Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 * https://archive.org/details/roostumzaboleesoOOfird LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 891 .55 F51 r 1829 OAK ST. HDSF The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the «u ROOSTUM ZABOOLEE AND SOOHRAB, FROM THE HISTORY OF PERSIA; ENTITLED ot%l$oofcof l&ings, FIRDOUSEE. TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE, WITH THE ORIGINAL TEXT ANNEXED : NOTES, PLATES, & AN APPENDIX, BY WILLIAM TULLOH ROBERTSON, ESQ. Of the Bengal Civil Establishment . ^ t & j C^v**** &Z>Uj £ ^ “ SLAIN BY MY HANDS, MY SON ! MY SON ! YOU FALL, “ MY BEAUTIFUL, MY BRAVE, THE PRIDE OF ALL!” Cant. VI. v. 3736. CALCUTTA: PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. THACKER AND CO. st. Andrew's library. 1829. Printed by G. Pritchard, Hindostanee Press. Ml. 5Z f S I I S.A 1 TO SIR CHARLES FORBES, BART., M. P„ AS A SLIGHT BUT SINCERE TOKEN OF GRATITUDE AND OF REGARD, THIS PRODUCTION IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE TRANSLATOR. **) 5 ■f ADVERTISEMENT. The Romance of Roostum Zaboolee and Soohrab,^) which is now for the first time in a complete form, and with a strict translation, submitted to the European Public, has occupied the attention of many of the most enlightened and distinguished Characters in the Annals of Oriental Literature. ( 2 ) “ Amongst the manuscript papers of Sir Wm. Jones, written in Ben- “ gal, I find,” says the Right Honorable Lord Teignmouth: “the delineation “ of the plan of aTragedy, on the story of Soohrab, a Persian hero, who acts (') A version of the whole of this Historical Legend was published by the Trans- lator a short period ago, in a Literary Gazette, at Calcutta. And the Story, with our annotations, having excited considerable interest from its curiosity, in the minds of several talented individuals whose opinions we value, and whose judgments we es- teem, we have been induced to prepare, after due revision and correction, the present improved Edition, printed with the Persian Text, Notes, an Appendix and with Plates. It has been suggested to us, that the Plates are too indifferent to deserve a place in this work : but though we admit, that they are execrably delineated as regards perspective in the Persian volume, still they are executed by a Native Artist of Bengal, with fide- lity to the originals, which are inserted in an illuminated MS. copy of the ‘'hah Na- muh, and appear to be well-calculated to illustrate several passages in Firdousee’s B^ok of Kings. Furthermore, our translation being finished with close adherence to the text of the Bard of Toos, the Indian and Persian performances are given in juxta-position as specimens of Asiatic Arts and Sciences. The picture at page 43, is taken from Chardin. C 2 ) In testimony of the great importance attached to this Tale, we extract in this place the following passage from Remarks on the Chronology of Persian History pre- vious to the conquest of Persia by Alexander. Captain Kennedy, the W l iter of the Remarks, says that, for the reasons which he states, he is “ inclined to suspect that “no Greek author ever derived his information from any native of l ersiaPro- “ per, that is, of the country to the east of the Euphrates. Had this been the case, “ it can scarcely be supposed that some trace should not be found in their writings “of the popular tales of the f ersians, which are of the very kind that would be “ most universally known. The frequent wars between Iran and Turan ; the af- “ fecting stories of Siavush and Soohrab ; the glory of Kaikhosrou ; the match- “ less deeds of Roostum : the equally celebrated exploits of Infandiar ; and the “ fame of the other heroes of Persian story, fabulous as they may be, still are the “ very themes on which poetry and tradition would love to dwell. They are also the “ very circumstances which would be the most probable subject of a verbal commu- “ nication. It is in vain to object that they are not deserving of notice in any histo- A Roostum Zaboolee and Soohrab. ii ADVERTISEMENT. “ a short, but conspicuous part in the heroic poem of Firdousee, the Homer “ of Persia. The story in the original, is in substance as follows :( 3 ) “ Roostum, the hero of Oriental Romance, was married to Tahmina, the “ daughter of the king of Summungan, a city on the confine of Tartary. He “ left her in a state of pregnancy, giving her a bracelet, which in the event “ of the birth of a child, she was to bind on its arm. She was delivered of “ a son. Tahmina , apprehensive that Roostum would deprive her of him , “ informed him , that she had a daughter , and Roostum entertained no suspi- “ cion of the deceit ,( 4 ) Soohrab inherited the heroic spirit of his father, “ whom when he grew up he was most anxious to see, and when he had at- tained the age of puberty, he formed a plan for attacking Kaoos, the “ king of Persia, in the declared intention of depriving him of his crown, “ and placing it on the head of Roostum. “ Afrasiabj the sovereign of Tartary, who was apprised of the parentage “ of Soohrab, eagerly seconded the views of the youth, as a long hereditary “ enmity had subsisted between the two monarehs of Persia and Tartary. He “ accordingly offered to furnish Soohrab with an army, sending with it, at “ the same time, two generals, on whom he relied, with secret instructions “ to prevent the discovery of Roostum by Soohrab, and to endeavour to “ bring them to a single combat, hoping that the youthful vigour of Sooh- “ rab would overcome Roostum, and pave the way to the conquest of Per- “ sia. After the death of Roostum, he proposed to destroy Soohrab by treachery, “ This insidious scheme succeeded in part. Soohrab, with the Tartarian army “ invaded Persia, and was opposed by the Persian troops, whom he defeated “ in several engagements. The anxious endeavours of Soohrab, to discover “ his father, were frustrated by the falsehood and treachery of the generals “ of Afrasiab,andthetwo heroes metin battle w ithout knowing each other, “ although Soohrab suspected his antagonist to be Roostum, and evenmen- “ tioned his suspicion to him which Roostum denied. The two warriors engag- “ ed in single combatthree times ; on the second day, Soohrab had the advan- “ tage, and Roostum saved his life by artifice ; on the third, the strength and “ skill of Roostum prevailed, and he seized the opportunity by plunging his “ dagger in the breast of his son, who before he expired, discovered himself to “ his father, and was recognized by him. The distress of Soohrab, the af- “ fliction of Roostum, increased to agony by the sight of the bracelet, w hich “ he had presented to Tahmina, on the arm of Soohrab, and afterwards ex- “ asperated to madness by the refusal of Kaoos, to supply him with a re- “ medy which he possessed of infallible efficacy, and the inconsolable anguish “ of Tahmina on learning the death of her son, are described by Firdousee, “ with great beauty and pathos ; and the whole story forms one of the most “ affecting and poetical incidents in the Shahnameh. “ rical work; for, were the writings of the Greeks examined by the critical rules of “ the present day, what portion of rierodotus, Xenophan, or Ctesias, would deserve “ the name of history ? And it is surely not contending for too much, in asserting “ that there is not, in any of the questionable passages of these writers, a single des- cription which can in the slightest degree equal, either in beauty or interest, “ many an Episode in the Shah Namuh of Firdousee, even when divested of the “ charms of poetry/’ Transactions of the Literary Society at Bombay, 2 vol. 138. ( 3 ) See Notes, p. 4, for an extract from Sir Win. Jones’ Traite sur la Poesie Orien- tate, relative to this Legend. ( 4 ) This statement of the Noble Author, or of Sir Wm. Jones, is in our opinion mis- t mceived; and must be ascribed to Shumsheer Khan, whose Epitome of the Shah Na null formed the basis of the above cited Abstract. See Asiatic Journal, ix vol 233 anu Boss’s Notice, in seq . ADVERTISEMENT. in “ I wish it were in my power to gratify the reader with a translation of “ it, but I want both time and abilities for the task.( 5 ) I shall, however, “ venture to present him with the version of a few lines, which Firdousee “ puts into the mouth of Soohrab, immediately after he had received the “ fatal wound, describing the mode in which the two heroes discovered “ each other ; the passage, (in the original at least), is neither deficient in “ merit nor interest : ( 6 ) “ To find a father only known by name, “ Wretch that I am, I sought the field of fame. “ Vain hope ! thy hand has seal'd a mother's woes ; “ On the cold sod, my head must now repose. “Yet, hero ! deem not unrevenged I bleed, “ Paternal vengeance, marks thy ruthless deed. “ No ! couldst thou quit this earth, and viewless trace, “ On airy pinions borne*, the realms of space, “ Or like a fish, the ocean's depths pervade, “ Or like the night, involve thy form in shade, “ My sire, pursuing, shall revenge my death. “ What sire ?" the victor cries ; with fault'ring breath, “ Roostum !" (the youth rejoins) “ Tahmina fair, “ My spotless mother, nam'd me Roostum’s heir." “ The plan of the proposed Tragedy, appears to have been frequently “ revised and corrected ; the business of each act is detailed, but after all, “ it is too imperfect for publication. From the introduction of a chorus of “ Persian Sages of Magi, it may be inferred, that Sir William Jones pro- “ posed writing it, after the model of the Greek tragedy, and he certainly “ intended to observe a strict adherence to the custom of the age and coun- “ try in which the events of his Tragedy were supposed to have occurred. “ The following Epode, is the only part of the composition sufficiently “ complete for the reader's perusaL EPODE. “ What pow'r, beyond all pow'rs elate, “ Sustains this universal frame ? “ 'Tis not nature, 'tis not fate, “ 'Tis not the dance of atoms blind, “ Etherial space, or subtile flame ; “ No ; 'tis one vast eternal mind, “ Too sacred for an earthly name. “ He forms, pervades, directs the whole ; “ Not like the macrocosm's imag’d soul, “ But provident of endless good, “ By ways nor seen, nor understood, “ Which e'en his angels vainly might explore “ High their highest thoughts above “ Truth, wisdom, justice, mercy, love, “ Wrought in his heav'nly essence, blaze and soar. “ Mortals, who his glory seek, “ Rapt in contemplation meek, “ Him fear, him trust, him venerate, him adore. — Memoirs of Sir Wm. Jones, p. 527. ( 5 ) After such an ingenuous admission by the Illustrious Biographer of Sir Wm. Jones, it may ay>pear exceedingly presumptuous in us, to undertake a task which so talented a Nobleman, as Lord Teignmouth, had acknowledged his incompetency to perform : but, as we commenced our lucubrations with diffidence, so we submit the result of our labours with deference. ( 6 ) See Canto vi, v. 3GGG. ir ADVERTISEMENT. Edward Scott Waring, Esq. late of the Bengal Civil Establishment, next furnishes an Analytical Notice of the Romance of Roostum Za- boolee and Soohrab:^,) “ Roostum after this, visits the Prince of Sumuncan, whose daughter falls in love with the hero, and whom he marries. He returns, after a short stay into Zabool ; and his wife is delivered of Soohrab, who proves himself worthy of so distinguished a parent. When he arrives at manhood, he attacks Hujeer, a servant of the Persian government, and seizes upon his person. Goord Afreed,a female Amazon, endeavours to rescue him, engages Soohrab, who, after a sharp conflict, makes her his prisoner, and discovers that she is a woman. Like a second Tailored, he falls in love with this new Clorinda, and releases her. “ Ky Kaoos sends for Roostum (who was ignorant of his having a son)(®y who makes some delay in obeying the king’s order ; which so incenses Ky Kaoos, that upon his arrival he commands him to be seized and confined. Roostum enraged at the king’s folly and ingratitude, returns to Cabool ; and Ky Kaoos is now obliged to descend to entreaties and prayers to sof- ten his anger. The army at length marches, and Roostum advances to reconnoitre the enemy. “ Soohrab dreading lest he should engage his father, endeavours to dis- cover from his prisoner, Hujeer, the marks which would denote Roostum. A description of the Persian army is now artfully introduced ; and Hujeer, to deceive Soohrab, calls Roostum a chief, who had accompanied Ky Kaoos from China. An engagement ensues between the two armies, and Soohrab is opposed to Roostum. They fight without gaining any advantage, until they are both exhausted, and mutually agree to defer their combat till the next morning. Soohrab endeavours to discover whether he is engaging Roostum, but is deceived even by Roostum himself. “ Soohrab engages Roostum the following morning, and hurls him to the ground. As he was preparing to make away with his antagonist, Roostum informs him that it was unusual for a chieftain in Persia to take advantage of the first fall.(‘) Soohrab, with undaunted valour, gives Roostum his life,, who retires, bruised and defeated, from the field. They part ; and Soohrab breaks in upon the Persian line, where he is encountered by Roostum. ( 9 ) Their combat is related with much spirit.( 10 ) “ ‘ Soohrab rushes on like afurious elephant, wieldinghis bright scymitar ; or, as a wild boar, or a roaring lion, destroying whole ranks with his fatal noose. When Roostum beheld him, he trembled at the remembrance of his former prow ess. When Soohrab beheld him returned to the field, his (») “ Roostum thus addressed the young warrior : “ Reflect well, O Champion ! the destroyer of lions ! versed in throwing the net, in the use of the mace and the sw ord : Our customs differ: our religion teaches us, that those who wrestle, and hurl their enemy to the ground, should not take advantage of the first fall, although they are inflamed with mutual hatred. (’) See the mention of this Tale, by Waring in p. 55, of his Tour to Sheeraz, and Note ix, p. 8, in seq. ( 8 ) Waring, like LordTeignmouth, or Sir Wm. Jones, has made this gratuitous as- sertion on the authority of Shumsheer Khan’s Epitome of the Shah Namuh. See Asiatic Journal, IX. vol. 234, and in seq. ( 9 ) This statement appears to be erroneous. It w r as after the first engagement that they met, but they did not encounter before the Persian line, at that time. See v. 3051. ( 10 ) The part of Firdousee, quoted and translated in this place, contains a descrip- tion of the fatal engagement on the third day of attack. ADVERTISEMENT. v heart beat with the high blood of youth. He cried out, “ Just escaped from the paws of the lion ! do you oppose him again ? why did not you seek another quarter V ’ They alighted from their horses ; the fatal period ap- proached. They began to wrestle, and seized each other by the waist ; but w ax, or the hard stone, yields equally in the hand of fate. They contend- ed from morning till mid-night ; fortune seemed to have deserted Soohrab ; Roostum raging with vexation, seized him by the two shoulders, and bent him to the ground. Fortune now lowered, and strength deserted Soohrab. Roostum, like a lion, struck him to the ground, but did not expect to secure him ; he instantly drew out his poignard, and buried it in the breast of the lion-hearted warrior/ “ The unfortunate Roostum discovers too late, that he has slain his own son ; he bitterly laments his involuntary crime ; but appears to derive some satisfaction that it was his own offspring who contended with him with so much hardihood. A peace is immediately concluded between the two states, and Roostum departs for Zabool. He is met by Zal, and the nobles of the country, who feelingly regret the fate of his gallant son. “ Firdousee does not present the character of his hero in the most ami- able light. He first denies his name and, when he was defeated, takes advantage of his son’s unsuspicious valour. The hero was vanquished, and begged his life, and then seized an occasion to destroy an enemy, who was at least entitled to the indulgence he had shewn. “ There is no apparent reason why Roostum should deny his name ;( b ) upon every other occasion he is forward in divulging it.( u ) The full grown hero might be indignant at his prowess being foiled by a boy, and unwil- ling to flatter his rival with the merit of resisting the Champion of Persia. The custom of refraining from taking an advantage of a first victory, might be conformable to the manners of Persia ;( 12 ) but it was by no means incum- bent upon Soohrab to admit an observance which exposed his life to a se- cond hazard. If accident decided victory upon one occasion, it might do so upon another ; and it seems absurd to forego an advantage which either conduct or fortune had placed in our hands. But Roostum never observed the same clemency towards a vanquished enemy ; he only inculcated it when he fell beneath superior prowess. Firdousee exalts the character of Soohrab, but depreciates that of Roostum : the one appears to have been brave and generous, the other wily and subtle.” ( k ) “ He answered I am not Roostum, neither am I related to him • for he is W arrior, and I am unknown. I have neither a crown, a throne, nor riches.” Waking’s Tour to Sheeraz, p. 182. /") Tins assertion is equally incorrect. Roostum in his combat withBurzoo the Son of Soohrab, likewise denied his name which his own son Furamoorz feigned’- and he had also previously denied it when implicated in a duel with another Heroof Tooram (»2) Potter says, in his Archamlogia Graeca, I vol.443, relative to the Art of Wrest- ling, that ‘the victory was adjudged to him that gave his Antagonist three Fills • “ whence and A *orpi* % Q M signify to conquer :”-and he then cites the instance of Milo, the Wrestler, who A ugtocg, “ Arose and standing in the midst thus cried • “ ‘ One single fall cannot the Prize decide/ ”* But th e Author of the Little World of Kn^.wfedg^^ ADVERTISEMENT. vi Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, next furnishes us with an Abstract of the Episode of Roostum Zaboolee and Soohrab: “ Kai ICaoos, we are told,” says Sir John, “ was vain and proud( c ) ; he appears to have been in continual distress from the unfortunate result of schemes which his ambition led him to form, but which he wanted ability to execute. However, he is obviously thrown into those situations by the poet, that he may introduce his heroes to relieve him. His life is conse- quently connected with a thousand fables, which, though unsuited to this place, form excellent materials for Firdousee ; and he has given, in his his- tory of this period, the extraordinary and affecting tale of the combat be- tween Roostum and his unknown son , Soohrab, ( d ) ; in which the Persian hero is described as having gained a victory that embittered all his future life.” ( c ) “ Firdousee. (d) The p 0e t commences this Episode with a beautiful line, which truly charac- terizes the story he relates. It is, he says, Elc.ee dastan pur abe cheshum ,” — “ A tale full of the waters of the eye.”— The young Soohrab was the fruit of one of Roostum’s early amours. He had left his mother, and sought fame under the banners of Afra- siab, whose armies he commanded, and soon obtained a renown beyond all contempo- rary heroes but his father. He had carried death and dismay into the ranks of the 3 J ersians, and he had terrified their boldest warriors, before Roostum encountered him, which at last he resolved to do, under a feigned name. They met three times. The first time, they parted by mutual consent, though Soohrab had the advantage. The second tlie youth obtained a victory, but granted life to his unknown father. The third was fatal to Soohrab ; writhing in the pangs of death, he warned his conqueror to shun the vengeance that is inspired by parental woes, and bade him dread the rage of the mighty Roostum, who must soon learn that he had slain his son Soohrab- These words were as death to the aged hero ; when he recovered from a trance, he called in despair for proofs of what Soohrab had said. The afflicted and dying youth tore open his mail, and showed his father a seal which his mother had placed on his arm, when she discovered to him the secret of his birth, and bade him seek his father. The sight of his own signet rendered Roostum frantic : he cursed himself, attempted to put an end to his existence, and was only prevented by the efforts of his expiring son. After Soohrab ’s death, he burnt his tents and all his goods, and carried the corpse to Seis- tan, where it was interred.( 13 ,) The army of Turan, agreeably to the last request of (13) Sir John has been misled by the text of Firdousee, in stating, that Soohrab was interred in Seestan: For, although we were apt to believe from the contents of Canto vn. v. 4207 and 4248, in- clusive, that Roostum had conveyed the body through Iran and Sijistan to Zabool ; still it appears, that Soohrab was buried at Saree in Mazindaran, (the ancient Zadra-carta, in the Hyrcania of the Classics). In his description of Saree, Sir William Ouseley with that spirit of research which renders his work so incalculably valuable, has put us in possession of some most interesting particulars on this subject. “ Among the ancient monuments [at Saree], for which I- enquired without success” says Sir William, 3 vol. 265, “was the * Tomb of Suhrab this, according to Firdousee, might be sought in a very distant province, [Seestan or Zaboolistan] ; but we learn from the MS. above quot- ed [Tarikhi Tabristan], that it was actually situate at Sari, for Rustam having atBelikesh tr • > in the territory of Ruian C)'lj J slain the young Hero Suhrab (or Surkhab), not knowing un- til too late that it \tfas his own son, caused the body to be removed from the scene of fatal combat ; “ and took the coffin, that it might be conveyed to Zavelistatl, as far on the way as Sart ; there, at the spot called Lumen-dk'm , on which stood the Kasr-i-TllS or “ Palace of TltS,” the son of Naudar, he deposited the body, intending when the weather should become less warm, to carry it away; but (an accident hindering the accomplishment of this design) he himself did not happen to return; and it is said, that the tumular heap of earth opposite Tus > Villa or Palace, contains the grave of Soohrab.”* Respecting this tumulus Sir Wm. had previously stated, 3 vol. 263, on the jj\jj Jt) to UijJ 6jto jJ ADVERTISEMENT. vii We arfe next favoured with a notice of the Episode by Sir Wm. Ouseley : “ Of the great Roostum, already mentioned,” says Sir Wm. in his ^Persian Miscellanies ; “ the gallant actions and wonderful exploits con- stitute a very considerable part of the celebrated Heroic Poem by Firdousee , intitled the Shah Nameli , or Book of Kings : from a manu- script abridgement of that work in prose and verse, the specimen above given is extracted ;( e ) relating an amorous adventure of a very singular v and romantic nature. *“ It is there told, that, after a sumptuous feast, andmagnificententertain- ment, given in honour of Roostum, by the King of Sitemgam ( f ) to which wine and music contributed all their charms, a couch or bed being careful- Soohrab, was permitted to cross the Oxus unmolested. It was commanded by Ha- inan ; and Zoarrah attended, on the part of Roostum, to see that his engagement was respected by the Persians. To reconcile us to the improbability of this tale, we are informed that Roostum could have no idea that his son was in existence ( 14 ) The mother of Soohrab had written to him that her child was a daughter, fearing to lose her infant if she revealed the truth ;( 15 ) and Roostum, as before stated, fought under a feigned name, an usage not uncommon in the chivalric combats of those days.( 16 ) In the account of this combat, Firdousee has excelled himself. Nothing can be more beautiful than the picture of the distraction of the mother of Soohrab, who set fire to her palace, meaning to perish in the flames, but was prevented by her attendants. They could not, however, console her. She became quite frantic : her wild joy wa9 to clothe herself in the bloody garment in which he had been slain ; to kiss the fore- head of his favourite horse ; to draw his bow ; wield his lance, his sword, and his mace : and, at last, to use the words of the poet. “ she died, and her soul fled to that of her heroic son.” Hist, of Pers. 1 vol. 27. ( e ) u Nuzim. Ze perdeh ber aumed yelcy Mah-a rooee ,” — “ Chu khorsheed tabaun por as rung ubuee.” “ Part of the night thus passed away ; a splendid couch was spread with cushions “ for Roostum, on which he laid himself down to rest ; after h short while, he beheld a “ beauteous damsel, lovely as the moon, who advanced from behind the tapestry, “ holding a lighted taper in her hand, and placed herself near him — Poetry. “ From the hangings, advanced a moon-faced damsel, bright as the Sun, with glow- “ ing complexion, and sweet perfumes.” ( f ) “ This country, as another part of the work informs us, bordered on Turan, or Turcomania, the Ancient Scythia.” authority «ftheTarikhiTabristan,that “ Tus,theson of Naudar and general of the Persian armies, laid the foundation of Hart in that place which even at this day is styled Titsdn.”* Having after some lines mentioned the Kasr-i-Sheid ^ A a villa or palace, and other edifices constructed by Tiis, the historian adds, “and the remains of these are yet visible in the tumular heaps called Lumen-diltn.” f This intelligence is extremely important and elucidates a point which has so long been misappre- hended. (14) In advancing this assertion Malcolm is evidently wrong, and we are very much disposed to in- fer, that Sir John has followed the Epitome of the Shah Namuh by Shumsheer Khan, like Waring and Lord Teignmouth, or Sir Wm. Jones (for as Ross has observed, Asiat. Journ. ix. vol. 233, “ it does not appear whether this abstract be the composition of Sir Win. himself, or of his Noble Bio- grapher.”) We are not aware of any other source whence Sir John Malcolm could have been inform- ed, that “ Roostum could have no idea that his son was in existence,” as this information is so oppo- site to the real facts of that case. (15) This is likewise a mistake : it does not appear, that she ever wrote to Roostum on the subject, but deputed to him a messenger to announce the birth of a son. (16) This is also an error: For, although, it is true that Roostum denied his name, still it is incorrect to state that he assumed and fought under a feigned name. (MS. Tarikh i Tabristan.) ^ U S JJU I US ■» c;-*;' u * jj ADVERTISEMENT. viii ly prepared for the Persian hero, he retired to rest ; and after a short time was astonished at the appearance of a lovely damsel, who advanced from behind the curtains or hangings (e). Her face was beautifully serene and fair as the silver-moon; yet dazzling like the Sun from its exquisite beauty and glowing complexion : Norhas the poet forgotten those delightful odours that her presence shed around ; perfume being an indispensable of com- plete Persian elegance. “ This fair Princess informs Roostum, that she had chosen that hour to come alone and unperceived ; that she was daughter of the King of Sitem- gan, had heard of Roostum’s wonderful actions and excellent qualities, and that she had made a solemn vow', never to bestow her hand on any other man. The seclusion of females in the Eastern Countries, from the conver- sation of men, will, in some measure, account for the abrupt manner in which the fair one disclosed her passion, and for her seizing on such an op- portunity, to obtain an interview with the object of her admiration. But the acknowledgement of her love was delivered in terms so simple and mo- dest, so guarded, and her demeanour so correct, that Roostum was less af- fected by the splendour of her beauty, than filled with respect for her can- dour, her innocence, and virtue. ( h ) “ Of this mysterious interview, and the subsequent union of our hero with the Princess, the result was a son, whom the King, her father, educated af- ter Roostum’s departure, and called by the name of Soohrab. The youth having learned from his mother the strange circumstances of his birth, and of Roostum’s fame, resolved to set out in quest of adventures, and immedi- ately commenced a series of brave and gallant actions. But being so un- fortunate as to encounter his ow n father, each ignorant of his relation to the other, the issue of the combat proved fatal to Soohrab , who did not, how - ever, expire, until it was discovered that he fell by a parent’s hand. The circumstances attending this discovery, the dying words and filial affection of the ill-fated youth, and the father’s vehement affliction and distress, af- ford the Poet Firdousee , a fine subject for many interesting and beautiful passages.” — (0 “ The use of hangings, pictured tapestry, and various coloured carpets, has been from the earliest ages prevalent in the East. — We read in the Book of Esther, Chap. I. ) “ Near the ruined Palace of Persepolis, now called Chehel minaur, are shewn the gigantic figure of a Warrior, and that of a Female, who hold between them each with one hand, something of an annular form, but proportionablv large enough to go round the neck : to these figures Tradition has bestow ed the name of Roostum, and of his favourite Mistress, probably the fair Princess of Sitemgaun. If we can judge from the drawings of M. Le Bruy n, (a painter by profession) the figure of the Warrior ex- presses manly strength, and that of the Princess is not inelegant, either in point of attitude or drapery. Le Bruyn’s Travels in Muscovy. Persia, &c.— and Kaempfer. speakingof this sculpture says, “ Haec, venusta hjimanae femina, fon te redimicula, occipite cincinis, colio monili, multis quafi unionibus bullato est,” &c. — Amaenit, Exoticae. p. 363.” “ A Cashmerian writer of dictinction, describing the desert between Herat and Balkh, speaks of the Travels of Roostum, as we do of Cyrus’s, or of Caesar’s. “ Roos- tum, the son of Zal,” says he, “ marched by this road from Iraun to Turan.” — .See the Ylcmoirs of Khojeh Abdulkerum, translated from the Persian, by Mr. Gladwin p. 36. 1793.” Persian Miscellanies, p. 112. ADVERTISEMENT lx James Ross, Esquire, of the Bengal Medical Establishment, has also sup- plied us with some valuable observations on the Episode of Roostum Zaboo- lee and Soohrab :( 17 ) “ Of four Episodes I had selected for translation into English from the Shahnamuh/ > says Ross, “ that j jj) Rarz «> the son of Sohrab > and of course the grandson of Rostam, and with whom he also held many a tough battle, I would prefer, as offering great variety of character and inci- ( i7 ) The author of Sketches of Persia, has taken notice of this Story, in his xvi. Chapter containing several remarks on Persian Poetry. Referring to a conversation between the Author and Khan Sahib, a gentleman of Persia, the writer informs us, that the Persian noble recited to him from the Shah Namuh, the greater part of the Episode of the combats between Roostum and his unknown son, Soohrab. This Episode, in the first lines of which the poet tells the reader, “ It is a tale full of the waters of the eye,” is perhaps one of the greatest efforts of Firdousee’s genius ; and he rises even above himself in the relation of the death of Soohrab, and the insanity of his distracted mother. The effect produced on the unhappy princess by the account of her son’s death is instantaneous. She set. fire to her palace, desiring, when he who constituted her sole object in life was gone to perish amid that splendour which she valued on his account alone. Torn from the flames by her attendants, she com- manded them to bring the body of her son, his horse, his arms, and his clothes. She kissed the horse’s fore-head, she bathed its hoofs with her tears, she clothed herself in the blood-stained garments of her son, she drew his bow, she wielded his lance, his sword, and his mace ; and these fond and frantic actions were continued until nature was overpowered, and the distracted mother departed to join her beloved Soohrab.’' D’Herbelot notices the Tale of Soohrab very briefly, telling us, that Soohrab is the name of the son of Roostum who was born of the daughter of the king of Samsegan, whom this Hero had married. Roostum his Father, “ le mena avec luy a la guerre con- tre Afrasiyab,RoyduTurquestan, et le tuamalheureusement sansypenser. Voyez le titrede Caicaus” — but under the title of Ky. Kaoosnottheslightestmention of Soohrab, or allusion to his birth can be found. In his Preface to a translation of the Goolistan, p. 56, Ross has again referred, thus, to several of the characters represented in this Episode. “ Perhaps Firdousee is the only Persian author exempt from the charge of either copying others in his characters or of being the mannerist of himself : he has as many distinct warriors, for example, as Homer and Virgil have put together ; yet his Zalzar and Rostam, his Sohrab and Isfundiyar, have their appropriate charac- teristics and epithets, and are dist nguished from the warriors of all other poets and from each other: and so it is with his females; for no critic would think of confounding Rudabah ; or, 5 vol. 451 : Tuhimeenuh, the Gord-Afreed or Shirin with each other.’' And in this opinion Ross is partly supported by the testimony of Sir Wm. Jones, “ Les caracteres de Ferdusi ne sont pas si varies que ceux d’ Homere, mais ils ne sont pas moins bien frapp^s et soutenus. Rustem est represente comme ua prodige de force, de valeur, et de sagesse ; Tus Nudar, comme un general avis6 et prudent; Gudarz, comme un commandant vieux et experimente ; Pajan, comme un h6ros jeune et amoureux, rempli de valeur et d’intrepidite ; trois rois de Perse, comme des monarques sages(i) et vertueux, et Afrasiab comme un liardi et criminel usurpateur. II y a plusieurs autres caracteres dans ce po£me pour divers personnages des deux sexes, dans lesquels on trouve toujours les hommes particuli6rement remarquables par leur bravoure ; et les femmes par leur beaute et leur tendresse, excepte Temeina et >udaba; la premiere n’6tant pas moins cel^bre par son courage et son amour infortune, que l’autre per ses moeurs dissolues et par sa haine pour un jeune prince, son beau-fils.” (i) Sir Wm. Jones appears to have erred in this assertion, since Firdousee represents every where, Ky Kaoos as^j*-* or empty-brained, and any thing, but “ un monarch sage.” Sir Wm. has probably followed ^schylus, who says of Ky Kaoos, in his Tragedy of the Persians, that 44 AXXoff ’sKetvH Trane r o$' spyov wucre 64 Opsvscr yap olvth §v(aov oiocfCoGTpotpHV.” The next, his (Ky Qoobad’s) son, (Ky Kaoos), finished this work : For sagacity directed his mind. B Roostum Zaboolee and Soohrab. X ADVERTISEMENT. dents, ( I8 ) : or that of • Siyawosh, the son of the uxurious Kai Kaous ; ( 19 ) and of his step mother, Sawdabah, falling in love with him ; and on his rejecting her suit, her accusing him of an attempt on her chastity and his undergoing the ordeal of fire to prove his innocence, a subject which the Greeks, like most of their other fables, stole without ac- knowledment from the Persians, and Euripides, Seneca, Racine, and Smith with ourselves, in his Dhtedra and Hippolytus have made the subject of ( ,9 ) Mr. Ross appears to have forgotten that though the Episode of Burzoo is generally supposed to have been the production of Firdousee : it is considered on the best authority to be apocryphal, and is excluded from the body of many copies of the Miah Namuh : Ataee wrote the life of Burzoo in the Burzoo Namuh, which M. An- quetil du Perron has noticed, in his Zend Avesta, 1 vol. dxxxvii, as a Persian Poem containing upwards of 60,000 couplets, by Ataee, a celebrated Poet, but inferior to Firdousee, and less ancient than the Bard of Toos, and comprising the histories of Roostum, of Soohrab, of Burzoo, &c. Sir William Ouseley states, 1 vol. S9, that he had seen a copy of the Burzoo Namuh. “Although it seemed perfect at the beginning, yet many verses must have been omitted ; for the first verses that appeared were these : A passage evident'y referring to transactions with which the reader is supposed al- ready in some degree acquainted. Burzoo was the son of Soorab, who fell by the hand of his own Father Roostum, neither being conscious of their consanguinity to the other. The lines here quoted, and many subsequent verses are borrowed from the Shah Namuh, and describe the advance of Roostum towards that combat which proved fatal to his son, and which has been celebrated by Firdousee. It appears from the Burzoo Namuh, that equally ignorant of their mutual relationship, Roostum and his grandson fought against each other. But the catastrophe was different ; for a timely disclosure of circumstances proving Burzoo the son of Soohrab, induced his venerable antagonist to spare his life. The youth, however, was not overpowered be- fore he had wielded a tree as a mace, with such effect, as to intimidate Roostum, who ( but we must not too readily believe the Burzoo Namuh) adopted against his unsuspecting foe, the base intention of destroying him by means of food, sent during a truce, from his own kitchen, and previously touched w ith poison which the great chief of Persian warriors always carried concealed m his ring. Burzoo’s mother was Shuhroo and the place of his birth Suknao We may observe, that Mr William has fallen into a mistake in stating, that the couplet quoted, “ describes the advance of Roostum towards that combat which proved fatal to his son.” It refers to his advance on the first day of attack, and will be found translated at Canto Fifth, v. 4842. ( 18 ) The following epitome of the story of Siyavoosh may prove interesting. It is extracted from the transactions of the Literary Society at Bombay, 2 vol. 123, and is given on the authority of the Tareekhi Tibree : “ Kaikaus had a son named Siavush, who excelled every son on the face of the earth. He was delivered to Roostum in or- der to be brought up by hira in Seistan, who, after instructing him in every accom- plishment, restored him when he attained his twentieth year to his father, and Kaikaus was delighted in beholding the perfections of his son. Kaikaus had married a daugh- ter of Afrasiyab , who, on beholding Siavush became enamoured with him(n); and hav- ing sent for him, she disclosed her passion. But he replied, that he w ould not be guilty of disloyalty to his father and quitted her. Sudadah, enraged, took every means of prejudicing his father against him ; and Siavush, being apprehensive of the conse- quences requested Roostum to exert his influence that they might be jointly appointed to the command of an army, which Kaikaus was about to send against Afrasiyab, in consequence of his not having paid the stipulated dowryof his daughter. Kaikaus com- plied, and appointed Siavush the commanderof hisarmy, informing him at the same time, that if Afrasiyab performed his engagements, it was well; if not to commence (n) This statement is attributable to misconception : For Ky Kaoos had married the daughter of Zoolzoghar, king of Hamawur, and the name of that daughter was Soodawult, as we have noticed in the sequel. D’Herbelot accordingly says, “ Kai Kaus faisant la querre dans l’Arabie qui est au dcla du Golphe Persique, a Zulzogar Roy de l’lmen, apprit que ce Prince avoit une fiUe d’une rare beaute; cequi le porta a oflfrir la paix a son enueini, a condition qu’il la lui donueroitcn marriage. “ £ They carried his banner along with him, “ ‘ And the battle-seeking hero proceeded, anxious in his mind ” ADVERTISEMENT. xi Tragedies in their respective languages ; or that of Zal and Rhwdabah, the father and mother of Rostam, and in the description of whose persons X mean to offer an example of Firdosf s appropriate and forcible language as a mannerist: but I prefer that of Roostum and Soohrab, as having been referred to bj : 1. Our Father of rational Persian Studies, Sir Wm. Jones, who from an abstract at the end of Lord Teignmouth’s Life of him, had intended it for the subject of a tragedy ; but it does not appear whether this abstract be the composition of Sir W. himself, or of his noble biographer; for though there stated as being a story in the original, it is in fact taken from Shamshir-khan’s prose and verse epitome of the Shahnamuh, and differs from Firdosi in that most essential point of making Tahiminah impose upon Rostam, by informing him, that she had been delivered , not of a son, but of a daughter. Why the author of the ^ Montak- hab Shahnamah chose to differ from his original, is another point, but, as Scot Waring has given this turn also to the story, it behoves me to quote Firdosi himself, who says : Geo, another Persian chief had been deputed by the King to invite Rostam to come and oppose Solir&b, who had invaded Persia with a Turkish army, war against him. When the two armies drew near each other, Afrasiyab’s chief gene- ral, named Peeran, interposed, and effected a treaty with Siavush, who wrote to his father, and informed him that he had concluded a peace. But Kaikaus not approving of the peace, directed him to break it, and to commence war. Siavush disdained to be guilty of a breach of faith, but being afraid to return to his father requested the pro- tection of Afrasiyab, who assented and kindly received him and gave him one of his daughters in marriage who was named Faringis. After the lapse of some years Afrasiyab considering the bravery and accomplishments of Siavush became alarmed’ andapprehensivelest hemight attempt any thingagainst the kingdom; and therefore or- dered him to be put to death. At this time Faringis was pregnant, and Afrasiyab was considering in what manner he might destroy the fruit of her womb- when Peeran ar- rived and reproached him for having first gran ted his protection to a prince and thenhav- mg put him to death; and observed that Kai Kaus and Roostum would certainly de- mand vengeance for his death ;(o) that it was better therefore to entrust Fariim is to his care, and in case she should bringforth a child, that it should be sent to Kai Kaus - in order to disarm his resentment. Afrasiyab consented on this condition that if a daughter was born it should be sent to Kai Kaus; but if a son, that ’it should be put to death. Peeran accordingly conducted Faringis to his house, but when she was delivered of a boy it was so lovely that Peeran’s heart would not allow him to kill it. He therefore preserved it, brought it up in secret, and named it Kai Khosrou. When Kai Khosrou arrived at the age of manhood, Guderz one of the principal Persian nobles, having become acquainted with the circumstance, (o) Captain Kennedy has made an error in this assertion, sinee Peeran said “ 1 told you not to slay the son of Kaoos “ As you would render Roostum and Toos your foes.” 1 told you not to slay the son of Kaoos xii ADVERTISEMENT* “ and was carrying every thing before him. Rostam says, I cannot figure, “ to myself where providence in his wisdom could have given origin to this “ Turkish and fortunate warrior: I have one son, by a daughter of the Prince of Samangan, a Turkish chieftain, yet he is but a boy ( 20 ) and he afterward specifies his age to be only fourteen, fie now adds “ I sent by a “ messenger to his mother, money and jewels for him in abundance, and he “ brought back for answer, that the wonderful boy was forward for his age, “ but that the joy of my heart and life was not yet equal to the duties of “ field service and the fatigues of war/' ( 2l ) and he afterward enlarges upon the wonders, they are to expect from him, when he shall arrive at manhood. Rut this is not the sole proof of Sir W. having never read this episode in the original; form his treatise on oriental poetry, appended to his life of Nadir Shah, he gives a still more romantic and discreditable turn to it. “ What was better, in his Comment. Asiat., he says, sed de hoc poemate “ (i. e. Shahnamah ) separatim acque alio volumine si tempus acque otium “ supetit, copiose disseram ; ae fortasse etiam totum opus in locem profe- rum/’ and if any such translation as that of the whole Shahnamah was left among his papers, it might have done more credit to his voluminous works, and stood a better chanee of enduring, that half of what occupies them ; for though we can detect in his translations occasional mistakes, they are chiefly done with much and superior elegance and fidelity, 2. The next English translator of the Shahnamah is Joseph Champion, whom I recollect in 1785-6, civil chief of Gowindgunge, a small district af- terwards appending to Dinagepore, where I resided myself for eleven years. This gentleman's chief amusement, and almost occupation then was, to lis- ten to a £ hlioniya-gar , or itinerant minstrel ; the dreg of a class of literati, much encouraged under the native government, but now also ex- tinct ; who could recite from memory the works of Firdosi and Nizami, and particularly any part of the Shahnamah his audience desired of him ; and that together with the ^ \j^ Rahs-konkn, or public singers and dan- cers, many of whom had the correct action of a Siddons or Kean, with the skilfull execution of a Catalani and Braham, used to afford a fascinating and rational treat to such as in those days could understand and enjoy a ghazal of Hafiz or Sadi, in its genuine text and accent. Mr. C. made, I fancy, his translations from those recitations, for he seldom looked into a book : and though occasionally more spirited than some contemporary bald attempts in prose, they are chiefly too diffuse and irrelevant to be trusted. A quarto volume of his translation, published at Calcutta in 1785, now lies 9 before me, beginning with Gayumars, the first King of Persia, and continued down to Manuchahr ; which it was then his intention to complete, but which a mental derangement afterwards put a stop to : and it docs not include the Episode of Rostam and Sohr&b. 3. Scot Waring, in his tour to Shiraz, undertaken in 1802, and publish- ed in 1807, gives a rapid, and, to the many, an interesting sketch of the whole Shahnamah ; and having been first a student, and latterly an assistant professor at the Calcutta college, and having as an assistant accompanied General Malcolm in his embassy to the king of Persia, he had the best op- sent his son Geeve, previously, into Turan, who having discovered Kai Khos- rou and his Mother, conducted them to Kai Kaus, to whose throne Kai Khosroo- soon after succeeded and immediately commenced war against Afrasiyab, in order to avenge the death of his Father Siavush. The war continued for a long time ; until at last, Afrasiyab was taken prisoner, and slain, and his country completely subdued.’' (2°) See Canto third v. 1516. ( 21 ) See Canto third v. 1524. ADVERTISEMENT. xiii portunities of qualifying himself for this task ; but, as also a good Greek and Latin scholar, having lent too willing an ear to the prejudices of the sheer English scholar, he is uncertain in his decisions, and far from satisfactory. As far as it bears him out, he is satisfied with quoting Champion's loose translation; and when that fails him, he gives his own prose version, which is neither happy nor correct; and concludes with a sweeping critique of his author being ; “ tedious, uninteresting and ridiculously minute ;" and sup- ports this opinion by a single example, in which he takes a Persian nume- ral in its literal, instead of its idiomatic sense ; ( 22 ) like most of our late travellers in Persia, who translate the j U* Chil-mindr the palace of the definite number of forty pillars, instead of an indefinite number, or nu- merous pillars, being that colossean monument of the antient kings of Per- sia, which Alexander, to gratify the jealousy of his master Aristotle, at- tempted to destroy, but which, in its frowning snblimity and superior soli- dity, is as a ruin likely to out-last all those elegant temples to their gods those Greeks had the taste of building in imitation of it, and which we continue absurdly and servilely in our shivering climate to copy. Mr. Wa- ring, in his notice of the Episode of Rostarn and Shordb, gives a prose translation of one of their three rencontres, which I shall take an opportu- nity of quoting, when I give my own ; and as both are in prose, they may thus offer a fair occasion for comparison. ( M ) He concludes with finding fault with Firdosi's general management of his story ; but as he curiously enough draws his knowledge of that Episode, not from the original, but from Shamshir-khan's abridgment of it, for he likewise specifies that Rostarn is ignorant of having a son ; and, as he is likely to have referred to the same document for his knowledge of the other parts, we can give him no credit, when he comes to decide so magisterially on the whole poem. ( 24 ) f 22 ) Ross may probably allude to the following remarks extracted from Waring’s Tour to Sheeraz, p. 199, in reference to Firdousee : “ He is often too minute ; and by “ making his description particular, renders it ridiculous. An example of this may “ be given in his description of the son of Ukhwan Deo ; which instead of expressing “ his immense size by some bold figure gives us his exact measure : y * t ^ U~J ^ “ He was one hundred yards high* and twenty broad. Notwithstanding this enor- “ mous height, Roostum contrives (we do not learn how) to cutoff his head with a “ stroke of his scimitar." But Waring appears to have forgotten that Homer is equally precise, in his description of the giants Ephialtes and Otus and instead of such exactness being deemed ridiculous, Longinus has even cited the very passage as a specimen of the Sublime. Homer says : “ The wond’rous youths had scarce nine winters told, “ When high in air, tremendous to behold, “ Nine ells aloft they reared their tow’ring head, “ And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread." Pope's Odyssey , xi. 1. 381. It is surprising that Ross should have omitted to state this circumstance in de- fence of the Persian Poet, and also that the Greek writers have recorded with as much minuteness the height to which Hercules had, at a certain period in early life, attained, as Firdousee has specified with exact accuracy of measurement, the stature of Roostum, in his infancy. ( 23 ) See page vi. of the Advertisement. ( 24 ) It is much to be regretted that Mr. Waringdid not consult the original. We possessed a personal acquaintance with this Gentleman, and know that he was one of the most eminent Persian Scholars in Bengal. * “ Ursh (qu. Rush, a cubit?) is the length of the two arms extended from the body : probably “ five feet. This circumstantial exactness is admirably ridiculed in the history of Martinus “ Scribblerus : “ His eye-balls burn, he wounds the smoking plain, “ And knots of scarlet riband deck his mane.” XIV ADVERTISEMENT. 4. James Atkinson, in his poem of Sohrib, published at Calcutta* 1814, professes it to be a free translation, and, what is really valuable to the Persian scholar, gives a pretty correct copy of the original^ but whatever this gentleman's opinion of him may be, so far from be- ing flowery and prolix, Firdosi is really so hard, pithy, and nervous a writer, not in his narratives, where he is necessarily diffuse, but where he comes to any point, that it would be scarcely possible to compress his full sense in double the number of such couplets as this versifier has used, con- cise, vigorous and comprehensive as he may fancy his English to be ; and as the original consists of upwards of 1,650 couplets, or 3,300 lines, and his translation of 716, or 1,432 lines, we may readily conceive, how often he must fall short of his text, if indeed he in any instance can be said to reach it ; for even on his happiest occasions, he is so diffuse in transfusing Fir- dosi’s imagery and idiom, that it is difficult to trace him to his original. Occasionally, when I can fix him to his text, I am sorry to remark how widely he mistakes it: numerous instances of which I shall have occasion to note, as we proceed together, which this author fortunately enables me lo do throughout the whole poem ; but I shall be for the present content with quoting two contiguous examples : when Sohrab has overthrown Rostam, and is going to cut off his head, the latter tells him, as an experi- enced warrior, that it is not customary on the first overthrow to exact this penalty ; and Sohr4b, with the generous spirit of youth, instantly jumps up and releases him ; and ? 1 - y J*l J J*i J j jjJ A J cA cAf* ) ' (\y- < J 1 * LS^ O'— S) yt j O** J j\6j> Uj «J 1 d * j ^3 c S y V ^ u* .f y J I JU Uj A y ^ \j t jJ A “ Young and brave as he was, Sohrab gave ear to his senior's advice, without recollecting those three maxims, of becoming, as a youth, distrust- ful of, 1. prowess, 2. fortune, and 3. generosity ; he removed his hold of Rostam, and bounded across the plain, taking such a range as to let the antelope escape him : thus did he sport with fortune, careless of the good counsel of that person (Homan) who had taught him the art of war: he was returning slowly, when Homan followed and overtook him like the dust, and came up and asked him after the result of his combat^ 25 ) In the beginning of this rencontre, Sohrab assaults Rostam with the strength of an elephant and the roar of a lion. It continues - jjuJ Jji\ y O-— t* Aij jj J tf± ji 4* J “ With the prowess of a lion grasping with a male onager or elk, he stretch- ed forth his arms, and brought his game under him :'! — ( 26 ) here the game is called a j £ gour or onager , and in the former lines it is called as y* \ ahil or antelope , but in both instances means Rostam ; and where the ante- lope is introduced, it is after the hard but simple manner in which Firdosi uses his similies and metaphors, so unlike the stiff manner of Homer and Virgil, and which all our Europe poets have copied since them, who first (25) See Canto vi, v. 3510—3527. We consider Zinduh Ruzmto have been Sooh- rab’s preceptor, as this duty used to devolve, among the Toorks, on maternal uncles. t 25 ) See Canto vi, v 3486. ADVERTISEMENT. xv minutely describe their hero's feat, and with a thus very formerly repeat it in a simile. But let us see what Mr. Atkinson says : — “ Sohr&b bestrides his prey “ Grim as a lion, prowling through the wood, “ Springs on his fallow deer, and pants for blood ! “ His lifted sword had lopt the gory head, “ But Rostam, quick witii crafty ardor said : “ ‘ One moment hold ! what, are our laws unknown ? “ ‘ A chief may fight till he is twice o'erthrown : “ * The second fall his recreant blood is spilt, “ ‘ These are our laws, avoid the menac'd guilt.' “ Proud of his strength, and easily deceiv’d, “ The wondering youth, the artful tale believ'd. “ He left the place, and wild as wind and wave “ (Forgetting all the prudence of the brave), “ Plung’d in the dark embowering forest near, “ And chas’d till evening dim the mountain-deer, “ Homan, confounded at the stripling's stay. “ There wandering heard the fortune of the day." But from whom did he hear it? From Sohrab himself, after taking a frolieksome bound across the plain ; and Homan seeing him thus playful, now dare to advance towards the field of combat ; and having slackened his pace in returning, is able, like the dust of Sohrkb’s heels, to overtake him ; for though not out of sight from either army, it would be at the peril of his life for any man to approach, ( 27 ) till one of the two heroes had secured the victory, either by slaying his antagonist, or going aside as Sohrab did, allowing him to sneak off. Skilfully, however, as this is managed by Fir- dosi, Mr. A. gives it the translation I have quoted above, and finishes a note on the two last lines, by railing “ at the want of taste and judgment in the Persian poet!" But both his notes here, as well as his text, are no- thing but a tissue of misconceptions and errors. However numerous the episodes of the Shahnamah are, and however much each episode may run into detail, there is a unity and connection flows through the whole, and every portion of the whole ; and the signification of one part is often to be explained only by a reference to another ; but this must be done, not as some of these gentlemen have attempted, by consulting Shamshir-khan's epitome, but by studying the original. The story proceeds in telling us : O ^ j J V O O ^ l a) ^ “ When Rostam found himself delivered from the clutches of Sohrab, he brightened up like a polished sabre ; he walked cheerfully along to- wards a stream of water, and felt like a man, when his spirit revisits him, after falling into a trance. He drank the water and then bathed his head and body, and the first thing he did was to stand up before his Maker. He C 27 ) See Canto vi, v. 32G2. Xvi ADVERTISEMENT. repeated the zamzam, or prayer of blessing-, with earnest supplication, and set forth his wants in the presence of Providence ; he petitioned for victory and succour, and craved the intercession of the Sun and Moon. 7 '( 28 ) How simple is this mode of worship, and how simliar is the ceremonial of it to that I have often, while sailing up the Ganges, observed of a Brahmin of the present day, who at sun-rise, stands ready in the stream of that sa- cred river, which he sips and uses for ablution, and then puts forth his prayer to the Deity ; and indeed from what Firdosi says — not of a Guabre , for the Persians were not properly Moghs or Guabres, till after Zartasht’s reformation of their religion— but of a Uj Nagoshak: & Sj j j) ra (v. 1643) was the son of Zal. He flourished B. C. 720, and was killed by his own brother Shighad near Cabool, about 464. ( 46 ) Roostum (v. 4) was the son of Zal He flourished B. C. 720, and met his death by failing into a pit in Caboolistan, through the treachery of his own brother Shighad, £\x& at the instigation of Buhmun, about 464. (/c) ( 47 ) Furamoorz (v. 312) was the son of Roostum, but D’Herbelot has erroneously stated in his account of Ky Kaoos, that “ ce Prince eut deux enfans, nommez Sia- vesch et Faramorz.” He flourished B. C. 610 and w as killed by Buhmun, about 464. ( k ) Buhmun was the grandson and successor of Gushtasp. Buhmun which signifies in Sanscrit, “ possessor of anus,” was the Diraz-dnst i ♦; | j £ of the Persians, the Artaxerxes Longi- nianus of the Greeks, both names meaning “ Long-arms” and the Ardisheer or more properly Urddha- Siras, “ Lofty-Head,” of the Indians. Roostum had slain Isfundiyar, son of Gushtasp, the Darius Hystaspes of the Greeks, and, at the instigation of Buhmun, Isfundyar’s son, Shighad became the instrument of the fate of Roostum, whose whole family were sacrificed to avenge the blood of Isfun- Nobles, Sons of Goodurz. { Son of Auzurburzeen,( 55 ) or Burzeen, a Prince Royal. ( 48 ) Gishwad (v. 1369) was the son of Gawuh, * ^ if and the father-in-law of Ky Kaoos. He was surnamed Zureen Kuluh, j or Golden Cap, on account of being privileged to wear a crown. He flourished B. C. 780: but it is not known when lie terminated his career. He possessed a magnificent palace at Istukhr or Per- sepolis, according to Firdousee : ! J J SJ l ( 49 ) Goodurz (v. 565) was the son of Gishwad. He flourished B. C.610. See Note, cviii. ( so ) Gev (v. 1381) was the son of Goodurz, and the son-in-law of Roostum, having married his daughter Ban oo Gushusb c— l j He flourished B. C. 600, and perished in the snow in Gilan, about 530. ( 51 ) Hujeer (v. 801) was the son of Goodurz : but the Boorhani Qatiu says, that he was the son of Qarun Ij the son of Gawuh. He flourished B. C. 600. ( 52 ) Buhram (v. 1311) was a son of Goodurz. He flourished B. C.600, and was killed after the battle of Ladun, about 568, having nobly returned to the scene of action to recover his whip, which had his name' engraven on its handle, when he was over- powered and fell. ( 53 ) Ruham (v. 1312) was a son of Goodurz. He flourished B. C. 600. See Malcolm, 1 vol. 42, and Asiat. Journ. 6 vol. 578. ( 54 ) Shidosh (v 2698) was a son of Goodurz. He flourished B. C. 695, and first rendered himself conspicuous in the reign of Noudur by pursuing Kurookhan, son of Weesuh, and preventing the capture of Toos and Goostuhum, near to White Fort. ( 55 ) Firhad or Firhadzad (v 1313) was the son ofBurzeen, the son of Fureeboorz. Among the eight hundred and sixty one generals registered by Ky Khoosroo, Firhad held a conspicuous rank and station, Firdousee says : Firhad above-named was the chosen hero of Persepolis, who led seventy principal men of Istukhr, and who w as in battle like a ponderous iron hammer. Firhad bore on his banner the head of a wild bull or bulfaloe, and also the figure of a fawn or antilope j\ JLij 4 y&7 jZu See Note XI > P* 17 < XX ADVERTISEMENT. Guzduhoom, a Prince of Persia^ 55 ) Goostuhum, his Son.( 57 ) Milad, a Noble. ( 58 ) Goorgeen, his Son, Sovereign of Lar.( 59 ) Zunguh, Son of Shawuran, a Noble. ( 60 ) Goorazuh, f a Noble, ( 61 ) Gooraz, (.Son of Gevgan. Roodabuh, Princess of Cabool, the Mother of Roos- tum.( 62 ) ( 56 ) Guzduhoom (v 885) was a Prince who in the reign of Noudur, B. C. 695, held the situation of Governor of White Fort. ( 57 ) Goostuhum (v 881) was the son of Guzduhoom. He flourished B. C. 610 and lost sixty-five sons at the battle of Ladun ^ J ^ or, as it was also called where Gev was highly distinguished. ( 58 ) Milad (v. 1314) was appointed to be Viceroy of Persia, when Ky Kaoos pro- ceeded to Mazindaran. “ Ky Kaoos,” says Sir John Malcolm 1 vol. 25, “ had wisdom enough to entreat Zal to govern the kingdom in his absence : but that chief would only consent to give his aid to a noble named Meelad, who was appointed to the great charge, and directed not to act, in any affair of importance, without the concurrence of the Prince of beistan,” and of Roostum. ( 59 ) Goorgeen (v 1314) was the son of Milad, and father of Lar. He became con« spicuous chiefly by his mission to Afrasiyab, to remonstrate against the murder of the Tyrant’s brother Agreerit, and his son-in-law Siyavoosh. See Malcolm, 1 vol. 348, for some account of Goorgeen, who was Governor of Lar j'i in the province of She- bangaruh on the frontier of Fars, Kirman, and the Persian Gulf. Ouse- ley, 2 vol. 472. ( 60 ) Zunguh (v 2795) was the son of Shawuran. He flourished B. C. 600 and in the battle of the twelve Towers i JJ 1 j or more properly the eleven Champions of Persia, he killed Khwast a Tooranian hero. ( 61 ) Goorazuh (v 1312) was the son of Gevgan. He flourished, B. C. 610 and slew Siyamook in the battle of the Champions, which was fought on the skirts of Mount Junabud or Kunabud, which is situated in Khoorasan. The action occurred about the year B. C. 568, and Sir John Richardson indicates that from this encounter Turpin’s Twelve Peers have derived their origin, the similarity of features being most striking. To the same source we may ascribe Charlemaigne’s Twelve Paladins. ( 62 ) Roodabuh (v. 3294) was the daughter of Mihrab \ the King, and Seendookht t 4 g*** the Q ueen of Cabool. Seendookht was, in all probabi- lity, the daughter of the King of China, which was called Cheen or Seen,(Z) according (l) It was common to call Princesses after their native country: thus we find in Oriental His- tory, the names of lrau-dookht, or Persia’s daughter, and Tooran-dookht, Scythia's daughter j J <• Accordingly, Seen-Dookht signifies China’s daughter. ADVERTISEMENT. xxi ■w Goord-afreed, Daughter of Guzduhoom, a Noble Lady.( 63 ) PRIME MINISTER , SECRETARIES OF STATE, 8fC. c/tlV ■l.-'iy'i TOORANIANS. Afrasiyab, King of Tooran or Scytliia.( 61 ) Hooman, Barman , ) Princes, Sons of Weesuh.( 63 ) to Sir Wm. Jones, in his Seventh Discourse on the Chinese, 1 vol. 101 : but MihraK having been descended from Zoohak, "who conquered Persia B. C. 695, Meenoochu- hur opposed the union of Zal and Roodabuh. Mihrab also disapproved of their at- tachment, and, as Waring states, in his Tour, p. 179, broke out into a paroxysm of rage, and was with difficulty restrained from destroying his unfortunate daughter. We regret that circumstances will not admit of our furnishing in this Work, a brief analysis of the Episode describing the Loves of Zal and Roodabuh, who became the parents of Roostum Zaboolee.(m) ( 63 ) Goord-afreed (v. 893) was the daughter of Guzduhoom. Her name signifies Hero-Born, and was given to her for a reason similar to the cause whence a Lady mentioned by Ariosto was called Victoria: “ Victoria is she called, and well the name “ Befits her, born to triumph and to fame ; “ With every trophy decked of laurelled pride “ And Victonj attendant at her side. — Hoole, 4 vol. 300. ( 64 ) Afrasiyab was the son ofPoshung, ate* who was also the Father of Meenoochuhur by Puree Chuhur daughter of Mah-Afreed Juylat* and Eeruj son of Fureedoon, son of Abteen, by Furanik lL5o \ He flourished B. C. 695, and fell by the hands of Roostum, about 568, in the reign of Ky Khoosroo. See Note chi. (f 5 ) Hooman (v. 706) was the son of Weesuh and brother of Peeran, who was the Prime Minister of Afrasiyab, and the Nestor of Tooran, as Goodurz was the Nestor of Iran. According to the Boorhani Qatiu, Hooman fell in the Battle of the Champions by the hand of Beezun the son of Gev. Barman (v. 706) was the brother of Hooman, and fell likewise in the Battle of the Champions by the hand of Kuham, the son of Goodurz. It is observable, that both Hooman and Barman were the generals whom Afrasiyab selected to command ten thousand troops furnished to Burzoo, the son of Soohrab, to invade Iran in the reign of Ky Khoosroo. (m) A Brother-Member of the Bengal Civil Service, has translated the whole of the Tale of Zal and Roodabuh into English verse, with considerable talent, taste, and happiness: and it is to be hoped, that he will favour the European Public, by publishing his elegant transposition of a Romance as interesting as it is poetical. Id thi3 Gentleman, whose name we do not divulge, since we are assured, that we consult his wishes by preserving it undisclosed, we acknowledge, with pleasure and pride, our obligations for friendly assistance rendered us during an indisposition, with which we were attacked. In addition to this aid, which is solitary, we must express our grateful thanks for the use of his Library at a rural station, where the value of access to such a literary resource can only be appreciated duly by “Country Gentlemen” in India. xxii ADVERTISEMENT. CHINESE. King of Cheen or Chinese Tartary. AU XI LIAR FORCES . * * * * * * * * * * * * King of Sumungan a State in Bulkh, orBactra( 67 ) Zinduh Ruzm, his Son.( 68 ) SUMUNGANIANS. i SOOHRAB, Son of Roostum and Tuhimeenuh.( 69 ) Tuhimeenuh, Princess of Sumungan, the Mother of Soohrab.( 70 ) PRIEST , BARDS, MINSTRELS, SLAVES. ( 66 ) The name of this King (v. 765) is unknown: but the learned Sir William Jones, in his Seventh Discourse, has mentioned that the Emperor of China was an Ally of Afrasiyab. See Advertisement, Note (50). This is confirmed by Sir John Mal- colm, 1 vol. 35, who says of Toos : “ He was forced to retreat to the Mountains of Hamavai : where his force was surrounded, and in great danger until relieved by Roostum, who, after a number of single combats, in all of which he was successful, obtained a great victory and made prisoner the Emperor of China, one of Afrasiyab’ s chief allies. The Chinese army on this dispersed, and Roostum immediately marched in pursuit of Afrasiyab, who fled to his capital.” ( 67 ) The name of this King (v. 171) is not mentioned by Firdousee : but he must have claimed an illustrious descent, by Roostum having married his daughter, Tu- himeenuh. ( 68 ) Zinduh Ruzm (v. 2062) was the son of the King of Sumungan, the uncle and the preceptor of Soohrab. SirWm. Ouseleysays2vol.514, that Hercules with a single stroke of his fist killed at a banquet, Eunomus or Eurynomus : and Roostum being present at a banquet, with one blow of his fistdislodged the soul from the body of Zendehrasm a j j s sjj as we read in the Shah Namuh. See the passage in Canto Second, v. 2094. ( 69 ) Soohrab (v. 465) was the son of Roostum and Tuhimeenuh. He flourished B. C. 600 and was killed by his Father in his fourteenth year, at Buleekush in the territory of Rooy an » j before White Fort See Advertisement, p vi. He was the Father of Burzoo, ( n ) Governor of Gour and Hirat, in Khoorasan. ( 70 ) Tuhimeenuh (v, 253) was the daughter of the king and queen of Sumungan. See Note xxxiii. and for a description of her melancholy fate see the conclusion ot the (n) On the subject of Burzoo’s escape from dying by the hand of Roostum, Sir John Malcolm says, 1 vol. 37 : “ We find Roostum next engaged in a series of conflicts with his unknown grandson Burzoo, a leader in the army of Afrasiab, the son of the unhappy Soohrab, who had fallen by the sword of his father. The fate of Burzoo might have been similar, had not an explanation taken place which revealed his birth, and led to the establishment of friendship between him and his renowned grand-father, Roostum." Poem. ADVERTISEMENT. xxiii SPIRIT. Ahirmun or The Principle of Evil.( 71 ) GIANT. Dev Soopeed, or The White Giant.( 72 ) SCENES, Iran or Persia.( 73 ) Tooran or Scythia. ( 74 ) Sumungan or Zariaspa.( 75 ) (71) Ahirmun, (v. 2833) accordingto Oriental Mythology, was the Demon of Discord. In a Note to the Odes of Hafiz, p. 82, Sir John Richardson says, that Ahirmun was the principle of evil in opposition to j I or Ormuzd, the principle of good. The old Persian Poems and Romances relate many wonderful fictions concerning the mountain of Ahirmun, where all the demons were supposed to assemble, that they might receive orders from their Prince, and then fly to the different corners of the world, scattering discord and calamity wherever they shaped their course. The whole of the combats between Ormuzd and Ahirmun with his infernal Darujs appears to be derived from a Chaldean origin and recalls to mind the machinery of Paradise Lost. See Bombay Transactions, 2 vol. 321 and Sha Name, pp. 39 and 57. (72) Dev Soopeed (v. 1738) was the chief of the Devs in Hyreania, as Ahir- mun was the chief of the Darujs. The Devs were malignant creatures and in the jins*. U it is said, that they ruled over the world during 7000 years prior to the birth of Man, l * ( l _i \ J Dambak being the King of these Anteadamites. But theDevsof Firdousee were Barbarians, probably BrahminsorHeretics, who being valiant warriors were dreaded by the Persians as supernatural foes in possession of ma- gical arts and devilish contrivances. Among these enemies of Iran, the first in bravery and in power proved to be Dev Soopeed, or The White-Giant, who was in all proba- bility a Russian Cossack, of an enterprising temperament, and of a fair complexion, whence the derivation of his name. He usually resided, with a daughter of gigantic stature, in a cave called to this day 4 £j 1^. the abode of the White-Giant, among some stupendous rocks, near Soorkhabad in Mazindaran. At this residence he heard of Roostum’s approach to encounter him in battle, and he fled in terror, to- wards Amool on the Caspian Sea. Firdousee has described their combat with a truly inspired poetic fire “ in words that burn /’—And his relation is so extremely similar to the account given of the contest between Hercules and Cacus, by Virgil, that this literary coincidence is one of the most extraordinary which we have found in the course of our occidental and oriental studies. It is surprising that the coinci- dence has never before been discovered: For Cacus and Dev Soopeed appear to be “ another and the same,” or as Aristotle savs in his Metaphysics, 1.- x. c. 3, ‘H I coma Ei vot7 ]'T ) — Subordinate to Dev Soopeed were Aulad Ghundee, Arzung Sunjuh, and Beed. Arzung was killed by Roostum in his Sixth Stage, as well as Sunjuh and Beed : but Aulad Ghundee having assisted Roostum in his Seventh Stage, his life was spared, and his services were rewarded with the sovereignty of Mazindaran, after The Champion had slain Dev Soopeed with the dagger depicted in page 19 of our Annotations. See Note lxvii. (73) See Note cv. p. 49. The Capital of Persia was Istukhr, or Persepolis. (74) See Note xm. p. 21. The Capital of Scythia was Gung Bihisht. ( 75 ) See Note xix. p. 28. & IL. « V llG d ] /- ] . 1 rJ xxi* ADVERTISEMENT. Hamawur or Nineveh. ( 76 ) Misr or /Egypt. ( 77 ) Burbur or Barbary.( 78 ) Sugsar or Country of the Cynocephali.( 79 ) ( 76 ) Hamawur was the capital of Assyria, “ The expedition against Hamawur, mentioned in the Shah Namuh," says Malcolm, 1 vo'. 516, “ seems to be the seige of Nineveh, recorded by Greek writers, who agree with Firdousee in stating, that the operations were interrupted by an invasion of the Scythians : and the marriage of As- tyages to the daughter of the Prince of Lydia, corresponds with that of Ky Kaoos with the daughter of the King of Hamawur.” ( 77 ) Egypt (v. 1695) was the country which Roostum invaded and conquered after his triumphant success in Mazindaran. At his victory of Hamawur, or Nineveh, Roos- tum not only took the King of Egypt a prisoner : but compelled him to use his influence with his troops to lend their aid to the Champion to expel Afrasiyab. It is deserv- ing of notice, that Greek Historians have recorded this invasion of Afrasiyab with his Tooranians. „ ( 78 ) Barbary (See Note lxi) shared the same fate as Egypt, and, at the same time, its sovereign was also captured, at Nineveh, and reduced to the necessity of furnish- ing auxiliaries to co-operate with Roostum against Afrasiyab. ( 79 ) Sugsar, (v. 1695), according to the Boorhani Qatiu is the name of a country, where the people have the head of a dog, and the body of a man : and it is also the name of the natives there. Atkinson in his Soohrab, p. 78, unaccountably calls it, “ Sooksar;" and Sir Wm. Jones, with equal impropriety, 5 vol. 452, calls it, “ Sak- sar." But Firdousee well explains its meaning : In Mazindaran was a province, the inhabitants of which were called after the region, Goorgasran, or Koorgsaran, o / or wolf-heads, whom Sir Wm. Jones denominated “ Loupsde la battaille : but they were “ loups garox." Firdousee says, Shahuamuh, p. 2:6. £ \j+ JiJU l*c,^ iz) which Sir Wm. has thus translated ; “ ils appellent leurs troupes Saksar, et ils avan- cent commedes tigres de guerre/' Champion, in his Sha Name, p. 311, renders sug- sar, “ Dog’s-Town." And it is very remarkable, that to the present time there is a place in Mazindaran called ! {jm I j or Dog’s-head, which appears to be the Sugsar of the Text. From Herodotus, (1.140,) we collect that the Hyrcanians main- tained Dogs publicly for the purpose of devouring the dead bodies of the Magi: hence probably the origin of the name of Sugsar. Pliny (7. c. 2,) writes most expli- citly of the Cynocephali, a nation in India who have, he says, the head of a dog, ac- cording to some traditions. Every classical scholar remembers Anubis, the /Egyptian deity represented under the form of a man with the head of a dog, because, says Lemprierre, when Osiris went on his expedition against India , Anubis accompanied * him, and clothed himself in a sheep’s skin. But to return to the Sugsars. Sir John Richardson informs us, that the Sugsar is a species of imaginary monster with the head of a dog, the yellow face of a dragon, the hair of a goat, the ears of an elephant, and with blue eyes. But we are not apprised by any writer of the “ local habitation'' of these creatures, in very precise terms ; still, it is worthy of remark, that when Gama, the Spaniard, visited Asia, he saw a similar monster near Calicut : 44 And here a dog his snarling tusks displayed : “ Anubis thus in Memphis’ hallowed shade “ Grinn’d horrible." — Camoens, Book, vn. And from the same author we learn, Book x, that “ There, eastward, Arracan her line extends ; “ And Pegu’s mighty empire southward bends ; “ Pegu, whose sons, so held old faith, confess’d “ A dog their sire ; their deeds the tale attest." According to Faria, they sprung from a Shipwrecked Chinese woman. js 1 1 ADVERTISEMENT. XXV. C’i Besitoon or Column-less^ 80 ) Room or Rumelia.( 81 ) Koh Ulboorz or Mount Caucasus. ( 82 ) Kakoo whom Sir Wm. Jones, 5 vol. 452, has called Kerkin, the grandson of Soolm, was the leader of the soldiers called Sugsars, in Goorgsa- ran, in the time of am, who, ultimately, slew him in battle, with 60,000 Sug- sars, and made 12,000 of their principal officers, prisoners of war. The army con- sisted of 300,000 Sugsars, Sir Y^. Jones has translated into French the description of this action. See Shah Namuh 216-217, and Jones* Works 5 vol. 452. Hajee Shabeeny, in his Account of Tumbuctoo, states some particulars, when describing the excavations of Atlas, relative to Helel Killeb, t ^ 1(1 \ ^JaI an d Ben «1 Killeb, “ the doglike race and the sons of dogs/* They inhabit the province of “ Benicheleb or District of Dogs.*’ And Francisco Mauro, who flourish- ed, A. D. 1459, furnishes these curious details: “I have repeatedly heard reports of the Dog-faced race, Hel el Killeb ; of the Tailed race, Hel Khual, (o) and of the race having one eye (see Richardson’s Dissertation lxxxvi.) who reside in the desert at an immense distance south east of Morocco.” But we snail conclude in the words of Lerni, in Orlando Innam. B. 1. C. xxv. Questi giardini, e libri, e corni, e cani, &c. These books, and horns, and dogs, and gardens strange, These savage men, these shapes of giant race, And beasts and monsters with a human face, Are feigned to please the vulgar ear : butyou, Whom fav’ring powers with better sense indue, - Can see the doctrine sage, that hidden lies Beneath these mystic fables’ deep disguise. ( 80 ) Besitoon (v. 648) is an immense rocky mountain, situated near Kirmanshah* Connected with Besitoon, there are many Romances in the East, as it holds a conspicu- ous place in the Loves of Firhad and Sheereen. Firdousee does not allude to their Loves, though the tale was known in Persia, when he flourished, nine hundred years ago : but he refers to the fluted pillars which were executed by the Chisel of the un- happy Firhard, and remain extant to this day. ( 81 ) /‘ Room,” (v. 1695) says Malcolm, 1 vol. 43, “ is a term adopted since the establishment of the Eastern Empire of the Romans. It may always be considered as a general and indefinite name by which Persian authors describe the provinces west of the Euphrates, to the shores of the Euxine and Mediterranean.” It may be rendered the Empire of the West. ( b2 ) Koh Ulboorz (v. 1729) says Ouseley, 3 vol. 569, on the authority of Hum- dullah, “ is an immense mountain adjacent to Bab al Abuab (or Derbend) ; and many mountains are connected with Ulboorz ; so that from Turkestan to Hejaz it forms a range extending in length one thousand farsangs, more or less [about 4000 miles!] and on this account some regard it as the mountain of Kaf” or Caucasus. Ulboorz, the Olympus or Ida of the Persians, is situated near the city of Tuhran, the present capital of Persia. It is estimated, according to Sir R. Porter at 16,700 feet above the level of the sea. Heathen traditions and classical writers affirm, that Ul- boorz was the huge rock of the Caucasus to which Prometheus was chained accord- ing to Aischylus : But this fable may have originated from the fiction of Tumhourus, entitled si) d or Demon-chainer, having on that mountain defeated and bound Demrush, the most fierce and frightful of the Devs, in a gloomy cavern-cell. There is still a tradition amon^ the natives who reside in the valley of Ulboorz, that the bones of an enormous giant, exposed there by divine wrath, are yet to be seen on its smaller summit. (o) Mauro appears to be wrong in calling them the tailed race, as they were most likely the Ahili Doowal J ^ ^a \ described by Castellus, as Indians with legs, like leather-straps, who pretend to be lame; importune travellers to carry them on their backs; and then strangle them. We are strongly of opinion that the Man of the Mountain in Sinbad the Sailor was a member of thisrace. D Roostum Zaboolee and Soohrab. XX Yl, ADVERTISEMENT. A J) Duz Soopeed or White-Fort. ( s3 ) MISCELLANEOUS. Rukhsh (v. 83) which signifies Lightning, was the name of Roostum’s Horse. See Note xii. Hooma,ee (v. 3977), the name of the Bird of Paradise. Ac- cording to Oriental Superstition, he whose head is sha- dowed, if but for an instant, by the wings of this bird will become a King ; and in the text of Firdousee, Soohrab is represented by Ky Kaoos to Goodurz, as being too impor- tant a personage, in his own conceit, “ To pass beneath the wings Homays expand.” Canto Seventh. 44 Tudurv (v. 2710) was a kind of fabulous bird, according to Wilkins, that was conjectured to be in love with the cy- press-tree, as the nightingale is imagined to be enamoured of the rose. (83) 'White-Fort (v. 800) according to Malcolm, 1 vol. 19, is situated “ about se- venty-six miles north-west of Shiraz”(p) on a high hill, that is almost perpendicular on every side ; and Sir John proceeds to describe it, on the authority of Lieutenant McDonald, who in 18 '0 visited this castle, defended by a line of large stones ranged in regular order around the edges of the precipice for the purpose of rolling down and sweeping along an enemy.(g) — Atkinson says, p. 45, “ on the southern range (of the mountainous chain of Caucasus), in Lieutenant Macartney’s Map of the Punjab and countries westward of the Indus, there is a fortress marked Killa Beezuh which signifies White Fortress, close to the Surah pass laid down by Rennell. This, therefore, appears to be the defile through which Soohrab invaded Iran.” — Father An- gelo believed White-Fort to be the residence of the White-Giant , Gazophyl. Pers. 127: nut this place was situated near Fuhalin, between Shiraz and Khoozistan, or Susiana, where Chardin erroneously supposed, 9 vol. 160, that Dev Soopeed imprisoned Roos- tum — “ enferma le geant Rustam ou Hercule.” Kaempfer, Amaenit. Exot. 365, con- jectured White-Fort to be a monument of the White Giant “ i. e. arcus albaea A illustri apud Persas cacodaemone extructae, &c.” But Malcolm, McDonald, and Atkinson were mistaken in affirming, that the White-Fort mentioned by Firdousee was situated in the position which they describe, the W hite-Fort near Shiraz being called . s Qilliu Soopeedan, instead of Qilliu Soopeed : it was also called from the white stone, which composed it m Qilliu Beizuh,(r) as well as ^ ifju U Qilliu Sungan, or Rocky Fort. But the White-Fort of our Episode, was situated in a very different direction ; and it is surprising, that so much misconception on this important subject should have prevailed. The Boorhani Qatiu says, that White-Fort is “ the name of a castle, and citadel of Tooran , which Soohrab, the son of Roostum took : ( p ) Sir John afterwards says, 1 vol. 295, in describing the conquest of Timoor, the Toork: ** He next attacked the famous Killuh Suffeed, a mountain-fort, which has been before described. It had been taken by Roostum; and the fame of its strength was not diminished by its falling before a chief, who has been justly deemed equally irresistible." (q) In the expedition of Cyrus, Xenophon has described a similar place in the country of the Taochians, where after the beseiged had expended all their stones, and the citadel was in the act of being stormed, “ the women first threw their children down the precipice and then themselves ; the men did the same." (r) More properly ^ l JO W ft » ADVERTISEMENT. xxvii* S' The Star Gawuhiyan or Gawiyan, (v. 2369) was the famous banner-roll of the equally celebrated Gawuli, the black- smith of Isfahan, who, in the year B. C. 780, erected his leathern apron as his standard, and rallied round it his countrymen to expel the usurper Zoohak. A volume might be written relative to this apron, which in process of time, became studded thickly with the most superb and priceless jewels from the time of Fureedoon, B. C. 780, who converted it into the ban of Persia, ( 81 ) until the Moohum- mudan Conquest, A.D 626, when it was taken in battle by Saad-e-Wukas, and sent to the Caliph Omur. It was also called ^ \ 3 \? J»iji which D’Herbelot renders er- It appears clearly from the Jihangeeree ^ and Huft Uqleem ^ Jj! that White-Fort was situated at Subzwar(s) inKhoorasan and even the Boorhani Qatiu, in describing Hujeer, as the son of Goodurz above-men- tioned, has stated, (though incorrectly with respect to the filiage of Hujeer), that Hujeer was the name of the son of Qarun, son of Gawuh, whom Soohrab, when MARCHING TO IRAN, AT THE FOOT OF WHITE-FORT IN SUBZWAR, TOOK ALIVE IN Battle : ( M ) The armourials borne on the standard of Persia, at the present period repre- sent a Lion surmounted by a Sun over his back : hence the honorary institution en- titled the itoyal Persian Order of the Lion and Sun, (of which Mr Gore Ouseley is a “ Grand Cordon.”) Sir John ivialcolmsays, 2 vol. 406, that “the causes which led to the sign of Sol and Leo becoming the arms of Persia, cannot be distinctly traced ; but there is reason to believe, that the use of this symbol, is not of very great anti- quity.” And on the same subject, Sir Wm. Ouseley says, 3 vol. 564 : “ We learn from Abul Faraje, that Sultan Ghyath-a-din tin the thirteenth century of our era), intend- ed to coin money bearing the image of his wife ; when it was recommended, that he should rather adopt a lion with the sun above him as relating to her horoscope : &Ac \ LxJjy* A \j I ^ I