Kay Khosrow () is a legendary king of Iran of

Kayanian dynasty The Kayanians (; also Kays, Kayanids, Kaianids, Kiyani, Kayani, or Kiani) are a legendary dynasty of Persian/Iranian tradition and folklore which supposedly ruled after the Pishdadians, each of whom held the title Kay (such as Kay Khosrow), me ...

and a character in the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

epic book ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

''. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess

Farangis Farangis () or Frigis () is a female character in the Persian epic ''Shahnameh''. Fictional biography Family She is the eldest daughter of Afrasiab, king of Turan. She is also the second and favourite wife of Siyâvash, the saintlike prince ...

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

while in exile. Before Kay Khosrow was born, his father was murdered in

by his maternal grandfather

Afrasiab Afrasiyab ( ''afrāsiyāb''; ; 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. Name and origin ''Afrā'' is the po ...

. Kay Khosrow was trained as a child in the desert by Piran, the wise vizier of Afrasiab. His paternal grandfather was

Kay Kāvus Kay Kāvus (; ); sometimes ''Kai-Káús'' or ''Kai-Kaus'', Firdawsī, ''The Sháh námeh of the Persian poet Firdausí''. Oriental Translation Fund. Volume 21 of Publications, Oriental Translation Fund. Translated by James Atkinson. Printed for ...

, the legendary

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

who chose him as his heir when he returned to Iran with his mother. The name Kay Khosrow derives from Avestan , meaning "seer/poet who has good fame".

In Avesta

In Avesta, Kay Khosrow has the epithet of , meaning "stallion of the

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

lands". According to Avesta, Kay Khosrow had a son called Āxrūra. Kay Khosrow sacrificed for

Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban) and hence associat ...

in Lake Chichast for winning a chariot race. He killed Afrasiyab in Lake Chichast as revenge for Siavash who had been killed by Aγraēraθa, son of Naru.

In Pahlavi texts

In Pahlavi texts, his name is mentioned as Kay Husrōy. According to

Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr ''Šahrestānīhā ī Ērānšahr'' () is a surviving Middle Persian text on geography, which was completed in the late eighth or early ninth centuries AD. The text gives a numbered list of the cities of Eranshahr and their history and importance ...

, he was born in the city of

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

, a city founded by his paternal grandfather,

Kay Kavus The name Kay is found both as a surname and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own right, and also as a ...

. Kay Khosrow founded the fire of Warahrān (Persian: Bahram) in the city of Samarkand, and reinstalled another fire by the name of Karkōy in the city of Zarang, which was extinguished. According to

Menog-i Khrad The ''Mēnōg-ī Khrad'' () or ''Spirit of Wisdom'' is one of the most important secondary texts in Zoroastrianism written in Middle Persian. Also transcribed in Pazend as ''Minuy-e X(e/a)rad'' and in New Persian ''Minu-ye Xeræd'', the text is a ...

, Kay Khosrow ruled over Iran for 60 years, and then handed the power to the Kay Luhrasp. Kay Khosrow destroyed an idol temple by the Lake Chichast, and at the resurrection, he will collaborate with

Saoshyant Saoshyant ( ) is an Avestan-language term that literally means "one who brings benefit", and which is used in several different ways in Zoroastrian scripture and tradition. In particular, the expression is the proper name of ''the'' Saoshyant, an ...

In post-Islamic texts

Some Islamic era authors such as

Hamza al-Isfahani Ḥamza ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Mū'addib al-Iṣbahānī Abū ‘Abd Allāh (; – after 961), commonly known as Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī or Hamza Esfahani (), was a Persian philologist and historian, who wrote in Arabic during the 'Abbasid and ...

and Ibn Balkhi considered him a prophet. He is the son of Siyavash and

, and when his father was killed by Garsivaz, Kay Khosrow was entrusted by

Piran Viseh Piran e Viseh () is a Turan, Turanian figure in Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran. Beside Shahnameh, Piran is also mentioned in other sources such as History of the Prophets and Kings, Tabari and Al-Tha'ālibī, Tha'ālibī. He is the ki ...

to some shepherds. Afrasiyab constantly sees dreams and is worried about his kingship. He asks Piran to bring the child before him to test his cleverness in order to see if he can be a threat. Piran advises Kay Khosrow to answer all of the questions backward. Convinced that Khosrow is just an idiot, Afrasiyab orders Piran to send him to his mother who lives in the city of Siyavashgerd, which was founded by his father. Meanwhile, in Iran, Gudarz sees a dream, in which a Sorush tells about Kay Khosrow to him. Only Giv can bring the child back to Iran. After seven years of searching for Kay Khosrow, he finally finds him and brings him back together with his mother, Farangis.

Cup of Kay Khosrow

The

Cup of Jamshid The Cup of Jamshid (, ''jām-e Jam'') is a cup of divination, which in Persian mythology was long possessed by the rulers of ancient Greater Iran. Its name is associated with Jamshid (''Jam'' in New Persian), a mythological figure of Greater Iran ...

or, in reality, the Cup of Kay Khosrow (Cup of Djemscheed or Jaam-e Jam, or cup of Kay Khosrow in Persian: جام جم) is a cup of

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

which, in

Persian mythology Iranian mythology, or Persian mythology in western term (), is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples and a genre of ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the worl ...

, was long possessed by the rulers of ancient Persia. The cup has also been called Jam-e Jahan nama, Jam-e Jahan Ara, Jam-e Giti nama, and Jam-e Kay Khosrow. The latter refers to Kaei Husravah in the

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

, and Sushravas in the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

. This Cup was used just once and by Kay Khosrow in his reign to find where Bizhan was, who had gone to the Turan border for hunting. Bizhan had become romantically involved with Manizheh, the daughter of

Turanian Turanian is a term that has been used in reference to diverse groups of people. Many of the uses of the word are obsolete. It may refer to: *An Iranic ethnic group mentioned in the Avesta **See Turanian (Avesta) **See Turan *The Turanid race *Any ...

king Afrasiab, after a brief encounter with her in the border of Iran and Turan. Manizheh clandestinely brought him to the palace of her father, and when Afrasiab found out he threw Bizhan into a pit and expelled Manizheh from the castle. Everyone in Iran thought that Bizhan was dead except for Kay Khosrow who saw him alive in the Cup. Kay Khosrow then sent Rostam to rescue Bizhan. The cup ("Jām") was said to be filled with an

elixir of immortality The elixir of life (Medieval Latin: ' ), also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cu ...

and was used in

scrying Scrying, also referred to as "seeing" or "peeping," is a practice rooted in divination and fortune-telling. It involves gazing into a medium, hoping to receive significant messages or visions that could offer personal guidance, prophecy, revel ...

. As mentioned by

Ali-Akbar Dehkhoda Allameh Ali-Akbar Dehkhodā (; 1879 – March 9, 1956) was a prominent Iranian literary writer, philologist, and lexicographer. He was the author of the '' Dehkhoda Dictionary'', the most extensive dictionary of the Persian language publis ...

, it was believed that one could observe all the seven heavens of the universe by looking into it (از هفت فلک در او مشاهده و معاینه کردی). It was believed to have been discovered in

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

in ancient times. The whole world was said to be reflected in it, and divinations within the Cup were said to reveal deep truths. Sometimes, especially in popular depictions such as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, the cup is visualized as a

crystal ball A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball commonly used in fortune-telling. It is generally associated with the performance of clairvoyance and scrying through crystal gazing. Used since Antiquity, crystal balls have had a broad reputation with ...

. Helen Zimmern's English translation of the ''Shahnameh'' uses the term "crystal globe".Shahnameh (The Epic of Kings): Bijan and Manijeh
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References

External links