Note 368 — Chapter I

At the time that a great army of Turanians commanded by Sohrab overrun Persia, Rustam, the ruler of Sistan, was summoned by Káús, his liege, to repulse the invaders. Rustam, although willing to obey, having spent some days in feasting, appeared later than his sovereign expected, who, in a fit of rage, after having severely rebuked him for his tardiness, condemned him to an ignominious death. Gív, one of the principal chiefs, and friend of Rustam, was charged with the execution, but, refusing to do what he felt impossible, he was sentenced to share the fate of the great hero, and Tus, a chief mentioned in the text, received the order to execute the mandate upon both. A reconciliation however took place between the king and his powerful vassals, whose united efforts were required against the Turanians. It was in the course of this war that Rustam slew his son Sohrab, without knowing him, and without supposing him at the head of the Turanian army: this is the subject of one of the most celebrated episodes of Ferdusi’s Shah-namah.—A. T.