Núshírwán ascends the throne and makes an oration to the people. He divides the realm into four provinces, and takes order for all matter civil and military. He builds a wall in the Caucasus and represses the Aláns and the men of Balúch and Gílán. He espouses the cause of Munzir, the Arab, against Cæsar, invades Rúm, takes cities, and compels Cæsar to sue for peace and to pay tribute. On a false report of the Sháh's death his son, Núshzád, a Christian, attempts to seize the crown. Núshírwán writes to his general, Rám Barzín, instructing him how to proceed, and Núshzád is defeated and slain.

§ 2. Núshírwán's accession to the throne was not universally popular and gave rise to a formidable conspiracy in favour of one of his nephews.*

§ 3. Núshírwán's division of his empire into four satrapies differs in details in the different authorities, but seems to have been suggested by the names of the four winds. According to Dínawarí the East included Khurásán, Sístán, and Kirmán; the North Ispahán, Kum, Media Magna, and Ázarbáiján; the South Párs and Ahwáz; the West 'Irák to the Roman frontier.*

Firdausí in­cludes the Khazars in the South division—a mistake. They lived beyond the Caucasus.*

He includes too Rúm in the West division on the assumption, for which there was certainly some justification at this time, that Rúm was tributary to Írán. A peace or truce concluded between Justinian and Núshírwán involved almost as a matter of course a money-payment from the former to the latter. It did not follow that Justinian always got the worst of the bargain. For instance, in the definite treaty of peace between the two empires in A.D. 562, Núshírwán's renunciation of Lazica (Mingrelia and Imeritia), and consequently of his dream of a fleet and of assail­ing Rúm by sea, was well worth the thirty thousand pieces of gold to be paid annually by Justinian though it did lay the Emperor open to the imputation of being tributary to the Sháh. Traditional instances of such payments crop up in the Sháhnáma as far back as the days of Dáráb and Failakús.*

The popular version of the origin of Kubád's resolve to alter the system of taxation has been given already.*

It was left to Núshírwán to carry it out. According to Tabarí the taxes imposed were as follows:—On every garíb of corn-land, i.e. sown with wheat or barley, a ground-tax of one drachm was imposed, on every garíb of vineyard eight, and of lucerne seven; on four Persian date-palms, six common date-palms, provided that they grew in plantations or in numbers, and on six olives, one drachm. Single, seattered trees were not taxed. On all men between the ages of twenty and fifty a poll-tax varying, according to the fortune of a man, was imposed. The people were arranged in classes and paid twelve, eight, six, or four drachms according to their means. The taxes were paid yearly in three instalments at intervals of four months. Schedules of the taxes were drawn up, one of which was kept at the royal chancery, one sent to each collector, and one to each district-judge. The judges were priests and were charged particularly with the duty of seeing that the collectors did not exceed the tariff, and also, in cases where the crops had been damaged, with the duty of remitting taxation to a proportionate amount. The nobility, soldiers, priests, scribes, and others in the royal service, were exempt from the poll-tax.*

They were sup­posed to render their due to the State in other ways.

§ 6. Farídún had his capital in Mázandarán. See Vol. i. pp. 177, 230. For the vegetation of that region, which is very luxu­riant, see Vol. ii. pp. 27, 31.

For the fortifications at Darband, see p. 187 and Vol. i. p. 16. Mas'údí's two accounts of Núshírwán's wall, as given in the French translation, are as follows:—“Appelé dans le pays d'El-Bab et dans le Caucase par les incursions des rois du voisinage, il bâtit sur le mer (Caspienne), à l'aide d'outres de cuir gonflées, une muraille de rochers, qu'il consolida avec le fer et le plomb. Ces outres s'enfonçaient dans l'eau, à mesure que le construction s'elevait; lorsqu'elles s'arrêtèrent sur le fond et que la muraille dépassa le niveau de l'eau, des plongeurs, armés de poignards et de coutelas, crevèrent les outres; la muraille, entrant profondémont dans le sol sous-marin, atteignit alors la hauteur du rivage. Elle existe encore aujourd'hui, en 332,*

et toute la partie de cette muraille dont les assises plongent dans la mer est nomée el-kaïd (la chaîne), parce qu'elle arrête les bâtiments ennemis qui ten-teraient d'aborder sur cette côte. On continua le même travail le long du rivage, entre le Caucase et le mer; on pratiqua des portes donnant sur le territoire infidèle, et l'on prolongea la muraille sur le mont Caucase, ainsi que nous l'avons dit ci-dessus, en décrivant cette montagne et la ville d'El-Bab.”*

The other account referred to is this:—“Le Kabkh est une grande chaîne de montagnes qui renferme, dans sa vaste étendue, un nombre considérable de royaumes et de tribus: en effet, on n'y compte pas moins de soixante et douze peuplades, qui ont chacune leur chef et parlent une langue qui leur est propre. Ces montagnes sont sillonnées de gorges et de vallées; c'est à la tête de l'un de ces défilés que se trouve la ville de Bab-el-Abwab, bâtie par Kosroës Enouchirwân, sur un point intermédiaire entre le pays montueux et la mer des Khazars. Le même souverain construisit cette célèbre muraille qui, d'une part, s'avance dans la mer, jusqu'à une distance d'environ un mille des côtes, et, d'autre part, s'élève sur les sommets abruptes des montagnes et descend dans leur gorges profondes, sur une longueur de quarante parasanges, jusqu'à ce qu'elle aboutisse à une place forte nommée Tabarestân. De trois milles en trois milles à peu pres, suivant l'importance de la route sur laquelle elle s'ouvrait, il plaça une porte de fer, près de laquelle il installa, dans l'intérieur de l'enceinte, une peuplade chargée de veiller à sa garde et à celle de la muraille. Ce rempart devait opposer une barrière infranchisable aux attaques des tribus voisines du Kabkh, telles que les Khazars, les Alains, les Tures, les Serirs et les autres peuplades infidèles.”*

One of the terms of peace made between Núshírwán and Justinian, after the death of Kubád, was that Persia should be paid the sum of eleven thousand pounds of gold towards the maintenance of the defences in the Caucasus and should undertake the actual defence herself.*

For Sikandar's wall, built, according to the legend, with a similar purpose, see Vol. vi. p. 163.

§ 7. Núshírwán's dealings with the Aláns and the folk of Gílán are historical, but Firdausí substitutes the Balúchís, who made themselves very troublesome in his time, for another tribe, mentioned in his authorities but unknown to him, which dwelt north of the Caucasus.*

It is very unlikely that any of the Sásánian Sháhs ever got as far East as Hindústán.

§§ 8-10. The accession of Núshírwán found Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire at war, but a year or two later he concluded what was known as the “the endless peace” with Justinian. The title was somewhat unfortunate, as in A.D. 540 war again broke out owing, according to Firdausí and Tabarí, to the treatment of Munzir, prince of Híra (A.D. 505-554), by the Romans. He was Núshírwán's protégé and had a dispute with Hárith bin Jabala, the Ghassánian and Justinian's protégé, about a pasturage for sheep south of Palmyra. Hárith, as Tabarí states, attacked Munzir, made a great slaughter of his people, and carried off much booty. Munzir appealed to Núshírwán, who could get no accommodation from Justinian, and war ensued between the two empires.*

Historically of course there were other reasons, one of the chief being that Justinian, secured on his Persian frontier by the “endless peace,” had availed himself of the opportunity and the services of Belisarius to extend and almost double his possessions by conquests in the West. “Both his friends and his enemies said, with hate or admiration, ‘The whole earth cannot contain him; he is already scrutinising the æther and the retreats beyond the ocean, if he may win some new world.’”*

Justinian's success threatened to upset the balance of power. Probably, too, there were always “pin-pricks” going on between the two empires.

§ 11. The Fire-temple visited by Núshírwán before beginning his campaign was probably not one at Tabríz but the more famous one at what is now Takht-i-Sulaimán, about one hundred miles to the South. It was to this latter that the Sásánian Sháhs were wont to resort at important epochs in their lives.*

It will be noticed that a Mihrán commands the centre of Núshírwán's host—another instance of the prominent part played by this family of Arsacid descent in Sásánian times. Cf. p. 185.

§ 12. Crossing the Euphrates Núshírwán marched along its western bank till he reached Sura, the Greek and the Shúráb of Firdausí, which was taken without difficulty, sacked, and burnt. The Sháh then advanced to Hierapolis, the Áráyish-i-Rúm of the Sháhnáma, which was allowed to ransom itself for two thousand pounds of silver.*

Hierapolis sounds somewhat like Áráyish, which means “ornament,” so it would seem that the poet converted the name of that city into Áráyish-i-Rúm or “Ornament of Rúm.”

§ 13. On leaving this city Núshírwán, according to Firdausí, encountered and defeated a Rúman army led by Farfúriyús. Historically, the Persians in their advance on Antioch, in the course of which they held Chalybon-Beroea (Aleppo) to ransom, appear to have been unopposed. The occupation of Kálíniyús (Callinicus) did not take place till the third campaign (A.D. 543) when the city made no resistance, and the inhabitants were led away captive. It was situated on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. In A.D. 531, however, Belisarius, after foiling an attempt of a combined force of Persians and Arabs to raid Antioch, was worsted in a battle at Callinicus; so the two campaigns may have become confused in tradition. Germanus, Justinian's nephew, had been at Antioch before the Persians reached and stormed it in A.D. 540, but had withdrawn as he considered the existing fortifications could not be held with success. The taking of Antákiya (Antioch) was Núshírwán's crowning achievement in this his first campaign against Rúm, and he returned home by another route, compelling various cities to ransom themselves on his way. Farfúriyús is probably Firdausí's rendering of a Byzantine title. Belisarius took no part in the campaign of A.D. 540; he only returned from Italy in that year.

§ 14. That Núshírwán built a new Antioch on the Tigris, not far from Ctesiphon, as a residence for his Roman captives is no doubt historical, though we need not commit ourselves to Tabarí's state­ment that the new town was so exactly a reproduction of the original that the captives, on arriving, went to their own houses as naturally as if they never had left home.*

The cordwainer from Callinicus would be a later arrival.*

The new Antioch was also known as Rúmiya or “The Rúman” and by other names.

§ 15. Negotiations for peace had been going on even during the first year of the war, though they came to nothing, but five years later a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon for five years. Justinian had to give Núshírwán two thousand pounds of gold.*

Firdausí does not carry the story of the war further. Peace was made, after the resumption of the war which was followed by another five years' truce, definitively in A.D. 562.

§§ 16-19. The revolt of Núshzád, “Immortal-born,” is historical, and the circumstances attending it may be stated fairly correctly perhaps as follows. He seems to have been Núshírwán's eldest son, and to have been brought up as a Christian by his mother, who was in that Sháh's seraglio and of course a Christian herself. On account of his religion, or for some other reason, he was interned by his father at Gund-i-Shápúr,*

which contained a strong Christian element and was the seat of the Nestorian Metropolitan—the next in rank to the Patriarch.*

When the news, false as it turned out, of his father's death reached him he had every reason to bestir him­self. In the circumstances there was a likelihood of his being passed over in the matter of the succession. His father's known disapproval, the rivalry of his brothers, and his own religion, were obstacles which had to be faced promptly if at all, while as the eldest-born it was only natural that he should aspire to the vacant throne. At the time when his rising occurred (A.D. 551) there was a five years' truce in force between Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire, so it is not likely that he got much help from that quarter. Probably Justinian never heard of the affair till it was all over. The Christian inhabitants of Gund-i-Shápúr naturally would support Núshzád, and it is interesting to find that the leader of his troops is Shammás—a word meaning a Christian priest or deacon. The general Persian opinion of Christians is shown by the word “tarsá,” which means a Christian because its primary meaning is “cowardly,” but it does not appear that Firdausí shared that view; on the contrary, when obviously putting his own words into the mouths of his characters, he treats the Church militant, especially the episcopacy, with much respect.*

It is very unlikely therefore that the derogatory words concerning Christianity in the utterances of Núshírwán and Pírúz were the poet's own. Neither are they characteristically Muhammadan. Firdausí found them in his authorities translated from the Pahlaví. Historically, Núshzád does not appear to have fallen in the fight: he fell into his father's hands, was blinded probably, imprisoned, and disappeared from his­tory. The concluding scene of the story may be regarded therefore as the poet's own contribution to it. There is nothing polemical there, but all is characterised by dignity and good feeling.*