THE CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE OF QOBÂD, AND HIS REINSTALMENT
ON THE THRONE.

After the grandees of Persia had removed Qobâd from the throne, and had imprisoned him, they intended also to kill Mazdak; but as the number of his faithful adherents was excessive, it became impossible to get hold of him. Therefore they determined first to slay Qobâd, and then to turn their attention to Mazdak with his followers.

Qobâd had a sister, whose beauty was unequalled among the women of Persia; he had, moreover, with the approba­tion of Mazdak, kept up an extremely intimate connection with her. She was desirous of rescuing Qobâd from captivity by a stratagem, and adorning her person, visited the gaoler of her brother, and besought him to grant her an interview with him. The man, captivated by the fairy-like attractions of the princess, replied that he would allow her to see Qobâd on condition of her complying with his desires. She promised compliance, and was admitted to the presence of her brother, whose company she left after she had enjoyed it for awhile. Coming out, she told the gaoler that she would now be willing to yield to his wishes, but that he must yet excuse her for one night, on account of a certain well-known state to which all women are sub­ject. As connection with a female in her courses was also at that time considered abominable, the gaoler accepted the subterfuge. The princess was allowed again to spend the night with her brother, and when the morn dawned she loaded a servant with bedding [in which her brother was concealed]. When the lady came out, the gaoler inquired about the baggage, but she stated that, as her brother was unwilling to take his rest on a bed on which a menstruating woman had slept, he had ordered it to be taken away, and another to be sent in lieu thereof.

After his escape from prison, Qobâd remained concealed for a time, till the search for him had ceased. Then he proceeded with some of his followers to Hayatalah. Abu Hanifah Dinvari states that when Qobâd arrived during his journey in a village situated between Ahvâz and Esfahân, he alighted in the house of a country gentleman who was a descendant of Feridûn, and there he wedded the mother of Naushirvân and remained three days. On the fourth he hastened to his destination, and arrived in due time in the territory of Hayatalah, where he was obliged to remain several years, whether he liked it or not. At last the governor of that country gave him thirty thousand men, with whom he marched to Erân. When Qobâd had reached the vicinity of Madâin, a tumult took place among the citizens, who said: ‘If a war takes place between the two kings, we do not know what will become of us.’ At last, however, they agreed to obey Qobâd, and went over en masse to his camp, from that of their own sovereign whom they had formerly elected. They waited on Qobâd, who pardoned their transgressions, and even those of his brother. He made Azarmehr Bin Soukher his prime minister, and after repairing all the devastations existing in the country, he fortified the boundaries thereof. During this, the second period of his reign, he did not allow Mazdak nor his followers to be persecuted any more. He was a sovereign fond of building, and laid the foundations of many towns; it is said that Berda’ Kunjah and Mia­fâraqin were built by him. Towards the end of his reign he invaded Rûm, and came back victorious. He died after a reign of forty-three years. His sobriquet was ‘the well-intentioned’; his brother was surnamed ‘the beloved’; and his other brother, Jâmasp, ‘the proud.’