The Book of annihilation. Iran in the 7th century A.D.

What were the reasons for Iran being conquered by the Tazian ?

A civilization so distinguished, acclaimed, magnificent glorious,

It's fall, disintegration, ruin, so woeful, lamentable, mysterious.

Difficult, perplexing, mystifying, to comprehend cause, reason,

Disharmony, discordance, disunity, feuding, treachery, treason.

589 A,D. Hormozd the fourth sets in motion the sequence of events

that would lead to the bloodbath of Khosrow Parwiz's family,

massacre of all his heirs and disaster at Qadiseyeh 50 years later.

Day, Hormozd sent a cotton spinner to his army chief Bahram Chobin

If Hormozd’d, have paused, reconsidered, sanity prevailed that day,

Woman’s attire, cotton spinner never would’ve gone, Bahram’s way.

Bahram an esteemed, honoured, victorious army commander’d stay,

Hormozd unblinded, Khosrow, undisputed, undeniable king’d, stay.

Bahram loyally, faithfully, Hormozd, Khosrow's General would stay
Khosrow would never have gone, Qaisar’s daughter, Maryam’s way.

Between Bahram, Khosrow, a war of succession’d never have been,

Shirin’s son Mardanshah, Khosrow’s successor, surely’d have been.

Patricidal, fratricidal, evil, Shirui, in existence, wouldn't have been,

Bloodbath of Khosrow’s sixteen sons, heirs, would never have been.

Battle, Qadiseyeh, favourable, reassuring, outcome may have seen,

Ahura Mazda’s civilisation, butchery, carnage, wouldn’t have seen.

When Khosrow Parwiz, the Byzantine princess Maryam had wed,

At their son, Shirui's birth, Indian astrologer, his horoscope read.

Tormented, anguished, agonized, Khosrow, tears of blood'd shed,

After 38 years, Shirui, his father's, brothers' blood would shed.

Gruesome, gory destiny fulfilled, Shirui himself would be dead,

Just as Shah Ardeshir-e-Papakan, four centuries earlier'd said.

Khosrow, astrologer's words, in Queen Shirin's treasury'd keep,

Shirui from all malevolent, evil influences, in his palace'd keep.

Khosrow secluded his son from maleficence, malevolence outside,

But couldn't from the evil, depravity, villainy that brewed inside.

Internecine war unleashed a slaughter, devastation, decimation,

That devoured, consumed, gorged, engulfed the heirless nation.

Hormozd the fourth, son of the illustrious KHOSROW ANUSHIRWAN ASCENDED THE THRONE IN 579.A.D. HIS ABLE, loyal, devoted FAITHFUL, intrepid,fearless GENERAL, BAHRAM CHOBIN WON MANY DECISIVE VICTORIES OVER THE INVADING HEPHTHALITES AND TURKS. HE KILLED THEIR KHAN, BAGHA QAGHAN, CAPTURED HIS GOLDEN THRONE AND TREASURY AND SENT THE PRInCE as A PRISONER TO HORMOZD AT CTESIPHON. THE PETTY-minded, envious HORMOZD ACCUSED BAHRAM OF HAVING embezzled, misappropriated SOME OF THE BOOTY. he SENT HIM A woman's COTTON SPINNER TO slight, shame, INSULT HIM.THE ANGERED, ENRAGED, infuriated, inflamed BAHRAM REVOLTED with his faithful, devoted men. in the ensuing civil war, HORMOZD'S BROTHERS IN LAW VISTAHM AND VINDUYIH HAD Hormozd BLINDED AND KILLED. HIS SON, KHOSROW PARWIZ FLED TO SEEK SUPPORT OF THE BYZANTINES. byzantine KING MAURICE cleverly, judiciously NOT ONLY GRANTED HIM MILITARY SUPPORT BUT GAVE HIM HIS DAUGHTER MARYAM IN MARRIAGE. KHOSROW REGAINED HIS FATHER'S THRONE WITH THE HELP OF THE BYZANTINE ARMY LED BY NIATUS, SON OF MAURICE but had to cede armenia to maurice as payment, compensation, reimbursement . A SON, shirui WAS BORN TO khosrow from maryam. when maurice was murdered in 602 A.D, and PHOCAS became the roman emperor, Khosrow decided to reclaim territory ceded to them. he reached the gates of constantinople IN 626 A.D BUT COULD NOT TAKE IT. HERACLITUS TOOK THE WAR TO IRAN AND EVEN CAPTURED DASTGIRD, THE HOME OF KHOSROW. CIVIL WAR BROKE OUT IN IRAN AFTER KHOSROW HAD RULED FOR 38 YEARS. SHIRUI, JUST AS kHOSROW'S INDIAN ASTROLOGER HAD PREDICTED AT HIS BIRTH, HAD HIS FATHER AND 16 MALE RELATIVES KILLED . AS NO MALE HEIRS REMAINED WHEN SHIRUI DIED OF PLAGUE 6 MONTHS, later, KHOSROW'S ETHICAL,virtuous,righteous, noble DAUGHTERS AZARMIDOKHT, PURANDOKHT RULED justly, benevolently, charitably BRIEFLY BEFORE THE TAZIAN who realized the powerlessness, vulnerability, feebleness of the nation, attacked. iran, WEAKENED, Debilitated, exhausted, bled white of human and material resources BY WARS WITH BYZANTINES AND CIVIL WAR WITHIN was no match for a determined onslaught and was overwhelmed, defeated and subjugated.

Khosrow Parwiz. 590-28.2.628. last great Zoroastrian emperor

If only

If thousands in futile wars with Romans had not been lost,

Generals in hopeless, pointless civil war had not been lost,

Shirui's brothers in his merciless hands had not been lost,

Crucial battles Qadiseyeh, Nahavand would not been lost.

Apocalyptic day

Apocalyptic day, Hormozd's cotton spinner, Bahram went,

Khosrow, needless, senseless, mindless Roman war went,

Multitude perished, Zoroastrians, exile, banishment went,

Iran into enslavement, servitude, bondage, shackles went.

Khosrow, all came to naught

Shahrbaraz, Holy Cross from Jerusalem, triumphantly brought,

Roman Qaisar, return fervently, passionately, earnestly sought,

Khosrow it's value, worth, underrated, could not have thought,

Return, end of conflict, thousands, our lives would have bought.

Worthless, fruitless, needless, blood we shed, battles we fought,

Tazian swallowed depleted, weakened Iran, all came to naught

Khosrow, O!How we bled

The interminable, endless, ceaseless war you led us, we bled,

At hands of your evil, odious, wicked, depraved son, we bled,

Wars of imperious, ambitious, pretentious generals, we bled,

Grievously, gravely hands of Tazian we bled, O! how we bled.

Why all was lost

If warrior grand-fathers, Constantinople's gates had not been lost,

Fathers at Dastgird, civil war between generals had not been lost.

Teenage sons at Qadiseyeh, Mazandaran would not have been lost,

Wives, daughters, slave markets, harems would not have been lost.

Time of treachery and perdition. Iran in the 7th century

When, nation, for servitude, slavery, subservience, destined,

Treachery, betrayal, disloyalty, not martyrdom, fate, defined.

When time of slavery, subjugation, bondage, servility, comes,

History, preserve of its traitors, not heroes, martyrs becomes.

The fall of the cities of the homeland, Estakhr, Shush, Shushtar

The fall of Shush

In a bloody Persian uniform, Siyah Daylami, lay on the ground,

Guards opened gate, thinking, a wounded officer, they’d found.

But Siyah drew his sword, towards the surprised guards, leapt,

As concealed, Tazian soldiers, towards, now, open gates crept.

The cities suffered, identical, ignominious, disgraceful, ill-fate,

Under siege, whatever was stored, hungry, starving, people ate.

No relief visible, an unscrupulous, unprincipled rogue, reprobate,

For own safety, sacrificed, the city, surreptitiously, opened, gate.

When the huge treasury of Ctesiphon, into the Tazian hands fell,

By three billion dirhams, their war chest, coffers, hoards’d swell.

Of parks, gardens, lakes, palaces, homes, where people’d dwell,

This ruin was a grand, glorious, magnificent city, no-one can tell.

SHAH ARDESHIR-E-PAPAKAN HAD A VISION ON HIS DEATH-BED IN THE 3RD CENTURY THAT HIS DYNASTY WOULD BE FINISHED BY AN EVIL SON AFTER FOUR CENTURIES. A CURIOUS SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD ENSURE THIS ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE. KHOSROW PARWIZ WAS FORCED TO SEEK SHELTER WITH THE BYZANTINES WHEN HIS FATHER'S GENERAL BAHRAM CHOBIN ROSE IN REVOLT BECAUSE OF HIS KING'S PETTY MINDEDNESS. THE SON BORN TO KHOSROW PARWIZ WOULD MURDER NOT ONLY HIS FATHER BUT 16 BROTHERS, JUST AS KHOSROW'S INDIAN ASTROLOGER HAD PREDICTED. MANY AMBITIOUS GENERALS CLAIMED THE THRONE IN THE ENSUING CIVIL WAR. THUS IRAN WAS WEAK MILITARILY AND DISUNITED. WHEN THE TAZIAN ATTACKED, A HORDE OF TRAITORS WENT OVER TO THEM AND THAT WAS THE FINAL CAUSE OF LOSS OF LIBERTY AND SELF DETERMINATION.

Fall of Shushtar, city of Shapur the great to the Tazian

Two years, Abu Musa to Shushtar, siege had laid, Frustrating, vexing, little progress he had made.

Soulless Sardar Siyah, for safety, made a bargain,

Salosel castle, he would help Tazian, access, gain.

“As my servant, Ashras, I’ll take you in,” he said,

At night, 200, Tazian, inside, treacherously, led.

Arab army marched in once the guards were dead,

Men, women, children, town, fortress, massacred.

Hormozan sent to Khalifa Umar, he'd surrendered,

Despicable life spared, perfidious services rendered.

“Don’t kill me, till I’ve drunk cup of water,” begged.

Poured it, the ground, cleverly preserving his head.

Right: Tunnel of the traitor Hormozan at Salosel castle. Shushtar.

The Homa of Estakhr

Interminable, fourteen centuries, aeon’s passed, one of Ahura’s own,

Crowned, Taj-i-Kiani, embellished, adorned, Jamshid’s ornate throne.

The Homa, whose wings, on Darius’ mighty shoulders, proudly grew,

Over Egypt, Asia, Europe, Indus to the Nile, majestically, regally flew.

On blood soaked sands of Estakhr stands forsaken, funereal, forlorn,

Of all fortitude, intrepidity, glory, grace, charm, even its wings, shorn.

Comment: The Homa with broken wings is the only structure left standing in the ruins of Estakhr, to celebrate the victory, triumph of the invaders.

Farsh-e-Baharestan/ Baharestan Carpet/ Bahar-e-Kasra, The spring of Khosrow

A great carpet, woven for the Ctesiphon palace of Anushirwan,

Ostentatiously, gracefully, covered floor of audience hall, Iwan.

Auspicious, pertinent name, Bahar-e-Kasra, Khosrow’s spring,

Borders, priceless green emeralds, signifying, plants of spring.

Stalks, flowers, petals, prized, coloured gems, silk, silver, gold,

Khosrow Shah, retinue, sat on it when winter winds blew cold.

Were they in winter or in a field in springtime? they’d wonder,

Fall of Ctesiphon, it was requisitioned, appropriated, plunder.

60,000 pieces, heartlessly, callously, remorselessly, divided,

Each victorious, conquering soldier, a share of loot provided.

Rustam Farrukhzad said, after this winter, there's no spring,

City, Ctesiphon, destroyed, ruined forever, never saw a spring.

Comment: Every city in Iran has a carpet shop named

Farsh-e-Baharestan but scarcely anyone knows what was the

actual, original Farsh-e-Baharestan/ The carpet of spring.

THE majestic, grand, imposing, magnificent IWAN OF THE TAQ-E-KASRA of ctesiphon was a lofty 50 METRES LONG and 26 METRES wide . THE FLOOR WAS COVERED BY THE LARGEST, most awe-inspiring, glorious exquisite CARPET woven by MAN. Called farsh-e-Baharesten/THE CARPET OF SPRING, it HAD A GREEN BORDER filled WITH emeralds as EXOTIC PLANTS. THE FLOWERS WERE ALL GEMSTONES like rubies, sapphires, topazes, pearls and turqoises. WHEN THE COLD WINTER WINDS BLEW from the desert , KHOSROW SHAH WOULD SIT ON THE CARPET with his court retinue AND FEEL THE SPRING WAS ALREADY THERE. WHEN THE TAZIAN CONQUERED CTESIPHON, THEY CUT THE CARPET INTO 60,000 PIECES AND GAVE one TO EACH OF THEIR SOLDIERS TO SELL. A piece is believed to have enriched it's owner by no less than 20,000 dirhams.

The aftermath
Ardeshir’s, Shapur’s military might, Sassanian empire’s inception,

Anushirwan’s wisdom, enlightenment, law, justice, it’s conception.

Till vanity, splendour, ostentation, thought great, a misconception,

Ravaged by religious apostasy, heresy, impiety, treason, deception.

Kings, dynasties, some inept, others reputable, glorious, renown,

Fall, immoral, depraved, corrupt, Sassanians, why, do we mourn?
Misguided, misrule, misdeeds, misgovernance, we don’t condone,

Noble Hakhamanishiyan, Parthian heritage, claimed, their own.

At ill-fated Qadiseyeh, with Rustam Farrkhzad’s last, dying, groan,

Irreplaceably lost, Derafsh-i-Kaviani, Taj-i-Kiani, Jamshid’s throne.

Art, music, science, literature, poetry, of a 1,000 years, of our own,

Lost language, dignity, respect, honour, glory, esteem, we bemoan.

Philosophers’ thought, musicians compositions, what poets spoke,

In wanton, barbaric, heinous, burning libraries, went up in smoke.
When Ctesiphon books, Tigris, were needlessly, callously, thrown,

A refined, advanced, artistic, culture, society, civilization’d drown.

Poetry, music, philosophy, science suffered, immeasurable, harm,

Priceless 1,000 year old books, burnt, keep hamam water, warm.

Literature, ideas, thought of men of letters couldn’t be expressed,

Pahlavi, Khuzi, Khwarazmi languages, all prohibited, suppressed.

Poetry, music about women, love, could no longer be composed,

Daily conversations, state matters, Arabic, enforced, imposed.
Learned, centuries into silence, reticence, obscurity, descended,

Connections to authors, poets, musicians, of the past, rescinded.

Progress, proficiency, expertise, science, art, literature, ended,

People into illiteracy, ignorance, unenlightenment, descended.

Iran’s history lost many a glorious, illustrious, eminent page,

With descent into a ceaseless, interminable, gloomy, dark age.

Scholars, scribes, artists, musicians, without royal patronage,

Centuries survived on a demeaning, humiliating, humble wage.

Hung by the Road to Tabarestan (Mazandaran)

The poem is based on the hanging of 12,000 Persians by the side of

the road to Mazandaran on the orders of Yazid-Ibn-e-Mohalleb.

Retrieving their Messiah’s True Cross to the Romans so much meant,

Khosrow’s ill-advised refusal led, our lamentable, pitiful predicament.

Loss of husbands, purposeless, meaningless wars with Roman meant.

Sons hung by the Tazian beside road to Tabarestan, mothers lament.

Flowing blood of our beheaded martyrs to millstones gave movement,

Gorgon, grind wheat, bake bread Tazian general, gains nourishment,

Ahura Mazda’s faithful in shame, disgrace queue pay jiziya payment,

Receive tax collector’s curses, profanity, blows in acknowledgement.

Shiver in rain, snow without umbrella in cotton shoe, yellow raiment.

Forbidden to wear a hat, ring, boot, elegant, coloured warm garment,

For bride’s father’s murderer, there is no imprisonment, punishment,

Forcibly converted, married, carried in town in triumph, merriment.

Named ajam, one who stammers in an alien language, Arabic meant.

Called najis, the untouchable, despicable, depraved, polluted meant.

Once, name Persian, a mighty warrior, champion, ruler, hero meant.

It all became

As luckless, ill-starred, Rustam Farrukhzad feared, it became,

Iran, conquered province, dominion, of the Caliphate became.

People, in their own land, prisoner, captive, hostage, became,

Iranians,who can’t speak fluently but stammer, Ajam, became.

Erudite, learned, men, to survive, farmers, tradesmen, became.

Ctesiphon, Estakhr, Shush, Shustar, desolate, rubble became,

Nothing left to say, play, minstrels, musicians, silent, became.

Nothing to compose, draw, artists, scribes, destitute, became.

Faith endured, enriched, endeared the civilization for 2000 years,

Irrevocably, irremediably, irretrievably, irreparably lost, 20 years.

Pains less to forget the glory years

Too agonizing, distressing to recollect, remember our glory years,

Painless, disremember, dismiss, disregard, forget our glory years,

Apologetic, embarrassed, ashamed by memory of our glory years,

Damned to be perpetual, faded, obscured image of our glory years.

Between Faith and Home, we have to decide

Annihilation, ruin, nemesis, Cyrus’ disunited, divided, land,

When unmerciful brother, pursues brother, sword in hand.

Helpless, defenseless, our empress took refuge, in the well,

Waterfalls exude from mountains, where Princesses, dwell.

We must, decisively, after the Niyaish-e-Khorshid is read,

Make the fateful, unrivalled, unequalled choice, we dread.

Thoughts, rend, tear apart, sear, sever, each one’s breast,

Homeland, conquered, lost, great Emperors, in tombs rest.

Heroes, champions, martyrs, the myths, legends, reside,

Agonizingly, between faith and home, we have to decide.

Right:East facing beach at Hormuzd island, from where Zoroastrians sailed for India.

Picture Courtesy. Behzad Nafisi Mistry

These verses express some thoughts of emptiness, deficiency, loss, incompleteness of people forced to assume an alien name and identity.

Who am I?

Know my ancestors’ identity, enterprise, vainly, long, I tried,

They acknowledged, answered to name, Barzin, I was denied.

Did they sculpt stones, new palace at Shush, Darius’d decide?

With Xerxes, avenge, retribute, burning, Sardis, Greece, ride?

Disastrous battles at Gaugamela, Qadiseyeh, Nahavand, died?

Rejoice, exult in triumph, victory of Edessa, at Shapur’s side?

Baharestan carpet, Khosrow’s Ctesiphon iwan, weave, dyed?

Azargoshasb’s everlasting flame, tend, piety, devotion, abide?

O! I am well and truly lost

I’ve traveled far, to see shrines, not my own,

Half a faith in a deity, divinity, not my own.

Half comprehending scriptures, not my own,

I’m well, truly lost, with a belief, not my own.

When home, name, identity, faith, all are lost,

What gain, attainment, I paid the heavy cost?

What of us, the vanquished?

To the victor, the spoils, widely prevalent, accepted thought,

Vanquished, defeated, conquered, worsted, what is their lot?

No stories, tales, fables for children, lullabies for newly born,

No heroes, champions, to emulate, imitate, martyrs to mourn.

No Gods to worship, glorify, revere, extol, scripture he reads,

Soul was stolen from a ravaged, desecrated land, that bleeds.

I wasn't told

Uncivilized barbarian, crude savage, I was, I was told.

My conquerors were my heroes, champions, I was told.

Their names, identities should now be mine, I was told.

My forefathers’ faith, I could not perpetuate,I was told.

Lie, fabrication, fiction, untruth, my history, I was told.

My scriptures would be burnt, heat hamams, I was told.

My science, arts, medicines would be theirs, I was told.

I'd communicate in their language, not mine I was told.

Enslaved body, captive, vassal my thoughts, I was told.

For what crime, misdeeds, transgression, I wasn’t told.

Reinvented and reforged

I have been recast, reforged, reinvented, renamed,

By my conqueror's identity,faith, prejudice named.

Of my own pride, honour, dignity nothing remains,

Pale feeble apologetic image in self denial remains.

My beliefs, convictions, unsure, uncertain,unclear,

Which opinions, ideologies, doctrines to hold dear.

O! The shame

Three continents, army of Derafsh-e-Kaviani, would imperiously ride,

A thousand years of glory, splendour, eminence, magnificence, pride.

All majesty, resplendence, grandeur, exaltation, illustriousness, died,

O! indignity, humiliation, shame, disgrace, in rocks, tunnels, we hide.

Fearing, those we hold in such contempt, loathe, disregard, despise,

O! How did our fortunes take on this deplorable, pitiful, sorry, guise?

The days of our greatness, nobility, prestige, empires, are long past,

Reminder, nothing great, perpetually, permanently, till eternity last.

So sublime, glorious, exalted, imperial, august, we were lofty, tall!

How abysmal, limitless, bottomless, endless, measureless, our fall!

O! The degradation, decadence, depreciation, decline, mortification,

Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, Ardeshir, Shapur’s homeland, subject nation.

Comment:Feelings of shame of people who took refuge underground

during invasions. Nooshabad/ Ooi, near Kashan

Roozha-e-Khodarahm, Days of Storm.

Life of Zoroastrians in Qasemabad, Zainabad, Mobarrakeh villages of Yazd in 20th century.

Stone pelting, daily dire ritual, Markar school boys knew

Required response in kind, burly, muscular Darius knew

Saw Khodarahm’s bloody forehead, head teacher knew

Aggressors’ parents, to be called, Mirza Soroosh knew

Not for them Shir Hossein’s delectable ice cream, knew

Rudely, contemptuously called gorooq, najas, all knew

Forbidden to sell garmak melons in main square, knew

Compelled, sell cheaper, alleys, shrewd town folk knew

Employment opportunities for them were few, all knew

In India, anonymity, security, more equitable life, knew

Even sea voyage was hazardous, perilous they knew

Discovered Zoroastrians cast overboard Mahyar knew

Abducted, converted, Triti, Kuchey ashtikon, all knew

Similar despicable fate awaited, Golchehre Tafti knew

Extract handsome 5,000 tuman ransom, mullah knew

Fruits of hard labour worthily sacrificed Mahyar knew

Freed, sent to India to prevent repetition, father knew.

Married there, lived peacefully, serenely, father knew.

Roozha-e-Khodarahm.

Roozha-e-Khodarahm. This poem describes many true incidents in the lives of Zoroastrians living in Qasemabad, Zainabad, Mobarrekeh, Taft, the villages of Yazd a hundred years ago, i.e in the 20th century.

Khodarahm along with other Zoroastrian boys would have stones pelted at them as they walked to the Dabestan –e-Markar primary school. Till one day they decided to respond in kind, led by the sturdy, strapping Darius, the tallest of them all.

When they reached the school, seeing blood streaming down from the forehead of Khodarahm, the fair, unprejudiced head teacher Mirza Soroosh Lohrasp understood the gravity of the situation. Life for the Zoroastrian boys then became untroubled and tranquil after he summoned the parents of the perpetrators, threatening them with expulsion from the school.

Since there were few job opportunities available for them, most Zoroastrians such as Mahyar would head to India to seek their fortune and make a living. The sea voyage also held special perils and dangers, if their religion was discovered, they would be cast overboard into the sea.

Most became quite affluent due to their own hard work and ingenuity. Many returned to Yazd to construct proper homes.

In the villages, teenage Zoroastrian girls were regularly abducted, converted and married off by force. They would be paraded through town as a trophy bride, given presents and congratulated for their change of faith.

Triti was one such girl seized and carried off from the Kuchey astikon, a narrow alleyway, where two people couldn’t pass each other without touching. One day Golchehre another beautiful girl from the village of Taft was also kidnapped. A similar fate awaited her. When the local mullah was contacted, he demanded 5,000 tumans for her release, a huge sum in those days. This was paid by a kind hearted man, who had just returned after years of labour from India. To prevent repeat and repetition of another abduction, her father immediately sent her away to India where she married and had a blessed, joyous and fruitful life.