Kay Kawad (also known as Kay Qobad,

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scri ...

𐬐𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬌 𐬐𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬁𐬙𐬀 Kauui Kauuāta) is a mythological figure of Iranian folklore and oral tradition. The 'Kay' stock epithet identifies Kawad as a Kayanian, a mythological dynasty that in tradition Kay Kawad was also the founder of. In the tradition preserved in the ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...

'', Kay Kawad was a descendant of

Manuchehr Manūchehr mænuː'tʃer">Help:IPA_English.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Help:IPA/English">mænuː'tʃer (, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱𐬗𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 Manuščiθra), is the eighth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Pe ...

, and lived in the

Alborz The Alborz ( fa, البرز) range, also spelled as Alburz, Elburz or Elborz, is a mountain range in northern Iran that stretches from the border of Azerbaijan along the western and entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and finally runs ...

mountains, and was brought to the Estaxr (the capital) by

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. Under

Nowzar Nowzar () is the ninth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He is the son of Manuchehr and becomes the Shah of Iran after his father's death. His reign of seven years comes to an end when he is killed by Afrasiab d ...

, who loses the ' for oppressing the Iranians, the Pishdādi dynasty grows weak, and Iran falls to the

Aniran Anērān (Middle Persian, ) or Anīrân (Modern Persian, ) is an ethno-linguistic term that signifies "non-Iranian" or "non-Iran" (non-Aryan). Thus, in a general sense, 'Aniran' signifies lands where Iranian languages are not spoken. In a pejorativ ...

ian General

Afrasiab Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi. The mythical ki ...

, who kills Nowzar in battle. Then however, Kawad defeats Afrasiyab in personal combat, and for this feat and because he possesses the he is elected king by the Iranians, and the descendants of Nowzar—Zou, Garshasp and Gastham—pay him allegiance.

Sources and references

* Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Dick Davis trans. (2006), ''Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings'' , modern English translation (abridged), current standard * Warner, Arthur and Edmond Warner, (translators) The Shahnama of Firdausi, 9 vols. (London: Keegan Paul, 1905-1925) (complete English verse translation) * Shirzad Aghaee, ''Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi'' (Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of Ferdousi, Nyköping, Sweden, 1993. () * Jalal Khāleghi Motlagh, Editor, ''The Shahnameh'', to be published in 8 volumes (ca. 500 pages each), consisting of six volumes of text and two volumes of explanatory notes. See
Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University
Kayanians Shahnameh characters Zoroastrian rulers {{MEast-myth-stub