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ḴAWARNAQ, the name of a castle built by the Lakhmid kings of al-Ḥira (qq.v.). Arabic and Persian narrative sources mention, albeit in different contexts, an Arab castle in pre-Islamic times called Ḵawarnaq, but it seems quite impossible to distinguish clearly between historical facts and legendary accounts. Together with another castle…

KAY-ḴOSROW KHAN (b. 1 January 1674; d. Kandahar, 26 October 1711), Georgian royal prince of the Kartlian branch, also known as Ḵosrow Khan. He was the eldest son of Prince Levan (Šāhqoli Khan) and the nephew of Giorgi XI (Gorgin Khan, q.v.). His activities were well recorded by Sekhnia Chkheidze,…

ḴAYĀL, the pen name of MIR MOḤAMMAD-TAQI JAʿFARI ḤOSAYNI (d. 1173/ 1759), Indian author of a collection of historical and fictitious stories composed in Persian in fifteen volumes over fourteen years (1155-69/1742-56) and titled Bustān-e ḵayāl. Little is known of his life beyond what he himself tells us. The following…

KAYĀNIĀN  (Kayanids), in the early Persian epic tradition a dynasty that ruled Iran before the Achaemenids, all of whom bore names prefixed by Kay from Avestan kauui (see below, i). They are preceded by the dynasty of the Pišdādiān (Pishdadids), which begins with Kayumarṯ (see GAYŌMART, HŌŠANG, JAMŠID). The Kayanids are…

KAYĀNIĀN ii. The Kayanids as a Group References to the kauuis in the Avesta are found in the yašts in the lists of heroes who sacrificed to various deities for certain rewards. The lists go from Haošiiaŋha, via Taxma Urupi (Tahmōraf), Yima, and Kərəsāspa, to Θraētaona, the later Pishdadids (see…

KAYĀNIĀN iii. Kauui Kauuāta, Kay Kawād, Kay Kobād (Qobād) Kauui Kauuāta (Figure 1) has no epithets in the Avesta to describe him, and the descriptions in the Pahlavi sources are mostly vague. His seed (tōhmag) is from the xwarrah (Dādestān ī dēnīg 36.26, see above); he was the first to…

KAYĀNIĀN ix. Kauui Vištāspa, Kay Wištāsp, Kay Beštāsb/Goštāsb The name Vištāspa presumably means “he who gives the horses free rein” (cf. Rigveda 6.6.4 víṣitāso áśvāḥ “horses let loose or given free rein”), which agrees with the description of Vištāspa as the prototypical winner of the chariot race in Yašt 5.132…

KAYĀNIĀN v. Kauu i Usan, Kay-Us, Kay Kāvus With Kauui Usan (Usaδan), Pahlavi Kay Us (Kāy Us), Persian Kay Kāvus (etc; Figure 2), the sources become a bit more substantial. His name corresponds to Old Indic Kāvya Uśánas. The spelling of the Pahlavi form of the name as leaves the…

KAYĀNIĀN vi. Siiāuuaršan, Siyāwaxš, Siāvaš Siiāuuaršan, “the one with black stallions,” is listed in the Avesta in Yašt 13.132 as a kauui and the third with a name containing aršan “male.” The only detail given in the Avesta is that his son Haosrauuah sought revenge on Aγraēraθa for killing his…

KAYĀNIĀN vii. Kauui Haosrauuah, Kay Husrōy, Kay Ḵosrow The name Haosrauuah is a vriddi formation of *husrauuah “he who has good fame” and ought to mean “good fame” by itself. The later forms, in fact, seem to be descended from *hu-srauuah, although shortening of the initial syllable is possible. The…

KAYĀNIĀN viii. Kay Luhrāsp, Kay Lohrāsb In the Avesta, Vištāspa’s father is Auruuaṯ.aspa, who is mentioned only once, when Zarathustra asks Anāhitā for the ability to make Vištāspa, son of Auruuaṯ.aspa, help the daēnā along with thoughts, words, and deeds, a wish he is granted (Yašt 5.14-6). Elsewhere, auruuaṯ.aspa “having…