Tous son of Nowzar

Tous son of Nowzar is a mythological Iranian prince and hero from the Pishdadian dynasty, whose deeds appear in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. He was a wise and brave man but also proud and pugnacious, and because of these characteristics he did not possess the king's divine glory (Middle Persian: khvarrah; Persian: farr) and was not elected by the other nobles of Iran as heir to his father King Nowzar. Instead, his cousin Zaav became the new king and founder of the Kayanian dynasty. Tous later rebelled when Kai Kavoos chose his grandson Kai Khosrow as heir, leading to a civil war. After failing a challenge for the throne, Tous accepted Kai Khosrow and was granted great honors. He founded the city of Tous in the province of Khorassan, next to today's city of Mashhad, which is said to have been the capital of Parthia and the residence of King Vishtaspa, the first convert to Zoroastrianism.