Section I, ch. II.
First settlement of the kingdom of Ṭabaristán
and its cities.

Farshwádgar* is bounded by Ádharbayján, Áhár, Ṭabar­istán, Gílán, Daylam, Ray, Qúmis, Dámghán and Gurgán, and was first so defined by Minúchihr Sháh. As regards its etymology, some say that it means “Live safe and sound” (<Arabic>), but certain natives of Ṭabar­istán assert that farsh means “plain” (hámún), wád “high­lands” (kúhístán), and gar “sea”, and that the name therefore signifies “land of mountain, plain and sea”; this interpretation, however, is modern. Older authorities say that gar (jar) means mountainous land susceptible of cultivation, where thickets and trees are found, Jar-sháh (or Gar-sháh) being an ancient title of the descendants of Súkhrá, the meaning of which is “King of the mountains”*. The name Mázan­darán is more recent. Its king was killed by Rustam the son of Zál. It was originally called “Múz-andarún”, because Múz was the name of a mountain on the confines of Gílán extending as far as Lár, Qaṣrán and Jájarm; and since this territory was “within [the mountains of] Mûz”, it received this name. But as for what belongs to Ṭabaristán, from Dínár-járí on the east to a village called Maláṭ, beyond Húsam on the west*, they say that in ancient days it was all jungle and forest, lagoon and fen, mountain and sea (f. 27a), and that until the time of Jamshíd it was in the possession of the demons. He conquered them, and bade them level the mountains with the plains, fill up the lakes, drain the fens into the sea, open up the country, and dis­tribute the rivers and streams. He also caused castles to be made and duly provisioned for the highlanders, and brought water from the mountains to the plains; and so they held Ṭabaristán for a hundred years or more. There­after he brought craftsmen and artificers into that province, assigning land to each, and giving the wise and prudent authority over the others. The oldest settlement is Láriján, where, in the village of Waraka (<Arabic>)*, Ferídún was born; which happened in this wise. When Dahák the Arab (<Arabic>) hewed Jamshíd in pieces, the family and descendants of that unfortunate king fled away and hid themselves wherever they could, and the mother of Ferídún and her attendants took refuge in the above-mentioned village, which is at the foot of Mount Damáwand. On the birth of Ferí­dún, they migrated to the more fertile Jíláb (or Chaláb: Dhahíru`d-Dín, p. 11, <Arabic>), where pasture is abundant and the people live by cattle-farming. When Ferídún was seven years old, he used to fix a guiding-rope in the noses of the cattle and ride them*, so that one would say that heaven was reflected on earth, and that a second “Sun” (i.e. Ferí­dún) was arising from “the Bull” (the Sign of Taurus). Later, the other youths had recourse to him for protection and guidance, and he, mounted on a cow (f. 27b), used to go forth with them to the chase. After a time they migrated towards Lafúr (<Arabic>; Dhahír, p. 12, <Arabic>) to the village of Máwjakúh (<Arabic>; Dhahír, <Arabic>), and were joined by the people of Ummídwár-kúh and Kúh-i-Qárin, who made for the young prince the famous cow-headed mace. As his fame waxed greater, the number of his followers increased, until he felt himself strong enough to invade 'Iráq. On reaching Iṣfahán he was joined by the blacksmith Káwa, and, acting in conjunction with him, took Dahák captive.

<Arabic>

Having brought the fallen tyrant to his native village for one night, he conveyed him on the following day to the summit of Mount Damáwand, where he left him, bound and helpless, in a cave or pit which is still pointed out. Then, having established his authority over the Seven Climes, he took up his abode in Tammísha, where the ruins of his Palace are still apparent at a place called Bá-naṣrán (<Arabic>)*, also the domes and cupolas of his bath, and the remains of the moat which he caused to be dug from the mountain to the sea. These, the author remarks, he had often seen and examined. Firdawsí says:

<Arabic>

This forest is also called in the books Bísha-i-Nárwan (“the Forest of wild Pomegranates”), and the river Báwul (now Bábul) waters the country to this day. When Karshásf went to China, he sent the Emperor of that kingdom, bound with golden chains and accompanied by eighty other princes, in the custody of Naríman to Ferídún, who was then in Tammísha.