Part 16: The Reign of Kay Arash

Marav had a son, a man of renown, brave and clever, skilled with the dagger. Perhaps that famous one was Kay Arash himself, who took the crown after Fariborz. The Shahnameh itself says the very same: Fariborz became the heir of Tus. The commander Tus, with the royal Kayanid banner, the war drums, the elephants, the golden footwear. He handed all this over to Fariborz and said: the right man has come, worthy of the role. May your fortune be victorious all year long; may all your days be like Nowruz, the new year. He also recalls the name Arash, for when was this name given to any but kings? Siyaksar, that king of glory and grandeur, who utterly destroyed Nineveh. He bound the war drum upon the male elephant; that king of Tus killed the enemy drum. Along with seven champions, chiefs of the Medes, among whom was Nabu Polasar. In the place whose name was Navand, where those lofty palaces stood. He charged into the battlefield like a maddened elephant and leveled that place flat to the ground. Surely Alkus was the chief drum, the one over whom there was only sighing and regret. Navand is the real Nineveh, and Polasar is the same as Pilsam.