Excerpt from The Shahnama of Firdausi, Vol. 2 The poet continues and ends the story of the great feud between the descendants of Iraj and Tur. It is set out at large and ends with the triumph of the former. He then tells of the coming of Zarduhsht (Zoroaster), of his evangel, and of the religious wars that ensued, taking occasion in this connexion to rescue from oblivion the name of the poet Dakiki. He next narrates the extinction of the heroic race of Iran, and the circumstances that led to the conquests of Sikandar (Alexander the Great), with whose death the Kaianian dynasty comes to an end. Note The word Kai, from which the adjective Kaianian is derived, is found in the Vedas under the form of Kavi, where it means a seer or priest, and is especially applied to the priest who, by drinking the intoxicating juice of the Soma plant, became inspired. In the Zandavasta Kai is used in two very different senses. In one of these, and particularly in the sacred hymns known as the Gathas, it is synonymous with 'heretic, ' in the other it forms a part of the names of a whole dynasty of Iranian heroes, who are known collectively as the Kavyans or Kaians.

This twofold use has been appealed to by Haug to support his theory that Zoroastrianism sprang from a schism among the Brahmins - a theory which has been much disputed. In the Shahnama also the word is used in two senses, as a general term for a great king or ruler, and as the distinctive title of the royal house of Kubad, the founder of the Kaianian dynasty. This consists of ten Shahs, who fall into two groups. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy.

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