An Account of the Persian Kings who Ruled the Region of Babylonia and the East

After Kayqubadh.
Kayqubadh b. Zagh b. Bujbah was followed by Kaygawus b. Kayabiwahz b. Kayqubadh the king.
It is reported that on the day he became king he said, "God accorded us the earth and whatever
is in it that we might proceed upon it in obedience to Him." Report has it also that he slew a
number of the powerful men of the lands around him; that he thwarted any infringement upon
his land and subjects by the enemies around them; and that he lived in Balkh. A uniquely
beautiful and perfectly formed son was born to him, and was named Siyawakhsh. The king
assigned and entrusted his son's training to Rustams al-Shadid b. Dastan b. Braman b.
Hawarbak b. Karshasb b. Athrat b. Sahm b. Nariman, who was governor (Isbahbadh) of Sijistan
and the adjacent territory to the south. Rustam took charge of the prince, and they proceeded
to Sijistan, with the prince remaining under his tutelage. Rustam assembled selected nurses and
maids for the infant until he developed. Following that, Rustam selected teachers to instruct
the child until he mastered horseback riding, and then to teach him chivalry until he became
expert in the art. Finally, he brought him as an accomplished young man to Kayqawus, who
examined him and found him efficient, nay outstanding, in every respect. The father rejoiced.

Kaygawus is said to have married the daughter of Frasiyat,' the king of the Turks;" others say
she was the daughter of the king of the Yaman. Her name was Sudhabah, and she was a
sorceress. She became enamored of Siyawakhsh and made overtures to him, but he did not
respond- it would take too long to relate the story of these two. But finally, as I was told, when
Sudhabah saw that Siyawakhsh was firm in his refusal to comply with her wish that he commit
adultery with his father's spouse, she made him hateful to his father. Siyawakhsh then asked
Rustam to plead with his father to send him to fight Frasiyat because the latter withheld certain
gifts (that had been) stipulated when he gave away his daughter in marriage to Kaygawus and
concluded a peace between the two realms. Siyawakhsh thus intended to keep away from his
father, Kaygawus, and the intrigue of his wife Sudhabah. Rustam, indeed, acted accordingly and
asked Kaygawus to consent.

A substantial force was assigned to the son who then proceeded to the land of the Turks to
meet Frasiyat. When Siyawakhsh reached him, a truce was concluded between them.
Siyawakhsh reported to his father about the truce, but the father ordered him to oppose
Frasiyat and do combat with him, unless the latter submitted by fulfilling the previous
stipulations. Siyawakhsh, however, considered that to follow his father's command and fight
Frasiyat, after a truce and peace had been concluded and scrupulously observed by Frasiyat,
would be dishonorable, vicious and sinful. He therefore refrained from implementing his
father's order in this matter. He was also apprehensive lest he again be approached by his
father's spouse who had urged him to be with her, and whom he had spurned. He was inclined
to flee from his father, so he sent a message to Frasiyat asking for a guarantee of safe-conduct
to enable him to leave his father and join Frasiyat, whereupon the latter agreed. It is said that
the legate between them was Firan b. Wisaghan, a Turk of great standing. When Siyawakhsh
did this, he was abandoned by the men of his father's army who set out to return to Kayqawus.

When Siyawakhsh reached Frasiyat, the latter received him with honor and gave him in
marriage one of his daughters, Wisfafarid, the mother of Kaykhusrawanh. Not only was
Siyawakshs held in esteem, but his training and good sense, his expertness, and his chilvary and
bravery made such an impact on Frasiyat that he became apprehensive concerning his own
kingship. This alienated him from Siyawakhsh, especially as two sons of Frasiyat and a brother
of his, Kidar b. Fashinjan, became envious and apprehensive for their kingdom. Finally Frasiyat
allowed them to kill Siyawakhsh.

A long story is told concerning the cause of their decision to kill him. In any case, they killed him
and mutilated him while his spouse, the daughter of Frasiyat, was pregnant with his son
Kaykhasrawanh. They also sought a way to induce an abortion but did not succeed.

Firan, who brought about the peace between Frasiyat and Siyawakhsh, learned that Frasiyat
had caused Siyawahkhsh's assassination, and he disapproved of it. He threatened Frasiyat with
the consequences of his treachery, and warned him that Kaygawus and Rustam would avenge
the death of Siyawakhsh. He urged Frasiyat to hand over his daughter Wisfafarid, so that she
might stay with him until her child was born and slain; whereupon Frasiyat complied . But when
she gave birth to the child, Firan had pity on her and the newborn child. He failed to slay the
infant and concealed the matter until the child grew up. Kaygawus is said to have sent Bayy b.
Judharz to the land of the Turks to inquire about the child born to the spouse of his son
Siyawakhsh and, if successful in his inquiry, to bring the child (back with him). Bayy appeared (in
the land of the Turks) for that purpose . Incognito, he continued inquiring into the matter for
some time without obtaining any information or leads from anybody. But later he found out
about the child, and by a ruse he succeeded in getting both mother and child out of the land of
the Turks to Kaygawus. They say that when Kaygawus learned of the assassination of his son, he
summoned a number of his leading warchiefs, among them Rustam b. Dastan al-Shadid and Tus
b. Nawdharan. These two were men of vigor and valor.

The Persians exhausted the Turks by slaying and capturing them, while engaging Frasiyat in
intense combat. Rustam personally killed Shahr and Shahrah, the two sons of Frasiyat, while
Tus with his own hand killed Kidar, Frasiyat's brother. They say that the devils were at the
service of Kaygawus. Some scholars well versed in the history of the ancients assert that the
devils who were subservient to him submitted to him by the order of Solomon the son of David,
and that Kaygawus ordered the devils to build a city which he named Kaykadar or Qaygadur. It
was, they contend, eight hundred farsakh (4800km) in length. By his order they set up around it
a series of walls made of yellow brass, brass, copper, fired clay, silver and gold. The devils
carried it between heaven and earth, with all the animals, treasures, wealth and people that it
contained.

They mention that Kaygawus would not talk while he ate and drank. Later, Almighty God sent
to the city that Kayqawus had thus built, someone who would destroy it. Kaygawus ordered his
devils to prevent the man from destroying the city but they were unable to do so. When
Kaygawus saw that the devils were unable to protect the city, he turned against them, and slew
their chieftains. Kaygawus was victorious over any king who opposed him. So it went until he
became worried about the glory and the kingship granted to him, and he no longer partook of
anything unless it reached him by ascent to heaven.

Hisham b. Muhammad related: Kaygawus arrived in Babylon from Khurasan and said, "The
whole earth is in my possession; now I must learn about heaven and the planets and what is
beyond them." God granted him strength to rise in the air with his retinue until they reached
the clouds; then God deprived them of that strength, and they fell downwards and perished,
and the king alone escaped. Thus a new stage began, and his kingship went awry. The earth was
torn among many kings on the fringes, and raids by and against him followed; sometimes he
was victorious, at other times he was defeated.

Kaygawus attacked the land of the Yaman which was ruled in those days by Dhu al-Adh'ar b.
Abrahah Dhu al-Manar b. al-Ra'ish. When Kaygawus arrived in the Yaman, Dhu al-Adh'ar b.
Abrahah marched against him. He had been struck by semiparalysis, and was not in the habit of
leading a raid in person before that. But when Kaygawus advanced against Dhu al- Adh'ar and
plundered his land, the latter personally marched out (against him) with a force of the Himyar
and the descendents of Qahtan. He defeated Kaygawus and took him prisoner, while destroying
his army. He kept him imprisoned in an encased well.

Hisham also reports that a powerful man named Rustam had come out of Sijistan with his
cohort. The Persians asserted that he had attacked the Yaman and extricated Qabus, that is
Kaygawus, from his prison. The people of the Yaman assert that when word reached Dhu al-
Adh'ar that Rustam was approaching, he marched against him with his forces and equipment.
Each side established a defensive perimeter around its camp. Both leaders were worried about
the fate of their respective armies, and feared that if they clashed no one would survive They
agreed therefore that Kaygawus was to be handed over to Rustam, and that warfare was to be
abandoned. Rustam and Kaygawus then departed for Babylon. Kaygawus granted Rustam
freedom from slavery to the king, endowed him with the fiefs of Sijistan and Zabulistan, gave
him a gold-woven qalansuwah, crowned him, and ordered that he sit on a silver throne with
legs of gold. That land remained in the hands of Rustam down to the death of Kaygawus and for
a long time thereafter. He reigned for 150 years.
Persian scholars assert that the first to mourn by wearing black was Shadus b. Judharz who
mourned for Siyawakhsh. He did this on the day Kaygawus learned of his son's death the victim
of a treacherous assassination by Frasiyat. Wearing black, Shadus came to Kaygawus and
announced to him that he did so because it was a day of darkness and blackness. Ibn al-Kalbi's
report that the ruler of the Yaman captured Qabus is verified by a poem of al-Hasan b. Hani:

Qabus spent the hot season in our chains for seven years, enough for one to compute them.