Nowzar, Nouzar, Nowzer, Novzar or Nōzar (); () ; is the ninth

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 ...

of the

Pishdadian dynasty The Pishdadian dynasty ( ) is a mythical line of primordial kings featured in Zoroastrian belief and Persian mythology. They are presented in legend as originally rulers of the world but whose realm was eventually limited to ''Ērānshahr'' or Gr ...

Persia 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 ...

according to ''

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 is the son of

Manuchehr Manūchehr mænuː'tʃer">Help:IPA/English">mænuː'tʃer (, older Persian Manōčihr, Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬥𐬎𐬱𐬗𐬌𐬚𐬭𐬀 Manuščiθra), is the eighth Shah of the Pishdadian dynasty of Persia according to ''Shahnameh''. He is ...

and becomes the Shah of

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 ...

after his father's death. His reign of seven years comes to an end when he is killed by

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 ...

during a battle. He is also mentioned in

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 ...

as a great warrior and hero. Many future warriors traced back their origin to him and were labeled Nowzarian (نوذریان).

In the Shahnameh

On his deathbed, Nowzar's father,

, told Nowzar to be a humble, righteous king and warned of danger from

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 ...

, where enemies of their ancestors rule. Nowzar took the throne and quickly became a weak and greedy king who overtaxed his subjects. Realizing that his kingdom was on the brink of collapse from uprising within and rival kingdoms without, Nowzar called on the warrior

Sām Sām (), also transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient Persia, and an important character in the Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian p ...

for help. After rejecting a rebellion that offered to make him king, Sām reminded Nowzar of the counsel his father gave him and Nowzar promised to be a righteous and just king from then on. While Nowzar tried to stabilize Iran, Pashang, the

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, sent his son,

, to invade the weakened kingdom of Iran. Nowzar led an army against the invaders, but he was captured and killed by Abrasiab.

Family Tree

References

Sources

* 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 Shirzad (, also Romanized as Shīrzād) is a village in Tolbozan Rural District, Golgir District, Masjed Soleyman County, Khuzestan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a coun ...

, ''Nam-e kasan va ja'i-ha dar Shahnama-ye Ferdousi''(Personalities and Places in the Shahnama of

Ferdousi Abu'l-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi (also Firdawsi, ; 940 – 1019/1025) was a Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poems created by a single poet, and the greatest epic of Persian ...

, 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
Mythological kings Pishdadian dynasty {{Shahnameh-stub