Bahram is an Iranian hero in

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 5 ...

, the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with a ...

Greater Iran Greater Iran ( fa, ایران بزرگ, translit=Irān-e Bozorg) refers to a region covering parts of Western Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Xinjiang, and the Caucasus, where both Iranian culture and Iranian languages have had a s ...

. He is son of

Goudarz Goudarz ( fa, گودرز) is one of the main Iranian heroes in Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran, and progenitor of one of its most prominent families. He is son of Kashvad, father of Giv and Roham and the grandfather of Bizhan. His ...

and brother of Rohham, Giv and

Hojir Hojir ( fa, هُژیر) is an Iranian hero in Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran. Hojir is son of Goudarz and brother of Giv and Rohham. Hojir first appears in the story of Rostam and Sohrab. Hojir in the Shahnameh He is castellan of De ...

. In the story of Siavash, he and

Zange-ye Shavaran Zangay-i Shavaran () is an Iranian hero at the time of Kay Khosrow Kay Khosrow ( fa, کیخسرو) is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book, ''Shahnameh''. He was the son of the Iranian pri ...

are Siavash's counselors. They unsuccessfully try to convince Siavash not to go to Turan. When Siavash goes to Turan and abandons Iranian army, Bahram is put in command of the Iranian army until the arrival of Tous. His most important adventure is in the story of

Farud Farud or Forud was an ancient king of Kelat in his early youth and makes up a chapter in the Shahnameh "The Book of Kings" (940-1020) by Ferdowsi where he is mentioned as the brother of Kai Khosrow. After becoming the ruler of ancient Iran Kai K ...

, where he fights with Turanian army along with other Iranian heroes . When Iranian army is marching toward Turan, they encounter Farud, who along with Tokhar (تُخوار) are standing on a mountain. Tous, the

spahbed ''Spāhbed'' (also spelled ''spahbod'' and ''spahbad'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbed'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Sasa ...

of Iranian army does not know Farud and think that he is a Turanian foe. He sends Bahram to go there and kill both of them. When Bahram arrives at Farud, Farud introduces himself and says that he is son of

Siavash Siyâvash ( fa, سیاوش) or Siavash ( fa, سياووش) is an Iranian legendary prince, a major figure in Ferdowsi's epic, the '' Shahnameh''. Siyâvash or various other transliterations from Persian/Farsi/Azerbaijani languages may also refer to ...

and want to avenge Afriasiab. Bahram comes back to Tous and tells him that they are not enemy and instead they want to join Iranian army to fight against

Afrasiab Afrasiab ( fa, ''afrāsiyāb''; ae, Fraŋrasyan; Middle-Persian: ''Frāsiyāv, Frāsiyāk'') is the name of the mythical king and hero of Turan. He is the main antagonist of the Persian epic Shahnameh, written by Ferdowsi. The mythical kin ...

. Tous, however, does not believe this and orders to kill Farud. Bahram unsuccessfully tries to restrain Tous and Iranians from killing Farud and his companion. However, Farud was eventually slain by Rohham and Bizhan. Bahram, seeing himself as somehow to blame for Ferud's death, he no longer cares for his own life. In a subsequent war between Iran and Turan shortly after Farud's death, he lost his whip in the battlefield. Although Goudarz, his father, and Giv, his brother advice him to not go for the whip, he sees this incident as a bad omen and puts his life to danger and returns to the battlefield solely in search of his whip. He finds an injured Iranian soldier and binds his wounds. He finally finds his whip, but at the last minute, he was surrounded by Turanian men. He bravely fights with them but at last, he was severely injured by Tazhāv (تَژاو) and shortly after he dies of the wound. The unknown author of Mojmal al-tavarikh mentions him as the master of ceremonies (amīr-e majles) in

Kay Khosrow Kay Khosrow ( fa, کیخسرو) is a legendary king of Iran of Kayanian dynasty and a character in the Persian epic book, '' Shahnameh''. He was the son of the Iranian prince Siavash who married princess Farangis of Turan while in exile. B ...

's reign.

Family tree

References

{{Shahnameh Shahnameh characters