Garshasp
Iranian mythical emperor and dragon-slaying hero resurrected at end times.
Garshāsp was, in Iranian mythical history, the last emperor of Pishdadian Iran according to the Shahnameh, ruling for about nine years. He is also a monster-slaying hero in Persian mythology, and his Avestan name is Kərəsāspa. In Zoroastrian eschatology, Garshasp's resurrection was depicted, with his role being to slay the monster Zahhak.
Quick Facts
- Avestan name
- Kərəsāspa
- Dynasty
- Pishdadian
- Reign length
- about nine years
- Father
- Θrita (Avestan); Esret (Garshasp-nama)
- Family
- Sāma family
- Descendant of
- Zaav
- Monsters slain
- Gandarəβa
- Aži Sruvara
- Dahāg
Facts from the source article.
Garshasp in Zoroastrian literature
In the Avesta, Kərəsāspa is the son of Θrita and belongs to the Sāma family; Θrita is originally the name of a deity, cognate with the Vedic Trita. Kərəsāspa slew the Gandarəβa and the Aži Sruvara. One account describes how he unknowingly built a cooking fire on the curved back of the sleeping dragon Aži Sruvara; the heat roused the dragon, which overturned his kettle. After fleeing, Kərəsāspa returned and killed the dragon. The Gandarw, a sea monster, was enormous enough to swallow twelve provinces in one gulp and so tall that the deep sea reached only its knee. It pulled Garshasp into the ocean, and they fought for nine days. Garshasp flayed the Gandarw and bound it with its own skin. While he slept, his companion Axrūrag guarded the monster, but the Gandarw dragged Axrūrag and Garshasp's family into the sea. Garshasp awakened, rushed to the sea, freed the captives, and killed the Gandarw. According to the Zoroastrian Sūdgar text, at the end of the world the monster Dahāg will burst free of his chains on Mount Damāvand; Kirsāsp will be resurrected, his corpse having been guarded from corruption, to destroy Dahāg and save the two thirds of the world not yet devoured.
In Persian literature
Garshasp, also known as Garshasb, was a ruler of parts of Greater Persia. In the Shāhnāma, he is a minor figure, mentioned only as a distant forebear of the hero Rostam. He lived around the time of King Fereydun and was the father of Narēmān, who fathered Sām, who fathered Zāl, who in turn fathered Rostam. The poet Asadi Tusi later devoted a full epic, the Garshāspnāma, to this king. In that poem, Garshāsp is the son of Esret (linked to the Avestan Θrita) and the grandson of Sham (Avestan Sāma). His lineage extends further: Sham was the son of Tovorg, son of Šēdasp, son of Tur, an illegitimate child of Jamshid and the daughter of Kurang, king of Zabulistan, born while Jamshid fled from Zahhāk. Zahhāk, who reigned for a thousand years, was still king when Garshāsp was born. While traveling in Zabulistan, Zahhāk noticed Garshāsp and urged him to kill a dragon that had emerged from the sea and settled on Mount Šekāvand. Armed with a special antidote to dragon venom and unique weapons, Garshāsp succeeded. Impressed, Zahhāk then sent him to India, where a rebel prince named Bahu had overthrown a vassal king. Garshāsp defeated Bahu and remained in India to study its wonders and discuss philosophy. After returning, he courted a princess of Rum, restored his father Esret to the throne of Zabulistan after the king of Kābol had overthrown him, and founded the city of Sistān. He later had anachronistic adventures in the Mediterranean, fighting in Kairouan and Córdoba. Upon his father’s death, Garshāsp became king of Zābolestān. Having no biological son, he adopted Narēmān as his heir. The poem ends with another battle and dragon-slaying, leading to Garshāsp’s death.
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