[370] Káí Khusró, after a glorious reign of sixty years, resolved to resign the crown. He assembled in a plain all his chiefs and the people of Iran. After a magnificent festival of seven days, he proclaimed his final determination; divided the empire among several chiefs, and appointed Lohrasp the successor of his sovereignty. This choice met with some opposition on the part of the aged Zaul (see Rauzat-us-Safa, Shea’s transl., p. 263), and although this chief yielded to the sovereign will, yet he never paid homage to the new king; and a pernicious misunderstanding remained between the descendants of both parties. It may be remarked that Káí Khusró’s abdication is quite Indian. According to Ferdúsi, it was towards the mountains of India, called Amajal, that Káí Khusró bent his steps, accompanied by a number of his chiefs, the most ancient of whom he soon dismissed, whilst others followed him further, although warned by him of an impending storm of snow which was to bury them all. He suddenly disappeared, and they were never heard of. This reminds of more than one similar event in Indian history.――A. T. [371] This account agrees with the Shah-namah, according to which Bahman, in order to revenge the death of his father (see note last but one), invaded Sistan and took Zaul with all his treasures. It was then that Farámars, the son of Rustam, encountered the Persians in a battle: he was defeated, taken prisoner, and hanged. According to the Rauzat-us-Safa (see Shea’s transl., p. 340), Bahman, on reaching Zabulistan, heard of Rustam’s death; his son Farámans fell, and Zaul was taken prisoner.――A. T. [372] Kobad, the Cabades or Cavades of the Greeks, the eighteenth king of the Sassanians, ruled 43 years in Persia from 488 to 531, A. D., not ingloriously within and without his empire, from which he was however driven on account of the support which he gave to the new and dangerous doctrine of the prophet Mazdak, about whom see section XV of this chapter. Kobad recovered the throne by the assistance of the Tartar prince Hestial (see Ferdusi’s Shah-namah), or (see Herbelot) by that of the nations, called Haïathelah, who inhabit the countries of Kandahar, Thibet, and Barantolah.――A. T.