came to the throne
while his father was still alive, and Zarathustra (the Azerbaijani,
amza, text, pp. 36-37; tr., p. 26) appeared during his rule. He is
also said to have two daughters: omni and Bfara (abari, I/2,
p. 678; tr., IV, p. 74) or omy and Beh-fari (alebi).
abaris chapter on Betsb, where Vetsf, is devoted to the coming
of Zarathustra and the fight with arzsf (cf. Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le
Strange and Nicholson, p. 51; ed. Behruzi, p. 60: Arjsf), now king
of the Turks and brother of Afrsib (abari, I/2, pp. 676-83; tr., IV,
pp. 71-77). There are several new elements. Esfandir is slandered
by a certain Jurazm (the Avestan Kauurasman of Yat 13.103? see
above), which makes Betsp send him on numerous campaigns and
finally chain him and have him sent to a womens prison castle
(abari, I/2, p. 677; tr., IV, p. 73; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and
Nicholson, p. 51: he imprisoned him in the fortress of Ear).
Betsb went off (to Kermn and Sistn) to take up a life of
devotion (Ebn al-Bali, ibid.: to the Kuh-e Nefet to study the Zand
and devote himself to worship), leaving Lohrsb, now old and an
invalid, in Bal. arzsf profited from the opportunity, attacked
Bal, burned the archives, and killed Lohrsb and the priests (echo
of the Alexander legend). He also abducted Betsbs two
daughters, omni and Bfara. Betsb sent Jmsp to release
Esfandir, who forgave Betsb and went against the Turks, killed
arzsf, and released his sisters (abari, I/2, pp. 678-80; tr., IV, pp.
74-76). According to one source, he then sent Esfandir to capture
Rostam, who was disobedient, but Rostam killed him.
The narratives of the h-nma (where Gotsb) and alebi
(where Betsb) are expanded with the story of Betsbs
adventures in Rum and his marriage to the qayars daughter;
alebis is fairly concise, Ferdowsis quite detailed.
According to alebi (pp. 245-56) and the h-nma, Betsb
(Gotsb), unhappy that his father conferred high dignities on Kay
osrows children (awld; h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V, p. 6, v. 37: two

grandsons), disguised himself and left the court. According to

alebi, Betsb went directly to Rum (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V,
p. 14, vv. 162-63: founded by Salm, which explains the descent of
Gotsbs benefactor and the qayar; see below), while, according to
Ferdowsi, Gotsb first set out for Hend, intending to serve the king
there; but Zarir followed him and, together with the captains of
their troops, persuaded him to return (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 6-12; ed.
Mohl, IV, pp. 280-89; tr., IV, pp. 318-23).
Still unhappy, Gotsb decided to go to Rum, where, after various
attempt to get a job in the foreign land that might feed him, he
finally came across a fellow Iranian, a descendant of Afriun (hnma, p. 19, vv. 224-25: a village nobleman, descendant of h
ferdun), who gave him hospitality (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 12-19; ed.
Mohl, IV, pp. 289-97; tr., IV, pp. 323-28).
At the time, the daughter of the king of Rum (the qayar), Katyun,
was choosing a husband among a number of suitors. She chose
Betsb/Gotsb, whom she had already seen in a dream and who,
according to alebi, also presented himself as a suitor, although at
the bottom rank, while Ferdowsi tells us that he went with his host
to visit the palace to cheer himself up (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V, p.
21, vv. 254-57). Upon learning that Betsb/Gotsb, despite being
extraordinarily handsome, was an unknown stranger, the qayar
decided to give his daughter to him with no more than her ordinary
clothes (p. 22, v. 275: he refused to give Gotsb anything, telling
him to go with her as he was). By selling a valuable ruby (p. 23, vv.
288-91) that she possessed, they were able to improve their
situation, and, gradually, Katyun came to realize that Betsb/
Gotsb was of royal descent (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 19-24; ed. Mohl,
IV, pp. 297-303; tr., IV, pp. 328-32).
After various feats of prowess (h-nma: among them, killing a
wolf and a dragon to help the suitors, Mirin and Ahran, of
Katyuns two sisters), he was recognized by the qayar, too, as
being of royal descent, and they became friends. Betsb/Gotsb
told him what had happened to make him leave his father, and the
qayar offered to help him get back at his father. He wrote a letter to
Lohrsb, pointing out, according to alebi (p. 250), that they were
both descendants of Afriun, and so he should not have to pay
tribute to him; unless the amount paid was returned in double, he

would come with his troops and punish him severely and take his
land. Lohrsb, Zarir, and his courtiers plied the envoy with gifts and
learned that the qayar had become more powerful through his sonin-law (who looked just like Zarir) and followed his advice. They
concluded it must be Betsb/Gotsb himself, and, upon the advice
of his counselors, Lohrsb sent Zarir to him to declare him his
successor and ask him to come back. Upon his return, Lohrsb
crowned him king (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 24-71; ed. Mohl,
IV, pp. 304-57; tr., IV, pp. 328-65).
Lohrsb himself left for Nowbahr in Bal to devote himself to
religious matters. Katyun was made chief wife and had the sons
Esfandi and Farvard (alebi, p. 256; h-nma, ed. Khaleghi,
V, pp. 76-79; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 358-61; tr., V, pp. 32-33.)
There follow the stories of Zarathustra and the war with Arjsf,
king of the Turks (alebi, pp. 256-76), and the slander (by a
certain Kordam, h-nma: Gorazm) and imprisonment of
Esfandi, Arjsfs attack on Bal, Lohrsbs courageous final sortie
(which made the Turks mistake him for Esfandi), his death by
being cut in pieces by enemy swords, and the sack of Bal,
destruction of the temple, killing of the priests, and abduction of
omy (h-nma: Homy) and Beh-fri (alebi, pp. 277-85;
h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 79-183; Mohl, IV, pp. 376-455; tr., V,
pp. 33-92.).
Betsf/Gotsb counterattacks, but is defeated and retreats to a
mountain top, where he and his army are besieged; he sends
Jmsf/Jmsp to get Esfandi/ Esfandir, who beats back the
Turks, then performs his seven feats, discovers his sisters in Arjsfs
palace, kills Arjsf, and returns, presumably with his sisters
(alebi, pp. 285-339). Esfandi, unhappy that his father does not
broach the issue of the succession, confronts him with his promise,
but Betsf tells him he needs to do one more thing: deal with
Rostams pride and arrogance. He sends his son Bahman, Rostam
returns with him, and there follow the events leading up to the
battle between Rostam and Esfandi, ending with the latters death
and Betsfs regret. Betsf dies after reigning for 120 years, after
leaving the throne and crown to Bahman (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi,
V, pp. 183-473; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 455-731; tr., V, pp. 96-280).

Predecessors of the Gotsb narratives. In the hnma, Gotasb, on his

journey, comes to a sea which he crosses with the help of Hiuy, an
episode not found elsewhere (ed. Khaleghi, V, p. 14; ed. Mohl, IV,
pp. 290- 91; tr., IV, pp. 324-25). Sea- and river-crossings were not
uncommon in epic literature, however, and may have been ascribed
to Gotsb as a topos (cf. Skjrv, 1999, pp. 25-27). It is found in
the Avesta in the hymn to Arduu Sr Anhit (Yat 5.76-78), who
helps Vistauru cross the river Vtahait. According to Yat 13.102,
Vistauru (transmitted as Bistauru) is the son of a Naotarid, like
Vitspa, but probably not his son, as Justi has it (Grundriss II, p.
410; the list in Yat 13.102 is not necessarily of Vitspas sons).
Arrivals at the seashore feature prominently in the Kr-nmag
Ardar Pbagn, but there appears to be no crossing (see also
Krasnowolska, pp. 185-86).
In his book about the narrative of the twins, Dumzil (1994)
presented cases for Lohrsb and Gotsb being a later
representation of the divine twins represented in the Mahbhrata as
the youngest of the five Pava brothers, Nakula and Sahadeva.
Similar scenarios, according to Dumzil, include Gotsbs traveling
camouflaged when going to Rum and working as a servant, which
evokes the brothers similar camouflage in the last episode of the
exile of the Pava brothers (no. 83). The brothers Gotsb and
Zarir would be another development of the same original pair of
twins (no. 83). Finally, Dumzil highlights the marriages of the
qayars three daughters as representing the Indic type of
svayavara, in which the suitors assemble and the bride-to-be makes
her choice among them (no. 93; see also Jamison, 1999).
A story told by Chares of Mytilene about the two brothers
Hystaspes and Zariadres, said to be the sons of Aphrodite and
Adonis, exhibits several similarities with the later Persian stories
about Zarir and Gotsb and may be from a narrative tradition to
which the versions seen in alebi and Ferdowsi may owe some
details. The brothers were first identified with Zarir and Gotsb by
Friedrich Spiegel (1871, p. 665, n. 1), who pointed out (1891, pp.
197-98) that Avestan Auruua-aspa (Zairiuuairi and Vitspas
father) was an epithet most commonly applied to the sun and that
the brothers might therefore originally have been solar figures (see
also Christensen, 1936, pp. 136-37, and Boyces [1955]

comprehensive discussion; similarly Darmesteter, 1893, III, pp.

lxxx-lxxxiii). As pointed out by Mary Boyce, although she does not
pursue this point (p. 463, n. 6), Ferdowsi remarks that Katyuns
name is said to have been Nhid (from Avestan Anhit, q.v.), but
that Gotsb called her Katyun (h-nma, ed. Khaleghi, V, p. 78,
vv. 30-31; ed. Mohl, IV, pp. 360-61; tr., V, p. 32).

KAYNIN
x. The End of the Kayanids
In the Pahlavi texts. The Bundahin (33.13-14) only records that, when
Wahman, son of Spandyd, came to the throne (see BAHMAN (2)
SON OF ESFANDIR), Iran was a wasteland, and the Iranians
were quarreling with one another. Wahman having no sons, his
daughter became queen after him. Their genealogy in chapter 35 is
confused, but Wahman, son of Spandyd, is said to be the same as
Ardar, father of Ssn, ancestor of Ardar I; and, in chapter 36,
Dry, son of ihrzd (Homy), is said to be Wahman. According
to the Dnkard (7.7.4), Wahman was said in the Avesta to be truthful
and the one to make the most assemblies among the Mazdayasnians
(hanaman-kerdrtom, possibly for an unattested Avestan
*viixan.tma, meaning uncertain).
In the Zand Wahman Yasn, Zarathustra tells Ohrmazd about a
dream, in which he saw a tree with seven branches; the first two, of
gold and silver, represented Witsp and Ardaxahr, the Kay, called
Wahman son of Spandyd (3.23-24). According to the same text
(chap. 7), in the millennium of dar, a kay will be born of the seed
(txmag) of kays, who will in turn sire the miracleworking (warzwand) Wahrm, who will assemble armies to fight
evil. (See further, below, xii.)
In the Perso-Arabic sources. Bahman. Gotasb (Betb) was succeeded
by his grandson Kay Ardair, also called Bahman, son of Esfandir
(killed by Rostam). He was nicknamed al-awil al-b (for Pers.
derz-dast; amza, p. 37; tr., p. 26; abari, I/2, p. 686; tr., IV, p. 81;
razmi, p. 100; but awil al-yad according to Mirnd, I, p. 730;
tr. Shea, p. 339; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 52;
ed. Behruzi, p. 62: also called Ardair Bahman-e derz-dast; Momal al-

tawri, p. 30: also called Kay Ardair-e derz-angol; see also

BAHMAN (2) SON OF ESFANDIR, DERZ-DAST).
Mirnd relates a tradition according to which the name Ardair
was from rd flour and ir milk (I, p. 730; tr. Shea, p. 338).
Bahman warred against Sistn and killed Rostam as well as his
father, brother, and son as revenge for his own father; but he died
after a reign of only twelve years (abari, I/2, p. 687; tr., IV, pp.
81-82; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 52; Masudi,
sec. 541). He spent large amounts on the army. He was the father of
Dr with his daughter omni, as well as of Ssn, ancestor of
Ardair I. omni was also nicknamed ahrzd (abari, I/2, p.
689; tr., IV, p. 83; Ebn al-Bali, ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, p. 15;
i.e., ehrzd; cf. amza, p. 38; tr., p. 27: <jhrzd> or amirn).
Another story had it that Bahman was identical with Kure (Cyrus),
the Persian, residing at Bal at the time, and that it was he who
returned the Jews to Jerusalem (Masudi, sec. 551). Dinavari also
mentions that Bahman had entered the din of the Children of
Israel, but he left it and returned to the majusiya (ed. Guirgass, p.
29; ed. abb, pp. 29-30).
Homy. According to abari, Bahmans mother was, allegedly,
Astury, that is, Esther; he had three daughters: omni, *Farang
(text <frk> unpointed, mss. <frnk, qrbk>, and other, abari, I/2, p.
688, n. h.; tr. IV, p. 82), and Bahman-dot (see also HOMY
EHRZD).
According to amza (pp. 37-38; tr., p. 26), Hom was just a title
(laqab). She lived in Bal, sent an army against Rum, and brought
back numerous artisans, among them the architects who built three
palaces at Ear (Hazrsotn), which turned in three directions:
toward Ear, Drbjerd, and the road to Khorasan.
According to Masudi (sec. 543), Bal lost its status of capital
when omya, daughter of Bahman, became queen and moved to
Erq to the area of Maden. Also according to him, one story had
it that Lohrsf (Lohrsb) married a Jewish girl, Dinzd, another
that omyas mother was Jewish (secs. 545-46). Also known by
her mothers name of ahrzd, she waged several wars against the
Greeks and others (cf. abari, I/2, p. 690; tr., IV, p. 84). She was
succeeded by her brother Dr (Masudi, sec. 553).

According to Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp.

52-54; ed. Behruzi, pp. 62-63) and the Mojmal al-tawri (p. 30),
Bahmans mother (Momal: <snwr>) was one of the children of the
prophet lut (Saul) and was married to Reb, a daughter of
Rehoboam (<rbm>) son of Solaymn (cf. Dinavari, ed. Guirgass,
p. 29; ed. abb, p. 29). He had five children, two sons (Ssn and
Dr) and three daughters (omni var. Homy, Farang, and
Bahman-dot). As Ssn, despite being wise, learned, and
couragious (qel o lem o mardna), showed no interest in kingship
and Dr was a mere baby, the elder daughter, omni, became
queen. According to alebi (p. 389), Ssn lacked the radiance of
divine majesty and aptitude for government and left in
despondency. Dinavari (ed. Guirgass, pp. 29-30; ed. abb, p. 30)
says he was the ancestor of the Sasanians and mentions that he was
called Ssn the Kordi and Ssn the shepherd (al-ri), echoing
the story of Ardair told in the Kr-nmag (1.7), where he is said to
have stayed with Kurdish shepherds (kurdgn abnn).
abari reports various stories (I/2, pp. 689-90; tr., IV, pp. 83-84):
Bahman, when dying, at omnis request, made the unborn son
crown prince, bypassing the older son Ssn, who left and went to
Ear, where he led an ascetic life and became a shepherd; when
Bahman died before Dr was born, the queen did not reveal the
birth of the child, but put him in a chest and sent him down the Kor
river, alternatively, the river of Bal (Mirnd, I, pp. 722-23; tr.
Shea, p. 342: because of aversion to the child), where a miller who
had lost his child found and raised him. Once he was grown up, all
this became known, he was tested and acknowledged by his mother,
and was crowned. abari (I/2, pp. 688-90; tr., IV, pp. 83-84) and
Dinavari (ed. Guirgass, pp. 29-30; ed. abb, p. 30) also report on
her ambitious building projects, notably Roman-type buildings at
Ear, built by Roman prisoners captured on campaigns. There
was prosperity during her reign.
According to the Mojmal al-tawri (pp. 30-31) and similarly in other
sources, there were various traditions about Homy-e ehrzd: she
was the daughter of re, king of Egypt, and Bahman had willed
the rule to her and her children; she was the wife of Bahman and,
according to the Persians, his daughter as well; she was called
amirn daughter of Bahman, but nicknamed Homy; Drb was

her son with Bahman; Homy placed him in a box after birth and
threw him into a river, where a fuller found him and called him Drb.).
alebi (pp. 389-97) and the h-nma have many of the same
themes and details of the reigns of Bahman and Homy, including
the beginnings of Drb (ed. Khaleghi, V, pp. 473-95, 496-512; ed.
Mohl, V, pp. 4-19, 20-47; tr., V, pp. 283-91, 292-312; see Herzfeld,
1936, pp. 79-82, with references, on the connection between the
Hom and Semiramis [amirn!] narratives).

KAYNIN
xi. The Kayanids and the Kang-dez
According to the Pahlavi texts (Dnkard 7.1.38; Mny xrad 26.57;
Pahlavi Rivyat 49.1; Ddestn dng 89), Kay Siwax built the Kang
castle (Kang-diz) by miraculous power (Pahlavi Rivyat: with his
own hands, by means of the [Kavian] xwarrah and the might of
Ohrmazd and the Amahrspands), which contained numerous
wonders and secrets of the dn to be used to redress the age and the
rule of the Iranians; he also connected power and victory with the
dn.
According to the Bundahin (32.12) the Kang-diz was originally
supported on the heads of dws (also Pahlavi Rivyat), but was placed
on the ground by Kay Husry. It had seven ring walls (parisp, rather
than frasp roof beam?) made of gold, silver, steel, brass, iron,
crystal, and lapis lazuli (Pahlavi Rivyat 49.6: stone, steel, crystal,
silver, gold, chalcedony, ruby). It also had hands and feet, and there
was eternal spring. Its dimensions were so enormous that it took a
man with horse and chariot fifteen days to drive from one of its
fifteen gates to the next (Bundahin 32.12), set 700 parasangs apart
(Pahlavi Rivyat 49.11). Each gate was the height of fifteen men, and
the castle itself was so tall that the arrow of the best archers might
not reach the top (Pahlavi Rivyat 49.8-10).
According to the Pahlavi Rivyat (chap. 49), it was, apparently, at
first in the other world (a mny), but was invited down to the earth
by Kay Husry, who addressed it as his sister, since it had been

made by his father (Siva). It came down in eastern Turn, in the

area of Siva-kerd, and Kay Husry settled the Iranians in it, who
would not leave it until the coming of Piytan (Witsps
eschatological son) at the end of time. It had a silver tower with
golden crenellations, accommodating fourteen mountains and seven
rivers in spate. After the end of the Kayanids, Piytan will be king
and priest in the Kang until the final battles, which he goes out to
fight, but then returns and stays until the Renovation. The Pahlavi
manuscript TD4a (pp. 605-14), contains several descriptions of the
Kang-diz; here, among other things, it is said to be on the starlevel.
KAYNIN
xii. The Kavian XVARNAH
The nature of the Avestan xarnah and its three subtypes, the Aryan
(airiiana), the unseizable (? axarta), and the Kavian (kuuaiia),
have been much discussed, but is still not well defined (for
bibliography on xarnah in general, see FARR(AH) bibliography,
and Philippe Gignoux, 2006).
The Kavian xarnah is found in the following contexts. In the
litanies of the Yasna, the Kavian and unseizable xarnahs are
associated with Mount Uidarna (Crack of Dawn) and the other
mountains that reach up into the heavenly free spaces of Order, that
is, the sunlit spaces. Similarly, in the Srzag and Niyyin 5, all three
xarnahs (set in place by Ahura Mazd) are associated with the
Fire, Ahura Mazds son, that is, the (rising) sun, and the Kavian
xarnah specifically with Kauui Haosrauuah and the two lakes
associated with him, as well as Mount Asnuuat and Mount
Rauuat (also set in place by Ahura Mazd).
Association with luminosity is also found in the supplementary texts
to the yist n yist (22.25), where, in a list of what each day of the
month grants to humans, the day of Ariwang (Avestan Ai
vahuu) is said to grant the radiance (bm) of the kayn xwarrah,
with which we may compare the description of the formation of
Zarathustras body in the Dnkard (9.24.3), where the kayn xwarrah
is said to have stroked his chest (sng?) and, together with

Ardwsr and Ahliwang, his body (cf. Yat 17.22; cf. Skjrv,
1997).
As the strong (ura) Kavian xarnah, it is counted among the
heavenly companions of the deities that fight the powers of
darkness. In Yat 8.2 to Titriia, it is listed together with Titriia, the
heavenly lights and waters, the name of the cow/bull, and
Zarathustras fravashi; in Yat 10.66 to Mira, it is listed together
with A and Prd, the Manly Valor, the Dmi Upamana (see
DMI for speculations on the meaning), the strong Firmament,

and the fravashis of the aauuans

(see aavan); in Yat 10.127 it
and the Blazing Fire accompany the Dmi Upamana. In Yat 12.4,
6 to Ranu, it is listed together with the Victorious Wind, the
Dmi Upamana, and the Saok (Glow?) set in place by Ahura
Mazd. In Yat 1.21 to Ahura Mazd, it is listed together with
Airiiana Vajah, the heavenly river and waters, and the Saok.
Similarly, in the Pahlavi Rivyat (65.14), where the nightly struggle
between the powers of good and evil is described (when the sun
goes down [andar awd], not comes up, as in Williams, 1990, I, p.
114), the kayn xwarrah is listed between Nrysang and the
fravashis of the auuans.
In Yat 19 to the xarnah, the Kavian xarnah is closely associated
with creation and the Renovation (see FRA. KRTI) and the
Renovation-makers. It belonged to Ahura Mazd, the Am
Sptas, and the deities in both worlds when they established the
creations and when they shall make the existence fraa (Yat
19.10-24).
It followed all the ancient hero-sacrificers, permitting (?) them to
perform their respective feats: Haoiiaha, Taxma Urupi, and Yima
when they ruled over men, demons (dauuas), etc., in all seven
continents of the earth (Yat 19.26-33), but it left Yima (in the shape
of the Vrna bird), when he spoke a lie (Yat 19.34; see
JAMID). It did so three times and was seized, successively, by
Mira, rataona (see FERDUN), and Krsspa (see
KARSSP; Yat 19.35-44). It followed the Saoiiat, the third and
last of Zarathustras eschatological sons, who will be born from
Lake Ksaoiia (Yat 19.66-69, 89-96; Dnkard 7.11.3); the seven
kauuis and Kauui Haosrauuah (Yat 19.71-77); and Zarathustra and
Kauui Vitspa (Yat 19.71-87). It was sought by Frarasiin, but it

eluded him (Yat 19.82). During the battles presaging the end of
time, when the Foul Spirit and Wrath shall come to the aid of the
demon-worshippers, the kayn xwarrah will also come to
ihrmhan, that is, the luminous (bmg) Pitan, son of
Witsp, and the true redresser of the kayn xwarrah of the dn will
be summoned (Dnkard 7.19; cf. Dnkard 9.9: at the end of the
millennium the victorious kayn xwarrah will come to him).
The connection with the mountains is also seen in the Dnkard
(9.22.7), in the story of Kay-Us, where we are told that the kayn
xwarrah was in the shape of a mountain (gar-kerb), and in the Pahlavi
Rivyat (46.5), where the world is made out of the body parts of the
primeval giant. The demiurge is said to have made the earth from
the giants feet and filled in (nigand) xwarrah as its substance (ghr)
and made the mountains grow from that substance, and it surrounds
them above and below. (The missing part of ms. TD4 in the British
Library [RSPA 228], fol. 53r, has <E = GDE> twice, and the
replacement part of TD4, p. 108, has <YYM> and <YYMW =
YYE>; Williams, 1990, I, p. 162, adopts H. K. Mirzas emendation
<BYN> andar in for <GDE> xwarrah; see also FARR(AH) on the
connection with mountains.) It was so strong in Siwa that he
made the Kang-diz with his own hands and the power of Ohrmazd
and the Amahrspands (Pahlavi Rivyat 41.1).
The assumption of a special connection with royalty is primarily
based on the assumption that the kauuis were kings or princes. For
instance, in the Dnkard (3.412b), the establishment of royalty
(xwadyh winnrin) is by means of the kayn xwarrah, and, in the
Kr-nmag (3.20), the ram (warrag) which follows and catches up
with Ardar is interpreted as the xwarrah kayn. The connection is
probably not with royalty per se, but with the role any person
having the xwarrah kayn plays in the history of the world and its
progression toward the Renovation.
In Manicheism, the personal name Ky-farn is listed in the
Mahrnmag (M1 line 81; see Weber, p. 197, no. 9; Sundermann, p.
255, no. 2.6).
KAYNIN
xiii. Synchronism of the Kayanids and Near Eastern History

The desire of the medieval historians to fit all the ancient narratives
into one and the same chronological description of world history
from the creation led them to coordinate the Biblical, Classical, and
Iranian sources (see also JAMID). Thus, during the reign of
Manuehr, Moses was thought to have appeared (in the 60th year of
his reign: abari, I/1, p. 434; tr., III, p. 23; Balami, ed. Bahr, p.
345; ed. Makur, p. 44; Zotenberg, p. 277: in the 20th year) and to
have left Egypt (Dinavari, ed. Guirgass, p. 14; ed. abb, p. 17),
and the Israelites were thought to have been in Egypt and the desert
(Balami, ed. Bahr, p. 519; Zotenberg, p. 405). Kay Qobd was
thought to have ruled at the same time as Solaymn (Balami, ed.
Bahr, p. 595; ed. Makur, p. 47, has at the time of and before
Dwud, and Kay Kvus at the time of Solaymn; and Zotenberg, p.
462, has before that of Solaymn, which may be a
misinterpretation of the text of the older manuscripts used by Bahr,
which have as we said before [the section on] Solaymn).
According to Ebn al-Bali, Ezekiel (ezqil) appeared during the
reign of Kay Qobd and Solaymn after his reign (ed. Le Strange
and Nicholson, p. 40; ed. Behruzi, p. 48). Mirnd has Dwud and
Solaymn appearing during Kay Kvuss reign (I, p. 681; tr. Shea, p.
243).
Biruni (p. 115) suggested that Kay Kob reigned after
Essarhaddon (identical with Zaw b. Tumsp), that Kay Qvus was
Bot-Naar and ruled three generations after Kay-Kob, and that
Kore was Kay osrow, succeeded by Cyrus, identical with
Lohrsb.
abari (I/2, p. 644; tr., IV, p. 41) reports that, after the rule of
adiqi, the rule of Jerusalem and Palestine passed on to Otsb b.
Lohrsb, who made Bot-Naar their governor. The Israelites
remained in Bbel until Kire b. Jmsb b. Asb returned them to
Jerusalem because his mother was Atar, daughter of Jvil or
vil. In Bahrs edition of Balami (pp. 671 ff.), most of this is
supplied from abari, and it is not clear how much is in the
manuscripts; Zotenberg (p. 491) only states that these events took
place at the time of Gotsb, son of Lohrsb.
According to Ebn al-Bali (ed. Le Strange and Nicholson, pp.
52-54; ed. Behruzi, pp. 62-63), Bahman deposed Bot-al-Naars
grandson (Belt-al-Naar son of Nemrud) and appointed Kire in

his stead. He ordered Kire to treat the Israelites well and send them
home and let them choose their own governor, and they chose
Dnil. Kire was the son of <wr> son of Kire son of Jmsb
son of Lohrsb, and his mother <yn>, who was descended from the
Israelite prophets, taught him the Torah. Ebn al-Bali also refers to
Cyruss rebuilding (bdn kard) of the temple (Ezra 1) and to the
prophets statement that Cyrus was the chosen and the Messiah
(Isaiah 45:1), pointing out that that book has the spelling
<kwrw>. Mirnd (ed., I, p. 30) remarks that Bahman ordered
Jerusalem to be repopulated because of his (Jewish) wife.
razmi (p. 100) said Kay Kvuss title was <nmrd> (na-mord),
interpreted as lam yamot let him not die (cited by Mirnd, I, p.
681; tr., p. 243, as Nemrud, inter- preted as l yamut does not die;
ndamir, I, p. 191, referring to razmi, says that his laqab was
Nemrud).
See also Kellens (2002, pp. 428-31) attempt to connect the
structures of Dariuss genealogy with that of the kauuis.
Bibliography:
KAYNIN
xiv. The Kayanids in Western Historiography
In Western historiography up into the 19th century, the historicity
of the pre-Achaemenid Persian dynasties was taken for granted, and
the Kayanids, the second dynasty of Persian kings, were
commonly identified with the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Median
kings as described by Herodotus and other Greek writers. In
Barthlemy dHerbelots Bibliothque orientale (1697, pp. 234-35,
unchanged in 1777, II, pp. 462-63, and minimally changed in 1789,
II, pp. 147-48), the meaning of kay in Pahlavi or Deilami is said to
be giant, as well as great king, and the dynasty comprised the
series known from the Perso- Arabic authors, including Drb, son
of Bahman, and Dr or Drb, son of Drb.
Thomas Hyde mentions only briefly that all the kings of the Median
dynasty bore the title Kay, which he took to mean
famous (illustris). He also mentions Lohrsb, about whose
genealogy, he says, nothing further was known, except that he was

the father of Gotsb, whom he discusses at length (chap. XXIII).

He thought that Gotsb was either Darius or his father Hystaspes
and that Gotsb meant made by a horse (factus equo), referring to
Herodotuss story about the neighing horse (see DARIUS iii). He
assumed that Gotsb had founded the ar-Gotsb at Bal and
that this fire was different from the one founded there by Lohrsb,
which was called Nowbahr. He thought that the crown worn by
the kings in the reliefs at Naq-e Rostam in Fars was the Kayanid
crown (tj-e kayni; see below, end of the article).
William Jones, in The Sixth Discourse: on the Persians (delivered
on 19 February 1789), stated that we know [Lower Asia] was
under the dominion of Caikhosrau, whom he identified with Cyrus,
asserting that the names were merely the Persian and Greek
variants of the same name (pp. 44-45). He identified the Pishdadids
with the Assyrians and the Kayanids with the Medes and the
Persians, asserting that the Greek historians had made up the
history of the Achaemenids, misunderstanding and changing the
names: Cambyses for Kmba (a title rather than a name) and
Xerxes for iruya (found in the h-nma) or possibly a title *irh (pp. 46-47).
Constantin-Franois Volney (1808, table p. 283, on the Kayanids
pp. 287-301; 1814, pp. 283-96) presented a strengthened argument
for the Kayanids being Herodotuss Medes. He assumed that Kyaxar the great victor contained the title kay and identified Kay
Kvus, son of Aphra (according to Mirnd) with Phraortes,
Afrsib with Astyages. He elaborated on the historical
coincidences and differences between the Oriental sources and
Herodotus, which he ascribed to Persian royal politics, especially,
perhaps, those of Kay osrow, which may not have been so
honorable for Cyrus and his ancestor, although the name subsists in
osrow. He also suggested that the story of the Turanian war under
Kay Kvus resembled the Scythian invasion.
Louis Langls, in his Notice chronologique de la Perse depuis les
temps les plus reculs jusqu ce jour, in Jean Chardin, 1811, X,
pp. 160-62, summarizes the opinions of his predecessors (including
Jones, Volney, 1808).

Robert Ker Porter, summing up earlier scholarship, has the

chronology of the pre-Achaemenid and early Achaemenid kings
shown in Table 3.
John Malcolm (1829, pp. 510-11) still adhered to this scenario, in
the main following Volney; and Louis Dubeux (Kayanids: pp.
233-72) simply gave the Western and Oriental versions separately,
without, as far as the present author can see, passing judgement on
either.
By Malcolms time, however, the Achaemenid inscriptions were
being deciphered, which allowed Henry C. Rawlinson (p. 51) to
contrast the distorted and incomplete allusions to Jemshd and the
Kayanian monarchs which are found in the Vendidd Sad and in
the ancient hymns, with authentic history, and Friedrich Spiegel
(1852, I, p. 44) called the Kayanids, including Vitspa, partly
purely mythical, partly legendary, without a trace of anything
historical.
Nevertheless, Martin Haug, not much later, referred to Kauui/Kay
as the title of a whole dynasty of the ancient
Bactrian
rulers (1862, pp. 246; idem, 1884, p. 290) and concluded from the
fact that the ancestors of Darius and Vitspa in the Achaemenid
inscriptions and those of Gotsb in the Avesta and the h-nma
were not the same that the Achaemenid and Avestan Vitspas were
not identical (1862, pp. 254; idem, 1884, pp. 298-99). Spiegel (1891,
p. 198), again, categorically stated that Vitspa was not historical,
but the last of the mythical kings. Similarly, James Darmesteter, in
his early work, simply referred to the Pishdadids and the Kayanids
as the first two mythical dynasties of Iran (1877, pp. 166-67, n. 4),
and, in his Zend-Avesta (1893, III, p. xli), stated that the Kayanids
were mythological heroes with no connection to any known
historical reality and that the Avestan legend ends with Kauui
Vitspa.
In late 19th-century universal histories, it is not always clear
whether the authors considered the Kayanids to be historical. For
instance, Marius Fontane in volume two of his Histoire universelle,
dedicated to Les Iraniens, seems to suggest that at least Kay osrow
and Garsb were historical kings ruling different parts of Iran (IV,
pp. 264-65), while Cornelis Tiele, comparing the Old Indic evidence
including Kavi Uanas, was more specific: Kauuis were a kind of

visionary (sehern) or magicians, who were later made into a royal

dynasty (II, p. 72).
By the late 19th century, however, the historicity of Vitspa, as well
as that of his Kayanid predecessors, had become inextricably linked
with that of Zarathustra, and, in the section on the history of Iran in
the Grundriss (II, p. 410), Ferdinand Justi characterizes the preZarathustrian kauuis as legendary, while Kauui Vitspa, who was
historical, as were the Gathic circle (as proved by the family
relationships between them and the historical Zarathustra in the
Young Avesta and later traditions), had been artificially attached to
the Kayanids.
Williams Jackson (1898, pp. 211-12; cf. 1928, p. 280), made a
reference to Kauui Vitspa [b]eing a member of the Kayanian
line, which would imply that he considered the Kayanids, like
Vitspa, as historical.
Even after the Achaemenid inscriptions had been well deciphered,
there were scholars who firmly believed in the identity of the
Avestan and Achaemenid Vitspas, notably, Johannes Hertel
(1924) and Ernst Herzfeld (1929, Teil I and III, p. 185; idem, 1930).
Herzfeld (1929, Teil II, p. 155) revisited the Median background of
the Kayanids, endeavoring to show in detail how the Kayanid
history, by subtracting the mythical elements, could be reduced to
Median history.
Arthur Christensen, whose 1931 study was a response to these two
scholars, not an independent study of the Kayanids, moved the
Kayanids back into history, but his conclusion that at least some of
the kauuis were historical was based upon the assumption that
Zarathustra was historical (p. 27). He then also surmised that the
genealogy of and principal details about the preceding kings would
have been known at Vitspas court and remembered in the
Zoroastrian milieu (p. 29). Finally, he opined that the kingdom of
the kauuis in Eastern Iran was the first purely Aryan large-scale
political organization on Iranian territory: the age of the kauuis is
the first heroic age of the ancient Iranians (p. 35).
Herzfeld countered Christensens arguments in another article
(1936), where he maintained his opinion that the Avestan Vitspa
was the legendary version of the real Vitspa (p. 70). Later,
Georges Dumzil (1986, p. 226), too, criticized Christensens

conclusions, pointing out that the prolonged discussion regarding

the historicity of the obviously mythical Kayanids was aggravated
by being connected with the problem of the identity of Vitspa.
Even in the second half of the 20th century and later, there has been
some reluctance to give up the historicity of the Kayanids,
principally because of the axiomatically assumed historicity of
Zarathustra and Vitspa.
Mary Boyce, in her article on the Kayanian heroic cycle, viewed the
kauuis on the background of a heroic age (cf. Christensen, above) as
warlike leaders, but Kauui Vitspa as following Zarathustras
new ideas, among them his explicit rejection of a life dependent on
the sword, which would rule out encouraging a literature
celebrating martial exploits for entertainment, although his subjects
and others did preserve the narratives about the Kayanids (Boyce,
1954, pp. 46-47).
Ilya Gershevitch (pp. 185-86) proposed that one particular family of
kauuis (composers of hymns) from Sistn acquired political power
and, at the time of Zarathustra, ruled in Chorasmia (Zarathustras
homeland according to Henning, 1951), but Zarathustra would not
be using the term kauui in its original sense, since he disapproved of
their adherence to the traditional Indo-Iranian rituals and their
opposition to his reform.
It is not entirely clear how Boyce viewed the historicity of the kauuis
in her History of Zoroastrianism (1975). In the case of Krsspa/
Garsp, she assumed the surviving texts preserve a mixture of
historical fact . . . with elements from folklore and popular
superstition (p. 103). About the Kayanids, she said that they were
Airya princes who formed the Kayanid dynasty, which came to be
presented as succeeding the (wholly legendary/mythical)
Pishdadids, and the stories about them, she surmised, might have
derived from the oral traditions of Vtspas own house (p. 105;
cf. Christensen, above). She also refers to the pagan kauuis being
cast as upholders of the Good Religion (p. 106).
The assumption that the kauuis were historical was challenged in the
post-World War II period, along with the historicity of Zarathustra
and Kauui Vitspa, by, among others, Jean Kellens (1976; idem,
1997-98, pp. 750-52), Almut Hintze (1994), and Prods Oktor
Skjrv (1996).

As late as 1980, Gherardo Gnoli, in his study of Zarathustras

homeland, stated that denying the Kayanids any historical
background only leads to exaggerations that are hardly
acceptable, as it would mean splitting Kauui Vitspa in two (p. 7),
that is, one epic and one historical, and he criticized (p. 234) Kellens
(1976), suggesting that, if some of the Iranian mythical history goes
back to Indo- Iranian times, a sort of history can be glimpsed in it.
In FARR (AH ), he referred to the Kayanians, who reigned there
where lake Ksaoiia is formed by the river Helmand, there where
the mountain Ui is located (Yat 19.65-72), but this text contains
no reference to Kayanids, but, rather, to the one who shall stand
forth from there, where. . . , that is, according to Yat 19.92,
Astuua.rta, the Saoiiat.
In 2003, Hanns-Peter Schmidt criticized the assumption of the nonhistoricity of the kauuis, also targeting Kellens, 1976, citing the
communis opinio, represented in particular in the comprehensive
study of Arthur Christensen (p. 373, n. 1). Schmidt also admitted
the legendary nature of the tradition, however, suggesting that we
will never know how much in it is genuine, old (p. 372), that is,
presumably, historical, tradition.
On the Qajar Kayni crown (t-e kayni or kolh-e kayni) and its
successor, the Pahlavi crown, see CROWN JEWELS OF PERSIA
and CROWN v. IN THE QAJAR AND PAHLAVI PERIODS.
Both crowns are now in the Museum of The Treasury of National
Iranian Jewels (Muza-ye jawhert-e melli), affiliated with the
Central Bank (Bnk-e markazi; see also Amanat, 2001).
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Last Updated: May 16, 2013