Part 10: A Kingdom Without a King

When the ruler of the world was laid to rest in his tomb, the great men of Iran left in tears. Governors along with priests and warriors, and the wise, clear-minded chief minister, all gathered together in Pars, and came to the tomb of Yazdgerd. Men like Gostaham, who could wrestle an elephant on horseback, and Qaren, son of Goshasp, and Milad, and the frontier-lord of Pars, and Piruz the horse-thrower, master of the mace, and all the other nobles of Iran, the great ones and the champions of the world. All those whom Yazdgerd had once humiliated came together in that royal seat. The eloquent scribe Goshasp spoke and said: 'You renowned men, young and old, since the Creator first made the world, no one has ever seen such kingship as this, nothing but killing, humiliation, pain and suffering, and filling his treasury from the goods of the poor.' No one has ever seen a king fouler than this, nor heard of such among the famous kings of old. We want no one from this line upon the throne; we take refuge in God from his very dust, and that is all. The proud Bahram is his son, bound to him in mind, heart, and thought. The whole matter starts from Monzer; we want no tyrant upon the throne. Every one of the Iranians who was present swore solemn oaths, that from this line we will accept no one for the crown and throne of majesty and the kingship of kings. On this they agreed, and they rose up, seeking a different king. When the news of the death of the king of the world spread among the nobles, the king of Alan, and the war-commander of Pars, and the golden-crowned lords of Abivard and Shughnan, each one of them said: 'The kingship is mine, from the earth up to the sphere of the moon it is all mine.' The whole world fell into chaos when the crowned head vanished from the throne. In Iran the chiefs, priests, and warriors, all who were of clear and bright soul, gathered in Pars over this matter and told many tales about this situation: Who deserves this royal crown? Look and see whose place this is. Seek a generous and just man to fasten the belt of kingship on this golden throne, one who can calm the turmoil of the age, for the world is a meadow without a king. There was an old man named Khosrow, chivalrous, bright of heart, and cheerful, he too came from the line of the proud, and in that land he was among the self-sufficient and wealthy. The champions handed him the crown and the throne, and armies gathered around him from every side.